He had not met Mu Xi all this time. Mu Xi was still in Shrek Academy’s outer court, and Tang Wulin understood that she had yet to score a place in the inner court. She was already more than twenty years old now, so the possibility of her entering the inner court was growing more remote, unless she could become a two-word battle armor master before the age of thirty.
Tang Wulin realized that he had absolutely no idea as to what his senior disciple sister’s current cultivation base and other areas of development had become. He could not help feeling apologetic in his heart.
“Still remember that you have a senior disciple sister?” Mu Xi placed her arms on her hips as she spoke coldly.
It had been four whole years since he had seen Mu Xi. She was already a beauty back in those days. Mu Xi was in her prime as a woman of twenty-two going on twenty-three now. Her body had already developed in a perfect manner such that all the Shrek Seven Monsters’ males could not help saluting her upon seeing her entering through the door.
She was dressed in fiery red long dress with big curls in her hair. She was intensely beautiful and blazing hot, just like her personality.
Tang Wulin gave a forced smile. “I’m sorry, senior disciple sister. My mistake.”
All sorts of complicated emotions surged in Mu Xi’s heart almost at once when she glimpsed Tang Wulin. She wished that she could pounce forward and curse the boy in fury. She did not hear from him at all, and he had not left the inner court ever since he had returned. She could not enter inner court or meet him. The only time she had seen him was during Sea God Fated Date Festival.
Yet she had not had the opportunity to participate in the festival on the surface of the lake. She could only stay by the shore and watch as Tang Wulin professed his love to Gu Yue. She saw them leave to the sounds of cheering during the Happily Ever After Segment. At that exact moment, the emotions in Mu Xi’s heart were extremely complicated.
From the disdain she felt when they first met each other until the approval she had for him afterward and then to the gradual admiration, the boy before herself had already become a genuine role model a among his peers within ten short years. He was even the dazzling star of Shrek Academy. Yet the distance between them seemed to have grown further constantly.
Mu Xi had the same mindset as Wu Siduo in certain areas. Both of them wished to pursue perfection. They refused to be awed by others when they had to be the best.
With her looks and character, Mu Xi naturally had countless pursuers from Shrek Academy. There were even inner court disciples pursuing her, yet she had never encouraged their behavior because there was always a certain someone in her heart.
She had always sought after him in forging and always had this longing in her heart for him. Yet she discovered that they were walking further and further apart.
Mu Xi was not a girl who did nothing but dream. When she witnessed Tang Wulin chose someone else during Sea God Fated Date Festival, she told herself that this man did not have any relationship to her anyhow. Despite this, just as she had started to get over him, here he was standing before her.
His apologetic words and acknowledgement of his mistake kept Mu Chen from venting the frustration in her heart.
“Cough, cough!” Mu Chen coughed once in an attempt to resolve the awkward situation. As her father, how could he not understand his daughter’s thoughts?
However, Tang Wulin was already as majestic as a genuine dragon’s first appearance as it roamed the nine heavens, so love was not within any human’s control. He could only consider them as not being destined to be together.
Once, Mu Chen had secretly pointed out to Mu Xi that her personality was too domineering, and Tang Wulin was definitely not someone who would be controlled willingly. They were both extremely competitive. Two competitive personas could perhaps become friends, but it was difficult for them to be a couple.
“Wulin is here for me to inspect his forging cultivation’s standard. Since you happen to be back, let’s take a look together.'” Mu Chen walked to his daughter’s side and patted her on the shoulder.
The complicated emotions on Mu Xi’s face gradually disappeared. She was already a maiden of twenty-three years old after all. No matter how headstrong she was, she had no choice but to control her emotions before so many people and her father.
“Sure.”
Tang Wulin felt like his forehead was sweating from My Xi’s scorching hot gaze. Even that lethargic feeling from earlier had burned to nothing in a split second.
Mu Chen spoke, “To the forging room!”
The group followed Mu Chen to the forging room. He had almost every type of rare metal available on the Douluo Continent today in his private forging room.
Mu Chen made a hand gesture at Tang Wulin. Tang Wulin considered for a moment before he walked toward his most familiar type of rare metal.
He retrieved a piece of standard-sized Heavy Silver, and then placed it on the forge.
Mu Xi raised her brows and spoke with slight mockery, “Only Heavy Silver?”
Tang Wulin smiled. “I’m most familiar with this.”
