Douluo Dalu 3: Legend of the White Fox

When Zi Ji's car drove into Tiandou City, she was no longer inside, and the driver had been replaced by Xia Yi.

When Xia Yi parked the car in front of the Blacksmith Association, Mu Xi was already waiting there.

"When did you buy this car? How much Federation currency did it cost?" Mu Xi's eyes lit up as soon as she saw the car Xia Yi was driving.

With her knowledge, she could naturally tell how expensive this car was, and it was even custom-made.

The deep purple body had a streamlined beauty, and upon closer inspection, one could see even deeper purple patterns running across it.

It looked like a piece of art.

What surprised Mu Xi was that many key parts of the car were made from spirit-forged and even soul-forged metals.

Even as the daughter of a Saint Craftsman, Mu Xi couldn't help but complain in her heart, "This is ridiculously extravagant!"

With spirit-forged and soul-forged metals, wouldn't it be better to use them for making mechas or battle armor?

Yet they were used to build a car?

This was practically blasphemy against such precious metals.

Every high-level blacksmith treated their creations like treasures.

Luckily, Mu Xi couldn't perform soul forging yet. Otherwise, if anyone dared to use her soul-forged metals to make a car, she would fight them to the death.

No matter how much money it cost, she would reclaim her soul-forged metal.

She would never allow her soul-forged metals to be wasted like that.

But how could Mu Xi know that low-level mechas were useless to fierce beasts like Zi Ji? Meanwhile, high-level mechas and battle armor required the personal involvement of the user, starting from the selection of rare metals.

Especially when it came to engraving soul power arrays during the design and manufacturing process—this had to be done personally by the user. Only then could the mecha or battle armor fully integrate with their martial soul and soul skills.

This was something Zi Ji, as a fierce beast, simply couldn't do.

So, even if she managed to obtain some soul-forged metal, she could only use it to build a car.

"It's borrowed. Get in," Xia Yi said as he opened the car door.

"Aren't you going up to see my master?" Mu Xi asked.

"I'm only a rank-four blacksmith. Do you think I can go up?" Xia Yi asked indifferently.

At his level, he wasn't qualified to enter the top floors of the Blacksmith Association headquarters.

If Zhen Hua had taken him as a disciple last time, it would have been different.

Right now, the only way he could go up was by following Mu Xi.

With Mu Xi's status, meeting Zhen Hua wasn't difficult.

But Zhen Hua had already made it clear before—he wanted Xia Yi to reach the Soul Douluo level before the age of thirty before coming to him again.

Since that was the case, there was no point in Xia Yi pestering him now.

"Oh." Mu Xi nodded. After getting into the car, she tossed a storage soul guide to Xia Yi and said, "Here's the thing you asked me to buy."

Xia Yi took the storage soul guide and asked, "How much? I'll pay you."

He couldn't afford an Ice God's Heart, but as a rank-four blacksmith, he could at least cover basic expenses.

"Three hundred thousand." Mu Xi pouted her lips and held up three fingers, looking a little unhappy.

"Here." Xia Yi casually took out 300,000 Federation currency from the storage soul guide and handed it to her.

Mu Xi took it with a stern face, muttering under her breath, "Do you have to be so formal?"

With Mu Xi's status, 300,000 Federation currency was nothing to her.

"My lady, can you stop acting like it's nothing? Do you know that 300,000 is almost all my savings? Giving it all to you hurts so much. If you keep complaining, I might regret it," Xia Yi said helplessly.

Although he was a rank-four blacksmith, he hadn't been in the field for long. Moreover, his main focus was still cultivation, so he rarely took blacksmithing jobs at the association.

"Hmph, regret all you want, it's too late now." Mu Xi huffed. If Xia Yi hadn't mentioned money in the first place, she wouldn't have minded at all and would have gladly helped him out.

But since he insisted on paying, she wasn't going to return it.

Of course, Xia Yi was just joking.

"You really took Tianfeng Douluo from the Spirit Pagoda as your master?" Mu Xi suddenly asked.

"What's wrong?" Xia Yi asked curiously. He found it strange—wasn't his "master-disciple" relationship with Leng Yaozhu just a way for her to provoke Ya Li?

How did Mu Xi find out?

