"You can already handle Thousand Refinements. Why not try forging a mecha component out of this material?" Cen Yue folded his arms and tipped his chin at Lu Chen.
"Sure." Lu Chen agreed without hesitation and reached for the forging hammer beside him.
The hammer weighed dozens of jin, yet it was as light as a wooden stick in his hand. With a flick of his wrist, its head came down with a whistling rush.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The rapid hammer blows rang out in an unbroken torrent, sending sparks flying high before they landed on the floor with a sizzle.
Lu Chen's gaze was frighteningly focused. The angle and force of every strike were just right. Beneath his hammer, the neatly shaped metal blank shed its original form bit by bit, gradually revealing smooth contours.
In no more than half an incense stick's time, a mecha component with distinct edges and precisely defined patterns rested securely on the forging table.
Soon, as the sun was about to set, Lu Chen and Tang Wulin left the Blacksmith's Association together.
Lu Chen hefted the rank-three blacksmith badge in his hand, tucked the twenty thousand federal credits he had just received into his pocket, then turned and walked out shoulder to shoulder with Tang Wulin.
"This feels great! Now we won't have to worry about money for a while, at least!" Tang Wulin clutched his share of the payment, his steps noticeably lighter and his face full of excitement he could not hide.
Lu Chen glanced at him, an inexplicable hint of pity in his eyes.
Well, what could you do?
Who told this guy to end up with a father like that, one who screwed over his own son without a second thought?
With such an unreliable father, Tang Wulin would probably have a hard time escaping his penniless days in the early stages.
Still, that had absolutely nothing to do with Lu Chen. He had neither the inclination nor the obligation to help.
In his eyes, Tang Wulin was, frankly, just a cultivation accelerator. As long as he could help Lu Chen grow stronger, that was enough.
As for Tang Wulin as he was now, he posed little threat, and there was no need to offend him.
Lu Chen was pondering something else, his brows slightly furrowed.
He was currently struggling over whether to join the Tang Sect.
The Tang Sect's cultivation methods were not actually much use to him, but the trouble was that the Tang Sect had clues about Dragon Valley!
To him, Dragon Valley was an immense opportunity. If he missed it once, he might never get another chance.
Lu Chen sighed softly and simply stopped racking his brains over it.
I'll take it one step at a time. Whichever side I choose, it'll depend on which benefits me more.
Want me to sincerely work like an ox or a horse for some organization?
Not a chance.
Meanwhile, back at the Blacksmith's Association, Cen Yue was seething with nowhere to vent his anger.
He grabbed his communicator and launched into a barrage of complaints at Mang Tian on the other end. "Mang Tian! Tell me honestly, did you bring those two brats here just to show off? One's a rank-two blacksmith, and the other went straight to rank three! You old bastard, you really kept them well hidden!"
Mang Tian's barely restrained laughter came through the communicator. "What else?"
Hearing that, Cen Yue immediately perked up, his tone softening considerably. "Well, look, we've been friends for so many years. How about... you let me have one of them? I promise I'll teach him properly. I definitely won't let such a promising youngster down!"
"Not a chance." Mang Tian drew out the words. The moment he finished, a series of beeps sounded through the communicator.
His voice carried a hint of smugness and an irritatingly cheeky air.
He had already ended the call in a flash.
Staring at the darkened screen, Cen Yue stamped his feet in anger. In the end, he could only curse into the empty air a few times, while his envy of Mang Tian made his teeth itch.
Then he called his own student over and gave him a scolding.
Elsewhere, Lu Chen and Tang Wulin hurried back to school and climbed into their respective beds as soon as they entered the dormitory.
Neither said anything more. They simply sat cross-legged and devoted themselves wholeheartedly to cultivation.
Lu Chen sank his consciousness into his sea of consciousness and returned to Nibelungen.
Constantine, clad in crimson-gold dragon scales with faint flames burning in his eyes, was circling in midair, swishing his long tail.
Seeing him enter, Constantine immediately swooped down and lightly patted his shoulder with a dragon claw, asking with interest, "Kid, you caused quite a stir at the Blacksmith's Association today. You even dared to try your hand at Thousand Refinements?"
Lu Chen scratched his head, a hint of excitement on his face. "I sure did. Their blacksmiths even praised how precise the component I forged was! But I keep feeling that when I was hammering it, I didn't completely straighten out the patterns inside the metal. When I shaped it at the end, my Soul Power also drained faster than I expected."
Constantine chuckled, bringing his enormous dragon head closer and pointing at the faint traces of metal filings left on Lu Chen's palm. "Your human forging arts emphasize combining 'forging' and 'refining,' using Soul Power and hammering to force out impurities. In essence, that has something in common with our Dragon Clan's alchemy. It's just that you're too fixated on 'external force' and have forgotten to 'communicate' with the metal."
"Communicate?" Lu Chen paused.
"Yes." Constantine's voice deepened slightly, and a gleam of wisdom flashed through his draconic eyes. "Every piece of metal has its own 'soul,' just as we of the Dragon Clan have dragon souls."
"When you hammer it with Thousand Refinements, don't treat it as a dead object. Try turning your Soul Power into fine threads and letting them seep into the metal's grain bit by bit, following the force of your blows."
"Remember, you aren't 'forcing' it to change shape. You're 'guiding' it, letting it extend along its own grain."
Lu Chen's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked, "Then how exactly should I do that? I clearly wrapped the metal blank tightly in Soul Power just now."
"Silly boy." Constantine lightly tapped his head with his dragon tail. "Wrapping it tightly in Soul Power 'keeps it from scattering.' It isn't 'communication.'"
"Try condensing a strand of Soul Power into a 'feeler' the instant your hammer lands. Probe into the gaps in the metal and feel its tremors. With every strike, the metal vibrates at a different frequency. That's it 'speaking.' Adjust your hammering speed and force to follow its frequency, and the impurities will 'run' out on their own. You won't need to expend so much effort at all."
Understanding dawned on Lu Chen, and he could not help rubbing his chin. "No wonder I kept feeling something was off earlier. I was too impatient, focused only on hammering the blank into the shape I wanted, without considering the metal's own feelings at all."
"That's right." Constantine nodded in satisfaction. "In Dragon Clan Alchemy, the finest technique is called 'Spirit Awakening.' It can make metal willingly acknowledge a master. Although your forging hasn't reached that realm, 'guiding the spirit with Soul Power' is still possible."
"Try it the next time you forge. First, spend half an incense stick's time gently stroking the metal blank with your Soul Power, letting it grow familiar with your presence. Then start hammering. I guarantee you'll get twice the results with half the effort, and the components you forge will rise another notch in both toughness and strength."
Lu Chen nodded repeatedly as he listened, committing every word to memory.
The two talked back and forth, though most of the time it was Constantine patiently explaining.