This change first took effect following their return from the Battle God Hall.

Tang Wulin had already mentally prepared himself for a scathing tirade from Ling Zichen. After all, he had deceived her about their mission.

To his surprise, Ling Zichen left as soon as they returned, citing an urge to return to the Tang Sect to study Eternal Heaven, and she hadn't aimed any criticism against him at all.

Tang Wulin was in disbelief, but he certainly wasn't going to try and change her mind; he was happy that he wouldn't have to deal with her any longer.

After that, he went into seclusion, and following his month-long seclusion, Ling Zichen returned.

Upon meeting her again, Tang Wulin was shocked to discover that she seemed to have transformed into a brand new person.

In the past, she had been cold and overbearing, but those facets of her persona had completely disappeared. She was now filled with boundless energy and contagious exuberance, and when Tang Wulin tried to ask her about what had happened in a tactful manner, she had told him that she had evolved.

Through her study of Eternal Heaven, she was able to find solutions to many problems that had confounded her for years, and she had developed many new ideas. She said that she had gained more in the past month than her past 10 years of research combined.

What frightened Tang Wulin the most was that she had thanked him!

After that, Ling Zichen told him that she had developed a very detailed plan for the soul circuits of his suit of four-word battle armor, and that it could be perfectly replicated onto his suit of battle armor once the forging process was complete. This suit of battle armor was going to be the first of its kind, a perfect incorporation of soul technology and martial soul.

Furthermore, she had developed a way to decrease the difficulty of heavenly refinement.

Tang Wulin decided to try this new method that she proposed, and just as she claimed, the difficulty of heavenly refinement really was decreased. After just a few days of experimentation, he was able to complete heavenly refinement on a five-metal alloy for the first time.

Thus, Ling Zichen had an excuse to join in on his forging.

The combination of the Rainbow Lotus Flame and Ling Zichen's soul technology gave Tang Wulin a glimmer of hope that seven-metal heavenly refinement was possible. During the past two months, he had been constantly working toward this goal, and if he managed to succeed, he would be able to begin forging his own suit of battle armor.

At the same time, he would be able to purify his friends' suits of four-word battle armor with the Rainbow Lotus Flame to make them even more powerful.

Overall, Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect had benefited even more from his skills as a Divine Blacksmith than his power as a Soul Master.

A Divine Blacksmith was simply far too important for a Soul Master organization.

Even though Chen Xinjie had assisted them in securing Eternal Heaven, the Battle God Hall hadn't kicked up any fuss about this, and a huge factor behind this was the fact that Tang Wulin was a Divine Blacksmith, and he had promised to refine a suit of four-word battle armor for the Battle God Hall!

With one suit of four-word battle armor promised, there was naturally a chance for a second one in the future; it was all just a matter of transactions of benefits.

Tang Wulin took a glance at the warm smile on Ling Zichen's face, and he still felt rather unaccustomed to such a sight, even though she had already been like this for quite some time.

Ling Zichen touched her own cheek, and asked,

"Why are you looking at me? Is there something wrong?

"

Tang Wulin hurriedly shook his head in response.

"Not at all. I'll begin now.

"

Ling Zichen said,

"Go ahead, I'll help you observe.

"

Even though she wasn't a Soul Master, her observation and calculation abilities as a scientist were unmatched. As it turned out, she had been very helpful with her analysis of data and Tang Wulin's forging process, proving that technology was also very important.

Specks of pink light appeared all over Ling Zichen's body as she spoke, and she released her divine-grade mecha.

The shockwaves from heavenly refinement and elemental tribulations were far too powerful for a normal human like her to handle, so without her mecha, she would run the risk of being erased out of existence in a split second.

Tang Wulin made his way over to the forging bench, and if one were to look closely, they would discover that the bench was shimmering with a faint layer of four-colored light.

If a high-grade blacksmith were to see this, they would definitely be stunned as the material used for this forging bench was also heavenly refined divine-grade metal. Furthermore, it had undergone four-color elemental tribulation, thereby imbuing it with the elements of water, fire, earth, and wind.

This wasn't just an extravagant forging bench; it was a criminal waste of resources!

Tang Wulin firmly believed that in order to do great things, one had to possess the best tools, and this was also something that he would leave behind for Shrek Academy. The materials used for this divine-grade forging bench were actually all leftovers from his failed seven-metal heavenly refinements, and it was a necessity as a normal forging bench wouldn't be able to withstand his forging.

He pulled out the seven pieces of metal that he had prepared earlier before placing them onto the forging bench. Prior to confirming that he was able to complete seven-metal heavenly refinement, he wasn't going to take any chances on his own battle armor.

He closed his eyes and gradually entered a tranquil state of mind. Only in the most quiet environment could he enter such a calm and focused state.

Ling Zichen was standing not far away, silently appraising Tang Wulin. After having that epiphany in the Battle God Hall, she had undergone a huge transformation.

The more she interacted with Tang Wulin, the more infatuated with him she became. Even she didn't know what type of feeling this was, but she was certain that this was the first time she had ever experienced something like this.

The outcome wasn't important to her; what was important was that she was immersing herself fully into the experience and taking pleasure from it. Before she knew it, she discovered that he had become more important to her than anything else. This feeling seemed to have allowed her to completely open up her heart, resulting in a constant flow of inspiration that was benefitting her immensely in her research.

Even though these improvements had all been made for the sake of helping him forge his suit of four-word battle armor, she was still thoroughly enjoying herself.

The experience of accompanying him every day during his forging sessions was a very blissful one for her.

Only after a full 10 minutes had passed did Tang Wulin suddenly open his eyes, and in that instant, it was as if a ferocious beast had awakened, as if he had been a hibernating giant dragon before this moment. A faint dragon's roar rang out, and golden dragon patterns began to appear all around him.

Tang Wulin raised his right hand and made a grabbing motion, upon which the lotus pattern on his right palm immediately lit up as a small rainbow flame appeared.

The flame appeared to be very gentle and was giving off a sense of captivating beauty. On top of that, it didn't seem to be releasing any heat, but Tang Wulin was well aware that there was most likely no other flame on the entire Douluo Continent that could match its heat.

This was a divine-grade flame!

The rainbow flame rose up at his behest, then suddenly exploded into mid-air, splitting up into seven different flames that fell upon the seven pieces of uncommon metals.

In the instant that the flames landed on the pieces of metal, a change immediately occurred.

All of the pieces of metal were giving off their own unique gleam, and in that instant, that gleam was brightened to the extreme, as if the pieces of metals had been ignited, presenting an ethereal and beautiful sight in conjunction with the rainbow flames above them.