Douluo Continent: Speaker above, Dragon God kneels to receive orders

Chapter 8 The Wrath of the Master Craftsman and the Unseen Guardian

Donghai City, five o'clock in the morning.

Before the first rays of dawn had fully pierced the thin mist over the sea, the massive chimneys of the East Sea City Blacksmiths' Association branch had already begun to spew white smoke.

Tang Wulin stood at the entrance of the association, taking a deep breath of the air, which carried a faint smell of coal ash. His heart was pounding, not from nervousness, but from excitement. The master craftsman Zhenhua's incredible eighty-one hammer blows from last night were etched into his mind like a brand.

"Squeak—"

The heavy alloy door opened from the inside.

Zhenhua, dressed in a neat gray work uniform, stood at the doorway wiping his hands with a towel in his hand, watching him.

"A minute earlier than I expected." Zhenhua's voice was calm. "Come in."

Stepping into the enormous forging hall, Tang Wulin was immediately awestruck by the sight before him. Every forging machine here emitted a faint soul-guiding fluctuation, clearly the Federation's top-of-the-line equipment.

"From today onwards, this is your battlefield." Zhenhua walked to a huge forging furnace, casually picked up a dark iron ingot, and tossed it to Tang Wulin. "Refined iron. Forge it into a top-grade piece. No food until it's finished."

Tang Wulin caught the iron ingot, took a deep breath, and began the most important forging of his life.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The crisp sound of metal clashing echoed through the empty hall.

Zhenhua stood to the side, arms crossed, watching quietly. His eyes, which could see through the very nature of metal, were trying to detect the fluctuations of power within Tang Wulin.

However, what puzzled him was that the boy's body seemed to be shrouded in an invisible mist. Apart from the obvious power of blood and qi and the restlessness of the Golden Dragon King's bloodline, he could not sense any fluctuations in spiritual power at all.

"Strange..." Zhenhua thought to himself, "The Speaker clearly said that there was a powerful expert protecting us in the shadows. Why can't I detect even a trace of their spiritual power? Could it be that the expert's level is so high that even I can't detect them?"

Unbeknownst to him, deep within Tang Wulin's spiritual sea, a god-king was lazily leaning against a spiritual pillar, casually setting up an "emotional isolation barrier" to block all probes from the outside.

"The strength is good, but the technique is too rough." Zhenhua pulled himself out of his thoughts and commented calmly, "Forging is not about brute force, it's about 'listening.' Listening to the breathing of the metal."

Upon hearing this, Tang Wulin's heart stirred. He adjusted his breathing, trying to feel the feedback at the moment the hammer head made contact with the metal.

Just then, a gentle yet supremely majestic voice rang in Tang Wulin's mind.

"Little guy, don't be silly and use brute force. Although your mental power is blocked by that big guy (Zhenhua), you are the master in your own world."

Tang Wulin's hand trembled, and he almost missed.

"Who? Who's speaking?" he exclaimed inwardly.

"Don't be nervous." The voice carried a hint of amusement, as if it came from the depths of the soul. "I am an old friend of your father's, and I've been entrusted to 'mentor' you. You can call me Senior Brother Huo."

"Senior Brother Huo?" Tang Wulin was taken aback.

"That's right, I am Huo Yuhao," the voice said calmly. "And also the king of this spiritual world—the God King of Emotions. I just blocked that big guy's detection, otherwise, if he had discovered my presence, this act would have been difficult to continue."

Tang Wulin was filled with shock and disbelief.

God King? That's a legendary deity! And even the master craftsman Zhenhua couldn't detect him?

"Don't be scared." Huo Yuhao's voice softened. "My master Yue Wanwan and Speaker Mo entrusted you to me in the hope that you would become someone who can change the world. So, little one, you'd better be obedient. After all, half of your life was given to you by my master, and the other half is being protected by me."

"Now, try to focus your mental energy on your eyes and then 'see' that piece of metal." Huo Yuhao's voice became serious. "This is a mental technique I developed after mastering the power of emotions, called 'Spiritual Eyes.' Use your heart to feel the texture inside the metal."

Tang Wulin took a deep breath and, following Huo Yuhao's guidance, slowly concentrated his spiritual power.

In an instant, the world changed.

What he had initially perceived as a red-hot iron ingot now emitted faint halos of light. These halos represented the metal's internal texture, impurities, and stress.

"That's the 'spirit' of metal," Huo Yuhao explained. "What you need to do is use your hammer to guide these halos to become even and orderly. Just like... sorting out emotions."

