"Dean?!!"
Several men and women in red-and-white uniforms rushed in, their expressions startled as they took in the scene.
The leader, a man around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, spoke in surprise.
"Enough, we're just conducting Su Wen's Inner Court assessment," Yan Shaozhe waved his hand.
"Inner… assessment!" The Inner Court disciple looked around in disbelief. He was only at peak Soul Emperor, but he naturally knew how sturdy this duel arena—built specifically for the Inner Court—was. Many senior Soul Sages sparred here at full power and still found it hard to crush, yet Su Wen's Inner Court test had…
And he saw the sorry state of Wu Ming and Han Ruoruo, contrasted with Su Wen's calm expression.
Don't tell me…
"Alright, cut the nonsense. Notify Zhang Heng to clean up the mess," Yan Shaozhe said impatiently.
"Yes!"
The man hurriedly nodded, turned to leave, and his flight soul tool shot up, leaving a faint streak in the sky.
The others looked at each other.
Honestly, seeing the state of the arena, they thought someone from outside had broken in…
Or perhaps it was a clash between powerhouses at the senior sister's level.
Who would've thought all this commotion was just for a student's Inner Court assessment?
Oh right… this one seems to be the next-generation heir-apparent of the Sea God Pavilion. Then that tracks.
After a quick greeting, they all withdrew.
Su Wen nodded inwardly at the sight—their strength was fine and their positioning looked sharp, but they lacked a certain "elite" aura. Shrek Academy had always been laissez-faire; Inner Court disciples weren't short on resources. Saying they lacked combat experience wasn't accurate either… after all, to graduate from the Inner Court, one had to complete dozens of life-and-death missions.
So where's the issue…
As Su Wen pondered, Yan Shaozhe patted his shoulder. "Let's go. Elder Du has been waiting for you."
"Oh."
Su Wen collected his thoughts and followed Yan Shaozhe out of the academy.
…
Shrek City.
Inside a small courtyard.
The clanging and dull thuds continued. Listening carefully, Su Wen sensed a peculiar rhythm, as if a piece of music were being played.
"Alright. Since you're set on studying that so-called battle armor, learn forging properly. Elder Du is the only living Divine Craftsman in the world today—hard to find a second who can surpass him in forging," Yan Shaozhe said seriously.
"Divine Craftsman?" Su Wen realized.
He vaguely recalled that in the whole Douluo universe, those worthy of the title included Lou Gao, Tang Hao, and one more person ten thousand years later.
As for the blacksmith profession, it only briefly shone when Tang San founded the Tang Sect and the craze for hidden weapons flared. Otherwise, it had long been in decline—especially now, under the impact of soul tools, many blacksmiths could barely make ends meet. Even ordinary families wouldn't send their kids to be apprentices, let alone soul masters.
It wasn't until ten thousand years later, when forging evolved and integrated with soul tools, that the profession flourished again.
But still, it's a tough trade.
Compared to the glamorous and promising path of soul masters, blacksmithing was just… asking for hardship.
Bang~
With the final crisp hammer strike from within the courtyard, the gate seemed to open to a push of air.
A lazy voice drifted out: "Come in, kid."
Elder Du wore rough cloth, a hammer on his shoulder. He looked Su Wen up and down. "Since you want to learn forging, and Song Yunzhi wrote asking me to teach you wholeheartedly, as a member of Shrek I won't keep anything back. But if you want me to do some soul tool + forging mishmash, get lost now. If you want to tinker with that, learn it yourself and don't drag me into it."
"Mm." Su Wen nodded obediently.
In Elder Du's eyes, soul tools were likely mere trickery. Such a mismatched pairing insulted his forging arts.
A bit like an old pedant scolding a new thing for lacking propriety.
But Elder Du, times have changed.
Forged metal plus soul tools… that really has potential.
"Here, try hammering this piece of rare mithril first. Let's see your strength."
"It has spirit?" Su Wen raised a brow.
"Oh? You know a fair bit. Seems you've done some homework. But forging is physical labor. You might as well call out that giant ape or Behemoth under your command—let me take a look at such ancient soul beast bloodlines," Elder Du grinned.
Especially that Behemoth…
But Su Wen took off his outer garment, stepped forward, and wrapped his hand around the ancient-looking, brownish hammer handle Elder Du had casually tossed on the ground.
The corner of Elder Du's mouth curled.
Hands clasped behind his back, eyes smiling.
He was clearly up to something: this hammer weighed eighty thousand kg. Ordinary soul masters couldn't even lift it, not even with all their soul skills boosting them. Only Titled Douluo or strength-type Soul Douluo could lift it with raw physical strength—lift, not swing for forging.
He had a different hammer prepared for Su Wen.
But this kid didn't know how high the sky was and wanted to use his hammer—time to teach him a lesson…
Hum…
Su Wen sensed something was off.
