"For that matter, the Tang Sect can approach the Shrek Blacksmith Association; you two have cooperation," Zhen Hua waved his hand, stating clearly. "Our Blacksmith Association will not invest effort in reducing the cost of the Spirit Infusion Technique. So far, in my view, the Spirit Infusion Technique is solely to help blacksmiths practice."
"Of course, I won't stop you from establishing any cooperation with Level 4 or above blacksmiths within the Association either."
Zhen Hua's attitude made Zang Xin frown involuntarily.
It wasn't that the attitude was bad, but Zhen Hua's words made him vaguely feel that something was off.
Not investing in developing the cost of the Spirit Infusion Technique? Then what does the Blacksmith Association plan to do?
Just develop a basic technique and then let the major powers enrich and perfect it?
Zang Xin couldn't figure it out.
As he was pondering, the door to Zhen Hua's office sounded.
"Come in."
Zhang Tianyang pushed the door open and entered.
"Elder Feng, Vice Hall Master Zang, you're both here."
Zang Xin turned his head, saw Zhang Tianyang, and raised an eyebrow.
Why Zhang Tianyang?
Should the Spirit Transmission Pagoda be this perfunctory even if they are敷衍?
"Teacher."
A sudden "Teacher" made Zang Xin's brain freeze.
That voice was Su Ming's, right?
Who was he calling teacher?
Zhang Tianyang?
Zang Xin stiffly turned his head back again.
Not good.
There are signs of reconciliation between the Spirit Transmission Pagoda and the Blacksmith Association.
The rising star of the Blacksmith Association, the Divine Blacksmith's personal disciple, the forging genius just established as the most potential-filled future Divine Blacksmith... actually comes from the Spirit Transmission Pagoda?
How can that be?
It's well known that one must specialize. Generally, the Spirit Transmission Pagoda focuses on researching Spirit Souls. Although they have practitioners of various auxiliary professions, they aren't particularly outstanding, and don't even have a single publicly known Sacred Blacksmith.
The excellent blacksmiths of the Blacksmith Association are usually related to the Body Sect.
Why this time—
Wait!
Zang Xin looked at Su Ming and Mu Ye, observing their positions, and felt a sense of foreboding.
Could Su Ming also be from the Body Sect?
"So? The cooperation application went through?"
Zhen Hua looked at Zhang Tianyang, slightly pleased.
"Correct, the cooperation between the Tianhai Spirit Transmission Pagoda and the Blacksmith Association has been approved. We'll have to trouble President Zhen Hua from now on."
What cooperation?
Zang Xin on the side pricked up his ears, afraid to miss a single word.
Feng Wuyu was more direct, opening his mouth to ask.
"What cooperation?"
"Nothing major, just some cooperation on the Artificial Spirit Soul project."
Artificial Spirit Soul?
Zang Xin didn't understand.
What's there to cooperate on regarding Artificial Spirit Souls?
Could the Blacksmith Association and the Spirit Transmission Pagoda have common ground in this area?
Unfortunately, no matter how much he racked his brains, he couldn't guess that the Blacksmith Association was preparing to research Artificial Rare Metal.
Zhang Tianyang wasn't lying; it was related to the Artificial Spirit Soul project.
The cooperation is mutual. The Spirit Transmission Pagoda provides defective Artificial Spirit Souls to the Blacksmith Association. While the Blacksmith Association researches Artificial Rare Metal, the research results are fed back to the Spirit Transmission Pagoda, which can also help the Pagoda improve its Artificial Spirit Soul technology, thereby reducing defects.
"You two, is there anything else you need?"
Zhen Hua wasn't good at chasing people away, but Zhang Tianyang didn't hesitate in the slightest.
Feng Wuyu came this time precisely to learn more about Spirit Infusion-related techniques. But since Zhen Hua had clearly stated there were none, there was no need for him to linger.
Zang Xin came seeking cooperation, but Zhen Hua indicated the Tang Sect should negotiate with the blacksmiths themselves; he wouldn't divert the Association's research direction. The Blacksmith Association's future research focus is Artificial Rare Metal, not reducing the cost of the Spirit Infusion Technique.
