Chapter 116: Crafting Department—job Appointment As Soldier Breeder
“I wonder how many benefits I can get for free from the Security Department…”
Su Chen went downstairs, opened the navigation map, and kept zooming in with his finger, “Profession Analysis Office, let me see where it is, found it…”
It was noon, the sun was dazzling, and the temperature was quite high.
“It’s an artificial sun, why bother with seasonal changes.” Su Chen followed the map’s directions, walked along the road, avoiding the sun, and arrived in front of a large building.
There were many people coming and going, including elderly judges and members who looked very young and were in the cultivation stage, called seed members.
There were ten windows in the first-floor lobby, but at this moment, they were all lined up. Su Chen hesitated for a moment, contemplating which window had fewer people.
“Your Excellency Su Chen?”
The woman in professional attire recognized Su Chen at a glance, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, walked over with small steps, and said softly, “Do you need profession analysis?”
“En, some questions to consult?” Su Chen nodded, glancing at her name tag – Shu Zichen.
“You are a core seed, no need to queue, follow me.” Shu Zichen said in a low voice.
“Uh…” Su Chen looked at the several long lines. Many people noticed him and kept looking.
“Alright.”
Su Chen followed Shu Zichen upstairs, and indeed heard discussions from below, but he wasn’t displeased.
“In my past life, someone would probably be taking out their phone already…” Su Chen thought randomly. Shu Zichen, who was leading the way, asked in a low voice, “Are you consulting about Sequence Professions or Special Professions?”
“Special Professions…” Su Chen replied.
Shu Zichen nodded and reminded him softly, “Your authority is very high, you can have your personal butler make an appointment in advance, and the consultation office can send someone to your home.”
This was one of the many benefits for core seeds, but he wouldn’t have remembered such a privilege if he hadn’t encountered it directly.
Shu Zichen led him to a lounge, poured him some tea, and then respectfully left.
Not long after, two people walked in one after another.
“My name is Li Zhe, a Senior Professional Consultant at the Court of Justice…” The man walking in front was tall and straight, wearing gold-rimmed glasses. He then pointed to the disheveled-looking guy beside him, whose stubble was growing messily.
“This is Ruan Yuntao, also a Senior Professional Consultant.”
“Your Excellency Su Chen, we will be serving you this time.”
This was Su Chen’s first experience with so-called “profession analysis,” and he was not familiar with the process.
Li Zhe sat down skillfully, took out his portable smart terminal, and asked, “May I ask, what kind of requirements are you currently facing?”
The Profession Analysis Office is essentially a supplement to the Translation Department. Profession requirements are translated into text, but text can be interpreted in multiple ways.
The old men at the Translation Department would not lower themselves to serve ordinary professionals, so the profession analysts emerged.
“I need to refine metal raw materials.” Su Chen said.
“Refine metal raw materials…” Li Zhe’s eyes flashed, and he immediately entered a work state: “What category do you need to refine? Are there any requirements for the preciousness of the raw materials? To what extent do you need to refine it?”
“Does it have to be done personally, or can it be operated by an instrument?”
Hearing this string of questions, Su Chen was a bit silent.
Li Zhe explained: “Please rest assured, we are not prying into your profession. This information concerns the completion of your profession requirements, which in turn affects the success rate of your profession appointment and promotion, and even your strength…”
Su Chen just sighed at how specialized professions were. He truly hadn’t considered so many issues. The panel even had a progress bar for requirements, and nothing was more intuitive than a progress bar.
“These are the only requirements. As for the category, refinement level, etc., I don’t know either.” Su Chen shook his head.
“Are there any other requirements for this profession?” Ruan Yuntao, who was standing beside him, suddenly asked.
Li Zhe frowned and said sternly, “You are asking too much.”
They could only inquire based on the requirements provided by the service target. Asking too much could make people vigilant.
“Actually, I just want you to help me coordinate with the Crafting Department to see if they can provide materials and an environment…” Su Chen said.
The Profession Analysis Office of the Court of Justice had another important function, which was to coordinate with other departments to quickly complete necessary profession requirements.
“Then I roughly know what your profession is, Soldier Breeder, right.” Ruan Yuntao suddenly realized, “Then just contact the Crafting Department directly, they have a standard procedure.”