His grip tightened. With his other hand he slung his outer garment over his shoulder, then tested the weight with a gentle upward pull.
The result made Elder Du's pupils quake.
His hammer seemed to move for an instant!
Was he seeing things?
The handle trembled slightly, but Su Wen hadn't lifted it, which made Elder Du secretly sigh in relief and regain his pride. Across Shrek Academy, those who could lift this one-handed were few and far between.
No one challenged his authority.
But the next moment—
Su Wen gripped with both hands and suddenly heaved together.
The hammer seemed to let out a wail, casting a forlorn look at the dazed-but-still facade of Elder Du. It swept like a crescent and smashed downward. Carrying the force of ten thousand jun, it crashed. The space beneath felt like a vacuum as air surged from both sides like a tide.
The small house couldn't hold. The scattered airflow blew it apart.
The space around them became open in an instant.
Boom!!!
The violent sound traveled for miles.
Cue chickens and dogs scattering.
Moments later, Elder Du looked at the wrecked courtyard, his mouth twitching hard. He glanced at Su Wen, who stood respectfully to the side, unsure whether to be shocked or furious.
As a Divine Craftsman, people imagined his forging shook heaven and earth, but in truth, the more refined your technique, the greater your control, and the smaller the disturbance.
The neighbors always thought he was just an ordinary smith.
He had told Su Wen to hammer, never expecting the kid could truly lift his hammer—let alone swing it round!
"Wait! The spirit I just forged into it!"
Elder Du remembered, face changing as he hurried to the anvil. Thousand-forged mithril wasn't hard—he'd been practicing—but either way, it held a thread of life he had just forged in…
On the anvil…
The mithril had been completely reshaped—thin as paper, spread flat. The sliver of spirit and life he had forged had long since vanished.
Hammered to death?
Elder Du's face twitched fiercely.
Looking at the mess around him, he let out a long sigh.
"Elder Du, does this mean I have no talent?" Su Wen asked weakly.
"No, you do," Elder Du took a deep breath.
"Forging is about communicating with metal—you could say nurturing life. Hundred-forging removes impurities, improves toughness and strength. Thousand-forging grants life…"
"Of course, simple thousand-forging only grants a bit of spirituality—like this mithril earlier—and a faint life, like an embryo."
"Next are fusion-forging and soul-forging. Simply put, the former merges different metals into one—already quite difficult. Soul-forging requires infusing your own gifts into the metal."
"If thousand-forging births embryonic life, then soul-forging's finished product is like a newborn baby."
"As for sky-forging, you use heaven and earth as the furnace, stirring the world's energy to forge a divine-grade metal. Compared to the previous stage, it's like a child growing to six and undergoing Martial Soul Awakening. Succeed, and it's divine-grade metal. Fail, and it's back to ordinary."
He sighed, taking the hammer back from Su Wen.
"Your strength is sufficient—that's a natural advantage in metal forging. But forging isn't about bigger force and harder hits equaling better results… You must control the metal's elasticity, grain… Enough talk. I'll demonstrate."
He stepped forward.
His expression grew solemn.
The hammer moved, leaving afterimages. The dull yet orderly sounds rang out, simple and unpretentious—as if the great Dao were simple.
On the anvil, the mithril grew "fuller" with each quick, heavy strike.
…
Half an hour later.
Nearly a thousand strikes.
The mithril regained its metallic luster, gleaming on the anvil. Though it hadn't moved, Su Wen felt as if it had come alive…
Of course, that was a soul master's spiritual perception. To an ordinary person, it was still just mithril.
"You're exceptionally gifted. I won't waste time on hundred-forging—let's jump to thousand-forging. To become a Divine Craftsman has little to do with soul power level—though it can't be too low—and is closely tied to your Martial Soul. Mine is Furnace Flame. Ten thousand years ago, Lou Gao had the Sacred Molding Pen, Tang Hao the Clear Sky Hammer—each tied to forging itself."
"A Martial Soul advantage helps a lot. There's another thing a forgemaster values… immense strength. If I'm not wrong, your Martial Soul trait lets you gain some soul beast attributes, right? Behemoth?"
"Mm." Su Wen fell silent.
"Tsk, tsk… what a monster," Elder Du sighed.
"It's one thing to be absurdly strong on the soul master path, but you're here to snatch bread from the forging path too. Still, I'm curious how far your strength will go. Attaining Divine Craft through strength—interesting…"
"Let's go." Elder Du casually picked up a few oddly shaped metal pieces, stowed the anvil and hammer into a storage soul tool, scanned the area, then looked to Su Wen.
"Where?"
"The Academy. We'll switch venues. We'll get Yan Shaozhe to sign off and secure a budget. Since you want to develop battle armor, the Academy will back you. I must seize the chance to promote blacksmithing, recruit apprentices, and fulfill my late teacher's wish to revitalize the craft."
