Having awakened his martial soul and obtained a soul spirit, next was choosing a secondary profession.
To become a Battle Armor Master and possess one's own battle armor required joining one of four processes: Blacksmith, Mecha Designer, Mecha Maker, or Mecha Maintainer, representing the four stages of battle armor design, materials, creation, and maintenance respectively.
Arthur wasn't too worried about choosing a secondary profession. No matter what, as long as his strength was sufficient, it was impossible not to become a Battle Armor Master.
Why say this? Because there was the lifesaving profession of Mecha Maintainer.
High-level battle armor could automatically repair itself after damage, so maintainers didn't have much use for that. Moreover, whether designers or makers, after advancing they could maintain their own work.
So why could Mecha Maintainer be listed alongside the other three major professions?
Aha!
Mecha Maintainer was specifically for slackers, for freeloaders!
Battle armor was already complete after the three steps of design, materials, and creation. Maintenance was all a matter for later, which gave some slackers the opportunity to become Battle Armor Masters.
Design taxed the brain, forging taxed the body, creation taxed the hands. Slackers would just choose the unused maintenance option and call it good enough.
"Have you decided what profession to choose?"
Regarding whether Arthur could become a Battle Armor Master, Su Wuyan had even more confidence than Arthur himself. He understood the ins and outs of this very clearly, after all, he himself was a Mecha Maintainer.
After obtaining his three-word battle armor, he had barely done any maintenance work. Minor damage didn't need attention, as the battle armor would fix itself. If the damage was too severe, there was no need to repair it either; directly making a new one was more convenient.
"Forging, I guess. I'll try it first." Arthur made his choice easily.
Design and creation were too mentally taxing. Although forging also required talent, soul power cultivation and strength made up a larger proportion of it.
Arthur had good self-awareness. His brain wasn't very good. In his previous life, he couldn't even understand advanced mathematics or physics, let alone learn to design mecha.
Forging was better. With some strength, one could achieve decent results.
If forging didn't work out either, he'd peacefully choose maintenance and be a slacker.
"Forging, huh? Forging works." Su Wuyan's eyes rolled, and he patted his chest in guarantee. "Arthur, rest assured. Uncle will immediately find you an eight-star Saint Craftsman as a teacher!"
Eight-star Saint Craftsman?
Using his knees to think, Arthur knew who this old man was planning to find: Mu Chen.
The President of East Sea City's Blacksmith Association, Mu Chen.
Su Wuyan and Mu Chen were classmates. When they attended Shrek Academy, they were even partners on the same team, with a relationship so close they wore the same pants.
"Old man, if I'm not mistaken, you still owe Uncle Mu Chen the entire cost of materials for a three-word battle armor set, right?"
"And you still have the face to ask him to be my teacher?" Arthur carefully examined Su Wuyan's expression but couldn't find even a hint of embarrassment.
"Don't worry, with some begging it can work out."
"But we haven't even confirmed whether I have talent in forging yet."
"Eh, that's where you're wrong."
Su Wuyan shamelessly retorted, "So what if we're not sure about talent!"
His tone was matter-of-fact. "Connections are something meant to be used by people without talent!"
"If you have talent in forging, I actually wouldn't look for him!"
"With talent, plenty of Saint Craftsmen will come looking for you themselves."
Hiss!
Put that way, it actually made sense.
Arthur had an epiphany.
The less talent you have, the more you need to ruthlessly exploit connections and use the back door!
Indeed, having an elder in the family is like having a treasure.
After the uncle and nephew reached consensus, both possessing extremely strong subjective initiative, they immediately set off, boarding the Spirit Pagoda's special car.
Target: Mu Chen!
East Sea City's Blacksmith Association was located in one of the most prosperous districts, a gray building about thirty stories high with a huge hammer pattern hanging on the exterior.
The pedestrians coming and going outside the building, no matter how many times they passed by, couldn't help but look up, revealing expressions of longing.
And today, the Blacksmith Association welcomed one, no, two uninvited guests.
Through the glass door on the first floor walked a burly middle-aged man, with a golden-haired, blue-eyed little shota beside him.
The receptionist was a beautiful young woman in a gray professional outfit. Her eyes instantly locked onto the adorable child in front. The refreshing golden tousled hair paired with sacred blue-green pupils, even though he was a child, gave off an elegant and noble feeling. His holy aura made her want to hold him in her arms and squeeze him madly.
"Little friend, you—"
The receptionist's figure, moving forward to greet them, suddenly froze. Only now did she see clearly who was beside that child.
Dragon Sparrow Douluo!
This name was like thunder to the young woman's ears.
Not because of Dragon Sparrow Douluo's powerful cultivation, nor because of his status as the East Sea Spirit Pagoda branch master.
But rather, Dragon Sparrow Douluo was a famous freeloader at East Sea City's Blacksmith Association!
He frequently mooched metal materials at the Blacksmith Association. President Mu Chen had long ago added him to the association's blacklist.
The young woman smoothly and fluidly turned around, pretending not to see him. Although the President had repeatedly ordered that Dragon Sparrow Douluo and dogs were strictly prohibited from entering, the young woman didn't stop him.
Setting aside the fact that he was a Titled Douluo.
Anyone with eyes in the Blacksmith Association could see that the President and Dragon Sparrow Douluo had a close relationship; the prohibition was just talk. If he was really blocked outside, the President would be unhappy again.
"Is Mu Chen here?" Walking into the Blacksmith Association, Su Wuyan politely inquired.
The young woman lowered her head, not daring to meet his eyes.
"Dragon Sparrow Your Excellency, yes, yes he is. The President is in his office."
"Oh, good that he's here."
Su Wuyan pulled Arthur along, passing through unobstructed all the way as blacksmiths avoided them like the plague.
Taking the familiar route to Mu Chen's office door, he suddenly kicked the door open with one foot.
"Mu Dog, this old man has something to ask of you!"
The voice arrived before the person.
Inside the office, sitting in front of the desk, was a middle-aged man who appeared to be in his forties or fifties. Dignified in appearance, robust in build, wearing silver-gray athletic clothing.
On his left chest hung a badge. The badge's base color was gold, paired with a slightly raised hammer pattern, the same as the one outside the building.
On the badge were also eight black stars, representing that this middle-aged man was a noble eight-star Saint Craftsman blacksmith.
"Sigh, huff..."
Mu Chen held his forehead with one hand in pain. He took several deep breaths, suppressing his anger. "Just say it. Which part of your battle armor has problems again? What materials do you need?"
"I'll have time to forge it for you in the next few days. Get lost and wait for news. I'm busy right now."
These past two years, Su Wuyan had been hunting evil Spirit Masters everywhere like a madman. Under the high-intensity, non-stop combat, even his three-word battle armor, despite being able to self-repair, couldn't withstand the abuse. Parts would frequently become completely inactive, requiring him to come find Mu Chen to forge them anew.
There was even one time when Su Wuyan really caught two Titled Douluo-level evil Spirit Masters, killing them at the cost of his three-word battle armor being completely destroyed. Later, he had no choice but to forge an entirely new set of battle armor.
"It's not that. This time I'm looking for you for my nephew. I want to ask you to teach him forging."
Su Wuyan noticed the girl standing beside Mu Chen.
"Oh, Little Xi is here too."