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"Do you want to take a look?"
After pondering for a moment, Chu Chengzhou asked.
He could guess a bit of what Ning Rongrong was thinking at the moment.
The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul had treasure-finding abilities. Ordinary Heavy Silver could be considered a treasure, let alone the Heavy Silver after being refined a thousand times.
This bow, undoubtedly crafted from Thousand-refined Heavy Silver, was judged by the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul as a rare treasure, catching Ning Rongrong's attention.
You want to see my precious big bow? Coincidentally, I was thinking of getting you into my pond!
In Ning Rongrong's eyes, he was already the boyfriend of her sister. If he didn't spark some conversation and curiosity, how could he reel this fish into his own pond?
A heartbreaker or a Casanova?
No, no, no, the Chu family has few members. His late parents only had him as their son.
He had past wisdom; even as an infant, he could remember things clearly. He vividly remembered that his father said his greatest wish in life was to develop the Chu family into a spirit master family, allowing future generations to escape commoner status.
His late father's last wish was something he naturally had to follow. But having children wasn't like running a school. If he only married one wife, when would they ever expand into a family?
Between loyalty and filial piety, the previous Chu Chengzhou had pondered deeply for a long time and ultimately chose filial piety.
Is it wrong for a heartbreaker to love broadly? That can be debated, but one thing is certain: being unfilial is definitely wrong!
Father Chu: My son is really too filial!
"Mm-hmm! Senior Chu, can your big bow still shoot soul power arrows?"
Ning Rongrong nodded earnestly.
She was very curious why Chu Chengzhou's seemingly ordinary large bow was evaluated as a rare treasure by her Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul.
"The arrow I shot earlier was a family secret technique; it has nothing to do with the bow. By the way, this bow is quite heavy, so be careful."
Chu Chengzhou took out the Thousand-refined Heavy Silver Bow and handed it to Ning Rongrong.
'Family secret technique?'
Ning Rongrong slightly furrowed her delicate brows. Since it was a family secret technique, she couldn't ask much about it.
As for the bow being heavy? She cared even less. Though called a big bow, its size didn't seem that large. Even if it were heavier, how heavy could it be?
Moreover, you, Chu Chengzhou, can easily lift it. Although I, Ning Rongrong, am only a two-ring auxiliary type, my strength isn't something ordinary people can compare to.
As expected, Ning Rongrong, caught off guard by the unexpectedly heavy hundred-plus pound Thousand-refined Heavy Silver Bow, failed to hold it steady. Stumbling, she nearly dropped it on her foot. Just in time, Chu Chengzhou caught the falling Heavy Silver Bow.
"Look at you, didn't I tell you to be careful? Good thing I caught it; otherwise, you'd have cried!"
Chu Chengzhou scolded without much enthusiasm.
If a hundred-plus pound heavy bow fell solidly, this wealthy young lady might end up with a broken leg.
"Senior Chu, how much does your bow weigh?"
Ning Rongrong felt somewhat depressed. The bow didn't look that big, so why was it so heavy?
"Just over a hundred pounds!"
The density of ordinary Heavy Silver was several times that of gold. After being forged a thousand times, its volume shrank again, increasing the density further. Though the bow's body didn't look large, its weight was astonishing.
Of course, the weight of the Heavy Silver Bow wasn't exaggerated and could even be considered light.
Take, for example, the Sea God, Poseidon's Trident, which weighed ten thousand eight hundred catties. Even the Angel Holy Sword that Qian Renxue wielded after becoming a god weighed tens of thousands of catties.
"Over a hundred pounds?"
Ning Rongrong widened her eyes in astonishment, looking at Chu Chengzhou incredulously.
A hundred-pound bow feels weightless in your hands; how astonishing must your physique be?
"I'll go deal with that big goose. Look at it and return it to me when you're done!"
Without paying much attention to the astonished Ning Rongrong, Chu Chengzhou placed the Heavy Silver Bow beside her feet and went to deal with the lying corpse of the Golden Feather Swan.
