Forging Competition Interlude

"Good. Zhou Mingyu (sword)'s side has also achieved the desired results. Important figures from the Spirit Pagoda headquarters have already come into contact with Lei Peng Douluo."

"Who?"

"I heard that Sky Phoenix herself came."

"Oh? That means those Spirit Pagoda higher-ups have begun to take him seriously. They'll clear away many obstacles from his future path."

"Then next, it will be time to see your performance."

"Don't worry. My next performance will add another blaze to this era bursting with geniuses."

The next day.

Today was the day of the forging division competition. Early in the morning, Tang Wulin was the first to dash out of his room and head to the Forging Masters Association to meet up with the others.

By convention, the forging competition should have been the first to be held and the first to end. The first round had indeed proceeded on schedule according to the organizers' plans.

However, there were too many participants in this year's individual competition, and it had drawn too much attention. The staff had been prioritized there, so the second round had been delayed until today.

After finishing the competition here, he still had to participate in the individual competition, followed by the three-person team competition that afternoon. It was like rushing from one stage to another.

Thus, after completing his Purple Demon Eye cultivation that morning and eating breakfast, he hurried to find Master Cen Yue.

Cen Yue walked at the front with a sixth-rank forging master badge hanging from his chest. The other forging masters followed behind, while Tang Wulin and Mu Xi, being younger, walked at the very back.

Mu Xi wore a fourth-rank forging master badge on her chest, its four orange stars especially eye-catching. Thanks to the example set by her senior brother Li Ziming and Mu Chen's strict urging, her forging attainments were also somewhat higher than in the original work, and she had already reached the level of a fourth-rank forging master.

Tang Wulin's forging master badge also had an orange background with yellow stars—four stars in total.

"Big Sister Mu Xi, will Brother Ziming be coming today?" Tang Wulin asked Mu Xi expectantly in a low voice.

"Senior Brother said that, in order to encourage the young forging masters of the Tianhai Alliance region, the organizers will invite him here to give a demonstration of advanced forging techniques." Mu Xi turned back and gave him a faint smile, her voice carrying the pride of shared glory.

"Really? That's wonderful!"

As the two spoke, Zheng Tianlin, who was likewise representing the Donghai City Forging Masters Association in the competition, came over to Tang Wulin.

"Junior Brother, Master asked me to tell you that you don't need to hide your abilities this time. Just bring out the full strength of a fourth-rank forging master and give it everything you have. Quite a few important figures have come this time. With your age and talent, you'll definitely win their favor and investment. That will be of enormous benefit to your future cultivation and acquisition of rare resources," Zheng Tianlin said to Tang Wulin in a lowered voice.

Unlike the development in the original work, after accepting Li Ziming as his disciple, Mu Chen had focused nearly all his teaching efforts on Li Ziming. Coupled with the need to attend to Mu Xi's training as well, he no longer had any intention of taking in another disciple.

Therefore, after discovering Tang Wulin's talent, Mu Chen had recommended him to Zheng Tianlin's teacher—Huang Xing, another Saint Craftsman-ranked forging master of the East Sea Blacksmith Association. Although Huang Xing was only a seventh-rank forging master and slightly weaker than President Mu Chen, he was the Association's vice president.

Thus, Tang Wulin and Zheng Tianlin had become fellow disciples.

After suffering repeated blows from the monstrous forging talents of Li Ziming and Tang Wulin, Zheng Tianlin had also come to recognize the gap between himself and true geniuses like them. He gradually reined in his arrogant temperament and began studying forging techniques with both feet planted firmly on the ground. Instead, he had grown considerably.

"I understand, Senior Brother. I'll give it my all," Tang Wulin replied with confidence.

Soon, the group arrived at the competition venue.

The forging competition venue was also in a sports hall near Skysea Stadium. The moment he entered, Tang Wulin felt his spirits rise.

Looking around, he saw that more than a hundred forging platforms had already been set up inside the sports hall. They all appeared to be the most advanced kind, clearly better than the one he used in his workshop. He had only seen forging platforms of this grade at the Association.

Although the Tianhai Alliance did not have many powerhouses, its financial strength was extremely formidable.

There were not especially many spectators in the stands. In the eyes of ordinary people, forging was not particularly important. After all, what drew the most attention was still soul master combat, or at least things like mecha manufacturing.

Forging was a tedious affair—this was the instinctive perception of many people.

Besides many insiders from the forging world who had come to observe, the podium also held many mid- and high-level members of major factions drawn in by the popularity of the individual competition. They too wanted to see whether they could find outstanding forging prodigies. They did not dare hope for someone of Li Ziming's caliber, but if there were somewhat lesser talents, they could still try to invest in and recruit them.

Tang Wulin did not recognize a single one of them at a glance, but he figured that only forging masters of at least the fifth rank or high-level soul masters above Soul Emperor rank could sit on the podium.

