The East Sea Blacksmith Association, the president's office on the top floor.
Mu Chen lay comfortably on a carved armchair, a pot of premium tea at his side as he basked in the warm sunlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Cen Yue sat beside him, reporting on his work. Suddenly, he let out a strange cry, startling Mu Chen so badly that he nearly spilled his tea.
"What happened? Why are you making such a fuss? You're not a child anymore. Can't you be a little more composed?"
Mu Chen pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at the tea stains on his clothes.
Cen Yue hesitated for a long moment before speaking. "It's that kid Mang Tian. He just sent me a message."
"Oh? Mang Tian actually contacted you first? That's rare! The kid has some talent, too. If his Martial Soul weren't holding him back, he might already have made it to Seven-Star Saint Craftsman, wouldn't you say?"
Mu Chen smiled. He remembered the eccentric fellow, who was stubborn to a fault when it came to forging.
He wasn't especially gifted, but he made up for it with hard work. He was already ahead of many blacksmiths his age.
"The message says he just took on two disciples in Aolai City. The younger one seems like Saint Craftsman material... The older one is six, just awakened his Martial Soul, and achieved Hundred-Refinement in One Hammer."
"Cough, cough! Seriously?"
Mu Chen dropped all pretense of a Saint Craftsman's dignity and sprang up, leaning over beside Cen Yue.
Cen Yue opened the attachment, and a video slowly appeared on the office's holographic projector.
A black-haired boy, still looking very young, stood before a piece of Sinking Silver riddled with impurities, his forging hammer raised high above his head.
Seeing the rare metal, Mu Chen couldn't help but complain. "Sinking Silver is hard to forge to begin with, and this piece hasn't even been heated to a high temperature. It's full of impurities, too. It's completely unsuitable for forging. He's using this as his first billet?"
The instant the hammer came down, Mu Chen swallowed his doubts.
They watched as the mottled Sinking Silver shrank by a full third with that single blow from Tang Heng, expelling a great many impurities.
If it weren't for the crucial property of metal sublimation, Mu Chen would have thought the Sinking Silver was nearly at the Thousand-Refinement level.
What kind of extraordinary talent did it take to wield such strength at so young an age?
"His Martial Soul seems to be a Golden Dragon. It's a True Dragon Martial Soul, and he has Innate Full Soul Power. I just checked the records, and it seems to possess the Ultimate Strength attribute."
"On top of that, the child has strong spiritual power. I used internal channels to get the Spirit Pagoda's spiritual power test report on Tang Heng from Aolai City. When they tested him a few days ago, he was already at the Spirit Connection Realm Mid-Stage, with a full 251 points."
At that, Mu Chen laughed heartily. "Ha ha ha! This child is truly a Divine Craftsman seed!"
To become a Divine Craftsman, one needed peerless forging skills, certainly, but what mattered even more was an ample supply of Soul Power and spiritual power to sustain the terrifying toll of Heavenly Forging.
Otherwise, after all these years, the Blacksmith Association would have more than just Zhen Hua as its sole Divine Craftsman.
"Reply to Mang Tian and tell him I understand. As soon as the child completes Thousand-Refinement, I'll bring that old rascal Zhen Hua and personally come to take him as a disciple!"
Mu Chen had spoken. Cen Yue didn't dare delay and hurriedly sent a reply to Mang Tian.
After Cen Yue left, Mu Chen lay back down and resumed drinking his tea, though he was clearly in a much better mood than before.
After walking the brothers home, Lang Yue went out to buy groceries, saying she would make a feast to celebrate. That left the three little ones at home.
Tang Wulin decided to work hard and improve. After applying some ointment, he ran to the small park outside to meditate and cultivate.
Tang Heng stayed inside, continuing to write his Great Love Immortal Venerable at full speed.
The book had recently made the website's front page, and it had already gathered quite a few readers.
The most generous were, of course, the longtime readers who had followed him over from his previous book. Sky-Propping Spear and his wife gave him ten or twenty thousand Federation Coins every couple of days. Just from them, Tang Heng could make over a hundred thousand Federation Coins a month.
