Following the map, I walked all the way to the gate of Chiyou Academy.
Lin Yi took out his student ID and handed it to the security guard of Chiyou Academy.
After swiping the card, the guard looked at Lin Yi.
With a playful expression.
"Young man, you have a lot of guts."
"I admire your courage, go ahead!"
Lin Yi was somewhat puzzled by the guard’s words.
What does that even mean?
It wasn’t until Lin Yi entered the courtyard of Chiyou Academy that he understood what the guard meant.
"Stop!!"
"Hey, you mage! Yes, I’m talking to you!!"
"You must have a death wish to swagger into our Chiyou Academy like this??"
"Looking for trouble!!"
"Damn it, let’s kill him!"
Lin Yi turned around and saw a group of muscular men angrily pointing at him and cursing.
But then, when they saw his face.
Their expressions became extraordinary in an instant.
"Holy crap...!"
"It’s him!"
"That’s Lin Yi, right!"
"Shh! Don’t say his name out loud!"
"Let’s go, let’s go, don’t look him in the eye!"
"Oh my God, the Grim Reaper is here, can’t afford to provoke him, let’s run!"
The funniest thing was, Lin Yi saw the guy who was yelling the loudest just a moment ago suddenly shrink his neck and take off running.
Those at the back of the crowd even fled in a panic.
In no time, the students of Chiyou Academy, who just moments ago were boasting about taking on Lin Yi in a group fight, had all disappeared without a trace.
Only a last one, a clueless first-year student, was left standing there, still glaring at Lin Yi with a red face.
Fortunately, one of his friends was loyal enough.
Seeing him baring his teeth and still standing there, he hurriedly ran back.
Grabbed him by the collar and ran.
While running, he patted his head.
"Looking to die! Are you seeking death!"
"You dare provoke Lin Yi, are you stupid?"
"You’re dead meat; he holds a grudge! Get ready to be challenged by him tomorrow!"
"Oh, almost forgot, you’re an E-ranked weakling, not even on his radar, lucky you..."
Watching the two fade into the distance, Lin Yi was both amused and exasperated.
Who knows how much he’s been demonized on the forums.
After that, Lin Yi’s path became much smoother.
He could feel countless eyes secretly watching him from behind the doors of Chiyou Academy’s dormitories.
But along the way, no one dared to block his path again.
This is the ecosystem of professionals.
The strong dominate the weak, survival of the fittest!
Following the map, Lin Yi quickly reached his destination.
Looking up, he saw a huge, black building shaped like a boiler appearing before him, with occasional flickers of red flames visible through the windows.
The sound of hammers striking steel rang out with a clear clanging noise.
Above the main entrance were large words — Divine Forging Bureau.
A long line queued outside, and Lin Yi estimated at least a hundred people at a glance!
In addition, a few people with sweat towels over their shoulders were energetically hawking their services, quite lively.
"Come take a look, see what we have here!"
"Repair your equipment!"
"Big hammer eighty, small hammer forty, free if not fixed!"
"Mr. Sun is overseeing operations today!"
"Our bureau is offering a special upgrade package to +10, not for 998, not for 648, but for only 328!"
"Those who need equipment upgrades, please take the special lane!"
Lin Yi glanced around; there were indeed two lines at the entrance.
Most people were there for repairs, while those looking for upgrades were few and far between.
Most students at Chiyou Academy were Warriors and Knights.
Such close-combat professions naturally wear out their weapons quickly.
After all, hunting monsters involves a lot of hacking and slashing.
So even though all five Shenxiao institutes have Divine Forging Bureaus, only Chiyou Academy’s is bustling.
Lin Yi walked to the entrance for equipment upgrades.
"Sir, looking to upgrade your equipment?"
"Please come in!"
"Would you like to try our upgrade package to +10, crafted by the best artisan, Mr. Sun, from Shenxiao? If it fails, we’ll give you a full refund!"
"Special offer today for only 328!"
Lin Yi was stunned: "328 Xia coins or what?"
The attendant with the sweat towel chuckled: "You’re joking, my friend. What can you buy with 328 Xia coins!"
"It’s 328 high-grade Spirit Crystal ores, of course!"
Lin Yi frowned.
Spirit Crystal ores.
What is that, some type of currency? I’ve never heard of it.
But before Lin Yi had to wait long.
A voice suddenly called out.
"Mr. Lin! Why didn’t you tell me when you arrived, come, come inside quickly!"
Sun Dachuan jogged over, pulling Lin Yi by the hand under the astonished gaze of the attendant.
Following Sun Dachuan to a side room of the Divine Forging Bureau, Lin Yi discovered it was quite spacious here too.
In the large several-hundred-square-meter space, it was incredibly hot.
Three huge forging furnaces spewed fire, with countless shirtless blacksmiths hammering away in a sweat.
"Looking to upgrade your equipment? Leave it to me."
Sun Dachuan led Lin Yi to a spot beside one of the forges and spoke to him.
Lin Yi nodded, took out the Hand of Oblivion from his personal space, and handed it to Sun Dachuan.
Sun Dachuan took the equipment and was a bit surprised: "Wow! It’s epic-grade, and it’s a weapon too!"
"You’ve got real talent, Mr. Lin!"
"Already using weapons of such quality!"
"But the attributes and effects of this equipment are really strange, is it truly suitable for you?"
"If it doesn’t suit you, I have a few Moonlight-grade Mage sets I crafted myself, you can use them!"
Lin Yi shook his head and smiled: "Mr. Sun, it suits me perfectly. I came today to have you upgrade it to +10. What materials are needed, how much is the upgrade fee?"
Sun Dachuan glanced at Lin Yi, a bit displeased: "I’ve told you before, for things like this, just come to me in the future, no talk about fees! It affects our brotherhood!"
"As for materials, well, hehe!"
"Other blacksmiths would require seventy or eighty high-grade Spirit Crystal ores to upgrade to +10, but I don’t need any!"
While speaking, Sun Dachuan took a dark blue forging hammer from a nearby tool rack.
He placed the Hand of Oblivion on the forge and, at a speed that left Lin Yi dumbfounded, began to hammer away at a high frequency!
As Sun Dachuan continued hammering, streaks of golden light kept flashing on the Hand of Oblivion.
In just over ten seconds, Lin Yi could see through the Eye of Omniscience.
His Hand of Oblivion had already been upgraded to +10!
So fast!
So steady!
And all in one go, with not a single failure!
Lin Yi had heard that after reaching +7, further upgrades have a chance of failing. If they fail, the upgrade level may drop at best.
At worst, the equipment could be damaged, and the attributes and effects significantly reduced.
"My profession allows me to upgrade to +10 without consuming any materials, and it always succeeds."
"Mr. Lin, if you trust me, leave this equipment with me today."
"I see your equipment’s effects need +15 to unlock the third slot, right?"
"I’ll upgrade it to +15 for you!"
"Rest assured, with me, +15 is also guaranteed, but it will take some time and effort."
"As for upgrading to +20, it will take a lot of time; I’m currently researching a guaranteed method, and once I succeed, I’ll handle it for you!"
Lin Yi was shocked inside.
Whoa, +15 is also guaranteed?
A bit exaggerated, bro!