Chapter 14

The clicks and monthly votes are already in fourth place. Brothers of the Tang Clan, let's keep going, let's soar even higher!

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"Dance麟, you're here!" A young man in his twenties, tall and strong, greeted Tang Wulin.

"Brother Long." Tang Wulin smiled and asked, "What tasks did the teacher assign today?"

Brother Long laughed and said, "Quite a few. You'll see when you go to your room. To be honest, I'm a bit jealous of you. How old are you? Your workload is already on par with mine." The more you forge, the more income you naturally earn.

Tang Wulin chuckled and said, "How can I compare to you? The teacher still doesn't let me forge large parts."

Brother Long said, "That's to make your foundation more solid. Alright, go quickly, or you won't finish in two hours today."

The Mangtian Studio actually has only three people: Mangtian, Brother Long, and Tang Wulin. Brother Long was originally Mangtian's only disciple, but after Tang Wulin came here, he became the second. He started calling Mangtian "teacher" the second time he came here, three years ago.

Mangtian is a very strict teacher with high standards, but he teaches very seriously. Often, Tang Wulin feels that he learns much more here than at the academy.

Each person has their own studio. Mangtian takes on some forging jobs for mecha parts from outside and then assigns them. Simple tasks go to Brother Long and Tang Wulin, while the complex ones he handles himself.

There is a dedicated learning day each week, during which Mangtian teaches them step by step. The rest of the days are spent completing the tasks assigned by Mangtian. The more and better you work, the higher your income.

Tang Wulin came to his forging room. Unlike the messy living room outside, his room was very tidy, all cleaned by himself.

Sure enough, some raw materials were already placed on the forging table, along with some blueprints.

When he first came here, Mangtian made him hammer iron blocks for three months, just to teach him the techniques of striking and applying force. He had to hammer for two hours every day, which was indeed a tough period.

But with continuous practice, Tang Wulin's originally not weak strength continued to grow, and the small hammer gradually became larger. After three months, he started doing some simple metal refining work. After a year, he began making the simplest parts.

It wasn't until half a year ago that he progressed from forging small parts to medium parts. Mangtian was even stricter with him than with Brother Long. But Tang Wulin seemed to have a special resilience in his character. In the three years he had been here, he had never complained.

After carefully examining the blueprints, he understood what his task was for the day: ten joints, which are the ankle joints of a mecha, spherical in shape. If they were cast, it would only take two presses to complete, but for forging, the requirements are much higher.

Forging is divided into many levels. Generally, it is "hundred-forged," meaning each part must be hammered hundreds of times to complete. At a higher level, there is "thousand-forged."

The more times a metal is hammered, the fewer impurities it has. Of course, the metal must be of sufficient quality to withstand the pressure of thousand-forging. Currently, Tang Wulin cannot make thousand-forged parts, and such tasks are also rare.

He skillfully pressed the buttons on the forging table, and the central part of the table split open, revealing the forge below. Tang Wulin secured a piece of metal in the slot next to the forge and pressed another button to send it into the forge.

He picked up two black, shiny hammers. These hammers were about the same size as the ones he used for testing when he first came here. For forging small parts, this size of hammer is the most suitable.

However, the pair of hammers in his hands were a gift from Mangtian, given to him when he had been here for a year. They were thousand-forged tungsten steel hammers, each weighing eighty pounds. It would be difficult for an ordinary person to lift them, but in Tang Wulin's hands, they felt as if they weighed nothing.

Under the high temperature of the forge, the metal quickly turned red. Tang Wulin used his right tungsten steel hammer to push the metal out of the slot, and his left hammer to clamp it from above.

He quickly swung both tungsten steel hammers, and a series of "ding ding dang" sounds filled the air, marking the start of his day's forging.

Forging is a craft, not just a simple skill. When Tang Wulin first started learning, Mangtian told him that to become a qualified forger, one must use their brain. One must judge the texture and characteristics of the metal through the rebound and changes during hammering. Only by mastering these can one truly forge high-quality parts.

Tang Wulin has an excellent aptitude in this area. He didn't know that when Mangtian gave him the tungsten steel hammers, it meant he was already a formal forger.

His monthly income is not much, but he regularly saves a portion of it. He sets aside some money for his sister and gives a little to Langyue to help with household expenses.

He is only a nine-year-old child, but the three years of forging have made him much more mature in both mind and character than his peers.

For two full hours, when the last part was completed under the rapid hammering of the tungsten steel hammers, Tang Wulin let out a long breath, grabbed a towel to wipe the sweat from his face, and looked at the ten shiny joint parts in front of him with a satisfied expression.

He had grown accustomed to forging and had come to love this work. Swinging the hammer and striking every day was a particularly cathartic and exhilarating experience. Sometimes, during the hammering, he would enter a special state. This state was very peculiar, as if he and the metal being hammered, as well as the hammer in his hand, were in resonance. Whenever this happened, the parts he made were especially excellent, and even Mangtian, with his cold and hard personality, couldn't help but praise him.

"Teacher." Just as Tang Wulin was about to turn in his work, he noticed that Mangtian had already come to his forging room.

Mangtian first walked to the forging table to inspect his work, nodded, and then handed him a stack of bills. "This month's pay. You did well."

"Thank you, teacher." Tang Wulin was overjoyed, quickly took the money, and put it in his pocket. His face turned slightly red with excitement, but he couldn't help but clench his fists.

Mangtian looked at him with some confusion. "You didn't seem this happy when you got your pay every month before."

Tang Wulin's breathing was slightly rapid. He took a deep breath and said, "Teacher, I've saved enough money to buy a soul spirit."

Mangtian was taken aback and slightly moved. "You mean your soul beast has reached level ten?"

Tang Wulin nodded. "It should be about that."

Mangtian rarely showed a smile. "Keep it up."

"Teacher, I'll go back now." Tang Wulin packed the parts he had made into a box and ran out excitedly.

Looking at his back, Mangtian's smile grew a bit wider. "Finally, this kid is showing a bit of a child's nature. It's a pity that his soul beast is just Blue Silver Grass. No matter what soul spirit it is, it probably won't... But, this is also my good fortune. In forging, this child's talent is enough to carry on my legacy."

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