What would she say when she went in? "Let me help you with the forging, but I don't know how yet — let me learn first"?
Gu Yuena looked at the room before her and fell into thought.
She had recently received quite a bit of guidance from Yuhao. It had brought them closer — to the point where they could address each other by name — but it had also made her feel the gap between them.
This couldn't go on.
Gu Yuena confirmed this.
She had been receiving favors all along — intelligence about the Divine Realm, guidance on how to be human, guidance on secondary professions...
And the only thing she had given Yuhao was a trace of the Silver Dragon King's bloodline so insignificant as to be virtually useless to a reincarnated God King.
She couldn't just keep receiving favors and coast to victory by following Yuhao, could she?
She wasn't that kind of person!
But even if she wanted to do something, what could she do right now?
As the Silver Dragon King, she couldn't give away her divine artifacts or her origin energy.
As an ordinary friend, her designer skills weren't very useful. That left only other secondary professions that might be able to help Huo Yuhao. Among the four secondary professions, the only one she thought might be useful was blacksmithing.
As for mecha repair... Honestly, if someone could design and manufacture something, wouldn't they also know how to repair it?
If all else fails, just dismantle it and rebuild it!
Recently, the association had been cooperating with the Blacksmithing Association. Yuhao had also accepted an arrangement and was about to cooperate with a young blacksmith. This had reignited her earlier idea.
Become a blacksmith!
Taking a deep breath, Gu Yuena was just about to knock when she heard a voice from behind her.
"What are you doing with a hammer?"
Gu Yuena's expression froze. She turned her head to look at Huo Yuhao, who was looking at her with a strange expression. The hammer in her hand clattered to the floor. A very noticeable blush rose on her face.
She had thought it through clearly just moments ago. So why, now that it came down to it and Yuhao was looking at her, did it feel... so embarrassing?
"You want to help me?"
"Yes."
"You feel you owe me?"
"Yes."
"So you want to learn blacksmithing?"
"Yes."
Looking at Gu Yuena sitting on the chair before him, looking perfectly obedient, Huo Yuhao let out a light breath and smiled helplessly.
"In human interaction, material value isn't everything. Emotional value is also very important. Sometimes, seeing a friend live a relaxed and happy life makes you feel relaxed too. There's no need for this."
The Silver Dragon King staying obediently at the academy, not causing any trouble he was truly very happy about that, in every sense of the word.
Gu Yuena was startled by this. She looked at Huo Yuhao and fell silent.
Aside from Emperor Tian and the others, here was another person telling her to live easily in this world... No, this one was a god.
Huo Yuhao continued, "If you really want to learn blacksmithing, I won't stop you. But if you're only doing it to help me, there's really no need. Your bloodline is very helpful to me. I don't want to owe you too much."
"Helpful?" Gu Yuena snapped back to reality and looked at Huo Yuhao with some confusion.
"Yes. I've been thinking about whether I could use this trace of bloodline power, together with the Golden Dragon King's bloodline, to research a Spirit Soul with the Dragon God's bloodline."
Seeing Gu Yuena's gradually dazed gaze, Huo Yuhao blinked and smiled slightly. "I might take a trace of the Golden Dragon King's bloodline power from Tang Wulin. Do you have any objections? If you do, I can give up on this research."
Gu Yuena took a deep breath. She didn't get angry because Huo Yuhao was coveting the Dragon God's power. Instead, her expression became complicated and complex. "Weren't you not interested in the Dragon God's power?"
"That was before," Huo Yuhao said casually. "Now that I have your bloodline power, of course I'll take the opportunity to do some research."
Understood. Before, he wasn't interested. Now that he had obtained her bloodline by signing the contract, he was a bit interested.
Thinking this, Gu Yuena's delicate brows furrowed tightly. She was somewhat conflicted.
A trace of the Golden Dragon King's bloodline... probably wouldn't be a problem, right?
This one had helped her so much. Although he felt that having her bloodline power was compensation enough, she couldn't think that way.
Moreover, this way, he could also help her test the Sea God's contingency plans on Tang Wulin.
Logically and emotionally, it seemed she shouldn't refuse this...
Seeing Gu Yuena begin to think, Huo Yuhao said no more. He took out the spirit metal on which he had been engraving arrays during class and continued engraving.
Sometimes, retreating in order to advance was a valid solution.
Once he obtained the Golden Dragon King's bloodline, as long as he continued to
see Gu Yuena, he wouldn't be able to hide it. So it was better to just say it directly. Put the initiative in Gu Yuena's hands and let her make the choice for him after weighing the pros and cons.
If Gu Yuena agreed, he would take it openly.
If she disagreed, he would take it silently — but couldn't use it.
Based on their recent interactions, the likelihood of her agreeing...
"You won't be in danger, will you?"
Hearing Gu Yuena's words, which carried a hint of concern, Huo Yuhao's thoughts paused. He sighed inwardly.
This answer... wasn't entirely unexpected.
Thinking this, Huo Yuhao's tone became much more sincere. "I naturally have confidence. The question is whether you can accept someone else obtaining the Dragon God's bloodline. I would need to attempt the bloodline fusion, after all."
"A trace of the Dragon God's bloodline has no real significance. And it's very difficult to synthesize, let alone use to create a Spirit Soul. Your research will probably eventually fail... encounter a bottleneck."
Gu Yuena composed herself. She gently shook her head as she walked closer to Huo Yuhao, lowering her head to look at what he was doing.
The metal on which he was engraving a soul tool array was Spirit Forged Blue Gestation Copper.
The soul tool array on it... she had never seen before.
"Failure also yields experience. How could it be meaningless?"
Huo Yuhao glanced at the quietly observing Gu Yuena beside him and made the final stroke on the spirit metal.
In an instant, the silver-white soul tool array completely took shape.
Then, Huo Yuhao changed the subject. "Setting aside the topic of Spirit Souls for now — if you really want to learn blacksmithing, you can actually start by understanding the principles of blacksmithing with me. Many blacksmiths only learn forging techniques without understanding what the forging process is essential about."
Watching as a strand of silver liquid gradually condensed on the Blue Gestation Copper as the soul tool array took shape, Gu Yuena sensed a strange vitality from it. Her pupils contracted. She immediately recalled something Emperor Tian had told her.
Extracting a certain substance from metal — this technology was...
Just then, Huo Yuhao continued, "Hundred-Forged, Thousand-Forged, Spirit Forging, Soul Forging, Heaven Forging — these are the levels of a blacksmith's advancement."
"But forging is a process of extraction. The extracted substance has been named 'Metal Source' in Federation history. Up to Spirit Forging, it's still part of the extraction process. Only from Soul Forging onward does it become a process of changing the source further sublimation sublime the metal..."
Gu Yuena looked at that strand of silver liquid with a serious expression.
She had taken in what Huo Yuhao was saying. But she would not forget the meaning behind the extraction of Metal Source.
Extracting Metal Source... this was the core technology used by the Douluo Federation to manufacture Grade 12 God-Slaying Grade soul tool cannon shells!
***
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