Smith of the Shining Sun

Stepping out of the blacksmith association forge Wulin looked no different than he had when he left, the sweat on his body being taken care of by his other half, but the same couldn't be said for Gu Yuena.

"So this is the badge of a rank five smith." Gu Yuena said, looking over its every nook and cranny. It was quite an impressive piece of work made of a variety of materials and containing the soul power of the owner, it would be difficult but not impossible to replicate.

"Don't do it." Wulin said seriously, somehow reading her like a book. He was quite perceptive when he wanted to be. Sticking out her tongue at him in defiance she continued to look over the badge.

The front of the badge was a dark metal she recognized as Magic Iron, a metal that held and stored energy extremely well albeit in small amounts. On the reflective surface were the hammer symbol of the association and five purple stars representing her other half's level.

On the back of the badge was her other half's name, the date he earned the badge, and the age he received it at. It was a method to have confirmable factors on the badge beside the energy inside it though it was mostly used for new blacksmiths to prove their accomplishments and brag about them.

"Mu Chen looked pretty sympathetic when agreeing. Do you think he was thinking of his daughter?" Gu Yuena asked him lightly, tossing the badge toward him as it wasn't hers to hold on to.

"Most likely." Wulin replied simply. Mu Chen was placing his daughter in Wulin's situation and the thought of it scared him so much he couldn't allow himself to push that onto such a young child. He did say he was going to tell Mang Tian though.

"Hmm. Well, now that all that is done, what do you say about getting some food as a reward? You'll be paying of course." Gu Yuena asked him lightly, her other half only nodding his head in response. He was low on energy and food would help with that.

"Hey!" A loud and arrogant voice entered their ears, the voice coming from down the hall along with a flurry of loud stomps toward them. Turning their heads they looked at them despite long since knowing of their arrival with their spiritual power.

Long golden blond hair styled in a high ponytail held up using a large red ribbon created from fire resistance materials, and the same amber eyes as Mu Chen though rather than the barbarian like experience her eyes contained arrogance and annoyance.

"Hm?" Wulin hummed in question, not quite feeling like speaking at the moment. The girl in front of him was Mu Xi, Mu Chen's less agreeable offspring. Mu Chen did ask that they grow closer but he wasn't sure it would happen with the annoyance flaring in her eyes.

"I heard you took an examination with my dad and that you broke my record! What happened?" Mu Xi demanded from him, completely ignoring Gu Yuena and the odd familiarity she could feel from both of them.

"I took an examination and succeeded." Wulin replied simply, no trace of emotion in her voice yet that only served to infuriate her more. Snickering at his side, Gu Yuena decided to intervene before the conversation got too intense.

"What he means is that he took the rank five examination and succeeded." Gu Yuena said with palpable pride. The youngest rank five before Wulin was Zhen Hua in his mid twenties let alone the current youngest rank eight.

"Rank 5?!" Mu Xi shouted, her annoyance partially replaced by awe. What annoyed her was that her record was broken so soon after she got it but he hadn't purposely broken her record, he was just better.

That was a difficult pill to swallow considering she was the daughter of Mu Chen himself but she was also a blacksmith, they don't feel jealousy instead they fan the flames of rivalry and those flames were burning brightly.

"I don't believe you, show me!" Mu Xi demanded him, her ulterior motives obvious and unhidden. It was clear that she just wanted to see him forge though it was understandable. It was rare to see high level blacksmiths forge.

She may see Mu Chen forge relatively often but she wanted to see another person, especially such a talent's way of forging. Each person forged differently, her father was like he was tempting the metal using the wonders of the world like a devil, and she wanted to see his.

Giving a quick glance at his other half for permission she nodded her head lightly, their food could wait for a while. "I accept." Wulin accepted her 'demands'. There was no real harm and it helped him fulfill Mu Chen's request.

"Perfect!" Mu Xi said happily, hurriedly making her way down to an unoccupied forge. She was excited, her blacksmith's soul was burning in excitement! She wanted to see the kid in front of her forge.

'She would be a good person to get close to.' Gu Yuena observed discreetly. Mu Xi was a talented blacksmith as the daughter of Mu Chen and her martial soul was powerful enough to warrant even the attention of the Silver Dragon King.

Her martial soul, Shining Sun, was a top tier assault type martial soul with a variety of abilities. There were dozens of abilities available to her martial soul due to her powers being taken from the largest celestial body in the area.

She could restore her energy using the rays of the sun no matter what time it was, she could control nearly absolute fire, and she had limited control over gravity itself which could influence space with enough control.

Her personality may be a problem but she isn't much different from them in that regard. In fact, it may just be Xie Xie that has a normal attitude despite being a former arrogant young master who has reformed.

Talented people were usually strange in one way or another and they were certainly a gathering of talents. They could even be called a group of misfits though it's unlikely though ever would be considering how many other titles they go by even now.

The only issue was Mu Xi's affiliation. She was a member of the advanced academy so adding her to the program made for the intermediate freshman class would be off. She trusted their cold teacher to get it done but it was still something to consider.

'Let's see if we can poach her.' Gu Yuena thought to herself, a malicious smirk on her face.