A Good Impression

"Jiang Kai?"

In the rear courtyard of the Jin Geng Blacksmith Shop, inside a spacious, brightly lit hall, the burly, buzz-cut man with stubble heard the young man's report. His brows could not help drawing together. The name sounded a little familiar, but he could not recall who it matched.

"A Qiang." After thinking to no avail, the burly man did not dwell on it. He said to the young man, "Bring that little fellow in. I'll ask him myself."

Although he still had not remembered who that person named Jiang Kai was, since the story sounded detailed and plausible, and there was even a letter brought along, the other party should indeed have studied under his teacher before.

Of course, when the young man just now—A Qiang—had relayed the matter, the detail he mentioned about Ling Yi wearing the uniform of Green Leaf Elementary Soul Master Academy also added a tiny bit of credibility...

A few minutes later.

"Ninth Senior Brother." A Qiang brought Ling Yi into the hall and immediately introduced him. "This is little friend Ling Yi..."

"Little fellow."

When Ninth Senior Brother's gaze turned to Ling Yi, A Qiang said to Ling Yi as well, "This is the owner and person in charge of our Jin Geng Blacksmith Shop's main store, the old master's ninth personal disciple—"

Hearing this, Ling Yi, who had maintained the pure, innocent nature of a child throughout, was the first to greet him politely. "Hello, shop owner. I'm Ling Yi."

"Mm." Ninth Senior Brother's gaze paused on Ling Yi's academy uniform, and then, seeing how obedient and polite Ling Yi was, the already amiable smile on his face brightened a little more. "Hello, little fellow. My surname is He. Just call me Uncle He."

Since Ninth Senior Brother showed goodwill, Ling Yi naturally would not refuse. He immediately changed the form of address and called out, "Uncle He!"

"Mm." Hearing this, Ninth Senior Brother nodded in satisfaction. Straightforward by nature, he did not beat around the bush or probe with any roundabout words, instead going straight to the point. Looking directly at Ling Yi's little face, he said, "Little Ling Yi, I heard from A Qiang that you brought a letter from Jiang Kai to give to my teacher..."

Ling Yi nodded. "Yes."

Turning his gaze to the letter that Ling Yi was still pinching in his hand, Ninth Senior Brother asked with a smile, "Then, little Ling Yi, could you let me take a look at the letter first?"

"This..." Hearing this, hesitation appeared on Ling Yi's little face.

"Heh." Seeing this, Ninth Senior Brother shook his head with a soft laugh and said, "Little Ling Yi, don't worry. Uncle just wants to verify the situation of that Jiang Kai you mentioned through the contents of the letter."

"Otherwise, I can't just ask nothing, know nothing, and take you, a strange little fellow, to see my teacher, can I?"

As Ninth Senior Brother's words fell, Ling Yi cooperatively showed a muddled, half-understanding expression of agreement on his face, followed by several breaths of hesitation and uncertainty. In the end, his expression turned serious. He nodded hard and said, "Then... all right—"

As he spoke, the hand gripping the letter slowly but firmly offered it to Ninth Senior Brother, who was seated upright before him.

The letter had been placed in a ginger-yellow, hard paper envelope and sealed with paste. Ninth Senior Brother took a delicately shaped dagger from his waist and casually used the tip of the blade to pick open the envelope, then removed the letter paper inside, unfolded it, and began reading.

Watching the other party lower his head to read the letter, Ling Yi's expression did not change. Ling Yi had already used his Mental Strength to sense the contents of the letter bit by bit before, reading it through the colors of the ink on the paper inside.

There was not much content. It only wrote about how, more than thirty years ago, he had entered Old Master Jin's tutelage. Unfortunately, his aptitude had been dull, and after studying the craft for more than ten years, he had still stopped at Intermediate Blacksmith and had been unable to become an Advanced Blacksmith. Disheartened, he had taken leave of his teacher and fellow disciples and returned to his hometown in the countryside, thinking of them often over the years.

At the end of the letter, Master Jiang specifically mentioned Ling Yi, saying that Ling Yi not only had the qualifications to become a soul master, but also had an extremely high talent for forging. He had only studied with him for one year, and aside from the fact that, because he was still young, his strength was not yet very great, his pure forging skill was already no worse than his own. He definitely possessed the level of an Intermediate Blacksmith!

In order not to delay Ling Yi's forging talent, and also to make up for the regret Jiang Kai had felt back then, he begged the old master to take Ling Yi under his wing and teach him forging skills...

One letter, several hundred to nearly a thousand characters, written at length. Although the wording was a little disordered and quite a few sentences did not read very smoothly, the feelings within were extremely sincere.

