Listening to the Voices of All Things, Zhen Hua's Surprise

Mingdu, Administrative Office Building.

Sun Kong was handling all sorts of documents with his head aching. As the chief administrator, the twelve districts of Mingdu, the City of Technology, all rested on his shoulders.

Only after taking office did he realize that while Mingdu appeared prosperous, it had actually entered a bottleneck in its development. Breaking through it was no ordinary challenge.

Ding, ding, ding~

Suddenly, the dedicated communicator beside him rang.

His thoughts interrupted by the sound, Sun Kong frowned, but still pressed the answer button.

His secretary's urgent voice came from the other end. "Chief, Heavenly Phoenix Your Highness from the Spirit Pagoda has arrived."

Sun Kong, who had been bent over his documents, abruptly raised his head. "Please have her wait for me in the tea room."

"Yes."

Tea room.

Sun Kong stood respectfully to one side like a newly enlisted recruit.

He was a Titled Douluo, but the person before him was a Limit Douluo.

Seated on a wooden chair was an exceptionally beautiful woman with jade-like features and a gentle, noble temperament. It was Leng Yaozhu.

Leng Yaozhu said calmly, "Qian Gu Qingfeng should have already told you why I came."

Sun Kong replied, "This junior understands, but my nephew isn't in Mingdu."

"Where is he?" Leng Yaozhu had business to handle in Mingdu anyway. She had only stopped by today to see whether the child Qian Gu Qingfeng had so strongly recommended truly possessed sufficient talent.

"He's still in Heaven Dou City." Sun Kong explained, "I didn't know you would be coming today. I'll call him shortly and have him come to Mingdu to see you as soon as possible."

"Heaven Dou City?" Leng Yaozhu recalled something. Her jade hand lifted lightly, her sleeve slipping down slightly to reveal a wrist as white as mutton-fat jade. The bracelet upon it flashed with a faint gleam, and a screen of light immediately appeared in midair.

"Is your nephew him?"

Displayed on the screen was a full-body image of Nan Liujing. Sun Kong could not help but stare in astonishment. "The boss already sent you that child's information?"

A faint smile appeared at the corner of Leng Yaozhu's lips. "Interesting. Forget it. You're busy enough as chief administrator, so I won't disturb you any further. As for that child, don't have him come to Mingdu yet. I'll personally make a trip to Heaven Dou City."

Sun Kong had wanted to see her off personally, but she refused. Watching Leng Yaozhu's departing figure, he suddenly understood.

That was right. The child had gone to ascend his spirit, so his talent must have caught the Spirit Pagoda's attention.

Looking at it this way, the Heaven Dou Spirit Pagoda had an informant within the Phoenix Family.

But none of that had anything to do with him. The only people above Sun Kong were Qian Gu Qingfeng and Xia Zheng Leng.

On the Douluo Continent, the Blacksmith Association was a massive organization that could not be overlooked. From third-tier cities to first-tier cities, buildings adorned with gigantic forging hammers could be found everywhere.

The Blacksmith Association located in Heaven Dou City was the sacred land every blacksmith dreamed of. Not only was it the headquarters, it was also the temporary base of the only Divine Craftsman alive today.

Ever since the Divine Craftsman had emerged, the Heaven Dou City Blacksmith Association had been crowded with visitors nearly every day.

Countless Soul Master factions arrived bearing vast sums of money and rare metals. Even if they could not secure the Divine Craftsman's services, their money could still dazzle the Saint Craftsmen, whose orders had already been booked who knew how far into the future.

As for the blacksmiths below them, they had also been making a handsome profit during this period.

There were many people, so they had to queue. After Nan Liujing's group of four underwent a thorough inspection by the guards, they were finally allowed into the Blacksmith Association headquarters building.

The entire first-floor hall was extremely spacious. There were even display-case counters resembling those of an exhibition hall, openly displaying metals that had undergone Spirit Forging and Soul Forging.

Quite a few blacksmiths and Soul Masters were observing them nearby. Occasional exclamations of admiration rang out, because every piece within had been forged by at least a Saint Craftsman and was considered a fine work.

Ye Changming led the three children to the front desk and explained the purpose of their visit.

Zhen Hua must have notified them in advance, because one of the front-desk staff members took the initiative to guide them toward an auxiliary building on the left side of the main building.

Like the Spirit Pagoda, the Blacksmith Association headquarters was no taller than fifty meters, so several connected buildings had to be constructed. Otherwise, there would not have been enough space.

Along the way, there were not many forging rooms in the auxiliary building, but the names and ranks of the blacksmiths displayed on the doorplates were astonishing.

The lowest-ranked were seventh-rank Saint Craftsmen, of whom there were six. There were also two eighth-rank Saint Craftsmen.

In the end, the employee led Nan Liujing and the others to a forging room with its doors open and gently knocked.

"Come in." A vigorous voice came from inside.

The employee smiled and invited Ye Changming in.

Ye Changming entered with the three children.

At a glance, the entire forging room covered more than four hundred square meters, filled everywhere with the scent and gleam of metal.