Yes, he was most familiar with Heavy Silver not only because it was the rare metal he had used the most, but because he understood so much about it.
Tang Wulin’s forging hammers had always been Heavy Silver hammers. On the other hand, every time he had a breakthrough in his forging skill he chose to use Heavy Silver. This was one of the reasons why he was most familiar with Heavy Silver, while there was also a sense of trust he had in his heart. He sensed that the Heavy Silver offered him the greatest help subconsciously since every breakthrough was brought by Heavy Silver, so he would have the best chance dealing with it.
Thus, he chose Heavy Silver once again.
Mu Xi did not comment anymore but observed attentively. She had been working hard these years and would definitely have been be the Blacksmith’s Association outstanding genius if not for Tang Wulin’s presence.
Mu Chen was completely confident that his already twenty-three-year-old daughter could inherit his legacy. Mu Xi was also already a rank-6 blacksmith now! Even though it took her slightly longer to enter rank-6 than Tang Wulin, she was not too late either. If she had not spent all her energy on forging, she would not have lost the opportunity to enter inner court.
However, the elevation resulting from forging was also extremely beneficial to her. She had already prepared all the spirit forging metal required to make her two-word battle armor! Moreover, those were all spirit forging alloys.
She was fully prepared so that she could certainly become a two-word battle armor master before the age of thirty then became a student of Shrek Academy’s inner court.
Mu Xi’s cultivation base had already broken through five rings and she was a Soul King now. She was always remarkable in so many ways.
She was very confident in her efforts, so she wished to see if she had managed to catch up to him in forging after her long and painstaking training and their four years of separation.
Tang Wulin placed the Heavy Silver into the forge and heated it while simultaneously retrieving his pair of spirit-forged Heavy Silver hammers. The expression on his face was calm. He closed his eyes as he cleared his mind and focused quietly.
Even though Mu Xi had been suppressing her feelings all along, she had no choice but to admit that Tang Wulin was genuinely her biggest competitor in the forging world and even the goal for her to catch up with after witnessing his focused look.
He had already been a rank-6 blacksmith for over four years, but he was still capable of maintaining such a composed and steady mood when he was forging. He was only nineteen years old, yet he had such a steady mentality that she felt like she was watching her father at the forge.
He was as unmovable as the mountain! He was akin to a lofty hill!
Mu Chen was also observing from the side while the remaining six of the Shrek Seven Monsters stood on the farther end in order to not distract Tang Wulin.
Tang Wulin’s forging hammers were placed on the forge. He had his arms at the sides of his body. His long, slim arms and fingers exuded a peculiar feeling to the others. He was brimming with an indescribable concentration.
At the point, even his aura seemed to play a part in the forging. He did not feel like a human being anymore.
It was too easy for him to determine Heavy Silver’s forging time. All of a sudden, Tang Wulin pressed on the button and the glowing red Heavy Silver ascended.
Tang Wulin opened his eyes in the next moment. His hands grasped his pair of forging hammers simultaneously, and then his pair of hammers probed forward at the same time.
Yes, his forging hammers probed forward but did not swing or pound down.
Mu Xi witnessed in astonishment as Tang Wulin extended the pair of hammers to the top of that piece of Heavy Silver before he began to knock on it.
He did not exert his full strength to pound like he was doing ordinary forging, but his double hammers were suspended above the Heavy Silver. He relied on the movements of his wrists to control the pair of forging hammers into knocking against the Heavy Silver gently and continuously.
This was still the first time Mu Xi had ever witnessed such a forging method. Even her rank-8 saint craftsman father had never forged in such a manner before!
Yet Tang Wulin was doing so. His pair of forging hammers knocked against the metal gently in a dextrous yet stable manner. However, could he complete the forging process with such knocking?
The thought had just occurred in Mu Xi’s mind when her gaze froze in the next moment.
This was because she could clearly see that the piece of Heavy Silver rapidly shrunk under Tang Wulin’s incomparably dextrous knocking. Even more peculiar was that it became shinier and shiner. Mu Xi could even see that there were some fine yet regular striations that appeared indistinctly on the Heavy Silver.
What…
Such gentle knocking was capable of refining the metal?
Tang Wulin’s wrists were vibrating at an extremely rapid speed such that his knocking speed brought along a series of dense pattering sounds akin to raindrops falling upon banana leaves. It was even more peculiar that the dense pattering sounds were extremely rhythmic and sounded pleasant, as if he was playing percussion music.