"Clang~"
Old Du pulled a forging platform out of his storage soul tool, then tossed Su Wen a hammer that was a uniform gray-black, its surface carved with intricate patterns. "A Grayforge Hammer, cast from a rare metal. It's only at the spirit-forged level. I didn't infuse any innate traits, no soul-forging, so you can think of it as a blank sheet of paper—yours to carve and refine in the future…
"Of course, before that, it's more than enough for thousand-refining most metals."
"Give it a try."
"Hoo…"
Su Wen let out a turbid breath and slowly gripped the handle of the Grayforge Hammer.
He closed his eyes. A cool sensation instantly spread from the handle. As he injected soul power, the hammer lit up, shifting from gray-black to a pure gray.
"Hah!"
Recalling Old Du's hammering strength and posture, Su Wen controlled his power to avoid leakage and brought the hammer down.
Bang!
The piece of mithril on the forging table trembled but did not deform.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Several more strikes fell in quick succession, somewhat messy, but Old Du nodded in satisfaction. Su Wen was searching for the proper force, using the feedback of the blows to judge the metal's ductility, elasticity, even internal grain. Unlike a long-tempered Divine Craftsmen like Old Du—who knew every metal's character at a glance—a novice like Su Wen had to feel it out step by step…
Sure enough, with the next strike, the sound grew steady.
Clearly, Su Wen had found the right posture and force. After that, his hammering roared like a storm, so fast it left only afterimages, making Old Du gape.
Is this kid really forging for the first time?!!
Why does it feel like he's playing the pig to eat the tiger?
Half an hour later, Su Wen leaned on the Grayforge Hammer, wiped sweat from his forehead, and looked at Old Du to the side. "Thousand-refined—the impurities are gone, toughness improved, and it seems to have nurtured a trace of spirit. Take a look, see if it's really—"
Before he finished, Old Du tossed out another forging platform. "Go pick a room on the top floor. Forge on your own. If you run into problems, come find me…"
"Oh, right!"
Seeing Su Wen about to leave, Old Du suddenly turned back, suppressing his excitement. "Would you be willing to take me as your master?"
"Uh…"
Seeing Su Wen's stunned expression, Old Du swallowed. "No rush, no rush. Think it over and then answer. I'll be waiting."
Su Wen: "…"
…
Word spread quickly through the Forging Department.
Yan Shaozhe had people promote it in the Outer Court, and the buzz blew up overnight.
But the next day, at the entrance to the assessment—
Su Wen stared at the dense crowd squeezing in to sign up, his face a bit stiff. He exchanged a glance with Old Du beside him, and they both saw surprise in each other's eyes.
Not because they disliked a crowd, but…
Ninety percent of them were girls!
Quite a few even sent Su Wen glances full of veiled affection; if Su Wen looked their way, they'd blush shyly, then cluster up in twos and threes to whisper excitedly.
"Counted everything but forgot to count you, kid," Old Du said helplessly.
"Hoo…"
Su Wen took a deep breath, frowning slightly.
"For this exam, only students with strength-type martial souls, or martial souls related to forge-fire and forging, may participate. Everyone else, please withdraw."
As his words fell—
Only three students hesitantly stepped out.
"Class 2-2, Huang Chutian, level-31 Soul Elder, martial soul: Great Strength Divine Ape!"
"Class 5-1, Song Lei, level-37 Soul Elder, martial soul is Iron—" a brawny youth said with a goofy grin.
"Class 4-1, Lou Yingying, level-34 Soul Elder, martial soul: Vajra Hammer." The speaker was a slim girl with wheat-colored skin; she spoke cautiously.
"…"
Seeing there were only three, Su Wen and Old Du exchanged a look and both nodded.
Huang Chutian was a core disciple with recognized talent—of the three, the most gifted. They didn't know why he wanted forging, but he was certainly up to the task.
The other two were much less gifted on the path of soul masters—fourth or fifth years, only around fifteen or sixteen and just at Soul Elder.
But that made them ideal for the Forging Department!
If someone's talent was too high, the Martial Soul Department would be reluctant to let them go—or they wouldn't be willing to invest most of their energy in forging. In Yan Shaozhe's eyes, these two were inconsequential, but in Old Du and Su Wen's eyes—they were excellent seedlings!
"Good. You three it is!"
Su Wen nodded.
…
"Um… Senior Su Wen."
After exchanging glances, Huang Chutian finally spoke on behalf of the three.
Technically, they were the same cohort, but after Su Wen led his team to crush every academy in the tournament, sweeping the field with overwhelming force, he'd become a "star" of Shrek. Everyone knew he'd joined the Inner Court. Calling him "senior" was well-deserved by both seniority and strength.
"Mm?"
Su Wen looked at him.
"Th-then, Senior Su Wen… do we need to prepare anything? Like forging platforms, forging hammers, that sort of thing." Seeing Su Wen's gaze, he grew nervous. Back in the Outer Court, this was the great demon king who crippled Zhou Yi and still thrived in the academy.
"No need. The Forging Department has money; we'll provide it. Of course, if you have tools you're used to, bring them." Su Wen smiled and waved it off.
They entered a room on the second floor.
A seven-to-eight-hundred-square-meter dueling hall had been divided into four zones. Each zone had a brand-new high-grade forging platform and some metals that were very expensive outside.
Lou Yingying and Song Lei's eyes lit up.
Su Wen looked at them.
"I'll repeat this: the Forging Department has money. You don't need to scrimp. But I'll also mention the original intention behind establishing the department. Why set up a Forging Department in an era where blacksmiths have fallen into decline?"
