harleyscars Chapter 11: Mang Tian: ...You're not human, you're not human!
Chapter 11: Mang Tian: ...You're not human, you're not human!
At this moment, Yu Chen's arms were taut, and with each swing of the hammer, the muscle fibers could be seen surging like waves under his skin.
Sweat instantly soaked his clothes and slid down his cheeks, but he seemed to feel no fatigue. His eyes remained clear, and his breathing, though heavy, was extremely steady.
On the other hand, Tang Wulin, who had only completed 300 repetitions, was already panting heavily and his arms ached terribly.
"Beep! Beep! Beep!"
As Yu Chen unleashed his furious output, the beeping sounds from the counter almost formed a continuous line.
Fifteen minutes.
"Beep! Mission accomplished!" Yu Chen added a voice message to himself.
As he spoke, the bright red number on the screen in front of Yu Chen froze at 1000.
Yu Chen stopped hammering and exhaled a long breath of white air.
At this moment, his face was flushed from exercise, his body was a little tired, and his muscles were a little sore.
But as his heart pounded, the dragon blood within him flowed throughout his body, a warm current surged to his limbs and bones, and the tearing, aching pain slowly subsided.
He even felt he could smash it a thousand more times.
"Is it finished?"
Mang Tian suddenly stood up in the lounge, staring at the monitor screen with disbelief in his eyes.
He strode out and came to Yu Chen's workbench.
Looking at the numbers frozen on the screen, then at Yu Chen's bright eyes despite being covered in sweat, and then at Tang Wulin who was also covered in sweat and looked quite disheveled, she glanced at him.
Mang Tian fell completely silent.
He had seen many geniuses, but he had never seen a monster like Yu Chen who could turn an endurance test into a "speedrun" purely through superhuman physical strength and terrifying recovery ability.
This physical ability is simply inhuman! Is this really the strength a six-year-old child should have?
"You..." Mang Tian pointed at Yu Chen, his voice hoarse, "How were you feeling just now?"
"I'm a little tired, but it's manageable." Yu Chen wiped the sweat from his face, his tone as calm as if he were saying,
"The weather is nice today."
Mang Tian: "..."
Looking at the boy in front of him, he had only one thought in his mind: monster.
"I've finished Uncle Mangtian's work too."
Thanks to Tang Wulin's persistent efforts, he managed to pass the test with difficulty, but the price was that it took him a full five minutes to catch his breath. During this time, Yu Chen had already recovered.
"Good! Good! Good!"
Mang Tian said "good" three times in a row, his eyes filled with ecstasy.
"I'll accept you all!"
At this moment, the way he looked at the two of them was no longer that of an ordinary apprentice.
In fact, when Mang Tian first gave this test, it was a way of politely refusing. In his opinion, how much strength could two six-year-old children have? Therefore, he gave a seemingly impossible test, but the reality slapped him in the face.
However, Mang Tian was not angry at all, but rather very happy and fortunate.
The fact that Yu Chen and Tang Wulin were able to pass this impossible test at the age of six only proves one thing: they are both geniuses in forging and are completely worth his nurturing. They can at least complete the step he failed to complete—to break through to the Saint Craftsman level!
"Here you go." Mang Tian took a deep breath and took out two bottles of dark ointment from the cabinet, handing them to the two of them.
"Applying these ointments when you get home will make you feel much better."
"This is your daily task from now on—hammering iron blocks. Don't think I'm making things difficult for you; this is the basic skill of forging."
After saying that, Mang Tian handed Yu Chen a pair of black forging hammers that looked several times heavier than the previous ones.
"Yu Chen, you'll use this hammer when you learn forging from now on."
"Tang Wulin, you continue using the previous one," Mang Tian said in a deep voice.
"Okay." Yu Chen and Tang Wulin both nodded without any objection.
……
"Alright, that's about enough of what I've taught you. You can go home now. Come back here before 5:30 tomorrow afternoon to start your tasks. You can leave once you've finished, or you can keep working on them until they're done."
An afternoon passed in the blink of an eye. Mang Tian stopped forging with his hammer, looked at his watch, and realized that it was already 7:30 pm. So Mang Tian gave the order to leave.
Goodbye, teacher!
They bid farewell to Mangtian together, and Yu Chen and Tang Wulin also went home together.
After an hour of recovery, with the help of the dragon blood in his body, Yu Chen's soreness had disappeared by 90%, and he had almost fully recovered.
As Yu Chen walked along, she thought of her little foodie daughter at home, so she bought a roast goose to let her try it. The setting sun cast long shadows.
When Yu Chen got home, he had just reached the front door, taken out his key, and before he could even insert it into the lock, the door was suddenly pulled open from the inside with a "whoosh".
A small, silver-haired cannonball shot out, but stopped abruptly before hitting Yu Chen's arms.
Na'er stood with her hands on her hips, her little face tilted back. Instead of glancing into the bag as usual, her big purple eyes carefully examined Yu Chen from head to toe.
"Boss, you're back!"
"Yes, you're back. I brought you a roast goose." Yu Chen gestured to the bag in his hand, then ruffled her short silver hair with his other hand. The hair felt so good that he couldn't help but rub it a couple more times.
"Boss, are you tired?"
Na'er didn't flinch, letting him ruffle her hair, but her little hands nervously gripped Yu Chen's clothes, her eyes filled with worry.
"How difficult was Master Mangtian's test? Were you injured?"
Seeing her nervous expression, Yu Chen felt a warmth in his heart. He pretended to relax and moved his wrist, making a series of crisp "crackling" sounds.
"Don't worry, who am I, your boss? I'm a genius among geniuses."
"The assessment is a piece of cake. Master Mangtian has already agreed to take me on as an apprentice and will personally guide me! From now on, I will go to his place to learn forging for two hours every day after school." Yu Chen raised his eyebrows at Na'er, looking smug.
"Really? That's great!"
"I knew the boss was the best!"
Upon hearing that she was unharmed, Na'er's tense face instantly relaxed, and the worry in her eyes turned into adoration.
Just then, as if she had suddenly remembered something important, her stomach also made a rumbling protest sound.
Na'er's face flushed instantly, then she puffed out her chest confidently and said loudly, "Boss, since you're alright, let's hurry inside! To celebrate passing the test, I want to eat three... no, five roast geese!"
"While you were gone, I was so worried about you! It even made me lose my appetite! So I'm going to make up for what I missed eating! To soothe my frightened heart and hungry stomach today!"
Na'er's map of Yan was so short that it quickly revealed her purpose. She tilted her small face up, her big purple eyes flashing with cunning.