“You got it, boss.” it seemed that the red mecha took on a sweet tone because it had seen Uncle Chef.
‘This…’
Shortly after, a red light flashed, and the six-meter-tall red mecha vanished into thin air. When it reappeared, it was already ten meters away from where it stood earlier.
‘Is that teleportation?’
Uncle Chef said drily, “This is one of its vital functions – Teleportation. With this, it can use Spatial Retreat within a thousand meter radius.”
Then, the red light once more and the red mecha was suddenly sprawled on the ground. It had transformed into a red soul sports car that was extremely gorgeous. It had a perfectly streamlined body with two seats in it.
With the next flash of the red light, the red mecha began hovering in midair after it transformed into the shape of a plane. It was then that they could feel a sharp pressure from the aura that was coming from the plane.
The flashing red light eventually transformed it back into its original humanoid form. Its arms then began rotating rapidly, causing countless soul cannon barrels to appear as it sat down and transformed into what seemed like a giant battery equipped with a hundred soul cannons. Its central cannon had a diameter of one meter.
‘This…’
Confounded. That was the only word that could possibly describe Tang Wulin’s feeling right now.
‘Is this still a mecha? Could a mecha do all this? Teleportation? Transformation? Is this even a mecha?’
‘And, this red mecha was Uncle Chef’s? This…’
He was absolutely and utterly confounded.
After the red mecha returned to its original form, it asked, “Boss, is that enough?”
“Yes. You can go back and rest,” Uncle Chef spoke gently to the red mecha.
Little Red flashed once again before it returned to its original standing position. The shining golden striations on its body turned dark once more. The mecha just stood there, silently.
Uncle Chef turned to look at Tang Wulin and said, “When mechas reach a certain level, there won’t be many differences between a mecha and spirit souls. Heck, they can even merge with your own spirit soul. This mecha of mine has merged with one of my spirit souls so it’s kind of like my double. In terms of actual combat abilities, it’s no less powerful than me even without my directions and controls. Something like this had endless potential for development. How could a mecha master not pour more energy into it? For that reason alone, you’ll have to forfeit any other paths if you choose the path of a mecha master.”
As he uttered the last sentence, his eyes were full of zeal.
Yes, he liked mechas. In fact, he had an extreme love for mechas. He was even willing to forgo the opportunity to reach the rank of a Hyper Douluo for his mechas. To this day, his soul power was still at rank-94.
It would already be an incomparable feat for a soul master to reach rank-94 in their cultivation. However, rank-94 was not enough for him and his legacy.
However, he had no regrets. He had never once regretted pouring more energy into mechas because he loved them!
This was a mecha that stood at the pinnacle of the current mecha world. Tang Wulin could not help himself from swallowing some saliva. For a moment, he was shaken to his core.
“However, you cannot… You must not walk down the path I’ve chosen,” Uncle Chef said suddenly.
Tang Wulin’s heart skipped a beat as he blurted out, “Why?”
Uncle Chef replied with a deep voice, “It’s because you have the advantage of being naturally gifted with talents. The path of a mecha master is unsuitable for you. Here’s what I can tell you. No matter how powerful a red mecha can become, it’ll never achieve the heights a four-word battle armor can. This is a fact that reigns eternal. Even the strongest of the red mechas have their limit and one beyond the current limits probably won’t appear in our generation. I know how difficult this can be because I’m working myself hard in this particular direction. Now, for you… the difficulty of becoming a four-word battle armor master in the future is significantly less difficult than this.
“You’ve yet to learn how to craft a mecha and your forging is already at rank-5. It’s too late for you to switch to mecha crafting. A true, top mecha master will also be a mecha craftsman. I’m one, along with all the other red mecha masters as well. Do you actually think you can switch and learn mecha crafting?”
Tang Wulin had no way of answering this question. He was right. Could he switch professions? The answer was clear, he could not change. The Golden Dragon King bloodline had given him powers beyond what an ordinary person would even see in his lifetime. He was only able to achieve what he had achieved today through years of hard work and cultivation. Although he was still young, he already had a solid nine years of forging knowledge under his belt. It was only after these nine years that he managed to become a rank-5 blacksmith. Who knew how much additional time he would need if he switched to mecha crafting instead.
In the end, it was how it was.
