You wouldn't be hoping your teacher would give you a chance to...

"Your Eminence Heavenly Phoenix, to be frank, after today, I may not have much left to teach him."

After a moment of silence, Jin Yue spoke earnestly.

Surprise appeared on Leng Yaozhu's face.

For the past three years, because of their prior agreement, she had rarely asked about Su Xun's forging.

Seemingly for the sake of this assessment, Su Xun had not revealed much to her either. Whenever she brought it up, he always said she would find out when the time came.

Clearly, Su Xun must have had considerable talent for forging.

And her beloved disciple's deliberate secrecy clearly meant he intended to surprise her during their agreed-upon assessment.

Naturally, she had played along rather than making Jin Yue explain everything outright.

She had followed him tonight because the prying gaze she had sensed earlier had left her unable to settle down even after returning to the hundredth floor.

Only then had she quietly followed him here.

Yet she had never expected Jin Yue to give her such an answer.

With her Spiritual Power, she could tell that Jin Yue was not deliberately flattering her. He meant every word.

To receive such praise from a Level Seven Forging Saint Craftsman spoke volumes about Su Xun's talent for forging.

At last, she could not hold back. For the first time, she asked in detail about Su Xun's performance over the past three years.

She learned that Su Xun had been capable of Thousand Refinement long ago, meeting the requirements for a Level Three Blacksmith and breaking the record for the youngest Level Three Forging Grandmaster.

Now, he was even attempting to advance to Spirit Forging.

Leng Yaozhu's red lips parted slightly as she stared at her beloved disciple in shock.

So you prepared such an enormous surprise for me?

How should your teacher reward you properly?

Absorbed in his forging, Su Xun was unaware of Leng Yaozhu's arrival.

The Three Desires Power, combined with Spirit Awakening, made the nether silver beneath his hammer extraordinarily obedient, accommodating every strike.

Compared with Thousand Refinement, however, the nether silver's volume changed only minutely beneath his repeated blows.

His Soul Power and Spiritual Power slowly flowed into the nether silver as he forged.

Gradually, the nether silver's spirituality began to resonate with Su Xun.

The aura it emitted seemed directly linked to him, as though it were a part of him.

This was no simple, one-way awakening.

Rather, the nether silver was actively awakening in response to him, giving rise to a two-way resonance of life!

This was...

Creation Spirit Forging!

Jin Yue's breathing abruptly quickened.

Success on his very first attempt at Spirit Forging-and Creation Spirit Forging, at that!

This... was unprecedented.

Although Leng Yaozhu knew nothing about forging, her Spirit Domain Realm Spiritual Power allowed her to see the peculiar connection between Su Xun and the nether silver clearly.

A sidelong glance at Jin Yue's reaction immediately told her everything.

In an instant, her Spiritual Power sealed the room, and her voice sounded beside Jin Yue's ear.

"I don't want anyone else learning of little Xun's forging talent. Understood?"

Jin Yue trembled and nodded hurriedly.

"Rest assured, Your Eminence. I will keep my lips sealed. Not a scrap of information will leak."

Leng Yaozhu scrutinized Jin Yue for a moment before slowly nodding.

"Good."

Jin Yue immediately breathed a sigh of relief, while excitement stirred in his heart.

That single word essentially meant his standing within the Spirit Pagoda would rise further in the future.

Even if he retired immediately and put his feet up, he could spend the rest of his life without worry.

Hum-

A soft humming suddenly rang out.

Leng Yaozhu's and Jin Yue's gazes both sharpened.

The next instant, a spiritual radiance abruptly burst from the nether silver, soaring a full thirteen feet!

Two and a half feet of spiritual radiance signified first-grade Thousand Refinement.

Over ten feet meant Spirit Forging!

Creation Spirit Forging had been completed to perfection!

Once the spiritual radiance receded, the nether silver that had undergone Creation Spirit Forging revealed its true form.

It actually bore the faint outline of a human figure!

Moreover, the cloud patterns that had previously blossomed across its surface had now overlapped to form peculiar facial features.

However, only the eyes and ears were discernible.

No, the human shape... was itself a feature.

Clearly, after the two-way resonance of life, Su Xun's power had influenced the nether silver produced through Creation Spirit Forging.

A metal creation bearing such distinct characteristics of its blacksmith's power could already be considered an entirely new metal, one its blacksmith had the right to name.

Jin Yue took a deep breath and sought permission with his eyes.

Only after Leng Yaozhu nodded lightly did he step forward and address Su Xun, who was panting softly:

"Congratulations. From this day onward, you can call yourself a Level Five Forging Grandmaster!"

"In the forging world, no one has ever achieved this before, and I fear no one ever will again."

"I have already taught you everything I can."

"You need not come here anymore."

At those words, Su Xun fell silent for a moment before bowing solemnly to Jin Yue.

"Thank you, Senior, for holding nothing back over these three years. I will never forget this kindness for as long as I live."

A smile rose uncontrollably on Jin Yue's face. He gently patted Su Xun's shoulder, then bowed to Leng Yaozhu and left the forging room.

Only then did Su Xun turn his gaze to Leng Yaozhu, a smile appearing on his face.

"Teacher, when did you get here?"

"Well? Your disciple didn't embarrass you, did he?!"

An enchanting smile curved Leng Yaozhu's lips, and she appeared before Su Xun in a flash.

Looking at her beloved disciple, who now stood as tall as her chest, she feigned a troubled expression:

"Oh dear, our little Xun is so impressive. How should I reward him?"

"How about...?"

How about...?

Su Xun instantly stood at attention and blinked.

With an enigmatic smile, Leng Yaozhu caught Su Xun by the ear and lightly tapped his chest with her other hand.

"Oh my, your heart is beating so fast."

"My beloved disciple, what are you thinking about?"

"Let your teacher guess..."

"Hmm, you wouldn't be hoping your teacher would give you a chance to... get a raise in your allowance, would you?"

Su Xun hardly dared look his beloved teacher in the eye as he said helplessly:

"Teacher, I'm just saying, could you please not... pause so dramatically when you talk?"

Leng Yaozhu let out an "Oh," her smile deepening as she leaned close to her beloved disciple's ear, her breath fragrant as orchids:

"Then where would my beloved disciple like his teacher to stop?"

Young and hot-blooded, Su Xun could not withstand this at all, yet he could not bear to cross the line. He simply closed his eyes and gave up resisting, looking as though he were marching fearlessly to his death as he let his beloved teacher do as she pleased.

At the sight, Leng Yaozhu giggled. Finally, she released her beloved disciple and stopped deliberately teasing him.

Then her tone turned serious.

"Why were you so quiet when Jin Yue congratulated you just now?"

"Were you afraid that if you called him 'Teacher,' I would send Jin Yue straight to the next world?"

Su Xun came back to his senses. Hearing her words, he nodded without trying to hide it.

"I know what you think, Teacher, so I couldn't help worrying."

Leng Yaozhu arched an eyebrow, reached out to lift her beloved disciple's chin, and lowered her head to study him closely as she said with a smile:

"As long as my good disciple spoke up, how could I make things difficult for him?"

"My good disciple knows better than anyone how to sweet-talk women, doesn't he?"

Under her gaze, Su Xun inexplicably felt a little guilty. Just as he was at a loss for how to answer-

Leng Yaozhu spoke again:

"I don't consider myself a good person. To achieve certain goals, I can indeed resort to any means necessary, but I haven't sunk that low."

"My disciple, your worries were unnecessary."

Su Xun blinked and changed the subject:

"Then, Teacher, does this mean I've passed our three-year assessment?"