Chương 138: War God — Chapter 138 - Secret Skill, Myriad Forms Creation!

Shen Lan took the armor plate and hummed in acknowledgment. She didn't think much of it. Probably figured he'd hit some snag condensing the origin force barbs. Normally, the first step of this training method was where people got stuck — how to control origin force well enough to condense and take shape inside the armor plate.

But as a genius who could use flawless technique and superhuman body control to peel a cicada shroud the moment she stepped on stage, Shen Lan assumed Wang Xian's problem was likely how to keep the origin force barbs from collapsing after condensing dozens, even hundreds of them. Which was actually good. Hitting a wall meant real progress. Most students, after just two or three days, were probably still stuck on step one. So.

Shen Lan rubbed her palm over the armor plate and started to say:"Actually, to keep the origin force barbs stable..." But the moment the words left her mouth, she froze. Her forward steps came to an abrupt halt. In her clear origin force perception, inside the armor plate, a dense mass of origin force barbs had already been condensed. Neatly arranged. Perfectly ordered. Even the height and thickness of each barb were exactly identical.

This required not only superhuman origin force control, but also extremely practiced technique. Each origin force barb stood like a pillar reaching to the heavens, towering within the turtle shell plate. Shen Lan stared at the field of origin force barbs. It was like watching a master painter use the simplest lines to sketch out a foundational circuit diagram. Comparable to machine engraving.

"Wait. The total count... it's already over 15, 000." Shen Lan was stunned. The number of origin force barbs this armor plate could hold was limited. The absolute limit was 20, 000 barbs. That required each barb to be even smaller, even finer, even harder to control. Though only a basic skill, it took at least a master-level Smelting Master to accomplish. Even using modern high-tech precision micro-engraving furnaces, the limit was 20, 000. Over 15, 000 was already outstanding.

Even an average high-level Smelting Master might not manage it. And a high-level Smelting Master could smelt materials below B-grade.

"Teacher, do you think there's still room for improvement in the origin force barbs inside this armor plate?" Wang Xian asked humbly. Shen Lan turned her head slightly to look at him.

"This armor plate..."

"I worked day and night these past two days to rush it out," Wang Xian answered. In reality, he'd done it in a single night. Afterwards, he'd originally wanted to try for more. He felt he should be able to condense even more origin force barbs inside the armor plate. But on second thought, better to ask the teacher first.

"?" Shen Lan. Rushed it out? You, who aren't even an apprentice Smelting Master yet, who just had your first Origin Force Smelting class, you're telling me this was rushed out?

"You made this?" After a moment of silence, Shen Lan asked. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Wang Xian nodded. Shen Lan closed her eyes. Students were coming and going all around. But no one noticed the extremely complicated expression that emerged on the face of this teacher who had taught at Tiandu University for over 20 years. The expression revealed the feeling that her decades of teaching career had been lived in vain.

At the same time, it carried a touch of dreamlike excitement. Like someone who had been drawing cards for decades and finally, from a pool of billions, drew a top-tier card she had never seen before. Shen Lan had no doubts whatsoever. She didn't even suspect Wang Xian had prior exposure to Smelting studies. Because it was simple. The origin force barbs inside the armor plate were numerous, neat, and standardized. But from a distance, the overall shape resembled a cicada shroud.

This kind of effort-heavy, reward-light behavior was not something a Smelting Master would do. Only an apprentice who had never touched Smelting studies would, when condensing origin force barbs, think of making random patterns. As for the reason? They found it fun, that's all. When she herself practiced for the first time back then, she had also randomly made various patterns for practice.

If the other party had prior exposure to Smelting studies, or was a Smelting Master pretending to be an apprentice, they absolutely wouldn't condense random patterns. Too classic.

"Come with me." Shen Lan took a deep breath and led Wang Xian to the faculty building, entering a private office. Inside the office, there were all kinds of material templates. From things that flew in the sky, to those that ran on the ground, to those that swam in the sea. Countless exotic beast materials had been crafted into template after template, displayed in the room.

"What do you want to ask?" Shen Lan sat in her office chair, gazing intently at the young man before her.

"I wanted to ask, can I now learn some more advanced Smelting techniques or knowledge..." Wang Xian mused.

