Three years later, Tang San graduated from Nuoding Academy and followed Grandmaster on a journey across the continent.
A carriage traveled along the main road.
This carriage was unusual. Large amounts of steel had gone into its construction, making it exceptionally heavy, and its overall shape differed from ordinary carriages.
It was longer, wider, and taller. Rather than a carriage, it looked more like a small mobile fortress.
As it swayed, metallic clanging rang out from inside.
Inside the carriage was a complete set of forging equipment.
This was the mobile blacksmith shop Tang San had designed and built with Grandmaster, and he intended to make his living with it.
Although he could collect a monthly stipend, Tang San never felt comfortable spending money he had not earned with his own hands.
Around half a year had passed since they left Nuoding City, and Tang San had earned a small sum with this forging wagon in the towns and villages along the way.
Farm tools, armor, weapons-as long as the purpose and payment were suitable, Tang San could forge whatever goods a customer needed.
Along the way, Tang San had also witnessed the hundred faces of human life, something he could never have experienced at the academy or through Grandmaster's accounts.
It had lifted his horizons and his thinking to new heights.
Tang San had not neglected his soul power cultivation, either.
With his thoughts flowing freely and the wonders of the Dharma Sutra, his cultivation advanced without the slightest obstruction.
For Tang San, the limitation of having only level-three innate soul power was nothing more than an empty barrier.
Even with the side task of increasing the age of his soul rings and soul bones, Tang San had still reached the peak of level nineteen as naturally as water flowing into a channel.
They were currently making their way slowly toward the Star Dou Great Forest. By the time they arrived, his cultivation would probably have reached level twenty.
"Xiao San, we've reached another village."
Grandmaster spoke into the carriage from the driver's seat.
Hearing this, Tang San looked up from his study of the Dharma Sutra, then signaled that he understood.
He then prepared to open Tang's Blacksmith Shop for business.
Now ten years old, Tang San still had a childish face, but his build already matched that of some adults.
Forging did not merely shape metal; it tempered the smith himself as well.
Villages did not have as many rules as towns, so once they found a decent spot to park, they could open for business.
Some passing villagers peered over curiously, examining the strange carriage.
After all, most villagers spent their days farming and eating. Apart from making love, they had little other entertainment.
That was the ordinary lot of commoners.
"Whoa! That carriage is so cool!"
"Tang's Blacksmith Shop? How can a blacksmith afford a carriage like that? And why come to a little place like ours?"
"You're asking me? How would I know?"
"Come on, let's tell the village chief."
The carriage from outside soon drew a crowd of onlookers.
Meanwhile, Grandmaster and Tang San made their preparations in an orderly fashion.
They opened the side of the carriage, revealing the scene within.
All sorts of implements hung on the walls: household tools, weapons and armor, and a few delicate little ornaments.
These were the goods sold by Tang's Blacksmith Shop.
Beside the window was an engraved sword emblem, a certification from Spirit Hall authorizing them to conduct business.
A wooden board reading "We can forge anything" stood in front of the shop, though most of the villagers could not read.
Fortunately, the village chief, one of the few villagers with some education, had arrived.
"Sir, I am the chief of Grass Nest Village. May I ask what brings you two to our village?"
An old man dressed a little better than the other villagers approached and addressed Grandmaster respectfully.
After all, Grandmaster's silks and the Spirit Hall emblem on the carriage gave him a fair idea of the visitors' identities.
One was a soul master, and the younger one was probably a soul master as well.
To commoners without soul power, soul masters were almost impossibly lofty figures.
"As you can see, Chief, we're here to sell goods. The things hanging on these walls are what I have for sale."
"They're all just little odds and ends."
"If you don't see what you want, you can tell me."
"As long as it's something I can forge, I'll make it."
"Of course, it will cost a little more, but the price will still be within your means."
It was Tang San, not Grandmaster, who answered. After all, this was Tang San's trial.
Grandmaster was only there to offer reminders and assistance.
And to cover their retreat if they had to flee at a critical moment.
Seeing Tang San take up the conversation, the village chief looked surprised.
"My name is Ma Bangde. Sir, you..."
"I'm still young, hardly a sir. My name is Tang San. Just call me Shopkeeper Tang."
Tang San smiled amiably, then flicked out a strand of Blue Silver Grass and took a hoe from a rack inside the carriage.
"If you don't trust the quality of my shop's goods, Chief, you can take a few back and try them out."
At this display, the chief and the villagers all understood. This boy really was a soul master, and he seemed quite powerful, too.
They wondered how he compared to the boy in the village chief's family.
He probably couldn't compare. After all, that boy had brought his mother to her death and embarrassed his grandfather so many times that they were almost ready to sever their grandfather-grandson relationship.
Ma Bangde took the hoe in his calloused hands. Once he gripped it firmly, surprise crossed his face.
He had worked in the fields himself. This hoe had a moderate weight and felt just right when swung, while one glance at its blade showed it was a top-quality piece.
Its design also made it less tiring to use than an ordinary hoe.
"Seventeen copper soul coins each. It'll last a long time."
Tang San named his price. For a hoe of this quality, it was quite cheap.
And hoes were not the only things on the wagon. If everyone in the village had one, their future yield would probably rise considerably.
Then, when the lord collected his taxes, the village might be able to keep a little more.
But that might hurt the village blacksmith's business, and this Shopkeeper Tang did not look as though he would stay long.
After weighing it over several times, Ma Bangde said to Tang San, "Shopkeeper Tang, could we speak in private?"
Tang San raised his eyebrows. He had encountered this sort of thing once or twice before, such as people wanting to buy more weapons to protect themselves from mountain bandits.
Others had tried to persuade Tang San to stay and work as their blacksmith.
Tang San always helped as much as he could, keeping within his abilities. After all, he was only a One-Ring Soul Master.
He wondered what trouble Grass Nest Village had run into.
"Come inside."
Tang San led Ma Bangde into the carriage.
"Shopkeeper, I'd like a batch of farming tools-a complete set. Don't worry, I won't short you on the payment."
"But I also have two presumptuous requests."
Two? This village chief certainly had some nerve.
Tang San was not angry, however. "What are they?"
"Could you teach the village blacksmith just the barest basics of your craft? I certainly won't stint on your payment."
"And the other?"
"The other... well, can you make that sort of thing?"
Ma Bangde hemmed and hawed, describing what he wanted made a little at a time.
Tang San listened patiently, but he had no idea what the man meant.
Then Grandmaster suddenly spoke from beside him. "Are you referring to a male chastity belt?"
"Yes, yes! Exactly!"