Douluo: Dragon King's Divine Elegy

Chapter 121 Yuan En Ye Hui: At least for the next six months to a year, you belong only to me!
"It's been a year and a half since we last met, and your spear skills have improved considerably," Nan Liujing remarked after sensing Xiao Pojun's aura.

Xiao Pojun smiled and said, "Since I was defeated by your staff technique, I have been in seclusion for half a year. Thanks to you, I have been able to seize some opportunities for improvement."

"Let's have another chance to spar," Nan Liujing said.

“Okay.” Xiao Pojun nodded solemnly.

Xu Junlan followed and said to Yuan Enye Hui with a smile, "I promised you yesterday that I owe you a thousand merit points. Now it's time to return them to you. Bring your recording bracelet closer."

Yuan Enhui suddenly asked, "How long will it take you to get these 1,000 merit points?"

Xu Junlan was taken aback, then thought for a moment and said, "That depends on how strong the abyssal creatures we encounter are. If we're talking about low-level Soul Emperors, I'd have to kill at least two."

“In other words, a Soul Emperor-level Abyss creature is worth five hundred merit points.” Yuanen Yehui nodded knowingly, then politely declined, “Your merit points were earned with your life, I can’t accept them. If I wanted them myself, I would go to the Dark Abyss and risk my life for them.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Junlan and the other two, as well as Jiang Wuyue and Long Yuxue, all showed slight changes in their expressions, and their gazes toward Yuan Enyehui clearly shifted.

If before they were only amazed by Yuan En Ye Hui's stunningly beautiful, almost bewitching face, now they are purely admiring of her attitude.

Xu Junlan smiled and said, "That won't do. I always pay back what I owe, and besides, it was my fault for leading you astray."

As she spoke, she swiftly grabbed Yuanen Yehui's fair wrist, and the two recording bracelets touched. With a beep, one thousand merit points were transferred out.

Yuan Enhui frowned.

"Take it."

Nan Liujing smiled and replied, "You wouldn't come to my place without a reason. You've come all this way to see me, so you probably have something to say. Go ahead and speak."

"talk."

At the crucial moment, Xiao Pojun got stuck, and Xu Junlan couldn't help but give him a light kick.

“If you won’t say it, I will.” Long Tianwu seized the opportunity and said directly, “Brother Nan, I know you are a blacksmith with considerable skill. Could you please forge some spirit alloys of the highest grade, refined a thousand times?”

"For your team members?" Nan Liujing asked. The instructor had said that entering the Dark Netherworld would be done in groups of ten: three ordinary soldiers piloting mechs for support, and seven Soul Masters forming an advance team, with the captain in charge of everything.

Long Tianwu nodded solemnly: "That's right."

Nan Liujing asked in confusion, "In such a large War God Training Camp, there isn't a blacksmith who satisfies you?"

Long Tianwu said helplessly, "There are a few level-five blacksmiths in the camp, but they mainly serve mecha pilots. As soldiers of the War God Camp, we all want to have our own battle armor, which would better protect us. But normally, if we want to obtain metal materials, we can only exchange them in the treasure vault. But as you know, there are hundreds of people in the War God Camp, and the metal materials in the treasure vault are simply not enough to go around. Of my six Soul Kings, the one with the most One-Word Battle Armor pieces only has seven. If this continues, they will probably be mid-level Soul Emperors before they even become One-Word Battle Armor Masters, and the quality will be at best mediocre."

Xu Junlan continued, "So we'd like to ask you to forge some high-quality spirit alloys. You can rest assured that we can exchange them for merit points that are 20% higher than the market price."

"Please." Xiao Pojun said sincerely.

Jiang Wuyue and Long Yuxue, who had remained silent until now, were even more bewildered, and their surprise grew even stronger.

Spirit alloys belong to forging, and forging is usually learned by level six blacksmiths. In other words, this boy who looks a few years younger than them is actually a level six master craftsman.

