Leaving the Table, Interrupted Conversation

Inside the office.

Mu Chen smiled as he looked at the two beside him and introduced them.

"Xiao Yue, Xiao Xi, this is Tang Wulin. Today, he officially received recognition from the Blacksmith Association and became a Level Two Blacksmith."

"Tang Wulin?" Mu Xi nodded calmly. "Judging by your age... you should also be a freshman from this year's intake at Eastsea Academy, right?"

If it had been the old Mu Xi, hearing of Tang Wulin's current achievement—

She might have felt jealous, unwilling to accept it, and caused trouble for him afterward.

But now, she was already a Level Four Blacksmith.

More importantly, Her worldview had been reshaped years ago.

No matter how shocking something was, it was difficult for it to stir any waves within her.

What was a Level Two Blacksmith? Had they ever seen a six-year-old Grandmaster?

"Yes." Tang Wulin nodded. "Class Five, Year One."

Class Five?

At those words, a nearly imperceptible trace of disdain flashed through Mu Xi's eyes.

A Level Two Blacksmith at his age truly had astonishing talent, but the soul master aptitude of someone in Class Five was rather poor.

Yet in either regard, he was far inferior to Xu Yue standing beside her.

Thinking of this, a hint of pride rose in Mu Xi's heart.

"This is my daughter, Mu Xi. She's also a student at Eastsea Academy, so she's your senior."

Mu Chen looked at Tang Wulin and introduced her with a smile, then pointed toward Xu Yue at the side.

"Come to think of it, Xiao Yue and you are also in the same—"

However, before Mu Chen could finish—

Screech!

A harsh scraping sound suddenly rang out!

Xu Yue, who had been sitting quietly beside Mu Xi, abruptly rose to his feet.

The sudden movement shoved the sofa he had been sitting on, along with Mu Xi, some distance away.

But the surging emotions in his heart left Xu Yue unable to care about such things.

Facing everyone's astonished gazes, Xu Yue spoke hoarsely, his voice cold.

"Sorry, Uncle Mu. I have something to do. Excuse me."

With that, he turned and walked straight out of the chairman's office.

At that moment, the room fell silent.

Everyone stared blankly at Xu Yue's departing back, unable to understand what had happened.

Although Xu Yue's expression had been exceedingly cold, anyone could sense the faintly suppressed emotions beneath it.

Neither Mu Chen and Mu Xi, who had watched Xu Yue grow up, Nor Cen Yue, who had later witnessed his rise, had ever seen Xu Yue reveal such a side of himself.

Thinking of what had just happened, thinking of Xu Yue's expression, Mu Xi's heart tightened with a faint ache, and even her breathing stalled for an instant.

After standing there in a daze for a moment, Mu Xi suddenly got to her feet and said to Mu Chen, "Dad, I'm going to check on Yue!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she did not wait for Mu Chen to respond before turning and racing after him.

With two people leaving in quick succession, no one present had any interest in continuing the conversation.

Although Mu Chen did not know exactly what had upset Xu Yue, it was likely related to Tang Wulin standing before him.

Thinking of that, he lost any interest in nurturing a junior.

Tang Wulin's talent was decent, but he was far inferior to Xu Yue.

At the same time, over the past two years, Mu Xi's talent had gradually revealed itself.

Reaching Level Four at fourteen and achieving Spirit Forging before twenty were not impossible.

Coupled with her soul master talent, which had long since transformed, Mu Xi's chances of becoming a Divine Craftsman were not low either.

They might even be higher than his own, despite him being an Eight-Star Saint Craftsman.

With that in mind, two future Divine Craftsman prospects were already more than enough to occupy his attention. There was no need to divide it further.

After handing over the blacksmith badge and offering a few words of encouragement, Mu Chen had Cen Yue lead the utterly confused Tang Wulin away.

As they walked through the main hall of the Blacksmith Association.

Tang Wulin still felt somewhat bewildered by everything that had just happened.

The conversation had clearly been going quite well, so why had that boy, who looked to be his age, stormed off so angrily?

Could it be that his talent was simply too outstanding?

Had it stirred up the other party's jealousy?

Given everything he had experienced at Eastsea Academy these past few days, it did not seem impossible.

Thus, Tang Wulin turned to look at Cen Yue, who was walking silently beside him, and asked softly, "Master Cen, could it be...?"

Upon hearing Tang Wulin's explanation, Cen Yue came to a stop.

He looked at Tang Wulin beside him with an odd expression.

Under that stare, Tang Wulin took two steps back, looking a little embarrassed.

"Master Cen... did I say something wrong?"

"Ahem..." Cen Yue coughed twice, then patted Tang Wulin on the shoulder with a complicated expression.

"Tang Wulin, your talent truly is exceptional. Even Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua had not achieved so much at your age."

"However..."

He paused before continuing, "However, that absolutely does not apply to Xu Yue."

"He is a fellow freshman in this year's intake at Eastsea Academy. Haven't you heard about him at the academy?"

"Uh..." Tang Wulin froze at those words.

He really had not heard any news about Xu Yue at the academy. Of course, that might have been because Wu Zhangkong's training schedule had been especially packed lately.

So he asked quietly, "Is he very famous?"

"If you didn't know, then I can't blame you." Cen Yue shook his head with a wry smile. "Ask anyone in the Blacksmith Association, and they'll give you the answer."

"Since you were assigned to Class Five of the first year, you should be a one-ring Soul Master now, right?"

Tang Wulin nodded lightly, somewhat embarrassed.

"Then do you know how many rings Xu Yue has now?"

Without waiting for Tang Wulin to answer, Cen Yue revealed the answer directly, spreading his hand and folding down two fingers.

"Three rings. And he had already become a Soul Elder before graduating from the junior academy."

"Though I don't know his exact current rank, with his talent, he will definitely have advanced even further!"

Soul Elder?

Those two words flashed through Tang Wulin's mind like a bolt of lightning, and his throat bobbed involuntarily.

There was actually a Soul Elder in his first-year class?!

Was that really an achievement someone his age could have?

Yet the shock brought by Xu Yue's information did not end there.

Cen Yue looked around before continuing in a lower voice.

"Moreover, Xu Yue's rank as a blacksmith is no lower either. Although you've become a second-rank blacksmith, he received his third-rank blacksmith badge a year ago."

"I believe that, with his talent, he definitely hasn't remained stagnant. He may even reach the realm of a fourth-rank blacksmith faster than that Senior Sister Mu Xi you met!"

"It's just that, because of his age, the president may have kept it hidden to protect him, so it was never announced."

After saying this, Cen Yue patted the stunned Tang Wulin on the shoulder again and said earnestly, "Though I don't know why Xu Yue left, he could never have been like what you described."

People might envy those whose achievements were only somewhat greater than their own, but they would not envy someone who stood far above them.

Likewise, they would not envy someone beneath them.

Under Cen Yue's guidance, Tang Wulin quickly learned about the Blacksmith Association's facilities and the process for accepting missions.

Even after he walked out of the Blacksmith Association building, everything Cen Yue had said about Xu Yue continued echoing in his mind.

"Same age as me? A Soul Elder? A fourth-rank blacksmith?"

The talent that his teacher Mang Tian had once praised now seemed somewhat shaken.

"...Or is my talent actually quite ordinary, and what I'm seeing now is what the real world is like?"