Li Zhe’s brow twitched, and he forced a smile, “I’m sorry, my colleague is just like this.”
“It’s fine.” Su Chen didn’t mind.
Li Zhe breathed a sigh of relief and said, “I’ll contact the Crafting Department for you right away. If you go now, you should be able to start when you get there.”
The efficiency is really high, Su Chen exclaimed again. If he had to contact them himself, he didn’t know how much time it would waste.
After sending Su Chen off, Li Zhe turned to Ruan Yuntao angrily, “Old Ruan, we’re colleagues, if you want to die, don’t drag me with you!”
Ruan Yuntao picked his nose and said lazily, “He didn’t get angry, did he? But you, this time you didn’t personally escort him to the Crafting Department. Last time, didn’t you personally escort the core seed to the Carving Department?”
“Times change. Last time, a core seed was still a core seed, but now, who knows.” Li Zhe couldn’t help but shake his head, “The Chief doesn’t know what he’s thinking, reforming when things were fine.”
“It’s just that you people are too utilitarian, seeing core seeds and immediately groveling, creating factions.” Ruan Yuntao sneered.
“Now that there’s uncertainty, you immediately change your tune.”
“It’s not just fear of uncertainty.” Li Zhe didn’t get angry at his words, “If it were any other core seed, it would be fine, but these two, Su Chen and Chu Xuan, haven’t been tested yet.”
“Talking behind people’s backs, two-faced.” Ruan Yuntao couldn’t stand this guy and turned to leave.
“Who was talking behind anyone’s back?” Li Zhe retorted angrily, “If your brother-in-law wasn’t the Director, you would have been excluded long ago, and you’re still acting so noble!”
……
Su Chen was unaware of the argument in the Profession Analysis Office, and he had already left the Court of Justice and headed to the Crafting Department.
The Crafting Department, Carving Department, Potion Department, and other profession-related departments are all under the Resource Department, and its Director is also a member of the Elder Council.
These departments hold a second-tier position in Ying Feng. Although inferior to the Court of Justice, Security Department, and Translation Department, they are still places that many people find difficult to enter.
The Crafting Department was located in a slightly remote area. Su Chen took some time to arrive and could see giant furnaces from afar.
They looked like iron beasts lying on the ground, with cooling towers in the back constantly emitting white smoke.
Next to it was the Carving Department, which appeared quite tranquil, with only large expanses of white buildings.
These two departments had many areas of cooperation and, to some extent, could even be considered inseparable.
After verifying his identity, Su Chen entered the Crafting Department, and the perceived temperature clearly rose significantly.
“Soldier Breeder… There are quite a few of this profession in our Crafting Department. There are no specific requirements for refining metal raw materials, ordinary Suo gold ore will do.”
The person responsible for the connection was the administrative section chief of the Crafting Department, named Sun Zhiyu. He had already been waiting at the entrance. He was a very capable middle-aged man with a light brown complexion, as if he had been burned by high temperatures for many years.
He led Su Chen inside, “We have a process here where we will refine the raw materials to ninety percent and then hand them over to you, which will save a lot of time.”
Dong! –
Su Chen’s gaze turned to the testing ground on his left, from which rhythmic shock waves emanated. A hammer-like impact device was conducting impact tests on new armor. The energy ripples generated by each impact were not small.
Hearing this, he said, “Section Chief Sun, let’s not use the old method. I want to refine it myself, from raw material to finished product.”
Sun Zhiyu paused, quite astonished, “Refine it yourself? You want to use the old way? It will take quite some time to refine a hundred tons of raw materials…”
“Strive for perfection.” Su Chen smiled.
Sun Zhiyu didn’t say anything else; as long as Su Chen wanted something within a certain range, he would provide it. He was just a bit surprised earlier.
The two continued to walk deeper. The noise was very loud, and the temperature gradually increased. Especially when passing by the furnaces, Su Chen could feel his body sweating.
Weng–
A shadow enveloped Su Chen. Looking up, the dome of a nearby warehouse slowly opened. A magnetic levitation forklift was transporting bundles of crystallized steel ingots to the precision processing center. The cooling patterns on the surface of the ingots flickered with a faint blue light.