Once this batch of royalties came in, Tang Heng was even thinking of telling his dad he could quit his job.
Working as a mecha repairman was exhausting, paid next to nothing, and came with the risk of getting exposed.
A few hundred bucks a month—what was the point of risking your life for that?
Tang Heng sat in front of his laptop, fingers flying across the keyboard with a series of crisp clicks.
He transformed every word taking shape in his mind into pure literary essence, determined to pour the knowledge of a Demon from Beyond the Heavens straight into the brains of the Douluo Federation's people!
Na'er quietly crept up behind him, her hands clasped behind her back as she watched Tang Heng in silence. She could tell her brother was focused, so she didn't disturb him.
Only after Tang Heng finished his final chapter for the day and closed his laptop did Na'er speak.
"Brother, what exactly happened last night?"
"That warm thing of yours entered my body, and it felt so nice, Brother. I... I want to do it again..."
What kind of thunderous thing was that to say? Officer, I swear I'm innocent!
Tang Heng cleared his throat and lowered his voice. "We can, but don't say things like that again. Especially not around strangers."
Na'er tugged at the hem of her skirt. Her round, fair toes curled slightly, like a neat row of little pearls. Blushing, she said, "Okay. As long as you can make Na'er feel good, Brother, I'll do anything you want."
???
She really was the other half of the Silver Dragon King.
Tang Heng silently marveled to himself, then took Na'er's soft little hand.
Maybe it was just his imagination, but her hand seemed softer and sweeter-smelling than yesterday.
"Mmm..."
As Soul Power flowed into her, Na'er's toes tightened involuntarily, and she let out a soft moan.
The warm, soothing feeling from yesterday had been so wonderful, like something her body had longed for had finally been returned to her.
Tang Heng thought this was a pretty good way to cultivate, too. He was about to break through to level seventeen.
He also felt that the quality of the Nine-Colored Soul Power in the vortex at his dantian was higher than that of a single Dragon King Martial Soul. It might prove useful someday.
Na'er felt blissfully comfortable all over. Her body went limp, and she leaned against Tang Heng's shoulder, her little face flushed as if tinged with scarlet clouds.
The Gold Dragon King and Silver Dragon King Soul Power flowed between the two of them, most of it drawn into Tang Heng's Nine-Colored Vortex.
Even so, Na'er still found it very soothing when just a tiny bit of Gold Dragon King Soul Power flowed into her.
As the two siblings leaned against each other, Tang Wulin returned from his meditation.
"Brother, Na'er, what are you doing?"
Tang Wulin asked.
Na'er blushed and said softly, "Brother Heng and I are doing something that feels good..."
Hey! Don't say that, girl!
Tang Heng hurriedly cut her off and explained, "It's like when I helped you deal with that Low-Level Dragon Beast before. It's a kind of cultivation method. We can do it together, too."
"Really? Then I want to try!"
Tang Wulin changed into his slippers and hugged Tang Heng around the neck from behind on the left.
Well, what had started as a double act had turned into a three-person affair. How was this supposed to work?
Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon King Bloodline was impure, and it was sealed, too. Without Martial Soul Possession, injecting Soul Power might not stimulate him enough.
They were family, so there was no need to avoid anything. Tang Heng switched directly to the Silver Dragon King Martial Soul, and his appearance and temperament changed dramatically in an instant.
Na'er leaned closer, her nostrils brushing Tang Heng's snow-white neck as she sniffed. "Hee-hee, Brother Heng turned into a big sister, and he smells even sweeter~"
"Mm, I can feel it too... It really is comfortable."
Tang Wulin grew dazed as golden light emerged from his body. He released his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul without even thinking.
With Tang Wulin joining in, the vortex at Tang Heng's dantian spun much faster. More Nine-Colored Soul Power began to form—one wisp, two wisps, three...
Looking at the two little ones nestled against him, Tang Heng silently thought:
What a sin, what a sin.
Before you continue