Intermediate Divine Artifact: Sheen!

His soft, sweet voice was drowned out by the thunderous hammering. Lou Xu heard nothing.

Xiao Wu had wanted to watch Lou Xu forge a Divine Artifact, but remembering that she had yet to grasp even the knowledge in the Beginner Rune Manual, she gave up and decided to settle down and continue studying.

But with all this racket, how could she take anything in?

She covered her ears and rolled around on the bed, muttering and grumbling under her breath.

An unknown amount of time passed.

With a long, lingering metallic clang-clank! Ting!, the forging and Xiao Wu's complaints both came to an abrupt halt.

Seeing that Lou Xu had finished, Xiao Wu finally let out a long sigh of relief, picked the book up from the bedside table again, and began reading.

Lou Xu wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked down.

Resting quietly on the stariron anvil was a fantastical broadsword shimmering with flowing light, its translucent blade a deep blue, its guard silver, and its hilt wrapped in braided brown material.

Intermediate Divine Artifact: Sheen!

Its effect allowed the wielder to accumulate excess soul power released when using Soul Skills, or actively pour soul power into it. Once fully charged, it could unleash a powerful slash.

Its power depended on the quality of the soul power stored within.

He picked up Sheen and gazed at the light flowing through its blade, his eyes deep and contemplative.

Had he not come to the Heaven Dou Empire, he might have traded this Divine Artifact away without a pang of regret.

But now, when he had left Gengxin City, he had taken Xiong Jun with him.

Even though Dai Changkong had stationed a Soul Douluo there to stand guard, he still could not rest easy.

Lou Xu summoned Xiong Jun and asked him to pour his soul power into Sheen.

Even with Xiong Jun's four hundred and fifty thousand years of cultivation, filling it consumed almost a tenth of his soul power.

Once Sheen was fully charged, the entire sword turned azure.

Its intense radiance obscured the flowing light within, yet it faintly exuded a dangerous aura.

Xiong Jun swung Sheen around a couple of times, clicking his tongue in wonder.

"Kid Lou, you really are something."

"Your Bear Lord can feel it. This thing can now unleash a strike with nearly eighty percent of my strength."

"Its power... hmm, about equal to the first six Soul Skills of an ordinary human Level 98 Titled Douluo."

"Shame your Bear Lord has no use for it."

He handed the Sheen broadsword back to Lou Xu, pursed his lips, and sighed.

Hearing Xiong Jun's words, Lou Xu smiled and took Sheen back. He found a thick cloth, wrapped it in layer after layer, then carefully placed it in a metal box padded with scraps of paper.

"Haha, Big Bear, I know you want one too, but don't get impatient."

"Once I break through to Soul King, I'll be able to forge High-Tier Divine Artifacts. Then I'll make you something even more powerful."

The moment he finished speaking, Xiong Jun's somewhat gloomy eyes flew wide.

He stepped forward and gripped Lou Xu's shoulders tightly.

"Really? How powerful?"

Meeting Xiong Jun's excited gaze, Lou Xu spoke one word at a time.

"Powerful enough... for you to kill that bastard Di Tian!"

"That's my boy! Your Bear Lord hasn't looked after you for nothing. That fellow struts around like he's something special, even Bi Ji... anyway, your Bear Lord has wanted to teach him a lesson for ages."

Xiong Jun roared with laughter. In his delight, he nearly let something slip, then caught himself and hastily changed course.

Watching him, Lou Xu could not help chuckling.

It seemed he had just heard something rather extraordinary.

No wonder Xiong Jun had always been at odds with Di Tian.

So this was where it all began.

That worked out nicely. He now had someone to help him obtain his ninth Soul Ring.

Pretending he had heard nothing, he walked over to the desk and wrote a letter, then summoned the steward and handed it to him along with the metal box.

"Have someone you trust take this to Gengxin City as quickly as possible and deliver it personally into my grandfather's hands."

Lou Xu gave the instructions in a grave voice.

The steward solemnly accepted the metal box and nodded.

As he stepped out the door, he suddenly remembered something. Glancing at the dusky yellow sky outside the window, he asked quietly.

