When
Indeed, the two people Tang San had noticed were none other than the Tie brothers — the Iron Blood duo — who had been defeated by him and
Hearing Tie Xin's words, Tang San immediately understood why there were fluctuations of Soul Power emanating from him. Judging by those fluctuations, Tie Xin's strength was not particularly impressive — in fact, he was even weaker than his two sons. Clearly, both Tie Long and Tie Hu's Martial Souls had undergone some degree of mutation. At their age, they already possessed Soul Power of over twenty levels, which would make them quite outstanding students even at an advanced Soul Master academy.
"If our cooperation works out, I'll have them forge these items," Tang San said. Being both a blacksmith and a Soul Master himself, he understood perfectly well that crafting items backed by Soul Power was vastly superior to what an ordinary blacksmith could produce. The evenness of force distribution alone, as well as the precision of control, was something ordinary people could never hope to match.
Tie Xin gave Tang San a long, searching look and smiled calmly. "If the cooperation truly comes through, that won't be a problem." He led Tang San to a room behind the workshop.
Inside the room sat a desk and seven or eight chairs, along with a simple wooden bed — clearly the boss's office, which also doubled as a resting area. Through the window, one could see directly into the workshop outside.
Tie Xin walked straight to his desk and sat down, while gesturing for Tang San to take a seat as well. Based on his first impression of the young man, Tie Xin rather liked Tang San's unpretentious demeanor. But when it came to a business partnership, what he felt was mostly amusement. If he hadn't been clinging to that one-in-a-million possibility, he wouldn't have let Tang San follow him inside in the first place.
A young man who looked no older than fifteen — what kind of business could he possibly bring? And he was talking about iron essence, no less.
"Young man, you said you used to be a blacksmith?" Tie Xin asked.
Tang San smiled inwardly with some bitterness. He had a pretty good idea of what Tie Xin was thinking. After all, he was far too young, and at this point it felt less like a business negotiation and more like an interrogation.
"Yes, I used to be a blacksmith. My father is a blacksmith too — I learned my skills from him."
Upon hearing that Tang San came from a family of blacksmiths, Tie Xin's opinion warmed a few degrees. "So that's how it is. Judging by your accent, you're not from around here, are you? Did you move to Soto with your family?"
Tang San shook his head. "No, I'm here to attend school."
"School? Don't tell me you're a Soul Master?" Tie Xin looked at Tang San with a flicker of expectation. While there were all manner of academies on the continent, Soul Master academies were undoubtedly the most prestigious. Generally speaking, people rarely traveled to other cities to study anything else — only Soul Master academies were different. Advanced Soul Master academies existed only in large cities.
Moreover, although Tang San's clothing and appearance were both quite plain, his manner of speech was clearly beyond his years. He had obviously seen something of the world, which was why Tie Xin had asked. He certainly hoped Tang San was a student at some Soul Master academy. Though at his age he would barely qualify for a mid-level academy, the status of a Soul Master was something else entirely — they were all on record with Spirit Hall. Doing business with a Soul Master was safe, so long as you verified their rank and confirmed it through Spirit Hall. There was no need to worry about tricks.
Tang San nodded. "That's right, I've just enrolled. Do you have any other questions?"
Tie Xin spread the blueprint flat on the desk and examined it carefully once more before speaking. "From these plans, everything you want is extremely intricate — forging them won't be easy. And the sum involved is not small. Although our blacksmith shop has a certain scale, four hundred and forty gold coins is still a very large number for us. How do you propose we cooperate?"
Tang San had already worked out the terms on his way here. "Uncle Tie, how about this: I'll put down a deposit upfront, and I'd like you to forge one complete set of these items. If the quality is satisfactory, we'll continue with the rest. The amount of Gold Soul Coins I can pay initially is roughly one hundred."
Tie Xin furrowed his brow. "Young man, since you used to be a blacksmith, you should know that many precision items require molds to produce. The molds are the single biggest part of the production cost. If we're only making one set, forget about giving you a discount — I'd actually lose money. A deposit of one hundred gold coins is enough, but I'd like an additional guarantee. Since you're a Soul Master, would you be willing to show me your Soul Master Registry? As long as everything checks out, we can begin our cooperation."
