Cooperation (Please Follow!!!)

Gengxin City.

Xiao Ming's Forge Shop.

Ever since Ning Yuan had left with a piece of Thousand Forgings First Grade metal, ten days had passed without any forging sounds coming from Su Ming's workshop. Only a bear and a youth remained seated cross-legged in meditation, cultivating.

"Roar!" (I'm coming in!)

Su Ming kept his eyes closed, his brow furrowing.

Little Gold had picked up bad habits.

"Roar!" (Soul Master, hurry up and release the Soul Ring! My Dark Gold Power needs to go in!)

Knock, knock, knock.

The knocking interrupted the man and bear's cultivation.

Su Ming opened his eyes, a glint flashing through them.

He sensed a faint yet discernible pressure of Soul Power outside the door.

Very strong.

There were two people.

One was exceedingly forceful, while the other carried a trace of gentleness amid his strength.

Su Ming was initially surprised by how quickly the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had acted, then relaxed.

He had guessed who had come. Naturally, it was the squishy sect master Ning Fengzhi, along with Gu Rong, the Bone Douluo who specialized in playing the bad guy alongside him.

For the leader of a sect to personally visit despite the risk of assassination was already a show of utmost sincerity. Moreover, he had brought Gu Rong, who was skilled at playing the bad guy and belonged to the defense system, rather than Chen Xin of the power attack system.

Whether this sect was truly black-hearted or not, at least the sincerity it displayed before him was genuine.

Before he had even opened the door to welcome them, Su Ming was already looking forward to it.

"Roar?" (Who's here?)

Little Gold opened his eyes as well and looked toward the door.

After being taught by Su Ming for so long, he had memorized many rules. Normally, he could restrain himself from smashing things recklessly or flying into a rage at will.

The Soul Master had told him that his nature was supposed to be wild and savage, but endlessly venting it would not benefit meditation and cultivation. If he could instead control it freely—cultivating his mind and temperament in daily life, meditating to accumulate strength, then entering a berserk state in battle—he would experience even more deeply the exhilaration of his instincts erupting.

At first, Little Gold had been forced to do so.

But ever since that evolution, he had begun restraining himself willingly. When he evolved into a Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear that time, merely roaring a few times had made him feel as if all the bloodline power in his body was about to burn out, leaving him indescribably exhilarated.

Compared to constantly indulging his nature, holding it in for a long time before releasing it once was unexpectedly more satisfying.

Of course, holding it in was genuinely painful too.

Painful as it was, under Su Ming's restraint, he meditated every day and often forged until he was utterly exhausted, without even the strength to go berserk. Naturally, he persevered and gradually formed the habit.

That was also why, despite finally sensing that he was about to truly gain control over Su Ming's first Soul Ring and then suddenly being interrupted, he did not fly into a rage.

"Come back. No need to hide."

Su Ming pressed Little Gold down, making him remain where he was and continue cultivating, while he rose to open the door.

Now that he understood what he could seek for his two future selves through Dou Yi, many of Su Ming's plans had changed.

The first was the spread of the techniques he possessed.

Could hoarding the technique of Thousand Forgings with Spirit make him stronger?

No.

Could hoarding Soul Spirit technology make him rich?

No.

On the contrary, spreading these two things could earn Rank for his future self.

The Spirit Infusion technique he possessed depended on Soul Spirits, so spreading forging techniques could not be separated from spreading Soul Spirit technology.

By spreading them now, he could first harvest Rank for the future, and second exploit the information gap. Since others did not yet know where the true strength of these two technologies lay, it would be safer to spread them.

For example, a Soul Spirit Contract directly opened up a Sea of Consciousness, benefiting a Soul Master's Spiritual Power cultivation. Other than Su Ming and his master, no one knew this. Even if he revealed the existence of Soul Spirits now, other Soul Masters would not know unless he took the initiative to tell them. Instead, if Su Ming emphasized the difficulty and drawbacks of obtaining Soul Spirits, then during the earliest stage of their exposure, Soul Spirits would become exclusive to blacksmiths who wished to master Thousand Forgings with Spirit.

As for spreading the technologies during the Dou Yi era and losing his advantage?

What Su Ming possessed was the future—a mature system—not these two foundational technologies.

So what if other Soul Masters had Soul Spirits? So what if they wielded weapons and armor equipped with Spiritual Metal? Would such primitive applications pose any obstacle to Su Ming?

The first step in spreading these two technologies was reforming the Blacksmith Association and making it the core location for Soul Spirit and Thousand Forgings with Spirit technology. The second was obtaining the support of several major powers to establish balance.

That way, when outsiders eventually discovered the "surprises" within these two technologies, they would only marvel at the genius behind the two great systems created by Su Ming, rather than develop malicious thoughts such as covetousness.

Having thought all this through, Su Ming had a reason to hold Little Gold back today.

Little Gold could reveal himself before outsiders.

At the same time, Ning Fengzhi's personal visit today was crucial.

If Ning Yuan had come today, Su Ming would only have continued operating slowly, gradually steering things toward cooperation.

But since Ning Fengzhi had come in person and shown his sincerity, he wanted to settle everything in one go.

If they truly proved blind to reason and the situation spiraled out of control, Su Ming still had the bare minimum confidence—he could take Ning Fengzhi down with him.

When he opened the door, the two people outside were exactly as Su Ming had guessed—Ning Fengzhi, dressed in refined scholarly robes, and Gu Rong, whose face was gaunt, skin shriveled, and skeletal frame astonishingly large.