"How do I know? Because Tianfeng Douluo herself publicly announced it not long ago. Master said that all the top officials on the Douluo Continent know about it now," Mu Xi said seriously.

"I see." Xia Yi nodded. He understood that Leng Yaozhu was protecting him in her own way. No matter what, he felt a bit more grateful to her.

"Master was silent for a long time after hearing about it. He didn't seem too pleased," Mu Xi continued.

Taking a deep breath, she sighed helplessly, "I was actually planning to take you upstairs to explain things to Master, but since he's still upset, I decided against it."

"Upset? What do you mean?" Xia Yi frowned.

Two thousand years ago, on the Douluo Continent, a soul master could only have one teacher.

If they switched teachers, they would be despised by the entire world.

But that was because, back then, there was only the profession of soul masters.

As soul devices, mechas, and battle armor became more prevalent, one teacher could no longer teach a student everything they needed. Many geniuses had more than one teacher.

This was the norm across the continent. Besides, it was Zhen Hua who told him to focus on raising his soul power first.

What was the problem with him finding another teacher in the meantime?

If he had found a blacksmithing master, Zhen Hua's dissatisfaction would make sense, but Leng Yaozhu wasn't even a blacksmith.

"It's probably because the Spirit Pagoda has become increasingly overbearing in recent years. Master doesn't want you to join them," Mu Xi sighed and explained, "Master has always had a good relationship with Tang Sect and the Body Sect. The Blacksmith Association and Tang Sect are deeply connected—every year, we provide Tang Sect with large amounts of rare metals. Meanwhile, the Spirit Pagoda and Tang Sect are constantly in conflict, not just in the Federation but also on the Star Luo and Dou Spirit Continents. The two organizations are always at odds, both openly and in secret.

"As the president of the Blacksmith Association, Master must consider the association's future. Now that you've become Tianfeng Douluo's disciple, if you eventually become a Divine Craftsman, the balance of power between the Blacksmith Association, Tang Sect, and the Spirit Pagoda will be overturned. Do you think Master can be happy about that?"

Zhen Hua was Mu Xi's master, and he had no children of his own, so he had always treated her like his own daughter.

Mu Xi had grown up in the Blacksmith Association.

She knew many secrets that others didn't.

It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Tang Sect's dominance in the military industry was heavily reliant on the Blacksmith Association's support.

Without their high-quality forged metals, Tang Sect wouldn't be able to manufacture so many weapons.

Mu Xi even knew that Tang Sect had a massive underground weapons factory in Tiandou City, with a secret passage from the Blacksmith Association leading to it—something only a handful of people were aware of.

This factory was one of Tang Sect's most guarded secrets, unknown even to the Federation government.

Mu Xi had only learned of it by accidentally seeing a blueprint on Zhen Hua's desk.

She understood the potential consequences if this secret were exposed, so she never mentioned it to anyone, not even Mu Chen or Yuan Bao'er.

Even with Xia Yi, she only subtly reminded him of the tensions between the Spirit Pagoda and the Blacksmith Association.

"I don't have much choice. Your master told me to focus on my soul power first, so I found someone to teach me about my martial soul. Now he's unhappy about it," Xia Yi sighed.

Mu Xi also sighed helplessly. She understood that the opportunity to learn from Leng Yaozhu was rare, and it was understandable that Xia Yi couldn't refuse.

Mu Xi thought for a moment and said, "Actually, there's another reason why my master is upset."

"Oh? What is it?" Xia Yi asked curiously.

Mu Xi took a deep breath and said, "In Xingluo City, there's a sect called the Flying Bird Sect. Most of its disciples have flying bird-type martial souls, and their sect master is a Title Douluo-level powerhouse. Not long ago, due to some reasons, they had a dispute with the Spirit Pagoda. Initially, both sides were negotiating a resolution, but just two hours ago, Heavenly Phoenix Douluo suddenly announced that the Spirit Pagoda would no longer sell any soul spirits to the Flying Bird Sect. Furthermore, the Spirit Pagoda's Spirit Ascension Platform and other facilities would no longer be accessible to them. If Flying Bird Sect disciples wish to purchase soul spirits or train in the Spirit Ascension Platform, their only option is to leave the sect."

"That's ruthless." Xia Yi took a deep breath and asked, "Do you know what caused the dispute?"

(End of Chapter)