Yuanen Yehui glared at Su Wen in annoyance.
She blamed the mysterious Beastmaster who, for some reason, targeted Shrek and the Tang Sect, forcing Shrek Academy to slash spending. Had she been able to enter the inner court, she wouldn't worry about materials. She could have accepted Tang Sect missions for extra cash, but now with Tang Sect branded traitorous and Shrek tightening funds...
Most Shrek students were well-off—many had quit and returned home; she was just unlucky.
So she went around, humbly begging shops to take her in.
Growl~
Her stomach suddenly betrayed her.
Yuanen Yehui grew even weaker, looked at the relaxed and infuriating man on the bench, took a deep breath, and, swallowing her pride, said,
"I believe you're a Divine Smith. I trust you can forge my battle armor. May I stay?"
She flushed—her dignity taking a hit...
"You really trust me?" Su Wen asked, amused.
"I believe—must believe!" Yuanen Yehui shut her eyes, trying her best to seem sincere.
Still can't bring herself to lie with her eyes open, huh?
After a while, she opened her eyes. The young man remained unmoved, so she sighed and turned to leave.
Su Wen called out again,
"I can help forge your future battle armor, but you have to show me your value... Hmm, here's what we'll do: you'll learn all the mecha curriculum, training in all three disciplines. When you become a level 4 mecha master, I'll forge you a single-word battle armor; reach level 6 for two-word; level 8, three-word; reach level 9... and you'll have four-word armor. How's that?"
Su Wen pondered.
"..."
"Huh?!" Yuanen Yehui pointed to herself and then looked around.
Could such a crazy windfall really fall on her?
"These mecha skills might come in handy for me one day," Su Wen said, borrowing Shrek Academy's mecha expertise to build his own group.
Would it be useful? Maybe. His real interest was Yuanen Yehui's unique martial soul, hoping to use it to pry open another mysterious plane (as the Fallen Angel martial soul, upon reaching level 90, would automatically open the Demon Plane).
That was only a bonus.
Of course, he needed to step up his own battle armor forging; after all, aside from a few extremely rare soul beasts, his true goal in this era was armor.
Once he became a god, he could turn it into an artifact—even as a Divine King it would still be useful. Who wouldn't want such ever-evolving treasures?
His battle armor was destined to be anything but simple.
All-sky-forged metals, containing dozens of elements—how could he lose...?
Maybe his pets could get their own battle armor too?
Not impossible.
It couldn't be done before because soul beasts couldn't use soul power (originally, soul power referred to the energy produced when human soul masters absorbed heaven and earth power; for soul beasts, it's usually called cultivation). Thus, human equipment wouldn't work on soul beasts.
Now, however... his soul beasts were all about to reach godhood.
Once they became gods, the distinction between human and beast disappeared—their powers fundamentally changed.
Essentially, he'd be pre-forging artifacts or even super-artifacts...
"Then... why don't you study it yourself?" Yuanen Yehui asked, puzzled. "To craft battle armor, you need to deeply understand its structure, or after I make it for you, you'd still need lots of time to get used to it..."
She wasn't unwilling, just afraid Su Wen would regret it and feel cheated.
"It's too easy. I don't want to waste my limited life on such things..." Su Wen smiled, sipping steaming tea.
Yuanen Yehui: "..."
He's so good at pretending!!!
Hold back—don't lose the new job.
Clenching her fists, she really wanted to punch that infuriatingly handsome face, but forced herself to swallow her frustration.
"What do you need right now?" Su Wen asked with a smile.
"I need... thousand-forged metal. I'm preparing for my single-word armor," Yuanen Yehui replied. She didn't count on him being a True Divine Smith, but anyone able to open a shop here must have some skill—maybe a master (can thousand-forge), at least.
"Do you have any rare metals ready?" Su Wen continued.
"Anything works, I'm not picky," she replied timidly.
"What's your martial soul?"
"Titan Giant Ape…"
"Oh?"
Su Wen's look deepened. "Just the Titan Giant Ape? The Yuanen clan carries Titan blood for generations—famous, even if reclusive. Did you really think I asked just for that?"
"…"
Yuanen Yehui's pupils shrank. She lifted her head, disbelief on her face.
Even Shrek barely knew this secret. How did he see through her?
But… if she were honest, would she lose her hard-won job?
After all, the Fallen Angel soul was seen as evil by most. When she entered Shrek, she had to work hard to clear her name. Even recently, just leaving the Academy and revealing her martial soul earned her the animosity of a boy named Yue Zhengyu.
"There's also the Fallen Angel martial soul…"
Yuanen Yehui clenched her fist. Every mention conjured up memories of the night her mother advanced to level 90, accidentally opened the Demon Plane, and tragedy struck the clan. Since then, she became an outcast—her mother dead, the clan hostile.
She'd even thought about cutting off those black wings, just to fit into the Yuanen family.
(Though… the gorilla was pretty ugly...)
But, to her surprise, Su Wen looked thoughtful rather than disgusted: "Fallen Angel and Titan Giant Ape… Which one will you make your main martial soul in the future?"
"…"
Yuanen Yehui was thrown off. She'd expected shock or contempt—not calm discussion. She blurted out, "Titan Giant Ape."
"Titan Giant Ape? Honestly… it's weaker than the Fallen Angel," Su Wen shook his head.
Unless she slaughtered Er Ming himself and absorbed his blood to evolve her Titan martial soul, it'd never match the Fallen Angel. After all, she was seeded by the Demon Realm…
....