The two could only leave regretfully.
"With Elder Han's help, I now also hold the position of Tower Master of the Sky Dou City Spirit Transmission Pagoda."
"For future cooperation, we can interface directly."
"In the future, defective Artificial Spirit Souls from major Spirit Transmission Pagodas across the continent will also be regularly sent to Sky Dou City. The Blacksmith Association can then select Spirit Souls from among them for Artificial Rare Metal research. We will keep a portion for our own research on Artificial Spirit Soul repair."
Zhang Tianyang finished explaining the matters in one go.
"Excellent, I'm starting to look forward to our future cooperation," Zhen Hua said with a smile.
Compared to the basic materials cooperation Zang Xin mentioned, he preferred cooperating with Zhang Tianyang on Artificial Rare Metal.
Could he, Zhen Hua, not know what Zang Xin was scheming?
The Tang Sect had already changed and deteriorated. In this era of peace, they still persisted on the path of arms manufacturing.
Their desire to purchase Spirit Refinement works made from common metal in large quantities was clearly aimed at upgrading their arms materials.
No matter how common the metal, once it gains spirituality and reaches the Spirit Refinement level, it becomes different. It can be used to manufacture items with more precise and superior Core Formations, and the power increase isn't just a simple doubling.
Besides upgrading existing arms materials, for those weapons under development, having common metal Spirit Refined metal would reduce costs by at least tenfold.
It wasn't just the Tang Sect; the Federation was probably also considering material upgrades. But with numerous Federation legions, they were likely still in meetings.
Mu Ye, standing to the side, also showed an expectant expression.
Metal and Spirit Souls were the two fields he was most interested in, and also the biggest dilemmas he faced in his current cultivation.
Artificial Rare Metal and Artificial Spirit Souls—these two technologies might seem unrelated to his Little Gold and his mecha, but in reality, they were intricately connected.
After Zhen Hua and Zhang Tianyang finished discussing cooperation, Federation personnel arrived belatedly and received the same answer as Zang Xin.
The visitor didn't dawdle either, leaving immediately to continue meetings, demanding that Federation-affiliated institutions quickly research the Spirit Infusion Technique and start negotiating cooperation with individual blacksmiths.
These matters had nothing to do with Su Ming and the others anymore.
After seeing everyone off, Su Ming looked at the一个个 Spirit Soul Orbs and couldn't help rubbing his hands.
"These are all defective products, but they are still Spirit Souls. Before attempting to use these Spirit Souls as materials for Spirit Infusion, we need to find a way to control them first."
Zhen Hua stepped forward, picked up a Spirit Soul Orb, and began studying it.
The Spirit Soul Orb was just an ordinary glass sphere. He probed the small grass-like Spirit Soul inside the orb with his spiritual power through the glass.
"Very weak, easy to control, but uncooperative. The slightest stimulation causes them to have a stress reaction, which would greatly impact forging."
Su Ming also picked up a Spirit Soul Orb.
Unlike Zhen Hua, he specifically chose one.
The Spirit Soul inside this orb was a small fire snake, its body illusory, as if formed from pure flame.
Su Ming turned the Spirit Soul Orb over and found the record below.
"Spirit Infusion definitely isn't mindless infusion either. Different Spirit Souls, different characteristics, mean different considerations during infusion. Teacher, look at this small fire snake. When the Spirit Transmission Pagoda created it, they only used Heaven and Earth Vital Energy, spiritual power, and fire element energy. I think this type of Spirit Soul is the easiest to apply."
As he spoke, he also demonstrated with practical action why this kind of Spirit Soul was the easiest to apply.
He used his spiritual power to control the small fire snake, then released Spirit Power, using fire element manipulation techniques to further control the small fire snake.
"With this level of control, it's at least sufficient to prevent the Spirit Infusion from failing in one go. As for the remaining subtle reactions, that requires our adjustment as blacksmiths during the forging process itself."
***
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(Chapter end)