Swans were large semi-aquatic birds, and the thousand-year-old Golden Feather Swan was quite sizable, enough for them to enjoy a delicious meal.
Ning Rongrong didn't bother with Chu Chengzhou either. She squatted down, curiously examining the Thousand-refined Heavy Silver Bow.
Its grayish color and unexpectedly heavy weight made her increasingly think that this big bow was made of the rare metal Heavy Silver.
However, the density was wrong. Even though Heavy Silver had high density, it shouldn't be this heavy. Moreover, the somewhat rough-looking bow body, which wasn't very aesthetic, had many strange patterns.
She could tell these patterns weren't carved on but seemed to have naturally formed from the metal itself.
Could this be a rare metal similar to Heavy Silver?
"Xiao Wu, what kind of metal is your brother's bow made from?"
Unable to figure it out, Ning Rongrong asked Xiao Wu.
"It's called Heavy Silver, I think. I remember my brother saying the material was bought from your Seven Treasures Chamber of Commerce—it was super expensive!"
After recalling, Xiao Wu said.
"Really Heavy Silver?"
Instantly, Ning Rongrong widened her beautiful eyes.
This isn't just soul power!
She wasn't unfamiliar with the rare metal Heavy Silver. It couldn't possibly cause such a strong reaction in her Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul.
If this big bow was a lost art soul-guiding device, she could understand.
But the problem was, this big bow appeared to be simply shaped from metal—just removing impurities, purifying it, and changing its shape slightly. How could its value increase so dramatically?
"It's definitely Heavy Silver! But my brother is the best blacksmith of this era, capable of turning the mundane into the miraculous. It's understandable if you didn't recognize it."
Xiao Wu proudly declared.
"The best blacksmith of this era?"
Ning Rongrong blinked.
If memory served correctly, there were three renowned blacksmiths on the continent: one was the Hao Tian Douluo who crushed the former Pope of the Spirit Hall, another was Tai Tan, the current leader of the Strength Clan residing in Tian Dou City, and the third was someone from the Star Luo Empire.
Was Senior Chu, despite his youth, surpassing these three masters in blacksmithing skills?
But if this big bow was really crafted by Senior Chu himself using Heavy Silver, perhaps the title of Divine Blacksmith wasn't just hype?
She hadn't seen the craftsmanship of those three blacksmiths, but she could confirm none of them could transform ordinary Heavy Silver into special Heavy Silver causing such reactions in her martial soul.
"My brother said so himself~"
Xiao Wu stuck out her tongue sheepishly.
Looking at the Heavy Silver Bow on the ground, Ning Rongrong sank into deep thought.
Her Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect started from mining. Most of the rare metals on the market came from their mines.
Although she didn't yet know what use this special Heavy Silver had, one thing was certain: its performance in all aspects far surpassed ordinary Heavy Silver.
If used to forge weapons and armor, wouldn't its performance drastically improve?
Even if high-level spirit masters didn't need weapons and armor, equipping regular soldiers or low-level spirit masters would also be excellent.
Under the command of the Tian Dou Empire were hundreds of thousands of elite troops, dozens of thousands of troops from four kingdoms and one duchy, and each city had guards ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Such an immense amount of weaponry—though the finished products might not be bought from the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, the raw materials absolutely were.
Improved performance of the metal raw materials meant improved equipment quality, and thus prices would naturally rise accordingly.
If they could master this "turning the mundane into the miraculous" forging skill, the profits the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect could gain would be enormous.
Most importantly, this wasn't a one-time business deal but a long-term stream—no, a river—of income!
However, here lay the problem: this skill belonged to Chu Chengzhou. Whether he would teach it was one issue; whether others could learn it was another. She didn't think any random blacksmith could master this skill.
Additionally, did this skill only work on the rare metal Heavy Silver, or was it effective on all metals? This too was a question.
Thinking it over, Ning Rongrong decided to find Chu Chengzhou to discuss it when they returned to Shrek Academy.
