Chapter Sixteen: Choosing a Master

“We all chose Mecha Manufacturing; so who will be responsible for Mecha Design?” Wen Daimin asked, then answered herself, “How about I take charge of the Mecha Design?”

Among the three of them, her spiritual power talent was the strongest. If someone had to be in charge of Mecha Design, she was the most suitable candidate.

“No need,” Xu Zhao rejected the suggestion while gently stroking the soft fur of his spirit, Howling Moon, in his arms. “Leave the Mecha Design to me... my spirit, Howling Moon, will handle it.”

“Woof… Awooo—”

Howling Moon responded with a howl, a hint of irritation flashing in its eyes. That was close—almost revealing its true nature in front of outsiders. Fortunately, it reacted quickly and disguised its bark with a wolf’s howl.

The three exchanged surprised glances at Howling Moon but said nothing. Spirits themselves possess intelligence, especially those with spiritual attributes. Although Howling Moon was only seven hundred years old, its original form was a mutated silver wolf, and it was by no means less intelligent than these six-year-old children.

Moreover, considering the Silver Wolf Clan’s innate aptitude for spiritual power, Mecha Design was undoubtedly a fitting secondary profession for it to learn.

“Our immediate first goal is to become Level One Battle Armor Masters,” Xu Zhao outlined his plan. “Ordinarily, Level One Battle Armors are made from Thousand-Forged Alloy metals, which have many drawbacks and cannot compare to Level Two Battle Armors at all.”

“So, our Level One Battle Armors must be crafted from Spirit-Alloy, allowing the armor to possess all the characteristics of Level Two right from Level One. This is why I don’t want you to choose Mecha Repair as your secondary profession.”

The four major secondary professions in Douluo are: Forging, Mecha Design, Mecha Manufacturing, and Mecha Repair.

Whether in the field of Mecha Masters or Battle Armor Masters, Forging ranks first in importance. The remaining three professions each have their focus areas in the realm of Mecha Masters, without a clear ranking order.

However, in the domain of Battle Armor Masters, Mecha Design and Mecha Manufacturing jointly rank second, while Mecha Repair is unquestionably last.

If not for the existence of Level One Battle Armor, Mecha Repair would be as useless as a chicken’s ribs in the Battle Armor Master field.

This is because normal Level One Battle Armors are made from second-grade or lower Thousand-Forged Alloy metals and do not synchronize with the bloodline of the soul master.

Therefore, such Level One Battle Armors are external objects lacking spirit. Once damaged, they require Mecha Repair Masters to fix them.

This is the sole function of the Mecha Repair profession within the Battle Armor Master realm.

Once the armor advances to Level Two and is made from Spirit-Forged metals endowed with spirit, the armor gains self-repair capabilities, eliminating the need for Mecha Repair Masters.

Even if the damage exceeds the self-repair limits of the armor’s spirit, no Mecha Repair Master, not even a Level Nine, can fully restore it.

Spirit-Alloy Level One Battle Armors, while not as strong as Level Two armors, possess all the characteristics of Level Two without exception.

Hence, Mecha Repair offers no benefit to their Battle Armor Master path, and naturally, Xu Zhao would not allow the three of them to choose Mecha Repair as a secondary profession.

…

As the saying goes, “A famous teacher produces outstanding disciples.”

With their secondary professions chosen, the foremost task for Xu Zhao and the others was to find excellent instructors.

Xu Yucheng, Xue Liushuang, and Wen Daimin needed a Mecha Manufacturing Master to guide them. This was not difficult.

Besides the fact that their own families had high-level Mecha Manufacturing Masters, the Royal Sun and Moon Soul Tutor Academy boasted an abundance of instructors to choose from.

The same applied for Mecha Design.

Xu Zhao’s mother, Ye Qinghe, was a Level Nine Mecha Designer, so entrusting Howling Moon to her for tutelage was a simple matter.

Forging, however, was a different story.

Among the four major secondary professions, Forging Masters were the scarcest.

Below Level Five, the numbers were manageable—though fewer than the other three professions, not drastically so.

But above Level Five, the number of Forging Masters plummeted sharply, far fewer than the others.

Mingdu, as the political center of the Douluo Federation, had only five Holy Artisans in its Forging Association: two Level Eight and three Level Seven.

Given the Xu family’s background, Xu Zhao could easily apprentice under the two Level Eight Holy Artisans in Mingdu.

Yet above Level Eight, there were the Level Nine Divine Artisans.

From the start, Xu Zhao had set his sights on Divine Artisan Zhen Hua as his Forging mentor.

Moreover, the clan head, Mu Ye, served as Zhen Hua’s personal chef in Tiandou City, making this a perfect opportunity too good to miss.

Thus, at breakfast the next day, Xu Zhao finished the porridge made from Moonlight Rice, accompanied by century-old Earth Dragon Tendons, and while his family was present, he brought up his idea.

“Apprentice under Zhen Hua?” His mother Ye Qinghe was the first to object.

“No, Tiandou City is far to the north of the continent, too far from home.”

“The two Level Eight Holy Artisans in Mingdu, while not quite as good as that one, aren’t far behind, and it’s much closer and more convenient.”

“In fact,” his father Xu Chengyang suddenly spoke up at the table, “Divine Artisans are proud and arrogant; Zhao might not even be accepted…”

Clatter—

Ye Qinghe slammed her bowl on the table, her voice instantly rising by several decibels: “What did you say?”

“If our Zhao wants to apprentice under Zhen Hua, that is his honor!”

“You, as his father, should be supporting him, not holding him back. Tonight, you’re sleeping on the couch!”

Xu Chengyang’s face twisted into a bitter smile.

Just as he was about to respond, his father’s voice echoed in his ear:

“Chengyang, perhaps the two of us haven’t exercised in a while, why not after dinner…”

“Dad! Dad! Dad!” Xu Chengyang quickly interrupted, his hand swiftly filling his son’s empty bowl with fresh porridge. His chopsticks moved so fast they left afterimages, piling the son’s favorite dishes atop the porridge.

“See? I’m Zhao’s real father; how could I favor outsiders?”

“What I said earlier was definitely not my own words, I swear.”

“Very well,” Xu Minghuang took away the dishes his son had placed, then served new ones himself. “At my age, I’m too lazy to move about.”

“Come, Zhao.” He pushed the bowl of food toward his grandson and said,

“Tell grandpa why you’re so determined to apprentice under Zhen Hua.”

“If your reason satisfies the family, grandpa will take you to Tiandou City.”

“Uh…” Xu Zhao glanced at his grandfather, father, and mother, then said,

“I never said that after apprenticing under Zhen Hua, I have to stay in Tiandou City.”

“Tiandou City may be the headquarters of the Forging Association, but if my talent is high enough, I can just bring Zhen Hua back with me to Mingdu, right?”

“Don’t argue. If you do, it means you doubt my talent can achieve this.”