The highest-ranking blacksmith in the Blood God Legion is only level six!

However, blacksmithing is always the most difficult and time-consuming of all secondary professions. How did he improve at such a young age?
Ignoring the expectant looks from the three, Nan Liujing pondered and said, "There are still three hours until 2 PM. Let's go eat first, then call your team members. I will choose which spirit alloy to forge based on their attributes and martial souls. Of course, you will be responsible for the cost of the forging room."

accepted!
Xu Junlan and the others immediately beamed with joy.

Xiao Pojun patted his chest and said, "No problem, I'll go rent a forging room in a bit, and you can go whenever you want."

Nanliu nodded, his gaze falling on the other two: "Who are these two?"

"My name is Jiang Wuyue, and her name is Long Yuxue. We come from the Blood God Legion." Jiang Wuyue's voice was calm and steady, befitting his imposing appearance.

Nan Liujing raised an eyebrow. Aren't these the two important NPCs that Tang Wulin encountered in the Blood God Legion in the original timeline?
Jiang Wuyue, Tyrannosaurus Rex Martial Soul.

Long Yuxue, Ice Element Martial Soul.

Later, the two of them joined the Blood Dragon Squad and followed Tang Wulin to various parts of the continent.

Nan Liujing spoke in a neutral tone, casually pointing to Yuan Enye Hui: "Nan Liujing, her name is Yuan Enye Hui, nice to meet you."

Both sides stopped talking.

Then everyone went to the cafeteria for a meal.

Although the cafeteria is free, the taste and nutrition are just as good, comparable to the second-class meals at Shrek Academy. Of course, there are also some foods that require merit points to redeem.

In any case, it's much better than the Blood God Legion. Here, at least you don't have to take out loans to afford food.

After the meal, led by Xu Junlan, Nan Liujing and Yuan Enyehui went to the training area first to rent a forging room.

Immediately afterwards, Long Tianwu and Xiao Pojun each led their subordinates to gather in the forging room. The three teams of Soul Masters totaled eighteen people.

Fortunately, the forging room was large enough to accommodate so many people.

Jiang Wuyue and Long Tianwu were old acquaintances, so they simply came along as well.

In fact, he and Long Yuxue came to watch Nan Liujing forge the weapon.

The eighteen members under the three captains came excitedly when they learned that there was a chance to exchange for top-quality metals, but they were all stunned when they saw Nan Liujing.

They immediately looked at their captain, as if to say, "Captain, is this the top blacksmith you've been praising so much?"

It's no wonder these people think this way. All the level 5 blacksmiths in the War God Training Camp are over 25 years old. Nan Liujing is simply too young and doesn't have enough authority.

Combat ability and secondary profession ability should not be confused.

Noticing the strange looks in her teammates' eyes, Xu Junlan's expression suddenly turned serious: "Attention!"

Swish.

Everyone instinctively stood up straight.

"Now all you need to do is answer the questions." Xu Junlan was very authoritative, and her outstanding team performance earned her the respect of her team members.

Xu Junlan looked at Nan Liujing, who nodded slightly, ignoring the doubts of others, and looked at the first person on the left: "What is your martial spirit?"

The team member who was called out was a girl, petite in stature and with a sweet appearance. She honestly replied, "My martial spirit is the Clear Spring Harp."

Nan Liujing pondered and said, "The Clear Spring Harp has both healing and crowd control properties. The most suitable spirit alloy for you must be Water Sound Gold."

Do you have the corresponding materials?

The well-behaved and adorable female team member shook her head.

"Looks like I'll have to collect an extra merit point." Nan Liujing said casually. In front of everyone, the storage ring on his hand, used to store various rare metals, shimmered. Seven or eight seconds later, two light blue metal blocks appeared on the forging table. He then picked them up and put them into the furnace. A moment later, the forging was complete.

