The President that Duan Xuan mentioned was naturally the President of the Blacksmith Association's main headquarters, and also his eldest disciple—
the Divine Blacksmith, Zhen Hua.
In Duan Xuan's eyes, Bai Chen had already surpassed the level he could properly guide.
If he continued to teach him himself, it would simply be wasting such extraordinary talent.
Only Zhen Hua was suitable to be Bai Chen's teacher.
Besides, Zhen Hua belonged to his lineage anyway. If Zhen Hua became Bai Chen's teacher, Bai Chen would still count as his successor.
In fact, strictly speaking, Duan Xuan's status would even rise—from teacher to teacher's teacher.
So no matter how he looked at it, he wouldn't lose anything.
Bai Jiaming froze for a moment.
When he finally understood Duan Xuan's meaning, his hands began to tremble slightly.
He asked in a shaky voice,
"You mean… Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua?"
"Yes."
Duan Xuan nodded with a smile.
"Your son's talent is unprecedented in the history of forging. Don't worry—our association will nurture him carefully."
"If nothing unexpected happens, he will surely become the next Divine Blacksmith."
"Thank you, Elder Duan!"
Bai Jiaming hurriedly bowed.
Just inviting Duan Xuan to teach Bai Chen had already taken considerable effort.
But judging from Duan Xuan's words now—
Not only would he stop charging any fees, he even intended to invite Zhen Hua himself to personally guide Bai Chen.
Zhen Hua was the only Divine Blacksmith on the continent, a legendary figure known everywhere.
Even Bai Jiaming had only seen him once.
That time had been during a forging lecture in Tianhai City.
From beginning to end, Bai Jiaming never even got the chance to speak with him.
After all, Bai Jiaming was merely a top merchant in a first-tier city.
Zhen Hua, on the other hand, stood at the absolute peak of blacksmithing on the entire continent.
If the value of his lessons were measured in money—
It would easily reach astronomical figures.
"Alright, no need for formalities."
Duan Xuan chuckled and helped Bai Jiaming up.
"You can return to your seat and rest. Time is tight, so I'll continue the lesson."
"Alright… alright…"
Bai Jiaming nodded repeatedly and went back to the chair in the corner.
Duan Xuan then turned toward Bai Chen and asked with a smile,
"How much have you recovered?"
Compared to earlier, his smile now held far less politeness and far more sincerity.
Originally, he had thought this was just another wealthy family trying to decorate their child's résumé.
But now it was clear—
This child himself was pure gold.
To Duan Xuan, Bai Chen was already considered one of his own people.
Bai Chen's complexion had improved significantly.
After sensing his condition, he replied seriously,
"I've recovered about ten percent of my soul power."
"Oh?"
A flash of surprise appeared in Duan Xuan's eyes.
Their conversation earlier hadn't lasted long.
For most children, that short time would barely be enough to recover from exhaustion.
Yet Bai Chen had already restored a tenth of his soul power.
This meant that both the quality of his soul power and his recovery ability were extraordinary.
Duan Xuan could somewhat understand the high quality of Bai Chen's soul power.
After all, Bai Chen's first two soul rings were natural soul rings.
Natural soul rings usually contained much richer energy than artificial soul spirits.
That energy would strengthen the soul master's body and soul power, improving their foundation.
But the recovery speed puzzled him.
He had never heard that natural soul rings could increase recovery ability.
The reason for his confusion was simple—
He didn't understand the true nature of Bai Chen's martial soul.
After obtaining two soul rings and awakening the power of evil, Bai Chen had conducted many experiments regarding this attribute.
One experiment involved using the devouring power of the evil attribute to absorb heaven and earth energy.
If the experiment succeeded, he might have been able to cultivate without killing.
Unfortunately—
The experiment ultimately failed.
Bai Chen could not increase his total soul power this way.
Whenever his soul power reached the maximum limit for his current level, the energy he absorbed would be automatically expelled by the evil attribute.
Even Bai Chen himself couldn't stop the process.
So this method couldn't be used for normal cultivation.
However—
If his soul power was not yet full, the devouring ability could dramatically accelerate his recovery speed.
Bai Chen didn't know how it worked for other soul masters.
But in his own experience, once he activated his devouring ability—
His recovery speed increased by five times.
This was an extremely valuable discovery.
Whether in combat or forging, endurance was incredibly important.
Duan Xuan smiled.
"Very good. Your recovery ability is excellent. In that case, come here."
He took Bai Chen's hand and brought him back to the forging table.
Then he took out a small black forging hammer from his storage soul tool and handed it to Bai Chen.
Compared to Duan Xuan's own hammer, this one was clearly much lighter.
Obviously, Duan Xuan was considering Bai Chen's current fatigue and intentionally chose a gentler tool.
He then placed two pieces of metal on the table—one in front of himself and one in front of Bai Chen.
"In the world of blacksmithing," Duan Xuan said,
"there are actually two main forging paths. Do you know what they are?"
Bai Chen shook his head.
Today was his first day touching forging.
Of course he didn't know.
Duan Xuan hadn't expected him to answer anyway.
He began explaining.
"One path relies on elements."
"The other relies on pure strength."
"Forging, at its core, is the process of artificially helping metal evolve."
"The first step is removing impurities."
"What you performed earlier—Thousand Refinement—is part of that process."
"But once the impurities are removed, what then?"
"Metal itself has limits."
"How do we transform ordinary metal into something beyond its natural limits?"
"That is the question a blacksmith must face once they truly enter the craft."
"So we must elevate the metal through special methods."
"And during that process, two paths emerged."
At this point, Duan Xuan suddenly raised his hammer and struck the metal in front of him.
"Clang!"
The crisp sound echoed.
"The first method," Duan Xuan said,
"is what you just saw."
"Using pure strength to hammer the metal while injecting soul power into it."
"The stronger the force, the deeper the soul power penetrates."
"This allows the metal's quality to rise rapidly."
"As for the second method…"
He raised his hand again.
A crimson-gold light suddenly appeared around it.
The temperature of the room instantly rose.
Even his hammer became coated in a layer of red-gold radiance.
Then he gently lowered the hammer.
"Ding."
Compared to the previous strike—
This sound was far softer and calmer.