Hearing Tang San offer to pay one hundred Gold Soul Coins upfront had already convinced Tie Xin somewhat that the young man was genuine. However, he had been running this blacksmith shop for many years, and the items Tang San wanted to make were things he had never seen before. So, purely as a precaution, he naturally wanted to verify some of Tang San's background. As long as Tang San's Soul Master identity checked out, he would dare to take on this big order.
As for the Soul Master Registry — that was a booklet issued by Spirit Hall the first time a Soul Master received their allowance. It was essentially proof of a Soul Master's identity, recording their personal information along with a unique Spirit Hall identification number. With that number, one could spend a certain amount of money through Spirit Hall's communication network to confirm whether the Soul Master in question was real.
Without hesitation, Tang San ran his right hand over the Twenty-Four Bridges Moonlit Night and produced his Soul Master Registry. He had nothing to hide, and he very much wanted this cooperation to go through — naturally, he needed to earn the other party's trust first.
The Soul Master Registry was not made of paper or cloth, but rather a palm-sized metal plate. It was said that this special metal was produced exclusively by Spirit Hall and was nearly impossible to counterfeit. The choice of metal was also intended to prevent damage, since under normal circumstances, this registry would follow a Soul Master for their entire life.
On the palm-sized metal plate, ten lines were engraved recording the dates of each of the Soul Master's breakthroughs. The first line bore the registration time, location, and the Soul Master's Martial Soul. The second line onward recorded the dates of advancement and the levels of Soul Rings obtained. On the reverse side of the registry was engraved Spirit Hall's first emblem — a long sword. This design was identical for all Soul Masters; only those who worked for Spirit Hall had additional variations.
Seeing Tang San produce the Soul Master Registry and hold it out, Tie Xin immediately stood up, came around from behind his desk, and accepted it solemnly with both hands. The Soul Master Registry was a symbol of a Soul Master's identity and a record of their advancement — it was not something shown lightly. It was as important as a Soul Master's dignity. Despite Tang San's young appearance, Tie Xin did not dare to be careless.
Holding the cold metal plate, Tie Xin studied it carefully. The first thing that caught his eye was the small characters engraved at the very top. The engravers were specially trained by Spirit Hall, and their script was the same at every Spirit Hall location. It read: Name: Tang San. Gender: Male. Douluo Calendar Year 2637. Registered at the Nuoding City Spirit Hall Branch. Martial Soul:
Reading this line, Tie Xin felt a twinge of disappointment. Although his own innate talent was modest — he was only at twenty-something levels, a Great Soul Master who would never break through to the thirty-level threshold in his lifetime — he still had a discerning eye. He knew perfectly well that Blue Silver Grass was a standard trash Martial Soul. Could someone with a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul really become a Soul Master?
Harboring his doubt, Tie Xin moved his gaze to the second line of the registry.
Level-10 Soul Apprentice. Registration date: Douluo Calendar Year 2637. Registered at the Nuoding City Spirit Hall Branch.
Tie Xin rubbed his eyes. He couldn't have read it wrong — how could it still be the year 2637? Could Blue Silver Grass really be cultivated to the rank of Soul Master? Was this some kind of recording error?
He looked up at Tang San with questioning eyes. "Young man, is there some mistake in your Soul Master Registry? Why does it show that you registered as a Soul Apprentice and advanced to Soul Master in the same year?"
Tang San smiled faintly. "No, there's no mistake — because I have Innate Full Soul Power."
Innate Full Soul Power? Tie Xin was stunned. His gaze toward Tang San changed instantly. Regardless of what kind of Martial Soul he possessed, the words "Innate Full Soul Power" alone delivered more than enough shock. Among all the Soul Masters Tie Xin had known or heard of, not a single one had possessed Innate Full Soul Power. No wonder — no wonder he had become a Soul Master in the same year. How had he not thought of it? Innate Full Soul Power was a thing that existed. A Blue Silver Grass Soul Master with Innate Full Soul Power — that was far too astonishing.
With some urgency, Tie Xin looked to the third line of the registry, since he had seen three lines of text in total.
Level-20 Great Soul Master. Registration date: Douluo Calendar Year 2639. Registered at the Nuoding City Spirit Hall Branch.
The Soul Master Registry did not record the levels of Soul Rings obtained at each rank or the Soul Skills gained — those were a Soul Master's secrets. Even Spirit Hall's own records contained, at most, only the Soul Ring levels. As for Soul Skills, those were something Soul Masters did not easily reveal to others.