Chapter 537: Feng Wu Yu (4k)

At night, Tang Wulin alone came to the Blacksmith Association in Shilake City.

Although in the public's eyes he and Huo Yutong always appear together, in reality they are not constantly stuck together.

Take this time period, for example—it's when the two study separately.

Huo Yutong went to the Tang Sect to study the ever-developing soul master theory and technology that has evolved over ten thousand years, while Tang Wulin stayed in Shilake City and went to the Blacksmith Association to continue honing his forging skills.

The blacksmith badge on his chest has already risen from sixth rank a few months ago to seventh rank, making him a seventh-rank blacksmith.

Because just over a month ago he completed soul forging, officially becoming a seventh-rank blacksmith.

This means his forging level is completely different from before; he has fully entered a new level.

Among blacksmiths, fifth and sixth ranks are masters, seventh and eighth ranks are saint artisans, ninth rank is god artisans; having completed soul forging and broken through to seventh-rank blacksmith means he himself has entered the saint artisan level.

As the second profession universally recognized across the continent as the most difficult to cultivate, reaching a high rank is extremely difficult; even now, the entire continent has only a dozen or so saint artisans, and god artisans are only Zhen Hua alone. Tang Wulin is only nineteen years old, yet he has successfully broken through to the saint artisan level—this is unprecedented in the history of the Blacksmith Association, with no equal before or after.

As for the quality of the soul forging he produced… according to Zhen Hua, due to the high level of energy contained within, the quality of his soul forging even surpasses Zhen Hua's heavenly forging in some aspects.

Because Tang Wulin's understanding of high-grade metals is still not clear, he doesn't know how outrageous Zhen Hua's evaluation is; if any saint artisan here heard that evaluation, they'd probably faint from shock.

Being able to forge metal of quality not inferior to Zhen Hua's heavenly forging means that even if Tang Wulin now called himself a god artisan, hardly anyone would object.

After all, the purpose of forging metal is to use the forged metal; if using it shows no difference or even an advantage, what's wrong with calling Tang Wulin a god artisan?

And Tang Wulin is only nineteen years old, whereas Zhen Hua became a god artisan at thirty-seven; subtracting the childhood years when neither studied forging, Tang Wulin has achieved the same level in less than half the time Zhen Hua took—this is despite Tang Wulin wasting ten years in the era ten thousand years ago.

Of course, the most important point is that Zhen Hua's god artisan level cannot be improved further; for him, heavenly forging is already the limit, and he cannot break through in this lifetime. Meanwhile, as a seventh-rank blacksmith, Tang Wulin still has at least two opportunities to achieve qualitative breakthroughs.

What level the heavenly forging he forged can reach is completely unimaginable to those who understand.

In Shilake City, the Blacksmith Association is different from those elsewhere.

In other places, every branch of the Blacksmith Association is an imposing high-rise building, but only here at Shilake Academy is it extremely dilapidated.

The reason is simple: the truly powerful Blacksmith Association here is actually the Shilake City Blacksmith Association.

At Shilake Academy, top talents from all over gather, so unlike the outside world, here there are many organizations unique to Shilake Academy; in this place, the Shilake City Blacksmith Association and the Blacksmith Association's Shilake City branch are completely different matters.

And what Tang Wulin has come to is naturally the Shilake City Blacksmith Association.

After taking the elevator to the top floor, he walked down the corridor and soon arrived at the door of the innermost room.

After lightly knocking on the door, a gruff voice came from inside.

"Who's there?"

Tang Wulin said respectfully:

"It's me, Tang Wulin."

"Hey, kid, why did you only show up today?"

The door swung open, and an old man bursting with madness appeared before Tang Wulin, pulling him into the room.

"Come on, come on, I and that brat Zhen Hua have been waiting for you a long time."

Tang Wulin said helplessly:

"Old Feng, I can walk on my own."

This old man is the president of the Shilake City Blacksmith Association, Feng Wu Yu.

Don't let his crazy appearance fool you; he is actually one of the only dozen or so saint artisans on the continent, and not a seventh-rank blacksmith—he has already reached the eighth-rank saint artisan level.

