The forging room was filled with scorching heat.
Zhou Ming stared fixedly at the perfectly finished, pure Hundred Refinement metal on the workbench, his gaze burning and his breathing growing rapid.
His hands trembled slightly, and incredulous excitement surged in his eyes. Only one thought remained in his mind.
A genius! A true forging genius!
Over the decades, he had seen countless gifted apprentices, yet none had ever been as absurd as Xiao Chen.
A single hammer strike had achieved Hundred Refinement, overturning the established principles of forging. Even the Divine Craftsman Zhen Hua certainly possessed no such ability.
At that moment, he seemed to glimpse the beginnings of a future Divine Craftsman in the six-year-old boy before him.
He had taught a legend who would one day stand at the pinnacle of forging on the continent!
"A monster. An absolute monster..." Zhou Ming murmured, his eyes blazing with fervor.
"To think I would personally teach a future Divine Craftsman in my lifetime! I could die without regrets!"
Just as Zhou Ming was immersed in shock and delight, a soft, indignant shout suddenly came from the doorway.
"Xiao Chen, you lied!"
Na'er charged into the forging room on her short little legs, her tender pink fists slightly clenched and her cheeks puffed out, like a little dumpling that had been wronged.
She had spent an entire day laboriously chewing through obscure, incomprehensible theory, tormented by diagrams and formulas until she wanted to cry but had no tears.
And what had happened? She had worked herself to the bone, while Xiao Chen had finished with a single hammer strike!
"You clearly said blacksmiths had it hardest! But forging doesn't tire you out at all!" Na'er tilted her little face up, her silver eyes full of resentment.
"If I'd known forging was this easy, I never would have chosen to be a mecha mechanic! I want to change professions!"
Seeing the little girl's aggrieved, indignant expression, Xiao Chen helplessly spread his hands, his expression calm.
"It's a matter of talent. Don't judge an entire profession by one individual."
Just because forging was easy for him did not mean it was easy for everyone.
Anyone else, never mind achieving Hundred Refinement with one strike, might not completely purify the impurities from the metal even after a hundred strikes.
"I don't care! I don't care!" Na'er refused to listen, her cheeks puffed out and her heart full of regret. "You lied to me, and that's that!"
After that sulky declaration, Na'er remembered that she could not change professions anytime soon. All she could do was stamp her little feet, turn around, and run out of the forging room, dejected and full of pent-up grievances.
Watching her petite figure retreat, Xiao Chen gave a helpless laugh and said nothing more.
Beside him, Zhou Ming came back to his senses. Unable to contain his shock and excitement, he dared not delay and hurriedly said:
"Young Master Xiao Chen, please rest here for a moment. I will report your forging talent to Pagoda Master Leng immediately!"
Faced with a forging prodigy who appeared only once in ten thousand years, he certainly did not possess Grandmaster Yu's abilities from twenty thousand years ago. He absolutely could not let a genius go to waste!
Without waiting for Xiao Chen's reply, Zhou Ming rushed out of the forging room and headed straight for Leng Yaoyu's office.
Soon afterward, inside the Spirit Transferring Pagoda.
Zhou Ming stood below her with a bow, his voice excited and every word ringing firm. "Pagoda Master! Xiao Chen is the most perfect forging genius I have ever seen in my life!"
"At only six years old, on his very first attempt at forging, he achieved Hundred Refinement with a single strike! Such talent is rare throughout history. Even Divine Craftsman Zhen Hua fell far short of him when he first began!"
Leng Yaoyu sat quietly in the seat of honor. At his words, she remained silent for a long time, her expression full of conflicting feelings.
She had already known of Xiao Chen's gifts. His cultivation, comprehension, and temperament were all among the best of his peers. Yet she had never imagined that he also possessed such terrifying, convention-defying talent in forging.
Only after a long while did she release a soft sigh, her voice full of feeling.
"This little brother of mine really is a monster through and through."
Ordinary geniuses always had shortcomings, yet Xiao Chen seemed to have no weaknesses at all. His Martial Soul cultivation defied the heavens, and his forging talent surpassed all others, past and present. It simply defied reason.
"You may leave. I am aware of the matter now," Leng Yaoyu said mildly.
"Yes!" Zhou Ming bowed respectfully and withdrew, his heart still full of shock.
