Chapter 379 - Divine Alloy
“I’m a fourth-rank mecha mechanic,” said Xu Lizhi.
“Mecha maker, fourth rank,” Ye Xinglan stated.
Tang Wulin and Gu Yue rejoiced when they heard the two’s professions.
A huge grin lit up on his face as he stared at them. “You guys are just what we needed! This is fantastic! Xie Xie, you can help Ye Xinglan and learn from her. You’ll need to improve if you want to make your own battle armor in the future. Xiaoyan, you can learn from Gu Yue.”
Xu Lizhi looked at him curiously. “So you’re a blacksmith and Gu Yue’s a designer?”
Tang Wulin nodded. “Yeah. She’s a fourth-rank designer.”
“Can you really forge alloys?” Ye Xinglan asked. Although he had filled her in that he was a fifth-rank blacksmith, and thus capable of forging alloys, she found it hard to believe. Blacksmiths were the rarest of the four main professions due to how much time it took and how difficult it was to advance. As a result, the average age of blacksmiths tended to be much higher than those of other professions in the same rank.
Tang Wulin smiled wryly. “I understand you’re skeptical, so see for yourself.” He walked over to the shelf of metals, picked out two chunks, then brought it to the forging table.
“I can only forge two-metal alloy at the moment and my success rate is thirty percent. The metals I’m currently able to forge are jade silver, spirit gold, and star silver. I’ll need you guys to decide on an alloy soon. That way, I can start working on it.”
At the sound of his words, Ye Xinglan’s eyes lit up. “You can forge jade silver?”
“Mn.”
“I want jade silver then!” she blurted.
“I’ll have star silver,” said Xu Lizhi. Clearly, the two had already put much thought into their own battle armor.
“Great. That saves me some trouble. Also, we might all need to pitch in for the metals,” Tang Wulin said.
Ye Xinglan grunted her affirmation.
Receiving the responses he desired, Tang Wulin broke into a smile. “Alright, one jade silver coming right up.”
A minute later, the two metals needed to create the alloy were heated to a glowing red. Tang Wulin summoned his two hammers into his hands. Both arms swinging at once, he began slamming down into the metal.
It’s been several days since he started forging alloys, yet his success rate was stuck at a measly thirty percent. It was a bottleneck restricting him from taking the next step.
As Tang Wulin forged, his world shrank until all he could perceive was the glow of the metals. Even the weight of his hammers and the burn of his muscles faded away. Each of his strikes contained near-tangible focus as he vented his frustrations.
He had been putting up a brave front in the classroom. If he hadn’t been affected by the gossip and bullying, he wouldn’t have made such a provoking declaration! He was still only thirteen years old after all. He was determined to prove himself to his classmates as the legitimate class president.
As such, to say that he was itching to battle against the five rankers was an understatement. In the event he met defeat by their hands, he would resign as class president.
☀
“What do you think of the situation?” Shen Yi sat on the sofa in the teacher’s lounge with one leg crossed over the other, a half-smile on her lips.
Wu Zhangkong’s expression was stern as usual. “I think it’s best to treat them the way our teacher treated us. Shrek Academy offers a lot of freedom to its student and refuses to suppress their individuality. I do have one concern though.”
“What concern?” Shen Yi asked.
“The match doesn’t give Tang Wulin enough pressure.”
“Not enough? Just how great do you think your disciple is?” Shen Yi stared in astonishment. She didn’t view Tang Wulin’s chances at victory in an optimistic light. The team of five rankers was just too powerful, especially with Wu Siduo’s Hell White Tiger. No one could stand against it. Gu Yue may have won against Wu SIduo previously, but it was during a time when Wu Siduo had been exhausted and unable to use Hell White Tiger. Wu Siduo in peak condition was a more frightening foe than any of them could imagine. Moreover, she was supported by Luo Guixing, Xu Yucheng, Yang Nianxia, and Zheng Yiran. In their team of five, two had four soul rings. This was one of the most powerful teams to appear in recent Shrek Academy history.
Yet Wu Zhangkong didn’t believe that yielded enough pressure for Tang Wulin.
“Let’s hold back Ye Xinglan from the coming match. We’ll let her fight in the match against the second grade,” Wu Zhangkong said.
