How should she explain her purpose after going in?
"I want to help you forge, but I don't know how yet. Let me learn first?"
Standing before the room, Gu Yuena fell into deep thought.
Lately, she had received quite a bit of guidance from Yuhao.
Their relationship had grown closer, to the point where she could call him by name, but this also made her keenly aware of the gap between them.
She couldn't let things continue like this.
Gu Yuena confirmed this fact.
She had been on the receiving end all along, information about the Divine Realm, guidance on how to become human, and training in auxiliary professions…
Yet, what had she given Yuhao in return?
Only a trace of Silver Dragon King's bloodline, something completely insignificant to a reincarnated God-King.
She couldn't just keep accepting favors and follow Yuhao on a smooth ride to success.
That wasn't the kind of person she was!
But even if she wanted to contribute, what could she do now?
As the Silver Dragon King, she couldn't offer him her divine weapons or her origin power.
As an ordinary friend, her skills as a designer weren't particularly useful.
That left only one alternative, choosing an auxiliary profession that could be of help to Huo Yuhao.
Among the four auxiliary professions, forging was the only one she thought might be useful.
As for mecha repair… seriously?
Someone who could design and manufacture mechas wouldn't know how to repair them?
Worst case, he could just disassemble and rebuild them!
Lately, the Mecha Master Association had been collaborating with the Blacksmiths' Association, and Yuhao had been arranged to work with a young blacksmith.
This reignited her earlier thought—
She would become a blacksmith!
Taking a deep breath, Gu Yuena was about to knock on the door when she heard a voice from behind her.
"Why are you holding a hammer?"
Gu Yuena's face froze. She turned to see Huo Yuhao looking at her with a strange expression.
With a clatter, the hammer in her hand slipped and fell to the ground.
A noticeable blush rose on her face.
She had thought everything through, so why did she feel so embarrassed now that Yuhao was looking at her?
---
"You want to help me?"
"Mm."
"You feel indebted to me?"
"Mm."
"So, you want to learn how to forge?"
"Mm."
Huo Yuhao sat on a chair, looking at the girl sitting across from him with an obedient expression. He let out a soft sigh and smiled helplessly.
"Relationships between people aren't just about material value. Emotional value matters too. Sometimes, just seeing a friend living happily can lighten your own heart. You don't need to do this."
A Silver Dragon King who stayed at the Academy peacefully and didn't cause trouble?
That made him very, very happy.
Gu Yuena was stunned for a moment, gazing at Huo Yuhao in silence.
Other than Di Tian and the others, there was now someone else telling her to live in this world freely… No, wait, he wasn't just someone—he was a god.
Huo Yuhao continued, "If you truly want to learn forging, I won't stop you. But if it's just to help me, there's no need. Your bloodline is already very valuable to me. I don't want to owe you too much."
"Valuable?" Gu Yuena snapped back to reality, looking at Huo Yuhao in confusion.
"Yes, I've been considering whether I can use your bloodline, along with the Golden Dragon King's bloodline, to research a soul spirit infused with Dragon God bloodline."
Seeing Gu Yuena's gaze turn dazed, Huo Yuhao blinked and smiled.
"I might take a trace of the Golden Dragon King's blood from Tang Wulin. Do you mind? If you do, I can give up on this research."
Gu Yuena took a deep breath.
She wasn't angry that Huo Yuhao was interested in the Dragon God's power she only looked at him with a complicated expression.
"Weren't you not interested in Dragon God's power before?"
Huo Yuhao responded casually, "That was before. Now that I have your bloodline, I naturally want to explore the possibilities."
She understood now.
He wasn't interested before, because he didn't have access to the bloodline.
But now that he had some, he was slightly intrigued.
At this thought, Gu Yuena frowned slightly, feeling conflicted.
A trace of Golden Dragon King's bloodline… should be fine, right?
He had helped her so much. Although he believed her bloodline was sufficient compensation, she couldn't think the same way.
Besides, this would also give him a chance to probe the Seagod's influence over Tang Wulin.
Logically speaking, she had no reason to refuse.
Seeing that Gu Yuena was deep in thought, Huo Yuhao stopped talking and resumed his work, engraving an array onto a piece of sentient metal.
Sometimes, retreating slightly was the best way to move forward.
Obtaining the Golden Dragon King bloodline was inevitable.
As long as he kept meeting Gu Yuena, he wouldn't be able to hide it.
So instead, he chose to be upfront, leaving the decision in her hands.
If she agreed, he would take it openly.
If she refused, he would take it secretly but not use it.
Based on their recent interactions…
"You won't be in danger, right?"
Hearing the faint concern in Gu Yuena's voice, Huo Yuhao paused and sighed inwardly.
That response… wasn't surprising.
Smiling sincerely, he said, "Of course I have confidence in this. The real question is whether you can accept others possessing the Dragon God's bloodline. I will need to attempt a fusion at some point."
"A mere trace of Dragon God's bloodline won't be meaningful. It's also extremely difficult to merge. Creating a soul spirit with it will likely fail… or hit a bottleneck."
Gu Yuena collected herself, shook her head gently, and walked closer to watch Huo Yuhao's work.
The metal he was engraving on was spirit-forged Blue Nurturing Copper.
And the soul array… she had never seen it before.
"Even failures provide experience. There's no such thing as meaningless research."
Huo Yuhao said while glancing at Gu Yuena. With a final stroke, the array on the sentient metal was completed.
Instantly, a silver liquid began forming on the Blue Nurturing Copper.
Gu Yuena felt an unusual life force radiating from it. Her pupils contracted as a thought suddenly surfaced—
This technique… could it be?
Huo Yuhao continued, "Let's not talk about soul spirits for now. If you really want to learn forging, you should first understand the principles behind it. Many blacksmiths only focus on techniques, without knowing what forging truly is at its core."
As the silver liquid pooled, Gu Yuena's expression turned serious.
She had heard his words, but she couldn't ignore what this process represented.
Extracting the essence of metal… This technique was the key to creating the Federation's Level 12 God-Killing Soul Cannon Shells!