It was a girl who looked to be around ten years old, with a slender figure and beautiful features. Her long golden hair was tied in a ponytail that swayed gently, and beneath her bangs was a pair of clear, bright eyes.
"Hello, Uncle Arthur." Mu Xi greeted him with elegant manners, then curiously sized up the boy beside Agravaine.
With Arthur's current cute appearance, he was practically a heart-stealer for all ages and genders. Especially the ahoge on top of his head that wobbled back and forth, making Mu Xi's heart itch with the urge to touch it.
After his Martial Soul Awakening, an ahoge had sprouted on Arthur's head; he hadn't looked in a mirror yet, so he didn't know. Agravaine, on the other hand, was too lazy to pay attention to such a small matter.
"Little Arthur is here too."
Mu Chen looked up, his impatient expression changing instantly into a face full of smiles. Cute children were always likable.
He suddenly remembered that today was Awakening Day, so Arthur must have come over right after Awakening his Martial Soul.
Perfect, he could see how Little Arthur's physical talent was. To learn blacksmithing well, strength was of the utmost importance.
"So Little Arthur wants to learn blacksmithing. Come with me, Uncle, let's go to the forging room for a little test."
Ignoring Agravaine and acting as if he didn't exist, Mu Chen pulled Arthur along as they headed out toward a forging room.
"Tsk." Agravaine curled his lip and turned to follow.
Mu Xi's beautiful eyes were also filled with curiosity as she trotted after them on her short legs.
Along the way...
A trace of regret flashed through Mu Chen's mind. Seeing Arthur again reminded him of that stunning couple; with top-tier talent and a Martial Soul Fusion ability to complement each other, they were almost guaranteed to become Limit Douluos. What a pity.
Entering the forging room, Mu Chen casually picked up a forging hammer weighing about a hundred pounds and handed it to Arthur, speaking softly, "Little Arthur, give it a try."
Agravaine said impatiently, "I've already tested Little Arthur's physical fitness and strength, it's about—"
"Did I ask you?" Mu Chen glared at him and snapped back unceremoniously, "Do you understand blacksmithing or do I?" This slacker was actually trying to give pointers.
Mu Chen didn't say the last part out loud, fearing the other man would lose his temper.
Agravaine snorted, but for once he didn't snap back. For the sake of teaching Little Arthur, he would tolerate it for now.
Arthur picked up the forging hammer very easily. A hundred pounds was effortless for him; he swung it around a few times as if it were weightless.
"Not bad." Mu Chen was somewhat surprised. This child's strength was at least a thousand pounds; one had to remember he was only six years old and had just awakened his Martial Soul.
He placed a piece of the rare metal Deep Silver on the forging table.
"Try striking the metal with the hammer in your hand."
"Uncle Mu, I don't know how to forge." Arthur's tone was hesitant. Testing strength was fine, but he knew absolutely nothing about smithing.
"It's fine, just strike it a few times randomly."
For an Eighth-Rank Saint Craftsman like Mu Chen, he could pretty much tell a person's talent from the first time they touched metal.
Of course, testing talent this way was too arbitrary, but with his vision, he could already see many things.
"Bang!"
He swung the hammer and smashed it down hard, the booming sound of metal echoing through the room.
"Bang, bang, bang..."
One strike followed another, the movements direct and forceful, without any redirection of force or power techniques. Arthur was simply venting his immense strength onto the metal in a disorganized fashion.
With every boom of the metal, Mu Chen's brow furrowed a bit deeper.
Watching from the side, Mu Xi couldn't help but cover her mouth and giggle. Having successfully achieved a Hundred Forging for the first time today, she was in a great mood, and seeing such ugly smithing gave her a strong sense of superiority. She completely forgot that this was the boy's first time forging and that he was using a hundred-pound hammer.
Mu Chen opened his mouth slightly, prepared to call a halt; he had already seen enough.
"Bang——"
The sound of the metal suddenly changed.
Eh?
Wait!
The chaotic booming of metal suddenly shifted.
The crisp, dense sounds were extremely pleasant to the ear, both in rhythm and frequency.
It was as if music were being played.
At some point, Arthur's eyes had become vacant as he emptied his mind. He seemed to have entered a marvelous state, turning his body entirely over to his sixth sense as he struck the metal over and over.
The angle and force of every hammer strike were practically perfect.
"Bang!"
As the final strike fell...
Hundred Forging, complete!
The forging room fell into silence.
"Little Arthur, how did you do that!" Mu Chen stepped forward and grabbed Arthur's shoulders, shaking him excitedly. That was Hundred Forging Deep Silver; even the standard for a Second-Rank Blacksmith was only at that level. Not to mention, this was his first time ever touching smithing!
Even Agravaine understood the sheer weight of this achievement.
"I... I just followed my feelings, and it ended up like this after some random hitting."
Arthur felt a bit guilty; his Hundred Forging actually had a lot of 'water' in it, as it relied entirely on Intuition.
He had only realized halfway through the forging that the Holy Sword seemed to have not only modified his Spirit Ability but also granted him the Intuition ability.
Intuition was the ability to instantly determine the most suitable course of action during combat, even reaching the Domain of predicting the future.
And his Intuition was even more special; it could actually be applied to blacksmithing. It allowed him to complete the Hundred Forging by following his pure sixth sense.
To put it simply...
He was cheating.
He had to admit, being a Holy Sword wielder was really easy; the Holy Sword was practically spoon-feeding him.
"I won't be able to do it again."
That was a lie.
Although Arthur didn't know the 'how' or 'why,' with his Intuition, he could replicate this Hundred Forging no matter how many times he tried.
"That is still Heaven-Defying." Mu Chen's eyes were burning with passion; his disciple had the potential of a Divine Craftsman!
Completing a Hundred Forging by feel on his first try... Mu Chen had absolute confidence in cultivating Arthur into a Divine Craftsman.
"Uncle Mu..."
"What 'Uncle Mu'? Call me Teacher!"
"Uh, Teacher, maybe you should look over there first?" Arthur tilted his head.
Mu Chen followed Arthur's gaze and saw a girl standing there; only then did he realize his daughter was also present.
Mu Xi, who had been all smiles earlier, could no longer smile. Her eyes were red, her teeth were clenched, and tears were welling up in her pupils.
Clearly, Mu Xi's composure had shattered.
The girl's heart was full of indignation.
Why?
Because she was a girl, her father hadn't supported her choice of blacksmithing from the start. But Mu Xi had started swinging a specially made small iron hammer to practice forging since she was five, only moving her father after two years of persistence.
Today, three years later, she had successfully achieved Hundred Forging. Next, she only needed to practice slowly with other metals to become a First-Rank Blacksmith.
No one knew how much sweat she had poured out over these years.
But why, why was there someone who didn't need to work hard and could easily surpass her on his first attempt at forging?
And it was a Hundred Forging completed with Deep Silver, a height that was currently unreachable for her.
"Dad..."
Her Dao Heart shattered, Mu Xi sobbed and suddenly threw herself into Mu Chen's arms, weeping bitterly.
"Sigh." Patting his daughter's back, Mu Chen felt a massive headache, racking his brain for a way to comfort her.
Beside them, Arthur felt no ripple of emotion in his heart, and even felt a bit like laughing.
It was just a competitive child being hit hard by a Genius; it wasn't a big deal.
Besides, Arthur hadn't expected himself to be such a Genius either.
Oh well, if she had something to say, she could go tell it to his Intuition!