Early the next morning, before the clanging of forges in Gengxin City had risen to its usual intensity, the fragrance of tea already curled through the Blacksmiths' Guild's council hall, its drifting steam carrying a faint warmth of metal.
Qian Daoliu sat upright in the seat of honor, his fingertips lightly tapping the smooth tabletop as his gaze settled on Lou Gao beside him.
After a night's rest, every trace of drunkenness had faded from the Divine Craftsman's face, leaving only anticipation for his new journey and a measure of barely contained excitement. His fingers unconsciously rubbed the hammer-shaped jade pendant at his waist.
Bibi Dong sat to the side with Xiao Wu and her mother. Holding a Vermilion Fruit, Xiao Wu curiously studied the diagrams of various forging tools hanging on the walls, her fluffy tail swaying gently as her gaze wandered.
"Master Lou, today I have brought you the assistance I mentioned yesterday."
Qian Daoliu's voice broke the hall's silence. He slowly drew two rolls of blueprints gleaming with pale golden light from inside his robe and gently laid them on the table.
The instant the blueprints unfurled, a vast, mysterious fluctuation of energy quietly spread outward, as though countless tiny motes of light were swirling through the air.
The blueprint on the left depicted a palm-sized, badge-like object, its edges traced with intricate runes. Its entire body was crimson and gold, as though it had gathered all the world's gentle radiance within it. Beneath it, four ancient seal-script characters read "Red Dust Protection";
The blueprint on the right was a complex array diagram depicting countless interwoven strands of light, brilliant as a river of stars and sacred and majestic as the heavens. It was the Holy Spirit Guardian Light Array.
Every strand of light on the blueprint