Chapter 380 - Divine Foundation Metal
Considering that an alloy with a ninety-five percent harmony rate opened a path to godhood, its value was clearly astronomical. The possibility of becoming a divine alloy, no matter how miniscule, was enough to make it the one of the most expensive metals in the world. Rarely would blacksmiths sell such a metal. Instead, they would keep it for themselves.
Forging alloys and forging regular metals was different; luck was an important factor. Even a Divine Blacksmith couldn’t guarantee to forge an alloy with a harmony rate ninety-five percent or higher. The average harmony rate of their products were just higher.
Unknown to Tang Wulin, he had broken yet another record! In the history of blacksmithing, never before had a blacksmith below the sixth rank forge an alloy with ninety-five percent harmony rate. Tang Wulin had achieved the impossible as a fifth-rank blacksmith and set a new bar!
Suddenly, Ye Xinglan spoke up. “Don’t say I’m taking advantage of you. I’m actually a fifth-rank maker,”
A fifth-rank maker?
Everyone was stunned, unable to form words. Among the four professions, designers progressed the fastest since the profession mainly relied on spiritual power and perception. As long as a designer was sufficient in those two aspects, they would reach the third rank.
In comparison, it was much harder for makers to advance. It required constant and repetitive practice, and a strong perception was essential as well. After all, without being able to understand the design, the mecha or battle armor they created would only ever be subpar
Ye Xinglan was just thirteen years old, nearing fourteen. She was the same age as the rest of them. Being a fifth-rank maker at her age made her a genius!
Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan exchanged a glance, shame colouring their cheeks red. The two of them were the lowest ranking professionals in their group.
“Don’t forget, Lizhi is a fourth-rank mechanic,” Ye Xinglan said.
Tang Wulin nodded enthusiastically. “This is great. Gu Yue is in charge of the designs, so tell her any specifications you have for your armor. We’re going to make our battle armors one part at a time, starting from the right hand. I’ll work hard to forge the alloys, but don’t expect another ninety-five percent alloy. I will guarantee we’ll use alloys of at least ninety percent though.”
A single successful piece of alloy was enough for one hand armor. After that, the most pressing concern was whether the metal could be successfully transformed into hand armor. Although failure wouldn’t turn the metal into scrap, its quality would decline.
“Alright!” Ye Xinglan nodded. Contrary to her calm expression however, her heart was quite disturbed. A fifth-rank maker their age was rare, but a thirteen-year-old fifth-rank blacksmith was an impossibility! There was no one within all of Shrek Academy whose blacksmithing talent could compare with Tang Wulin’s. She would be able to grow even faster working together with a genius blacksmith like Tang Wulin. Upon this realization, her ill feelings toward him dissipated.
Shrek Academy’s policies seemed to grant much freedom, but she knew that this was to put even more pressure on the students! Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi had moved to the outer court to gain experience and face greater pressure to improve. If they didn’t complete enough achievement, then they couldn’t return to the inner court. They had to make a set of battle armor for themselves to do so and there was no one better to help them than a blacksmith capable of forging alloys!
After directing Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi to Gu Yue, Tang Wulin continued to forge. With Yue Zhengyu providing the materials, he was going to take advantage of this and sav the high harmony rate alloys for himself and his companions, while selling the agreed pieces to Yue Zhengyu. As for the low harmony rate ones, he would just sell them. Meanwhile, Gu Yue discussed the designs for their armors with everyone else. The entire workshop buzzed with energy as everyone rushed to complete their part in the plan.
Tang Wulin’s heart gradually calmed as he continued to forge, each reverberating strike of his hammer venting his frustrations at being suppressed by the rankers. Now, more than ever, did he understand that the only way to obtain the respect and acknowledgement of others was through strength! Everything else would follow after obtaining power. He still remembered what his father had told him. In this world, the only one he could rely on and trust was himself! Relying on others would only lead to failure. Only by striving relentlessly and depending on himself could his talent blossom and let him stand tall and proudly before his peers.
His pride pushed him to greater heights. His forging improved, and his alloy success rate was higher than ever. He forged into the night, until he finally collapsed in exhaustion. He had succeeded in forging eight pieces of spirit alloy. Among them, one was a spirit gold with a ninety-three percent harmony rate. With that, Gu Yue’s metal was finished. The remaining seven ranged from seventy to eighty percent harmony rate, which was fairly good. Tang Wulin collected them into his storage ring to set them aside for the future. He still needed to obtain the spirit items necessary to break the fourth Golden Dragon King seal, and these alloys would help.
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“Huh?” Tang Wulin stared at Shen Yi in shock, mouth gaping.
“Why? Teacher Shen, why can’t Ye Xinglan participate in the class representative selection tournament?” Tang Wulin asked.
Tang Wulin’s mind went blank the moment Shen Yi had told him Ye Xinglan couldn’t participate in the class representative selection tournament, his plans crumbling apart. He had felt pressured to face the five rankers, but with Ye Xinglan’s help, especially after three years of growth, he had been confident of their victory. Although she did not have four soul rings yet, her combat power was on par, if not better. Her skillful techniques were still etched into his memory. His original plan was to have Gu Yue, Ye Xinglan and himself be the main attack force of their team. That way, they would have a chance against Wu Siduo’s Hell White Tiger. But without Ye Xinglan, their chances of victory dropped to next to zero! The disparity between his team and the five rankers was too great!
“Don’t ask me why. There is no reason. But your mecha group reassignment has been approved. The condition, of course, is that Ye Xinglan cannot participate in the tournament. Now go back to prepare. You don’t have much time.”
Throughout the rest of his classes, Tang Wulin was lost in a daze with his brow furrowed. The atmosphere in the classroom was charged the moment he stepped in, and the majority of his classmates took care to maintain a distance from his group. He and his friends were being shunned by everyone. Even his new companions, Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi, were being treated the same way.
The addition of Ye Xinglan’s combat strength and Xu Lizhi’s buns had given Tang Wulin confidence in their victory. But now Ye Xinglan was no longer allowed to participate. Their odds for victory were laughable without her strength. His mind occupied by this problem, Tang Wulin didn’t pay attention in class for the first time since coming to Shrek Academy.
“Good luck in the tournament, class president. Well, you don’t have to worry about it too much. Even if you resign from being the class president, you can still be the blacksmith representative,” Luo Guixing said as he approached Tang Wulin after class.
Yang Nianxia followed closely behind Luo Guixing and looked at Tang Wulin with sincere eyes. “You’re the most suitable person to be the blacksmith representative. Please don’t force yourself.”
“What do you mean force himself? He’s just overestimating himself!” Zheng Yiran cut in as she walked by, not even bothering to look back as she left.