Han Tianyi could, of course, conduct the test himself.
He could test it first, and if his precision was insufficient to produce a result, they could then seek out Zhen Hua.
That should have been the most reasonable way to test it.
But Han Tianyi also had to consider Jiang Xia's future studies in forging.
By coming straight to Zhen Hua and testing Jiang Xia's talent for forging in front of him, if Jiang Xia truly had talent in that area, Zhen Hua himself would offer to teach him in the future.
It could be said that, having only just accepted a disciple, Han Tianyi was already doing his utmost, planning his disciple's future out clearly.
He was no longer young, and he handled matters thoroughly and steadily. Naturally, he would not act on impulse, entertaining thoughts that he was no worse than anyone else at forging and could guide his disciple himself.
Jiang Xia could also sense his teacher's care. Not everyone had the opportunity to demonstrate their forging talent before a Divine Craftsman.
He took a deep breath and circulated his Soul Power, quietly activating his Broken Dream Martial Soul.
A dreamscape spread out with him at its center, releasing tendrils that wound toward the piece of heavy silver Zhen Hua was forging.
As Zhen Hua forged, he sensed the changes in the spirituality within the heavy silver.
He noticed when Broken Dream acted and approached, and took the initiative to use his spiritual power to envelop his vital blood and the ripples in the spiritual domain that spread out when his forging hammer collided with the spirituality during forging.
It was precisely because of this that Jiang Xia's Broken Dream tendrils easily penetrated the heavy silver's spiritual domain.
As the tendrils wound around it, Jiang Xia immediately began exerting his influence.
Zhen Hua's expression shifted slightly.
"What a pronounced effect."
In his perception, the spirituality had actually broken away from his rhythm and begun moving on a large scale, all gathering toward the left side of the heavy silver, for instance, or spinning and leaping.
It was clear that this was also Jiang Xia's first time communicating with spirituality, and all his manipulations were very crude.
But this was enough to demonstrate his talent for communicating with spirituality.
Was physical fitness what held blacksmiths back?
In truth, what determined a blacksmith's upper limit was still their ability to communicate with the spirituality within rare metals.
After all, the entire forging system was built on spirituality.
Provided their Soul Power rank was high enough, there was no need to worry about their body being unable to endure it.
And if they could communicate with the spirituality within a spiritually endowed metal, they could easily awaken that spirituality and successfully complete Spirit Forging.
The subsequent Fusion Forging could also be improved by influencing spirituality or sensing its changes to better fuse different rare metals.
This was even more true of Soul Forging, which bestowed a legacy upon spirituality. If one could connect a Martial Soul directly to the spirituality, that legacy would be there for the taking.
Zhen Hua stopped forging and looked at Jiang Xia, his eyes filled with shock.
Talent like this had truly astonished him.
It had also opened a new door for him.
So what the forging system truly needed was a genius in the spiritual domain.
Of course, he would not overlook the characteristics of Jiang Xia's Martial Soul, either.
His Broken Dream Martial Soul inherently possessed this mechanism, allowing him to connect to others' spiritual wills through dreams.
But even so, Zhen Hua felt he had gained a great deal today.
Even if he could not find any other spiritual Martial Souls suited to forging, he had committed the Broken Dream Martial Soul to memory.
If blacksmiths in the future truly encountered a Soul Master with a Broken Dream Martial Soul, they could certainly take that person as a disciple.
Of course, cultivating the body with a Broken Dream Martial Soul was difficult. To persist in forging all the way through, they would probably have to make a special effort to temper their body.
Jiang Xia had taken Han Tianyi as his teacher, and Han Tianyi belonged to the Body Sect, which had absolutely abundant experience in this area.
"Elder Han, how about Little Jiang studies forging under me from now on?"
Zhen Hua asked tentatively.
"Little Jiang has rather grand ambitions. He plans to cultivate three secondary professions at once. All I can promise is to bring him here every so often and let you guide him in forging for a while."
Hearing that Jiang Xia intended to pursue three secondary professions simultaneously left Zhen Hua quite shocked as well.
"Surely there's no need for that? If he really wants to pursue three secondary professions at once, he could absolutely wait until he becomes a nine-ring Titled Douluo."
Jiang Xia said helplessly, "I'm just going to try it first. If I find myself willing but unable before I turn twelve, I'll give up on my own."
Zhen Hua breathed a sigh of relief.
That was good.
As for whether forging would be among the two secondary professions he abandoned, Zhen Hua was not worried.
Of the three secondary professions, the only Divine Craftsman was teaching him forging. Wasn't it obvious which one he should keep?
If things truly reached the point where he had to give up forging, Zhen Hua would not feel disappointed, either, because it would certainly mean that Jiang Xia truly could not endure the forging environment. Zhen Hua would surely be able to sense that during his everyday guidance as well, and if things reached that point, he himself would certainly have no regrets.
Suddenly, a fragrance wafted over.
Jiang Xia instinctively sniffed.
Even just breathing in the fragrance invigorated his mind. Once it entered his body, it seemed to have already begun nourishing him.
What good stuff was that?
Han Tianyi also turned his gaze toward the kitchen.
"This boy is becoming more and more accomplished in the culinary arts."
Han Tianyi felt that, when it came to preparing nourishing meals, this martial nephew of his was absolutely among the very best in the entire Federation.
"Let's eat first."
They headed to the dining room, where Mu Ye had already pushed a small serving cart up to the table.
"Blood Jade Shrimp contain abundant vital blood, but they're generally small, making them suitable for low-ranked Soul Masters to temper their bodies."
"Golden Spirit Fish nourish the meridians."
"There's also Whale Gelatin. I added just a tiny bit. It can promote physical development."
"..."
He had made only two dishes.
They would not have been able to finish any more.
"Martial Uncle, let Little Jiang stay here for a while. Raising his physical fitness to the level where he can withstand a thousand-year Soul Ring certainly isn't something that can be done overnight."
Han Tianyi picked up a blood-red shrimp. Its shell had already been removed, and he put the translucent, gleaming red shrimp meat straight into his mouth.
A surging wave of heat burst in his mouth, and that unique texture made him nod instinctively.
Meanwhile, Jiang Xia felt as though his mouth was about to explode.
An intense current of heat instantly swept through his entire body, searing through his meridians.
Even his skin turned bright red.
"It looks like Little Jiang's physical talent isn't bad, either," Mu Ye said.
Han Tianyi nodded as well.
He could directly withstand the surge of vital blood from a whole Blood Jade Shrimp without shouting or screaming, and his body showed no adverse reactions.
At the very least, this meant he would be more efficient than ordinary people at training his body.
Jiang Xia's bright red skin gradually cooled and returned to normal.
Looking amazed, he picked up another shrimp and put it in his mouth.
This time, his reaction was much milder than before.
Then he looked toward the Golden Spirit Fish beside it, picked up a slice of fish, and ate it.
The power of the Golden Spirit Fish circulated within him, stirring up the vital blood that had settled in his body after he ate the Blood Jade Shrimp and sending it coursing through his flesh.
The two dishes actually had a synergistic effect.
Jiang Xia focused on experiencing the changes within his body.
Just then, Mu Ye walked behind him and placed a palm on his shoulder. A powerful, substantial force surged into his body.
"Follow my guidance and feel the circulation of your vital blood."