Could the skill be taught? In Ning Rongrong's view, as long as enough gold coins or benefits were given, there was nothing that couldn't be taught.
If there was, it was simply because not enough gold coins were offered, or the benefits weren't sufficient.
Just, what exactly did Senior Chu want?
Two hours later, apart from Zhao Wuji, who remained vigilant, everyone else gathered around the large pot eating 'iron pot stewed goose,' even Dai Mubai joined in.
After all, they were classmates, and with Teacher Zhao still nearby, Chu Chengzhou couldn't exactly tell Dai Mubai there wasn't any for him.
It must be said that the Golden Feather Swan spirit beast was very suitable as an ingredient.
Even though Chu Chengzhou's cooking skills weren't great and the ingredients weren't complete, this pot of iron pot stewed goose was still extraordinarily delicious.
"You little bastards, leave some for me!"
Smelling the aroma wafting from the nearby pot and seeing Chu Chengzhou and others picking out the best meat, Zhao Wuji couldn't help but swallow his saliva and jokingly scolded them.
If Oscar wasn't absorbing his soul ring and he didn't need to focus on guarding against possible spirit beasts, Zhao Wuji would have joined the dinner group long ago.
Hearing Zhao Wuji call them little bastards, Xiao Wu felt indignant, but she was busy eating swan meat and had no time to care.
"Teacher Zhao, don't worry, there's still plenty in the pot!"
Chewing on a piece of swan wing, Chu Chengzhou said without turning his head.
At that moment, a violent surge of soul power rippled. Turning his head, Chu Chengzhou saw that Oscar had already refined the Golden Feather Swan soul ring, breaking through the Level 30 restriction and advancing to the Level 31 Soul Elder.
After advancing to the three-ring Soul Master, Oscar grew a bit taller and looked more spirited. Perhaps influenced by the Golden Feather Swan soul ring, his peach blossom eyes even glimmered with golden light.
"Oscar, congratulations!"
Zhao Wuji stepped forward with a smile to congratulate him.
"Haha~, thank you, Teacher Zhao..."
Oscar was about to say a few polite words but saw Zhao Wuji turn and walk towards Chu Chengzhou and the others gathered around the large pot.
"Oscar, what's the effect of your soul skill?"
Chu Chengzhou smiled and asked.
"Hehe~, good luck! The third soul ring skill, Golden Wing Flight Sausage, effect, flight!"
As he spoke, Oscar muttered an incantation. A flash of golden light appeared in his hand, and a golden sausage, similar in shape to the Recovery Large Sausage but with a pair of cute little wings in the middle, slowly materialized.
"Cough cough cough"
Seeing the appearance of Oscar's Golden Wing Flight Sausage, Chu Chengzhou, who had just sipped some swan soup, was immediately choked.
In the original story, the Crested Phoenix Tail Snake gave Oscar an extremely 'evil'-looking Mushroom Sausage. Now, Oscar added the Golden Feather Swan, and the shape of the third soul skill-created sausage naturally differed.
Though the shape of the Golden Wing Flight Sausage seemed odd to others, it was fine. To Chu Chengzhou, this thing bore an uncanny resemblance to an essential item women used during their periods.
Both were long and cylindrical, with small wings on either side in the middle part, resembling protective flaps.
While Chu Chengzhou was shocked by the shape of the Golden Wing Flight Sausage, others were amazed by its effects.
There were many spirit masters on the continent, with a myriad of martial souls and soul skills. Among auxiliary spirit masters, there were indeed some with the ability to assist in flight.
However, examples were extremely rare, and most importantly, those with the ability to assist in flight were generally six-ringed or higher-level spirit masters. Yet Oscar achieved this at the three-ring level.
When they learned that Oscar wanted a flying-effect sausage, they assumed it was a joke and didn't hold much hope. But never in their wildest dreams did they imagine that a flying sausage soul skill would actually form?
Seeing the astonished looks of his companions, even Chu Chengzhou was stunned to the point of choking, and Oscar felt secretly pleased.
