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She looked to be around ten years old, slender, delicate, and beautiful. Her long golden hair was tied into a ponytail that swayed lightly, and beneath her bangs were a pair of clear, bright eyes.
"Hello, Uncle Su," Mu Xi greeted politely, then curiously examined the boy standing beside Su Wuyan.
With Su Qiu's current adorable appearance, he was practically irresistible to people of all ages. The small ahoge sticking up from the top of his head swayed back and forth, making Mu Xi's fingers itch with the urge to ruffle it.
Ever since his martial souls awakened, that ahoge had appeared, though Su Qiu had yet to look in a mirror and notice it. As for Su Wuyan, he simply couldn't be bothered to pay attention to such trivial details.
"So Xiao Qiu came as well."
Mu Chen raised his head, and the irritation on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a warm smile. Cute children were always easy to like.
He suddenly remembered that today was Awakening Day, Su Qiu must have come right after awakening his martial souls.
Perfect. This was a good opportunity to see how the boy's physical aptitude measured up. For forging, strength was paramount.
"Xiao Qiu wants to learn forging? Come with me, we'll do a small test in the forging room."
Completely ignoring Su Wuyan as though he didn't exist, Mu Chen pulled Su Qiu along and headed straight for a forging chamber.
"Tch." Clicking his tongue, Su Wuyan followed behind.
Mu Xi, her eyes full of curiosity, also hurried after them on her short legs.
Along the way, a trace of regret surfaced in Mu Chen's mind. Seeing Su Qiu again reminded him of that remarkable couple, parents blessed with top-tier talent and a martial soul fusion ability that complemented each other perfectly. They had once been almost certain to reach the level of Limit Douluo. What a pity.
Inside the forging room, Mu Chen casually picked up a forging hammer weighing roughly a hundred jin and handed it to Su Qiu, speaking gently, "Xiao Qiu, give it a try."
Su Wuyan said impatiently, "I've already tested Xiao Qiu's physical strength. It's roughly, "
"Did I ask you?" Mu Chen shot him a glare and snapped back without courtesy. "Who understands forging, you or me?" A slacker like you still wants to give instructions?
He didn't say the last part out loud, he was afraid Su Wuyan might actually lose his temper.
Su Wuyan snorted but, for once, didn't argue back. Since this concerned teaching Xiao Qiu, he decided to tolerate it for now.
Su Qiu lifted the hammer effortlessly. A hundred jin meant nothing to him; he casually swung it a few times, the heavy tool seeming weightless in his hands.
"Not bad." Mu Chen was somewhat surprised. This child's strength had to be at least over a thousand jin, and he was only six years old, freshly awakened at that.
He placed a block of the rare metal Deep Silver onto the forging platform.
"Try hammering this metal with the hammer in your hand."
"Uncle Mu… I don't know how to forge," Su Qiu said hesitantly. Testing strength was fine, but he had absolutely no idea how to hammer metal properly.
"It's fine. Just strike it a few times however you like."
For an Eight-Star Saint Craftsman like Mu Chen, observing someone's first attempt at forging was usually enough to reveal their potential. Of course, judging talent this way was somewhat arbitrary, but with his experience, he could already see plenty.
Bang!
Su Qiu swung the hammer down heavily, the thunderous metallic clang echoing throughout the room.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Strike after strike followed, direct, forceful blows, completely lacking any finesse or technique. He was simply venting his immense strength chaotically onto the metal.
With each booming clang, Mu Chen's brows knitted tighter.
Watching from the side, Mu Xi could not help covering her mouth and giggling. Having just successfully completed her own Hundred Refinements earlier that day, she felt especially pleased with herself. Seeing such crude hammering filled her with a sense of superiority, completely forgetting that this was Su Qiu's first time forging, and that he was using a hundred-jin hammer.
Mu Chen opened his mouth slightly, preparing to call a stop. He had already seen enough.
Clang!
Suddenly, the sound changed.
Hm?
No… something's different.
The chaotic metallic noise abruptly transformed. The rhythm and frequency became crisp, rapid, and strangely pleasant to the ear, almost like music.
At some point, Su Qiu's eyes had gone unfocused. His mind emptied as though entering a mysterious state, leaving his body entirely to instinct as he continued hammering.
Each strike, its angle, its force, was nearly perfect.
Clang!
With the final blow,
Hundred Refinements, complete!
Silence filled the forging room.
"Xiao Qiu, how did you do that?!" Mu Chen rushed forward, grabbing Su Qiu by the shoulders and shaking him excitedly. That was Hundred Refinements of Deep Silver! Even a Level Two blacksmith might not achieve that easily, let alone someone forging for the first time!
Even Su Wuyan understood the immense significance of what had just happened.
"I-i just followed the feeling and hammered casually… and it turned out like this," Su Qiu replied somewhat guiltily.
His Hundred Refinements was, truthfully, heavily dependent on intuition. Halfway through forging, he had realized that the Holy Sword had not only altered his soul skills, it had also granted him a form of Intuition.
Intuition was the ability to instantly determine the most appropriate action in combat, sometimes even bordering on precognition.
And his Intuition was even more unusual, it could be applied to forging. Guided purely by sixth sense, he had naturally completed the Hundred Refinements.
Simply put,
He was cheating.
Being the wielder of the Holy Sword really was easy. The sword practically fed the results straight into his mouth.
"I probably couldn't do it again."
That was a lie.
Although Su Qiu did not fully understand the mechanism behind it, with Intuition guiding him, he could replicate this Hundred Refinements as many times as needed.
"Even so, that's already unbelievable," Mu Chen said, his eyes burning with excitement. His future disciple possessed the potential of a Divine Craftsman!
Completing Hundred Refinements purely by instinct on the first attempt, he had absolute confidence he could nurture Su Qiu into a Divine Craftsman.
"Uncle Mu"
"What 'Uncle Mu'? Call me Teacher!"
"Uh… Teacher, maybe you should look over there first?" Su Qiu tilted his head slightly.
Mu Chen followed his gaze and finally noticed the girl standing nearby, only then remembering that his daughter was still present.
Mu Xi, who had been smiling moments earlier, could no longer smile. Her eyes were red, tears welling as she bit down hard on her lip.
Clearly, she had completely lost composure.
Her heart burned with unwillingness.
Why?
Because she was a girl, her father had initially opposed her learning forging. She had begun practicing with a specially made small hammer at the age of five, and only after two years of persistence had she convinced him to let her continue.
Three years later, she had finally achieved Hundred Refinements. With more practice using different metals, she would soon become a Level One blacksmith.
No one knew how much sweat she had poured into those years.
So why, why could someone surpass her effortlessly on his very first attempt?
And with Deep Silver, no less, a height she herself still could not reach.
"Dad…"
Her resolve shattered, Mu Xi choked on her words and suddenly threw herself into Mu Chen's arms, burying her face as she burst into tears.
"Sigh…" Patting his daughter's back, Mu Chen felt a headache coming on, racking his brain trying to figure out how to comfort her.
Standing nearby, Su Qiu felt completely calm, if anything, he almost wanted to laugh.
It was nothing more than a competitive child being struck by the reality of genius. Not a big deal.
Besides, even Su Qiu himself hadn't expected to be this talented.
Well, if anyone had complaints, they could take it up with his Intuition.
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Powerstones to push the story forward and get 1 Extra Chapter for every 400 P.S
Add to Collection!