Forging Prodigy

"Greetings, Elder Duan."

Bai Chen was quick-witted and immediately understood, giving Duan Xuan a slight bow.

Duan Xuan waved his hand and said with a smile,

"No need for such formalities. I heard that the young master of the Bai family possesses the extremely rare Innate Level-20 Soul Power. I'm very pleased that such a talent is willing to join our Blacksmith Association."

"You flatter him."

Bai Jiaming smoothly took over, saying with a light laugh,

"When you teach him later, if he makes any mistakes, be sure to correct him immediately. Don't hesitate to scold him."

"Haha, naturally."

Duan Xuan replied with a beaming smile.

Bai Chen wore a mild smile, but his thoughts had already drifted far away.

Come to think of it, if this old man truly was the president of the Tianhai Blacksmith Association, then his status was anything but ordinary.

Bai Chen had somewhat forgotten the name Duan Xuan, but once that identity was mentioned, he immediately remembered—wasn't this the teacher of Saint Artisan Mu Chen?

Like Mu Chen, he was also a Saint Artisan.

Being able to invite him over meant his father had truly put in considerable effort.

But in Bai Chen's eyes, Duan Xuan's own identity was not the most important thing. What truly interested him was another one of Duan Xuan's disciples.

That was Divine Artisan Zhen Hua.

According to the settings of the Douluo III Era, Zhen Hua and Mu Chen came from the same school. In other words, he too was a disciple of the old man before him.

Although the definition of a Divine Artisan had been altered more than once, no matter when, it had always carried immense weight. If he could establish a connection with Zhen Hua, Bai Chen would take far fewer detours in learning forging.

But ultimately, whether he could establish such a connection was not up to Bai Chen for now. It depended on whether he could impress the old man before him.

Bai Jiaming sent Xu Xiaoyan and the others to the Bai Family Villa, then took Bai Chen and Duan Xuan to the Tianhai Blacksmith Association.

As the largest city on the East Coast, Skysea City was considered a first-tier city even across the entire continent. Naturally, the Blacksmith Association in such a city could not compare to those in smaller places.

The moment Bai Chen and the others entered the Blacksmith Association, they were stunned by the bustling scene before them.

Within their field of vision, almost no one was idle. Everyone was occupied with their own work, looking incredibly busy.

After entering the Blacksmith Association, Duan Xuan naturally took over as their guide. He led Bai Chen and Bai Jiaming into an elevator and arrived at the top floor.

Duan Xuan opened a door at the very end of the corridor, brought them inside, and said,

"This is the forging room I usually use. Over the next two hours, I'll personally demonstrate what forging is and test your aptitude as a blacksmith."

"Yes."

Bai Chen understood that those words were directed at him. He nodded and answered respectfully.

Bai Jiaming silently walked to the corner of the room, pulled over a chair, and sat down.

This was the first lesson. More than anything, it was meant to determine whether Bai Chen was suited to becoming a blacksmith. If this truly was the right path for him, Bai Jiaming would not accompany him in the future. He was also an extremely busy man, and he had specifically made time today to help fulfill his son's wish.

Duan Xuan was very satisfied with Bai Chen's attitude. He walked to the forging platform and raised a hand. A flash of white light passed over the bracelet on his wrist, and two dark gold hammers appeared in his hands.

The moment the hammers appeared, the aura around him changed along with them. He became noticeably more composed and steady.

Then, he began forging.

He did not deliberately choose a low-level forging task just because Bai Chen was a newcomer who had never encountered forging before.

Quite the opposite—he immediately began Soul Forging, something only a Saint Artisan could accomplish.

Bai Chen understood nothing at the moment. Even if Duan Xuan explained exactly what he was doing, Bai Chen might not understand it. Therefore, Duan Xuan chose to use a magnificent forging session to directly stir Bai Chen's yearning for the profession of a blacksmith.

And the facts proved that his choice was correct.

As he listened to the rhythmic clanging, Bai Chen's expression slowly began to change.

It had to be said that a Saint Artisan's forging was truly extraordinary. The sound of him striking metal was not unpleasant in the slightest. Instead, it felt like music.

Bai Chen gradually became entranced.

Finally, when Duan Xuan brought down his last hammer, Bai Chen seemed to remember how to breathe again and let out a long exhale.

Duan Xuan turned around and asked Bai Chen,

"How was it? Would you like to give it a try?"

"Mm!"

"..."

Seeing the obvious excitement on Bai Chen's face, Duan Xuan raised an eyebrow.

It seemed he had truly found a decent talent this time?

He smiled faintly, extended both hands toward Bai Chen, and handed over the forging hammers.

"Since you want to try, then try it yourself. Your task today is to strike a piece of metal one thousand times."

"Alright."

Without the slightest hesitation, Bai Chen accepted the forging hammers and stepped up to the forging platform.

A trace of surprise flashed through Duan Xuan's eyes. The corners of his lips curled upward slightly, while the curiosity in his gaze became even more intense.

As a Saint Artisan, the forging hammers he used were naturally no ordinary items. An ordinary Soul Grandmaster would never be able to lift such hammers so easily.

It seemed this child's Martial Soul was strength-based and greatly enhanced his power.

Duan Xuan silently gave his assessment.

Bai Chen did not know that Duan Xuan had already begun evaluating him. After Duan Xuan's almost teasing display of skill, his heart was now filled with interest.

Being reborn meant doing everything he wanted to do. The profession of blacksmith had now genuinely piqued Bai Chen's interest, and not merely because of how prestigious it was.

He took a deep breath, raised the forging hammer high, and heavily brought down the first hammer blow of his career as a blacksmith.

"Clang!"

