Second-Level Forging and Gu Yue's Rescue

When he left the cafeteria, the sun was directly overhead.

Tang Wulin walked along the street toward the Forging Masters Association. There were few people on the road, and the sea breeze rushed in from the alley, lifting the hem of his school uniform before letting it fall again. He took the Level Three badge from his pocket and glanced at it—a small hammer and three lines were engraved on its silver surface, with a tiny bump along the edge left by the casting mold. He turned the badge over and back again, then returned it to his pocket.

The gray building of the Forging Masters Association stood at the street corner, thirty stories tall. The enormous hammer emblem on its roof gleamed with a cold metallic sheen beneath the noon sun. He pushed through the glass doors and entered the lobby. It was spacious and empty, with only two young women in gray business attire at the reception desk, sorting through documents with their heads lowered.

Tang Wulin walked up to the desk. "Hello, I'm here to take the Level Two forging assessment."

The receptionist looked up at him, seeming to recognize his face. "Wait a moment. I'll contact Master Cen Yue for you." She picked up her soul communicator and spoke for a few moments before setting it down. "Master Cen is on the fifteenth floor. He asked you to come up."

As the elevator doors opened, Tang Wulin stood in the car and watched the floor numbers rise one by one. When it reached the fifteenth floor, a door at the end of the hallway stood open, with a middle-aged man seated inside. Cen Yue was about the same age as Mang Tian, lean in build and dressed in a faded gray work uniform. His sleeves were rolled up to his forearms, revealing an old burn scar on his wrist. He had been studying a metal sample on the desk, but raised his head at the sound of footsteps. When he saw Tang Wulin, he smiled. "Kid, we meet again."

"Yeah," Tang Wulin answered.

"Come on. I'll take you to see the president."

The elevator continued climbing. Cen Yue leaned against the wall of the car and glanced sideways at Tang Wulin. "How has Mang Tian been lately?"

"Pretty good."

"That guy," Cen Yue chuckled, "after all these years, he's still the same. But he's lucky too, to have accepted such an outstanding disciple as you."

"You flatter me, Master Cen."

The elevator doors opened. Mu Chen's office was on the top floor, its door open, with the sound of papers being turned coming from inside. Mu Chen sat behind a broad desk piled with blueprints, metal samples, and half a cup of cold tea. When he looked up and saw Tang Wulin, his casual appraisal became serious—he set down his pen and stood.

Mu Chen was in his early forties, of average build, wearing a neatly pressed dark forger's formal uniform. His sleeves were rolled to his elbows, exposing solid forearm muscles and several old scars of varying depths. His features were regular, his brow ridge high, and his eyes held the particular focus and scrutiny of a forger. His gaze moved from Tang Wulin's face to his hands, then back to his face. "You're Mang Tian's disciple?"

"Yes, President."

"You did well on the Level Three assessment last time." Mu Chen took a spare gray work uniform from beside the desk and handed it to him. "Forging Room Two is empty, and the Blue Pregnant Copper has been prepared. Cen Yue, go down and watch him."

The moment Tang Wulin accepted the work uniform, he lowered his head to look at the neatly folded clothes, his fingers tracing along a crease in the fabric. In his previous life, he had collected work uniforms from this office many times, from Level Two to Level Three, then Level Three to Level Four. Every time, Mu Chen had stood beside the desk like this, handed him the clothes, and said, "Go on." Those scenes overlapped with the present, but the person before him was alive and real—there was the faint old scar on Mu Chen's brow ridge, the half cup of tea was still steaming, and the corner of a blueprint on the desk lifted and fell beneath the wind blowing through the gap in the window.

That tiny thing inside him that had nearly burned out was beginning to ignite again. It was not fierce, but sparks were already stirring beneath the ashes.

Before he entered the forging room, the Golden Dragon King's voice rang in his mind. "Your wrist angle is still off. Adjust it after three strikes. Keep it steady. Don't rush."

