The three of them folded their wings a few miles outside the city, tidied up their clothes, and walked towards the city gate.
The closer you get to Gengxin City, the hot, noisy, and heavy atmosphere of steel and charcoal fire rushes towards you.
On the wide official road, there is a constant flow of carriages loaded with ore, coal, and wood.
Men with hunched muscles wearing leather aprons can be seen everywhere on the roadside. Most of them have dark skin and loud voices. They walk together in twos and threes and talk loudly about the color of the ore, the quenching technique, or the new work of a certain blacksmith Grandmaster.
The city gate is tall and heavy, and the entire body is made of special steel mixed with rare metals. Above the lintel is engraved a pattern of a giant hammer crossing an anvil, which is the symbol of the Blacksmith's Association.
The three of them paid the entrance fee and stepped into Gengxin City, which is famous throughout the continent.
As soon as he entered the city, the hot air hit him with the complex smell of burning coal, quenched metal, sweat and grease. The deafening sound of clanging iron came from all directions in the streets, so dense that it almost drowned out other sounds.
On both sides of the street, as far as the eye could see, there were almost all blacksmith shops. The blazing fires danced in the depths of the shops, making the whole shop red. The shirtless blacksmiths were sweating profusely. The hammers in their hands were raised high and fell heavily. When the hammer was lifted and dropped, sparks exploded.
At the entrance of every shop, a variety of finished products are hung, from sharp swords and heavy armors to everyday farm tools and exquisite metal components. The array is dazzling.
Further on to the main road, there are larger smelting workshops and ore merchants' chambers. At the entrance of some magnificent shops, there are even Soul Tool parts with faint Soul Power Wave on display. Although most of them are only the lowest-end goods with pitifully simple structures, in this era when Soul Tool has not yet developed, they are already considered extremely rare and rare.
Ju Zi is like a child who dives into a treasure trove. His eyes are almost exhausted. Almost every time he passes by a blacksmith shop, he has to stand at the door and stare at every hammer the blacksmith makes, studying the forging patterns on the weapons. From time to time, he will let out one or two exclamations from his mouth, and even his walking pace will slow down.
"How is it, Hall Master Ju Zi, are you satisfied with this place?" Luo Can looked at her appearance and couldn't help but ask with a smile.
"Satisfied, so satisfied!" Ju Zi's face showed undisguised excitement and obsession, and he reached out and stroked Soul Tool on his waist, "I can feel that the 'Soul of Metal' of this city is boiling! To Soul Engineer, this place is simply... a holy place!"
Qian Renxue also looked at this city that was completely different from Heaven Dou City with great interest, his eyes full of novelty. "It is indeed an interesting place. Then where should we go next? Should we go directly to the Blacksmith's Association headquarters to find Lou Gao?"
Luo Can shook his head and said, "No hurry, let's find a place to settle down first and inquire about the latest news. Lou Gao is Divine Craftsman and also President Blacksmith's Association's whereabouts may not be fixed, and his temper is notoriously eccentric, so visiting him rashly may not be the best choice. Maybe we can find more natural contact opportunities from the Blacksmith's Association's daily operations or some public activities."
"It makes sense." Ju Zi calmed down instantly, adjusted his glasses and nodded in agreement, "If you come to the door rashly, you will easily be regarded as a powerful person who comes to ask for weapons, and you will be turned away directly. It is safest to find out the situation first, and then find an opportunity to take action."
The three reached a consensus and walked around the city. Finally, they chose a hotel named "Luhuozhijia Inn" that looked clean and tidy to stay, and opened a luxurious private room with an independent bathroom.
The owner of the hotel is a gray-haired retired blacksmith who is enthusiastic and talkative.
Luo Can chatted with him casually while ordering wine and food, and easily got the key information: in three days, Blacksmith's Association will hold a quarterly "Boutique Appraisal Fair", and the conference will be held at that time. The high-level blacksmiths in the meeting, including several vice-presidents, will attend to show off their recent masterpieces, and the president, Lou Gao, as usual in previous years, will also appear on the last day of the appraisal meeting to personally comment on the most outstanding works in the audience.
In the private room, three people sat around a round table.
"Boutique Appraisal Fair..." Luo Can tapped his fingers on the table, a smile flashed in his eyes, "It seems that we came at the right time. This is a good opportunity sent to us by God to contact Lou Gao."
Upon hearing this, Ju Zi's eyes lit up, and he reached out and touched it on his waist. A Soul Tool, which was exquisitely shaped, silver-white in color and looked like a fire stick, appeared on the table.
"I observed along the way that the forging methods here are still too primitive. Those so-called high-quality products placed at the door are not enough to make Level 3 Soul Tool." Ju Zi pointed to the on the table. Soul Tool, with a bit of confidence in his tone, "This Sniper Ray Gun just touches the threshold of Level 4 Soul Tool. It has extremely strong accuracy and penetrating power. I am going to use it as a stepping stone. What do you think?"
"Of course." Qian Renxue glanced at the Ray Gun and nodded without hesitation, "The power of this thing, even if it is placed in the Heaven Dou Empire's Royal Knights, is enough to attract everyone's attention."
Two Great Empires has always had a high pursuit of powerful weapons. The greater the power, the more sought after by military generals. Let alone Level 4 Soul Tool, even if it is a third-level weapon, it is enough for them to find ways to get it.
"Okay! Then wait for Boutique Appraisal Fair in three days!" Luo Can made the final decision, with a smile on his face.
Just when Luo Can and Ju Zi were happily planning their plans for the next three days, Qian Renxue suddenly raised his hand, and an invisible Soul Power Barrier instantly opened up, tightly wrapping the entire room and blocking out all sounds.
She stood up, with a sly smile on her lips, holding Luo Can with one hand and Ju Zi with the other. Her voice was soft and charming. "Dear husband, we have been traveling together for so long, we must be tired, right? Why don't we go to the bathroom first and take a mandarin duck bath together to relax?"
After saying that, he pulled the two of them without any explanation and strode into the large bathroom.
Soon, the sound of rushing water began, mixed with Ju Zi's chuckle and Qian Renxue's proud whisper.
Early the next morning, Luo Can stared at the ceiling blankly, feeling his sore waist and wanting to cry without tears.
He glanced at Qian Renxue, who was sleeping soundly on his right arm, and then at Ju Zi, who was curled up on his left arm with a smile on his lips, and silently wailed in his heart.
Damn! I was careless! Without Fate-Defying Lake by my side, I would have been directly killed by these two witches!
Who would have thought that Dark Angel actually still remembered the "disastrous defeat" in Fate Defying Valley. She had already made plans in her heart, and was waiting for them to arrive at Gengxin City and have a place to stay, so she joined hands with Ju Zi to launch this "anti-liquidation" against herself.
When I think about the next two months of travel, Luo Can feels like her waist is protesting like crazy.
"Sigh... I'm afraid this journey will be difficult." Luo Can sighed quietly in his heart and closed his eyes resignedly.