Chapter 64: Dou Qi, Stage Three!
"Dou Qi, Stage Three!"
Under the cold daylight, the youth slowly withdrew his hand from the Dou Qi stone monument. Despite being mentally prepared countless times, he still felt an unusual chill from the sun, and a faint, bitter smile appeared on his face. He didn't know whether his perseverance was the right path. After all, had he followed a normal cultivation path… perhaps by now he would already be a Dou Master?
In the Xiao Clan's training grounds in Wutan City, Jiang Lin stood quietly in the spectator area, holding a low-key, mysterious black-gold Dou Artifact umbrella. He watched Xiao Yan on the stage in silence. From the faint soul fluctuations around Xiao Yan's chest, Jiang Lin could already sense a cold presence awakening.
As a one-star Dou Practitioner, Jiang Lin already possessed the strength to support his identity as a mid-Huang-tier blacksmith—meaning tier two (though he was actually tier three). In Wutan City, while he wouldn't say he had free reign, he was welcomed just about everywhere.
He'd long known Xiao Yan had some kind of opportunity involving a ring, so every time Jiang Lin passed through Wutan City, he would casually inquire about Xiao Yan's situation, hoping to perhaps make a trade and gain an unexpected reward. He didn't really expect much—it was more of a "might as well" sort of thing.
But today, when he happened to learn that the Xiao Clan was conducting a strength assessment, he appeared in the crowd under the name "Young Lin," a tier-two blacksmith. He witnessed Xiao Yan, who had staked his future and reached rock bottom, and the soul ring on his chest that had quietly begun to awaken.
So this is… the beginning of the trial? Jiang Lin thought, quietly observing Xiao Yan being criticized by the crowd from beneath his black-gold umbrella.
"Master Jiang Lin is even more protective of his skin than Xun'er. He's using an umbrella in such lovely sunlight," a voice suddenly interrupted as Jiang Lin turned to leave.
He turned to see a young woman in classical green robes, as if she had stepped out of a painting, holding a heavy book in her arms. Jiang Lin gave a small shake of his head and replied honestly, "No, I just thought it made me look more mysterious, more… different."
Click. With a twist of a mechanism, the umbrella—an advanced tier-one Xuan Qi umbrella that could resist long-range Dou Qi attacks—snapped shut.
"But since Miss Xun'er has already broken my aura of mystery, this umbrella has lost its purpose. Let it be a gift to you."
"Huh?" Xiao Xun'er was stunned by the reply.
Jiang Lin handed the umbrella to the cute and slightly dazed Xiao Xun'er.
This tier-one advanced Xuan Qi umbrella was now of little use to Jiang Lin. He intended to forge a tier-two or three version next, one that could truly make him invincible at his level.
But that would require the hide of a tier-three beast with unique flexibility—meaning another dangerous hunt.
Luckily, in this world, storage rings were basically portable item hacks. With just a bit of soul energy, he could instantly pull out countless Dou Artifacts without worrying about carrying weight. Jiang Lin didn't mind having a diverse arsenal in his ring at all.
After all, if alchemists could "pill" their enemies to death, blacksmiths could just drop an avalanche of weapons on them.
After gifting away the Xuan Qi umbrella (a "protection fee"), Jiang Lin left the Xiao Clan without looking back. Though some clan elders were displeased, his tier-two blacksmith status meant no one caused trouble.
Every time Jiang Lin "accidentally" appeared around the Xiao estate and was caught by Xiao Xun'er, he would offer a tier-one Dou Artifact he no longer needed—often something he had used to practice forging—hoping to avert conflict and subtly show that he meant no harm. After all, his arrival was always the result of "getting lost while treasure hunting."
The umbrella, for example, could be described as having been found in some obscure corner of Wutan City. But more specifically, it was something Jiang Lin had "coincidentally" picked up last year after wandering around Wutan City for a few days and accidentally ending up in the Xiao estate, where he found it tucked away and forgotten. After a month of research, he had restored its considerable potential.
"Let's check out the Mercenary Guild in Wutan City. Maybe someone's accepted a tier-three magical beast hunt? Ideally a three-star team passing through?" Jiang Lin muttered as he left the Xiao estate and headed toward the grand Mercenary Guild located near the outskirts of town toward the Magical Beast Mountains.
On the Dou Qi Continent, three major guilds were well known: the Alchemist Guild, the Mercenary Guild, and the Blacksmith Guild.
The Alchemist Guild, of course, needed no introduction. Pills to restore life, boost cultivation, and enhance combat strength, along with a comprehensive one-to-nine-tier alchemist ranking system, ensured its supreme position.
The Mercenary Guild had a simpler system. In theory, there existed nine-star mercenaries with Dou Saint strength. But that was theory—what kind of Dou Saint would still be doing missions for hire? Nevertheless, with branches everywhere in human territory, even in tiny towns, the guild remained influential due to its accessibility.
As for the Blacksmith Guild… Jiang Lin had only ever seen one in the imperial capital. Elsewhere? Nowhere. Still, while it was a small organization (its top blacksmiths were only tier six), it wasn't to be underestimated. After all, a tier-six blacksmith could still be a Dou Ancestor. Right?
—
Meanwhile, back in the Xiao Clan, the bitterly smiling Xiao Yan had just been approached by Xiao Xun'er, who handed him the umbrella.
"Brother Xiao Yan, here. That umbrella Jiang Lin picked up before… he returned it to you."
Having just stunned the entire training ground with his terrifying stage-nine Dou Qi talent, Xiao Xun'er now stood in Xiao Yan's courtyard and offered him the umbrella.
"Oh, it's fine, Xun'er…" Xiao Yan looked at the beautiful but understated umbrella, then at the girl before him—unchanged after three years—and sighed inwardly.
"If Brother Lin wants it, let him keep it. Our Xiao Clan has received plenty of indirect help from him over the years." Though Xiao Yan had since realized Jiang Lin was basically the king of treasure-hunting, he couldn't object—Jiang Lin had always been fair and had even given him multiple choices.
"No way!" Xiao Xun'er scowled. Just thinking about Jiang Lin made her unreasonably annoyed. He'd managed to pick something off of her—that made her feel like a fool! She wasn't some pushover like Ling Ying, who had gone into a depressive spiral after being bested!
"Sigh… alright then. Thanks, Xun'er."
(END CHAPTER)
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