209 Follow My Rhythm

“Yes. The result of our investigations verified that he came from EastseaCity’s Blacksmith’s Association. The girl next to him is Mu Chen’s daughter,who is praised as one of this generation’s greatest blacksmiths. Who would’vethought that they’ve raised an even greater and younger genius? It seems theEastsea Blacksmith’s Association has truly been fortunate these last fewyears!” A middle-aged man exclaimed beside the old man.

The white-haired old man nodded. “I want to see if this brat can surprise usagain today. Investigate deeper into him. Determine his family’s circumstancesand his background.”

“Elder Duan, what are your intentions?” The middle-aged man asked in surprise.

The old man smiled slyly. “Although a fair share of geniuses has come from ourSkysea Blacksmith’s Association, they can’t compare with those from Eastsea.It’s important to constantly think of ways to improve our situation since theyounger the blacksmith, the less polished they are. This could also be anopportunity for us.”

“I understand. I’ll arrange it right now.” The middle-aged man finally graspedthe old man’s plan. He quickly made some calls with his soul communicator.  

Unaware of these events, Tang Wulin began forging.

A flash of light later, his forging hammers were in his hands. However,instead of his heavy silver hammers, they were tungsten.

He gently tapped the heavy silver, and a crisp note rang out.

Paying attention to his actions, Mu Xi copied him.

With her own thousand-refined hammers, Mu Xi’s tap issued a second, successivenote.

Tang Wulin wrinkled his brows. He turned to Mu Xi and gave her a curt nod.

Although Mu Xi had yet to understand Tang Wulin’s plan, she was resolute andresponded with a firm nod. Regardless of what Tang Wulin planned to do, shechose to believe in him and do as he said. If she could see what surprise TangWulin had up his sleeve, then so what if it ended in failure? They were stillyoung and had plenty of opportunities waiting for them in the future.

Ding!

Tang Wulin’s hammer descended.

Mu Xi mirrored him. She felt the delay between their movements disappearing;furthermore, Tang Wulin’s strikes seemed heavier than usual, almost as if theywere her own.

Moving in sync, Tang Wulin and Mu Xi raised their other hammer and smashed themetal.

The surrounding blacksmiths had also begun to forge. Many had been caught upin the tempest of Tang Wulin’s forging rhythm the day before, but today theyhad learned their lesson and threw themselves into the process as soon aspossible.

With each resounding boom of Tang Wulin’s tungsten hammer, another soonfollowed.

Although Tang Wulin had slowed his pace, it still possessed a peculiar tempoto it.

Their hammers raised and fell together as they forged in unison, graduallyincreasing in speed and similarity.

As Tang Wulin’s hammers began to practically fly through the air, so too didMu Xi’s.

Feeling! Rhythm!

These two words lingered in the back of Mu Xi’s mind. She had forged heavysilver countless times before, yet, this time, it was an entirely differentsensation.

As Mu Xi forged with Tang Wulin, she discovered that she could sense the heavysilver’s breath clearer than usual, following her rhythm and cadence. As agenius in her own right, she soon immersed herself in this feeling.

A smile peeked out as Tang Wulin observed her changes. Senior disciple sisterreally is senior disciple sister! If she puts her mind to it, then she canreally do it!

Few paid attention to them in the beginning due to their slow pace, but as thetwo sped up, a forging tempest like the day before appeared.

Tang Wulin’s hammers struck faster, spurring on Mu Xi to do the same. Theirhammers rained down on the metal like a whirlwind, each strike resounding.

The most unusual thing was that the two reflected each other perfectly; eventhe location of their strikes and pull of the hammer were identical. Undertheir assault, the heavy silver slowly shrunk and transformed.

The blacksmiths on stage soon noticed this bizarre situation, giving them nosmall shock.What are these two kids doing? Why are their forging rhythmsidentical?

This was the first time they had ever seen anything like this.

Now that Mu Xi was completely immersed in the process of forging, she couldclearly hear the heavy silver’s voice as it cheered with each strike on itsbody. She no longer needed to follow Tang Wulin’s rhythm, using her own sensesto continue.

This was her first time experiencing such a mystical sensation. Her mind voidof any distracting thoughts, she focused all her attention on forging.

Hammer after hammer descended, gradually shaping the heavy silver. Joyfulrings sounded out in response to being purified .

Beautiful cloud patterns emerged onto the twinkling surface of the heavysilver.

Beads of sweat rolled down Mu Xi’s forehead. Although her soul power exceededTang Wulin’s by far, she couldn’t compare with his physical strength. Evenafter Tang Wulin lowered his strength to match Mu Xi’s usual output, their pacewas exhausting her.

Only by concentrating her soul power into her arms did she just barely manageto continue this fast-paced forging. Mu Xi’s years of blacksmithing cametogether, culminating into a sensation that made her want to sing as she washeld spellbound by this feeling.

Yes! It’s like this! Exactly like this! This thought echoed within her heart.

Bang!

The two’s final strike landed simultaneously. Two beams of light shot into theair from the heavy silver; though the light lasted no more than an instant, ithad clearly been seen by everyone on the stage.

“What? A light came out?” The old man unconsciously shouted. Without a singleexception, all the blacksmiths from the Skysea Alliance gawked at the duo.

Cen Yue was also on the stage, but on the other end. He had been payingattention to the two since the start of the competition.

Even with his prior understanding of the two, he was flabbergasted by theirsynchronized rhythms.What are those two brats doing? Why isn’t Tang Wulin usinghis heavy silver hammers? Just what is he doing?

However, all of his doubts were blown away when he saw the beam of light. CenYue was aware of Tang Wulin’s ability to thousand refine second-grade metals,but unexpectedly Mu Xi had accomplished it too! It was simply unfathomable. MuXi wasn’t even a third rank blacksmith yet and her Thousand Refinements wasstill unstable!

Even if it was the dimmest of lights that came from a thousand refined metal,it still signified that from that moment on, Mu Xi was a third rank blacksmith.Reaching third rank at the young age of fourteen was no small matter.

Not a single third rank blacksmith existed within the junior division; TangWulin was fourth rank, so he didn’t count.

The old man roused from his stupor by the sound of a gulp. He strode forwardand leapt down from the stage with nimble movements unlike that of an elderlyman.

He no longer cared that the competition was still in progress, directlycharging in Tang Wulin’s and Mu Xi’s direction.

A light blue halo glimmered around the silver metal as Tang Wulin put away histungsten hammers. The pattern spread evenly across the heavy silver’s surface,covering every single inch. He narrowed his eyes as he reflected on the process.

Mu Xi propped herself up against the forging table with her arms. That feelingjust now! That feeling!Her eyes twinkled like stars as she kept recreating thatfeeling in her mind. She knew she had reached the next rank. It had been thefirst time she could perceive the will of the metal. As she carved thisexperience into her heart, she had a newfound appreciation for everything thatcame before.

“Don’t go over.” Just as the old man was about to reach the two, Cen Yuestopped him. “They’re comprehending things right now. We mustn’t disturb them,”Cen Yue said with a lowered voice.

The old man, as well as the other blacksmiths that had followed, all halted inplace. As they were all of at least the fifth rank, they understood howimportant times of comprehension were to blacksmiths.