Ning Fengzhi swept his gaze across the room. Aside from noticing Su Ming, his eyes immediately locked onto Little Gold, who was cultivating nearby.

His pupils constricted.

Realizing something, he swiftly turned back to look at Gu Rong. Seeing that Gu Rong displayed nothing beyond confusion and made no unusual move, he quietly relaxed.

Not a Soul Beast in human form.

Seeing Ning Fengzhi's reaction, Su Ming also breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sect Master Ning, your visit honors this humble place. Please forgive me for failing to welcome you properly." Su Ming took the initiative to speak. "This is Little Gold, my partner. He is also related to what we will be discussing next."

A trace of surprise flashed through Ning Fengzhi's eyes.

Glancing down at the emblem of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect on his chest, he laughed softly.

This little boy was truly sharp-minded.

"Since you've already guessed it, I'll get straight to the point. Can you reliably forge that Thousand Forgings First Grade metal?" Ning Fengzhi asked. "Also, you're about the same age as my daughter. If you don't mind, you can call me Uncle Ning. There's no need to keep addressing me as Sect Master Ning."

"Uncle Ning."

Su Ming called out to him. Ning Fengzhi's initiative in allowing him to call him Uncle Ning helped him relax further.

After quietly mocking Ning Yuan in his heart for getting such a huge advantage, Su Ming answered Ning Fengzhi's earlier question.

"Thousand Forgings First Grade can be mass-produced."

"Kid, take us to see your teacher. Don't tell me you're the one planning to cooperate with us?" Gu Rong interjected at that moment.

"What you need is Spiritual Metal, and I can forge it. Why shouldn't you cooperate with me?" Su Ming asked in return, then continued, "Besides, it would be useless for you to talk with my teacher. At present, I'm the only one who has mastered Thousand Forgings First Grade. Of course, if you're willing to wait, my teacher should be able to master it before long as well."

Ning Fengzhi looked utterly bewildered.

He genuinely failed to react at first.

What did he mean, only you had mastered it right now, and then your teacher would soon master it?

Wasn't that backwards?

After taking a moment, he seemed to realize something and looked toward Little Gold, who was cultivating behind Su Ming.

"If I remember correctly, you said just now that he was related to what we were going to discuss. So it's because of him?"

"Yes."

Su Ming turned and called to Little Gold behind him.

"Little Gold, stop cultivating. Come over and show them."

Little Gold's ears twitched. He rose and quietly padded over to Su Ming's right side.

As for why it was the right side, it was because Su Ming's left side needed to directly face Gu Rong.

"Huh!"

Now that he was closer, Ning Fengzhi inspected him carefully and noticed something unusual about Little Gold.

"He doesn't have a physical body!"

"That's right." Su Ming said. "He is a new form of soul ring that I accidentally created."

"A form of soul ring?"

Ning Fengzhi was confused again.

How had this become connected to soul rings again?

"That's right. Little Gold is actually my soul ring. During the process of absorbing the soul ring, his soul was preserved, and he formed a contract with me. Using my soul ring to carry his Origin, he ultimately became this spiritual form. I call him a Soul Spirit."

Listening to Su Ming's explanation, Ning Fengzhi clicked his tongue in amazement.

The Douluo Continent truly had no shortage of strange wonders. Who would have thought that absorbing a soul ring could result in such an experience?

"The prerequisite for mass-producing Spiritual Metal is Spirit Infusion technology, and that technology cannot be separated from Soul Spirits. At present, Little Gold is the only Soul Spirit on the continent, which is why I said that only I currently possess the forging method for Thousand Forgings First Grade."

"But you said your teacher would soon be able to do it as well," Ning Fengzhi said.

He had analyzed a great deal from that. First and foremost, Zhu Jiuyang had broken through to rank eighty and was seeking a way to obtain his Eighth Soul Ring. Only after that came the implication that the accident involving Soul Spirits seemed replicable.

"Uncle Ning, let's discuss our cooperation first. What form of partnership does Uncle Ning have in mind?"

"What ideas do you have?"

Ning Fengzhi had not come with a fully prepared proposal this time. Instead, he intended to hear what Su Ming and Zhu Jiuyang had in mind.

From what he could sense, Su Ming and Zhu Jiuyang seemed to have some special plans for changing the status of blacksmiths, and they might have particular requirements regarding this cooperation.

"I have two models here. One is to continue the previous cooperation model: I handle the forging, you provide the requirements, and in the end, payment and goods are exchanged directly. Of course, my compensation under this arrangement would need to be rare metals. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect should have collected quite a few metals with special properties, and those are the rare metals I need."

A sharp gleam flashed through Ning Fengzhi's eyes.

Metals with special properties!

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda possessed a talent for finding treasure. Whenever it encountered valuables, it would sense them instinctively. Using this ability, it had collected a vast number of treasures, including metals with special properties. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had conducted extensive research on these metals, but aside from their inherent special traits, they had discovered nothing else unusual. And those traits themselves were not especially useful—merely curious effects, like a luminous pearl glowing in the dark.

Though they had failed to learn anything from them, the fact that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda always reacted to these metals meant they were treasures. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect still collected them whenever it found them.

Now, however, these metals truly seemed extraordinary. With Thousand Forgings First Grade techniques, Su Ming appeared to have discovered their purpose.

Could it be that their so-called special properties were merely outward manifestations before activation, and that once activated, those traits would transform into some kind of ability?

"What about the other mode?"