Nuoding Academy.
Over the past few days, Xiao Yan had been meditating and cultivating while putting the finishing touches on his Black Ruler design.
Since he was only six years old, and his Second Martial Soul was immensely heavy, Xiao Yan planned to forge a Black Ruler from black iron as a stepping stone toward cultivating with his Second Martial Soul on his back.
Looking at the design in his hands, Xiao Yan smiled in satisfaction, folded it, and tucked it into his clothes. Then he walked out of Nuoding Academy at an unhurried pace, intending to find a blacksmith shop to forge the Black Ruler.
It would serve as a weight for his early training.
After leaving the academy, Xiao Yan ate something, then asked the roadside vendors where the city's blacksmith shops were located. Thanks to the Nuoding Academy school uniform he wore, the vendors were quite eager to help.
There were two larger blacksmith shops in the city. The largest stood near the City Defense Army's garrison and mainly served the army and the city's nobles. The second was near Nuoding Academy, and its customers were primarily the surrounding students and their parents. Since commoners congregated in the area, business was fairly good.
Clang, clang, clang.
Before he even entered the blacksmith shop, Xiao Yan heard the rhythmic ringing of hammers.
Before long, a building made of yellow bricks and tiles appeared before him, bearing a hammer sign, with sparks flying inside.
He walked straight into the blacksmith shop, and the temperature abruptly soared around him from the heat of the blazing forge.
"Little fellow, it's dangerous here. Stop! Don't come any closer." Seeing Xiao Yan head straight toward the forging bench, a bare-chested man who had been talking to a customer hurried over to block his path. "Where are your parents? Haven't they told you blacksmith shops are dangerous?"
The forge was extremely hot, and miscellaneous objects and iron tools lay all around. The blacksmiths feared that mischievous children might have an accident, hence the strong reaction.
"Hello, sir. I'd like to have a Black Ruler forged," Xiao Yan said.
"Oh? You came here to have something made? I'm the owner of this blacksmith shop. Just tell me what material you need and exactly what it should look like," the man asked with a smile.
Xiao Yan said, "I need the ruler's body cast from black iron, about three feet long and weighing around two hundred jin. Here's my design."
With that, he handed the man the design he had drawn.
"Little fellow, are you joking with me?" The man was startled. The black iron Xiao Yan had just mentioned was a rare metal, not something a child could afford.
Xiao Yan naturally understood his concern. He took a Gold Soul Coin from inside his clothes and offered it to the man.
"That isn't enough." Looking at the Gold Soul Coin in Xiao Yan's hand, the man shook his head. "It'll probably cost ten Gold Soul Coins."
One Gold Soul Coin could support an ordinary family of three for three months. Ten Gold Soul Coins amounted to roughly three years' worth of food for an ordinary family.
"How about this, then? I can bring you one Gold Soul Coin every month. I'm a Soul Master, and I can collect a subsidy of one Gold Soul Coin from Spirit Hall each month." With that, Xiao Yan took out his Soul Master Handbook and handed it to the man.
A Soul Master Handbook was issued when a Soul Master collected their first subsidy from Spirit Hall. It could be considered proof of their status as a Soul Master and contained their personal information.
The Soul Master Handbook was neither paper nor cloth, but a palm-sized metal plate. Only Spirit Hall could use this special metal, making it difficult to counterfeit.
The palm-sized metal plate was engraved with the date of each of the Soul Master's advancements.
A Soul Master? This child became a Soul Master at such a young age? Has a golden phoenix actually flown out of Nuoding Academy's nest of straw? the man thought, solemnly accepting Xiao Yan's Soul Master Handbook with both hands.
Taking the cool metal plate, the man examined it carefully.
"Sir, have you finished reading it?" Xiao Yan asked politely after a moment.
The man sighed inwardly, and the way he looked at Xiao Yan had completely changed. What it meant for a six-year-old child to have reached rank fourteen in Soul Power might not have been entirely clear to an ordinary blacksmith like him.
But however poor his judgment might be, he could still tell that Xiao Yan's future held limitless prospects. He immediately felt honored to work with a Soul Master like him.
"Little fellow, we have a deal. We'll do it just as you suggested. Bring me one Gold Soul Coin a month for ten consecutive months," the man readily agreed.
"All right. Sorry for the trouble," Xiao Yan replied.
The man sighed. "Forging something from black iron takes both time and effort, but fortunately, a new worker recently joined the shop. His hammer technique should help get your item forged as quickly as possible."
"Oh? Then please take me to see him." Xiao Yan's heart lifted with delight.
"Come with me." The man led Xiao Yan farther into the blacksmith shop.
Blacksmith shops generally had numerous separate workrooms, specially designed for highly skilled blacksmiths to craft exquisite items without being disturbed during the forging process.
They arrived before one of the workrooms. It had no door, only a curtain separating the inside from the outside to allow air to circulate.
"Tang San, we've got business!" the man called into the workroom.
"Uncle Tie, what needs forging this time?" A small hand lifted the curtain, and a figure about Xiao Yan's height walked out.
"Tang San?"
"Xiao Yan?"
At the sight of each other, both exclaimed in surprise at the same time.
"You know each other?" The man was a little surprised.
"He's my..." Xiao Yan wanted to tell the man that this was his younger brother, but before he could finish, Tang San interrupted him.
"Yes. We're both students at Nuoding Academy. Just classmates, that's all," Tang San replied, his voice somewhat cold.
"Yes, classmates." Xiao Yan nodded helplessly.
Tang San still bitterly resented Xiao Yan's accusation that he picked up his bowl to eat, then put it down to curse the one who fed him. All he wanted was to draw a clear line between them.
"What did you come to the blacksmith shop to have made?" Tang San asked.
"A Black Ruler. I want to use it for weighted training," Xiao Yan said.
"Tang San, here's the design your classmate drew himself." The man handed Xiao Yan's design to Tang San.
Tang San took the design and studied it carefully. "It needs to be forged from black iron? That'll take some work. It'll probably take about a week to finish. Also, if we forge it according to your specifications, it'll weigh around two hundred jin. Are you sure you can use something that heavy?"
"It's for weighted training, not combat. It should be fine." Faced with Tang San's doubts, Xiao Yan spread his hands.
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