Ning Fengzhi's Reaction (Please Follow!!!)

"Your experience forging Spiritual Metal exceeds mine, and your skill is greater too. Does that mean you've already seen hope?"

Lou Gao looked at Su Ming, his face full of anticipation.

Seeing Lou Gao's expression, Su Ming did not hide it and nodded.

"I call it Spiritual Forging, and the corresponding blacksmith rank is Forging Grandmaster."

This corresponded to the classifications of the Dou San era. During that time, blacksmiths who had mastered Thousand Forgings were rank three to four and were also called masters, while Spiritual Forging was the grandmaster rank.

Su Ming's current classification referenced the future of Dou San, so as to avoid confusion in his understanding from experiencing two eras at once.

Beyond Spiritual Forging were the Saint Craftsmen of Soul Forging and the Divine Blacksmiths of Heavenly Forging. However, in this era, where Spiritual Forging had yet to be pioneered, he did not bring up those two concepts for the time being.

One step at a time.

Now that he had defined blacksmiths and renamed the Blacksmith Association the Blacksmith Association, he had already secured a certain Rank.

Barring any surprises, in the subsequent unfolding of Illusory History, he would become the ancestor of blacksmiths, providing a Rank for his Dou San self.

Dou Er?

The Dou Er era was likewise a wasteland for blacksmiths. Providing a Rank for Dou Er would be useless; Su Ming of the Dou San era would be able to make the greatest use of it instead.

Lou Gao took a deep breath as he absorbed this information.

After considering it repeatedly, he said, "Let's discuss the details again today. We can rename it tomorrow, but I truly cannot take the position of president. You must be the first president of the Blacksmith Association. Of course, if you find it troublesome, I can temporarily serve as acting president and oversee the association's upcoming transition."

"Alright."

"However, Senior, there is no need for you to serve as acting president either. It will be enough for you to be honorary president, because the key to Spirit Infusion lies in Soul Spirits, and a Soul Spirit requires at least one Soul Ring slot."

Lou Gao realized that Su Ming was beginning to teach him the core principles behind his Thousand Forgings with Spirit technique, and he listened intently.

"The key to Spirit Infusion lies in Soul Spirits. You bestow a Soul Spirit's spirit upon the metal, imparting that portion of spirit to it and guiding it as it grows. That is the method of Thousand Forgings with Spirit. In truth, Soul Spirits are spiritual entities formed when the souls of Soul Beasts do not dissipate during the absorption of Soul Rings, but instead condense. They use a Soul Master's Soul Ring as their Origin and enter into a contract with the Soul Master."

"Hiss—"

Lou Gao sucked in a sharp breath.

So that was how it was done.

His admiration for Su Ming deepened.

To think of something like this—he truly was like a god reborn.

"So, Senior, you should focus on cultivating from now on. If you cannot break through level eighty and obtain a Soul Spirit, you will have no way to try my Spirit Infusion technique."

Lou Gao's expression grew solemn as he acknowledged Su Ming's words.

"Looks like this old man will have to cultivate his soul power seriously too." Lou Gao laughed heartily. "With this, won't all the old fellows in the association cultivate like they've been pumped full of stimulants?"

At the same time, he thought of Tai Tan.

"That brat Tai Tan has strutted around in front of me countless times just because he's a Soul Douluo. I wonder what expression he'll have when he learns about your Spirit Infusion technique."

"Senior, let's discuss the association's future development first."

Su Ming gestured for Huo Lie to step forward.

"Huo Lie is indeed suitable. Silong and I won't enter seclusion immediately. We'll first help him get a firm grasp of the association's affairs before cultivating."

Lou Gao summoned all four of his disciples and informed them of the outcome of the discussion between himself, Su Ming, and the others.

The four disciples all respected Lou Gao deeply and agreed with their reform plan. In truth, they could also tell that Lou Gao had discussed the matter with Su Ming first and was only informing them afterward, which already made his position clear: they would have no say in this reform.

Not being able to participate did not matter. What they cared about more was the advancement of forging techniques.

The Spirit Infusion technique Su Ming had brought could allow them to go further in forging and see a broader future. They were thrilled beyond measure.

It had to be said that Lou Gao had an excellent eye for disciples. All four disciples he had taken in were Forging Grandmasters, and each of them loved forging from the bottom of their hearts.

Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

"That brat made an outrageous demand of us, then turned around and shared the technique with the entire association?" Gu Rong's voice made the great hall seem to tremble.

Ning Fengzhi said helplessly, "Uncle Bone, calm down."

"How am I supposed to calm down? That brat traded that Soul Spirit formation with us for so much, then turned around and shared the technique with the association!" Gu Rong's vision darkened. He felt that they had suffered a colossal loss.

"Uncle Bone, it's not as serious as you think. We're still profiting, actually." Ning Fengzhi explained, "As long as Su Ming doesn't announce it to the world within half a year, we'll always come out ahead."

"He didn't ask us for Soul Bones, nor did he demand any particularly tangible treasures. Our only material loss was that ten percent share of the Rare Metal purchases. But when you think about it carefully, the intelligence value of that is actually greater than the Soul Spirit contract formation."

The business opportunities created by knowing in advance about the changes in the forging field were the key.

Though that was how he explained it, Ning Fengzhi was still somewhat thrown into disarray by Su Ming's move.

It was only after returning and learning how difficult it was for blacksmiths to advance that he understood just how enormous Su Ming's promise to train blacksmiths really was.

For a talented blacksmith, soul power level was never the problem. Taking ten years to rise from beginner to Master Level was already considered good; becoming a Forging Grandmaster within twenty years was rare across the entire continent.

"So his promise to train blacksmiths for us was complete bullshit!" Gu Rong said irritably.

"That's not quite how I'd put it. Its value lies more in the intelligence. From what Su Ming has shown so far, it isn't hard to see that he intends to elevate blacksmithing as a profession. Rare metals will definitely become a major field in the future. If we learn about it early, we can prepare early—and more importantly, begin cultivating talent in advance."

"And Bone Uncle, don't forget that our deal includes the formation for contracting Soul Spirits—the complete technology. Yet in the Blacksmith Association's reforms, he never directly announced that he would solve the Soul Spirit problem for every blacksmith. That is our opportunity. It was probably a gap that brat deliberately left for us."

Although Su Ming had stabbed them in the back on every condition of this deal, putting it another way revealed that there was not actually much difference.

Ning Fengzhi sighed helplessly.

Su Ming could cooperate not only with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, but also with Spirit Hall. So even if he had been stabbed in the back, Ning Fengzhi still had to make up for it himself.

Of course, the most fundamental point was that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had not suffered a loss.

"The Blacksmith Association has already begun reassessments and reclassification examinations, and they have started spreading basic information about Su Ming's Spirit Infusion technique. This is the point at which things are most likely to go wrong. We must seize this opportunity. At the same time, select another batch of disciples with potential in blacksmithing and have them join the association. We must strive to secure a place within the Blacksmith Association."

Ning Fengzhi had finally seen it clearly. From the very beginning, Su Ming had never intended to hide the technique. He had planned to make it public all along.

Compared to profit, he seemed to care more about reputation.

"Within a month, I will gather the disciples in the sect who possess talent for blacksmithing and do not resist forging Spiritual Metal. They will head to Gengxin City together, join the Blacksmith Association, and study there for a time.

"Uncle Jian, I'll have to trouble you to oversee Gengxin City for a while as well. As for the specific cooperation negotiations, I'll have Ning Yuan lead the team. He is familiar with Su Ming, so it is suitable for him to preside over them."