“Huh? Isn’t that too mean?” Shen Yi gaped.
“You don’t understand Tang Wulin. He’s resolute and patient. Even after teaching him for three years, I still can’t see his limits. Time after time, he has accomplished the impossible. Ye Xinglan came from the inner court, so there’s no need to doubt her strength. If we let her help Tang Wulin against the rankers, they’ll gain an easy victory. Tang Wulin is like a spring. The more pressure on him, the harder he’ll push back. In that respect, Gu Yue and him are quite similar. Her limits are a mystery to me as well. As for Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan… They’ve finally realized how far behind they are after coming here, and are working hard to catch up. What they need now is confidence. The four of them plus Xu Lizhi makes exactly five. It’s suitable to have a five-on-five battle.”
Shen Yi remained silent. Suitable, huh...
☀
A humming radiance shot up, glittering like jade.
Ye Xinglan stood rooted in place, utterly shocked. She hadn’t thought much of Tang Wulin beforehand. Her memory of him amounted to a stingy kid, a boy who ran off and left behind an outrageous dinner bill for her and Xu Lizhi. She still held a grudge for that. That said, Ye Xinglan also remembered how unyielding he had been in the Skysea Alliance Tournament match afterward. Yet what Tang Wulin had just accomplished shattered her previous view of him. He succeeded at forging an alloy! There were few fifth-rank blacksmiths who could forge them due to their lack of spiritual power. Most only started learning how to after becoming a sixth-rank blacksmith skilled at spirit refining. So she was absolutely shocked!
From the moment he landed the first strike of his hammer to the last resounding bang, she and Xu Lizhi had been drawn in by his forging tempo, utterly mesmerized. It was their first time witnessing such a sight. In their eyes, it was as though Tang Wulin and the metal had become one. His hammers rose and fell nimbly yet forcefully. His movements flowed like river water.
“I’m going to appraise its harmony rate now.” With that said, Tang Wulin took out a small device he had borrowed from the Shrek Blacksmith’s Association and placed it on the jade silver. Although he had technically borrowed it, with a wave of Feng Wuyu’s hand, that borrowing became long term. It was practically his now.
A moment later, a number appeared on the screen that left him dumbstruck. Peering over his shoulder at it, Gu Yue was similarly left speechless.
Tang Wulin’s mouth quivered for a second before he let out a long sigh.
“Is it low? It looks like you succeeded though. Even a harmony rate in the sixties is good,” Xu Lizhi said as he approached the two. But when he saw the number displayed on the screen, he inhaled sharply.
“N-ninety-five! No way!”
Without a doubt, the number flashing brightly was ninety-five! It was Tang Wulin’s greatest piece yet!
Ye Xinglan rushed over to see for herself. She could hardly believe her eyes when she saw the number.
“Why did you sigh when the harmony rate is so high?” Ye Xinglan asked.
Tang Wulin smiled bitterly. “I sighed because I can’t use it! It would have been better if I chose to forge star silver instead. This piece of jade silver is enough for one battle armor part.”
“It’s mine.” Ye Xinglan snatched it up and stored it into her storage ring.
“Well aren’t you shameless,” Gu Yue groaned.
Ignoring Gu Yue’s comment, Ye Xinglan said to Tang Wulin, “I’ll pay you for it later.”
“Okay…” The corners of Tang Wulin’s mouth twitched. He was heartbroken to part with a ninety-five percent harmony rate piece! Seven more metals could be added to it in the future to make it a nine-metal alloy!
Although at first glance there didn’t seem to be much of a difference between ninety-five percent and ninety-one percent, among blacksmiths, a ninety-five percent alloy was called the foundation of divine alloy.
Two-metal alloys were known as basic alloys, three-metal ones were quality alloys, four-metal was top-quality, and five-metal was holy. But alloys with five or more metals were extremely rare, their value comparable with that of soul refined metal.
The greatest alloy in recorded history thus far was an eight-metal alloy. The more metals added, the harder it was to succeed. A nine-metal alloy had yet to be created, though many had tried, including the all seven of the Divine Blacksmiths to have appeared in history. To forge a nine-metal alloy was to forge a divine alloy. Such a metal could allow Limit Douluos to progress to the next level of strength. But that next level wasn’t something to scoff at. That level was godhood!