Gengxin City was never quiet.
From dawn until late at night, hammers rang out across the city. Coal smoke poured from chimneys of every height, black iron filings gleamed along the streets, and even the air smelled of red-hot metal plunged into cold water.
The first thing Bai Jin did after entering the city was buy himself a pair of earplugs.
Qian Renxue watched him put them into his Soul Tool. "You weren't even afraid of the Titan Giant Ape's roar."
"It stopped roaring eventually. The hammers here won't."
Hu Liena, Xie Yue, and Yan followed behind them. After the battle in the Blazing Sun Mountains, Hu Liena's Soul Power had stabilized at the peak of level sixty-five. Xie Yue and Yan had also made gains from the high-pressure fight; each needed only a period of secluded training to rise another level.
Miles, the bishop of Spirit Hall's Gengxin City branch, was already waiting inside the city gate.
He was stout, and the gold embroidery on his formal robes shone brighter than the molten iron in the city. When he saw Bai Jin, his face creased into a smile. "Your Eminence Boundless, why didn't you notify us you were coming? I could have cleared the streets to welcome you."
Bai Jin glanced at a blacksmith being shoved aside by Branch Hall guards at the street corner. "I'm here to investigate, not to play emperor. Why clear the streets?"
Miles's smile stiffened. "I only wanted to show my respect."
"Then prepare the records for the past six months," Qian Renxue said. "Including the Branch Hall warehouse, auction purchases, and Inspection Team deployments."
A fine sheen of sweat sprang up on Miles's forehead.
Before they reached the Branch Hall, an argument rose from the Metal Trading Market.
More than a dozen Spirit