Mang Tian's Shock

"Yes, Master Mang Tian."

Seeing Mang Tian question him, Yao Xuan replied calmly and without servility.

"Fine. Take me over to have a look."

Seeing how relaxed Yao Xuan appeared, Mang Tian did not quite believe that Yao Xuan could have completed the task he had assigned. He simply gave the instruction, then rose to his feet and led Yao Xuan to the forging room from before.

"Heavens, it's done—you actually completed it!"

Arriving before the forging station and seeing the large Arabic numeral "1000" on the screen, Mang Tian's eyes flashed with astonishment. His mouth fell open, his face filled with shock.

Though Yao Xuan looked relaxed, the test Mang Tian had given him was anything but simple. Both forging hammers weighed a solid five kilograms. Even an adult man who exercised regularly would find it difficult to swing such hammers a thousand times in a row, let alone finish within twenty minutes. And Yao Xuan was only six years old.

However, there were no other Forging Masters in the entire forging room besides Mang Tian and Brother Long. In other words, Yao Xuan had no possibility of cheating. He had truly completed the task through his own ability. Could this be the legendary gift of extraordinary talent?

At that moment, Mang Tian's gaze swept over Tang Wulin's result beside it as well—six hundred and fifty strikes. A trace of surprise appeared in his eyes. Though this result was inferior to Yao Xuan's, it was still astonishing for a six-year-old child.

Could his luck really be this good? Could he gain two forging prodigies in a single day?

"Yao Xuan, strike the hammer again in front of me. Don't stop unless I tell you to."

As he thought this, Mang Tian turned to Yao Xuan and spoke in a deep voice. Compared to before, however, his tone was noticeably gentler.

"Yes, Master Mang Tian!"

Seeing that Mang Tian wished to continue testing him, Yao Xuan did not hesitate. He stepped up to the forging station once more, picked up the forging hammer, swung his arm, and began striking.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

As Yao Xuan moved, crisp metallic strikes rang out again. Watching his movements, satisfaction appeared in Mang Tian's eyes. From Yao Xuan's actions, he could be completely certain that Yao Xuan possessed enough strength to handle the forging hammer in his hand and carry out the strikes.

Yet Mang Tian did not call for him to stop. Instead, he silently observed Yao Xuan's movements. He wanted to see exactly where Yao Xuan's limit lay.

In the blink of an eye, another ten minutes passed. On top of the thousand strikes he had already completed, Yao Xuan delivered roughly another five hundred strikes. By then, a faint tearing sensation had finally appeared in his arm muscles, sweat had soaked his back, and his breathing had begun to grow heavy.

"Uncle Mang Tian, I'm done!"

At that moment, Tang Wulin finally completed his own strikes as well. Greatly relieved, he lowered the forging hammer in his hand, then walked up to Mang Tian and spoke respectfully. As he passed Yao Xuan, he saw the number on the Soul Guidance Screen—1512, a full half again as many as his own!

Brother Xuan is incredible! Over fifteen hundred strikes, and he still looks like he has plenty left in him. As expected of Brother Xuan—he really is different!

Looking at Yao Xuan in the distance, Tang Wulin felt even greater admiration and respect for him. At the same time, his determination to become stronger grew firmer.

"Not bad, Wulin. Your performance was very good as well. All right, Yao Xuan, you can stop now."

Looking at Tang Wulin and Yao Xuan before him, Mang Tian nodded and spoke with a gentle gaze.

In truth, Mang Tian had given them this test as a way of politely turning them down. In his view, two six-year-old children had no ability to learn forging, so he had set a test that seemed impossible to complete. Yet reality had slapped him hard across the face.

However, Mang Tian was not angry in the slightest. Instead, he was immensely pleased and grateful. Passing his test at the age of six could only mean one thing: Yao Xuan and Tang Wulin were both forging geniuses, entirely worthy of his cultivation. They might even accomplish the step he had failed to take—challenging the rank of Saint Craftsman!

Hearing Mang Tian's words, Yao Xuan put down the forging hammer, let out a long breath, and relaxed his arm muscles. On the other side, seeing Mang Tian praise him, Tang Wulin grinned foolishly, and much of the soreness in his body seemed to fade.

"I'll take you two on as apprentices. From now on, come here at this time every evening. I'll personally instruct you. For now, apply this to your arms. After resting for five minutes, I'll explain what forging is."

As he spoke, Mang Tian took out two bottles of dark ointment from the cabinet beside the forging station, handed one each to Yao Xuan and Tang Wulin, and continued speaking.

Ding! You have gained the recognition of the important figure Mang Tian. Obtained Golden Evolution Points x3!

As Mang Tian spoke, the system notification sounded again. With this new batch of Golden Evolution Points, Yao Xuan now had sixteen Golden Evolution Points, enough to raise his Ancestral Dragon Bloodline to 2%.

Of course, this batch of Golden Evolution Points had still come from Na'er, making it a one-time gain. If he wanted to continue obtaining large amounts of Golden Evolution Points in the future, it would not be so easy.

"Thank you, Teacher!"

Hearing Mang Tian's words, Yao Xuan and Tang Wulin both replied respectfully, then opened the ointment and applied it to their arms.

As soon as the ointment was applied, Yao Xuan felt a cool current flow into the muscles of his body, and the soreness in his arms seemed to lessen considerably. Beside him, after applying the black ointment, the pained expression on Tang Wulin's face eased as well.

"Good. Now, let me explain what forging is. Unlike casting, forging does not use machines to press metal into the required shape with molds. It requires a Forging Master to hammer it into shape by hand, strike by strike."

"Mechanical casting can only turn metal into the corresponding shape. Forging, however, is a process in which a Forging Master communicates with metal—a process of granting metal Spiritual Intelligence and even life. That is why the highest-grade mecha components must be forged by hand by Forging Masters."

Listening to Mang Tian's words, Tang Wulin and Yao Xuan both tried to understand them seriously. Soon afterward, Mang Tian began teaching them the techniques of striking and exerting force in forging—how to make the impact of each blow act on the metal as much as possible, and how to protect themselves from being injured by the recoil of their strikes.

Next, Mang Tian announced Yao Xuan and Tang Wulin's future tasks—hammering iron blocks. Yao Xuan's task was three thousand strikes each day, while Tang Wulin's was two thousand, using this to train their fundamentals.

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