Digimon: I really didn't want to be the Digimon Emperor!

"Ding! Ding! Ding!"

As the hammering continued, Cheng Yuan's arms began to tremble. Just as he was about to give up, the second clone of the little dog beast took over the forging hammer, and its movements were even more precise than the beast tamer's.

In the eyes of the village chief, this was Cheng Yuan simultaneously controlling two clones to carry out precise cooperation—a level of control that is extremely rare among growing Digimon.

As the final hammer fell, a gleaming silver metal ingot appeared on the screen, its surface marked with pale gold patterns.

"How did it go?" Cheng Yuan asked nervously.

The village chief carefully examined the metal tablet, his eyes gleaming with an unusual light: "The method of forging with holy light and heat is very innovative, and the holy light endows the metal tablet with special properties. It is truly remarkable that such an effect can be achieved with such a crude forging technique."

“However, what’s most remarkable is that I sensed a trace of ‘Digital Spirit of Light’ in this metal tablet. That’s what makes you truly outstanding.” The village chief’s deep voice was filled with undisguised amazement.

"The Digital Spirit of Light?"

He quietly asked the little dog, "What did you do?"

The little dog shook its head in confusion.

Seeing Cheng Yuan's confusion, the village chief let out a meaningful chuckle and said, "The digital spirit is not in your power, but here." Its thick surgical finger poked Cheng Yuan's chest.

Cheng Yuan realized that it referred to the digital spirit, which did not originate from the power of the dog beast, but from his own soul.

Cheng Yuan was so provoked that he took two steps back. At this moment, he had to respond: "I don't know anything about digital spirit, but I believe that only those who have light in their hearts can become light."

Village Chief Long nodded in satisfaction and said, "Okay! I understand the basic situation. Next, everyone take your room number and go back to your rooms to wait. A suitable master will come to find you later."

"As for you," Village Chief Long suddenly turned to Cheng Yuan, "come with me to a place."

"So this is how they start treating people differently?" Xing Siting and Chang Ying watched this scene with a mixture of helplessness and envy.

Xu Bing couldn't help but mutter to herself, "No wonder they're reserve members of the Twelve Divine Generals, their abilities are truly exceptional..."

After passing through several archways inlaid with luminous minerals, Cheng Yuan followed Village Chief Long to a stunning circular hall.

The walls are covered with lifelike relief murals, and on the dome, a huge crystal emits a soft light, making the whole space look like a dream.

The Dragon Village Chief's smile vanished abruptly, his metallic scales rising slightly, his expression becoming unusually solemn. He lowered his body, his hot breath almost touching Cheng Yuan's face: "Young man, tell me your name." His thick claws gently rested on Cheng Yuan's shoulder. "And... what is your connection with Sky City?"

Cheng Yuan knew that the Sky City that the village chief mentioned was the mysterious place where the legendary angel-type Digimon lived.

He straightened his back and said frankly, "My name is Cheng Yuan, and I have nothing to do with Sky City." After a pause, he added, "I came to Forging Village this time to find the most skilled master to guide me into the world of armor forging."

The village chief's pupils suddenly contracted: "Do you know how strong your talent is? The purity of your light attribute energy is astonishing!"

Hmm? You're only concerned with the Light attribute? Not the dual system of Divine and Light attributes?

He also hadn't expected to become involved with the digital spirit without even realizing it.

“I haven’t seen a Digimon like you that has conceived a DigiSpirit at such a young age in a long time,” the village chief said with admiration. “If you can master the techniques and use the right materials, you can create armor of the mature stage during your growth phase.”

Cheng Yuan's eyes lit up: "Then can we forge armor that can evolve from its growth stage to its mature stage?"

Village Chief Long was taken aback for a moment, then burst into deafening laughter that made all the metal tools in the forging workshop tremble: "Hahaha! Kid, your idea is pretty audacious!"

