101 Sixth Ranked Mecha Maker!

Two weeks had passed since the time Sheng Feilong and the others tested the strength of his Doomstinger Dragonfly's External Soul Bone. She Meixiao decided to postpone the testing of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's Artificial Soul Bone after she heard a bit more about it from Song Weihan and Sheng Feilong.

They ended the day there and Song Weihan introduced the new training program he created for Sheng Feilong to everyone. Just like before, they would have Sheng Feilong focus on increasing his rank as a Mecha Maker in order to reach a sufficient standard for him to built his own Battle Armour.

With no one against it, they helped Sheng Feilong to adjust his training routine accordingly. And Sheng Feilong began sparring with Song Weihan again. Although the latter was still slightly injured and couldn't use his full strength, it was still more than enough to be able to spar with Sheng Feilong.

She Meixiao also organized for someone to help Sheng Feilong with his studies of Battle Armour and she, as a Three Word Battle Armour Master, also gave him input about the various aspects of Battle Armours as well as her personal experiences.

With all of this help, Sheng Feilong made great progress and today, She Meixiao would have him go through the exams to become a real, sixth ranked Mecha Maker. Although the Daedalus headquarters didn't have direct connections to the Maker's Association, they still had the means of doing an examination. Only, Sheng Feilong would not obtain a new Mecha Maker's badge.

"Are you ready, Feilong?" She Meixiao asked while looking at Sheng Feilong. They were currently standing in front of the workshop of Daedalus' top mecha Maker, the one who She Meixiao asked to hold the examination for Sheng Feilong.

Sheng Feilong showed a confident smile as he looked back at She Meixiao. "Yes, Master. I'm confident that I'll pass the tests. Let's go, I don't want to let Senior wait to long!" She Meixiao let Sheng Feilong knock on the workshops door, calmly looking at him from behind.A moment passed before they heard a deep, low voice from within the room. "Enter."

Sheng Feilong pushed open the door and he and She Meixiao stepped into the workshop. Inside, there stood a tall, middle aged man with a straight nose and a long goatee. Behind him, deeper in the room, was a row of different machine parts, metals ready to be given shape and a few rolled up blueprints.

The man looked at Sheng Feilong with a stoic expression, scrutinizing him up and down before turning to She Meixiao without saying anything beforehand. "That's the boy you want me to evaluate, Madam She?"

"Indeed, Sir Ro. What do you think of him?" She Meixiao looked back at the man with her typical harmless smile. The man glanced at Sheng Feilong again for a short moment, then back at She Meixiao. "Isn't he a bit young?"

"There's always talent that surpasses the barriers of age, Sir Ro. You should know that all to well." She Meixiao said, not budging in the slightest. The man gave a cold harrumph and frowned lightly. "That's precisely why I'm asking. Having too much success early in his life won't do him any good."

She Meixiao's smile became somewhat fainter and her voice grew a bit more serious. "Sir Ro, please, just evaluate Feilong's prowess. I will personally take care that he won't suffer because of this." The man just stared at her for a few seconds, both of them locking eyes before a finally sighed. "You may leave for now. Boy, come over here, we'll directly start the examination."

Sheng Feilong nodded and obediently walked over to the side of the man while She Meixiao left the workshop after giving Sheng Feilong an encouraging nod. The man called Sir Ro than turned to Sheng Feilong. "I'm Ro Julei, an eighth ranked Mecha Maker and the preceptor for your examination today."

He walked over to the machines beside him and continued. "According to the Majer Association's regulations for sixth ranked Mecha Makers, what you need to be able to do is in order to pass is find the flaws in at least 6 out of ten sixth ranked military grade machines, be able to profeciently handle four metal Spirit Alloys or 3 different kinds and flawlessly read sixth ranked blueprints for both, Mechas and Battle Armours."

