Mu Chen

Biodata

Background / History

Mu Chen began working around his father’s forge as a child; he recalls hauling coal beside his father’s anvil when he was eight. By his introduction, he has spent decades forging and become president of the Eastsea City Blacksmith Association 21 24.

He initially opposed Mu Xi learning forging because he believed girls were unsuited to working iron. He later became her instructor, teaching her personally for more than two years before bringing her to the association for her blacksmith assessment 21 23.

Appearance

Mu Chen is a powerfully built, middle-aged man 21.

• Clothing: Silver-gray clothes at his introduction 21.
• Badge: A hammer surrounded by eight stars, identifying his Saint Craftsman rank 21.

Personality

Mu Chen values exceptional talent but does not treat recognition as unconditional. He awards Tang Wulin a fourth-rank badge through an exceptional evaluation, then warns that it can be revoked if his commission success rate falls below the required standard. He also respects Wulin’s existing teacher and withdraws his apprenticeship offer without resentment 22.

He regards supporting promising association members as a responsibility rather than a paid favor. He returns Wulin’s additional one-million-coin payment and later refuses another five million offered as thanks, warning that he will stop helping if Wulin insists 27 31.

Although curious about Wulin’s unusual cultivation methods, Mu Chen generally respects his privacy. His concern is practical: he provides a protected cultivation room, prevents Cen Yue from interrupting Wulin’s seclusion, and agrees to keep the boy’s family informed during a later session 24 25 26 29.

Abilities & Skills

Forging Expertise

• Recognizes an unusually advanced hammering rhythm merely by listening and suspects the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique 21.
• Evaluates Thousand Refinement, shaping precision, heat control, and force control 21 22.
• Personally teaches Mu Xi, developing her ability to distinguish forging techniques by sound 21.

Soul Power Control and Material Processing

• Uses his forging furnace to process four thousand-year spirit treasures into a slurry 30.
• Applies Soul Power to protect the ingredients from scorching during low-temperature heating 30.
• Warns that combining the treasures will cause their medicinal properties to clash much more violently than taking them separately 30.

Cultivation Resource Knowledge

• Identifies the Ice Crystal Fruit and Scarlet Flame Fruit combination as a formula for the Ice and Fire Golden Body 31.
• Understands the dangers of potent spirit fruits, dragon blood, and interruptions during absorption 25.
• Does not recognize Wulin’s later four- and five-treasure formulas and asks about their origin 31.

Equipment / Facilities

• Eight-star blacksmith badge — Displays his Saint Craftsman standing 21.
• Soul Guidance communicator — Used to contact Wulin, coordinate purchases, and arrange association searches 27 29 31.
• Private quiet room — A secluded cultivation room adjoining his office, equipped with Soul Guidance shielding, soundproofing, and a floor cushion 25.
• Personal forging room — Concealed behind another door in his office; contains the furnace used to prepare Wulin’s spirit treasures 30.

Relationships

• Mu Xi — Daughter and forging student. Mu Chen hopes she can exchange ideas with Tang Wulin. He also considers testing the Ice and Fire Golden Body formula himself before potentially allowing her to try it in small, supervised doses; this remains a plan in the provided chapters 21 23 31.
• Tang Wulin — Young association member whom Mu Chen supports with certification, cultivation facilities, resource procurement, and Spirit Ascension Platform access. His offer to become Wulin’s personal forging teacher is declined, so he is not established as Wulin’s formal master 22 25 29 32.
• Cen Yue — Association colleague who defers to Mu Chen’s authority. They jointly witness Wulin’s forging assessment and wait for him during his first prolonged cultivation session 21 26.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Tang Wulin’s Blacksmith Assessment

Mu Chen first encounters Tang Wulin while bringing Mu Xi to her assessment. Drawn to another forging room by the hammering, he discovers an eight-year-old performing Thousand Refinement with master-level control 21.

When Cen Yue questions whether Wulin’s Soul Power permits a fourth-rank rating, Mu Chen offers an alternative demonstration: shape the refined heavy silver into a finished item. Wulin produces a Battle Armor component, and Mu Chen personally examines it and pins on his fourth-rank badge 21 22.

• Provides Wulin with standard fourth-rank benefits: a ten-cubic-meter storage ring and a Soul Guidance communicator 22.
• Offers personal instruction, then promises association support after Wulin declines 22.
• Praises Wulin’s reported perfect First Grade Thousand Refinement success rate and expresses hope that he will become a Divine Craftsman 23.

Procuring Cultivation Treasures

Mu Chen becomes Wulin’s principal contact for obtaining the ingredients needed for the Golden Dragon King’s seals. The purpose of these purchases is known to Wulin, but Mu Chen is not shown being told about the seals 23 24 27 31.

Spirit Ascension Platform Access

• Arranges access through the Spirit Pagoda after Wulin discovers that ordinary entry requires a difficult application and review process 32.
• Secures permission for Wulin to enter once each week to improve his Soul Spirit 32.
• Makes clear that Wulin must pay the 500,000-federal-coin fee per visit himself 32.

Notable Quotes

“Don’t thank me. You earned it.” 22

“Keep forging, little fellow. I look forward to the day you become a divine craftsman.” 23

“Consider this million a benefit from the association. It’s only right for the association to nurture a genius like you.” 27