"Not bad." Mang Tian looked at the badge on the anvil, faint forging patterns gradually emerging across it, and spoke in a low voice. "You controlled your force freely, and your timing was right on the mark. Much steadier than last time."
Lu Chen said nothing. Beads of sweat slid down his temples and dripped onto the forging bench, where they quickly evaporated.
His hands never stopped moving. As the final hammer blow fell, he abruptly pulled back thirty percent of his force, and a column of light nearly ten feet tall rose from the metal.
First-Grade Thousand Refinements!
Lu Chen placed the piece of metal into the cold water beside him to cool.
It let out a hiss.
The radiance on the heavy silver did not fade. The piece of metal seemed to have become even more perfect.
Mang Tian took it and turned it over several times before giving his shoulder a hearty pat. "Well done, kid. Forging First-Grade Thousand Refinements at nine years old-I'd wager you couldn't find another like you in all of Eastsea City."
"Remember what I told you. Once you reach Eastsea City, remember what I said before: don't rush to show your edge. Get your third-rank blacksmith certification first. You're not quite ready for fourth rank yet. Settle your mind and take it slowly."
Lu Chen nodded. "I'll remember, Teacher Mang Tian."
Mang Tian looked at him, then suddenly sighed. He took a heavy silver bracelet from a drawer and handed it to him:
"These are some forging insights I accumulated in my early years. Take them. Once you're somewhere new, don't let your forging skills slip. This craft is what puts food on our table. I know a master in Eastsea City, surnamed Cen. Remember to look for him at the Eastsea City Blacksmith's Association."
"Thank you, Teacher." Lu Chen bowed respectfully to Mang Tian, bending straight at the waist, his voice full of solemn sincerity.
Afraid the boy would stand on ceremony and refuse, Mang Tian gave him no chance to decline and slipped the dark Storage Soul Guidance Device straight onto his wrist.
Strange as it sounded, the ring was neither too large nor too small. It fit his wrist perfectly, as though it had been custom-made for him.
Or rather, it had been made specifically for him. If he remembered correctly, Tang Wulin should have one too.
"Teacher..." Lu Chen touched the cool Soul Guidance Device around his wrist. His nose stung, his eyes reddened in an instant, and his throat tightened. The rest of his words stuck in his throat, refusing to come out.
"All right, all right. Don't get all weepy like a little girl."
Mang Tian deliberately put on a stern face and waved his hand, but the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes crinkled with a smile. "Go on, put your forging hammer in there too, so it doesn't get knocked about on the road."
Lu Chen sniffed. He was just about to turn and fetch his hammer when Tang Wulin came dashing out of the inner lounge, his smile so bright it dazzled. One look told him something wonderful had happened.
"I did it! I finally saved up thirty thousand!" Tang Wulin jumped three feet into the air with excitement, then threw himself at Mang Tian and gave him a solid bear hug.
Tang Wulin immediately turned and hugged Lu Chen too. Even Brother Long, who happened to be passing with a toolbox, was not spared; Tang Wulin pulled him into a hug as well.
Squeezed so tightly that he grunted, Lu Chen lifted the overexcited fellow off himself and patted his shoulder, keeping his voice very soft. "That's great. I'm heading back to the orphanage."
"Bye, Brother Lu!" Still immersed in the joy of having saved enough money, Tang Wulin waved at him with a grin, completely oblivious to the slight dejection in Lu Chen's voice.
Lu Chen watched him bounce away and swallowed the words that had reached his lips.
Forget it. Better not spoil the kid's fun with the matter of the Spirit Soul.
He sighed inwardly, picked up his forging hammer, put it into the Storage Soul Guidance Device, and turned to leave the workshop.
Back at Red Mountain Orphanage, Lu Chen had barely stepped into his cramped bedroom and had not even assumed his soul power cultivation posture when a dark shadow flashed before his eyes, and Fenrir's enormous figure appeared out of thin air.
"Lu Chen, bring that thing on your wrist and come to Nibelungen." Fenrir's voice was as muffled and booming as ever, with a note of reluctance. "That brother-con is looking for you. Seems like something urgent."
Lu Chen paused and lowered his head to look at the Storage Soul Guidance Device on his wrist.
He had always thought things from the real world could not enter Nibelungen. He had not expected Fenrir to tell him to bring it along the moment he spoke.
Half believing and half doubting, he willed it, and in the next second, the scene before him changed into the gray expanse of Nibelungen.
"Quick, let me see!" Constantine had long since grown impatient waiting. The moment he saw Lu Chen arrive, he hurried over, his amber eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Huh?" Lu Chen did not catch on at first and blinked.
Only when he saw Constantine's gaze fixed firmly on the Storage Soul Guidance Device on his wrist did he understand. He hurriedly took off the Soul Guidance Device and handed it over.
Constantine cradled the ring carefully, bringing it close to his eyes and turning it over to examine it. His usually timid gaze was now filled with concentration.
His fingertips brushed lightly over the patterns on the Soul Guidance Device's surface. The longer he looked, the brighter his eyes became, until his whole body trembled with irrepressible excitement.
"This system is so much like the Alchemy our Dragon Clan used back then!" Constantine spoke rapidly, his voice trembling slightly.
"It's just that the resonance patterns are a little different, with some differences in the details. Who would've thought humans in this world could devise something this impressive? They're even better than some alchemists from our era!"
He chattered away, his expression animated, so excited that even the tip of his tail could not help swaying. He had long since cast his previous persona as a socially anxious nobody beyond the ninth heaven.
Constantine held the Storage Soul Guidance Device, his fingertips tracing its patterns again and again, his eyes as bright as gems tempered with light.
He muttered to himself, one moment grumbling, "The magic array circuits here are far too convoluted," and the next slapping his thigh and crying, "What a shame! Such fine material, utterly wasted!"
Lu Chen simply crouched beside him and watched without disturbing him.
Constantine was the greatest master of Alchemy, after all. Presumably, whenever he encountered anything related to it, he became like a man possessed, unable to hear a word anyone said.
At some point, Fenrir had drawn closer and draped his enormous head over Lu Chen's shoulder, grumbling in his muffled voice, "This guy hides faster than anyone when he sees a stranger, but put some scrap metal in front of him, and he goes crazier than anyone."
Lu Chen could not help the corners of his mouth lifting.
He really had never seen Constantine like this. His usual timid manner, not even daring to speak loudly, and his current wild gesticulations made him seem like two entirely different dragons.
Oh, right. Apart from being rather overbearing when asking him where his older brother was, at all other times he was like a child who had never grown up.
Suddenly, Constantine slapped his thigh, a sharp gleam flashing through his eyes. "I've got it! Lu Chen, I can help you upgrade this thing!"