The Boy Training in the Blacksmith Shop

Nuoding City, Douluo Continent.

Amid the clamor of metal striking metal in the Blacksmith Shop, a boy in the uniform of Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy sat cross-legged beside a forging platform, meditating and cultivating.

The noisy Blacksmith Shop seemed unable to affect the boy at all, as though this were a top-tier cultivation chamber.

"Brother Li, that kid is cultivating here. Won't it affect us? This place is pretty dangerous, after all."

A tall man and a short man entered through the doorway, one middle-aged and one young. The younger man looked at the cultivating boy with envy tinged with jealousy.

"Xiao Zhang, you just got here, so you don't understand the situation. Let me tell you, with this young student here, not only are we unaffected, but he can even raise the temperature of the furnace fire while he cultivates. You're a blacksmith too, so I don't need to explain what a higher furnace temperature means, do I?"

Manager Li looked approvingly at the cultivating boy while calling for the other blacksmiths to continue working. He repeated the usual reminders about forging safely—production had to be handled, but safety had to be handled just as seriously.

"Enough standing around, Xiao Zhang. This workbench is still empty. Come show us what you can do, so I can ask the boss for your pay based on your skills."

Manager Li led Xiao Zhang to a forging platform near where the boy was cultivating and gestured for him to show everyone his skills. At the same time, he called over the other idle blacksmiths. Xiao Zhang was from Gengxin City, the legendary Metal Capital.

These blacksmiths might not understand the affairs of Soul Masters, but they understood blacksmithing. If Spirit Hall was the sacred place yearned for by Soul Masters, then Gengxin City was the paradise in every blacksmith's heart.

Upon hearing that Xiao Zhang came from Gengxin City, they all gathered around, eager to admire this genius who had returned from the "holy land."

Xiao Zhang did not hesitate. He casually tossed his shirt onto a nearby rack, revealing knotted muscles beneath his bronze skin. Just looking at him made it clear how strong he was.

Lighting the fire, working the bellows, forging the iron ore—his movements flowed together in one smooth sequence, all perfectly natural. The blacksmiths watching praised him one after another, and Xiao Zhang could not help feeling pleased with himself.

While hammering the metal, he glanced at the boy sitting nearby, and a vicious glint flashed through his eyes.

Everyone makes mistakes. Horses stumble too. Making one mistake in a new place shouldn't be a big deal, right? Xiao Zhang thought as he put a little more force into his hammer swing.

Clang. Clang. Sparks scattered as the iron ore on the forging platform gradually took shape. With every blow, the impurities within the iron diminished a little more.

Just as the blacksmiths were watching with great interest, something unexpected happened. Perhaps the forging platform was uneven, or perhaps Xiao Zhang's hammering was unsteady, but the fist-sized chunk of red-hot iron suddenly flew toward the boy.

"Not good! Wang Qi, watch out!"

Manager Li shouted a warning and tried to rush over, but as an ordinary man, he could not possibly catch up to the chunk of iron that had been launched away by the hammer.

For a moment, many blacksmiths noticed the commotion. As they looked at the boy sitting cross-legged beside the forging platform, pity flashed through their eyes.

Of course, among the crowd were also a few blacksmiths whose eyes showed undisguised delight at the sight of the boy about to suffer misfortune. However, there were very few of them, and they hid it well.

Boom—A wave of heat swept over them. The already scorching furnace fire abruptly grew even hotter, and a flash of fire appeared between the boy's brows. In an instant, a Large Hand condensed entirely from flames caught the red-hot iron block and pressed it to the ground.

Behind the boy stood a flame giant shrouded entirely in fire, its face impossible to see clearly.

"Wang Qi, thank goodness you're all right. No, later I'll have someone fence off the place where you cultivate. If something like this happens again, it'll be terrible if you get hurt."

Wang Qi shook his head, brushed the dust from his clothes, and rose from the ground. "Uncle Li, I'm fine. But it seems the blacksmith you hired this time isn't very skilled. How can a blacksmith fail to control the iron he's forging?"

Manager Li understood what Wang Qi meant. He wanted to dismiss Xiao Zhang as well; the man was more trouble than he was worth. But Xiao Zhang had been hired from Gengxin City at great expense by the boss. Firing him the moment he arrived would be rather inappropriate.

"Xiao Zhang, what kind of forging was that? How could you fail to control the iron? Come here and apologize to little brother Wang Qi. If there's a next time, I'll definitely ask the boss to dock your wages."

Wang Qi looked thoughtfully at Manager Li. He sighed inwardly and shook his head as he watched Xiao Zhang put on a show of apologizing, though the man's eyes still kept provoking him. Wang Qi waved a hand.

With things having developed to this point, how could Wang Qi not understand Manager Li's intentions?

"Uncle Li, I may need to take some time off next. I've broken through to level ten, so it's time for me to obtain a Soul Ring."

After saying that, Wang Qi ignored Manager Li's expression and turned to leave the Blacksmith Shop. At the same time, he decided he probably would not come here again in the future.

"When I read the Original Work before, I only saw ordinary people's admiration for Soul Masters. I never saw the conflicts between ordinary people and Soul Masters."

"That made sense. How could Soul Masters, who possessed extraordinary power, be willing to treat ordinary people with no blood relation to them as equals? In that case, I'm still lucky. At least I awakened Soul Power."

After leaving the Blacksmith Shop, Wang Qi looked up at the moon and sighed inwardly.

Wang Qi was eight years old this year. Publicly, he was a student at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy.

As for how he became connected to the Blacksmith Shop, it began after he awakened his Martial Soul. Passing by the shop, he discovered that his Soul Power became more active there, so he paid for a spot to meditate and cultivate.