According to Tang Wulin's knowledge, the experience of this Shilake City Blacksmith Association president is quite unusual.

Generally speaking, the most important age range for a blacksmith is twenty to thirty years old, because blacksmiths in that age range are at their peak condition.

Blacksmiths have high energy demands; only with a healthy body, ample qi and blood, and a clear mind and bright eyes can their comprehension be raised to the highest.

But later on, one finds that comprehension is most important; a single moment of insight can push a blacksmith into another level. Spirit forging used to be the foundation, but after reaching the spirit forging level, what matters more are talent, opportunity, and one's own perception of forging—so the earlier one advances to a higher rank, the higher the future ceiling.

In other words, if a blacksmith fails to achieve anything before thirty, he will probably never accomplish anything in the forging field for the rest of his life.

Take Tang Wulin's teacher Mang Tian, for example—he only broke into the fifth-rank blacksmith realm at nearly forty, and has remained stuck at fifth rank, unable even to reach the threshold of sixth-rank blacksmith.

But Feng Wu Yu is different—he is the only person in the history of the blacksmith world who started learning forging after over forty years of age and yet managed to become a saint artisan; he has his own unique forging philosophy, and in this field even Zhen Hua may not understand it as well as he does.

At least during this time, Tang Wulin discovered that this somewhat hot-tempered saint artisan's views on many matters differ from Zhen Hua's, and watching these two high-rank blacksmiths argue over how to teach him is also quite enjoyable.

What Zhen Hua can teach Tang Wulin is how traditional blacksmiths forge metal, whereas from Feng Wu Yu's teachings Tang Wulin sees more how a powerful soul master should forge metal.

Each has his own strengths; their teachings have both played an important role in Tang Wulin's rapid progress in forging, and he believes that as long as he fully integrates what both have taught, becoming a god artisan is merely a matter of time for him.

Zhen Hua, sitting in the room, saw Tang Wulin enter and smiled, asking:

"How was it, did you meet with the envoy of the Star Net Empire?"

"Hmm."

Zhen Hua eagerly asked: "How did it turn out? Did you get what you wanted?"

Tang Wulin smiled proudly.

"Teacher, you still don't believe in your student me?"

"Hahaha, yeah, I misspoke."

Zhen Hua laughed loudly.

Feng Wu Yu looked at them both, somewhat puzzled.

"What are you talking about?"

Zhen Hua waved his hand dismissively: "Get lost, you don't even know this—how dare you claim to be Tang Wulin's teacher? As a teacher you should constantly pay attention to your student's whereabouts; Tang Wulin, you'd better stop bothering this old man and focus on being my student instead."

"Huh? What are you saying? Want to fight?"

Feng Wu Yu instantly got angry, stood up, and reached out to grab Zhen Hua.

Zhen Hua hurriedly dodged behind Tang Wulin.

"Tang Wulin, look at this crazy old man! He actually wants to lay hands on his teacher! So violent—he's certainly not fit to be a teacher; quickly shake him off!"

"You still dare to speak!"

Feng Wu Yu, his beard bristling with rage and eyes glaring, could do nothing against Zhen Hua.

If we talk about combat strength, this Sea God Pavilion Senior Elder of his could toss Zhen Hua, that worthless Honored Douluo, aside by eight streets, but the person Zhen Hua is currently blocking really has no way at all.

Tang Wulin is someone who even defeated Yun Ming, and as a peer of Yun Ming, Feng Wuyu knows exactly how strong Yun Ming is—couldn't be more familiar.

You know, back then he and his old friend Zhu Shi both liked Ya Li, and in the end, the two of them got beaten up by Yun Ming so badly… they were almost beaten into psychological trauma.

Although he also knows Tang Wulin wouldn't really strike him, Zhen Hua using Tang Wulin as a shield is indeed a simple and direct way to block his fists.

He shouted at Tang Wulin: "Wulin, move aside! Let me give this brat a good beating! I need to vent my anger on him!"

He is already over a hundred years old, while Zhen Hua is only in his forties; to him, Zhen Hua is truly just a greenhorn.

Seeing Feng Wuyu's face red with anger, Tang Wulin chuckled and said:

"Alright, Elder Feng, don't lower yourself to the teacher's level; just let him be."

