Douluo Dalu 3: Legend of the White Fox

"Keep laughing, and your drool is going to drip out."

As soon as Gu Yue pushed open the door of the cultivation chamber, she saw Xia Yi grinning foolishly. She immediately rolled her eyes at him.

"You're here just in time. I was about to ask you a question. Do you know about the Snow Emperor's Order?" Xia Yi asked.

"Snow Emperor's Order? Never heard of it. But from the name, it should be the token of the Snow Emperor, the ruler of the Extreme North from ten thousand years ago, right? Why are you asking about this?" Gu Yue responded.

She had been in deep slumber and had no way of encountering the Snow Emperor's Order, let alone knowing what it was. Previously, Xia Yi had also asked her about the Heart of the Ice God.

However, she had no clue what the Heart of the Ice God actually was.

At least with the Snow Emperor's Order, she could make an educated guess based on its name.

But the name "Heart of the Ice God" was something humans came up with.

Surely, it couldn't literally be the Ice God's heart, right?

"It's nothing, just asking." Xia Yi shook his head, smiling as he asked, "Don't you know that barging into someone's cultivation chamber is forbidden?"

Cultivation should never be disturbed, especially when someone is in seclusion within their chamber.

At critical moments of cultivation, any interruption could lead to disastrous consequences, even causing one to fall into demonic deviation.

That was precisely why, when the Heart of the Ice God absorbed the ice attribute power of the ten-thousand-year cold ice beds in the surrounding cultivation chambers, the staff of the Spirit Pagoda didn't rush into Xia Yi's chamber.

Even if they wanted to investigate, they had to wait for Xia Yi to come out on his own.

"Hmph, weren't you already done cultivating?" Gu Yue snorted coldly.

She would never admit that she had barged in because the Heart of the Ice God had returned to Xia Yi's spiritual world, and she suddenly couldn't sense its ice attribute power anymore, making her worried about Xia Yi's safety.

Although Gu Yue didn't know what the Heart of the Ice God truly was, she was well aware of how dangerous it could be.

The last time, it had failed to take over Xia Yi's body.

Now, after three years, she sensed its presence again—right when Xia Yi was about to break through to Rank 30.

How could Gu Yue not be worried?

Seeing the three soul rings on Xia Yi's body, she finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Damn fox spirit! He clearly already guessed it but still deliberately asked just to embarrass me!" Gu Yue was annoyed, feeling the urge to rush forward and wipe that smug grin off Xia Yi's face.

But then, her eyes lit up as she looked at the three soul rings on his body. "Since you've broken through, does that mean we can have our sparring match earlier?"

She didn't even bother asking what soul skills Xia Yi had obtained.

She was confident in her own strength.

No matter what kind of soul skills Xia Yi had, they would all be nothing but flashy tricks in the face of her absolute power.

"Let's wait until we get to Shrek City, alright?" Xia Yi chuckled. "I found you a teammate."

Gu Yue immediately frowned and asked coldly, "A teammate? You think I need a teammate to fight you?"

"No, no, that's not it. I just need your help." Xia Yi quickly explained the conversation he had with Wu Jin earlier.

"Teaming up with Wu Jin? No problem!" Gu Yue agreed without hesitation. She could tell that Xia Yi was trying to ease the tension between her and Wu Jin.

Even though Xia Yi didn't know what had happened in the Extreme North, Di Tian had already told Gu Yue everything.

As someone who could potentially become a god, Wu Jin was someone she had to take seriously.

"That puts my mind at ease." Xia Yi nodded. "Are you done with your cultivation? If so, want to head back to school together?"

"You think everyone is as free as you? I still have things to do. You go ahead." Gu Yue shook her head.

"Alright then!" Xia Yi nodded. He also needed to stop by the Blacksmiths' Association.

He had been stuck at the fourth-rank blacksmith level for three years. By now, Thousand Refining was no longer a challenge for him.

Before, his soul power had been insufficient, so he had failed several attempts at Spirit Refining.

But now, he had essentially grasped the process.

This time, his trip to the Blacksmiths' Association was also to take the exam for a fifth-rank blacksmith badge.

Gu Yue had already compensated the East Sea Spirit Pagoda for the loss of the ten-thousand-year cold ice beds, so Xia Yi left the Spirit Pagoda directly. He hailed a car and headed straight for the East Sea City's Blacksmiths' Association.

Looking at the nearly thirty-story-high building of the East Sea City Blacksmiths' Association, Xia Yi took a deep breath and strode inside.

"This should be my last time coming here," Xia Yi sighed.

"You're taking the fifth-rank blacksmith exam? Are you joking?" The receptionist was startled by Xia Yi's request. Even though he was already over 1.7 meters tall, she recognized him instantly.

After all, he had been a regular visitor to the Blacksmiths' Association for the past three years.

She had even been the one to receive him on his very first visit.

Before Xia Yi could respond, a voice came from behind him.

"Youngsters these days don't know their limits. Spirit Refining isn't that simple. The difference between Thousand Refining and Spirit Refining may be just one word, but the difficulty is worlds apart. Even the most talented blacksmiths usually need at least four soul rings before they dare attempt it. I mastered Thousand Refining thirty years ago, and I still can't perform Spirit Refining. Take my advice: go back, train properly, and build a solid foundation in Thousand Refining before you even think about Spirit Refining."

Xia Yi turned around and saw an elderly man in his sixties standing there with a teenage girl, around fourteen or fifteen years old.

It was Ao Chuang and Wu Qian.

Xia Yi's lips twitched. Was there some kind of fate between him and these two?

The first time he came to the East Sea City Blacksmiths' Association, he had run into them. Now, on what was supposed to be his last visit, he encountered them again.

And both times, it was in the main hall.

The funniest part? In three years, he had visited the association hundreds of times—at least five hundred, if not eight hundred. Yet, he had only ever met these two here twice.

When Xia Yi first came, he had looked frail and sickly. After three years, he had changed so much that Ao Chuang and Wu Qian didn't recognize him.

But the moment Wu Qian saw Xia Yi's face, her eyes went wide.

It was the first time she had ever seen such a handsome young man.

"Master, don't say that! I believe that since this master dares to take the exam, he must be confident!" The moment she saw Xia Yi's looks, Wu Qian immediately sided against her teacher.

Even if Xia Yi failed, he would still be a fourth-rank blacksmith—on the same level as her teacher.

Calling him "master" wasn't inappropriate.

Xia Yi ignored them. Even though they had provoked him twice, he still considered Ao Chuang as half a mentor in his blacksmithing journey, so he didn't take offense.

Besides, they weren't worth his time.

He turned to the receptionist and said, "I'm not joking. Please arrange it for me."

"I'll take Master Xia Yi to the exam. You handle Master Ao Chuang," the receptionist said to her colleague.

"Got it, leave it to me," the other receptionist, Xiaoxin, nodded.

"Xia Yi… Why does that name sound so familiar?" Ao Chuang muttered as he watched Xia Yi go upstairs.

Meanwhile, the news of Xia Yi taking the fifth-rank blacksmith exam quickly reached Mu Chen.

"Thirteen years old and already a fifth-rank blacksmith? Why don't you just go to heaven?!"

Mu Chen, who was having a meal with his wife and daughter, spat out his food, ruining the entire table.

Even Zhen Hua hadn't been this much of a monster!