"The second round of the Skysea Alliance Grand Tournament forging competition is about to begin. All contestants, please prepare yourselves. After the first round of selection, only thirty percent of you remain. I hope you will cherish this opportunity and display your very best standards.

"At the same time, choose your rare metals carefully. After forging is complete, there will be a third-round shaping competition. The second round will begin in one minute."

The examiner hosting the competition had begun announcing the details.

As long as they passed the first round, they could proceed to the second and third-round assessments. Their overall scores would then be combined to determine the rankings.

The participating forging masters all stared at their own forging platforms, calming their minds and steadying their breaths.

For every forging master, dedication and focus were the most fundamental things. Having passed the first round and completed relatively high-level Hundred Refinements purification, they might be young, but they were all capable in this respect.

Tang Wulin was the same. He calmed his mind and steadied his breath, and his entire being seemed to enter a strange rhythm.

When Mu Xi subconsciously glanced at him, she only felt that Tang Wulin's breathing and entire mental state had entered a special rhythm. It was as though he had fused with the forging platform, with no distinction between them.

No wonder Father and Senior Brother had praised him so highly. He truly was extraordinary! Mu Xi silently marveled to herself.

She could now increasingly understand her senior brother's evaluation of Tang Wulin. His astonishing talent in forging was far from being as simple as innate divine strength.

"Ten, nine, eight..."

The countdown began.

"Three, two, one, begin!"

"Competition start!"

Within the forging platforms, chunks of rare metal that had already been heated to a sufficient temperature rose again under the contestants' control. The second round of the forging competition was about to begin.

On the podium, the judges' gazes fell upon the various competition platforms as if by unspoken agreement. The white-haired elder seated in the center immediately found Tang Wulin with his eyes.

"That's the little fellow from the first round, right? If I remember correctly, he seems to be Old Huang's disciple." The white-haired elder pointed in Tang Wulin's direction.

"Yes. We have already investigated him. He is from the Donghai City Forging Masters Association and is Vice President Huang's disciple. His senior brother is also participating in this forging competition, though in the youth division, and his results are quite impressive as well.

"The girl beside him is President Mu Chen of the East Sea Blacksmith Association's daughter. Her talent is also exceptionally outstanding.

"If we count Saint Craftsman Li as well, the East Sea Blacksmith Association's younger generation has truly produced heroes and talents in abundance these past few years!" a middle-aged man beside the elder said admiringly.

The white-haired elder nodded. "I want to see whether this little fellow can bring us another surprise today. Investigate him further. It would be best if you could uncover his family circumstances and background."

"Elder Duan, what do you mean?" The middle-aged man looked at the elder in surprise.

The white-haired elder smiled faintly. "Although our Skysea Blacksmith Association has also produced quite a few talents, when it comes to top-tier talent, we cannot compare to Donghai. They have truly stolen all the limelight these past few years.

"We must find some way to improve things. They can eat the meat; surely we can have a sip of the soup. This is an opportunity for us as well."

"I understand. I'll make the arrangements right away." The middle-aged man immediately grasped his meaning and went to the side to make a soul communication call.

Tang Wulin knew nothing about any of this. At that moment, the competition had already begun.

Two flashes of light flickered, and a pair of forging hammers appeared in his palms—the Thousand Refined Sinking Silver Hammers.

His left hammer lightly tapped the Sinking Silver, producing a crisp "ding."

The Thousand Refined Tungsten Steel Hammer swung up, came crashing down with a boom, then the other hammer swung.

Gradually, Tang Wulin's hammering speed on the forging platform increased, yet it did not become chaotic. There was a faint rhythm and cadence to it.

Feeling, rhythm!

Sinking Silver was the rare metal he knew best and had forged the most, yet this time, his feeling was completely different.

Normally, he could also sense the aura of Sinking Silver, but he discovered that this sensation was gradually becoming clearer. Under strikes of this rhythm and cadence, the feedback from the Sinking Silver continuously produced marvelous changes.

As he continued communicating with the metal, he gradually emptied himself, forgot—forgot that he was competing, forgot that he was forging, forgot the death warrant hanging over him...

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom! The string of hammer blows was pleasing to the ear, yet he had already lost himself completely. Soul power within his body flowed into his arms on its own, sustaining the high-frequency forging as his entire being merged into it.

At this very moment, he felt as though he had cast off every shackle and gained true freedom!

He no longer needed to worry about any great calamity of life and death, nor about his teachers' expectations or the pressures of survival. At this moment, his world contained only forging! He only needed to forge with all his strength!

He did not notice that by the time his side had begun forging with the fury of wind and rain, the other young forging masters beside him had yet to begin.

The competition had ended. The judges stood before the platforms, and they could already clearly see the Thousand Refined Sinking Silver atop the forging platform.

Without a doubt, this was a finished Thousand Refinements product, and its quality had already reached first grade!