Regarding this, Ling Yi felt an extremely deep gratitude toward Master Jiang, this blacksmith teacher who had only taught him intermittently for one year, the person who had guided him onto the path of forging.

Master Jiang's eldest grandson has already awakened his martial soul and has no soul power. His second grandson is going to undergo the Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony in the second half of the year, so it's too late for him too. His youngest grandson is still little, though. Later, when the ginseng in the Old Forest matures, I'll make some chicken soup to nourish him, and combine it with Hypnosis to guide him into Deep Sleep for absorption. Maybe there'll be hope for him to awaken Innate Soul Power...?

While waiting for Ninth Senior Brother to read the letter, Ling Yi pondered in his heart how he should repay Master Jiang for his help later.

At the same time, this was also building the foundation of his future core team.

Fellow villagers were also a force rather worth investing in and trusting.

Ling Yi's thoughts moved nimbly, but on the surface he remained obedient, waiting patiently. On this side, Ninth Senior Brother read the contents of the letter while recalling memories of the past:

Surname Jiang, entered Master's tutelage more than thirty years ago, but after studying the craft for over ten years, he was only an Intermediate Blacksmith. I suppose he never became a personal disciple and could only be counted as an apprentice...

Left more than ten years ago and returned to his hometown...

Ninth Senior Brother was thirty-five years old this year. Twenty-six years ago, he had entered Old Master Jin's tutelage. In Two Years, he became a Novice Blacksmith. In five years, he became an Intermediate Blacksmith. In the tenth year, he became an Advanced Blacksmith, and at the same time became the old master's ninth personal disciple.

Calculating the time, when he had entered the sect back then, that Senior Brother Jiang Kai Jiang... Mm, for the time being, he would call him senior brother, should still have been studying the craft and had not yet left.

Unfortunately, Ninth Senior Brother pinched the letter paper and read it over and over several times. A short while passed, yet he still could not dig up any information about this Senior Brother Jiang from his mind.

There was no helping it. Since Old Master Jin had returned from his studies in Gengxin City of the Star Luo Empire more than forty years ago and opened Jin Geng Blacksmith Shop in his hometown of Mu Zhi City, who knew how many apprentices he had taught?

Although he had only accepted twelve personal disciples so far, people like Senior Brother Jiang, who because of ordinary talent could only learn to a passable level, and finally left Jin Geng Blacksmith Shop with the skills of an Intermediate Blacksmith or even a Novice Blacksmith, scattering to towns and villages across the Waterwood Principality to open blacksmith shops, could still be considered spreading the branches and leaves.

Not being able to remember was one thing, but Ninth Senior Brother did not open his mouth to question the authenticity of this letter of Ling Yi's.

After all, the contents of the letter were written in detail and sounded convincing. On top of that, nowadays, more than half of the blacksmiths in the Waterwood Principality could be said to be his own teacher's disciples and grand-disciples. Broadly speaking, this Senior Brother Jiang Kai's identity should not be a problem.

Moreover...

His gaze once again fell on the academy uniform Ling Yi wore, and the smile on Ninth Senior Brother's face grew three parts brighter.

"Little Ling Yi, Senior Brother Jiang said in the letter that after learning forging from him for one year, you already possessed the skills of an Intermediate Blacksmith. Is that true?"

"Hehe." Hearing this, Ling Yi smiled shyly. In his tone, a touch of pride mixed with modesty as he replied, "Master Jiang was praising me. I... I'm not strong enough, and I still haven't mastered some forging techniques well. I'm not as skilled as Master Jiang..."

Hearing these words, Ninth Senior Brother's eyes lit up. In an instant, he savored the meaning within.

Not strong enough? Not as skilled as Master Jiang?

Putting it together, this little fellow meant that if his strength were sufficient, then in terms of technique alone, he would be stronger than that Senior Brother Jiang, who was an Intermediate Blacksmith?

Of course, the premise was that that Senior Brother Jiang truly was an Intermediate Blacksmith!

However, even if the little fellow before him had only just come into contact with forging, as long as the other party had the desire to learn forging, Ninth Senior Brother would still introduce him to his own teacher.

After all, although his master was one of the Duchy's Three Great Masters and held a status no worse than most nobles in the Capital City, chances to take in a disciple with hopes of becoming a Soul Master were still exceedingly rare.

On Douluo Continent, Soul Masters reigned supreme. Those with Innate Soul Power all wanted to cultivate and become Soul Masters; there really were very few willing to spend time learning forging and become blacksmiths.

Even though the two did not actually conflict.

For example, his master, Old Master Jin, was a high-level Soul Elder.

He himself was also a One-Ring Soul Master.

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