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"I was wondering where you'd disappeared to. I waited for you for quite a while," Yuyang complained.
"Senior, what's this about?" Xu Yuan was genuinely curious. What could the Mecha Association have in store?
"You'll know when we get there."
Shrek Academy's inner city was vast, but the two had met at the academy gates. The association wasn't far from the school.
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Mecha Association
Xu Yuan's exclusive workshop.
Yes, an exclusive workshop!
Although he was only a third-grade member, Xu Yuan completed tasks daily and monthly across three mecha-related secondary professions—mecha design, mecha manufacturing, and mecha repair—all while excelling in forging. This versatility made him highly valued within the Mecha Association.
After all, Xu Yuan needed to meet performance targets to earn his guaranteed contribution points each month. Sometimes, the association received orders that no one else was willing to take, and Xu Yuan was able to handle them effortlessly.
Take forging, for example. Skilled blacksmiths were already scarce, and the academy's demand for rare metals used in battle armor production was high. Even the forging requirements for mecha manufacturing at the association were difficult to fulfill.
Before Xu Yuan arrived, many of the forging tasks required for mecha manufacturing were handled by mecha engineers themselves.
Mecha engineers could generally complete forging tasks up to the Hundred Refinements level.
However, even then, they would only take on such tasks after long delays, and only if the association offered higher compensation.
Moreover, mecha engineers were often swamped with work. Whenever there were large-scale orders for mecha manufacturing, these engineers became incredibly busy. Xu Yuan served as a valuable supplement in such situations.
He was a jack-of-all-trades.
Exclusive workshops were typically reserved for fifth-grade professionals, but Xu Yuan had been granted one as an exception.
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Outside the Exclusive Workshop
"It's here." Before Xu Yuan entered the workshop, Yuyang pointed to the mailbox outside.
Xu Yuan opened the mailbox and found a thick stack of documents inside.
"What's this?" He grew curious and began flipping through the materials.
The more he read, the more excited he became.
Mecha blueprints!
"That's right—it's a mecha I personally designed for you. Although it's only a Yellow-grade mecha, it's not a standard model. Based on the requirements you provided, I've created this framework. The specific details are intentionally left vague, but even so, it's top-tier among Yellow-grade mechas. Once you refine the soul arrays further, upgrading it to a Purple-grade or even Black-grade mecha isn't out of the question."
Yuyang spoke with evident pride.
The reason he had still been slacking off in his sixth year wasn't just because he wanted to enjoy the perks. More importantly, he had already endured until his fifth year, and giving up in the final stretch would have been a loss.
Not all students in Shrek Academy's outer court liked to stay until their final year. After all, leaving early allowed them to explore the world sooner, potentially triggering a major breakthrough.
Only those who were slower in crafting battle armor, unable to finish by their fifth year, would persist until the end of their sixth year.
Yuyang was one of them.
His slow progress in crafting battle armor wasn't due to insufficient skill in his secondary professions but rather because he had poured too much passion into mecha.
Even so, he was still on track to complete his battle armor before turning thirty, becoming a One-Word Battle Armor Master!
His talent was undeniable.
Xu Yuan had inquired about Yuyang's abilities. He was at least a sixth-grade mecha designer, owning a top-tier Purple-grade mecha. Once his soul power reached Level 70, he would naturally advance to seventh- or eighth-grade mecha design, capable of creating Black-grade mechas effortlessly. Producing Red-grade mechas in the future was entirely foreseeable.
Mecha—this was the romance of men.
What was known as battle armor was essentially the result of simplifying mecha after they had reached a certain stage of development. It was the path soul masters pursued to enhance themselves.
Xu Yuan himself harbored a deep passion for mecha.
However, preconceived notions had led him to prioritize completing his battle armor and advancing his soul power cultivation before fully pursuing mecha. Balancing these priorities wasn't particularly difficult.
The reason Mu Ye had been held back stemmed from his obsession, not because pursuing mecha had hindered his battle armor crafting. On the contrary, Mu Ye was already a Four-Word Battle Armor Master. As for his soul power cultivation, he had reached Level 94 at a young age—not because he neglected his cultivation in pursuit of god-tier mecha, but because he integrated a core soul spirit into his mecha. This prevented him from achieving perfection and advancing to Level 95.
Through frequent communications with Mu Ye—either remotely or during training sessions in Tian Dou City—Xu Yuan gradually understood the root cause of Mu Ye's stalled cultivation.
In Mu Ye's teachings, Xu Yuan's interest in mecha had grown stronger. After all, Mu Ye's school of thought sought to merge mecha and battle armor.
Xu Yuan had no resistance to this idea.
"Biting off more than you can chew?" No, no, no. When it came to learning, Xu Yuan feared nothing.
As for Mu Ye, he had thrown caution to the wind after seeing how Xu Yuan juggled multiple disciplines with ease, even thriving under the heavy workload. He stopped worrying about overtaxing Xu Yuan's energy and generously shared his expertise on merging mecha and battle armor.
However, Xu Yuan still had a long way to go before reaching Soul King rank, and his secondary professions weren't yet advanced enough to craft battle armor. For now, he could only focus on preparing a mecha. While he could slowly manufacture a mecha himself, a qualified mecha required excellent design.
Mu Ye felt Xu Yuan's future was too unpredictable. Unsure whether Xu Yuan's martial soul development would follow the planned path, designing a mecha now might lead to wasted effort if the template needed to change later. Thus, Mu Ye decided not to help Xu Yuan design a mecha at the Yellow, Purple, or even Black-grade stages.
For various reasons, Xu Yuan had to design his own mecha.
However, his current mecha design skill was only at Level 3, insufficient to create a custom Yellow-grade mecha structure. He had repeatedly consulted Yuyang for help.
Unexpectedly, Yuyang had combined Xu Yuan's numerous previous requests and customized a Yellow-grade mecha for him.
Compared to ordinary Yellow-grade mecha blueprints, this design was undoubtedly far more complex, but its effects and benefits would also be significantly greater.
"Hehe, even after you obtain your battle armor, you'll only need to make minor adjustments to the internal layout of the mecha to perfectly integrate it with your battle armor. The two will complement each other, forming a unified system both internally and externally," Yuyang said confidently.
"Senior, thank you." Xu Yuan was increasingly fond of the blueprint and immediately expressed his gratitude.
"I can't let you lose out either. Here's the deal: over the next two years, you can come to me for forging. I'll be practicing forging extensively during this time. By the way, I've already achieved Thousand Refinements, First Grade. All the Thousand Refinements, First Grade metals I forge in the next two years will be prioritized for you. How does that sound?"
Yuyang was both shocked and delighted.
Thousand Refinements, First Grade?
At ten years old? Good grief.
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