Douluo Continent, Notting City.
Inside the blacksmith's shop, amidst the clanging of metal, a boy dressed in the uniform of the Notting Junior Soul Master Academy sat cross-legged beside the forging table, meditating and cultivating.
The noisy blacksmith's shop seemed to have no effect on the boy, as if it were a top-notch training room.
"Brother Li, that kid cultivating here... won't it affect us? After all, it's quite dangerous here."
Two men, one tall and one short, one middle-aged and one young, entered through the door. The younger man looked at the cultivating boy with envy mixed with a hint of jealousy.
"Xiao Zhang, you're new here and don't understand the situation. Let me tell you, the fact that this young student is here actually doesn't affect us. You know what a Soul Master is, right? Xiao Qi is a Soul Master. When he's cultivating, it not only doesn't affect us, but it actually increases the temperature of the furnace. You're a blacksmith too, so I don't need to explain what the furnace temperature means, right?"
Manager Li looked at the young man cultivating with satisfaction, while simultaneously urging the other blacksmiths to continue forging, reminding them to be careful and so on. In short, production and safety were equally important.
"Alright, stop standing around. Xiao Zhang, this workbench is empty. Come over and try your skills. Later, I can use your skills to ask the boss for money, right?"
Manager Li led Xiao Zhang to the forging table near the young man's cultivation, gesturing for Xiao Zhang to show everyone his skills. He also greeted the other idle blacksmiths. Xiao Zhang came from Gengxin City, the legendary metal capital.
The blacksmiths might not understand the affairs of Soul Masters, but they certainly did. If the Spirit Hall was the holy land that Soul Masters aspired to, then Gengxin City was the paradise in the hearts of blacksmiths.
Hearing that Xiao Zhang came from Gengxin City, they all gathered around, eager to witness this genius returning from the 'holy land'.
Xiao Zhang didn't hesitate, casually tossing his shirt onto a nearby rack. Beneath his bronze skin, his muscles bulged, and one could sense his immense strength just by looking at him.
He fired the fire, pumped the bellows, and forged the iron ore with fluid, natural movements. The surrounding blacksmiths cheered, which made Xiao Zhang feel a surge of pride.
While hammering the metal, he noticed a fierce glint in the eyes of the boy sitting beside him.
"Even the best of us make mistakes. In a new place, a little slip-up shouldn't be a big deal," Xiao Zhang thought to himself, while simultaneously increasing the force of his forging hammer.
Clang, clang. Sparks flew as the iron ore on the forging table gradually took shape. With each hammer blow, the impurities in the iron block decreased.
Just as the blacksmiths were watching with great interest, suddenly, something strange happened. Perhaps the forging table was uneven, or perhaps the hammer was not steady, but the iron block, the size of an adult's fist and glowing red-hot, was sent flying by the boy.
"Oh no! Wang Qi, be careful!"
Manager Li shouted a warning, wanting to rush to his aid, but as an ordinary person, he couldn't catch up with the iron block being squeezed out by the hammer.
Many blacksmiths noticed the change, and a hint of pity flashed
in their eyes as they looked at the boy sitting cross-legged beside the forging table. Of course, there were also some blacksmiths in the crowd who, seeing the boy's impending doom, revealed a gloating expression, but these people were few and well hidden.
Boom! A wave of heat swept in, and the already extremely hot furnace suddenly intensified. A spark flashed between the brows of the young man who had been meditating, and instantly, a giant hand made entirely of flames caught the red-hot iron block and pressed it to the ground.
Behind the young man stood a fire 'giant' whose entire body was enveloped in flames, obscuring its face.
"Wang Qi, it's so good that you're alright. No, I need to have your training area cordoned off. Otherwise, if something like this happens again, it'll be bad if you get hurt."
Wang Qi shook his head, dusted himself off, and stood up. "Uncle Li, I'm fine, but the blacksmith you hired this time seems a bit incompetent. How can a blacksmith not be able to control the forging process?"
Manager Li understood the implication in Wang Qi's words. He also wanted to fire this incompetent and troublesome young man, but since the employer had paid a high price to hire him from Gengxin City, firing him so soon seemed a bit odd.
"Xiao Zhang, how did you forge this? How come you can't even control the forging process? Come here and apologize to Brother Wang Qi. If this happens again, I'll definitely ask the boss to deduct your wages."
Wang Qi looked thoughtfully at Manager Li, sighing inwardly and shaking his head. Seeing Xiao Zhang's feigned apology, with an unconscious glint of defiance in his eyes, Wang Qi waved his hand.
Things had developed to this point; how could Wang Qi not understand Manager Li's meaning?
"Uncle Li, I might need to take some time off. I've broken through to level ten, and it's time to acquire my soul ring."
With that, Wang Qi ignored Manager Li's expression and turned to leave the blacksmith shop, deciding in his heart that he would never return.
"When I read the original novel, I only saw ordinary people's yearning for Soul Masters, but I never saw the conflict between ordinary people and Soul Masters."
"That's right. How could Soul Masters with extraordinary power be willing to treat ordinary people with no blood relation as human beings? In that sense, I'm still lucky; at least I awakened Soul Power."
Leaving the blacksmith shop, Wang Qi looked at the moon in the sky and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
Wang Qi is eight years old this year, and his public identity is a student at Notting Junior Soul Master Academy.