"Young master, His Highness the Crown Prince is still waiting for you in the reception room."

At those words, Lou Xu slapped his forehead, finally remembering.

He had been so caught up in his work that he had left the crown prince waiting.

Glancing at Xiao Wu lying on her stomach on the bed and reading, Lou Xu asked a servant to bring her something to eat, then hurried to the reception room.

He pushed open the reception room doors, and the sight before him made him instinctively slow his steps.

Xue Qinghe had folded his arms and leaned back in his chair, fast asleep.

His slender, long fingers hung at his sides, their tips relaxed.

The setting sun fell across his brows, turning the fine down almost transparent, as though it had been dusted with a faint layer of gold.

The light slid along the bridge of his nose to his cheek, tracing his delicately shaped nose, the tender edges of his lips, and the soft line of his jaw.

His long eyelashes cast faint shadows beneath his eyes, trembling slightly with his gentle breathing.

A barely perceptible curve touched his rosy lips, as though he were dreaming of something pleasant.

Lou Xu had been about to call out to him, but swallowed the words before they left his throat.

A thought suddenly rose in his heart.

If the person before me were a woman, how beautiful would she be?

Wait!

She is Qian Renxue!

Lou Xu shook his head, hurriedly shaking those stray thoughts away.

He picked up a blanket, tiptoed closer, and gently draped it over his stomach.

He had only just released the corner of the blanket and had yet to straighten up...

"Who?!"

Xue Qinghe's eyes snapped open from his deep sleep!

In that instant, Lou Xu clearly saw an icy, razor-sharp gleam flash through those gentle eyes, carrying scorching power of light, like a keen blade long hidden in its sheath suddenly revealing its killing intent.

But that sharpness lasted only an instant.

It vanished so quickly that Lou Xu almost thought he had imagined it.

Xue Qinghe's gaze focused. Once he recognized the person before him, the frost in his eyes swiftly melted, replaced by a perfectly measured, just-awakened drowsiness.

"...So it's you, Brother Lou Xu."

He braced himself on the armrests and sat upright. The blanket slipped down his body and settled across his legs.

He raised a hand to rub between his brows, his movements languid and natural, carrying just the right measure of the unguarded warmth one would expect from the crown prince.

"My apologies. That was unbecoming of me."

He smiled, his voice still hoarse from waking.

"Official duties have been piling up lately, keeping me so busy I can barely sleep at night. I never expected to fall asleep here."

"I was still half asleep just now and thought it was some servant who didn't know the rules."

"I'm the one who intruded."

Lou Xu took the opportunity to step back twice, then sat opposite him and said with a smile.

"I meant to wake you, Your Highness, but you were sleeping so soundly that I couldn't bring myself to."

"I put the blanket on you. Please don't take offense, Your Highness."

"Of course not."

Xue Qinghe looked down at the blanket covering his legs, his fingertips lightly brushing its coarse edge.

His gaze softened for an almost imperceptible instant.

He raised his head, his smile warm.

"Rather, I should thank you."

Outside the window.

The bellows in the courtyard of the Heaven Dou City branch of the Blacksmith Association sounded again and again, rhythmic and low, like a heartbeat.

Ancient and steady.

The scorched scent of the furnace, the cold tang of iron ore, and the faintly bitter lingering fragrance of agarwood from a burner in the corner that had burned out mingled together, filling the room.

The scent brought an inexplicable sense of peace.

"Have you spent the whole day at the branch, Your Highness?"

Lou Xu arranged the delicate dishes the servant had brought and asked casually.

"Yes, I came in the afternoon."

Xue Qinghe picked up the warm water beside him and moistened his throat.

"The palace feels stifling."

He put down the cup and picked up the chopsticks from their rest, his tone half joking and half sincere.

"The moment Jingzhe sounded, so many ministers at court lost their composure. They submit memorials every day, and Father asks them to propose solutions at every court session, yet little has come of it..."

He stopped at just the right moment, shook his head, and turned to survey the courtyard outside the window.

"Your place is much better."

"The moment you open the door, there's only a faint scent of metal. A simple scent."