A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin's face. "I also haven't seen Teacher for quite a while. My apologies, President Yao, but I have some things that I must take care of, so I won't be able to stay for too long. I'll be sure to converse with you and exchange ideas the next time I come here."

A disappointed look appeared on Yao Ling's face. "That truly is a pity; I really wanted to exchange some ideas with you. I just examined your soul refined metals and was greatly inspired. At the same time, I could tell that your skills exceed mine in some areas. Also, I wanted to discuss something with you; would you be able to give your soul refined metals to me? The association will still pay you the same reparations for the missions, and I'll forge some soul refined metals myself for the buyers."

A hint of surprise appeared on Tang Wulin's face upon hearing this. It was quite clear that Yao Ling wanted to keep his soul refined metals for further research. This wasn't a big issue, and it certainly wasn't a bad thing that Yao Ling held him in such high regard.

"No problem. I hope my metals can be of help to you."

Yao Ling nodded with a pleased expression before hurriedly departing after exchanging contact details with Tang Wulin.

Even though Yao Ling and Mu Chen were both Saint Blacksmiths, the former was the president of the Bright City blacksmith association branch, so in reality, it could be said that his status in the association was second only to that of Zhen Hua.

For someone of his lofty status to take the initiative to seek out Tang Wulin was a testament to just how much Tang Wulin's soul refined metals had inspired him.

The arrival of any Saint Blacksmith to the association branch was a major event, and after the employee verified Tang Wulin's abilities as a Saint Blacksmith, she immediately took his soul refined metals to Yao Ling for inspection. Yao Ling wasn't all that surprised to hear that a Saint Blacksmith had come to visit their branch. After all, Bright City was now the number one city on the entire continent, so while Saint Blacksmith visits were still rare, they were certainly far from unheard of. However, he was given a massive shock upon seeing Tang Wulin's soul refined metals.

As a veteran Saint Blacksmith, he was far more sensitive to metals than normal people, and the first feeling that he was struck by was that these were extraordinary creations. Setting aside everything else, just the conception imbued within these pieces of metal far exceeded that of the soul refined metals forged by the vast majority of Saint Blacksmiths.

In his eyes, the forging techniques used were still a little rough around the edges, but this blacksmith clearly excelled in his understanding of metals, as well as in the process of bestowing upon metals life and intelligence. The vitality imbued within these pieces of metal clearly far exceeded that of the vast majority of Saint Blacksmiths, and even he couldn't do much better. This was the symbol of an eighth-rank Saint Blacksmith! Even more importantly, this method of bestowing life upon metals was different from the method that he normally used, and that was even extremely rare.

As such, Yao Ling immediately rushed over to see just which Saint Blacksmith had forged these extraordinary pieces of metal. Most importantly, these pieces of soul refined metals had caused his forging bottleneck to waver slightly. This was a feeling that he hadn't experienced for many, many years, and he felt as if he had stepped one foot into the realm of Divine Blacksmiths.

For a Saint Blacksmith to progress to becoming a Divine Blacksmith, the difficulty involved was comparable to that of a soul beast transcending their 100,000-year tribulation to become a Great Beast. In fact, the process was arguably even more difficult.

Spirit refinement bestowed upon metals life, while soul refinement bestowed upon metals instincts and low-level intelligence. In contrast, heavenly refinement allowed a metal to completely evolve into an intelligent life form with no less intelligence than a human. This level of intelligence coupled with absolute loyalty naturally formed an extremely desirable combination. 

Why were suits of four-word battle armor so powerful? This was because these suits of battle armor were able to constantly adjust and perfect themselves, and their overall powers were equivalent to their wearers!

A Limit Douluo's four-word battle armor was like a clone of themselves.

The number one mecha in the world was undoubtedly the one that belonged to Zhen Hua, but red mechas weren't all that rare, and all major powers had a supply of them. However, what allowed Zhen Hua's mecha to stand about and rise above the rest? His mecha was special because he had put countless effort into crafting it, and it had been entirely constructed from heavenly refined metals. This was no longer just a simple mecha; it could be said that it was his personal guardian.

Yao Ling had been an eighth-rank Saint Blacksmith for many years already, and there was nothing more important to him than progressing to the Divine Blacksmith level.

This was why he was so eager to seek out Tang Wulin to see if they could exchange some ideas. Furthermore, he was also hoping to be able to keep the soul refined metals that Tang Wulin had forged, and thankfully, his request was granted.

Tang Wulin departed from the blacksmith association building after being given a massive sum of money, and a smile naturally appeared on his face.