“We’re here, this is the rough processing area…” Sun Zhiyu led him into the work area. As soon as the heavy steel door opened, a wave of heat hit them.
It was bustling here, with a conveyor belt leading to the central furnace, filled with metal ore that had been burned red-hot. The hydraulic forging hammers around them worked in unison, with a continuous clanging sound. The splashed scale flew like shooting stars.
The Crafting Department had many subordinate organizations. Large-scale standard weapons were not manufactured here. This place was more like a small refining plant, a weapons laboratory.
Passing through the work area, they came to a separate workshop in the back. Through the thick glass window, Su Chen could vaguely see someone holding a large hammer, seemingly working as well.
Sun Zhiyu opened an empty room and explained, “Many prototype weapons can only be manually crafted at first. Only after various tests can molds be made.”
In the room, there was a small forging table. In the corner, there were metal hammers of different shapes, and a few pieces of metal ore, black mixed with pale gold, were scattered around.
“Hmm…” Su Chen thought for a moment and asked, “Can I refine it somewhere else?”
“Where would Your Excellency like to go?” Sun Zhiyu was slightly surprised.
“In the Court of Justice, where I live.” Su Chen said. Refining materials would obviously take a lot of time, and he also wanted to train simultaneously.
This place was quite far from the Court of Justice, and there was no training environment.
“Hmm…” Sun Zhiyu frowned slightly, “Although refining Suo gold ore doesn’t require an overly strict environment, I need to report this matter. Please forgive me.”
He hurried away to find his superior. Su Chen walked into the workshop and started the forging table. The plasma flame nozzle in the center suddenly spat out a dazzling flame.
Su Chen clamped a brick-sized piece of Suo gold ore on it and then went to a row of metal hammers in the corner, weighing them.
【Crimson Steel Forging Hammer （Second Order ）: Made from high-strength crimson steel alloy. 】
“They are all ranked items…” Su Chen was quite surprised. He picked up a comfortable one and tried smashing it onto the Suo gold ore that had already been burned red.
Ding!
With a crisp collision sound, Su Chen felt a recoil force transmitted through the hammer. Some red particles splashed out and quickly oxidized into black in mid-air, which were the impurities.
“Brother Su?” A shout came from the doorway. Su Chen paused and looked up, “Jiang Xi?”
“It really is you…” Jiang Xi was even more surprised and walked up excitedly, “My colleagues said a core seed came, and it sounded like you. What are you doing here?”
“Oh, completing a profession requirement, need to refine some materials.” Su Chen explained.
“You haven’t forged before, have you?” Jiang Xi looked like he wanted to say something but stopped.
“That’s true…” Su Chen didn’t hide it, “Any tips to teach me?”
Seeing Su Chen humbly asking for advice, Jiang Xi quickly waved his hands, “It’s not really a tip. The properties of each metal material are different. Your flame temperature is a bit low…”
Jiang Xi could roughly tell the temperature of the flame with his eyes and helped him turn it up, “And…”
He had studied this kind of knowledge and taught Su Chen some tips to improve efficiency.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
The crisp collision sound gradually became rhythmic. Soon… this piece of Suo gold ore was almost refined, shrinking by nearly half, only the size of a fist.
He glanced at the panel. After the requirement for refining metal raw materials, a 0.01% progress indicator appeared.
“It seems refining to this extent is enough.” Su Chen estimated.
“…Your Excellency Su Chen…”
While refining, Sun Zhiyu also returned. He looked at Jiang Xi standing beside him in surprise and said, “It’s approved. You can move a small forging furnace over. It will be returned after you’re done.”
This was not a big deal, approval was inevitable, Su Chen was not surprised. He mused, “There are too many raw materials, and I probably won’t be able to fit them all at once, so send them in batches.”
“Let him send them.”
Su Chen pointed to Jiang Xi next to him.
Sun Zhiyu pondered, “I understand.”
Su Chen further confirmed the size of the small forging furnace with Sun Zhiyu and found that it could barely fit into the gravity training room.
Sun Zhiyu guessed Su Chen’s intention and couldn’t help but say, “You are indeed diligent. A small forging furnace under five times gravity should be able to operate, albeit barely.”
