Bibi Dong was not angered.
There was nothing inappropriate about Yueguan's words.
"Your Holiness, the Blacksmith Association is located within the Star Luo Empire, making it naturally suited for cooperation with the Star Luo side. Furthermore, the Star Luo Empire's military strength clearly surpasses that of the Heaven Dou Empire. If the balance is lost, the Star Luo Empire encroaching upon Heaven Dou would be imminent."
Yueguan now spoke about the current situation.
"Maintaining stability between the two great empires is beneficial for our operations. If a large-scale war breaks out and the Star Luo Empire annexes Heaven Dou, then our intervention would be very passive, even unable to seize the initiative."
Yueguan's explanation was very thorough; clearly, his urgency to go to the Blacksmith Association to negotiate cooperation was also due to the situation between the two empires.
The Blacksmith Association cannot be allowed to fall solely into the hands of the Star Luo Empire; cooperation must also be established with the Heaven Dou Empire to maintain balance.
And the Spirit Hall would be the bridge therein.
As for who should appear, it certainly couldn't be those from the Elder Hall, because Yueguan knew that Qian Renxue was undercover in Heaven Dou. If the Spirit Hall's contact with the Blacksmith Association at this time was also from Qian Renxue's faction, it would be very unfavorable for their Pope's faction.
"Proceed as you said. You go and negotiate with Zhu Jiuyang."
Bibi Dong agreed to let Yueguan go to negotiate cooperation.
She glanced at Gui Mei beside her and nodded.
Although it was said that Yueguan would go, he and Gui Mei would actually go together.
Gengxin City.
Xiao Ming Forging Shop.
A middle-aged man stood in front of the forging shop, looking at it and falling into thought.
The man was tall and burly, reeking of alcohol, dressed very shabbily. A tattered robe hung on his body, without even patches, revealing bronzed skin through the torn holes. The face under the hood was full of vicissitudes; originally somewhat regular features were covered with a sallow complexion, eyes drowsy and dull, yellowish, hair messy like a bird's nest, and a beard that looked like it hadn't been trimmed for who knows how long.
Tang Hao looked at the forging shop before him, his puzzlement having risen to its peak.
Rising along with the puzzlement was killing intent.
"My control over killing intent shouldn't have failed."
After obtaining the Killing God Domain back then, he had undergone relevant training to收敛 (conceal) his killing intent. Could it be that neglecting his cultivation for so many years had caused changes in the Killing God Domain?
"It's a good thing that the iron smithing field is undergoing reform. Why would I generate killing intent..."
Tang Hao took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and calmed his heart.
He took one more look at the Xiao Ming Forging Shop, which caused his aversion and inexplicable rise of killing intent, then turned and left, heading into the city. He needed to properly investigate within Gengxin City.
"Spirit Metal..."
He needed to find more Spirit Metal.
Blacksmith Association, fifth floor.
"Teacher, use Blood Sacrifice!"
Su Ming suggested in a low voice.
Zhu Jiuyang, who had just completed Thousand Refined One Peak, didn't hesitate upon hearing this and immediately began letting his blood.
Within his blood, the Sacred Flame surged into the rare metal before him.
After the Blood Sacrifice, a pillar of flame emitting a sacred aura rose up, fully three feet high!
A one-foot spiritual light indicated Thousand Refined One Peak. This three-foot light was an achievement that even many Sacred Blacksmiths in later eras could only accomplish when in good condition.
Precisely because this forging was so perfect, Su Ming suggested the Blood Sacrifice to Zhu Jiuyang. After the Blood Sacrifice, Zhu Jiuyang's vitality was briefly connected to this metal, which was very conducive to inducing the metal to complete Spirit Refinement!
That's right, this time Su Ming saw the possibility of his teacher successfully achieving Spirit Refinement.
Zhu Jiuyang lost quite a bit of blood, but this had little effect on him. He circulated his Spirit Power, swung his forging hammer, and continued forging.
Su Ming watched from the side, also adopting a learning posture.
After all, he was only a Spirit Refinement Grandmaster himself. Even if Zhu Jiuyang was merely attempting Spirit Refinement, Su Ming could learn a lot from it.
The rare metals of this era lacked 'spirit', so to refine their forging skills, Grandmaster-level iron smiths like Zhu Jiuyang had each delved to the extreme in their respective fields. Zhu Jiuyang had elevated his control over fire to the limit.
In his hands, the flame was like a dancing spirit, seemingly fierce but actually nurturing the spirituality within the metal. Each hammer strike not only penetrated power into the metal but also allowed the sacred flame to seep in along with it.
This forging technique was something he had explored and developed over the past year by combining it with his previous skills. Su Ming hadn't even witnessed it in the Douluo 3 era; it was very much worth learning.
After the Blood Sacrifice, Zhu Jiuyang could clearly feel the spirituality of the rare metal before him leaping, could sense the imminent vital force.
He poured his all into every strike.
He integrated the Sacred Flame into the rare metal, using the flame to substitute for himself merging into the metal, awakening the slumbering life.
His Martial Spirit emerged from his body.
The Zhu family's hereditary Martial Spirit was the Fire Spirit, mastering sacred attribute flames.
At this moment, a phantom in the form of flames appeared behind Zhu Jiuyang. The phantom, modeled after him, condensed behind his back.
Now, the rare metal, the Fire Spirit, and Zhu Jiuyang were closely connected.
Seeing this, Su Ming was momentarily stunned.
This...
Was this still Spirit Refinement?
Spirit Refinement bestowed vitality upon metal. After Spirit Refinement comes Soul Refinement, the purpose of which is to bestow heritage upon this new life. Generally, the blacksmith integrates their own spiritual power and Spirit Power into it, passing on their abilities and insights to the metal.
What was Zhu Jiuyang doing now?
In his attempt to achieve Spirit Refinement, he had actually entered a state of perfect integration between his Martial Spirit and the rare metal.
If he went a step further, could he achieve Soul Refinement directly?
Of course, Su Ming was overthinking it.
Zhu Jiuyang was already struggling with Spirit Refinement now. Sweat beaded on his forehead; integrating his Martial Spirit into the metal instantly fatigued his spirit, madly consuming his mental energy.
Without technique, having only the state was useless.
In an era lacking technique, Zhu Jiuyang's approach would only needlessly consume his own spirit, amplifying infinitely the cost of communication with the rare metal.
However, similarly, this intense consumption did indeed establish a deep-level connection between him and the rare metal.
A sprout of vitality emerged.
Zhu Jiuyang himself had lost count of how many strikes he had made. His perception had even blurred; the entire person was striking the hammer purely from instinct, his spirit极度疲惫 (extremely fatigued).
His whole being seemed to merge with the metal.
He only instinctively felt whether each strike was good or bad for him, adjusting the angle and force of the next strike.
"Teacher!"
Su Ming seized the opportunity, calling out to wake Zhu Jiuyang at the critical moment.
Zhu Jiuyang jolted, breaking free from the state he was just in.
He looked at the rare metal before him, saw its spirituality beginning to rapidly decline, gritted his teeth, and swung the hammer.
"Stay!"
He shouted loudly, the Sacred Flame enveloping the forging hammer and fiercely integrating into the rare metal along with this strike.
Boom!
A brilliant light erupted from the rare metal on the forging table, forming a pillar of light that shot skywards.
Sacred flames encircled this spiritual light pillar, adding vital vigor to it.
(Chapter End)