Tang Wulin turned to look at his uncle-master beside him. He must have brought Tang Wulin here to see the red mecha to extinguish his thoughts about becoming a higher ranking mecha master.
Zhen Hua told him with a stern face, “Wulin, remember this. You cannot have even the slightest deviation after choosing your path. Once you deviate, the consequences will be catastrophic. The continent’s history isn’t short of geniuses. However, there were some among these exceptionally gifted people that lost their way. It was exactly because they were too talented, along with the fact that they had too much to choose from that they got lost. Once you lose your way, it’s highly likely that you’ll lose everything and remain stagnant. When you want to refocus your mind, you’ll notice that you can no longer do so. That’s the reason why you have the become who you’re meant to be and never venture down on a crooked path. Do you understand?”
A chill was felt in Tang Wulin’s heart. It was as if he was suddenly enlightened.
“Yes, uncle-master. I understand.”
Zhen Hua smiled faintly. “That’s that then. You’re a smart child, you don’t need me to say too much. I’m not the only one who wants to tell you this, I’m speaking on your teacher’s behalf as well. We’ll be looking over you so you won’t go astray.”
“You’re already on the right track in your blacksmithing profession. The only thing you need is time. Do you remember when you chose not to enhance your abilities with medicine? You had already chosen your path back then — the path of a battle armor master. One day, when you’ve achieved the stature of a four-word battle armor master and stand on the peak on this continent of soul masters, you can choose anything your heart desires as long as you want to. It’s great that you have a mecha of your own as a means of transport, but it shouldn’t be more than that. Don’t delve too deep into it.
“Yes, uncle-master.”
“It’s almost noon, I’ll whip something up for you guys.” Uncle Chef suddenly smiled. He walked to the back of the red mecha and pressed a concealed button on its leg, causing a ray of light to shine on them. Then, a big box was slowly released from the red mecha’s abdomen.
It was more than one square meter. In fact, it was huge! There was apparently a storage area within the red mecha.
Tang Wulin went forward hastily to help out, but Uncle Chef declined his help. “No need. I’ll do it.” He lifted the wooden box with the tip of his foot, and it flew up to landed firmly on his hand.
Shortly after, a light flashed and Uncle Chef disappeared. He was not teleporting, he was just fast.
Uncle Chef was truly someone amazing! He actually used a divine mecha to store food, and he liked to cook.
As he looked at his receding figure, Zhen Hua sighed softly. “This guy! He’s too easily distracted. In terms of talents, he’s definitely not inferior to you but he never did manage to pass the threshold of a Hyper Douluo. It was precisely because he has too many thoughts on his mind! He was willing to let you see his mecha today because he hoped that you’d take this as a lesson. With the things he’s already achieved, he should be standing at the top of the continent by now.”
“Uncle-master, who is he?” Tang Wulin inquired.
Zhen Hua smiled faintly. “Ask him yourself over lunch later. Because of you, he’s been in a dilemma for quite some time already. When he knew you were coming over today, he went out of his way to rush over here, and he even brought good food! He probably won’t even service me like this.”
“It’s… for me?” Curiosity was written all over Tang Wulin’s face.
Zhen Hua nodded. “You’ve experienced quite a bit of shock today so you’re probably not in the right state of mind to learn to forge from me today. Come, let’s go wait for our meal.”
They returned to Zhen Hua’s office, but Tang Wulin’s heart still burned with curiosity. Who was Uncle Chef? Even if he was not a Hyper Douluo, but he was still a strong person who had been given the title of Douluo! To top it off, he was also a red mecha master. He should’ve been famous throughout the entire continent. In terms of ability, he knew in his heart that this man was as powerful as his grandteacher.
‘Even so, uncle-master still felt sorry for him. Why is that?’
With a heart full of curiosity, Tang Wulin waited with Gu Yue.
After an entire hour — several plates of delicious food were served on the table.
The dishes looked extremely beautiful and had a special aroma to them that made them very appetizing.
The first course was four bowls of soup. They looked like a clear soup with a faint fragrance.
When he saw this clear soup, Zhen Hua’s eyes lit up. He laughed and said, “Wulin, your uncle-master is lucky because of you today. This is the Fairy Fungus Soup. It’s good stuff!”
‘Fairy fungus?’ A bell rang inside Tang Wulin’s head. He had heard of this plant before!