As for how he became involved with the blacksmith shop? After awakening his Martial Soul, he passed by the blacksmith shop and found that his Soul Power had become more active, so he spent money to buy a spot there to meditate and cultivate.
Later, the blacksmiths noticed that the temperature of the furnace would rise when Wang Qi cultivated. So, with the cooperation of both parties, after Wang Qi adapted to being able to quickly enter a meditative state even in a bustling city, he reached a cooperation agreement with the blacksmith shop.
The blacksmith shop was willing to pay Wang Qi a certain commission each month, allowing him to cultivate within the shop—a win-win situation for both parties.
However, Wang Qi had a secret he would never tell anyone, a secret he would even take to his grave: he was a transmigrator.
In his previous life, he was picnicking in the woods one spring when some mischievous children set the willow catkins on fire. As a result, when Wang Qi opened his eyes again, he was an infant.
The bad news was that after experiencing pain, he had transmigrated.
The good news was that he had transmigrated to the Douluo Continent, and he still remembered the plot somewhat.
The bad news was that his innate soul power was only level three; without a great stroke of luck, he might reach the Soul Master level, but never the Soul King level.
The good news was that he had awakened twin martial souls: a humanoid flame martial soul and a damaged furnace martial soul. Wang Qi
vaguely understood how he acquired the humanoid flame martial soul, but the damaged furnace martial soul was a mystery to him.
Judging from the texture and material, it somewhat resembled the alchemy furnace Wang Qi had bought for 9.9 yuan (including shipping) on Pinduoduo in his previous life. He wondered how the furnace's spirit spirit had become so damaged. However, there was good news: as Wang Qi's spirit power level increased, the furnace's spirit spirit was gradually showing signs of recovery.
According to Wang Qi's estimation, the furnace's spirit spirit should be fully repaired after he reached level 20, at which point his aptitude should improve slightly.
Walking alone on the road, Wang Qi couldn't help but complain. Other transmigrators who awakened twin spirit spirits were basically born with full spirit power, incredibly powerful, and awesome, but he was stuck in this pathetic state.
A near-first-ring spirit master being looked down upon by ordinary people—no one would believe it if he told them.
"I really don't want to be a couch potato my whole life, but what else can I do with my limited talent? I can't even offer a stepping stone to plot against fate with immortal herbs."
While lamenting, Wang Qi suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He instinctively bent over, and with a whoosh, an iron rod swept past his head.
"It's you?"
Wang Qi looked at the newcomer and recognized him as Xiao Zhang, the one who had ambushed him at the blacksmith's shop. Seeing Xiao Zhang, Wang Qi almost laughed. He, a Soul Master, hadn't even considered causing trouble for this guy, yet the other guy had come after him.
"Kid, you're unlucky to have met me today. Die!" With that, Xiao Zhang swung the iron rod, preparing to continue attacking Wang Qi.
Seeing the clueless Xiao Zhang, Wang Qi almost laughed. Instantly, he activated his Martial Soul, his body expanding rapidly. He grabbed the iron rod and said, "Xiao Zhang, do you think that just because I'm young, I'm inferior to a blacksmith like you? Do you know why the master craftsman Lou Gao has achieved his current status?"
"Let me tell you, it's because Lou Gao is a Soul Master, not just a master craftsman, while you are just an ordinary person. An ordinary person fighting against a Soul Master? Are you that jealous of Soul Masters?"
Seeing Xiao Zhang about to launch into a verbal attack, Wang Qi covered Xiao Zhang's mouth with his large, flame-wrapped hand and pressed him down. "I have no interest in listening to your nonsense. I didn't want to fight at first, but now, do you deserve to die?"
He punched Xiao Zhang in the throat, took out a rope from his Soul Tool, tied it around Xiao Zhang's neck, and dragged him to a corner until he could store Xiao Zhang's corpse in his Soul Tool.
"Feeling great."
Relieved of his inner turmoil, Wang Qi skipped and hopped back to his dormitory. Just as he was about to open the door, a figure pounced on him, almost knocking him over.
"Xiao Chenyu, if you can't give me a perfect explanation, I guarantee you'll get beaten up tonight, and I'll beat you badly."
"Wang Qi, I broke through! I broke through to level ten! Hahaha, I finally broke through to level ten! I'll get my first spirit ring soon!"
Breaking free from Xiao Chenyu's arm, Wang Qi looked at him like he was an idiot.
The way Wang Qi and Xiao Chenyu met was quite interesting. Xiao Chenyu's roommate graduated, and Wang Qi happened to be assigned to his dorm. The result was the cliché story of an upperclassman bullying a freshman, and the freshman protagonist beating up the upperclassman.
After two years together, Wang Qi's feelings towards Xiao Chenyu had moved beyond the fictional character who only knew how to bully work-study students.
Xiao Chenyu wasn't inherently bad; he targeted work-study students because he'd been upset at home and vented his anger alone, leading to a conflict with one of them.
Work-study students, after all, had nothing left but dignity, and this led to a grudge. Now, the conflict between work-study students and non-work-study students seemed to have become an unspoken rule.
"Wang Qi, the academy will be on holiday in three days. We'll go to the Soul Hunting Forest together to get soul rings. Once we both break through to Soul Master, our positions as the top dog at Notting Academy will be completely secure."
Xiao Chenyu sat on the bed, grinning foolishly, dreaming of his bright future. Little did he know that after the new school year started, this eleven-year-old boy would be calling a little girl "Sister Xiao Wu.
" (End of Chapter)