Once she was alone in the hall, Leng Yaoyu spread out a sheet of stationery, dipped her brush in ink, and began writing with strokes that flowed like clouds and water.
She personally penned a letter detailing Xiao Chen's peerless forging talent-Hundred Refinement with a single strike-addressed directly to the continent's only Divine Craftsman, Zhen Hua.
Only personal instruction from a Divine Craftsman could do justice to such an unpolished gem and his peerless talent.
The night passed in a flash.
The next morning, daylight shone bright.
Leng Yaoyu waited outside the classroom early. Once Xiao Chen and Na'er finished their basic lessons for the day, she gathered them together.
"Xiao Chen, Na'er." Leng Yaoyu looked at the two children before her and spoke gently.
"You won't need to study theory for now today. I'm taking you somewhere."
Hearing that they would not have class, Na'er's eyes instantly lit up before Leng Yaoyu could even name the destination. She bounced on the spot, her face full of delight.
"Hooray! I finally don't have to study those awful diagrams and words! I'm so happy!"
Several days of theory lessons had already filled Na'er's memory to capacity. Hearing that classes were suspended, she instantly tossed all her troubles to the back of her mind.
Beside her, Xiao Chen's eyes suddenly brightened, excitement rising in his heart that he could hardly conceal. He stepped forward and hurriedly asked, "Aunt Leng, are we going to the Spirit Ascension Platform?"
His Wither Martial Soul was extremely powerful, but he had only briefly tested it with Leng Yaoyu at the very beginning. Since then, he had not had a suitable opportunity for actual combat.
Seeing their utterly different yet equally excited reactions, Leng Yaoyu helplessly pressed a hand to her forehead, her heart full of concern.
One was overjoyed to escape her studies, while the other eagerly anticipated cultivating and breaking through. These two little ones truly never gave her a moment's peace.
"That's right, the Spirit Ascension Platform." Leng Yaoyu nodded helplessly, then gave them a serious reminder.
"But before entering the Spirit Ascension Platform, we need to test the strength of your Spiritual Power. Spiritual Power is the key to entering the Spirit Ascension Platform. Come along. I'll take you to be tested."
The two nodded obediently and followed closely behind Leng Yaoyu, making their way to the Spirit Transferring Pagoda's testing area.
At the center of the hall, an enormous, perfectly clear, translucent crystal sphere hovered silently. It was the Spirit Transferring Pagoda's exclusive Spiritual Power Test crystal.
"Who wants to go first?" Leng Yaoyu turned and asked.
"Me first! Me first!"
Na'er rushed forward ahead of him, eagerly pressing her tender little hand lightly against the crystal sphere, her face full of confidence.
As one half of the Silver Dragon King, she was born with Spiritual Power far beyond ordinary people's and had complete confidence in it.
Hum-
Faint silver light swirled, and the crystal sphere instantly lit up with a clear radiance. A line of figures slowly appeared: Spiritual Power: 100.
Among Soul Masters her age, this value was already at the very top, crushing countless geniuses.
Once the test was finished, Na'er turned smugly toward Xiao Chen, her little chin raised slightly and her eyes full of boastfulness, as though saying, Look! I'm super amazing!
Xiao Chen ignored Na'er, walked slowly forward, and raised his hand to rest it gently on the crystal sphere.
The next second, dazzling pearly-white light suddenly erupted. The entire crystal sphere shook violently, its brilliant radiance far surpassing its earlier brightness!
A striking line of figures slowly appeared, shocking everyone present: Spiritual Power: 255.
His value crushed Na'er's threefold!
Na'er, who had been looking so pleased with herself, instantly froze in place. The smile vanished from her face, leaving utter disbelief.
Which one of us was the Silver Dragon King?
A few seconds later, she pursed her little lips and looked at Xiao Chen pitifully, saying indignantly, "You're mean, Xiao Chen! You don't even know to go easy on Na'er!"
Xiao Chen spread his hands, looking completely innocent. "There's really nothing I can do. My strength won't allow it."
Beside them, Leng Yaoyu quietly watched the figures on the crystal sphere, speechless for a long time, her heart full of wonder and emotion.
255 points of Spiritual Power, at this age? How was that a genius? This was a monster!
And Na'er was no ordinary child either. A hundred points of Spiritual Power at six years old—was that something a human could possess?
She slowly exhaled, acceptance filling her eyes. It seems we old-timers of the older generation really ought to start making way.
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