Soon, his assistant brought over the weapons and design drawings.
This was a mechanical combat knife, the blade comprised of fine serrations that looked somewhat aged, with some dark brown dried matter in the crevices.
"The client, who is primarily a strength-type gene evolver, provided me with several blocks of Fine Steel Alloy, and I plan to make the serrations bigger and longer," Huang Jijian unfolded the design drawing in his hands and shared his concept.
"However, the most troublesome part is," Huang Jijian triggered the handle’s grip, and with a bang, sparks shot out from the back of the blade, carrying the scent of gunpowder.
"It can be loaded with a shotgun shell to cause severe close-range damage, and he wanted me to retain this feature."
"As for that, I haven’t figured out how to design it yet."
"I understand now, give me the materials, and I’ll get to it right away." After hearing a few words, Li Ming took the design drawing, grabbed the serrated knife, and headed for the room.
Huang Jijian was surprised, sensing Li Ming’s indifference; there wasn’t even the slightest hesitation, as if he was certain he could accomplish it.
This kid is really arrogant, just like Wu Yanqing, as if cut from the same mold.
Huang Jijian sneered to himself, his enthusiasm today was certainly not due to a change of heart.
Instead, he was pleased to see Li Ming wasting his development potential; it would be quite a sight to see Wu Yanqing’s expression when he returns and finds his student engrossed in blacksmithing.
Ding Hui hesitated for a moment, then followed, calling out to Li Ming, "Are you serious? Stop messing around, even Old Huang finds it challenging. Although he’s not the best guy, his skill is undeniable."
"What else?" Li Ming retorted.
"If you really plan to learn from the teacher, you can’t back out later, or you’ll deeply offend him," Ding Hui cautioned, "This is no joke, the teacher might not compare to Professor Wu, but he’s no pushover either."
Li Ming of course understood the terrifying network that Professor Xia had built up over the years through crafting weapons.
"Don’t trust Old Huang’s intentions," Ding Hui murmured again.
"Don’t worry," Li Ming reassured him, patting Ding Hui on the shoulder. He walked to the studio door, then stopped, turned around, and asked, "Brother Huang, how much is the labor fee?"
"Labor fee?" Huang Jijian paused, then replied, "Five hundred thousand."
"Alright." Li Ming entered the studio, and the assistant students moved several blocks of black alloy over, their eyes filled with curiosity.
"Is he going to handle it all by himself?" Cheng Tienan paused in his actions.
"The only difficulty is the treatment of the shotgun port on the knife’s back," Huang Jijian relaxed slightly, nonchalantly saying, "It doesn’t matter if it fails, we can just compensate that Zhao Lei."
"The teacher is only testing his level; he never said he has to succeed."
Ding Hui was stunned; it really seemed that way, Old Huang was indeed crafty.
He couldn’t help but say, "Teacher, you’re not really planning to teach him, are you?"
"What if I am? What if I’m not?" Professor Xia’s tone was indifferent.
"About Professor Wu..."
"I’ll handle it," Professor Xia said sternly. Ding Hui hesitated to speak further, but ultimately remained silent.
Inside the room, Li Ming started the forge, the electric heating efficiency was extremely high, and the temperature quickly soared.
[Gunfire Serrated Knife—E Rank: A serrated knife with a special design on the back, unexpectedly effective.
Control Conditions: Six hundred metal energy points.]
This weapon was standard, and upgrading from E rank to D rank required six thousand metal energy points.
Doing a quick calculation, that was about four hundred thousand Star Coins, even adding the required control, the labor fee was already covered.
His gaze fell on the Fine Steel Alloy on the ground; now it was up to these alloys to provide how much metal energy they could.
Soon, he had absorbed the alloys, which provided close to four thousand metal energy points.
"Calculating, I earned nearly five thousand metal energy points inside and out, and all I need to do is control and then upgrade," Li Ming calculated; the labor fee for a C-rank weapon would surge several times more.
He immediately spent six hundred metal energy points to control and six thousand metal energy points to upgrade.
Afterward, the serrated knife in his hand was completely renewed, appearing gray-black, enlarged about 1.5 times, with a thicker back and denser, sharper teeth.
"Hmm, it’s not quite like the design Huang Jijian provided, but who cares, as long as it works," Li Ming didn’t mind.
Of course, he didn’t directly walk out with the item; in such a short period, he couldn’t explain how it was crafted.
He simply passed the time, started working on the gene seed, and made noises from time to time, hammering and banging.
Toward evening, Ding Hui knocked on the door, asking if he wanted to eat, which he dismissed with an irritated tone.
"Shit, you’re really planning to make it? If you can make this, you’re better than me," Ding Hui muttered.
The area was bustling with people, all of them evolved bodies, able to go several days without sleep with no issues.
The assistant students here spread the word from one to another, and soon everyone knew and discussed it quietly, curious as well.
"Is he really crafting a weapon inside?" Zhou Kui whispered, sweating profusely.
At that time, he and Li Ming had completed the challenge given by Ding Hui together, but he had dared not present his own work.
But in fact, his skills were also very good, which Ding Hui recognized and brought him here to learn.
On the morning of the third day, the door finally opened, the rusty hinges creaking under the strain, steam billowing out, and Li Ming emerged, his face pale as if drained.
For two continuous days, he had been performing the "Thunder Burning Thirty-two Forms," without any nutrient supplements, it would have been strange otherwise.
This sound suddenly drew everyone’s attention.