Inside the VIP room.
He had not kept Chu Chengzhou waiting long when a portly, somewhat familiar-looking middle-aged man walked in.
"Greetings, Young Master Chu. Welcome, and thank you for honoring us with your presence!"
"You are... Wang Fugui?"
Sizing up the portly middle-aged man before him, Chu Chengzhou remembered. Wasn't this Wang Fugui, the former supervisor of the Seven Treasures Chamber of Commerce in Soto City?
Several years had passed. It looked like he had been promoted. As for whether he had gotten rich... judging by how much rounder he was than before, that was obvious.
Hearing this, Wang Fugui's smile grew even brighter. "I did not expect Young Master Chu to still remember me! Thanks to the Sect Master's favor, I now humbly serve as supervisor of the Heaven Dou City headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce."
Wang Fugui had never expected that the once seemingly unremarkable youth was so skilled at winning girls' hearts that he even abducted their young miss.
Then again, for a super genius like Chu Chengzhou, if he were the Sect Master himself, he would be a hundred times willing.
In the last conspiracy attack by the Star Luo Empire, Young Master Chu had, at a youth's age, cut down many Titled Douluo-level experts. Such an outstanding son-in-law was rare even with a lantern held high. Their Sect Master had not only not lost out but had instead earned big.
"Oh? Congratulations."
Chu Chengzhou nodded with a smile.
"Young Master Chu, what instructions do you have?"
Wang Fugui moved to business.
"Send all the rare metal stock your chamber has to my residence."
After a moment's thought, Chu Chengzhou addressed Wang Fugui.
Chu Chengzhou was not sure how much rare metal he would need, but he remembered that in later generations the success rate of Divine Craftsmen's Heavenly Refinement was not high, even very small. Fusion-and-refining formulas needed research, as did battle armor, and a large amount of rare metal would be required later.
To avoid trouble, he would simply pack up and take away all the rare metal stock of the Seven Treasures Chamber of Commerce in Heaven Dou City.
In any case, the Seven Treasures Chamber of Commerce was his father-in-law's business. On the strength of that in-law relationship, Chu Chengzhou did not need to stand on ceremony, nor did he need to be polite.
"All rare metal stock?"
Wang Fugui blinked. Did he need that much?
"Yes. Is there a problem?"
Chu Chengzhou nodded. Were they refusing to let him put it on the account of his face?
"No problem!"
Wang Fugui nodded at once.
Though Chu Chengzhou's appetite was large and the Sect Master had not given prior instructions, Wang Fugui knew this did not require reporting. Their Sect Master had even "given" the young miss in marriage. How could he be unwilling to part with a few rare metals?
Of course, after taking it upon himself, he would still report this to the Sect Master. Otherwise the accounts would not balance.
An hour later, Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.
In the main hall, Ning Fengzhi was leisurely handling sect affairs when a young disciple in fitted garb strode in.
"Reporting to Sect Master. A letter has arrived from the Seven Treasures Chamber of Commerce in Heaven Dou City."
The young disciple presented a letter.
"Oh?"
Lifting his brows, Ning Fengzhi took the letter, opened it, and read.
"Could it be this kid's forging skill has broken through again?"
After reading the letter Wang Fugui had sent, Ning Fengzhi could not help thinking so.
Speaking of metal forging, Ning Fengzhi had quite a headache.
The forging art Chu Chengzhou had given was very effective. That much was beyond doubt. That so-called Soul Refined metal could have no small effect even on Titled Douluo-level experts.
The problem was that forging was truly not simple. It had been more than two years since Chu Chengzhou gave him the Thousand Refinements-level forging secret art. He had gathered many smiths to try it, but at present only one person could successfully forge Thousand Refined metal, and that one had only barely stepped into the Thousand Refinements level.
Moreover, that person was not an ordinary blacksmith, but a sect elder who possessed a hammer-type martial soul and had reached the eight-ring level in spirit power.
Of course, among the several thousand Spirit Masters up and down the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, there could not be only one person with forging talent.
But forging, to put it bluntly, was hammering iron, and in the eyes of Spirit Masters it was undoubtedly a lowly trade. Not many were interested.
"Go. Invite Sword Elder, Bone Elder, and the Fourth Elder."
After thinking for a moment, Ning Fengzhi instructed the disciple.
His good son-in-law's craft had likely made a new breakthrough. He had to go take a look.
After all, Soul Refined metal could already have a sizable effect on Titled Douluo experts. Metal forged at a level higher than Soul Refinement would certainly be even more effective.
Chen Xin and Gu Rong were bodyguards. In the past, Ning Fengzhi would only bring one of the two when he went out, with the other sitting in town.
But now the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect had become "wealthy." In addition to Chen Xin and Gu Rong, there were three more Titled-level sect elders.
Thus, Ning Fengzhi's bodyguard lineup had increased to two.
As for the Fourth Elder?
This Fourth Elder was the only Thousand Refinements-level forger within the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect. Bringing him along to broaden his horizons might just raise his forging art another level.
Chu Residence.
The forging room of the continent's number one forger (Chu Chengzhou: That's right. I mean me!) sat in a small courtyard beside the training ground.
At this moment, in the room next door that had been set aside as a warehouse, Chu Chengzhou was carrying a black cloth bag and constantly pulling out various rare metal ingots that had been initially smelted, stacking them in neat order.
The black cloth bag was, of course, an ordinary bag, not some high-end, upscale, low-key, and tasteful "storage bag." But inside the cloth bag were quite a few storage soul tools of various styles.
After emptying this batch of storage soul tools, Chu Chengzhou handed the bag to a middle-aged Spirit Master who had been sent by the Seven Treasures Chamber of Commerce to deliver the goods.
Taking the bag, the middle-aged Spirit Master handed over another and said, "Young Master Chu, this is the last batch."
"Oh."
Chu Chengzhou nodded in acknowledgment.
A dozen minutes later, the middle-aged Spirit Master left the Chu Residence, and all the rare metal stock of the Seven Treasures Chamber of Commerce in Heaven Dou City had been transferred into Chu Chengzhou's own warehouse.
It had to be said, although in the present era the uses for various rare metals were not great, as the imperial capital headquarters the Seven Treasures Chamber of Commerce in Heaven Dou City did stock quite a lot of kinds—over one hundred and thirty types of rare metal.
Unfortunately, Chu Chengzhou, who had become a Divine Craftsman of Heavenly Refinement by cheating and taking shortcuts, did not recognize most of them.
And due to lack of a market, there was little inventory of these rare metals. Only a dozen or so types exceeded one ton per type, and several rare metals had stocks of less than one hundred jin.
However, Heavy Silver, Fine Gold, Blue-Nurtured Copper, Magic Silver, and Soul Iron existed in sizable quantities. Even the least of them, Soul Iron, had more than two tons in stock, while the most, Fine Gold, exceeded ten tons.
It was not that the Seven Treasures Chamber of Commerce had no more rare metal, only that the market was sluggish and there was no need to stock too much.
T/N: For 40 chapters ahead on my translations, become a p@tron at [email protected]/LordHipposApostle