Deal Reached

In this era, Soul Spirits were a groundbreaking achievement, but their significance was not that great.

If he had not used Soul Spirits to develop Thousand Forgings with Spirit, their meaning in this era would have amounted to little more than another form of Soul Ring.

After all, Soul Spirits needed time to accumulate their influence on the Soul Master World. Only through ten thousand years of evolution like from Dou Er to Dou San could they elevate the entire Soul Master World. It was not as though they would bring benefits the moment Soul Spirits appeared.

Could one really go to a perilous place like the Star Dou Great Forest and painstakingly persuade a Soul Spirit, just to gain one more combat partner?

That was rather interesting.

Soul Spirits were not some heaven-defying technology to begin with. Why could they not be shared?

The Taiwan Novel Network Book Library was vast, t̲̲̅̅w̲̲̅̅k̲̲̅̅a̲̲̅̅n̲̲̅̅.c̲̲̅̅o̲̲̅̅m made everything worry-free

Besides, Su Ming was not promoting anything. He merely let the Soul Spirit make an appearance. Any heaven-defying advantages of Soul Spirits could be explored after one obtained one.

For now, Ning Fengzhi only knew of their drawbacks.

"Of course. After all, it is my patent." Su Ming met Ning Fengzhi's gaze and said, "Before I state what I need, let me give you a warning first. Although a Soul Spirit contract can be semi-forcibly imposed, that only applies to thousand-year Soul Beasts. Furthermore, Spirit Infusion requires the Soul Spirit's complete cooperation."

"Soul Spirits can assist Soul Masters, but how much ability they can display also depends on the Soul Master. The risk of backlash cannot be ruled out either. For example, they may vengefully shatter their Soul Rings, or even prevent the Soul Master from using the Soul Skills of the Soul Rings they bestowed during battle."

"Transforming a Soul Spirit is not difficult. The difficult part is finding a Soul Spirit willing to cooperate with Forging," Su Ming said.

Ning Fengzhi's eyes narrowed slightly.

"That will not be difficult."

Taming beasts, after all.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had immense resources and even possessed a small department dedicated to this. They had several tamed thousand-year Soul Beasts there.

"Oh, right. Spirit Infusion is not only a test for Forging Masters, but also a test for Soul Spirits. It requires talent as well. Without talent, one might not find the feeling for Spirit Infusion even after years or decades of trying."

Upon hearing Su Ming's words, Little Gold immediately perked up.

See? Bear Bear was the talented one.

And its talent was absurdly outstanding. It had succeeded on its very first try!

Ning Fengzhi's expression changed slightly.

That did give him a headache.

Still, that was a problem on his side, and one that could be resolved.

He looked at Su Ming and spoke frankly. "I can tell that the Soul Spirit contract is the key, followed by the techniques of Spirit Infusion. So this second form of cooperation can be regarded as a transaction involving these two aspects."

"That's right, Uncle Ning." Su Ming nodded. "I do not need anything else. First, in today's transaction and all our future transactions, I hope the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect will settle payment in Rare Metals, based on the current market price."

"Agreed." Ning Fengzhi did not hesitate.

"Also, I need to borrow your sect's Sword Douluo."

Borrow a Titled Douluo?

Ning Fengzhi looked puzzled.

"My teacher needs to absorb a Soul Spirit for his eighth ring. He has been searching for a long time but has not found a Soul Beast with sufficiently special circumstances. So, for now, the only solution I can think of is to beat one into submission first," Su Ming said.

Zhu Jiuyang had been searching for a Soul Ring for a long time and still had not found one.

Su Ming could only share his teacher's burden.

A glimmer flashed through Ning Fengzhi's eyes.

Zhu Jiuyang was trying to find a way to obtain his eighth Soul Ring himself rather than asking Spirit Hall for help.

In that case, having Sword Douluo accompany him to help Hunt Souls would be the perfect opportunity to win him over.

"Agreed!"

Once again, he agreed without hesitation. He looked at Su Ming and waited for his next demand.

"The new Forging system will inevitably reshape the status of blacksmiths in the future. Rare Metals will no longer be useless, and their prices may rise. Given the scale of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Uncle Ning, once you return, you will surely buy up Rare Metals in bulk before their prices increase, right?"

Ning Fengzhi nodded without concealing the thought.

Indeed.

Since they knew these materials would become valuable in the future, they would naturally stockpile them first.

Any merchant would do the same.