Later, the blacksmiths noticed that the furnace fire grew hotter whenever Wang Qi cultivated. Thus, after Wang Qi adapted to entering a meditative state quickly even in a bustling market, he and the Blacksmith Shop reached an agreement.

Every month, the Blacksmith Shop was willing to pay Wang Qi a certain amount in commission for cultivating there. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement.

At the same time, Wang Qi had a secret he would never tell anyone, one he would take into his coffin even after death: he was a transmigrator.

In his previous life, he had been having a picnic in the woods in spring when some brat set willow catkins on fire. When Wang Qi opened his eyes again, he had become a baby.

The bad news was that after experiencing the pain, Wang Qi had transmigrated.

The good news was that Wang Qi had transmigrated into the Douluo World, and he still remembered the plot fairly well.

The bad news was that Wang Qi's Innate Soul Power was only level three. Without a great opportunity in the future, becoming a Soul Ancestor was possible, but becoming a Soul King was out of reach.

The good news was that Wang Qi had awakened Twin Martial Souls: a Humanoid Flame Martial Soul and a Broken Furnace Martial Soul.

Wang Qi vaguely understood where the Humanoid Flame Martial Soul came from, but the Broken Furnace Martial Soul left him baffled.

Judging by its patterns and material, it resembled the Medicine Refining Furnace Wang Qi had bought in his previous life for 9.9 yuan with free shipping. He just did not know why this furnace Martial Soul was broken. Still, there was another piece of good news: as Wang Qi's Soul Power Level increased, the furnace Martial Soul gradually showed signs of recovery.

By Wang Qi's estimate, once he cultivated to level twenty, the furnace Martial Soul should be fully repaired. By then, his aptitude should improve somewhat.

Walking alone down the road, Wang Qi could not help complaining. Other transmigrators who awakened Twin Martial Souls basically all had Innate Full Soul Power and were ridiculously powerful. Yet when it came to him, things had turned out like this.

A would-be one-ring Soul Master was actually being looked down on by ordinary people. No one would dare believe it if he told them.

"I really don't want to be a salted fish for the rest of my life. But with aptitude like mine, what else can I do besides be a salted fish? I can't even produce the entry ticket needed to plot for Immortal Herbs and change my fate against the heavens."

While lamenting, Wang Qi suddenly sensed a feeling that made the hairs on his body stand on end. He instinctively ducked, and with a whoosh, an iron rod swept over his head.

"It's you?"

Wang Qi looked at the newcomer and discovered it was Xiao Zhang, the one who had ambushed him at the Blacksmith Shop. At the sight of Xiao Zhang, Wang Qi nearly laughed. He, a Soul Master, had not even considered seeking trouble with the man, yet the other party had come looking for him.

"Kid, it's your bad luck to run into me today. Die!" With that, Xiao Zhang swung his iron rod, preparing to attack Wang Qi again.

Wang Qi nearly laughed at the sight of the fool who did not know his limits. He instantly completed Martial Soul Possession. His body swelled by a full circle as he grabbed the iron rod. "Xiao Zhang, don't tell me you think that just because I'm young, I'm weaker than a blacksmith like you? Do you know why Divine Craftsman Lou Gao holds his current status?"

"I'll tell you. It's because Lou Gao is a Soul Master, not merely a divine craftsman. And you are merely an ordinary person. You want to fight a Soul Master as an ordinary person? Are you really that jealous of Soul Masters?"

Seeing Xiao Zhang about to start talking nonsense, Wang Qi covered his mouth with a Large Hand wreathed in flames and slammed him to the ground. "I have no interest in hearing whatever bullshit story you want to tell. At first, I didn't want to make a move, but now... do you deserve to die?"

His fist smashed into Xiao Zhang's throat. Wang Qi took a rope from his Soul Tool, looped it around Xiao Zhang's neck, and dragged him into a corner until he could store Xiao Zhang's corpse in his Soul Tool.

"What a pleasant mood."

Having untied the knot in his heart, Wang Qi skipped all the way back to the dormitory. Just as he was about to open the door, a figure pounced on him and nearly knocked him over.

"Xiao Chenyu, if you can't give me a perfect explanation, I promise you'll get beaten tonight—and I'll beat you badly."

"Wang Qi, I broke through! I broke through to level ten! Hahaha, I finally reached level ten! I'll be able to obtain my first Soul Ring soon!"

After breaking free of Xiao Chenyu's arms, Wang Qi looked at him as though he were an idiot.

Wang Qi's acquaintance with Xiao Chenyu was rather interesting. Xiao Chenyu's roommate had graduated, and Wang Qi happened to be assigned to his dormitory. What followed was the usual story of an older student bullying a new one, only for the new student protagonist to beat up the older student.

After two years together, Wang Qi no longer viewed Xiao Chenyu as merely the flat character from the Original Work who only knew how to bully working students.

Xiao Chenyu was not bad by nature. The reason he targeted working students was because he had been upset at home and got into a conflict with one while venting his frustration alone.

Working students had nothing but their dignity. After going back and forth like that, a grudge formed between them. By now, the conflict between working students and non-working students seemed to have become an unwritten rule.

"Wang Qi, the academy will be on break in three days. When the time comes, let's go to the Soul Hunting Forest together to obtain Soul Rings. Once the two of us become Soul Masters, our position as the bosses of Nuoding Academy will be completely secure."

Xiao Chenyu sat on the bed, grinning foolishly as he imagined his wonderful future. Little did he know that when the new school year began, this eleven-year-old boy would be calling a little girl Sister Xiao Wu.