Seeing them pay attention, Su Wen continued, "Because the potential of the forging path hasn't yet been fully developed. Do you know about soul tools?"
"I do!" Lou Yingying nodded quickly.
Huang Chutian looked confused; Song Lei scratched his head and shook it.
"We'll have to take you to the Sun Moon Empire for further study later." Su Wen shook his head.
Even if he announced the method of forging battle armor in the future, they'd at least need basic soul tool knowledge—array engraving and the like. If all they could do was forge… it wouldn't be enough.
Su Wen looked at Lou Yingying in front. "Your surname is Lou. If I'm not mistaken… you might be related to the Divine Craftsmen Lou Gao from ten thousand years ago?"
"Yes." Lou Yingying nodded, her expression dim. "But unfortunately, we juniors failed to inherit our ancestor's legacy. No Divine Craftsmens have appeared in our line since."
"To reach Divine Craftsmen… how difficult that is."
A leisurely voice sounded.
"Old Du!"
Lou Yingying and Song Lei quickly bowed.
"That's enough," Old Du said casually. "I'm the dean of the Forging Department. Su Wen is the vice dean. If you run into trouble while forging, you can come to me, but he'll handle everything else."
"Yes!"
The three answered quickly.
Lou Yingying and Song Lei were especially excited.
They'd come for Old Du. In the forging circle, no matter how their families had declined, how could they not know the current Divine Craftsmen's name? Hearing that he'd come out of seclusion, they were almost giddy…
Guidance from a Divine Craftsmen might not mean much to other soul masters.
But to people in the trade, every word is worth a thousand gold.
"Of course, all of this was his idea—combining forging with soul tools," Old Du sighed. "I may be an old fossil, but forging as a discipline has indeed decayed. If we don't reform, we'll be swept away by the tide of the times."
"Combine forging with soul tools?" Light flashed in Lou Yingying's eyes.
"Yes."
Su Wen nodded.
He glanced at the girl—mention her professional field and she became a different person.
"I've tried it!" Lou Yingying hesitated, then said softly, "I tried in secret—my father would have beaten me if he knew. I used a piece of thousand-refined metal to make a soul tool short blade. Its combat power was three to four times that of a normal soul tool!"
"But my father sees soul tools as a scourge and forbids us from touching them…"
"Heh, the power is nowhere near enough…"
Su Wen smiled and shook his head.
"I can paint you an early picture. One: don't worry about graduation. If you join the Forging Department and don't fall behind in forging, I can get you into the Martial Soul Department's Inner Court. Your Inner Court assessment will be forging…"
At that, Song Lei and Lou Yingying's eyes lit up.
Given their strength, the fact they were still in fourth or fifth year at this age said it all; in another year or two, they might not even be able to graduate.
This was a gift of life-saving warmth in the snow!
"Two: as long as your forging passes muster in the future, I can guarantee your combat capability can leap by twenty ranks. And if you master soul-forging and reach Saint Craftsmen, I can guarantee to send you into the realm of Title Douluo! With the combat power of an Limit Douluo!"
"Hiss…"
The three stared, dumbfounded.
If the first promise made them cheer, the second was downright earth-shattering.
Leap twenty ranks in combat?!!
What did that mean? That not only could they enter the Inner Court now—they could directly attempt the Inner Court's graduation assessment!
And if they reached Saint Craftsmen, Su Wen could force their rise to Title Douluo!
Which meant their future focus could be entirely on forging—and that was their dream.
"Of course, if you can't keep up with my pace, go to the Soul Tool Department and learn the basics. I'll recommend you to the dean for personal instruction. Otherwise, when we head to the Sun Moon Empire soon, starting from zero will leave you far behind."
"…"
So arrogant!
The three muttered inwardly.
But with Su Wen's monstrous talent, he did seem qualified to say it.
After Su Wen left—
Old Du said with a smile, "He's very arrogant, but he's got the goods. Do you know what level his forging is at now?"
"Fusion-forging?" Lou Yingying asked.
"Don't tell me it's soul-forging?" the girl said, startled.
"No, he just touched spirit-forging." Old Du smiled.
"Huh?"
Lou Yingying and Song Lei were both shocked.
They came from forging families; by thirteen, they could do spirit-forging. Now they were attempting fusion-forging.
"But before today, he'd never touched forging," Old Du said faintly.
"He watched me once and learned thousand-refining—he even forged out a trace of spirit…"
"His comprehension and talent can no longer be described as merely astonishing. If he tells you to study, then study—otherwise you really will be left ten thousand miles behind."
The two: "…"
…
A month flew by.
Su Wen joined the three in the Forging Department to learn very basic things—but at a pace that left the others in despair.
In a single month, Su Wen had caught up and surpassed them, able to fuse spirit in forging—achieving the level of a master craftsman in common terms.
Their despair wasn't just that he was faster.
It was that he used one month to surpass more than a decade of their effort, blitzing through realms like drinking water.
He also won their respect.
Su Wen knew that to truly convince them, he had to defeat them in their own field. That would be simple…
As for Elder Mu and Electrolux, both remained in seclusion with no movement, but things were clearly trending in a good direction—otherwise Old Yi would have come to him already.
While Su Wen kept attempting fusion-forging, reveling in pushing himself and even charging toward soul-forging, an arrogant voice suddenly rang out.
"Xuan Zi, get your ass out here!"
The voice rolled over the whole of Shrek Academy.
With soul power amplifying it, it lingered without fading.
"The Body Sect?"
Su Wen put down the Grayforge Hammer and looked out the window.
He frowned slightly.
Without Huo—again they've come to snatch something?