The small forging furnace from the Crafting Department, along with the first batch of Suo gold ore, arrived at the Court of Justice almost immediately after him.
After placing the small forging furnace in the gravity training room, the area he could move in was reduced to less than one-third, barely enough to swing a large hammer.
“You’re really planning to forge while training.”
Jiang Xi was moving the Suo gold ore when he saw Su Chen gesturing in the training room and couldn’t help but gasp.
It’s not easy being a core seed either.
“Save time and increase efficiency…” Su Chen replied casually.
The essence of training is to enhance physical strength through consumption and recovery. The difference between a body tempering method and swinging a hammer lies only in their efficiency.
“The essence of the Thunder Radiance Body Tempering Method is to stimulate body cells through electromagnetic induction. Even without the accompanying training movements, it should still be effective…”
Su Chen pondered how to completely combine swinging a hammer with training.
He picked up the Green Steel Hammer. Under five times gravity, this thing also became incredibly heavy. After adapting for a while, Su Chen could slowly swing it.
Arcs of electricity erupted on his skin. He had changed the accompanying movements, which made him very uncomfortable, but Su Chen tried little by little.
Fortunately, the Thunder Radiance Body Tempering Method was only E-class and not so complex that moving one part affected the whole body.
The core is to use electromagnetic induction to stimulate the body. The swinging of the hammer fixed the points, weakening the stimulation effect, but allowing him to balance training and forging.
“This is perfect…” Su Chen tried for a moment and then stopped, starting to have Jiang Xi adjust the small forging furnace for him. After all, working in a gravity environment meant that both the flame intensity and stability would fluctuate.
Jiang Xi was only a First Order professional and found it difficult to work in a five-times gravity environment. He could only give remote instructions to Su Chen. It took more than half an hour to adjust the small forging furnace to have the same effect as in a normal environment.
“Fortunately, it’s just Suo gold ore. The temperature required for refining isn’t high, otherwise, it would have been difficult.” Jiang Xi wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a long sigh of relief.
“You’ve been a great help.” Su Chen saw him out. Jiang Xi repeatedly shook his head, “It’s just a small favor, not a trouble.”
After seeing Jiang Xi off, Su Chen returned to the gravity room, gulped down a potion, and held the hammer.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Faint, crisp collision sounds emanated from the gravity room.
Night fell, and a villa not far from here was still brightly lit.
The first floor had been turned into a banquet hall with melodious music. The seed members of the inner court gathered in twos and threes, conversing with each other.
On the second floor, He Kang’s brows were even more furrowed, with a “frustrated” expression on his face. He said with a wry smile, “Su Chen didn’t come.”
There were only five people in the room. Chu Xuan was also here, and Wei Yufan, in the center, his expression darkened upon hearing this.
Someone nearby expressed dissatisfaction, “He Kang, how exactly did you relay the message? Wei Ge invited him, and Chu Xuan even came, but he won’t even give him this face?”
“Liu Chen, I naturally relayed the message, but whether he comes or not is not something I can control.” He Kang said helplessly, “Perhaps it’s because of an urgent matter.”
Liu Chen sneered, “Chu Xuan is currently preparing for promotion to a Top Tier Profession, and he’s already here.”
Chu Xuan, beside him, looked even more composed and remained silent.
“And that Su Chen, he went to the Translation Department in the morning and the Crafting Department in the afternoon, he hasn’t stopped. Is this one banquet trip too much?” He was very well-informed about Su Chen’s whereabouts.
“After he gets promoted to Third Order and gets beaten by Chu Xuan, I’ll go and take his spot, and try what it’s like to be a core seed.”
“It’s not that easy.” He Kang shook his head, “Everyone clearly saw Su Chen’s performance during the assessment. Even though Third Order is an Upper Tier Profession, his strength was still impressive.”
Chu Xuan’s expression turned cold, and he thought of the assessment again.
“So what if it was impressive? Second Order is not Third Order, and he’s definitely lacking in experience. Let’s see who can take his spot first.” Liu Chen was dismissive.
“However, he hasn’t started seeking promotion yet. Not long after entering the Court of Justice, he chose his profession, but he hasn’t prepared with the Profession Analysis Office yet.” Another person asked with doubt, “He did go this afternoon, but it seems he was asking about Special Professions.”
