As soon as afternoon classes at Red Mountain Academy ended, Tang Wulin jogged all the way to Mang Tian's smithy.
The rolling shutter was half open, and the familiar sounds of a roaring forge and hammering metal came from inside.
Tang Wulin ducked under the shutter. Mang Tian stood by the anvil, holding a red-hot metal ingot in a pair of tongs. When he saw Tang Wulin enter, he jerked his chin toward the corner.
"I've got the materials ready for you."
"One Thousand Refinement, ten Hundred Refinements. Heavy Silver for the Thousand Refinement again, tungsten steel for the Hundred Refinements. Finish before dark."
"Okay."
Tang Wulin walked over to the furnace.
He didn't rush to start. First, he looked at the materials prepared beside the anvil.
A palm-sized chunk of unrefined Heavy Silver lay beside ten neatly stacked tungsten steel ingots.
Tang Wulin took a deep breath and turned over his right hand. The Clear Sky Hammer appeared in his palm.
The first piece of refined iron went into the furnace.
Hundred Refinement of refined iron was already muscle memory to him.
Heat, extract, hammer. With the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer, he completed the purification in the first three strikes.
By the time he finished all ten pieces of refined iron, he had barely broken a sweat.
Then came the Heavy Silver.
The Thousand Refinement of Heavy Silver was the main event.
Tang Wulin put the unrefined Heavy Silver into the furnace and adjusted the bellows. Once it reached the right temperature, he pulled it out with tongs and set it on the anvil.
The Clear Sky Hammer fell. The first strike broke the surface, the second shook the layers, and the third stripped them away. After three strikes, all the impurities were gone.
The actual Thousand Refinement followed. The Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer flowed without pause, hammer shadows flying as each strike infused the Heavy Silver with his intent.
An hour later, a piece of first-grade Thousand Refined Heavy Silver lay steadily on the anvil, its silvery-gray surface smooth as a mirror.
Tang Wulin put away the Clear Sky Hammer and let out a long breath.
Mang Tian rose from his stool outside, came in, and inspected the finished piece. He nodded in satisfaction.
"All right, no problems. You're done for today, so take a break."
Tang Wulin didn't leave right away.
He wiped off his sweat, walked over to Mang Tian, and sat down on a stool.
"Uncle Mang Tian, can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
"Do you know where they sell Ice Crystal Fruit and Scarlet Flame Fruit?"
Mang Tian was drinking water. At the question, he set down his enamel mug and glanced at him.
"Ice Crystal Fruit and Scarlet Flame Fruit? What are you asking about those for?"
Tang Wulin had thought up an explanation long ago. "I read in a book that those two fruits are good for tempering the body. I wanted to learn more about them."
Mang Tian stared at him for two seconds but didn't press him.
The boy usually didn't talk much, but he knew his limits. He never asked what he shouldn't, so he must have had a reason for asking. Besides, physical condition was important in forging, so it was only natural that Tang Wulin wanted to temper his body.
"Aolai City is too small. There's nothing like that here at all." Mang Tian thought for a moment.
"If you want to find them, you'll have to go to Eastsea City."
"It's one of the bigger cities in the eastern region. It has auction houses and spiritual material shops."
"Hundred-year-old Ice Crystal Fruit and Scarlet Flame Fruit are rare, but you should be able to find them in Eastsea City."
Tang Wulin nodded and committed the information to memory.
"But don't go thinking you can go by yourself, kid. It's still too early for you to be dealing with that sort of thing. Wait until you're at an intermediate academy."
Mang Tian added, "That stuff isn't cheap, and the waters run deep in spiritual material shops. A kid like you would easily get swindled."
"Yeah, I know."
Tang Wulin agreed aloud, but he was already planning his trip to Eastsea City.
A few days later, Tang Wulin found an opportunity to speak to Mang Tian.
"Uncle Mang Tian, I want to make a trip to Eastsea City to buy those two fruits you wanted."
Mang Tian was polishing an old hammer. Without looking up, he asked, "What for?"
"I want to take the blacksmith rank assessment," Tang Wulin said.
"My skills should be good enough now, but I've never been officially certified."
"I can take the test at the Eastsea City branch and get a certificate. It'll be easier to find work later. Otherwise, nobody would believe a kid like me could do first-grade Thousand Refinement."
Mang Tian stopped what he was doing, thought for a moment, and nodded.
"All right, that's a good reason." He put down the hammer and wiped his hands.
"I have an old friend at the Eastsea City Blacksmith Association. His name is Cen Yue. Go straight to him when you get to Eastsea and give him my name. He has more seniority than I do and can help arrange the assessment."
He reached behind the counter, took something out, and handed it to Tang Wulin.
Tang Wulin took it and saw that it was a silvery-gray metal bracelet.
Fine Soul Guidance patterns were engraved on its surface. It was cool and smooth to the touch, with the exact same texture as the Heavy Silver he had forged.
"A Heavy Silver bracelet, a Storage Soul Tool," Mang Tian said.
"It has an eighth of a cubic meter of storage space inside, enough for you to carry a few personal things. Take it and use it."
Tang Wulin froze.
Storage Soul Tools were definitely luxury items in Aolai City.
"Uncle Mang Tian, this is too valuable-"
"Cut the nonsense." Mang Tian waved a hand. "The money you've earned me this past year is enough to buy several of them. Take it."
Tang Wulin gripped the bracelet tightly and said solemnly, "Thank you, Uncle Mang Tian."
That evening, Tang Wulin went home and told Tang Ziran and Lang Yue about going to Eastsea City.
Tang Ziran laughed as soon as he heard and patted him on the shoulder. "That's my boy! You're going to take the blacksmith rank assessment?"
"Your dad's been repairing mechas for twenty years, and all I've got is a junior mecha repair technician's certificate."
"You're getting a certificate at eight years old. Who'd believe it if word got out?"
"When the time comes, I've got to show off in front of them. I couldn't do it, but my son can!"
Lang Yue, however, looked worried. "Eastsea City? How far away is that? How can you go alone? It's too dangerous. Why don't I go with you?"
Tang Ziran held her back. "Wulin's a two-ring Soul Master now. He's stronger than the two of us put together."
"Besides, public safety in the Federation is excellent these days. Soul Guidance Trains in particular are known as the safest way to travel. What danger could there be?"
Lang Yue thought it over and asked a few more questions before finally nodding.
"Then be careful on the way. Send word home when you get to Eastsea."
"I will, Mom."
He set off early on a Saturday morning.
Lang Yue got up especially early, cooked a pot of congee for Tang Wulin, and made several flatbreads, wrapping them in oil paper and tucking them into his storage bracelet.
Na'er stood at the door, her silvery-white hair tied into two little braids and the piece of Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Tang Wulin had given her hanging around her neck.
"Big brother, when are you coming back?"
"In two or three days, I think." Tang Wulin crouched down and rubbed her head. "I'll bring you something tasty when I come back."
Na'er nodded and said earnestly, "Be careful on the way, big brother."
Tang Wulin smiled, waved to his family, and walked out of the alley.
Aolai City's Soul Guidance Train station wasn't large, but it was orderly.
Tang Wulin bought a student ticket. The security check was extremely strict; they didn't relax it just because he was a child, which showed how stringent the security measures were.
On the platform, a silvery-white Soul Guidance Train stood on the tracks, its streamlined body gleaming with a metallic sheen. Bands of blue Soul Power light flowed at the connections between the carriages, providing power and protection for the entire train.