It slammed its forging hammer heavily against the anvil, sparks flying. "No matter how strong digital armor is, it can only reach its limits within the same tier. The energy gap that transcends evolutionary stages? That's just a dream!"

It wiped away the tears of laughter, and its tone turned serious: "However... if one is willing to put in the hard work and spend five to ten years researching and developing, it is not impossible to create armor that allows the mature stage to break through to the peak stage."

The village chief looked at Cheng Yuan meaningfully, "This depends not only on talent, but also on ten years of consistent hard work."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Yuan gasped – five years, ten years? What a joke! He could only stay in this secret realm of time and space for a maximum of 30 days, not to mention he had to search for that elusive light of evolution.

"The assessment in 25 days will be a piece of cake for you." Village Chief Long patted him on the shoulder. "I will personally teach you. Just stay with me for 20 days of seclusion to master the basic techniques and your special forging method. However..."

It suddenly moved closer, its hot breath hitting Cheng Yuan's face: "I'm very curious, how did you manage to cultivate a digital spirit?"

Cheng Yuan racked his brains but couldn't figure out what his connection was with the Light Digital Spirit. Could it be because he watched too much Ultraman when he was a kid?

"Is this... very difficult?" he asked an extremely irritating question.

Village Chief Long: "..."

Chapter 88 Armor Forging and the Legacy of the Digital Spirit

Upon hearing this, the village chief was so angry that his beard bristled: "Isn't that a pointless question? The Dragon Leader was able to become the leader of the Humanoid Alliance precisely because it mastered the Courageous Digital Spirit! This power allowed it to achieve a qualitative leap in both combat and forging."

It began to detail the task: "Next, I will arrange a dedicated workshop for you, providing ample ore and materials."

Its rough dragon claws pointed to the mountain of ore piled up outside the door. "Your task is to hone your skills through forging and strive to pass the test within 25 days."

“More importantly, you need to nurture your Digital Spirit through forging.” The village chief’s voice suddenly became serious. “Right now, your Light Digital Spirit is just a fragile seed that could wither at any time. The attribute bonus it can currently provide to forging is too weak, making you no different from an ordinary forger.”

Cheng Yuan nodded earnestly on the surface, but his thoughts had already drifted far away.

If I could truly master the Digital Spirit of Light, the most likely thing I would create is the Digital Armor Egg of Light. But...

He glanced at the little dogmon on his shoulder, and the image of Gatomon evolving into Nefertimon through the DigiArmor in the second season of the anime flashed through his mind, causing a strange pang in his heart...

A grotesque, expressionless beast...

The village chief did not notice his distraction and let him look at the murals in the hall first, while he went to arrange the instructors for the other five people.

After Village Chief Long left, Cheng Yuan let out a long sigh of relief and slumped onto the stone chair. The little dog beast lay on his lap, while the gear beast curiously looked around.

"Opportunity truly favors the prepared mind," Cheng Yuan murmured to himself.

On second thought, even without the Digital Armor Egg, just learning the Digital Armor Enhancement Technique is very valuable.

The real world has already begun to promote arc light machines and tactical chips. If the "armor enhancement" technology can be integrated into the chip, more tactical combinations can definitely be developed.

Seeing that Village Chief Long wouldn't be back anytime soon, Cheng Yuan decided to look at the murals, so he leisurely looked at them with his hands behind his back.

Although these murals are crudely made, their content is extremely impressive.

There are three murals in total.

The first illustration depicts the Digimon—including Digimon Beast and Digimon Angel—leading various races in their fight against the forces of darkness.

Holy light and ferocious darkness collided fiercely in the center of the image, angels spread their wings, and holy beasts roared and charged.

In the end, light triumphed over darkness, but the sacred beasts and angels chose to live in seclusion, giving all races an opportunity for development.

"This is practically a digital version of a war between gods and demons!?" Cheng Yuan exclaimed inwardly.

The second mural depicts heroes from various races, with the most powerful among them revered as the "Ultimate Warriors." Although the image quality is rough, Cheng Yuan immediately recognized the ten most prominent figures—the "Ten Warriors" from the fourth animated series!

