A "Young Man" Has Arrived at the Blacksmiths' Association...

"Older brother isn't leaving Na'er behind. Older brother wants to get stronger so that he can protect Na'er even better."

"But... but Na'er will miss older brother all by herself..."

Na'er's eye rims turned slightly red.

"I'll come back to see Na'er often."

"Really?" Na'er looked up, a pair of large eyes gazing earnestly at Chen Xing's face.

Chen Xing looked into Na'er's eyes gently:

"Don't worry, Na'er. No matter how far I go, this place will always be my home, and I will always care about Na'er."

"If you miss me too much, you can write to me often."

Hearing this, Na'er wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Mm, Na'er definitely will."

Chen Xing smiled and rubbed her head, praising Na'er for being a good girl.

Na'er lowered her gaze instantly, a hint of joy appearing on her face.

Hehe, older brother praised Na'er for being good, Na'er is so happy.

The next day, Chen Xing arrived early at the Blacksmiths Association in Aolai City.

He came today specifically to cement his teacher-student relationship with Zhen Hua.

The Holy Spirit Cult had already reached Aolai City; he could not wait, not even for a single day.

The Blacksmiths Association of Aolai City was not very far.

Chen Xing walked for about ten-odd minutes and arrived.

Just as he reached the main entrance, a guard stopped him:

"Kid, this isn't a place to play."

Chen Xing didn't say much, merely unhooking the token at his waist and handing it over.

The guard took the token and took a look, instantly startled:

"This is... Association President Zhen Hua's token?!"

"You... you are a guest invited by the president?"

Chen Xing only nodded calmly.

The guard immediately bowed respectfully, offered the token back with both hands, and then stepped aside to clear the path:

"Please enter, sir. The president has given instructions that a little guest would be arriving today."

"Thanks."

Chen Xing took the token casually, tucked it back into his waist, and then strode into the Blacksmiths Association.

As soon as he stepped inside, Chen Xing found that the main hall was packed with people.

Mecha engineers, blacksmiths, men and women—at least fifty or sixty of them.

They gathered in twos and threes, either talking in low voices or looking around in all directions.

Seeing Chen Xing walk in, quite a few people felt a sense of novelty.

"Yo, how did a kid get in?"

"And he's even wearing a token... What is that?"

"Wait, there seems to be a character for 'Zhen' on that token?"

As soon as these words came out, dozens of gazes in the surroundings converged all at once.

"A Zhen-character token? No way, isn't that the president's? What is this kid's background?"

Did the president really mention a word about meeting someone today when he came back yesterday?"

"Just him? A six or seven-year-old brat?"

"Keep your voice down, don't talk nonsense."

Chen Xing ignored the idle gossip of these people.

He walked straight toward the center of the main hall.

Just after walking a few steps, he saw Zhen Hua walking out from the inner room with Mu Xi.

The moment Zhen Hua appeared,

everyone's gazes immediately shifted away from Chen Xing.

The continent's only Divine Craftsman, a ninety-second-rank Titled Douluo, the president of the Blacksmiths Association...

These titles, concentrated on Zhen Hua,

made everyone present feel incomparably dazzling.

As soon as Zhen Hua walked out, he saw Chen Xing in the center of the main hall.

Thus, under the astonished gazes of the crowd, he walked over at a leisurely pace:

"You've come?"

Chen Xing nodded.

The corners of Zhen Hua's mouth lifted slightly, and he beckoned to him:

"Come over."

Chen Xing walked through the crowd and arrived in front of Zhen Hua.

"Little tot, you told me yesterday that you wanted to learn mechanic arts from me."

Chen Xing nodded to say yes.

"Then you should know that I, Zhen Hua, never take in mediocrity."

Zhen Hua folded his arms.

"I did indeed see that white-rank mecha you crafted in that shop yesterday."

"But seeing it with my own eyes is one thing; formally taking you on as a student is another."

He swept a glance over the crowd:

"Today, right in front of everyone, demonstrate it to me once more."

"Very well."

Chen Xing didn't mind displaying his Imagenesis ability in front of so many people.

After all, as he continued to grow stronger, this ability would sooner or later be exposed to the public eye.

Now that he was about to have a relatively good backing,

this little secret, just this little secret of the World-Painting Authority, wasn't all that important anyway.

On the platform, Zhen Hua turned his head to glance at Mu Xi.

Mu Xi curled her lips, walked up to Chen Xing, and pulled out a roll of blueprints:

"Here, the design blueprint for a white-rank combat mecha. Uncle asked me to give it to you."

Chen Xing took the blueprint, unfolded it, and glanced at it.

It looked slightly more complicated than the one from yesterday.

This was a white-rank combat mecha.

"Pom Pom, analyze this blueprint."

"Received, Pam. Analyzing now..."

"This white-rank combat mecha consists of..."

Chen Xing listened while nodding.

Seeing him hold the blueprint and look at it with such focus, the surrounding crowd also began to whisper amongst themselves.

"Is he really going to build a mecha?"

"You've got to be kidding me, just him alone? Without even a single helper?"

"I don't know if you guys have noticed... he doesn't seem to have a single shred of soul power fluctuations."

These words were like a pebble thrown into water.

"Zero soul power?"

"No way, how can someone with zero soul power build a mecha?"

"Why would the president take a fancy to a kid with zero soul power..."

Seeing the sounds of doubt grow louder and louder.

Within the crowd, a purple-class blacksmith shook his head:

"Zero soul power; he can't even do the most basic metal shaping, let alone build a mecha. That's sheer fantasy."

A mecha engineer nearby also nodded in agreement:

"Yeah, when I was learning to build mechas back then, I practiced the soul power infusion for the energy circuits alone for three months. It's simply impossible to complete without soul power."

"Did the president misjudge him?"

"Don't talk nonsense. What kind of vision does the president have? Could he misjudge someone?"

"Then how do you explain the matter of Lord President wanting a kid with zero soul power to build a mecha?"

The discussions rose and fell in waves.

Some shook their heads, some pondered deeply, and others simply crossed their arms and waited to watch Chen Xing make a fool of himself.

Listening to these discussions, Mu Xi couldn't help but glance at Chen Xing.

She actually didn't believe it either.

Although she had also witnessed it with her own eyes yesterday, that was in someone else's territory after all. Who knew if it was just some mechanism deliberately set up by the kid's father just to amuse him?

If that were truly the case, could he still pull it off now in front of so many people?

Compared to the crowd, Zhen Hua was quite calm.

He simply looked straight at Chen Xing:

"Are you ready?"

Chen Xing nodded, placed the blueprint on the edge of the table, and then directly summoned his World-Painting Brush.

The instant the World-Painting Brush appeared, everyone present widened their eyes.

Zero soul power? Truly zero soul power?

Has Zhen Hua lost his mind?

Or was this kid using some trick to hoodwink Zhen Hua?

"No way, I feel like Lord President wouldn't mess around like this. There must be something extraordinary about this kid."

Faced with the skeptical gazes of many, Chen Xing didn't care at all.

At this moment, he had already entered the zone.

The next second, he was seen taking a deep breath, wielding his brush as it fell...