Under the wide-eyed gaze of everyone, Nan Liujing moved his hands rhythmically, and a pair of Soul Forging-grade forging hammers appeared in his hands.

His aura instantly became incredibly violent, like a thunderclap. The next moment, electric arcs condensed on the surface of the forging hammer. He seemed to be violently swinging the hammer down, but the moment the hammer head touched the two pieces of metal, everything became very calm again. Only the electric arcs were injected into the metal without any waste, and the entire metal surface rippled with a strange rhythm.

With just one hammer blow, a wave-like texture appeared on each of the two light blue metal surfaces.

"One hammer blow forged a hundredfold!" A team member who was a blacksmith exclaimed in astonishment.

Purification completed in a single hammer blow? What kind of monster is this?

Clearly, his exclamation stirred the emotions within the forging room, and the doubts in people's eyes vanished.

Nan Liujing's performance was not over yet. Using the rotary forging method, he struck the metal with the ferocity of a tiger and the gentleness of a rose, producing a melodious sound that echoed in the forging room. The two pieces of metal visibly fused together.

In less than half a minute, only a piece of dark blue metal remained on the forging table.

Finally, Nan Liujing brought down his hammer, striking the center of the metal. Suddenly, a five-foot-deep blue light leaped from within the Water Sound Gold, and the rushing water sounded like music, incredibly beautiful.

"A thousand-fold forging, first-grade!" the forging team member shouted excitedly.

"Alright." Nan Liujing finished forging a piece of thousand-refined metal as easily as speaking, without even blushing or panting.

"That's it?" Xu Junlan's eyes widened.

Nan Liujing said calmly, "I can forge hundreds of pieces of a thousand-times-refined, first-grade spirit alloy a day."

A few hundred yuan a day... Everyone gasped, but no one questioned the statement. They believed it subconsciously. This is the reputation that has been forged through countless trials!

"Hey bro, can you check the fusion level?" the team member whose secondary profession was blacksmith couldn't help but ask.

"Whatever you say," Nan Liujing said.

Quickly, the team member picked up the testing instrument from the forging room and scanned it across the deep, shimmering gold.

A number that astonished him appeared: "Eighty percent integration! That's top-quality!"

In an instant, the entire forging room was as festive as if it were New Year's Day. People's gazes toward Nan Liujing changed, filled with intense fervor.

It's important to know that most of the top-grade spirit alloys exchanged from the treasure vault have a fusion rate of less than 75%, with most reaching around 70%. The 80% fusion rate in front of us is already considered extremely rare; you'd only see one or two pieces like that occasionally.

"Alright, continue forging." In fact, if Nan Liujing hadn't considered that these team members' bodies couldn't withstand the high degree of fusion of the spirit alloy, he could have guaranteed at least 99% fusion.

Seeing how excited they are, let's aim for an integration rate of 80%.

It's just a matter of controlling the score; it's a piece of cake.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!" Long Tianwu and Xiao Pojun excitedly directed their team members to form a long line.

"I'll transfer your merit points to you." The well-behaved female team member was quite happy. Although she would have to use up a lot of her accumulated merit points, it was worth it.

"I'll transfer it to your captain first." Nan Liujing waved his hand and looked at the short-haired girl with chestnut red hair beside him. "Yuan En, here's the ring. Please prepare the metal that's suitable for the other people in advance."

"it is good."

Yuan Enhui accepted the ring, and a tenderness, which she herself had not expected, appeared in her dark and deep eyes.

How could she possibly remain calm after spending the night alone in a room with him? It took her more than ten times longer than usual just to enter a meditative state.

In fact, after fusing with the soul of the Golden Baboon, Yuanen Yehui harbored a secret in her heart that she would never tell anyone in her life.

She came to the God of War training camp seemingly to hone herself, but in reality, she also wanted to spend time alone with Nan Liujing.

Here, there will be no Ye Xinglan, no Gu Yue, and no Na'er.