"Little Ao, do you really fly after eating your Golden Wing Flight Sausage?"
Suddenly, Ma Hongjun asked skeptically.
"Of course! The effect lasts a whole minute!"
Oscar proudly proclaimed.
"Pfft~, I thought you could fly continuously. Only a minute? What can you do in a minute?"
Ma Hongjun pouted, showing disdain.
"Hmph, ignorant! A minute may not be long, but what if you fly at the speed of the Golden Feather Swan for a minute?"
Oscar straightened his back and arrogantly stated.
"… Speaking of which, how far can the Golden Feather Swan fly in a minute?"
After a brief silence, Ma Hongjun turned to look at Chu Chengzhou and Ning Rongrong.
"I'm not sure, but if we consider a Golden Feather Swan with the same number of years as Oscar's soul ring, it might cover about four to five kilometers?"
After thinking for a moment, Chu Chengzhou uncertainly replied.
Four to five kilometers in a minute, translating to 240 to 300 kilometers per hour, one-fifth to one-fourth the speed of sound. Not particularly fast, but certainly not slow either.
Compared to the Crested Phoenix Tail Snake's original story distance of over two kilometers per minute, it was roughly double the speed.
However, one was a snake, and the other a swan; naturally, there was a significant difference in speed.
"This impressive? Eating your Golden Wing Flight Sausage allows you to fly four to five kilometers in a minute? Impossible!"
Ma Hongjun was greatly surprised. Could a mere third soul skill have such an amazing effect?
"What's impossible about it? My third soul ring comes from the Golden Feather Swan, so my soul skill naturally relates to it, and my perception can't be wrong!
Fatty, due to your severe distrust, I hereby announce that every time you eat my flight sausage in the future, you must treat me once!
By the way, the taste and class can't drop; it must meet the standards of the past few months!"
Finally, Oscar added a sentence.
Everyone: "…"
Without the last sentence about maintaining taste and class, it might have been interpreted as an ordinary treat, but with that addition, those present understood perfectly well.
"Cough, Little Ao, your third soul ring is excellent. With your current soul power, how many such flight sausages can you produce?"
Zhao Wuji cleared his throat and changed the subject.
There were still three girls present! Discussing such suggestive topics wasn't appropriate.
"My flight sausage consumes much more soul power than the first two sausages. Given my current situation, I can produce at most ten or so in one go."
After thinking for a moment, Oscar said.
Hearing this, Zhao Wuji nodded satisfactorily: "Not bad, ten or so isn't a small number, and as your soul power improves, the quantity will increase!
Little Ao, starting now, your sausage martial soul officially enters the premium category!
Alright, everyone, hurry up and eat; after finishing, we'll return to the academy!"
With that, Zhao Wuji scooped another piece of goose leg meat from the pot.
"Damn, leave some for me!"
Oscar immediately joined the food-grabbing fray.
After leaving the Great Star Dou Forest, Chu Chengzhou secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
For one reason or another, Xiao Wu concealed her presence exceptionally well, and the hundred-thousand-year-old Titan Giant Ape, Xiao Wu's younger brother Er Ming, from the original story didn't suddenly show up.
Though in the original story, no one from Shrek Academy ultimately lost their lives, quite a few were injured, and they faced life-threatening situations.
If something similar to the original story happened, Chu Chengzhou couldn't guarantee they would all survive.
Of course, if it were Dai Mubai who died, Chu Chengzhou wouldn't mind.
By the time night fell, Chu Chengzhou and the others had returned to the Soul Hunting Town they passed through before.
It was late, and they didn't intend to travel overnight, planning instead to stay at the same hotel again.
"Teacher Zhao, last time you said you'd treat us, but something unexpected happened, and you didn't get to. This time, you can't run away from the bill, alright~"
In the hotel restaurant, after finding a table and sitting down, Chu Chengzhou directly addressed Zhao Wuji.
"That's right, Teacher Zhao, this meal should be on you!"
Oscar chimed in with a nod.
