Tang Wulin said softly, "I want to practice Thousand Refinement more, and earn more money from it. Only then can I gather resources faster and improve myself. And there's the food at the academy that helps strengthen the body... I eat so much that if I really start buying it, it'll cost a lot."
Mang Tian watched him quietly.
They had been apart for only three months, yet the boy seemed to have grown taller, his shoulders and back straighter than before. But his eyes held far more than they had before he left Aolai City. Pressure, urgency, and a heaviness no child his age should have carried.
He sighed softly.
"Perhaps I've been looking at this the wrong way."
Tang Wulin paused in surprise and looked up at his teacher.
Mang Tian said slowly, "Actually, from the moment you completed Thousand Refinement, you already qualified as a Level Three Blacksmith. Your soul power isn't particularly strong, but your extraordinary natural strength is enough to make up for that. More importantly, at your age, you can already truly quiet your mind, enter a forging state, sense the metal, and draw close to its pulse. That kind of talent isn't something hard practice alone can give you."
His gaze darkened slightly as he spoke.
"I've kept you from taking the level-three assessment partly because I feared you would show too sharp an edge. The tallest tree in the forest bears the brunt of the wind. And partly because I feared that being put on a pedestal too early would make you arrogant and ruin your future."
"But I forgot that whether you're a soul master or a blacksmith, climbing higher requires enormous resources. And you have only yourself to rely on."
"I was selfish about this."
Tang Wulin froze for a