Lu Guan and the other two headed home together. Na'er wore a pristine white dress and lay in Lu Beixuan's arms, while Lu Guan's clothes were ragged, torn full of holes by his Martial Soul.
For a moment, it was hard to tell which of them was the child they had picked up...
As they pushed open the courtyard gate, the aroma of food drifted out.
Lu Beixuan raised his voice and shouted, "Honey! Come see what I brought home!"
Xu Ran emerged from the kitchen in an apron, still holding a spatula. She was a brisk, capable woman who worked as a bank manager in Eastsea City.
"What random junk have you bought this..." Before Xu Ran could finish, her gaze landed on Na'er in Lu Beixuan's arms.
Na'er nestled there quietly, her silver hair hanging down as her purple eyes watched Xu Ran timidly.
The spatula in Xu Ran's hand clattered to the ground.
She rushed over, covering three steps in two, shoved Lu Beixuan aside, and carefully took Na'er into her arms.
"Oh, whose poor little darling is this? You're so pretty." Even Xu Ran's voice rose into a sweet coo.
Lu Beixuan rubbed his shoulder where she had shoved him and chuckled.
"We found her on the way home. She has no family left, and I figured we were missing a daughter, so I brought her back."
Xu Ran ignored him completely and carried Na'er into the house.
"Come on, let's wash your hands with Auntie. I've made braised pork. Lu Guan, get your little sister a bowl and chopsticks!"
Lu Guan stood in the courtyard and sighed.
Damn, they accepted her way too fast.
At dinner, Xu Ran kept putting food into Na'er's bowl.
"Here, Na'er, eat some more meat. Look how thin you are." Xu Ran placed a piece of braised pork in her bowl.
Na'er politely thanked her and ate in small bites.
Beside them, Lu Beixuan happily sipped his liquor.
"Honey, isn't our daughter well behaved? And listen to this-Guan awakened a Body Martial Soul with innate full Soul Power! The Spirit Pagoda even gave him a five-hundred-thousand scholarship!" Lu Beixuan began fishing for praise.
Xu Ran's chopsticks froze in midair, and she turned toward Lu Guan.
"Full Soul Power? Really?"
Lu Guan swallowed his mouthful of rice and nodded.
Xu Ran's eyes instantly reddened. She set down her bowl and chopsticks, walked over to Lu Guan, and firmly ruffled his hair.
"Wonderful! That's my boy! Our Lu family has finally made something of itself!"
The family basked in their happiness, but Lu Guan was already planning his next steps.
He had successfully taken the first step on the path of a Soul Master.
His Body Martial Soul, the War Lord Demon Body, had fused with the remnant soul of a ten-thousand-year Ferocious Beast, the Nightmare Bloodwing Tiger, granting him the Bloodbone Demon Wings, which combined flight and offense. His spiritual power had also reached the upper level of the Spirit Origin Realm.
This was practically a perfect start.
But the future of the Douluo Continent belonged to Battle Armor.
Without a secondary profession to support him, he would never get far in the later stages.
Mecha design required vast reserves of knowledge, mecha manufacturing required delicate precision, and mecha repair involved too many disparate skills.
Only forging suited him best as he was now.
Forging was the cornerstone of producing high-grade mechas and Battle Armor. Every piece of top-quality metal had to be hammered out by a blacksmith, strike by strike.
A Body Martial Soul excelled above all in strength.
More importantly, according to the original story, there were only two Divine Blacksmiths: Zhen Hua and Tang Wulin.
Lu Guan had no desire to be at someone else's mercy when he needed four-word Battle Armor in the future.
Besides, the War Lord Heart Method contained not only moves for the Five Weapons, but methods for forging weapons as well!
After all, this was the War Lord! Chi You, the War Lord renowned for forging weapons!
Though the methods were not entirely the same as forging here, they were bound to share common ground!
Not to mention that he had six hands. Others swung one hammer with two hands; he could swing six hammers with six hands.
This was not merely a matter of doubling efficiency, but a qualitative transformation in strength and rhythm.
His mind made up, Lu Guan quickly finished his rice.
"Dad, Mom, I want to visit the Blacksmith Association tomorrow."
Lu Beixuan looked puzzled. "What for? You want to learn smithing?"
"Yeah. I'll give it a try."
Xu Ran returned to her seat and wiped Na'er's mouth.
"Go ahead. Forging can be hard work, but a little hardship won't hurt. Have your dad take you tomorrow."
"No need. I can go myself." Lu Guan set down his bowl and chopsticks and returned to his room.
He needed to study how to apply the War Lord Heart Method to forging hammers.
Early the next morning.
The Blacksmith Association building in Eastsea City.
It was a solid, gray-black building, its exterior walls built from hard granite that gave it a strong metallic feel. A giant hammer emblem hung above the entrance.