"This is too..." Cheng Yuan was so shocked that he couldn't speak.

The third mural depicts a post-war reconstruction scene, where the dragon-human craftsmen are forging weapons and armor.

The backstories of the two anime series, Digimon Adventure 2 and The Legend of the Ten Touhou Project 4, unexpectedly converge at this point in time.

However, the ultimate-level monsters in these stories are all hidden from view, too far removed from my own existence. Right now, the most important thing is to research armor evolution and help Ancientmon find the light of evolution.

Perhaps armor evolution will be the key to finding the light of evolution.

Just as Cheng Yuan was still reeling from the shock, Village Chief Long returned: "If you've seen enough, let's begin the training."

Led by Village Chief Long, Cheng Yuan arrived at a stone house that combined a studio and a rest area. Village Chief Long solemnly said, "From now on, you only need to focus on practicing one of the most basic skills."

"What ability?" Cheng Yuan asked curiously.

“Hammering and refining metal.” Village Chief Long pointed to the mountain of ore piled up outside the house. “I send over a large amount of ore every day. Your training involves using the ‘Holy Light Forging’ method to infuse the ore with your digital spirit for forging. You hone your hammering skills while strengthening your digital spirit. Once you've hammered all the ore outside, this training will be complete.”

Cheng Yuan was so shocked by the two tons of ore outside the door that his jaw almost dropped.

Although he understood the principle of "even an iron pestle can be ground into a needle," he only had 30 days in this time and space!

But looking at the stern look in Village Chief Long's eyes, Cheng Yuan knew there was no room for discussion.

Fortunately, here, he and Puppymon are one, and together they are just one Digimon in the eyes of Chief Dragon. The skills that Puppymon uses are the same skills that he, Originmon, uses.

"Watch closely!" Village Chief Long demonstrated, striking the red-hot ore with a forging hammer. "Forging isn't for show! Heating is to activate impurities, which are then removed through forging."

The Gear Beast standing nearby suddenly realized—wasn't this just data cleaning in programming? Finding and removing gibberish from a pile of code. Now, it was using programming thinking to understand everything before it.

"Start practicing! Infuse the ore with the spirit of digital technology, and do as I say."

Cheng Yuan picked up the forging hammer, and the little dog beast tacitly separated a clone to take the pliers, while the main body released holy light bullets to heat the ore.

The clone used pliers to hold the ore in place, while Cheng Yuan swung a forging hammer and, following instructions, guided the faint digital spiritual energy of light within his body into the ore, rhythmically forging it.

Two hours later, a metal ingot was finally hammered out.

More than a hundred pieces of ore were used to make one piece.

Cheng Yuan felt like his arm wasn't his own anymore, and that he was about to fall apart.

This hammer alone weighs several dozen pounds. I'm just an ordinary high school student, a frail animal trainer. What have I done to deserve this?

The village chief nodded reluctantly: "The speed is a bit slow, but it will improve." After instructing them to continue practicing, it prepared to leave.

Cheng Yuan suddenly called out to it: "The martyrs in the mural all have a digital spirit. If we want to cultivate more digital spirits, what methods are there?"

The village chief looked at him in surprise: "Quite ambitious! Isn't the Spirit of Light and Digital Arts enough?"

Cheng Yuan chuckled.

Chief Long pondered for a moment: "Powerful forging techniques and digital spirit are passed down through generations. For example, our Forging Fire Village has inherited the fire-based forging method and the courageous digital spirit training method."

It raised its head and looked in one direction, its voice becoming distant: "Digital Spirit is extremely rare, and many Digimon spend their entire lives pursuing it. But we, the Dragonkin, have a sacred place where we can comprehend Digital Spirit."

"In the great war between the forces of light and darkness, countless top fighters either died or went into seclusion. But AncientGreymon, known as the ultimate fighter, did not die, but slumbers somewhere like a guardian deity."

