"Do you know how to forge a true divine weapon?" Lou Gao's eyes sparkled with excitement. Just the Waterfall and Water Chant sword alone had completely captivated him, and now Tianlin was saying there was an actual method for forging a true divine weapon.
This had always been his life's dream.
Looking across the history of the Douluo Continent, in the past ten thousand years, only two tool martial souls had reached the level of divine weapon martial souls: the strongest weapon that commands the seas, the Sea God Trident, and the pinnacle of sword martial souls, the Qing Jue Sword.
Take the Clear Sky Hammer, for example. Though it's acclaimed as the number one tool martial soul in the world, it still falls short compared to those two.
Lou Gao knew nothing about the Sea God Trident, so he could only focus on recreating the Qing Jue Sword, using the Blacksmith Association's old manuscripts. But starting from scratch, no matter how hard he tried, all he could do was make the sword sharper—he had no clue about the magical properties of a divine sword.
"Senior, please take a look at these two blueprints!" Tianlin took out the forging blueprints for the Feiwen Huari and Shetian swords, which he had prepared long ago, and handed them to Lou Gao.
An expert sees the essence. What looked like an incomprehensible mess to outsiders was, to Lou Gao, a broad and direct road straight to forging divine weapons.
"Amazing, simply amazing!" Lou Gao was like a traveler finding an oasis after a long drought, completely absorbed in the blueprints. "So the legendary ore refining by fire really exists, and this is how it's used. But according to these instructions, how can the Feiwen Huari sword unleash earth-shattering power as described?"
"Teacher, you—" Si Long tried to ask.
Unexpectedly, Lou Gao pushed him away. "Don't disturb me! All of you, get out! I need to think!"
Tianlin smiled, "Let's go, everyone. I don't think Senior Lou Gao will be interested in anything else for a while. Let's look around the blacksmith association."
Haste makes waste. Tianlin knew it wasn't the right time to invite Lou Gao.
He had to wait until Lou Gao had studied the blueprints thoroughly but still found nothing. That would be the best opportunity.
As for whether Lou Gao would figure it out—Tianlin was certain he couldn't. Although the blueprints mentioned the method of infusing souls and channeling spirits, they didn't say how to do it. Lou Gao had never practiced spiritual power. Even given a hundred years, he wouldn't be able to figure it out. By then, it wouldn't be Tianlin inviting him; Lou Gao would shamelessly pester Tianlin himself.
Leaving the blacksmith association, Tianlin planned to take Ning Rongrong for a proper tour of the city of metals. After all, he remembered there were many rare metals here, and clueless merchants often tossed them aside as junk.
With Ning Rongrong, the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda soul master, here today, how could he not scoop up every last treasure?
Leaving the elders Dragon Duke, Snake Lady, and Bai He at the blacksmith association to wait for Lou Gao, Tianlin took Ning Rongrong, Bai Chenxiang, and Ma Hongjun to the marketplace.
But as soon as they left the blacksmith association, they were surrounded by more than a dozen people.
Tianlin glanced at them—every one was over Rank 50, a Soul King. In a place like Gengxin City, only the Blacksmith Association or Spirit Hall could have such strength.
"You're from the branch of Spirit Hall, aren't you? What do you want with our blacksmith association's honored guests?" Si Long's words confirmed Tianlin's guess—these were indeed people from Gengxin City's branch Spirit Hall.
"Heh, blacksmith association? What's that worth?" An elder approached with a sneer—it was Meyers. "Si Long, do you know what status you hold as a grandmaster-level blacksmith on the Douluo Continent?"
As soon as Meyers finished, his lackey chimed in, "Still just a blacksmith!"
"That's right, still just a blacksmith. Pitiful that you're a dignified Soul Sage, yet you fare worse than some Soul Ancestors. I've told you many times to merge the blacksmith association into Spirit Hall, but you refuse to take the easy road. Utterly foolish!" Meyers mocked.
Si Long's face darkened with anger. "Meyers, what does that have to do with now? You haven't answered—why did you have people surround my honored guests?"
"We received a report: yesterday, when Lou Gao the master blacksmith's disciple was selling weapons, he was disrupted by soul masters. Spirit Hall has been asked to investigate. At the time, the only soul masters with that blacksmith were this group. So I have reason to suspect they did it. Now, I'll take them for questioning. All soul masters are under Spirit Hall's jurisdiction!" Meyers was arrogant, reminiscent of Ghost Douluo at the Title Douluo Ceremony and Gold Crocodile Douluo during the soul hunt—except his strength wasn't even fit to polish their shoes.
"Nonsense! That blacksmith was impersonating Master Lou Gao's disciple and scamming people. We only exposed him!" Ning Rongrong protested.
Her angry, pouting look made her even cuter than usual, immediately drawing Meyers's attention.
Seeing the beautiful Ning Rongrong and the equally enchanting Bai Chenxiang holding hands beside her, Meyers realized Aqi hadn't lied—these two beauties were on a whole different level from the plain girls he played with yesterday.
"Quick, take them back! Kill anyone who resists!" Meyers ordered excitedly, swallowing hard.
Such lecherous behavior made Tianlin furious. Coveting others was one thing, but daring to look at his Rongrong like that—he must be tired of living.
"Hmph!" With a cold shout, Tianlin unleashed his immense soul power and terrifying murderous intent. The soul masters preparing to attack immediately felt their chests tighten, unable to move; some even fainted from fear.
Meyers hadn't expected Tianlin, who looked so young, to have such deep soul power. For a moment, even Meyers, a Soul Emperor, couldn't budge. Was this boy a Soul Sage or even a Soul Douluo?
Spirit Hall held massive power; Meyers hadn't been exaggerating. Even the city lord of Gengxin City would have to show him respect. Soul masters were already a noble class, and with Spirit Hall's influence, Meyers was like a local tyrant. But in the world of soul masters, strength is what matters most.
"Meyers, you said just now that all soul masters are under Spirit Hall's control, right? Then I'll confess: I accidentally killed two people with my soul power. These things fell from their bodies—do you recognize them?" Tianlin stepped forward, took out two tokens from his soul tool, and threw them to the ground.