In the room, after the door closed, Li Moxun sat on his bed, just about to shut his eyes and meditate.
His Soul Guidance Phone chimed. He glanced at it and saw a form he had filled out.
Any blacksmith capable of Thousand Refinement was already a Level 4 Blacksmith.
And someone like him, who could achieve Thousand Refinement First Grade, was already at the peak of Level 4—or, more precisely, a quasi-Level 5 Blacksmith.
But because he was in a hurry, Li Moxun hadn't taken the Level 4 Blacksmith examination in Heaven Dou City.
So the Blacksmith Association had officially notified him to go to the local Eastsea City Blacksmith Association and take the Level 4 Blacksmith certification examination.
Looking at the notice, Li Moxun furrowed his brow.
He was someone who hated trouble—or, more accurately, someone who couldn't stand it.
Still, this concerned another source of income, as well as the certification he'd need after arriving at Shrek Academy.
Li Moxun thought it over, then stood up, left Eastsea Academy, and took a Soul Guidance Car to the Blacksmith Association in Eastsea City.
It was noon outside the Blacksmith Association. The sun was shining brightly, and its glare was at its most blinding.
Li Moxun wore a slightly rounded hat he'd bought after getting out of the car along the way. It barely shielded him from the sun, and he walked into the Blacksmith Association with a helpless sigh.
As soon as he entered, a blast of air-conditioning washed over him, easing some of the heat around him.
This was why he hated going out at noon.
There was no air-conditioning at the academy, but with his Titan Snow Demon King Martial Soul, making a reasonably comfortable patch of ice was easy enough.
As for whether using Soul Power to create a cool spot with an Ultimate Martial Soul like the Titan Snow Demon King was wasteful, Li Moxun's answer would be simple: his own comfort mattered most.
When the door opened, he went to the front desk to register, and the receptionist promptly attended to him.
Seeing his age, she was surprised. At a glance, the boy standing before her looked barely ten years old.
A ten-year-old boy coming to take the Level 4 Blacksmith examination was something the receptionist had never seen in her life.
But according to the message from above, the boy's identification number and identity code were both correct, and he'd already achieved Thousand Refinement First Grade. He'd long qualified to become a Level 4 Blacksmith.
Following the receptionist's lead, the two of them took the elevator straight to the upper floors.
When the elevator stopped and the doors opened, the female receptionist looked respectfully at the flamboyantly dressed young man with purple hair standing before them.
She hurried over to greet him, then handed him Li Moxun's documents.
Seeing that the examination he was taking was for Thousand Refinement First Grade, the flamboyant young man's face showed a hint of surprise.
He looked at Li Moxun, the little runt standing before him. From what he could tell, the boy was probably around ten.
A ten-year-old Level 4 Blacksmith—or even one at the peak of Level 4—had talent so terrifying it was downright dazzling.
The reason he'd been waiting at the entrance today wasn't to meet Li Moxun, but Tang Wulin.
Tang Wulin could already complete Thousand Refinement. In other words, he already had the skill of a Level 4 Blacksmith.
His current level was roughly Thousand Refinement Second Grade, just one step away from Thousand Refinement First Grade.
But Tang Wulin had trained since childhood, while Li Moxun had only trained for a few months. There was no comparing the two.
Of course, Li Moxun didn't care about any of that. He simply gave the flamboyant young man with purple hair a calm glance.
Actually, calling him a young man was inaccurate. He wasn't young at all—probably somewhere between thirty and forty. He was Cen Yue.
Li Moxun wasn't particularly respectful toward this Level 6 master blacksmith, but he wasn't particularly concerned with him either.
After all, by Li Moxun's estimate, once he'd achieved Thousand Refinement First Grade, it would take at most six months to a year for him to become a true Spirit Forging blacksmith.
Only after mastering Spirit Forging would he count as a true Level 5 Blacksmith. For now, this quasi-Level 5 certification was simply a way to land better commissions—or, more precisely, obtain resources.
Seeing the undisguised impatience in Li Moxun's eyes, Cen Yue froze for a moment.
Usually, everyone who met him, a Level 6 Blacksmith, treated him with great courtesy. This was the first time he'd encountered such a rude boy.
Still, seeing the boy's examination, Cen Yue couldn't help but feel a little interested.
"Hmm, wait here a moment. The association president is here right now, so I'll get him to come down and assess you with me."
Cen Yue glanced at Li Moxun, then signaled to the staff member before hurrying toward the top floor.
The moment the door to the top floor opened and Cen Yue stepped inside, both Mu Chen and Mu Xi looked excited.
"Has that boy Wulin arrived? Hurry and send him up. He can come straight to my office."
Mu Chen smiled as he spoke. Beside him, Mu Xi also looked at Cen Yue expectantly.
But under their gazes, Cen Yue looked a little awkward.
"It isn't Tang Wulin, President. It's another boy, about the same age as Wulin. He's here to take the Thousand Refinement First Grade examination. His talent is astonishing."
"I checked his registered hometown, too. He's from Eastsea City, just like us, so I was wondering if we should watch his certification examination."
Cen Yue looked at Mu Chen as he spoke. Hearing his words, Mu Chen paused in surprise.
A certification examination wasn't the same as a regular one. Normally, a Level 3 Blacksmith taking the exam to advance to Level 4 went straight through the promotion examination.
A certification examination was for those who hadn't officially registered with the Blacksmith Association, or whose previous certification level was too low.
Li Moxun had taken a certification examination once before, but at the time he was only a Level 2 Blacksmith, so he'd stopped once he was certified at Level 2.
Now that he'd become a Level 4 Blacksmith, or even one at the peak of Level 4, he needed to take another certification examination.
After hearing Cen Yue out, Mu Chen thought for a second, then quickly nodded.
"Wulin still hasn't replied to me. Let's go downstairs first and see what's going on."
"If it seems worthwhile, the two of us can take a look, while Xi'er stays here to wait for Wulin."
As he spoke, Mu Chen hurried downstairs.
While the two men chatted upstairs, impatience had already filled Li Moxun's face.
He really wasn't used to having people watch him forge. Anyone could assess him and certify him as a Level 4 Blacksmith.
He had no interest whatsoever in the president's supposed admiration. He just found it troublesome.
Just then, as he watched the staircase descend, the door at its base opened and three people walked out. At the same time, Tang Wulin stepped out of the elevator on the other side.
Seeing Tang Wulin, Li Moxun looked utterly resigned. He knew who Tang Wulin was: Mu Chen's disciple.
He'd just beaten Mu Chen's disciple badly enough to leave him seriously injured, and now he was here to take the Level 4 certification examination.
Mu Chen wouldn't make things difficult for him, but that only meant even more trouble was on the way.
Trouble meant wasted time—time taken from his precious cultivation and the opportunity to improve.
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