“Does he want to avoid it?” Liu Chen couldn’t help but look over.
He Kang had exchanged a few words with Su Chen and believed that the other party was not someone who would avoid things. “No, he wouldn’t not get promoted just because he might be challenged, right?”
Liu Chen’s eyes flickered, “Whatever, if he wants to be a troublemaker and be independent, he should also see if he has the capital for it.”
Wei Yufan glanced over and said faintly, “Watch your tone.”
………
The conflict between the four major core seeds intensified. As time passed, some inner court seed members, who had been suppressed for many years, finally made their move after observing several battles.
Two months after the Challenge Ranking System appeared, the third-ranked core seed, Liang Jingcheng, was arduously defeated by the inner court seed Feng Zi.
This caused a huge sensation. As the first person to successfully challenge a core seed as an inner court seed.
Even Chong Jingtian personally appeared at the scene to congratulate him on becoming the new core seed. Su Chen also went out to take a look.
Others finally deeply realized that the core seed positions were truly unstable. Even after seven or eight years, they were still challenged today.
Feng Zi had also been a member of Liang Jingcheng’s faction. This internal conflict had caused significant turmoil within their small group. Liang Jingcheng’s staunch supporters had left, weakening him significantly.
The enthronement of a “new king” ignited the desires of many inner court seed members.
What followed was even more urgent challenges. Several truly powerful inner court seed members made their moves. Ming Lin and the other two had several difficult battles, nearly losing.
However, they ultimately defended their positions.
Faced with the resilience of the veteran seed members, many turned their attention to the two young new seed members, waiting for them to advance to Third Order and seize their positions!
Su Chen was indifferent to the outside turmoil. Every day seemed to be a repetition: forge… rest, rest… forge.
One day, with a hammer blow, the red Suo gold ore made a crisp sound.
Su Chen was stunned. His mental power surged uncontrollably, and the dark brown particles splattered on the floor began to tremble.
【Burning Heart Meditation Method has been upgraded to Master Level, gaining the ability – Burning Song Boiling Fire: Mental power derivative ability imbued with fire element characteristics. 】
The meditation method had been upgraded to Master Level. Su Chen breathed a sigh of relief and reined in his surging mental power.
He glanced at the panel again—
【Wind and Thunder Emissary: 70% 】
【Mystic Mind Master: 85% 】
【E-class Thunder Radiance Body Tempering Method – Proficient: 60% 】
The Mystic Mind Master progress was almost full. However, due to recent forging, the progress of the body tempering method had fallen behind significantly.
“It’s time for a new meditation method…”
Su Chen stopped, turned off the gravity field first, and then took out his bracelet from his storage space to bring up the information.
With his current authority, he could freely access E-class training methods.
The meditation method he chose this time was called – 【Cloud Breath Meditation Method 】, which could enhance mental acuity.
He held his breath carefully, meditating as his mental power dispersed like clouds and mist, reaching everywhere.
After waiting for the beginner stage, Su Chen continued swinging the hammer. The completion of the material refining requirement had reached 98%. It would be completed at the earliest tonight, and at the latest by tomorrow morning.
Perhaps because the goal was in sight, his movements became even faster. Just after midnight, Su Chen threw the Green Gold Hammer aside.
“Finally… it’s over.”
Su Chen took a deep breath, feeling a sense of relief.
He didn’t find forging enjoyable. After nearly a month, he only found it excessively monotonous. If it weren’t for the Soldier Breeder profession holding him back, he would have quit long ago.
“Appoint me!”
Su Chen was impatient. In an instant, he felt his head being struck heavily as a large amount of knowledge was crammed into him, including the characteristics of various metal materials, temperature control, hammer angles, and so on…
The knowledge-based job appointment requirement was removed, and now it was forcibly instilled into him.
【Soldier Breeder job appointment completed, gained ability – Soldier Breeding Technique: Can nurture weapons and consume double the materials to transform them.
Note （ The number of weapons that can be nurtured depends on one’s own mental profession rank ）】
“Double the materials…” Su Chen rubbed his temples. His guess was indeed correct. According to the relevant information from the Translation Department, upgrading weapons through the Soldier Breeder profession would require at least three to four times the additional materials.