Hearing Tang Wulin's offer of an out, Feng Wuyu's complexion improved considerably; he snorted coldly and said:

"Exactly, this old man won't stoop to that brat's level; say whatever you want."

"Hey, really?" Zhen Hua twisted his mouth behind Tang Wulin, grinning mischievously: "Just now I didn't know who got angry so easily, and ended up needing a junior's guidance—really lost all face."

"You!"

Seeing Feng Wuyu's face flush red again, Tang Wulin helplessly said to Zhen Hua behind him: "Teacher, if you keep provoking Elder Feng like this, I won't protect you anymore—you'll have to figure out how to face his wrath yourself."

He also only realized after getting familiar with him these days that although Zhen Hua appears serious and proper on the surface, he is actually quite a goofball.

For some reason, he especially likes provoking Feng Wuyu; seeing these two argue like this over the past few months has become a common sight.

Zhen Hua quickly gave a hehe laugh and made a zipping-the-mouth gesture with his hand.

"Okay, okay, I won't say more, my beloved disciple—don't be angry."

He's really been having a blast with his mouth these days.

Feng Wuyu's violent temper and unreasonable nature are notorious throughout the forging world, and with his extremely overbearing strength, he can almost be said to be the most troublesome senior forge master; even Divine Artisan Zhen Hua, if not necessary, would not dare to directly clash with this mad old man, for this old lunatic would truly ignore the status of the sole Divine Artisan and just go ahead and strike.

As a result, during this period Zhen Hua relied on Tang Wulin as his backer, confident that Tang Wulin wouldn't really let Feng Wuyu hit him, and he happily acted out his aggression, infuriating that crazy old man to no end.

You know, back then, even if you lent Zhen Hua a hundred guts, he wouldn't dare to jump around in front of Feng Wuyu like this.

Not only did he receive such a heaven-defying disciple who will surely surpass his master in the future, but he could also use the disciple's prestige to fiercely suppress Feng Wuyu, making Zhen Hua feel that he has never been so elated in his life.

Feng Wuyu saw Tang Wulin speaking up for him, snorted coldly again, and sat down opposite Tang Wulin.

"So, what exactly was that brat just talking about?"

He also couldn't get enough of Tang Wulin, for this young man's forging talent is simply terrifying.

At nineteen, Feng Wuyu hadn't even started forging at Tang Wulin's age, yet Tang Wulin's forging rank has already approached eighth rank.

Feng Wuyu himself reaching the eighth-rank forging master level is something that happens around a hundred years old.

It's a pity Zhen Hua got there first; otherwise he would have done anything to bring Tang Wulin under his tutelage.

Tang Wulin sighed wearily and explained:

"Lately I'm supposed to marry Yutong, so the Star Net Empire's folks brought an envoy over; I have something I want on the Star Net Continent, so I wanted to talk with them to see if I could get that thing."

This matter wasn't him intentionally hiding it from Feng Wuyu; he hadn't planned to mention it, but after Zhen Hua asked, he told him before going to meet the Star Net Empire people.

"Oh, I see."

Feng Wuyu suddenly understood.

"So, from what you two just said, the negotiations went smoothly, huh."

"Yeah, after all they're not stupid; given the power disparity, they actually had no right to refuse."

Feng Wuyu chuckled: "Not bad, well said—strength is what really matters."

He rubbed his hands, eager to try, and asked: "So you're ready? Next we'll learn soul-forged alloy forging; if you succeed, the gift you prepare for her could be called a world first."

"Mm, I'm ready."

Tang Wulin showed a gentle smile, but the light in his eyes was full of determination.

The bracelet on his wrist was given by Huo Yutong, but he had completely forgotten about Valentine's Day and gave her nothing in return.

This time at the wedding, he'll make up for that mistake by giving her double the return gift.

Considering Huo Yutong's personality, she will surely prepare a gift at the wedding too, so what he prepares must be a one-of-a-kind treasure in the world.

Thus, what Tang Wulin can give her was actually decided from the start.

"Please teach me, the soul-forging level fusion forging, and the forging of the prototype of the four-word battle armor."

(End of chapter)