A crisp sound rang out, and Duan Xuan nodded imperceptibly.

He had been right. That strength had clearly surpassed the level of an ordinary Soul Grandmaster.

At least in terms of strength, Bai Chen had passed.

Forging Genius

But simply swinging that hammer was not what Bai Chen wanted. What he wanted was to recreate the incomparably beautiful melody he had just heard.

Thus, after the first strike fell, the second and third strikes quickly landed on the forging platform as well.

"Hiss..."

At first, Duan Xuan watched with a calm smile on his face.

But as the number of strikes increased, a growing look of uncertainty appeared on his face.

Generally speaking, when newcomers first came into contact with forging, they would wildly hammer away and quickly exhaust all their strength.

More intelligent newcomers would strike at a steady pace, conserving as much strength as possible to prolong their forging time.

Bai Chen's movements alternated between fast and slow, making him appear to be the former.

But after watching carefully for a while, Duan Xuan gradually realized that something was wrong.

"Could it be... he's imitating me?"

This startling thought slowly rose in his heart.

Bai Chen was not striking at varying speeds because he was hammering at random. On the contrary, he had deliberately chosen to do so. He wanted to recreate Duan Xuan's moving "melody."

However, this was his first time encountering forging. With his current ability, trying to perfectly reproduce Duan Xuan's technique in a single attempt was undoubtedly a fantasy.

But that did not matter. So what if he failed? Every technique humanity had ever created had taken shape only after countless setbacks. If people became discouraged after merely a few or a few dozen failures, humanity could never have created such a brilliant civilization!

Sweat gradually seeped from his forehead and dripped onto the forging platform, yet Bai Chen seemed completely unaware of it as he continued swinging the forging hammer in his hand.

By this point, the courteous smile on Duan Xuan's face had completely disappeared, leaving only profound shock.

"Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang..."

The crisp hammer strikes continued without end. This rhythmic and exceptionally pleasant sound was clearly his forging technique.

Although it sounded somewhat unpolished, with occasional stumbling pauses in between, there was no doubt about it. This was the hammer technique he had personally developed.

How was this possible? This could no longer be described as mere talent. Even his most outstanding eldest disciple was nowhere near half as capable as the child before him.

Bai Chen had completely entered the zone. In his perception, everything around him seemed to have disappeared. Even the metal on the forging platform had vanished. The only thing left in his world was the ringing sound of hammer strikes.

No, no, still not right! I still can't perfectly recreate that beautiful sound. I can go further!

With that thought, he fiercely swung down another hammer.

"Ding—"

Yet that strike brought an entirely different change.

A pale golden light lit up from the forging platform. It illuminated the entire forging room and startled awake Bai Chen, who had been fully immersed, as well as the two stunned spectators.

Bai Chen emerged from his focused state. His first reaction was to continue forging, but the instant he raised his hand, an intense wave of weakness struck him. He nearly toppled over from the weight of the hammer in his hand.

Fortunately, Duan Xuan supported him in time and said gently,

"Relax. What you need most right now is rest."

Although Bai Chen had successfully replicated his technique at the end of the forging session, his initial strikes had been no different from wild, random hammering. He had wasted a great deal of strength for nothing.

As a result, Bai Chen had unknowingly exhausted all his strength long ago. He had simply been too focused to notice how terrible his condition had become.

If it had been any other child, Duan Xuan would have long since declared them unqualified and unsuitable for forging.

But at this moment, he could not say anything of the sort. Trembling slightly, he walked to the forging platform and picked up the piece of metal Bai Chen had just forged.

The metal now looked entirely different from before. Its surface gleamed with an obvious luster, clearly having undergone a complete transformation.

"Thousand Forging..."

Duan Xuan's voice trembled as he spoke of the metal's grade.

Then, as if possessed, he rushed before Bai Jiaming and asked urgently,

"Bai Jiaming, has your son really never come into contact with forging before?!"

Bai Jiaming was startled by his appearance, but he quickly recovered and nodded heavily.

"Yes. He had never even touched a forging hammer before."

"—"

Duan Xuan looked as though he could barely breathe.

Thousand Forging—this was Thousand Forging!

A Soul Grandmaster completing Thousand Forging was not particularly astonishing. Many outstanding blacksmiths could accomplish it.

But this was Bai Chen's first time touching a forging hammer! How much time had those blacksmiths spent to forge Thousand-Forged Metal? And how much time had Bai Chen spent?

In truth, even without asking Bai Jiaming, Duan Xuan knew Bai Chen was absolutely a complete novice. As someone who had watched the entire forging process, he could tell that Bai Chen truly knew nothing about forging. He had merely been imitating Duan Xuan's forging technique.

Duan Xuan had some idea of how this child had secretly learned the technique. He had most likely used a method similar to Hammer Listening, reproducing it through sound.

Understanding it was one thing. Accepting it was another.

"Genius..."

The words in his heart slipped unconsciously from his mouth. Duan Xuan could not help but sigh,

"What a genius..."

Completing Thousand Forging at six years old was not merely unprecedented. It was very likely that no one would ever accomplish it again.

Thousand Forging required far more than simply striking a piece of metal a thousand times. It was actually the process of gradually removing impurities from the metal, so it required sufficient strength and an understanding of forging techniques.

Normally, a six-year-old child could at most have Level 10 Soul Power. It was nearly impossible for one to possess the strength needed for Thousand Forging, while forging technique was even more out of the question.

Yet Bai Chen happened to fulfill both requirements, accomplishing an unprecedented miracle.

Bai Jiaming helped Bai Chen to a seat and asked Duan Xuan,

"Then, President Duan, what do you think of my son..."