"I want a ten percent share of all metals the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect acquires over the next ten years," Su Ming said.

"Kid, aren't you afraid of choking on that much?" Gu Rong could not help saying.

The first two demands had been harmless. This one was outright extortion.

"I believe the price of Rare Metals will at least double. Since you will be purchasing Rare Metals ahead of time based on information from me, your profits will not be small. I only want ten percent of the metals. Even then, you will still retain at least eighty percent of the profit."

"Agreed."

Ning Fengzhi agreed.

He could tell that Su Ming was conflating concepts.

He spoke only of profits, not of investment.

With the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's enormous scale and vast connections, how terrifying would the amount of metal they acquired be?

"Kid, that should be enough, right? That's three conditions already," Gu Rong said impatiently.

"Please do not rush, Senior. This involves the key technology behind Thousand Forgings with Spirit. Knowing how to forge and hiring someone else to forge are two entirely different matters." Su Ming smiled. "My fourth request is not difficult either. I only require that the Forging Masters your sect trains in the future join the Blacksmith Association, with both their training and development conducted within the association. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect must recognize the association's authority in the Forging world. Of course, it is only called the Blacksmith Association for now. It may be renamed the Blacksmith Association later."

Ning Fengzhi understood at once.

Sure enough, Su Ming intended to change the professional environment of blacksmiths.

Blacksmiths were currently looked down upon and occupied the lowest rung of society. Su Ming intended to use Thousand-Forged metal to change their status.

Forging Masters...

That was a very clever distinction.

Soul Masters would take up the profession of Forging Master, while ordinary people would be blacksmiths.

That was the first impression it gave.

In truth, only the core abilities of Forging Masters required the abilities of Soul Masters. Ordinary people could still handle certain simple Forging tasks and would continue to be classified within the association.

No actual distinction was made among the groups, yet people's perception would undergo a complete transformation.

"Agreed. I can also promise that the sect and the Blacksmith Association will sign a cooperation agreement to support each other."

Su Ming breathed a sigh of relief.

"That is all for now."

Ning Fengzhi also sighed in relief.

The kid had finally finished making demands.

What surprised him was that Su Ming had not mentioned using Soul Bones in the transaction from beginning to end.

Yet he also knew that what Su Ming had gained was certainly of no small value, especially that ten percent share of Rare Metals over the next ten years.

That move was ruthless.

Even after giving up ten percent, it would not affect the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's enormous profits. Yet Su Ming would gain ten percent of the metals for nothing. If there had not been a ten-year limit, Ning Fengzhi would never have agreed.

"That is all for the transaction. But payment and goods must be exchanged simultaneously. Uncle Ning, you cannot fulfill many of these conditions yet, so I cannot hand over the Soul Spirit transformation array for the time being."

"Kid, do you intend to give it to us ten years from now?" Gu Rong asked unhappily.

"Actually, Grandmaster-level blacksmiths are not that easy to train," Su Ming said. "Even if I give it to you ten years from now, you will not lose out. Of course, if the blacksmiths trained by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect reach the stage where they need to absorb Soul Rings, I will hand over the Spirit Soul Array then. Before that, Uncle Ning, you only need to fulfill the other conditions."

Seeing Su Ming put it that way, Gu Rong no longer argued.

"As for cooperation with the Blacksmith Association..." Ning Fengzhi looked at Su Ming and hesitated. "Do we need to decide that now?"

"Let's wait a little longer. Uncle Ning, you can return first and send someone to coordinate with us afterward." Su Ming gave an awkward smile.

He had not yet discussed it with the Blacksmith Association.

"Very well. Then I will await your good news."

Ning Fengzhi took out a jade pendant and handed it to Su Ming, saying that it was his personal token. When the time came to contact him, Su Ming could use it as proof.

After Ning Fengzhi and Gu Rong left, Su Ming let out a breath.

Beside him, Little Gold collapsed directly onto the ground as well.

"Roar." (Such terrifying Soul Power.)

"It's fine. He was only playing the bad cop to scare us," Su Ming said. "Next, we need to discuss things with the association. I just wonder whether Teacher received the letter."

His original plan had been for Zhu Jiuyang to return after absorbing a Soul Spirit, master Thousand Forgings with Spirit, and then begin these plans.

But in reality, Zhu Jiuyang had been gone for four months without finding a Soul Spirit, while Ning Fengzhi had noticed the issue with that batch of armor so quickly and acted with such decisiveness, personally coming to find him.