A state-of-the-art forging platform sat in the center of the room. Along the walls stood rows of shelves holding rare metals.

Yet the most eye-catching feature was the ceiling directly above the forging platform. It was covered in strange patterns resembling the diagram of a core formation, but they were obscure and difficult to comprehend. Anyone without sufficient Spiritual Power would even feel dizzy from looking at them.

Nan Liujing immediately thought of Heavenly Forging. Forging at that level required gathering the various elements between heaven and earth and turning them into elemental tribulation lightning to temper the metal. The blacksmith's own Spiritual Power clearly was not enough to guide it.

In the original timeline, when Zhen Hua taught Tang Wulin Heavenly Forging, it had been in the Mingdu Blacksmith Association building, where there was an Ascension Platform that could increase the chances of successful Heavenly Forging.

But judging by the timeline, the Ascension Platform probably had not been built yet.

"You're here." Zhen Hua emerged from beside a row of metal shelves and appeared before them.

This was Nan Liujing's first close encounter with the one and only Divine Craftsman.

At thirty-eight years old, Zhen Hua had not yet suffered declining vitality and blood due to prolonged Heavenly Forging. His hair was jet-black, his features handsome, and his large hands were crystalline like jade, without the slightest flaw.

Ye Changming smiled. "Only Soul Forged Jade Silver forged by you would make me feel at ease turning it into Battle Armor components."

"Since when did you learn how to flatter people?" Zhen Hua smiled as he tossed over a translucent metal block shaped like a boot.

Ye Changming reached out through the air and caught it. Without even looking at it, he directly stored it in his storage ring.

"Hello, Uncle Zhen."

After the two elders had finished speaking, Ye Xinglan formally greeted him.

Looking at the lively and clever Ye Xinglan, Zhen Hua said with a smile, "Little Xinglan, would you like to follow Uncle and watch some forging later?"

"Sure." Ye Xinglan nodded with a smile. However, she had already decided that she would specialize in becoming a Mecha Manufacturer in the future. For now, she only wanted to learn more about forging, since her goal was to become a Battle Armor Master. Naturally, she needed to understand the abilities of the professions she would work with in the future.

Ye Changming sighed. "A lesson from a Divine Craftsman—there's no other one like it on the continent."

Zhen Hua's expression grew somewhat solemn. "Only after becoming a Divine Craftsman did I realize just how difficult the path of Heavenly Forging is. That is why I hope more forging geniuses will emerge. I won't hide it from you: even I can only continue Heavenly Forging for another twenty years at most. After that, I'll give it up. No matter who comes to ask, I won't agree."

"Does it harm your body that badly?" Although Ye Changming was not a blacksmith, the Tang Sect had an eighth-rank Saint Craftsman, so he knew something about the matter.

"Yes." Zhen Hua nodded helplessly. Suddenly, he noticed a boy walking toward one of the shelves and could not help asking, "Who is this boy?"

In truth, he had noticed Nan Liujing and Na'er long ago, but had not asked directly.

Ye Changming explained, "Old Sun's nephew. This little girl can be considered his niece."

"Nephew and niece?" Zhen Hua was surprised. Both he and Sun Kong were typical men without wives or children, so they got along well whenever they met.

"Hello, Uncle Zhen." Seeing Zhen Hua glance at her, Na'er hurriedly greeted him as well.

Zhen Hua's eyes lit up. It had to be said that Na'er's silver hair, purple eyes, and obedient, adorable appearance truly made her lovable.

"Liujing, come greet him." Ye Changming called to Nan Liujing, who was walking toward the metal shelves.

Nan Liujing did not turn around. He had stopped in front of a shelf, astonishment filling his eyes.

At eye level sat a metal block of average value among rare metals. It was an old acquaintance from The Legend of the Dragon King: Heavy Silver.

Its exterior was dull gray, as though it were covered in dust that had not been wiped away for a long time.

There was a voice!

At Nan Liujing's ear, there seemed to be a calling sound like a babbling infant's murmur. It was coming from within that block of Heavy Silver.

That was why he had been stunned and had not even heard Ye Changming calling him.

"This child..." Ye Changming was puzzled.

Zhen Hua grew interested. Walking to Nan Liujing's side, he noticed him staring at the Heavy Silver and asked gently, "Is there something wrong with this piece of Heavy Silver?"

Nan Liujing's gaze was somewhat unfocused as he instinctively replied in a low voice, "It's speaking."

The gentle smile on Zhen Hua's face instantly froze.

The moment Nan Liujing spoke, he immediately recovered. After taking several deep breaths, his wildly pounding heart finally calmed down.

He turned his head and saw Zhen Hua staring at him with an unreadable expression.

As though he wanted to see through his very heart.

Nan Liujing remained composed. "Uncle Zhen."

Zhen Hua nodded, his expression normal. Then he reached for the Heavy Silver and picked it up. "I'm teaching a lesson later, and I was just wondering what metal to use as the teaching material. This will do."

Zhen Hua's face was as calm as a still lake, but thunder had long since erupted within his heart.

What had he discovered?

