"Wait, who's looking for me?"
In a secluded courtyard on the outskirts of Mingdu, a drunken old man stared at the old friend who had suddenly come knocking, his eyes filled with surprise.
"Hall Master of Mingde Hall, Golden Toad Douluo, Rank 9 Soul Engineer of the Sun Moon Empire, dean of the Royal Soul Engineer Academy, head of the Hongchen Family—Jing Hongchen!"
"Huh?" Upon hearing that repeated introduction, the drunken old man's Soul Power surged violently. The smell of alcohol vanished from him in an instant, and not the slightest trace of drunkenness remained in his eyes.
"I—I only sold a little Sword Oil to a student at a high price. Why would the Academy dean come personally to arrest me?"
"It's not about the Sword Oil." The portly middle-aged man shook his head and stated the real issue.
"It's your blacksmithing."
Hearing that, the old man fell silent for a moment before breaking into unrestrained laughter.
"You might as well say they're here to hold me accountable for selling overpriced Sword Oil. Blacksmithing? Blacksmithing? How could the obsolete craft of a mere blacksmith, already cast aside by the times, possibly attract the attention of such an important figure?"
"The age of blacksmiths ended long ago, from the day the two continents collided. Not only did the Tang Sect, which once rose to prominence through hidden weapons, decline completely, but the skills that blacksmiths once took pride in were also cast aside by more sophisticated and profound Soul Tools."
"Even I'm a Soul Engineer. In daily life, I identify myself as a Soul Engineer rather than a blacksmith. How could anyone care about such insignificant blacksmithing?"
The old man laughed wildly, tears even flowing from the corners of his eyes. Yet anyone could clearly hear the unwillingness in his