Three Years Later, Qi Sect's Graduation Ceremony

Although Lin Yu's first forging lesson had not been comfortable—one could even call it painful—he had not backed down.

He had long expected the aching pain in both arms that followed his first forging lesson.

After all, he knew full well that he was not Tang Wulin. He did not possess the Golden Dragon King's bloodline, so it was impossible for his arms to swell like steamed buns on the first day and return to normal the next. That was not a physique an ordinary human should have.

However, the situation was not entirely without benefits.

He could clearly feel that every time his arms swelled up, were treated with medicine, recovered, then swelled again, were treated again, and recovered again, he became increasingly adept at wielding those forging hammers, while his strength steadily improved.

On the first day, he had needed to use soul power just to lift and wield them. By the hundredth day, Lin Yu could use them normally through the strength of his body alone.

By the end of the first year, as Lin Yu reached level eighteen soul power, the pair of hammers flew through his hands like spinning wheels.

How impressive was it to raise his soul power by eight levels in a year while studying forging, among those with innately full soul power?

Lin Yu did not really have much of a concept of it. After all, to him, this was a solid reality, not some broad-strokes Douluo fanfiction.

But Lin Qingye was quite pleased. Clearly, his progress could at least be considered decent and steady.

Naturally, the one who was equally surprised and delighted by Lin Yu's progress was his forging teacher, the level-seven forger named Qi Feng.

Over the past year or so, he had already taught Lin Yu the methods of hundred refinement and had begun guiding him through thousand refinement practice.

Qi Feng was extremely pleased that Lin Yu had begun entering the realm of thousand refinement at the age of seven. At the same time, Lin Yu's arrival had greatly eased his workload. Nearly all the hundred refinement orders had been completed by Lin Yu alone.

This purely practical teaching method had also made Lin Yu's hundred refinement exceptionally seasoned and steady, as though it had been produced by a forger above level three.

Time passed bit by bit amid such practice, and before long, Lin Yu's time at junior academy came to an end.

When Lin Yu graduated from Red Mountain Junior Soul Master Academy, his soul power cultivation had already reached the level of a rank-thirty Soul Master. The two soul rings that the century-old soul spirit Poison Angel could provide were no longer enough for him.

Lin Yu was now a two-ringed Soul Master with rank-thirty soul power. He only needed to absorb one soul spirit to advance to the Soul Master realm.

Lin Qingye had long made plans for Lin Yu's situation. He intended for Lin Yu to first attend Eastsea Academy as stated in the letter of recommendation, then complete his spirit ascension within the Life Platform of the Eastsea Spirit Pagoda.

This would minimize the number of times he appeared before the Spirit Pagoda.

At the same time, from the day his student registration officially entered Eastsea Academy, Lin Yu would count as a soul master talent who had truly entered the Federation's field of vision. The Spirit Pagoda would no longer be able to casually interfere with his choice of faction.

That was why every faction, including the Spirit Pagoda, chose to recruit people immediately after their martial souls awakened.

Aside from fearing that another faction might snatch them away, they were also worried that once they entered intermediate academy, using coercive methods would become illegal.

Although underworld factions did not care much about Federation law, factions like theirs that operated in the legitimate world ultimately still needed to keep up appearances.

During this time, Na'er left without saying goodbye just as she had in the original story, leaving behind only a bracelet and a letter explaining that she was returning to her family.

Lin Yu remained very calm. He touched the gems on the bracelet Na'er had left behind and, after confirming that they were merely ordinary jewelry rather than special items imbued with soul power, casually put it on his wrist.

This time, Lin Qingye did not put on airs and personally drive Lin Yu to Eastsea Academy. Instead, he stopped at the front door, where father and son faced each other.

"My son, once you leave, you will be a proper soul master. The broad road ahead is yours to walk. Your father shall wait here for good news from you," Lin Qingye said as he leaned against the doorframe. His gaze held both gratification and what seemed to be a trace of mourning for his late wife.

Yet he was holding a bottle of strongly scented beer at the most inappropriate moment, completely ruining the scene.

Lin Yu did not point out that the bottle in Lin Qingye's hand was spoiling the atmosphere. Instead, he calmly said, "Father, after I leave, I will return someday and make up for everything you have lost."

Lin Qingye burst into laughter, then waved at Lin Yu. "What you have learned over these years, as well as the talent you have displayed, has put my mind at ease.

"But your father still has a word for you: the tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind. Before you possess sufficient power and influence, it is best to keep your edge hidden. Do you understand?"

Lin Yu nodded. Lin Qingye then said, "Before you leave, go see your teacher in the forging world. He said he has something to give you."

Lin Yu paused at those words, then nodded. He already had some idea what Qi Feng intended to give him. He followed the route he had traveled countless times over the past three years and arrived at the Forging Masters Association.

After easily finding Qi Feng's forging room, he saw Qi Feng sitting there with a purple clay teapot in hand, drinking tea from it.

"You're here?" Qi Feng set down the teapot, raised his eyes to Lin Yu, and stood up.

Lin Yu nodded. Qi Feng rose and pulled away the red cloth covering an object on the forging table behind him.

They were two pieces of metal, gleaming gold, each the size of a fist. Qi Feng said to Lin Yu, "I taught you the method of thousand refinement long ago, but I have kept you from using it all these years. Instead, I had you continuously polish your hundred refinement fundamentals, all for today."

Lin Yu nodded. He had already grasped what Qi Feng was going to say. Qi Feng continued, "In my Qi Sect, the basic requirement for completing one's training is to forge a pair of forging hammers suited to oneself, hammers with which one can communicate in spirit. Therefore, this is your test.

"Additionally, I have one extra requirement. These two pieces of metal must be forged into hammers in the form of grade-one thousand refinement for you to pass."

Lin Yu could not help drawing in a sharp breath. Qi Feng meant for him, someone who had never truly performed thousand refinement before, to complete two pieces of grade-one thousand refinement in one go during an examination.

He could only say that if Qi Feng did not want him to pass, he could have simply said so...