Journey to Eastsea City

"Try striking it a few more times," Qi Feng said to Lin Yu. Lin Yu did as told and struck it once more with his other hand.

"Clang, clang."

Strangely, there were two sounds this time. Qi Feng raised an eyebrow slightly, then subconsciously reached out to touch the metal. He froze at once.

As a veteran forging master, he could roughly judge the texture of metal the instant he laid hands on it. Yet the purity of the metal beneath his hand had increased by at least fifty percent.

"Hit it again!" Qi Feng said to Lin Yu.

"Clang!" There was only one sound this time. Qi Feng no longer looked at Lin Yu's hammer and instead shoved the metal into a soul tool used for scanning.

"It's already fully purified?!" Qi Feng looked at Lin Yu. After a long while, he told him the test results.

Then, he took out a piece of metal that was nearly like raw ore, mottled with impurities, and said to Lin Yu, "Keep hitting it until the sound of the forging hammer becomes one sound per strike."

Although Lin Yu did not understand why, he still followed the instruction. First came sixteen consecutive sets of three "clang, clang, clang" sounds.

Then the sound suddenly became two strikes. After two "clang, clang" sounds, the next strike turned into a crisp single clang. Yet after that crisp clang, when he swung the hammer again, it reverted to three clangs.

Qi Feng once again shoved the metal into the testing device, then said to Lin Yu, "Your special effect has likely undergone a mutated overlap. It's a special effect that has never appeared before, and I'm naming it Stacked Tremor."

"It possesses both the effects of the top-tier special effects Stacked Hammer and Tremor. When impurities are present in the metal, its Stacked Hammer effect also carries the Tremor effect, until the impurities within the metal have been purified. Only then will it function like a normal Stacked Hammer, stacking three strikes into one. With this, your path in forging will become much easier."

"With Stacked Tremor, you can skip the process of purifying impurities. At the same time, you can easily determine the degree of purification. Two sounds means there are almost no impurities left, while one sound means the impurities have been completely purified away. As for subsequent forging, you can be three times as efficient as an ordinary person."

Lin Yu nodded, then looked at the pair of forging hammers. Qi Feng handed him a bracelet and said, "Although you most likely already have a storage soul tool, we forging masters value being meticulous in our work. Work-related items should be stored separately. No one will fault you for that."

"This bracelet was a work my teacher passed down to me. Today, I'm passing it on to you. If you encounter a forging disciple you think is promising in the future, you can pass it on to them as well. Consider it a small inheritance of our line of forging masters. The space inside isn't large, but it has ten cubic meters, enough to store most of your forging-related items."

Looking at the crimson bracelet, Lin Yu reached out and accepted it. "Thank you, Teacher. I've been very happy studying with you during this time. Although you can be a little strict at times, I know you only wanted to use your own methods to help me go further."

Qi Feng smiled, then turned his back and waved a hand at Lin Yu. "At least you've got some conscience, kid. Since you know I want you to go further, never retreat into a small place like Aolai City like I did. Bright Capital, Shrek City, and Heaven Dou City—those are where you belong."

Lin Yu nodded. In Qi Feng's heart, neither Bright Capital nor Shrek City was as important as Heaven Dou City. The reason was simple: he was a forging master, and the headquarters of the Forging Masters Association was located in Heaven Dou City.

Qi Feng truly had been raising his expectations for Lin Yu step by step according to his own beliefs.

Lin Yu turned around and said to Qi Feng, "Then, Teacher, I'll be leaving now."

After boarding the soul-tool train, Lin Yu's feelings of parting faded somewhat. He had been a transmigrator to begin with. Although the emotional experiences he had accumulated over the years in Aolai City were real, they were not tied to any blood relations in the truest sense. He was able to adjust his emotions fairly quickly.

Touching the crimson bracelet on his wrist and thinking about the special effect he had obtained, Lin Yu sighed inwardly. With this, competing with Tang Wulin for the position of divine general was unavoidable.

He could only take things one step at a time. At least Tang Hao's foresight had not reached the point where he would suddenly appear now with a giant hammer and smash him into a two-dimensional being.

Sitting in a private compartment on the train bound for Eastsea City, Lin Yu felt the cool air from the air conditioning. His gaze gradually grew unfocused amid the rapidly passing scenery, and in the end, he tilted his head and fell asleep.

The journey went smoothly. Upon arriving at Eastsea City Station, Lin Yu got off the train and went directly to the station reception desk, where he paid someone to arrange a soul-powered taxi to Eastsea Academy. In this regard, the process was almost the same as hailing a cab at a station before ride-hailing apps became popular.

The service was even better. After he paid, someone specially assigned to him carried his luggage to the vehicle. He only needed to follow that person to the taxi stand and wait.

"Kid, where are your parents? Why did you come here alone to study?" The taxi driver was quite talkative. Seeing that Lin Yu was alone and clearly still a child, he asked the question.

"Oh, I'm a soul master anyway, so I can protect myself. Ordinary people wouldn't come looking for trouble with me, and my dad is busy with work, so no one came with me." After a brief silence, Lin Yu answered casually.

The taxi driver gave an acknowledging sound and did not continue discussing the matter. He simply drove straight toward Eastsea Academy.

The taxi stopped beneath a stretch of high walls. Almost at the same time, a bus carrying students also pulled up.

The academy was shaded by lush trees. Just inside the entrance was a broad road stretching sideways in both directions, while the road directly ahead was paved with bluestone slabs, giving it an ancient charm.

The main teaching building of the intermediate academy stood on the eastern side of the campus. It was a twelve-story building, with higher grades occupying higher floors.

Although he did not have an upperclassman guiding him like Tang Wulin did, Eastsea Academy had relevant signposts. Lin Yu quickly found the academic affairs office.

With Red Mountain Academy's letter of recommendation, Lin Yu quickly completed his registration and received two free sets of school uniforms, along with the key to his dormitory.

Lin Yu also picked up a freshman handbook from a nearby shelf. It contained a map of Eastsea Academy and the surrounding area, as well as some basic school rules, precautions, and the academy's disciplinary system.

None of that seemed problematic to Lin Yu. After checking his dorm assignment and seeing that he would not be entangled with Tang Wulin and the others on the first floor, he did not hurry to the dormitory. Instead, he turned and headed toward the Spirit Pagoda...