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The two instances of spirit forging also refreshed the perceptions of the Celestial Starlight Soul Academy group.
So, geniuses from Shrek Academy's first year were already capable of spirit forging—and not just one of them, but multiple!
Was this the difference between people?
Li Zhilong had studied at Shrek Academy, and he knew that not everyone there was at this level.
Under normal circumstances, it was only by the third year that students might produce a Grade-One Thousand Refinements blacksmith. Those capable of spirit forging generally didn't appear until the fourth or even fifth year.
Blacksmiths were somewhat exceptional cases at Shrek. Even if they reached their fifth year, as long as they achieved spirit forging and successfully became fifth-level blacksmiths before graduation, they had a chance to join the Inner Court.
This was Shrek's support for blacksmithing.
There was no other way around it—although battle armor masters were considered equally important among the four professions, the immense difficulty and necessity of forging made this profession a bottleneck for too many battle armor masters.
Currently, there was only one divine craftsman on the continent. Four-word battle armor couldn't be completed without his heavenly forging. Even under high-intensity, full-capacity forging, Zhen Hua couldn't supply enough complete sets of four-word battle armor for everyone.
This had severely impacted the progress of top-tier powerhouses.
Thus, nurturing blacksmiths was absolutely necessary.
It wasn't just Shrek—major factions across the continent had special policies for outstanding blacksmiths, including the War God Hall, the Spirit Pagoda, and the Tang Sect, all of which welcomed talented blacksmiths with open arms.
For outstanding blacksmiths not belonging to their own faction, as long as there was no conflict, they usually maintained a friendly attitude.
"Yang Nianxia, it's your turn."
Both Xu Yuan and Tang Wulin had expended considerable energy and were now sitting cross-legged, absorbing star power to recover.
Yang Nianxia took a deep breath and stepped up to the forging platform where two spirit forgings had just been completed.
Although he wasn't on the same level as Xu Yuan and Tang Wulin, and hadn't yet succeeded in Grade-One Thousand Refinements, he would give this forging attempt his all!
Li Zhilong watched Yang Nianxia's forging with anticipation.
Though the gap was evident from the start, Li Zhilong wasn't disappointed.
Finally, something more "normal."
This junior Yang's forging level matched what would be expected of a talented blacksmith at Shrek under ordinary circumstances.
Of course, it was slightly above average, but within the realm of the genius rumors Li Zhilong had heard during his time in the Outer Court.
The cases of Xu Yuan and Tang Wulin were unprecedented. In Li Zhilong's eighteen years at the academy—spanning five years before him and five years after—he had never heard of such feats.
Yang Nianxia's forging this time achieved Grade-Two Thousand Refinements, very close to Grade-One.
This piece of Thousand Refined metal was purchased by Xiao Tiantian.
Afterward, once Xu Yuan recovered, he attempted again—another successful spirit forging. However, no one from the Celestial Star side could afford it, so Xu Yuan kept it for himself.
Tang Wulin and Yang Nianxia each came for a second round.
They both succeeded.
Perhaps it was due to the four successful spirit forgings making the platform exceptionally infused with spiritual essence, or perhaps Yang Nianxia gained insight from observing those four spirit forgings. Or maybe it was his own accumulated effort, or the vitality-rich star power of the observatory that nudged him forward.
Yang Nianxia succeeded—he forged a piece of Grade-One Thousand Refined sunken silver in his second attempt!
This piece of sunken silver was acquired by another member of the Celestial Star team.
With that, the forging session concluded.
"Senior, we'll take our leave now."
"Take care, and feel free to visit often. The observatory is always open to you," Li Zhilong said warmly.
"We will."
After spending a day in Tianding City, the group hurried to the soul-guided train station and boarded the train to Sanbao City.
Three hours later
Sanbao City
Sanbao Advanced Soul Master Academy
With Li Zhilong's letter of introduction, Xu Yuan and the others found it much easier to locate their senior. When they showed it to the security guard, he promptly helped them contact Chen Feiyang, the grade director at Sanbao City.
"Senior Chen."
Chen Feiyang scanned over Xu Yuan and the group, paying particular attention to Xu Yuan and Tang Wulin.
He had received Li Zhilong's communication earlier, and not long after, Xu Yuan's group arrived.
These two… could perform spirit forging?
Chen Feiyang looked at their youthful faces, feeling a slight shock.
As a blacksmith himself, he understood the significance of this achievement.
Thirteen years old, spirit forging.
Even if their progress slowed down afterward, becoming sixth-level blacksmiths by sixteen shouldn't be an issue. By twenty, even if they couldn't achieve soul forging, surely by twenty-five they would succeed?
In the next fifty years, could they aim for heavenly forging?
One person? Hard to say.
But with two, at least one should succeed.
After all, their talent in soul power cultivation was also strong—they wouldn't be held back by lacking soul power.
"I'm aware of your assessment. However, three of your required opponents are too high-level, so I've arranged individuals outside our academy for you."
"Thank you, Senior Chen, for organizing this match for us," Xu Yuan said.
"Mm, this time I've invited three master blacksmiths from the local blacksmith association—all fifth-level blacksmiths. They meet your conditions: one is a fifty-two-level Soul King, another fifty-three, and the last fifty-eight."
Xu Yuan turned to look at Xu Yucheng.
A fifty-two-level Soul King who was also a blacksmith would undoubtedly be a close-combat powerhouse with terrifying explosive power.
Could Xu Yucheng handle it?
Previously, he and Wu Siduo had faced opponents at level forty-nine.
Now, the sudden jump to Soul Kings was no small gap.
Xu Yucheng nodded.
If it were before, he might not have been confident.
But after cultivating at the observatory, his progress was equivalent to breaking through one or two levels of soul power. Facing a fifty-two-level Soul King now, he stood a chance.
There had to be some challenge—it was part of the assessment, after all. But at the same time, wasn't this also an opportunity to test and break through their limits?
Xu Yucheng knew that while he was catching up to Wu Siduo in terms of soul power levels, the actual gap between them was vast.
To narrow the gap, he could only push himself harder.
"Senior, we're all ready."
Chen Feiyang glanced at Xu Yucheng, admiration flickering across his face.
Among the three, Xu Yuan and Wu Siduo found it relatively easy to challenge higher levels. Only Xu Yucheng was truly pushing his limits.
"Let's go. After your matches, there's no need to rush off. I heard from Li Zhilong about your two forging prodigies—you can stay behind and exchange knowledge with the three master blacksmiths I've invited," Chen Feiyang said with a smile as he led Xu Yuan and the group toward the training grounds.
"Since you're in Sanbao City, you should check out the rare metals produced by our three major mines."
"And since you enjoyed the benefits of star power refinement at Li Zhilong's place, I, as your senior Chen, can't let you leave empty-handed."
Chen Feiyang chuckled, teasing their curiosity.
"Senior Chen, does the Sanbao Advanced Soul Master Academy have any special venues?" Xu Yuan asked curiously.
He genuinely didn't know.
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