Gu Yuena: Has the Hard Work Paid Off?

Tianmeng roared, "What does he mean, 'purely a downgrade'?! Does he not understand how mighty our Ice Silkworm clan is?!" The Ice Silkworm chimed in, "Exactly! Exactly! Even if our clan ranks at the very bottom of the Extreme North, Emperor Tianmeng arose from our clan!" Tianmeng's gaze snapped toward the Ice Silkworm. *Are you praising our Ice Silkworm clan, or insulting it?* *Why does that sound so backhanded...?* The Ice Empress glanced at the two indignant Ice Silkworms and let out a faint snort. "You two clowns. That man can't even hear you. What's the point of your impotent rage inside the Sea of Spirit? Besides, he's telling the truth." The Ice Silkworm clan was simply like that. Clearly soul beasts of both ice and spiritual attributes, yet the ice-attributed soul skills they granted were barely passable at best. Perhaps because they had remained at the bottom of the Extreme North's food chain for so long, their ice-attributed offensive abilities had essentially degenerated into nothing, and all their capabilities were dumped into their spiritual attributes. Had you ever seen a soul skill that could only produce a bit of chilly breeze and icy slush? That was the standard for ice-attributed soul skills granted by an Ice Silkworm. What normal ice-attributed Soul Master couldn't pull off something like that on their own? A pure downgrade. Thus, almost no one ever chose this soul beast for its ice attribute. Well... unless one was strapped for cash, or wanted to make shaved ice to sell for money. Oh, and serving as a human air conditioner wasn't bad either. Furthermore, spiritual-attribute Soul Masters were relatively rare, and the soul skill typically provided by Ice Silkworms was the notorious Simulation, leading to sharply polarized reviews. Spiritual-attribute Soul Masters gave them glowing reviews, while other Soul Masters almost universally gave such soul spirits thumbs-down! Upon learning it was from the Ice Silkworm clan, Li Yucheng temporarily dropped any thought of buying a soul spirit, focusing instead on preparing to craft the soul tool with the help of Spiritual Detection Sharing. Only, before starting, he glanced at Huo Yuhao once more. Earlier, the boy hadn't summoned any spirit rings while crafting, meaning he had reached that level without relying on soul skills at all... Truly, each new generation surpasses the old. Li Yucheng sighed inwardly with emotion, retrieving Blue Gestational Copper and a carving knife from his storage ring. Huo Yuhao took the opportunity to carefully observe Li Yucheng's techniques. Watching others craft was also a form of learning. After being immersed in his own world for who knew how long, a knock at the door interrupted Li Yucheng's work. "President, President Mu Chen has come to visit." Li Yucheng snapped back to reality. Looking at the unfinished piece before him, he turned to Huo Yuhao with a helpless smile. "That fellow Xia Haoxuan wasn't wrong. I really don't have much free time..." Speaking up to this point, remembering the likely purpose of Mu Chen's visit, Li Yucheng's eyes lit up. Wait, both of his goals were already accomplished! A peerless genius had been found... Even though he belonged to the Spirit Pagoda and could only count as half a disciple, this half was worth ten others. That was plenty. As for Mu Chen, he was likely here regarding cooperation. After all, over the past three years, Li Yucheng had brought up the idea of a partnership multiple times, both overtly and covertly. Mu Chen's visit now very likely meant they had reached an internal consensus and were ready to agree to it. Since both goals were fulfilled, wouldn't it be fine for him to just retire? He hadn't figured out how to give Xia Haoxuan a hard time before, but now he had it: hand over the presidency along with all his recently backlogged work... and consider it mentoring the younger generation! With this thought, Li Yucheng wanted to take Huo Yuhao along to meet Mu Chen, but Huo Yuhao politely declined. Over the past three years, Huo Yuhao had visited the Forging Master Association numerous times to purchase rare metals, often deliberately picking specific hours. He had encountered Mu Chen several times and even spoken with him. It was also back then that he had come to understand the man's stance. Casual acquaintance was fine, but getting too close was out of the question. After all, Mu Chen was the junior brother of Divine Craftsman Zhenhua. Countless factions were clamoring like hungry fledglings, eagerly awaiting Zhenhua's Heavenly Refined Metals. If Mu Chen showed any inclination toward favoring a specific power, especially a giant like the Spirit Pagoda, it would send a bad signal to other factions. Unless someone displayed staggering forging talent, nothing would move him. Since that was the case, Huo Yuhao naturally would not push himself upon him. If all else failed, he could simply nurture a Divine Craftsman himself. Thinking of this, Huo Yuhao suddenly remembered something. If nothing unexpected had occurred, yesterday, after finishing enrollment at East Sea Academy, Tang Wulin should have gone to the Forging Master Association to test for rank-2 Forging Master... Could Mu Chen's visit today be related to that? Tang Wulin was currently carrying a soul