Ma Hongjun? He was already flipping through the menu.
"Alright, but Little Fatty, order less!"
Zhao Wuji didn't refuse but warned Ma Hongjun not to repeat the mistake of excluding cheap items while ordering everything else last time.
"Teacher Zhao, you are mistaken. The most important thing about treating guests is to ensure they eat happily. Besides, gold spirit coins are external possessions. Do you plan to save them to marry a bride?
Fatty, don't be polite with our Teacher Zhao!"
Chu Chengzhou quickly interjected.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Wuji felt somewhat embarrassed. Whether or not he had a girlfriend was none of his business!
"Yes, yes, yes, Senior Chu makes sense. Teacher Zhao, we're still growing, and nutrition can't be neglected! Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, don't you agree?"
Ning Rongrong supported as well.
"Mm-hmm!"
They both nodded simultaneously.
"I give up on you little rascals!"
Zhao Wuji felt helpless.
Xiao Wu: "..."
Considering the big bear treating us to a meal, this rabbit won't argue with you this time!
Needless to say, Ma Hongjun immediately summoned the waiter and showcased what it meant to "not be short of money."
During the wait and idle chatter, a group of people suddenly walked into the restaurant.
Leading the group was a middle-aged man appearing to be in his forties, handsome, wearing a moon-white spirit master robe, intricately embroidered with many silver-threaded patterns. Under the lights, the robe gleamed, appearing somewhat flashy.
Behind the middle-aged man were six men and one woman, all young adults around twenty, dressed in the same moon-white spirit master robes, just lacking the silver embroidery of the leading middle-aged man.
However, whether it was the middle-aged man or the seven young men and women behind him, on the left shoulder of each was a green circular emblem with two same-colored characters inside — Cang Hui.
But the entire group of eight appeared rather disheveled. Their originally pristine spirit master robes were torn in many places, indicating they likely just emerged from the Star Dou Forest.
One look told they were spirit masters, and not freelance ones but had academic backgrounds. The restaurant owner, being a snob, hurriedly welcomed them with a nod and obsequious courtesy.
"Little Ao, that girl looks pretty good! Judging by their clothes, they must be from Cang Hui Academy, right?"
Ma Hongjun's small eyes fixed intently on the only female in the group of eight.
Indeed, the girl was quite attractive. With some dressing up, she could pass as a goddess in Chu Chengzhou's previous life.
Though Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing were beautiful, Ma Hongjun knew his place. One was not only his boss but also Chu's girl, another was a direct descendant of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, and the other was cold and had some connection with Dai Tiger. He didn't dare set his sights on the girls from his own academy.
"Fatty, have you forgotten the lesson from last time?"
Chu Chengzhou felt somewhat depressed. He thought that deviating from the original storyline, his group wouldn't encounter Cang Hui Academy, but never expected that although they didn't meet them going in, they encountered them after finishing hunting souls.
And similarly to the original story, the incorrigible fatty flirted and teased the girl again.
To say Ma Hongjun was bad, he wasn't too bad. But to say he wasn't bad, that also wasn't true.
After all, wherever hooligans go, they aren't liked.
"Big Brother Chu, rest assured, this group is from Cang Hui Academy."
Ma Hongjun waved dismissively without turning his head.
The implication was clear: a small fry like Cang Hui Academy, they could handle.
Ma Hongjun didn't deliberately lower his voice. Despite the noise in the restaurant, the middle-aged man among the eight still cast his gaze over.
Already displeased with someone teasing his students, he now saw that lewd-looking fatty leering at the only female student in his group. The middle-aged man's face darkened even more.
Could he tolerate a little thug flirting with his own student?
Immediately, the middle-aged man whispered something into the ear of one of the youths behind him.
Subsequently, the youth nodded slightly and headed toward Chu Chengzhou's table, while the remaining seven, including the middle-aged man, found an empty table to sit at.
Clearly, this group from Cang Hui Academy didn't take Chu Chengzhou and his group seriously.
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