Only after Duan Xuan had gone far away did Mu Han finally let out a long breath.
"The conditions sounded pretty good. Why didn't you agree? Couldn't bear to leave me?" Xu Xiaoyan asked with a mischievous grin.
Mu Han curled his lip. "They weren't just pretty good! They couldn't have been any better."
"The Skysea Alliance only has one Level 8 Saint Craftsman. They want to groom me to become the next one!"
"And the resources they're offering aren't just from Skysea City. They're from the entire Skysea Alliance!"
Xu Xiaoyan looked surprised. "You knew all that and still didn't agree?"
Mu Han couldn't help sounding a little exasperated. "I refused so quickly because I was afraid I'd give in if I hesitated!"
Truthfully, although Mu Chen's actions had left him a little disheartened, it was only a little.
After all, he wasn't Mu Chen's biological son. He understood that much.
Besides, not long ago, Mu Chen had given him a Ten Thousand Year Head Soul Bone.
Although no one else could use that Head Soul Bone,
an unusable Soul Bone was still a Soul Bone—and a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone at that.
Even if Soul Masters couldn't use it, it could still be used to make a Soul Tool or Battle Armor.
Soul Tools made from Soul Bones had already existed a thousand years ago.
Nowadays, some people were even adding Soul Bones to the cores of their Battle Armor.
A Head Soul Bone was inherently a Soul Bone that strengthened one's mental power.
And this one was a Ten Thousand Year Head Soul Bone from an Evil Eye Tyrant, no less.
If it were used to make Battle Armor, it could be used to craft even a Four-Word Battle Armor helmet.
Mu Han took Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan to a private room.
In another private room were Duan Xuan and Mu Chen.
Mu Han had asked Mu Chen to help arrange for him to challenge Tianhai Academy. At first, Mu Chen hadn't agreed.
Only after Mu Han passed the Level 6 Blacksmith assessment had Mu Chen changed his mind.
He wanted to test Mu Han's character.
Mu Chen hadn't originally planned to test him so soon,
after all, Mu Han was still young, and his character could be influenced by the people and surroundings around him,
while Mu Chen had also been guiding him subtly all along.
But Mu Han was growing far too quickly.
He was a Level 6 Blacksmith at the age of ten!
A Level 5 Blacksmith would only dabble in Spirit Alloy.
It was only at Level 6 that a blacksmith truly began to study it in depth.
The first thing that mattered in alloy forging was the formula.
And the formula was the most important thing of all.
These formulas had been refined by the generations before them, tempered through countless trials and summarized after innumerable tests.
Every formula was incredibly precious, and people were sure to treasure it like a family heirloom.
At this stage, passing down knowledge became extremely important.
Even ordinary alloy formulas had to be purchased from the Blacksmith Association.
Rare formulas could be called secret recipes, known to only a handful of people.
They could even be said to embody the life's work of those veteran blacksmiths.
The Soul Bones Mu Chen had given Mu Han were, in the end, merely worldly possessions.
But Mu Chen's inheritance as a Saint Craftsman represented a lifetime of painstaking effort—and even the legacy of his entire branch of the sect.
So he had to test Mu Han, even though Mu Han was his adopted son.
Because that inheritance wasn't just Mu Chen's; it was also the legacy of his entire line!
He was very satisfied with the results of the test. Mu Han had refused without hesitation.
Meanwhile, after the three of them had finished eating, Mu Han went to pay the bill, and Gu Yue followed him.
"You said that the current Plane Master did something back then, which gave you your opportunity," Gu Yue suddenly said.
"That's right." Mu Han nodded. "I'll give you this information for free."
"You should know I'm not from Eastsea City, nor am I from Aolai City. I'm from the mainland."
"Why did Na'er appear in Aolai City? Because Tang Wulin was there!"
"The Plane Master interfered back then, but that also gave the previous Plane Master an opportunity."
"I hadn't realized it when I first encountered Na'er."
"I only knew there was something wrong with Aolai City. I also learned about Tang Wulin's existence."
"Later, I picked Na'er up along the way. She came along as a bonus, you could say."
"If I hadn't stepped in back then, Na'er's heart would belong to Tang Wulin now."
"And your bet with Na'er would have been about Tang Wulin, too."
"Tang Wulin carries the Golden Dragon King Bloodline. There would have been far more variables by then."
Mu Han was still working backward from the answer he already knew.
In any case, Gu Yue believed him, because it all made sense.
She had no fondness for Tang Wulin, and none for Mu Han either.
But if Tang Wulin had the Golden Dragon King Bloodline inside him, then given enough time, who knew what might happen?
As the Master of Soul Beasts, falling in love with a human was already a problem.
But if she fell in love with the son of a God King, that would be an even bigger problem.
"Soul Beasts can't become gods." Hatred surfaced in Gu Yue's eyes. "The ones who established this rule—"
"This has nothing to do with the Divine Realm." Mu Han waved a hand, interrupting her.
Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena was one of the rare oddities in the world.
From the moment she became conscious, she had been revered as the lofty Master of Soul Beasts,
and, influenced by Di Tian's attitude, she had imagined a whole host of "historical facts" that had never existed.
It wasn't quite true that Di Tian had sidelined the Silver Dragon King.
Because Di Tian didn't know the real history either!
It was more like a fool had convinced another fool that they were a fool.
The Soul Beast Clan had somehow managed to gather two such brilliant leaders at once. There really was no one else like them.
"But it's true that the Tang family has a blood feud with your clan. The Three-Eyed Golden Lion was killed because of him."
"What do you mean?" Gu Yue's expression changed.
But Mu Han only smiled and said nothing. The rest was for paying customers.
Gu Yue took a deep breath. That bastard loved to keep her in suspense at the crucial moment.
Di Tian had already used up two drops of his blood essence. Using more would surely leave him severely weakened.
But the only thing Mu Han wanted besides that was a Soul Bone.
With a Level 8 Saint Craftsman for an adoptive father to back him, he probably wouldn't even be interested in ordinary Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones, would he?
Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones—or External Soul Bones—were what he was after.
Gu Yue had plenty of Soul Bones.
Although the Star Dou Great Forest's attempt to unleash a beast tide had failed back then,
a great many Soul Beasts had still been killed by humans.
But over the years, countless Soul Beasts had also died naturally or perished in conflicts with one another.
After several thousand years, they had naturally collected countless Soul Bones. Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones weren't rare, and they even had Soul Bones from Ferocious Beasts.
How many Ten Thousand Year Soul Beasts and Ferocious Beasts had fallen after their tribulations? They were guaranteed to leave behind Soul Bones!
But all these years, no matter how strapped for resources the Soul Beast Clan had been, they had never considered selling Soul Bones in human society.
Leaving aside the fact that humans were their enemies, such an act would amount to helping the enemy.
Soul Bones were useless to Soul Beasts, but they were practically tombstones.
Would they really dig up their own people's graves?
Gu Yue still hadn't made up her mind when Di Tian suddenly appeared behind them. "Fine."
His voice brimmed with towering fury.
Was the death of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, the beginning of the Soul Beasts' decline, somehow connected to the Tang God King?
Before you continue