Heaven Dou City Blacksmith Association

The Sky Car slowly descended.

At last, it came to a steady hover before a magnificent building in the city center, its unique design blending the classical texture of metal with modern streamlined aesthetics.

Above the entrance, a massive emblem of crossed hammer and tongs gleamed beneath the sunlight, proclaiming its extraordinary status—the headquarters of the Blacksmith Association.

The moment the car came to a stop, a sharp-eyed receptionist hurried out from inside the Blacksmith Association, wearing a professional smile that carried an extra measure of reverence and eagerness to please.

Anyone capable of driving the latest model of Sky Car directly to the headquarters' front entrance was no ordinary person.

Leng Yaozhu was the first to push open the door and step out. She casually tossed the exquisitely designed key to the receptionist who came to greet her, her movements crisp and decisive, carrying the composed bearing of someone long accustomed to power.

"I am Leng Yaozhu. I have an appointment with His Excellency the Divine Craftsman today."

Her voice was clear as she calmly stated her name.

At her words, the receptionist's body gave an almost imperceptible tremor. His smile became even more fervent and respectful as he quickly bowed.

"So it is Tower Master Leng!"

"His Excellency the Divine Craftsman instructed us in advance. He is waiting for you in his office on the top floor."

"Please follow me."

As he led the way, he swiftly passed the car key to another staff member nearby and quietly instructed him to park it properly.

The staff member carefully accepted the key, gently climbed into the driver's seat, and drove the Sky Car toward the association's designated Advanced parking area at the rear.

Wang Chuan watched this with a calm expression, showing neither discomfort nor unease.

Across both his past and present lives, he had long understood one truth.

The convenience brought by one's identity and status was simply part of reality.

Having ability and backing, yet insisting on pretending to be ordinary in order to experience so-called "reality," even deliberately inviting contempt and provocation just to humiliate others afterward...

Other than satisfying some childish vanity or proving that one's inner resolve was insufficiently strong, it held no real meaning.

What he pursued was tangible strength, not this pointless sort of drama.

Led by the receptionist, the two passed through the association's grand first-floor hall.

The hall displayed many exquisite forged works, along with introductions to renowned blacksmiths from past generations.

The air carried the faint mixed scent of metal and grease. From time to time, muted yet rhythmic hammering drifted from deeper within—the sound of the forging rooms at work.

They took a private Soul Guidance Elevator directly to the top floor. When the elevator doors opened, they found a quiet corridor carpeted in thick rugs, its walls set with dark-gold metal trim.

At the end of the corridor stood a heavy dark-brown metal door. The receptionist lightly knocked on it.

After receiving a deep voice from within saying, "Come in," he respectfully pushed open the door and stepped aside to invite Leng Yaozhu and Wang Chuan in, then quietly withdrew.

It was an exceptionally spacious office with an excellent view. Through the entire wall of floor-to-ceiling windows, one could overlook most of Heaven Dou City.

Yet the office was not lavishly decorated. Instead, it possessed a weighty, industrial atmosphere steeped in age.

Ancient tools hung upon the walls, while the bookshelves were crammed with metallic-hued tomes and blueprints.

Behind a broad solid-wood desk sat the central figure of today's meeting—the Divine Craftsman, Zhen Hua.

Wang Chuan's gaze immediately fell upon this legendary figure, renowned across the continent.

He looked far younger than Wang Chuan had imagined. With black hair, black eyes, and handsome features, he appeared to be only a little over thirty.

Yet his eyes were as deep as ancient wells, holding an indescribable accumulation of weathered wisdom.

Most striking of all was the hair at his temples, which had turned entirely snow-white, forming a harsh contrast with the black hair atop his head, as though time and some unknown force had left their distinctive marks upon him.

Wang Chuan knew full well that this was not natural aging, but the backlash he had suffered from conducting Heavenly Forging over a long period.

Heavenly Forging was a forging technique that invoked the power of the laws of heaven and earth's elements and fused it into metal.

Each success was accompanied by the descent of heavenly tribulation, which the blacksmith had to endure with his own body.

Over the years, even the strongest body would accumulate hidden injuries and damage that were difficult to heal. Outwardly, that manifested as prematurely white hair.

This was also the fundamental reason Zhen Hua had become increasingly eager in recent years to find a true successor.

He did not have much time left.

Of course, this "eagerness" was relative.

With his cultivation, if he did not forcibly continue Heavenly Forging, living peacefully for another thirty or forty years would not be a problem.

But the true crisis was that, though his disciples included no shortage of talented individuals, and some had even reached the level of Seven-Star or Eight-Star Saint Craftsman, not one possessed the insight and potential needed to touch the threshold of a Divine Craftsman.

With no one to inherit his legacy, his lifelong skills might vanish with him. That was the greatest anxiety in his heart.

At that moment, Zhen Hua's gaze was also fixed on Wang Chuan, filled with scrutiny and inquiry.

When Leng Yaozhu had first proposed recommending a child to study forging under him, he had not been particularly willing.

The path of a blacksmith required genuine talent, hard work, and insight. What it needed least were people pushed in through connections merely to gild their resumes.

This was not an amusement park.

Nor was it a place for spoiled young masters to experience life.

However, when the brief information Leng Yaozhu later sent regarding Wang Chuan was placed before him...

Even this Divine Craftsman, who had witnessed countless storms, could not help but feel deeply shaken.

Nine years old, a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor.

A ten-thousand-year Soul Spirit.

Rare Seven-Elemental Control...

Every piece of information was enough to overturn the understanding of ordinary Soul Masters. Combined, they painted a portrait that could only be called monstrous!

With such cultivation talent and Martial Soul potential, reaching the pinnacle of the continent was almost inevitable given enough time.

Leng Yaozhu was actually willing to let such a disciple divide his attention to learn forging?

Was she not afraid it would delay his progress toward the peak of Soul Master cultivation?

After all, no matter how esteemed a Divine Craftsman might be, compared to someone who could one day become another Yun Ming—or even surpass Yun Ming as the continent's number one—his appeal seemed somewhat lacking.

However, Leng Yaozhu's answer had been simple and direct.

"It was the child himself who wished to take you as his master and learn forging."

Those words struck Zhen Hua's heart like a heavy hammer.

All a good master sought in his lifetime was a good disciple capable of inheriting and carrying forward his legacy.

Much less when such an unparalleled genius had voluntarily asked to become his disciple?

The displeasure born from the thought of connections instantly vanished, replaced by an indescribable mixture of anticipation and solemnity.

For someone like Wang Chuan, the term "using connections" no longer applied.

Or rather, aside from him, the current Divine Craftsman, what other blacksmith was qualified to teach such a student?

The scales in Zhen Hua's heart had already unknowingly tipped completely toward Wang Chuan. This meeting was more of a final confirmation—the most important confirmation of all.

To determine whether Wang Chuan possessed...

The same innate brilliance in forging that he possessed as a Soul Master.

"Wang Chuan greets His Excellency the Divine Craftsman."

Wang Chuan stepped forward and offered a respectful yet unassuming greeting, his clear voice interrupting Zhen Hua's thoughts.

Zhen Hua nodded slightly. Without exchanging unnecessary pleasantries, he stood up directly.

"Come with me."

His tone was decisive.

Cultivation talent was cultivation talent.

What he needed to see now was Wang Chuan's talent for forging.

This concerned whether he would truly entrust his life's work to Wang Chuan.