Lu Guan walked inside. Faint hammering echoed through the lobby, and a slight scorched smell mingled with the scent of metal in the air.
The receptionist was a young woman, her head lowered as she sorted documents. She paused when she saw a six- or seven-year-old child approach alone.
"Who are you looking for, little one? This is the Blacksmith Association. You can't just play around here."
Lu Guan stood on tiptoe and gripped the counter with both hands.
"Miss, I'd like to learn forging. I'm here to sign up."
The receptionist smiled. The Blacksmith Association always kept its doors open to children. As long as they were willing to learn, the association would provide basic instruction.
"All right, fill out this form, and I'll arrange for an instructor to let you try it. But forging is hard work, so be prepared."
Lu Guan picked up a pen, quickly completed the form, and handed it over.
Before long, a young man in gray work clothes approached. A badge bearing three white stars was pinned to his chest.
A third-rank blacksmith.
"My name is Lin Mu." The young man looked Lu Guan up and down. "You're the little fellow who wants to learn forging?"
Lu Guan nodded.
Lin Mu beckoned.
"Come with me. Let me warn you up front: forging is physical work. It's very tedious and exhausting. Plenty of children blister their hands after a couple of swings and start crying for their mothers."
Lu Guan followed Lin Mu into a beginner's forging room deep down the corridor.
"The foundation of forging is purification. Metal contains many impurities, and we have to keep hammering it to drive them out."
"Hundred refinement means removing impurities from metal to a certain degree, making its internal structure more compact.
"Thousand Refinement, on the other hand, gives metal life and lets it develop its own characteristics."
Lin Mu explained everything in detail, and Lu Guan listened attentively.
He compared the techniques Lin Mu described for exerting force with those in the War Lord Heart Method.
Sure enough, the two shared many similarities.
However, the War Lord Heart Method emphasized shaping, combining great strength with finesse. Forging here was gentler, its purpose being to remove impurities.
That was a fundamental difference.
Lin Mu took out a block of fine iron and set it firmly on the forging table.
He took a black forging hammer from the rack beside him and handed it to Lu Guan.
"This is the most basic fine iron hammer. It weighs fifteen jin. Try picking it up first." Lin Mu stepped back and folded his arms.
"Don't force yourself. Just say so if you can't lift it. This hammer is rather heavy for someone your age. We're only testing your basic strength."
Lu Guan reached out and gripped the handle.
A Body Martial Soul naturally gave him strength far beyond that of Soul Masters his age.
The fifteen-jin fine iron hammer felt exceptionally light in his hand.
Lin Mu's expression, poised to enjoy the boy's embarrassment, froze.
"You..." Lin Mu opened his mouth and pointed at the hammer in Lu Guan's hand. "Were you born with superhuman strength?"
"No, I have a Body Martial Soul."
"Oh, right." Lin Mu looked a little envious.
Lu Guan stared at the glowing-red block of pig iron on the forging table.
The paths for exerting force described in the War Lord Heart Method surfaced in his mind. For forging, a little gentler...
But... forging with one hand? Too slow.
Moreover, he needed to use forging to familiarize himself with coordinating his Martial Soul. Only by training all six hands until they obeyed as naturally as fingers obeyed an arm could he unleash the War Lord Demon Body's true might in actual combat.
Lu Guan placed the fine iron hammer on the forging table and turned to Lin Mu.
"Instructor Lin."
"Huh? What is it?" Lin Mu still had not recovered from his earlier shock. "Is it too heavy? That's fine. There are ten-jin ones beside..."
Lu Guan shook his head and pointed at the forging hammers on the rack.
"Could you please give me five more forging hammers?"
Lin Mu's eyes widened as he stared at Lu Guan in disbelief.
"How many do you want?"
"Five."
Lin Mu laughed in exasperation and strode up to the forging table.
"Little fellow, what do you need so many hammers for? Are you planning to perform acrobatics on the forging table? Forging is about focus and exerting force. How are you going to hold six hammers? Grip them with your feet?"
Lu Guan wasted no more words.
He stepped back half a pace and settled into a stance.
The Soul Power inside him instantly boiled, surging out through his meridians.
Above his forehead, flesh suddenly tore open, and two dark eyes snapped wide.
Rip!
The sleeves of Lu Guan's shirt burst apart.
Below his elbows, four thick arms rapidly branched out and grew, their muscles instantly taking shape.
Four eyes. Six hands.
War Lord Demon Body, activate.
The air throughout the forging room instantly grew oppressive as an invisible pressure radiated from Lu Guan.
Lu Guan extended all six hands at once, one of them firmly gripping the fifteen-jin fine iron hammer from earlier.
The other five opened toward Lin Mu, palms up.
All four of Lu Guan's eyes fixed on the utterly stupefied Lin Mu, his tone calm.
"Instructor Lin, I have six hands now."
"Sorry for the trouble, but please give me five more hammers. Thank you."
Before you continue