tool from the Spirit Pagoda, after all. Huo Yuhao's expression grew odd, but he soon set the matter aside for the moment. Finding a staff member, he inquired around and headed toward a mecha design studio. He hadn't forgotten that he had a divine friend here. He couldn't just abandon her and head back to the academy alone, could he? He felt doing so would deeply wound a god's feelings... Entering the design studio, Huo Yuhao saw a woman in professional attire and glasses guiding Gu Yuena in design. Simulated starlight flowed from the domed ceiling, plating Gu Yuena's black hair in cool blue. Leaning over an obsidian workbench, her pen hovering half an inch above the surface, she listened to the instruction while pensively beginning to draft the blueprint. Cheng Yixuan noticed Huo Yuhao and gave him a nod before shifting her gaze back to Gu Yuena, feeling thoroughly satisfied. Her husband had actually proven reliable for once. This girl's talent was truly extraordinary; with proper guidance, she would become yet another future rank-9 Designer. Huo Yuhao did not step closer. Using Spiritual Detection, he examined Gu Yuena's blueprint and noticed several flaws. Rather than speaking up immediately, he carefully studied her design concepts and approach. Gu Yuena's talent in design was indeed remarkable... Only after Gu Yuena finished drawing and Cheng Yixuan concluded her guidance and left did he speak up: "What you designed is a mecha arm component. Most of the materials used there are rare metals with high soul power conductivity. Following your design concept, the placement of the energy-gathering array can be adjusted slightly..." Gu Yuena had naturally noticed Huo Yuhao's arrival long ago. Hearing this, a secret joy welled in her heart. Did her effort pay off? To think that simply accepting ordinary guidance would bring such a surprise! Watching Gu Yuena listen with rapt attention, looking as if she had an urge to pull out a little notebook and take notes, Huo Yuhao's eye twitched, and he sighed inwardly. *I'm only returning a courtesy. Please don't look as though you're listening to a Godking preaching the Dao!* ... Mu Chen was not in a very good mood. Yesterday, a Forging Master had come to the association for a rank-2 forging assessment. Standing outside the room, he had listened to the rhythm of the hammering, and those profound fundamentals had stunned even him. When he learned that the person was a nine-year-old child, Mu Chen had been beyond astounded and delighted. The Forging Master Association's Thousand Refinement record had been held by a Saint Craftsman at eleven years, three months, and two days. That child had already shattered the record! And then... he discovered the Spirit Pagoda had already intercepted the boy ahead of time. *"Grass"—a type of plant, of course.* At that moment, a rare surge of intense emotion had stirred within Mu Chen. *Why does every good thing go to you people at the Spirit Pagoda? Why do you have to be one step ahead in everything?* Yet no matter how displeased he felt inside, Mu Chen knew he could only accept it. He couldn't very well badmouth the Spirit Pagoda in front of the child, could he? He was not that kind of person, and the boy didn't seem like someone who would enjoy hearing such talk anyway. In the end, Mu Chen could only suppress his heartache, instruct his subordinates to shower Tang Wulin with benefits, and begin contemplating Li Yucheng's proposal. The Spirit Pagoda held a severe monopoly over commoner geniuses, but they genuinely produced real results, which was beyond reproach. As for those not of commoner background... there were far too many places for them to go, not to mention Shrek Academy sitting right there, accepting only "monsters." The two titanic factions swept up countless talents. Although associations like theirs had their own foundational base, their historical heritage could not match Shrek, and their financial power could not match the Spirit Pagoda. Oftentimes, they were left with the inexplicable sensation of eating leftover scraps... After thorough consideration and discussions with the East Sea Forging Association's upper echelon, Mu Chen decided to formally partner with the Mecha Master Association to jointly cultivate outstanding juniors. Today, he had come specifically to hold formal negotiations with Li Yucheng. The outcome went without saying: Li Yucheng had long harbored the same desire, and Mu Chen hadn't made any unreasonable demands, so an agreement was reached amicably. Mu Chen thought this would lift his spirits, but upon leaving the association, he noticed a boy he was already familiar with—Huo Yuhao. "..." Watching Huo Yuhao and Gu Yuena chatting with two Mecha Master Association staff members in the distance, Mu Chen took a deep breath and silently walked away without greeting them. To be honest, right now he didn't want to see any person or thing related to the Spirit Pagoda. He only wanted to bury himself in work to forget his frustration. Huo Yuhao noticed Mu Chen, and seeing that the man seemed in a foul mood, he said nothing and continued conversing with the two before him. "As for classmate Wulin, I heard his name during class placements today. He was assigned to Class Two. Their teacher, as far as I know, is a five-ring Soul King..."