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What was a surprise?

A surprise was when Chen Hong watched Uncle Wang, a villager, toss out another washbasin-sized piece of Soul Guidance Mithril Ore from the sandy ground right in front of him. That was when he realized that, at such a young age, he had found himself a treasure trove of perfect feng shui!

So many old men had searched their whole lives without finding one. Hmm. That sounded kind of weird.

The afternoon sun shone on Chen Hong's face. Standing atop a small rocky hill not far from White Cloud Village, he stared at the sandy ground below, his eyes flickering repeatedly. At last, he said to Uncle Wang, "Uncle Wang, we may have hit a vein. Don't tell anyone yet. When we go to the market in the city next time, I'll talk it over with my father."

When Uncle Wang heard that there might be a mineral vein beneath his feet, surprise flashed through his eyes before he excitedly asked, "Does that mean we're gonna get rich?!"

"Don't worry, Little Master Chen! I know not to flaunt wealth!" Uncle Wang understood that much.

Chen Hong nodded, then said, "The main thing is not letting the neighboring villages find out, especially Sacred Soul Village. Otherwise, they might come over and fight our village for it. I heard they produced a Spirit Master with Innate Level 10 Soul Power. If they tried to take it by force, we might not be able to beat them."

Several villages lay between White Cloud Village and Sacred Soul Village, so they were considered quite far apart. The reason Chen Hong knew a Spirit Master with Innate Level 10 Soul Power had emerged over there was because the Spirit Master who had awakened his martial soul four years ago had sighed about it in front of him.

He had said something about how some place had finally produced a seedling with Innate Full Soul Power, only for the martial soul to be the useless Blue Silver Grass. Meanwhile, he had awakened a pretty decent Spirit Martial Soul here, but Chen Hong only had Innate Level 3 Soul Power. Chen Hong had remembered those words with a dark expression.

Uncle Wang immediately nodded. "Got it! I understand! Little Master Chen! I won't dig this patch of land for the time being!"

Uncle Wang trusted Chen Hong greatly. Though the boy was only ten years old, Uncle Wang had complete faith in his intelligence and wisdom.

Chen Hong bent down and tried to lift the washbasin-sized Soul Guidance Mithril Ore. His little face flushed red as he exerted all his strength, barely managing to hug the stone off the ground. Uncle Wang immediately took it from him and said, "Take a rest, Little Master Chen! I'll carry it back for you!"

Chen Hong looked up and compared his own build with Uncle Wang's. In the end, he chose to compromise with his young body. He had heard that life was a process of constantly compromising with oneself. Chen Hong had already begun speeding that process up in advance.

"Alright! Then thank you, Uncle Wang! Next time we go to the market, I'll have my father find someone from Spirit Hall to take a look. Our village might make a fortune then!"

"Hehehe!" Hearing the grand promise Chen Hong had painted for him, Uncle Wang grinned broadly. Even the ore on his back seemed much lighter, and his steps became much brisker.

After Chen Hong returned to the Blacksmith Shop, he grabbed his small iron hammer and began smashing the ore bit by bit. He ground it into powder, repeatedly washed and sifted it, then smelted it. After working for an entire day, he finally refined a palm-sized Soul Guidance Mithril Block.

Chen Hong heated the Soul Guidance Mithril Block until it glowed red again, cut it into long strips, and slowly forged them into wire. It was meticulous work that required patience, so the yellow soul ring behind him lit up once more.

Sage Time! Activate!

I'm terrifyingly strong right now! Because I have none of those worldly desires!

He continued heating it, then gently tapped along the grooves Chen Hong had left with his small hammer. Most metals experienced thermal demagnetization at high temperatures, but Soul Guidance Mithril was special. Its magnetic field was generated within the metal itself, and ordinary flames apparently could not reach temperatures high enough to demagnetize it.

Soul Guidance Mithril's ductility was fairly decent. It was much softer than Refined Iron, soft enough for Chen Hong to slowly hammer it into wire with his Sage Small Iron Hammer, stripped of worldly desires.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Chen Hong hammered away until well past midnight before falling asleep in a dazed, exhausted stupor. Early the next morning, he sprang out of bed, grabbed his small iron hammer, and repeated the delicate work from the night before.

Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doodle-doo!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doodle-doo!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The rooster that crowed at dawn seemed unwilling to accept that Chen Hong was up even earlier than it was. It kept crowing with all its might from the hill outside, determined to compete with him.

But after the rooster had crowed for half an hour, its voice suddenly cut off. Then a stream of cursing came from the hill outside. "Why the hell are you crowing?! Tired of living?! I can't control Little Master Chen, but you think I can't handle a damn beast like you?!"

Inside the Blacksmith Shop, Chen Hong's raised hand froze instinctively, and the soul ring behind him faded away. "..."

Chen Hong silently mourned for the thing outside for three seconds before returning to the thumping work of hammering the silver metal wire, now as thin as a little earthworm, in his hand.

It really doesn't know its place. Sure, we both have bird in our names, but how can you compare to me? In my past life, I, Jiang Bird, was even nationally protected. Fuck, who turned off my Sage Time?

Buzz!

The yellow soul ring behind Chen Hong lit up, and Sage Time activated once more. Chen Hong returned to a state of serene calm, like an unruffled monk in meditation.

Finally, close to noon, Chen Hong had hammered out enough silver wire for his needs. Only then did he let his aching, exhausted body rest properly.

At that moment, Uncle Wang from next door brought Chen Hong a large bowl of chicken soup.

Looking at the fragrant chicken leg in his hand, Chen Hong once again mourned for Kun Kun for three seconds. Then he chose to use his warm stomach to try and guide the departed soul onward.

"Mmm, delicious!"

Setting the facts aside, Chen Hong felt that he had contributed a little to the making of this chicken soup, so naturally, he had every reason to enjoy it.

But now was not the time to mourn Kun Kun. Chen Hong's soul-guiding efficiency was extremely high. A few huge bites later, he had completed the ritual and began tidying up his things for the next step: winding the coils!

An obscure great man once said that winding coils was the beginning of all success!

Hmm. Why don't I remember any great man saying that?

That's why he's obscure!

"...Fuck! There's something filthy in my head! Activate, quick!"

Buzz!

Chen Hong's beautiful mental state calmed once again. Like an old monk meditating, he sat cross-legged atop the worktable, dismantled his Generation 0.1 Soul Engine, removed the axle inside, stripped away the Ordinary Iron Wire Chen Hong had previously wound around it, and began winding the Soul Guidance Mithril Wire in his hand according to the design of a classic motor from his past life, leaving room for the brushes. He stayed seated there until another whole day had passed.

Chen Hong's First Soul Skill, Sage: Mental Focus, consumed very little soul power and could basically remain active for long periods. However, its side effect was severe: after repeatedly entering Sage Time, it left him with that drained feeling of physical—no, conscious—exhaustion. The moment Sage Time ended, his thoughts would run wild!

"Phew! Now comes the historical moment!"

"Improved · Blade Runner · Upgraded Version · Machine Soul Great Joy · Generation 0.2 Soul Engine! Mommy mommy boom!"

"..."

"Damn! I've been a sage all day! Not a drop of soul power left!"