"For example, I heard that in Smelting studies, one can directly extract and process the properties of certain materials."

"Then imbue them into certain medicinal herbs, giving them specific properties as well, and then refine them into extraordinary potions..."

"Or, advanced Origin Force Forging Techniques, constructing complex energy circuits, modifying combat protective gear..."

"And there's even more advanced 'Elemental Shaping,' which is said to be able to awaken the 'elemental memory' deep within materials, allowing materials to awaken extraordinary abilities..."

"......" Shen Lan listened seriously. If the person before her was an ordinary student, she would only advise them to be down-to-earth, take it slow, and not overthink things. But... This was a Smelting genius who accomplished in three days the "Armor Plate Training" that took her three months back then! From his words, she could only feel his thirst for exploration and passion for Smelting studies. Shen Lan smiled slightly.

"At your current level... right, the first-year textbooks, have you..."

"I've pretty much finished all of them," Wang Xian said. In two days, he had already read through the first-year textbooks more or less completely. Actually, most of the textbooks were just deconstruction of materials. For him, learning them was far too easy.

"Mm..." Shen Lan nodded slightly.

"At your current pace, you can now formally study 'Origin Force Forging Technique.' When you can use Origin Force Forging Technique to successfully construct different energy circuits inside materials..."

"At that point, if you're interested in combat protective gear, you can then learn the 'Smelting Forging Method,' which is a technique to reshape materials using origin force, forming them into combat protective gear."

"The general foundation is the 'High-Temperature Smelting Forging Method.' If you don't have the relevant talent, it's not a big deal."

"The school's Heavenly Workshop has specially made geothermal smelting forging furnaces."

"As for extracting material properties, you need to master the sub-discipline of 'Biomimicry,' which generally requires a high-level Smelting Master to accomplish."

"And Elemental Shaping requires reaching Smelting Grandmaster to master." At this point, Shen Lan smiled.

"With your talent, you might become a high-level Smelting Master by the time you graduate university."

"Apprentice, Low-level, Mid-level, High-level. Each Smelting Master's level represents what stage of materials they can smelt, and how many types of energy circuit constructions they have mastered."

"For example, an apprentice Smelting Master can only smelt the lowest-grade F-grade materials. A Low-level Smelting Master can smelt E and D-grade materials."

"A High-level can smelt C-grade and B-grade materials."

"A Grandmaster can smelt all materials below S-grade!"

"Of course, a veteran Smelting Master will often also be proficient in forging, and can become a combat protective gear Forging Master. They can smelt-forge combat protective gear of corresponding quality grades." Wang Xian looked thoughtful. Meaning, a Smelting Master was not necessarily a Forging Master. But every Forging Master was definitely a Smelting Master.

"Oh, right."

"Tiandu University has a Secret Skill called 'Myriad Forms Creation.' This Secret Skill is a modern synthesis, compiled from the inherited memories of many past masters."

"To cultivate this Secret Skill to perfection, one needs to smelt thousands upon thousands of materials and create all kinds of combat protective gear."

"Once perfected, for any material, even unknown ones, you only need to lightly sense it for a moment to grasp its properties in a short time. It also enhances the speed and quality of any combat protective gear you smelt-forge in the future."

"At the same time, this skill allows you, through your understanding of combat protective gear, to unleash 200% of the power of any combat protective gear."

"Of course, it will also accelerate the durability consumption of the combat protective gear."

"In Smelting studies, this Secret Skill is a must-learn."

"Now that you've barely entered the door, you can go ahead and exchange for this Secret Skill early." Wang Xian listened. Without a second thought, this Secret Skill was undoubtedly one of the core Secret Skills of Tiandu University. Just look at how many functions it had. Not only did it provide bonuses to the crafting profession, it actually provided bonuses to martial arts as well. As for durability consumption, that minor side effect wasn't worth mentioning.

Once you became a Smelting Master, why would you fear your weapon's durability dropping quickly? You could repair it anytime. If one could make a Level-1 combat protective gear used by a first-realm martial artist unleash power close to a Level-2 combat protective gear, that kind of boost was no small matter. ➤ Next: Third-Tier Combat Protective Gear, Eternal Silence Abyss Sheath!