He had discovered an extraordinary talent capable of forming an affinity with metals!

Throughout the history of the Douluo Continent, there had always been people born with special constitutions.

Some possessed immense strength from birth. Some were sensitive to Heaven and Earth Origin Energy, and even if their Innate Soul Power was low, their cultivation speed would not be inferior to geniuses with Innate Full Soul Power. Some were born with domains. Some had a stronger affinity with the elements possessed by their awakened martial souls; when controlling those elements, the increase to their strength was especially apparent.

From ancient times until today, the only person on record to possess an exceptionally strong affinity with metals had been someone named Xiao Hongchen, ten thousand years ago.

Zhen Hua knew that what this child had heard was not actually metal speaking. He had heard the instinctive spiritual call hidden in the deepest depths of a metal.

For a blacksmith, if one could directly hear that instinctive spiritual call, then in the future, whether Spirit Forging or Soul Forging, they would gain benefits that ordinary people would not dare imagine.

That was because a metal's instinctive spirituality was extremely self-contained. It was exceedingly difficult for it to actively communicate and merge with the external spirituality bestowed upon it through Thousand Forging Grade One. But if one's affinity was sufficient, no one knew what might happen. Perhaps even the blacksmith's expenditure of strength and Soul Power would be reduced severalfold.

Even Zhen Hua himself could not directly communicate with a metal's instinctive spirituality. He had only discovered the existence of such spirituality in metals after enduring countless hardships. This was precisely what he would discuss in today's lesson.

"I owe you a favor." Zhen Hua walked to Ye Changming's side, his lips moving as he transmitted his voice.

Ye Changming was slightly stunned, unable to understand why.

Zhen Hua did not explain further. Smiling, he said, "It's about time. I'm going to the main building hall to teach. Changming, bring the children along to have a look. They may not necessarily choose blacksmithing as a secondary profession, but being exposed to it early will benefit them in the future."

"Alright." Ye Changming suppressed the confusion in his heart, intending to figure out what Zhen Hua meant later.

Soon, the group of five headed back toward the Blacksmith Association building.

No one noticed Nan Liujing's contemplative expression.

The power of this Plane Imprint had exceeded his expectations. Hearing the call of metal had even caused his Spirit Connection Realm Spiritual Power to lapse into a brief trance.

It seemed that the words he had spoken in the forging room had already drawn Zhen Hua's attention.

But what puzzled him was why he had heard only Heavy Silver's voice.

Was it because Heavy Silver was among the lowest-grade metals in the forging room? Did it happen to correspond with his Spiritual Power realm?

Nan Liujing could not figure it out.

From the day Zhen Hua became a Divine Craftsman, he had formally announced that he would hold an open lecture from time to time. The lessons would primarily cover forging techniques below Spirit Forging, occasionally extending to Spirit Forging and even Fusion Forging.

Whether blacksmiths, practitioners of other professions, or even ordinary people, all could attend.

The lectures were held in the headquarters auditorium.

At that moment, the auditorium was packed with a sea of people. Yet surprisingly, though there were many people, it was not noisy. Everyone craned their necks expectantly toward one side of the stage.

Thanks to Zhen Hua, Nan Liujing's group obtained excellent seats close to the stage.

"President! President!"

Suddenly, a tremendous cheer erupted throughout the auditorium. A door on one side of the stage opened, and Zhen Hua walked in with a smile, accompanied by several Saint Craftsmen who looked like security guards.

Arriving onstage, Zhen Hua smiled and raised a hand in greeting.

The resulting cheers became even more intense, as though they might shake down the auditorium ceiling.

Zhen Hua raised both hands slightly, and the hall immediately fell silent, displaying the blacksmiths' immense respect for this Divine Craftsman.

Under the gaze of thousands of eyes, Zhen Hua said, "Today's lesson will cover some of my insights."

At the word "insights," the blacksmiths present erupted with excitement. Even the Saint Craftsmen who had accompanied him were the same.

Zhen Hua's voice carried Soul Power, allowing everyone to remember his words more clearly.

"When blacksmiths forge metal, Thousand Forging allows it to initially gain the ability to fuse with Soul Power. Thousand Forging Grade One bestows spirituality upon the metal. Spirit Forging then formally grants metal the concept of life, allowing it to grow on its own through that life force. After that comes Fusion Forging, until Soul Forging grants it wisdom."

"Here comes the key point."

"The mainstream understanding in the forging world is that Thousand Forging Grade One is when a blacksmith bestows spirituality upon metal, allowing it to receive the nourishment of life force and thereby gain a vast future. But what I am about to tell you will overturn that understanding."

"Every piece of metal is born with its own instinctive spirituality. The external spirituality we actively bestow upon it instead becomes a cuckoo occupying the magpie's nest, causing the metal itself to lose the possibility of Heavenly Forging."

His resounding words echoed through the hall. In an instant, the entire auditorium fell utterly silent. Even the other Saint Craftsmen observing nearby widened their eyes.

This was an entirely new theory in the forging world.

The Heaven Dou City Blacksmith Association was the headquarters, but the Ascension Platform was in Mingdu.