Standing at the front of the third-year team was a familiar face. Arthur couldn't help raising a hand in greeting. "Well, if it isn't my dear disciple. Long time no see."
Qian Wu's face instantly darkened, and the man and woman beside him burst into laughter.
The two were Mo Yu and Li Qiankun, also One-Word Battle Armor Masters, and both vice class monitors of the third year.
If Qian Wu had advanced to the inner courtyard back in his second year as he should have, the two of them would never have gotten the chance to contend for class monitor.
After all, Qian Wu's martial soul was simply too powerful. In terms of real strength, neither of them could match him.
Shen Yi stepped onto the stage.
"Hello, students of the first and second years."
"I am Shen Yi, teaching assistant of the first year, and I will be presiding over this exchange competition. The main judge for this event is the Holy Spirit Douluo."
"To improve the efficiency of the matches, after discussion with the first and second year homeroom teachers, all four minor profession events will follow a set-topic format. Now, would the three class monitors please send forward the students competing in the forging event!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Arthur strode forward, dragging himself up there like he owned the place.
Qian Wu's expression twisted. After a moment of inner struggle, he steeled himself and climbed onto the stage. He was, after all, the finest forger the third year had to offer, a Level Five Blacksmith.
Once he broke through to Soul Emperor, he'd planned to start work on a two-word battle armor.
But.
But this monster Arthur was, no joke, a Level Six Blacksmith.
They called him the Little Divine Craftsman of the East Sea.
As for how Qian Wu knew that.
Well. Ever since losing to him all those years ago, he'd been stalking Arthur online.
He hadn't missed a single scrap of information related to Arthur.
He'd even wormed his way into an admin position in a fan group the followers had started for Arthur.
Representing the second year was a beautiful girl with a golden ponytail.
"Huh. She looks familiar."
Wait, no!
"Mu Xi!" Arthur's eyes went wide.
Oh no. Oh no, this was bad.
"So you do remember me, my dear junior brother." Mu Xi's eyes held a note of resentment. "You've been quite the big shot at the academy lately, and you didn't even think to say hello when you enrolled."
Her tone turned sharp. "If it weren't for this competition, I wouldn't even have known my dear junior brother had already enrolled."
Mu Xi's golden ponytail swished, her golden hair catching the light, her delicate face carrying a hint of a pout.
Arms crossed over her chest, she stood before Arthur, her presence commanding.
Arthur, who had been so cocky just moments ago, instantly wilted.
He really had forgotten. After enrolling, he'd been so busy playing hooky and running around having fun that he'd forgotten to visit Mu Xi, the senior he hadn't seen since the Skysea Alliance Tournament ended three years ago, right after he'd enrolled at Shrek.
Beside him, Qian Wu's expression changed on the spot, and he settled in to enjoy the show. Tonight's fan group chat was going to have plenty to talk about.
Arthur decisively changed the subject, calling out loudly.
"First year, Arthur, ready for the competition!"
Mu Xi rolled her eyes. This blond menace was always like this. She followed along anyway. "Second year, Mu Xi."
"Third year, Qian Wu."
Seeing the three were ready, Shen Yi announced clearly, "The first event is the forging competition."
"This round's set topic is purification."
"Each of you will receive a piece of rare Titanium Crystal, with a time limit of half an hour. Whoever produces the highest-quality purification within the allotted time wins, earning one thousand contribution points and the corresponding credits. If a first-year student wins, they'll receive an additional thirty percent bonus!"
"Furthermore, the winner gets to keep the finished piece they forge."
Hearing this, Arthur showed no reaction. He'd never once been short on rare metals.
As for contribution points.
What were contribution points?
He had no idea. All he ever used were Ya Li Points.
Qian Wu wasn't particularly moved either, since he knew he couldn't win, and no reward, however good, would end up being his.
Mu Xi felt the same way. Her father was Mu Chen. She was already an heiress.
The three pieces of Titanium Crystal were quickly set down on the forging tables in front of the three competitors.
The Titanium Crystal resembled a piece of crystal, its interior laced with a dense, chaotic web of golden threads.
Not only that.
The difficulty of purifying it lay in minimizing volume loss while using forging techniques to untangle those golden threads.
The more orderly the golden threads became, the higher the final quality of the Titanium Crystal.
For Arthur, though, this was child's play.
The Titanium Crystal was nowhere near as difficult as the Starfall Gold he'd forged back at the Skysea Alliance Tournament.
Starfall Gold, exceedingly rare even among meteorites from beyond the sky, had an internal structure that broke entirely from the conventional metallurgical systems found on the Douluo Continent.
The metal-smelting began.
Shen Yi announced, "Timing begins once the smelting is complete."
What happened next was thoroughly bizarre.
Qian Wu yawned, raising his forging hammer with all the urgency of an old lady crossing the street, each strike landing slow and feather-light.
His eyes were unfocused, occasionally drifting toward Arthur and Mu Xi, the corners of his mouth still curved with the lingering satisfaction of watching a good show, utterly lacking the bearing of the third year's top forger.
Since he couldn't beat Arthur anyway, he'd given up trying, content instead to quietly play spectator and observe the Little Divine Craftsman's technique up close.
Mu Xi, by contrast, had already sunk into total concentration.
Soul rings churned beneath her feet, her forging hammer trailing scorching flame with every swing.
Each strike landed with precision along the edge of the Titanium Crystal, using the fire to burn away impurities while carefully guiding the golden threads within using her soul power.
When it came to forging, she took it seriously. Even knowing she couldn't win, she gave it her full effort.
Ever since childhood, she'd resolved to spend her life as a blacksmith.
But the one drawing the most attention was, without question, Arthur.
What was he doing?!
Everyone's eyes went wide.
Up on stage, Arthur didn't so much as glance at his Titanium Crystal. He walked straight toward Mu Xi.
"That's not how you purify Titanium Crystal."
The familiar voice in her ear left Mu Xi momentarily dazed, as if she'd been carried back six years.
Back then, at the Eastsea City Blacksmith Association, it had been this same insufferable voice, pointing at a piece of metal she'd ruined and saying, "Forging isn't about brute force."
Back then, she'd cried about it for days on end.
Eventually, she'd grown used to it.
Her thoughts returning to the present, her cheeks flushed faintly, all traces of her earlier commanding presence gone. She said quietly, "Then hurry up and teach me."
An uproar broke out below the stage, the second years stirred into an uproar of excitement.
This blond menace was flirting during the competition? And with their class beauty, no less!
The third years watched with a wistful sigh, nostalgic for their own younger days.
The first years, meanwhile, had gone eerily silent, everyone breaking into a cold sweat, glancing repeatedly toward someone within their ranks.
There stood a furious, glowering monarch.
Silver hair concealed Na'er's eyes, making her expression unreadable, but the chill that suddenly radiated from her sent the first-year students beside her instinctively stepping half a pace back.
"Heh." Na'er turned to Tang Wulin. "Tang Wulin, I hear you're quite good at forging. Tell me, is it too late for me to start learning now?"
Why is this happening to me, I don't want to die!
Tang Wulin didn't dare move a muscle.
Qian Wu's eyebrows shot up even further, and he hastily pulled out his soul device to secretly start recording.
"Outrageous!"
Seated up in the high seats, Feng Wuyu erupted in fury. "What does he think he's doing?"
"This is a forging competition!"
"Not children playing house!"
Ya Li's tone stayed even. "Patience. Let's see how this plays out first."
At the same time, she glanced curiously toward Zhuo Shi. Ya Li found it strange that Zhuo Shi was being so quiet today.
Normally, Zhuo Shi and Feng Wuyu never met without getting into an argument.