But he only needed to consume double. This was probably due to the key issue of “personally” doing it.
Perhaps… it wasn’t that no one discovered this problem, but with a hundred tons of raw materials and forging them personally, it would take half a year or even longer using his method.
Many people probably wouldn’t be willing to waste this time.
【Triggered additional reward, Soldier Breeding Technique upgrade material consumption halved. 】
Text reappeared on the panel. Su Chen’s eyes lit up, “Almost forgot, there’s this additional reward.”
“The upgrade consumption is halved again, meaning that upgrading weapons for me will consume less than a weapon craftsman through forging?”
Normally, when upgrading weapons through forging, due to various losses, the consumed materials are about 1.2-1.5 times the theoretical amount, and there are also “labor costs,” etc.
“This way, it saves quite a lot of resources and energy.” Su Chen was in a good mood and felt it was worth his effort during this time.
“Let’s try… the so-called nurturing…” Su Chen took out Qing Suo from his storage space. “It is said that completely nurturing a weapon also takes some time to… Huh?”
He was stunned, and a series of information appeared in his mind—
“…Made of Green Steel alloy, upgrading requires primarily refined gold as the main material, assisted by Spirit Essence Fiber…”
“This… is it already nurtured?” Su Chen couldn’t help but be astonished.
His eyes moved, and he understood.
“Nurturing and upgrading can be simply understood as a magic cast through mental power. The essence of nurturing is to completely imbue the weapon with mental power, thus understanding its characteristics…”
“And I have already turned them into Mystic Tools, which are highly compatible with my mental power, allowing me to skip the nurturing step directly.”
“Tsk, a magical synergy.” Su Chen’s mood improved further, saving him a lot of time this way.
“These materials are not particularly precious…” Su Chen estimated, “However, to upgrade them to Third Order, my mental profession must also be Third Order.”
“No rush. It’s already within reach. Let the Gu Family prepare first.”
“Let’s move this forging furnace out first. I can finally train properly.”
As his gaze fell on the forging furnace, Su Chen thought of his previous material refining. “Hmm… the force was a bit too much, and the interval can be extended appropriately. The Suo gold ore is…”
As he thought, Su Chen’s expression darkened. “What the heck, I’m not going to be a blacksmith.”
It was the knowledge that came with the Soldier Breeder profession that made him subconsciously recall his previous mistakes.
“I don’t need Jiang Xi to deliver more materials. The Crafting Department will probably just think I’m impatient and don’t want to continue forging, so they won’t think much of it.”
With not much time left until dawn, Su Chen decided to take a shower and asked Zero to prepare a sumptuous breakfast. He was indeed a bit hungry.
While eating, Su Chen listened to Zero’s summarized news.
“Ming Lin almost lost too?” Su Chen’s eyebrows twitched, “There are truly hidden dragons and crouching tigers among the inner court seeds.”
To this day, the Chief Seed remains undecided, and the positions of several core seeds are precarious.
After breakfast, an unexpected visitor arrived.
“Du Yu?”
Su Chen was quite surprised and invited him in. They hadn’t seen each other for some time.
“Brother Su, you should go out and socialize sometimes. It’s not good to just keep training like this.” Du Yu was familiar with Su Chen’s situation. He and Zhang Hengyu, Nan Feng, and a few others often got together.
“I’m used to it.” Su Chen asked, “Are you… working at the Court of Justice?”
People from the Inspection Department couldn’t enter the Court of Justice without permission.
“No, Deputy Minister Cheng gave me permission to come and find you to relay a message.” Du Yu sat on the sofa and pressed his hand on the cushion.
“Cheng Lang?” Su Chen then remembered his previous offer of recruitment.
The clanging sounds had messed up his head. He almost forgot about this matter. He muttered to himself, then heard Du Yu say, “He invites you to the Translation Department to meet.”
“Alright, I understand.” Su Chen nodded. His Mystic Energy Crystals and Thunder Cores would likely still be related to this Cheng Lang.
Du Yu felt envious in his heart. Deputy Minister Cheng was considered a big figure in the Inspection Department, and even in Ying Feng.
Being personally invited, all Su Chen could offer was a plain “Got it.”
