Godslayer Soul-Guided Cannon Shells.
Gu La was genuinely intrigued by them and wanted to test if they could truly "slay gods" at some point in the future. However, he decided to plan for it in a few years—no rush.
"Hey!"
Zheng Yiran's voice pulled Gu La out of his thoughts. He looked up at the girl with the Jade Phosphorous Snake martial soul. Today, she had deliberately dressed in a tight leather outfit that accentuated her figure perfectly.
Now, she was staring directly at him with her snake-like green-glowing eyes, her tongue lightly licking her lips—a gesture that was undeniably alluring. Unfortunately, she was too wild for Gu La's taste.
Gu La raised an eyebrow. "Wu Siduo's compensation alone won't be enough to make me help your entire group. I need a large amount of metal to build a mecha. The corrosive nature of your Jade Phosphorous Snake's soul skills makes it impossible for ordinary blacksmiths to meet your requirements, right?"
Zheng Yiran extended her tongue and leaned forward, her cleavage subtly visible. "Can't you… be flexible about it?"
With a flirtatious wink, she added, "Don't be so distant. We're classmates after all. Can't we negotiate different terms?"
The Jade Phosphorous Family wasn't as stable as the Netherworld Family. Now just a mid-tier family, their consumption of rare metals was significant.
Gu La casually tossed a piece of spirit-forged metal into the air, letting it trace elegant arcs.
"Of course, there can be flexibility," Gu La said, suddenly dropping his smile as the metal landed firmly back in his palm. "Just settle in contribution points."
Zheng Yiran's expression instantly turned cold, her flirtation replaced by anger. "Hmph!" She snorted. "If I had enough contribution points, I'd just exchange them at the academy warehouse, wouldn't I?"
"Then there's nothing I can do."
Gu La shrugged, turning his gaze to the others. "You should all understand—if your secondary profession levels aren't high enough, you can't assist me. So—" he deliberately stretched out his tone, "either contribution points or rare metals. Take your pick."
He paused for a moment, ensuring everyone's attention was on him. "However, I guarantee that at least one-fifth of the spirit-forged alloys I produce for you during your second year will reach over 90% fusion rate."
"90%?!" Luo Guixing, who had been silent until now, suddenly raised his head, his eyes wide behind his glasses. Everyone present knew exactly what that number meant in the forging world—it was a quality guarantee that could drive any soul master insane.
Gu La watched the shocked expressions on their faces with satisfaction, rising calmly to his feet. "I'll give you three minutes to decide." As he walked toward the window, a burst of hushed arguments erupted behind him.
Through the reflection in the glass, Gu La saw Wu Siduo rapidly operating her communicator, apparently contacting a senior member of the Netherworld Family. Zheng Yiran was busy pulling out various metal samples from her storage ring, arranging and comparing them on the table. Even the usually haughty Luo Guixing joined the discussion, occasionally nodding in agreement.
When Gu La silently counted to the 178th second, footsteps approached from behind.
Turning around, Gu La saw Wu Siduo handing over a black emblem engraved with the Netherworld Spirit Cat crest. Her pupils had fully transformed into vertical slits, characteristic of feline creatures.
"Here are the black market transaction codes for seven types of rare metals." Her voice trembled slightly. "But I must witness you complete a spirit-forging process personally."
Gu La toyed with the raised patterns on the emblem—it was a symbol of Netherworld friendship, a trick of the great families.
"Tomorrow afternoon at three o'clock, underground forging room three." A meaningful smile curved his lips. "I'll specially permit you to bring recording equipment—I don't like repeating performances."
He also planned to spread the word, seeking to purchase rare metals to further refine his forging skills.
There weren't many people in this world who could threaten him, and even fewer with actual restrictions. With Shrek Academy and the Spirit Pagoda shielding him, he had more than enough time to accumulate a vast amount of rare metals before any potential attack on Shrek.
"Alright, we'll be there on time."
Wu Siduo nodded seriously. She and Zheng Yiran had reached an agreement. Few blacksmiths were willing to sell high-fusion spirit-forged alloys, and they had already received approval from their respective families to seize this opportunity.
Even Luo Guixing expressed that he would have his family help collect a batch of rare metals, hoping to gain Gu La's assistance.
Faced with everyone's enthusiasm, Gu La accepted without hesitation. The reason he dared to make such bold promises was that one of his five avatars was already a Divine Craftsman-level blacksmith. The other four, though specializing in different areas, had at least reached fifth-rank blacksmithing through shared memories. This level of productivity was more than sufficient to meet the needs of the entire class.
Thinking about this, Gu La leapt onto the podium, his voice amplified by soul power as it echoed throughout the classroom: "Dear classmates!"
He surveyed the room. "If any group is struggling with their blacksmith supply, feel free to come to me at any time."
He waved the metal sample in his hand. "Fair prices, no deception—just contribution points or rare metals, and I guarantee I'll meet everyone's needs!"
The buzz of conversation in the classroom instantly intensified. Gu La looked at the faces around him—some surprised, some skeptical—and knew his plan was already halfway successful. Next, it was time to let these elite students witness firsthand what it meant to possess true Divine Craftsman potential!
---
Xie Xie leaned toward Tang Wulin, lowering his voice. "Gu La is helping others forge. Can he handle it all?"
Tang Wulin shook his head. "Others only need thousand-refined metals. With Gu La's strength and unique avatar soul skills, he should be able to manage the entire class's demands."
"But… Thousand-refining won't improve his forging skills much. Why bother helping forge for others? It's not like he's doing it for contribution points—that would be such a waste of time."
Tang Wulin, now a disciple of Master Zhuo Shi, never lacked rare metals. Recently, when he visited the Forging Association, he even met Feng Wuyu, the president of Shrek's Forging Association.
Although Feng Wuyu was Zhuo Shi's archrival, upon seeing Tang Wulin's forging talent and his impeccable background, he was still willing to mentor him.
This left Tang Wulin lacking in contribution points and federal currency but never short of rare metals to practice with.
A flicker of doubt passed through Gu Yue's eyes, but she was already used to Gu La's astonishing actions—it was nothing new to her.
Ye Xinglan looked thoughtful, her gaze pausing briefly on Gu Yue.
She herself was a mecha designer, Xu Lizhi a mecha repairer, and with Gu La and Gu Yue, they happened to form a perfect quartet of secondary professions.
This sparked a new idea in her mind.
---
The next afternoon, Gu La arrived at the underground forging room three two hours early.
The heavy metal door closed behind him, and he took a deep breath, savoring the metallic and fiery essence permeating the air. This special forging room, located beneath Shrek Academy, had walls entirely made of dense silver that blocked spiritual detection—it suited his purposes perfectly.
"Come in," Gu La said softly.
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