Tang Wulin put on the work uniform and pushed open the forging room door. The heat of the furnace washed over him, while the ventilation system hummed overhead. He placed the Blue Pregnant Copper on the anvil. The instant he picked up the Heavy Silver Hammer, his wrist no longer needed to think about which direction to move. When the first hammer strike fell, sparks flew and dropped away. He was not especially fast, but every strike landed exactly where it should. The muscle memory forged through countless repetitions in his previous life surged back at that moment—the angle of his wrist, the force of each blow, the instant the hammer face left the metal. Every strike carved his past-life experience back into this nine-year-old body.

The color of the Blue Pregnant Copper gradually changed. Its patterns became clear from blurry, its surface smooth from rough. The impurities within the metal were forced out blow by blow, turning into fine powder in the gaps between hammer strikes and falling onto the anvil.

Mu Chen stood at the forging room entrance and watched through the glass for a while before turning to Cen Yue beside him. "This kid's forging effects are top-notch, and his mentality and technique are this steady too."

Cen Yue said nothing. He only stared into the forging room.

When Tang Wulin finished the final strike, his hammer hung in the air without falling. The Blue Pregnant Copper on the anvil gleamed with an even dark-red luster, its patterns clear and its texture dense. He picked it up and held it toward the light—the glow passed through the metal's surface, casting a small pale-red shadow on the floor.

When he pushed open the door and walked out, Mu Chen leaned against the hallway wall, looking at him with a smile he could barely suppress. "First-Grade Thousand Forging?"

"Yeah."

Mu Chen fell silent for two seconds, then reached out and patted his shoulder. "You passed Level Two. Also—you broke our association's record. The youngest Level Two forger."

Tang Wulin folded the work uniform and returned it to him. "Thank you, President. Could you... keep it low-key? I don't really want people to know I was the one who took the assessment."

Mu Chen looked at him. "Fine."

Cen Yue added from the side, "Go update his certification information."

"Okay," the staff member nearby replied.

Tang Wulin grinned, took two steps toward the elevator, then turned back and bowed slightly to Mu Chen and Cen Yue.

"Thank you, Master Cen. Thank you, President. I still have something to do, so I'll be going."

Mu Chen smiled at him in approval.

As the elevator doors closed, he heard Mu Chen lower his voice in the hallway. "This kid will be incredible someday."

The elevator brought him down to the first floor. As he walked out of the association's doors, the sunlight made him squint, and the sea breeze slipping into his collar brought a hint of coolness. He paused on the steps and looked to both sides of the street, as though confirming which road was quieter.

"Should I take another route?" he muttered to himself. Then he rejected the idea himself. "Changing too much will affect how the future unfolds. Speaking of which, will Gu Yue come save me?" He laughed at himself after saying it.

He did not notice that something beyond all power was slowly returning to his heart—light and buoyant, carrying a trace of inexplicable anticipation.

The spirit of youth.

He walked down the steps and turned into that street.

When he reached the school gate, he glanced at the old locust tree. Someone stood beneath its shade. He did not stop walking, but he had already begun sighing inwardly.

"You're Tang Wulin?" Mu Xi stepped out from beneath the tree's shade, arms folded across her chest. "I heard you passed Level Two today?"

Tang Wulin stopped. Haha, Senior Sister has sharp eyes. I'm Tang Wulin, and Tang Wulin is me.

But he still chose to ask, "You're Mu Xi?"

"You know me?"

"The president mentioned you."

Mu Xi smiled, but quickly restrained it. "Do you know how old I was when I passed Level Two? Thirteen. I failed twice. You passed at nine, and I've been at this school for so long without ever being outdone like this."

Tang Wulin said nothing.

"Do you dare compete with me?" Mu Xi stepped forward. "You're Level Two, I'm Level Two. Fair enough."

"Not today."

"Why?"

"I haven't eaten yet."

Mu Xi stared at him, the corner of her mouth twitching. She probably had not expected that answer. After freezing for a moment, her brows furrowed. "Are you messing with me?"