He turned around to face Sheg Feilong with an indifferent look. "The time limit for each part of the examination is two hours. You may decide on the subject you wish to start with yourself." Sheng Feilong nodded and walked over to the machine parts and looked at Ro Julei. "Senior Ro, I would like to start with the flaw identification."

Ro Julei nodded and put a watch on the table next to him. "You have two hours starting from now."

Sheng Feilong instantly got to work. Picking up the first machine part, a small cylinder shaped metal case that was open on one side and started to use his Spirit Power to observe it. Ro Julei's eyebrows rised lightly when he felt Sheng Feilong's Spirit Power, but he didn't say anything.

Time passed quietly as none of them spoke. After about seven minutes, Sheng Feilong began to speak, his eyes still focused on the cylinder in his hands. "Sixth ranked military grade Occellion Booster, a standard booster unit for Yellow grade military Mechas. Composed of eight miniature soul engines, four main and four subs, and eight-core circuitry to connect it to the main power system of the Mecha. There's a flaw in the second sub-engine: The soul condensator isn't connected, causing an imbalance in power output which results in the destabilization of the Mecha's balance if used in the field."

(A/N: I have absolutely no idea about machinery and made all of this stuff up, so please don't judge me.)

Ro Julei said nothing and just waited for Sheng Feilong to continue with the test. The latter put down the cylindrical machine after about a few seconds and grabbed the next machine. Observing it for another few minutes, he gave Ro Julei his next report. Then grabbed the next machine, observed it, and gave another report.

This continued for about one and a half hours until he was done with all ten machines. Ro Julei stopped the time when Sheng Feilong turned back to him. "Total time is 89 minutes and 52 seconds. All ten sixth ranked machines have been evaluated. You have spotted and explained all flows for every single part perfectly. You pass the first part of the Mecha Maker examination."

Sheng Feilong smiled and bowed lightly to Ro Julei. The latter just nodded before asking Sheng Feilong which part he wanted to do next. Sheng Feilong looked at the other two tests and thought about it for a moment before deciding to do some hands on work with the four Spirit Alloys he was presented.

With his current focus on creating Battle Armour which required him to be able to work with five metal Spirit Alloys, he was absolutely confident in being able to clear the test as he only needed to be able to work with three different four metal Spirit Alloys.

40 minutes later, Ro Julei stared at his back with a frown. Although he had faked a calm countenance at the start, he was already slightly shocked that Sheng Feilong managed to spot the flaws in all ten machines, but now he perfectly worked the four metal Spirit Alleys into shape in just this short amount of time.

Quickly hiding his expression when Sheng Feiong turned back to him, he announced the results, giving Sheng Feilong a perfect grade and they soon started the last test. Sheng Feilong just smiled and sported his Spirit Power to read through the blueprints in record time. As a Spirit Abyss level expert, he would be able to handle eighth ranked blueprints with ease, much less sixth ranked ones.

In the end, Ro Julei asked She Meixiao to come in again and told both her and Sheng Feilong that Sheng Feilong passed with flying colours and easily matches the standards of top sixth ranked Mecha Makers. They thanked him and then left.

On the way out, although happy, Sheng Feilong couldn't understand Ro Julei's attitude. Although he himself was a Mecha Maker, he didn't seem happy to see Sheng Feilong succeed. Asking She Meixiao about it, the latter calmly explained to him. "Sir Ro is similar to you. He was an icredibly talented Mecha maker who reached the sixth rank at the age of 19, then the seventh rank at the age of 22 and finally the eighth rank just after he turned 27. But he has been stagnant since then. It's not that he lacks the talent, but he advanced too fast without fortifying his own foundations."

Sheng Feilong frowned as he understood what She Meixiao meant. "...He'll never be able to reach the ninth rank because he was too hasty before. So, he's reacting like that because he doesn't want me to make the same mistake?"

She Meixiao nodded. "Yes. He might seem like a grumpy and petty man, but he really is just concerned about your future; He values talent very highly."