(First update)
The Seven Pillar Guardians had landed near a fishing village on the coast of the Star Luo Empire. Following the directions of that "kindhearted" fisherman, they headed southwest all the way and were about to reach Gengxin City.
Gengxin City had originally stood within the Star Luo Empire, in the opposite direction from Longxing City. Longxing City lay in the southeast of the Heaven Dou Empire, while Gengxin City lay in the southwest of the Star Luo Empire, farther toward its interior.
However, the Spirit Hall Empire had risen too quickly and advanced its invasion at a tremendous pace. Gengxin City had now been swept into its embrace, becoming one of its major cities.
In the original story, Gengxin City had been one of the Star Luo Empire's major cities, but it was hardly famous. It was called the Metal City only because of its many blacksmiths and abundant mineral resources.
To the Spirit Masters of the Soul Master World, equipment forged by blacksmiths was utter garbage, of no use whatsoever. They were better off diligently training their martial souls, increasing their soul power, and obtaining soul rings. That was far more effective than wearing any equipment.
For that reason, blacksmiths held a very low status on the Douluo Continent. The weapons and equipment they painstakingly forged were easily destroyed before those lofty Spirit Masters.
No matter how many ordinary soldiers there were or how powerful their iron equipment was, before mighty Spirit Masters, they were nothing but bean curd that crumbled at a touch.
But for the Sky-Blasting Gang under Yang Ming's control, this meant something entirely different.
With Tang San as his chief hidden weapon designer, Yang Ming drew on memories of his previous life and worked through the details to establish a complete assembly-line process