Awe flashed in the eyes of the village chief, "That place is filled with the might of an Ultimate-level dragon, which is difficult for any Digimon except itself to withstand. Countless forgers and warriors who pursue the ultimate have risked going there to face the spiritual pressure of AncientGreymon in an attempt to comprehend the DigiSpirit of Courage."

"Over the years, very few have succeeded. But the second-generation leader of the humanoid Digimon—the Dragon Leader—is the one who has reached the top."

Chapter 89 I'm in charge!

"AncientGreymon?" Cheng Yuan's pupils contracted slightly. This was a being far beyond ordinary Ultimate-level beings. Could it still be alive?

So, this era must have been before the tyranny of the Light Beasts?

Moreover, the Dragonkin actually know its whereabouts. Could it be that it is the guardian deity of the Digimon Alliance?

These key pieces of information must be memorized.

Cheng Yuan: I see. That place...

Village Chief Long interrupted his thoughts: "Practice your basic skills first, don't think too much. Not just anyone can go there. Only the most outstanding forgers can go there for further training. If you want to experience it remotely, you should at least pass the junior forger qualification, right?"

"Furthermore," Chief Dragon added before turning away, "now that you already possess the Digitic Spirit of Light, don't be greedy for the Digitic Spirit of Courage. Focusing on one thing will allow you to go further."

Watching the village chief's departing figure, Cheng Yuan rubbed his sore arm, his eyes darting around, and asked the little dog beast, "Little dog beast, how are our previous training sessions on the Holy Light Bullet's endurance and the materialization of clones going?"

That was a concept to materialize the shadow clones, and it's already been achieved for a short time; the clones were just helping with ore refining. But for long-term sustainability…

"Woof! I've been practicing all along." The little dog blinked its big, watery eyes.

"I remember you were already able to use your clone to help with housework while watching TV with your main body, right?"

The little dog's ears drooped instantly, and it nodded guiltily: "I guess I've gained some insights."

“I have an idea.” Cheng Yuan approached mysteriously. “Could you replenish the Holy Light Bullet and the clone with energy and data every now and then, so that they can automatically continue their operation, similar to… charging for five minutes and talking for two hours?”

The little dog beast fell into deep thought. Five minutes of charging, two hours of talk time? What kind of special training is this?

Clang clang clang!

Soon, the sound of rhythmic hammering came from the workshop.

As the village chief passed by, he nodded with satisfaction, unaware that three little dog beast clones were busy inside the room.

Meanwhile, on the stone-paved road of Forging Fire Village—

"A worm at work, a dragon after get off work..." Cheng Yuan, carrying his little dog, dressed in modern high school clothes, looked like a street urchin, out of place in the ancient streets of Duanhuo Village, standing out conspicuously on the bustling stone-paved road.

"Is it really okay for us to leave Gearmon behind and sneak out like this?" Puppymon's voice was filled with unease.

“You can just go back to recharge every two hours, right?” Cheng Yuan laughed. “Besides, Gear Beast himself is interested in forging techniques and wants to stay and continue to observe. It’s good to have him keep an eye on things.”

"Okay, keep banging and banging, I'm getting so bored, it's even more painful than being trained," the little dog agreed.

Cheng Yuan thought to himself, if he were to use this method to forge the seed of light and digital spirit, it would probably take forever for it to grow.

In Forging Village, there are forgers or dragon-people who risk their lives under the ultimate dragon's might to comprehend the Divine Spirit of Courage.

So, could it be that the ancient Garuru also hid in some secluded place, and that the spirit of light and digital technology also had a place to be inherited and comprehended?

There is also friendship, innocence, knowledge, love, and compassion.

A flash of inspiration struck Cheng Yuan. Based on his understanding of the digital world, the nine Digimon that appeared in the second season of the anime were merely a portion of the legacy left behind by the ancient Digimon in response to the crisis, like the tip of an iceberg.