"Set up a Forging Department?" Su Wen blinked.
"Oh? You've got guts. But forging has fallen hard—it's tough to recruit students," Elder Du was tempted but knew the current status of blacksmiths all too well.
"Once battle armor appears, the Forging Department will be a hot ticket!" Su Wen baited.
"Hiss…"
Elder Du bared his teeth.
He was genuinely moved.
After a long silence, he went to the back of the courtyard, kowtowed three heavy times to a tombstone. "Master, your unfilial disciple has been tempted by this kid only to revive our forging path. If your spirit is angered, you can trouble him."
Su Wen: "…"
"Let's go!"
Elder Du took one last look at the tombstone, grabbed Su Wen, and in a flash they vanished.
A few minutes later,
Several figures in black robes arrived to handle the aftermath…
…
"The Forging Department?!!"
Yan Shaozhe stared at Su Wen in disbelief.
"What exactly are you trying to do! I thought you'd join the Soul Tool Department…"
"That's no impossible either."
Su Wen spread his hands.
"With Elder Du—the world's Divine Craftsman—on board, we could join Soul Tools and develop battle armor. But once we really succeed, the Martial Soul Department might end up subordinate to Soul Tools…"
"Hiss…" Yan Shaozhe looked troubled.
After a long pause, he sighed.
"Fine, fine."
"Let's hold a Sea God Pavilion meeting—just to go through the motions. The elders won't oppose it. Elder Du, I hope you'll attend as well. And I have one request…"
"Speak," Elder Du said blandly.
"My Martial Soul Department can open forging access to many students and help you with a major publicity push. But the Forging Department shouldn't conflict with the Martial Soul Department! Treat it as an elective. I hope the focus remains on Martial Souls—except for exceptional forging talents…"
It would be like the Great Spirit Arena: independent of both Martial Soul and Soul Tool Departments.
A school-within-a-school.
"Agreed," Elder Du nodded.
"We don't want deadweight either."
Yan Shaozhe: "…"
"And there's no need for the Pavilion meeting," Su Wen shook his head. "Martial Souls provide the venue, student slots, and ten percent of the Academy's annual income as forging funds. I'll secure the rest through sponsorships."
"Mm?" Elder Du's calm demeanor vanished. With his back to Yan Shaozhe, he glared at Su Wen, almost rushing over to cover his mouth.
"Confirmed?" Yan Shaozhe asked oddly.
"Confirmed!"
Su Wen nodded solemnly.
"I don't have money!" Elder Du grumbled.
"Relax, I do…"
Su Wen smiled.
The upfront investment wasn't much. Where were forging costs high? Purchasing rare metals was ninety percent of it. As for the "Forging Department" venue, Yan Shaozhe would provide it for free. Student expenses were peanuts. Hammers? He could mooch off Elder Du.
As for rare metals… that's a transmigrator's golden finger. Never mind how many rare metal mines lay in the depths of the Extreme North—he couldn't miss the ore vein mentioned in the original work between Dragon City and the icebound forest on the outskirts of the Extreme North.
So the Forging Department was really to invite Elder Du out of seclusion. The dumplings made for the vinegar…
If he had to wrangle budgets from the Soul Tool and Martial Soul Departments, it'd be too troublesome. Besides, the Martial Soul Department only got sixty percent. This ten percent he asked for amounted to over ten million gold soul coins per year.
"You're still in the Martial Soul Department, right?" Yan Shaozhe hesitated.
"Of course!"
Su Wen beamed.
…
"This will do."
Yan Shaozhe pointed at an idle three-story building.
"It was originally a subdivided Duel Zone. The upper floors are partitioned into rooms of seven or eight hundred square meters. The floors are laid with special metal, with good soundproofing. But after an incident, it's been idle…"
"Not bad!" Elder Du nodded, satisfied.
"As for the ten percent budget, I'll transfer it to you later. By the way, who's in charge, you or Su Wen?" Yan Shaozhe asked, a bit oddly.
"I'm the Dean, so he's the Vice Dean!" Elder Du waved. "I won't handle the hassle. Give the money to him. Better assign a teacher good at administration."
"Alright!"
"Vice Dean Su, I'll send you the funds later," Yan Shaozhe teased with a smile.
"…"
Su Wen's face twitched.
But looking at the three-story building, he exhaled a long breath.
How did I get myself made Vice Dean?
This is weird…
No, wait!
I can't even do thousand-forging. Do I really deserve to be Vice Dean?!!
"Hehe, let's try it out now."
Elder Du grinned, grabbed Su Wen by the shoulder, and in the next instant the two were in a spacious room on the top floor.
It was pitch-dark.
The floor—and even the lower walls—were metal-plated. Clearly, effort had been put in. There was even a worn soul-tool access control at the door—card-swipe entry only…