"No."

She stared at him for two seconds. Her patience had probably reached its limit. Suddenly, she took a large step forward and raised her hand to shove at his shoulder—the movement was not big, but the anger behind it was obvious.

Tang Wulin had no time to dodge. Before he could move, a force suddenly tugged him half a step backward from behind. He staggered, then steadied himself and realized that Gu Yue was somehow already standing diagonally in front of him. He had not even noticed when she had come over from the school gate.

Mu Xi's hand was blocked by a stone pillar rising from the ground. The pillar caught against her wrist bone, neither too hard nor too soft, stopping her at exactly the right point. Mu Xi's expression changed. She looked down at the stone pillar, then raised her head to look at Gu Yue. "Who are you?"

Gu Yue looked at her without speaking.

Mu Xi stepped back half a pace, wanting to go around her. The moment her foot moved, another figure cut in from the side.

At some point, Xie Xie had circled around to Mu Xi's rear flank. The Light Dragon Dagger remained sheathed, but he stood at just the right angle, blocking the space beside her.

Mu Xi was trapped between the two of them, one on either side. She stiffened, turned to glance at Xie Xie behind her, then faced Gu Yue again, her lips tightening. "You're together?"

Gu Yue still said nothing. She stood before Tang Wulin, several strands of black hair lifted by the wind, the zipper of her school uniform pulled all the way up.

Tang Wulin stood behind her, looking at her. He did not know when she had come from the school gate, nor did he know why she was standing in front of him. They had only known each other for a few days in this life, but he was still very happy.

But he noticed that her right hand was relaxed—after raising that stone pillar, she had already lowered it. Feeling the fire element gathering in her palm, Tang Wulin smiled helplessly.

"Fine." Mu Xi lowered her hand. "There are too many people. I won't compete with you today. Another time." She turned and took two steps, then looked back, her tone becoming firmer. "Next time you come to the association, give them my name. The reception desk won't stop you." With that, she left with her people.

The school entrance became quiet. Xie Xie put away the still-sheathed Light Dragon Dagger and kicked a piece of the broken stone pillar as he walked over. "Who was she?"

"The Forging Masters Association president's daughter."

"What did she want from you?"

"She wanted to compete with me in forging."

Xie Xie looked at him, then at Gu Yue, and suddenly realized something. "...You passed?"

"Yeah."

"Level Two?"

"Yeah."

Xie Xie opened his mouth, then finally laughed. "Holy crap."

The three of them walked through the school gate. Tang Wulin glanced at Gu Yue. She had already walked ahead, her pace neither hurried nor slow.

Xie Xie caught up from behind. "Director Long showed up, haha. Good thing we ran fast, or we'd have been called to the office for a talk."

Tang Wulin responded and kept walking. Sunlight filtered through the gaps between the old locust tree's leaves, scattering fine patches of light across the ground. He quickened his pace by a small step, bringing himself alongside her.

Gu Yue did not look at him. After a while, he saw the corner of her lips lift slightly in the corner of his vision. It was faint, like wind rippling over the surface of water, and it quickly returned to normal. But Tang Wulin saw it.

The wind blew over from the training field, carrying the scent of freshly cut grass and dust that had baked in the sun all morning. This noon seemed like the one in his memories, yet some things were different. He could not say what they were. He only felt that the sunlight on his body was warmer than it had been in his memories.

He glanced at her. She was not looking at him, but the small patch of skin by her ear was faintly pink beneath the sunlight.

"Thank you," he said.

Gu Yue did not turn her head. "Did that girl often bully you?"

"For the first time." Tang Wulin also knew very well that Senior Sister only wanted more recognition.

"Oh."

Gu Yue said nothing more.

Tang Wulin did not speak again either. The two walked side by side along the stone path, their shadows pressed together, making it hard to tell which belonged to whom.

The footsteps behind them caught up, then slowed again, following neither too close nor too far away. "Hey! Why are you two standing so close together?"