The first-grade Thousand Refined Sinking Silver Tang Wulin had forged was nothing much in their eyes, but his age was terrifying! Ten years old—a ten-year-old capable of Thousand Refinements. Even Zhenhua and Li Ziming had only been at this level at that age.

Elder Duan's breathing became somewhat hurried as he looked at Cen Yue. "Why have I never heard that Mu Chen took in a disciple? Have any of you heard about it?"

The forging masters of the Skysea Blacksmith Association all shook their heads and echoed, "Never heard of it."

Cen Yue's expression changed drastically. "Elder Duan, what do you mean by this?"

"Nothing. I simply feel that we should not delay this child's future."

Duan Xuan's gaze upon Tang Wulin gradually grew blazing, almost scorching.

There was no helping it. The pressure on the Skysea Blacksmith Association had been too great in recent years. Skysea City, as the leader of the Tianhai Alliance, had nevertheless been continuously suppressed in the forging world by Donghai City, which had once always been inferior to them.

It was all because the East Sea Blacksmith Association had produced Li Ziming, a talent who overshadowed an entire generation. His rise had been too swift, too sudden! It had caught them utterly off guard and left them with no power to strike back!

Originally, that had not been much. After all, it was Mu Chen's disciple who had made something of himself; one could live one's own life however one wished.

But the most fatal part was that after Li Ziming rose to prominence, everyone investigated and discovered...

Li Ziming was born in Skysea City. He had once belonged to the Skysea Blacksmith Association, yet only after going to the East Sea Blacksmith Association and becoming Mu Chen's disciple had he, in a single day, soared like an eagle striking the vast sky, like a roc spreading its wings!

Thus, the Skysea Blacksmith Association's position had become extremely awkward. That investigation report was like a glaring mockery of their inability to recognize talent, their failure to recognize a true dragon, leaving Li Ziming's pearl buried in dust in Skysea City.

It caught the Skysea Blacksmith Association completely unprepared. Even if they tried to explain themselves, few would listen. Every time Duan Xuan attended a meeting at headquarters, there would always be several old fossils using the matter to ridicule him. Skysea City had endured no small amount of mockery because of it.

Furthermore, in recent years, they truly had a gap between generations. They still had some minor geniuses, but there were very few supreme talents with the potential to become Saint Craftsmen. Meanwhile, the East Sea Blacksmith Association was overflowing with talent. Setting aside Li Ziming, the pillar holding up the cauldron, even their rising talents emerged one after another.

"Child, are you willing to take me as your master?"

"I..." Tang Wulin had just been about to refuse outright when he discovered that he could not make a sound. It was as if some force had forcibly restrained him, and his body was continuously being pressed down to kneel.

For a moment, Tang Wulin panicked completely. He wanted to seek help from Cen Yue beside him, but he could not break free of the restraint or make any response at all.

Looking at Tang Wulin, whose talent might rival Li Ziming's, Duan Xuan made up his mind. While the East Sea Blacksmith Association's higher-ups were absent, he had to establish the master-disciple relationship before so many factions. Even if Huang Xing came to trouble him later, he could claim that he had not known of their master-disciple relationship beforehand and muddle through it.

Once the wood had become a boat, even if he only bore the title of master, when Tang Wulin achieved fame and success in the future, the Skysea Blacksmith Association could still bask in some of his glory and wash away their reputation for failing to recognize talent.

Just as Tang Wulin was about to kneel before Duan Xuan, when success was at hand—

A warm breeze swept over Tang Wulin's body, dispelling the force restraining him and lifting him up. A voice followed close behind.

"Elder Duan, you jest. Tang Wulin has already become the final disciple of Saint Craftsman Huang Xing, vice president of our East Sea Blacksmith Association. How could he take another person as his master?"

Hearing that familiar voice, Tang Wulin turned his head and saw that Li Ziming had arrived just in time. He immediately let out a sigh of relief and said to Duan Xuan, "I'm sorry, Elder Duan. I already have a master, so I cannot take you as my master."

When Elder Duan saw Li Ziming arrive, his expression stiffened. He knew that it was no longer possible to make Tang Wulin acknowledge him as master.

"Since that is the case, there is no need to mention this matter again. All right, return now. Do not affect the children's competition." With that, he took the lead in walking toward the podium.

Seeing Duan Xuan leave, Li Ziming looked at Cen Yue beside him and said, "Master Cen, take Wulin away first. You don't need to worry about what comes next. He will not pester you again."

"Luckily, you arrived in time, Ziming. Otherwise, I truly wouldn't have known what to do," Cen Yue replied.

"Then what about you, Brother Ziming?" Tang Wulin asked from the side.

"Wulin, go wait for me in the VIP room. Vice President Huang has already arrived as well. I still have some matters to handle."

After saying this to him, Li Ziming gave a mysterious smile.