Chapter 108: So... Teacher, What About My Apprenticeship Rite?
"Teacher, please accept your disciple's bow!"
As soon as Hu Lei finished speaking, Jiang Lin immediately dropped to his knees and bowed without hesitation. Yuan Bao, who was standing by, thought that Jiang Lin was about to fall from exhaustion and tried to reach out to catch him, but failed to do so!
"Uh..." Hu Lei looked at Jiang Lin suddenly bowing at his feet, his eyelids twitching slightly in surprise. He looked around, and the others were equally stunned by the scene.
Ah...
"Teacher, you don't know how hard my life has been outside." The once confident and spirited young man now clung to the silver-haired elder's thick leg, eyes blurry with tears. He continued, "Since I was young, my soul power was strong, but I had no parents. I was adopted and grew up learning to forge for a living. Then, by chance, I found a forging manual in the Magical Beast Mountains, and that's when I began my journey as a blacksmith. But Pei Su, he bullied me, saying I had no parents, no teacher to protect me. He saw that I had a rare bone structure and handsome features, thinking I was some kind of prey. He tried to turn me into a puppet, but my fate wasn't so easily sealed."
Realizing that Hu Lei was the guildmaster of the Blacksmith Guild, Jiang Lin immediately clung to Hu Lei's leg, crying about how miserable his years had been. He talked about how the ores in the Magical Beast Mountains were so scorching hot, how the sun was so harsh, and how Pei Su was so awful. He half-truthfully told Hu Lei about his tragic backstory.
Knowing that he didn't have a strong background, Jiang Lin understood that he needed to rely on his own efforts, to work hard, to cry... uh? Why not sweat? Don't worry about it! Anyway, he had to use his own hands to find someone to rely on!
Back in Wutan City, if it weren't for all the familiar faces, Jiang Lin would have done a 720-degree spin and hugged Yao Chen's leg, crying about how hard his life had been. But unfortunately, Xiao Yan beat him to it, making him feel a little embarrassed to make a scene—of course, that's assuming he had any face left.
But now, everything was different. He was in the Jia Ma Sacred City, and no one recognized him. The air here felt much sweeter.
He had no one to worry about in the Jia Ma Sacred City—his pride didn't matter anymore.
"..." Hu Lei stared blankly at Jiang Lin clinging to his leg, confused about what was going on. Was this a parent-teacher conference? He gave a look to the others, who quickly understood and, with strange expressions, left while glancing back at Jiang Lin. Yuan Bao even gave Jiang Lin a thumbs-up as he left.
Yuan Bao: "Awesome, bro! Brand new story!"
"…Alright, get up. Everyone else has left. Now tell me your story." Hu Lei said with a complicated expression, watching Jiang Lin cling to his leg. "Come, let's go inside. Tell me everything. If you've suffered any injustice, I'll help you."
Hu Lei didn't refuse Jiang Lin's request to be his disciple. Although the process was a bit different from the dignified and serious ceremony he had imagined, he was still willing to accept Jiang Lin as his disciple. This young man was the most talented blacksmith Hu Lei had seen in the Jia Ma Empire in years and had the potential to become a Tier-6 Blacksmith within twenty years. If the Jia Ma Empire had two Tier-6 Blacksmiths, things would become very interesting.
The energy of Tier-6 Blacksmiths is usually limited, and they often feel a sense of helplessness when faced with certain research problems. But if there were two Tier-6 Blacksmiths, they could start an upward spiral of research, quietly making major breakthroughs.
Hu Lei led Jiang Lin into the Heaven-Class Forging Field. He sat on a stone and sighed as he looked at the young disciple in front of him. "This is a brand new story, but it's very believable. What's this forging manual you have?"
Jiang Lin quickly took out the forging notes he had written when he was in the Forging Valley. The notes were filled with data about various ores' Dou Qi and simple concepts for forging Dou Weapons—essentially a summary of Jiang Lin's early forging work.
"This?" Hu Lei took the forging manual and flipped through a few pages. It was filled with densely packed data, growing more complex as it went on, with diagrams of meridians and Dou Qi energy models starting to appear.
"At first, it was just the basics, then I gradually added more based on this approach. That's how I developed the habit of recording data," Jiang Lin thought to himself, feeling proud. He was his own teacher! Who would have thought, huh, Old Deng?
"I see..." Hu Lei briefly skimmed Jiang Lin's forging notes. He couldn't help but admit that Jiang Lin's notes, starting from scratch and gradually deepening, were easier to understand than the guild's own beginner materials. Hu Lei could almost imagine that if anyone with strong soul power and blacksmithing talent got their hands on this and followed its rhythm and model, they would eventually become competent blacksmiths.
"…Good perception. It's rare. Your story just became much more believable." Hu Lei handed Jiang Lin back the manual and looked at him with a meaningful smile.
"…Well, the Puppet Technique was an accident I found. I was lucky. Wutan City had a lot of treasures, it felt like the resources refreshed every six months, and I found a new Profound Dou Technique every year. That Pei Su guy attacked me first, but I killed him in self-defense. The forging knowledge in his ring inspired me, and I gained insights into the Tier-2 and Tier-3 Dou Weapons. To repay him, I turned him into a puppet. His body is intact, and his spirit lives on in my heart, so it's not really like he's dead."
Hu Lei: "…"
"Also... this White Bone Storage Ring was found in the Magical Beast Mountains, along with a flight manual that I gave to Eagle Sauce. Oh, Eagle Sauce is a blue eagle. After I gave it the flight manual, it seems to have mutated. It's staying in the mountain forest outside, and I'm thinking about giving it an identity."
Jiang Lin basically told Hu Lei everything about himself—half-true, half-fake. The tragic backstory was a standard hero template.
"Hmm..." Hu Lei stroked his not-so-long beard and nodded. "Now you seem like a good kid. What was all that other nonsense you were telling me? But the Pei Su thing still needs to be dealt with."
"Ah?" Jiang Lin widened his eyes, staring at Hu Lei. This wasn't how the script was supposed to go, right?
Seeing Jiang Lin's confused expression, Hu Lei's mouth curled up in amusement. "But seeing as you didn't do it intentionally, I'll let you off with just one punishment—make a Tier-3 Dou Weapon."
Jiang Lin's mouth twitched. Good grief, Old Deng's got his eye on the gauntlets that haven't even warmed up yet.
"So, teacher, what about my apprenticeship gift?" Jiang Lin crossed his arms with an exaggerated stance, demanding his "gift."
(END CHAPTER)
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