For at least the next six months to a year, he will belong only to her, and she will be his most capable assistant.

"What do you mean?" Jiang Wuyue asked Long Yuxue in a whisper, her eyes shining brightly.

Who would have thought that they would be so lucky to meet a master in the field of forging when they were specially sent to the War God Training Camp for special training?

Long Yuxue said decisively, "We must get along well with him. Once we're on good terms, we can talk about metals. We're only at the Soul King level, so there's no rush to forge spirit alloys."

"Yes." Jiang Wuyue nodded solemnly.

...

Before 3 p.m., Nan Liujing and Yuan Enye arrived at the function room, by which time the other core disciples of the Spirit Pagoda had already arrived.

Since they were already there, they figured they might as well make the best of it. After lunch, they must have come to understand a lot of things, and at least the worry they felt when they first saw the ferocious and terrifying appearance of the abyssal creatures was gone from their faces.

Two instructors entered the function room one after the other. The male instructor looked at everyone and said in a deep voice, "Follow me."

The so-called mimicry chamber is located in a room not far from the functional room.

Turn on the lights, and you'll see rows of soul-guided devices, resembling spirit-ascension chambers, quietly placed inside.

The female instructor said, "Since you come from the Spirit Transmission Tower, you must have experienced the Spirit Ascension Chamber. The Simulation Chamber is somewhat similar. You will lie down in it later, and we will conduct an exploration assessment of the Dark Netherworld for you via telepathy."

The male instructor said, "Nan Liujing, as the captain, you are fully responsible for everything."

"Understood." Nan Liujing replied solemnly.

The male instructor's tone shifted abruptly, becoming serious: "Remember this, the simulated world completely mimics the known Dark Abyss, and is extremely dangerous. During the assessment, you will encounter at least three waves of abyssal creatures. Survive and successfully kill at least one abyssal creature to earn the initial reward of two hundred merit points. However, if anyone dies during the assessment, the fallen team member will have one hundred merit points deducted, and the team leader will have five hundred deducted!"

The crowd's expressions changed slightly; this punishment was no small matter.

Through the manual, they already understood what merit points were and their importance.

"Enter the mimicry chamber," the instructor ordered.

The group of sixteen people each chose a simulated chamber to enter. Various instruments automatically surrounded them and immobilized them. Then, subtle energy fluctuations gathered in their brains.

Nan Liujing felt the world before her eyes become incredibly bright, and then the world was turned upside down.

When they opened their eyes again, they found themselves in a huge and eerie underground cavern.

Behind them, a massive metal door stood imposingly, its surface marked with dark red, mottled marks, resembling dried bloodstains. Upon closer inspection, however, they were obscure and difficult-to-understand core magic array patterns. Fortunately, the nearby soul-guiding lamps were very bright, mitigating some of the eerie atmosphere. But the tightly closed door seemed to separate two worlds; those who entered could only move forward, with no way back.

Directly ahead, the space presented a shattered and distorted scene, with six dark purple halos, each over ten meters in diameter, scattered in various places, like the eyes of demons, staring at any living being that wanted to step into them.

Upon closer inspection, one can discover that the interior of the aperture is deep and dark, as if connected to some unknown and terrifying world. In a daze, one can almost hear mournful cries and roars, piercing the soul and giving people an invisible sense of oppression.

"The spatial passage will transport you to the Dark Abyss. The assessment begins!"

The instructor spoke at the right moment, his voice ringing in my ears.

In an instant, everyone's eyes fell on Nan Liujing.

Nan Liujing did not rush directly into the space passage. Instead, he first inquired about the abilities of the others, then arranged the formation to ensure that the team members could help each other in time. Only after completing these tasks did he resolutely step into the space passage.

The others showed varying degrees of tension on their faces.

As everyone approached the dark purple circle of light, the surrounding space shattered like a mirror, causing their figures to become distorted. A dark light flashed, and everyone vanished.

(End of this chapter)