Tang Wulin was shocked, but even more so, he was overjoyed.

He swung the hammer again.

"when!"

This time, he precisely struck the spot where the internal stress of the metal was most concentrated.

"Good! That's it!" Huo Yuhao exclaimed. "Keep it up. Remember, the golden power within you (Golden Dragon King bloodline) is very volatile. You need to use forging to release it, not let it control you."

Under Huo Yuhao's guidance, Tang Wulin's forging speed suddenly increased, and each strike seemed to have a certain rhythm.

Zhenhua, who was standing to the side, finally showed a look of shock on his previously calm face.

"This is... a thousand refinements? And it was a success on the first try?"

Zhenhua's eyes flashed with a sharp light. He clearly hadn't sensed any fluctuations in spiritual power, yet this young man seemed to have divine assistance, precisely completing the Thousand Refinements!

"How is this possible..." Zhenhua muttered to himself, "Could this be the legendary 'divine gift'? Or is it that the hidden master is guiding him in some way I can't understand?"

He couldn't see through it at all. Huo Yuhao's methods were too clever; not only did he shield himself from detection, but he also perfectly integrated the guidance process into Tang Wulin's instinctive reaction, leaving no trace of soul power or mental power.

"Clang, clang, clang..."

I don't know how much time passed.

"Buzz—"

A slight tremor came from the iron ingot.

The originally rough black iron has now turned silvery-white, with a smooth, mirror-like surface and a faint white halo.

After a thousand forgings, it's complete!

Tang Wulin let out a long breath, and the forging hammer in his hand fell to the ground with a "clatter". He was completely exhausted and sat down on the ground, panting heavily.

"A thousand-times forging to the first grade." Zhenhua stepped forward, picked up the silvery-white metal, and examined it carefully. "To reach the first grade on the first thousand forging, and the internal structure of the metal is so perfect... Tang Wulin, you have given me a pleasant surprise."

Tang Wulin forced a smile: "Teacher, I did it."

"You did it." Zhenhua nodded, his eyes full of admiration, but even more so with doubt. "However, this is just the beginning. Although your physical condition is good, it is not enough to support higher-level forging. Starting today, in addition to forging, you will also need to undergo physical training."

"Physical training?" Tang Wulin was taken aback.

"That's right." Zhenhua pointed to a pile of metal in the corner of the hall. "See those sunken silver pieces? Your task from now on is to forge them into thousand-refined sunken silver. Each piece must reach the first grade of a thousand-refining."

Tang Wulin's lips twitched as he looked at the pile of sunken silver, which weighed several hundred kilograms.

"What? Scared?" Zhenhua looked at him with a half-smile.

"I'm not afraid!" Tang Wulin gritted his teeth and stood up. "I can do it!"

"Very good." Zhenhua patted him on the shoulder. "Go and rest. Also..."

Zhenhua paused, his gaze becoming profound. He tried again to scan Tang Wulin with his divine sense, but it was still nothing.

"Your talent is extraordinary, even I can't see through it," Zhenhua said in a deep voice. "Don't easily reveal your trump card. In this world, there are too many examples of people being punished for possessing a treasure. Work hard, and I will teach you the true art of forging."

After saying this, Zhenhua turned and left, his heart filled with turmoil: "I can't see through him... I can't see through him at all. What exactly is Tang Wulin hiding behind this?"

……

Late at night, Tang Wulin lay in bed and quickly fell asleep.

Deep within his spiritual sea, a figure dressed in white robes sat cross-legged, quietly gazing at the golden mist around him.

Huo Yuhao looked at Tang Wulin's pure spiritual core and a playful smile appeared on his lips.

"That old fogey Zhenhua is probably going to have a headache," Huo Yuhao muttered to himself. "Even the Divine Craftsman can't see through me, this feeling is not bad."

He raised his hand, a soft white light condensing at his fingertips, and gently touched Tang Wulin's spiritual core.

"Little one, you have a long way to go." Huo Yuhao's voice echoed in the sea of ​​consciousness. "My master Yue Mianmian and Speaker Mo entrusted you to me in the hope that you would become someone who can change the world, not a monster who destroys it."

"The Golden Dragon King represents power, the Silver Dragon King represents elements. And I represent emotions and spirit."

"Since I am your master's disciple, then you can be considered my junior brother. Don't worry, as long as I'm here, no one can touch you. Not even... that high and mighty God Realm."

Huo Yuhao's figure gradually faded and disappeared into the sea of ​​consciousness.

And deep within that golden mist, a tiny golden seed is quietly sprouting.