Chapter 24: Days of Satisfaction (2/2)

However, even if he was a genius, he was still just a child right now, and the achievements he would make were still ahead of him. For now, he was still a poor young boy. This was the opportune time for Qin Xuanlong to lend him a hand. He made his decision. In Qin Xuanlong's mind, the boy would certainly feel grateful to him. After all, he was only a child of eight.

Junior Leopard was indeed grateful to him; however, the tears of gratitude that Qin Xuanlong had been imagining did not make an appearance. Naturally, Junior Leopard could have guessed what Qin Xuanlong's intention was. However, this was a situation in which everyone benefited, and he would have been crazy not to accept.

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The days flew by quickly, and it had been more than half a year since Junior Leopard had broken free of his apprentice status and become a fully qualified blacksmith.

Junior Leopard had lived a comfortable life this past half year. The monthly wage of a blacksmith was amongst the best at Qingyang Market, and even though he used a large part of it for household essentials, the remainder was still enough for him to live comfortably, and on top of that he could also win prizes at the Wu's ironware shop.

After half a year of settling into the career of metal forging, Junior Leopard had already integrated theory with practice in the art of crafting weaponry and was probably the best or second best among the whole Wu's ironware shop.

Qin Xuanlong was startled to see Junior Leopard's great progress, and so he made a decision similar to that of Old Xing. After Junior Leopard reached 10 years of age, he would be sent to take part in the first stage of the Wu's selection process. He believed, based on Junior Leopard's current level, taking part in the selection process would give him a chance to shine. And together with his young age, he was sure to attract the respect of the Wu's and became one of their core members.

Junior Leopard understood why his performance had been outstanding. There were two main factors, and the most important one was the state of insight that he had reached while hammering the pieces of wood in the backyard. That moment of insight had helped him gain a perfect understanding of rhythm and force — and he had made countless attempts to enter that state since then, but each time he was unsuccessful. If it were not for him being able to maintain his eyes in that strange state, he would not even have been able to understand the knowledge he had gained from it completely.

”It's a good thing that my eyes are so extraordinary!” Junior Leopard walked along the avenue, breathing in the fresh air, feeling the warm sunlight. The corners of his lips curled into a self-satisfied smile.

Another factor was the Ignis Skill. This mental cultivation was a skill derived from the fire. Although Junior Leopard's mastery of it was still at a low level, it had given him a good instinct for judging the temperature of the fire. Compared to a blacksmith who had a good understanding of fire through lengthy experience, Junior Leopard had an advantage — he could use his Ignis Internal Qi at any time to gauge the fire's temperature, which was a much more direct method than relying on experience.

So, he was delighted with his present life.

How could he not be satisfied? He had enough money to spend, a low workload, and he could study his favorite martial arts. Was there anything greater in this world?

No, there was not!

At least, that's what Junior Leopard believed at the time.