Perhaps it was because it had been an extremely arduous process for him to save up money to buy his first soul spirit as a child, but he was still unable to shrug off his own stinginess.

It was already quite late at this point, and Tang Wulin didn't return to the hotel. Instead, he went to a restaurant to have a meal.

Right at this moment, the ringtone of his soul communicator sounded, and he glanced at it to find that the caller was the manager of the Tang Sect's Bright City branch, Ji Qi.

His heart stirred slightly upon seeing this, and he accepted the call. "Ji Qi?"

"It's me. I've gotten into contact with Ms. Mo Lan and passed on your message to her. She has agreed to meet you tomorrow at noon at a cafe near the parliament building."

"Alright, tell me the address."

After ending the call, Tang Wulin was struck by a sense of reminiscence. In reality, it had only been a few years since he had last seen Mo Lan, but those few years had been like an entire lifetime, and both of them had experienced far too many things.

Many major events that had changed them to an extreme degree had taken place during the past few years, and Tang Wulin could only heave a faint sigh at the thought of the tragedies that had befallen Mo Lan.

After paying the bill and emerging from the restaurant, Tang Wulin strolled along the streets of Bright City.

Bright City was now the largest city on the entire continent, and due to how early it had been developed, the central region of the city was extremely packed. The buildings in the area were looking rather squashed, and there were countless skyscrapers in all directions. Even though it was already very late into the night, the city was still as brightly-lit as if it were daytime.

The people who had endured a tiring day of work were now clearly a lot more relaxed as they walked on the city streets, and there were many inebriated young couples walking together in an intimate fashion. Some of them let loose a yell from time to time as if they were venting the fatigue and frustrations they'd accumulated during the day.

Tang Wulin felt as if it would be very difficult for him to integrate himself into this world of iron and steel. He couldn't help but think back to his life at Shrek Academy.

He loved the simple and pure environment in the academy, far removed from the deceitful and shady environments that one would often find in society. Unfortunately, the academy no longer existed, and he could think back to his experiences there as wonderful past memories. Thinking back now, even the fights against Wu Siduo and the others had been such enjoyable experiences.

A Godslayer missile had erased all of this. He could still recall the scenes back when Wu Siduo had confessed to him. Now, everything had been reduced to dust. Wu Siduo no longer existed, and countless peers of his had most likely been wiped off the face of this world during the bombing.

Tang Wulin reflexively clenched his fists. He had never hated anything like he hated the Holy Spirit Cult before. This was no longer just a personal vendetta; it was a vendetta that belonged to Shrek Academy and even the entire human race.

The fact that the Holy Spirit Cult dared to attack the Blood God Legion clearly indicated that their goal was to destroy the entire human race, and in order to accomplish this goal, they were even willing to release the abyssal plane into this world.

Just as Tang Wulin was walking, his shoulder suddenly bumped into something, and he faltered slightly before reflexively raising his head. He had gotten lost in his own thoughts and unintentionally bumped into a passerby on the street.

The person that he had bumped into was clearly quite inebriated, and after bumping into him, she immediately began to fall sideways.

Tang Wulin reached out to grab her before supporting her into a standing position. The strong scent of alcohol immediately wafted toward him alongside the woman's natural bodily fragrance, and it wasn't a very pleasant concoction, but it was rather alluring in a sense.

Tang Wulin's brows furrowed slightly as he looked at the woman who had practically fallen onto him. Her eyes were a little bleary and out of focus as she stared at Tang Wulin, and she pressed her hands against Tang Wulin's chest. "Wh, what are you doing? Get away from me!"

Tang Wulin helped her into an upright position. "Be more careful when you're walking."

After giving her that brief piece of advice, he released her and prepared to leave.

He didn't like the smell of alcohol, especially when it was coming from a woman in such a potent dose. Alcohol was something that was very unfamiliar to Tang Wulin, but he knew that it could numb someone, and it was undoubtedly unsafe for a woman to drink so much, especially with all of the shady individuals roaming the city streets at this late hour.

Even though he had only taken a fleeting glance at her, he could tell that the woman was quite an exceptional beauty. Her looks were quite stunning, and her figure was also very exceptional. She wore a singlet and a pair of denim shorts, revealing a pair of long and fair legs. There was a pair of high heels on her feet, and her long hair had been arranged into a simple ponytail that trailed down the back of her head. Her cheeks were quite flushed, and she was wearing some heavy makeup, including blue eyeliner. However, the makeup didn't look excessive and vulgar, and this was most likely an indication that it was very high-quality makeup.

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