"Gu Yue, did you need something?"
Jiang Xia was puzzled too. Why had Gu Yue stopped him?
Gu Yue nodded and said seriously, "I want to experience that feeling of working with you again."
She wanted to experience it again?
An odd look crossed Jiang Xia's face.
Gu Yue really was a greedy little kitten. Had she become unable to stop after just two tries?
Was she that eager?
"There'll be plenty of chances for that later," Jiang Xia said.
Gu Yue shook her head. "No, I feel there are limits to the boost you give me. Figuring it out in actual combat takes too much time. We need to understand it better during our regular cultivation."
Gu Yue also wanted to experience it again, remember that feeling, and then, while it was still fresh, seek out the Myriad Demon King to see whether he, who also had a spiritual attribute, could simulate the corresponding environment.
Jiang Xia nodded helplessly.
At the same time, something stirred slightly in his heart.
He had already wanted to find a chance to learn more of Gu Yue's techniques.
Now seemed like an excellent opportunity.
With that thought, Jiang Xia took the opportunity to say, "My Broken Dream can temporarily become your external brain. The key is that my Broken Dream can simulate some elemental changes. You should know that already. So however many elemental changes I've mastered myself, that's how much you can use this external brain to automatically work out, and how much effort you can save."
Gu Yue fell deep into thought, recalling how it had felt before.
That did seem to be the case. She had felt very relaxed then, her mind empty.
But in reality, she had only relaxed halfway. There were some things Jiang Xia's external brain couldn't handle either.
She had also known that there were things Jiang Xia could handle and things he couldn't. But he could handle most basic elemental changes, so in the second battle, she had simply bundled that part up and handed it to Jiang Xia.
Now that she had heard Jiang Xia explain the principle himself, Gu Yue understood.
"Let me experience it again first," she insisted.
Jiang Xia nodded too, letting her connect again.
Well, in reality, it was Jiang Xia's Martial Soul that extended tendrils to connect to Gu Yue.
The two connected again, and Gu Yue once more experienced the feeling of emptying her mind.
Only after trying it for a while did she say, "Your control over the elements is still too crude."
Jiang Xia didn't argue and nodded helplessly.
"It can't be helped. Even this much Elemental Control took me three years to master."
Gu Yue frowned.
After thinking for a moment, she said, "When we cultivate from now on, you can ask me about Elemental Control. I'll teach you."
Naturally, Jiang Xia didn't refuse.
Still, he said, "Actually, what I'd prefer is to use in-depth Spirit Detection on techniques like your Four-Element Vortex in a virtual space like the Spirit Ascension Platform, without any outside pressure. That way, I should be able to simulate them directly. Even if I don't understand them, I can generate templates, and you can just call them up afterward."
Gu Yue raised an eyebrow.
That worked too?
That really was... wonderful!
After a brief conversation with Gu Yue, Jiang Xia secured her promise that the next time they entered the Spirit Ascension Platform, she would try letting him simulate some of her Elemental Control techniques.
She would break down those techniques for him to make it easier for him to simulate them and build templates.
Afterward, Jiang Xia left the academy.
His destination this time was the Blacksmith's Association.
The Blacksmith's Association.
"Teacher, you wanted to see me?"
Tang Wulin had arrived at the association and spent a while in his personal forging room, but he was so agitated that he couldn't settle down to forge at all.
He didn't know why he was in this state either.
For some inexplicable reason, he felt intense hostility toward Jiang Xia.
It was as though the other boy had snatched something from his hands.
Amid his irritation, he received a message from his teacher telling him to come to the office.
Tang Wulin was somewhat bewildered as he entered the office.
At that moment, beside Mu Chen stood someone who had left a deep impression on him.
It was none other than Jiang Xia.
"Wulin?" Jiang Xia greeted him.
Tang Wulin looked a little dazed.
Then Mu Chen spoke. "Wulin, this is your senior brother Jiang Xia. He's your senior uncle's direct disciple."
Senior uncle? Where had this senior uncle come from?
Tang Wulin was puzzled.
Mu Chen continued, "Your senior uncle is the only Divine Blacksmith in the forging world today, and Jiang Xia is his disciple."
What?
Tang Wulin was shocked. He hadn't expected Jiang Xia to have such a background.
"Your senior brother Jiang Xia will be studying here in Eastsea City for a while."
Mu Chen noticed that Tang Wulin and Jiang Xia didn't seem to be strangers, and something occurred to him.
"So, Jiang Xia, are you here to study in Eastsea Academy's Class Zero?"
He looked at Jiang Xia as he asked.
Jiang Xia nodded.
Realization dawned on Mu Chen. "It seems you two already know each other."
Neither denied it.
"Since you're here, and your teacher has also asked me to guide you in forging, that's no problem. But I'll need to get a sense of your forging skills first," Mu Chen said with a smile.
He had called Tang Wulin over this time precisely to make a comparison.
He was very confident in his disciple's peerless talent for forging.
Tang Wulin was unquestionably the best among his peers. Although Mu Chen had hoodwinked him into not knowing where he stood, Mu Chen knew just how many records Tang Wulin had broken.
Tang Wulin perked up too.
He wanted to see just how skilled Jiang Xia could be at forging.
Although Mu Chen had dealt blows to his confidence, Tang Wulin still had some faith in his forging.
After all, Mu Xi's shock over the past two days had been impossible to conceal.
And so Jiang Xia entered the forging room.
Two and a half hours later.
Tang Wulin stood there in a daze.
"Teacher was right. This little bit of forging skill I have really doesn't amount to much."
He thought of what Mu Chen had said before.
Now he agreed wholeheartedly.
Jiang Xia surpassed him in forging skill.
During the demonstration just now, Jiang Xia had actually achieved First-Grade Thousand Refinements!
Although Jiang Xia repeatedly said that he had only succeeded in achieving First-Grade Thousand Refinements because he was in good form today, in high spirits, and had gotten lucky.
To Tang Wulin's ears, those words only sounded even more grating.
What did he mean, good form? What did he mean, a good mood?
Back at the academy, Gu Yue had stopped you. Just what had you done with her?
In reality, Jiang Xia really had gotten lucky. Before this, he had only succeeded in achieving First-Grade Thousand Refinements once.
This was the second time.
With his seasoned eye, Mu Chen could tell that Jiang Xia was telling the truth, but he felt deeply unsettled.
Especially when, after arranging a forging room and other matters for Jiang Xia, he returned home and received a call from his senior brother Zhen Hua before he could even begin to rest.
"Hello, Mu Chen, has my disciple arrived? Help me put him through his paces for a few days. That child doesn't put much effort into forging. Every day, he's off studying that mecha design or mecha manufacturing business, simply neglecting his proper work. Knock him down a few pegs. Play the bad guy for your senior brother and get him to settle down..."
Mu Chen answered expressionlessly, then ended the call.
What did he mean, Jiang Xia was also dividing his attention between mecha design and mecha manufacturing?
He was studying three fields at once?
Nine years old, studying three fields, and a rank-four blacksmith?
Are you kidding me?!
Mu Chen sneered, suspecting that Zhen Hua had become so smug over his success that he had started making things up.