Douluo Amon: I am the Heavenly Venerable of the Dragon King

However, even his junior apprentice could not compare to the young man before him. At the age of fourteen, he could already perform half-step soul forging; at this rate, becoming a Saint Craftsman was only a short time away.

"I never expected that old man Kong Xuan would actually find such a promising talent like you. Didn't he award you a Forging Medal?"

"No, my teacher said my forging skills are not up to par yet. He told me to hone them further, and he will formally accept me as his disciple once he feels that my skills are sufficient."

Zhenhua was speechless. He felt like the little guy in front of him was in Versailles.

A blacksmith who is capable of half-step Soul Forging actually says that his skill level is not high enough. How are all the sixth-level blacksmiths outside who haven't even touched the threshold of Soul Forging supposed to survive?

However, this gives me an opportunity. Zhenhua thought to himself.

So Zhenhua laughed and scolded, "Don't pay attention to what that old guy Kong Xuan is saying. He just wants to suppress you and make you focus on forging."

In my opinion, your skill level is already on par with his; even if he were to teach you, I doubt he could teach you much.

Zhenhua wasn't lying. Didn't he know Kong Xuan's level? He was just a seventh-level Saint Craftsman. With Lu Fa's current ability to forge at the half-step level, Kong Xuan could only impart some experience at most.

"President, do you and Teacher Kong Xuan not get along?" Lu Fa suddenly asked at this moment.

"Huh?" Zhenhua was taken aback. His relationship with Kong Xuan was indeed not good. Due to their differing forging philosophies and some old grievances, their relationship was quite strained.

Fortunately, the elevator opened with a "ding," and they had arrived at the top floor of the Forging Masters Association.

"More importantly, have you eaten?" Zhenhua changed the subject. "My little cafeteria here has quite a few good things."

"No."

Seeing that Lu Fa had been able to change the subject, Zhen Hua breathed a sigh of relief, and then said to Mu Ye beside him, "Old buddy, why don't you prepare lunch for us this afternoon?"

“No problem.” Makino, dressed in a chef’s uniform, nodded. He had been watching Lu Fa ever since Lu Fa displayed his blood energy in the lobby on the first floor.

"Little guy, are you from Shrek Academy?" Suddenly, Mu Ye asked Lu Fa.

"No."

"Have you joined any faction?" Makino asked again, his tone somewhat urgent.

“I’m still young, and I have no intention of joining any factions right now,” Lufa replied.

“Very good.” After saying that, Mu Ye ignored Lu Fa’s surprised look and strode out of the elevator.

……

As the president of the Blacksmiths Association, Zhenhua naturally has to eat top-quality ingredients in his own canteen. Blacksmiths expend a lot of energy and spirit when forging, and this is especially true for Zhenhua, who is a master craftsman.

When it comes to his discerning taste in food, few on the entire continent can surpass him. Moreover, he possesses something truly unique compared to other powerful figures: he's rich, rich, rich!

As a master craftsman, the value of each of his forging works goes far beyond mere expensiveness; "wealthy enough to rival a nation" would be the most accurate description.

Zhenhua's small canteen is not big, only about 20 square meters, with a round table and simple furnishings, looking plain and unpretentious.

The first dish is "Millennial Earthworm Tendon" served with Moonlight Rice.

The value of earth dragon tendons goes without saying; this ingredient has a significant strengthening effect on the bones and muscles of low-level soul masters. Not to mention, this is a thousand-year-old earth dragon tendon.

Moonlight Rice is grown in the frigid north and can only be harvested once every three years, and the quantity is extremely limited. For an ordinary person, one grain of Moonlight Rice is enough to satisfy their hunger and keep them energetic for a day.

However, having witnessed the little guy's qi and blood power firsthand, Mu Ye knew very well that this amount of food would hardly be enough to satisfy him. Therefore, he immediately went to prepare the next dish.

Lu Fa was eating heartily, while Nan Fusheng was also enjoying the meal. However, to maintain his persona, he only ate one bowl and then pretended to be full.

While Lu Fa was enjoying his meal, Zhen Hua was not idle either.

"Kong Xuan, you old geezer, you're something else!" Zhen Hua's voice was noticeably eight octaves higher than usual after the soul communication was established.

Meanwhile, in Tianhai City, Kong Xuan was somewhat bewildered by his questioning. "Are you alright? What's wrong?"

Zhenhua sneered, "You're asking me what's wrong? Are you doing this on purpose, old man? Did you send your disciple here to cause trouble? What, are you trying to get revenge for what happened back then?"

"A disciple in name only?" Kong Xuan's voice rose a few decibels. However, he quickly thought of Lu Fa. Was it the main body that was manipulating things? So he immediately cooperated, "You saw Lu Fa?"

"Who else could it be but him?" Zhenhua said irritably.

"Don't even think about it!" After a long silence, Kong Xuan finally replied with these words!

"Kong Xuan." Zhenhua's voice suddenly softened. "The events of that year are so long ago, and my teacher has already passed away. We shouldn't dwell on those trivial matters anymore."

You might not know about Lu Fa's talent; he's already at the half-step Soul Forging stage. Looking across the entire continent, besides me, is there anyone more suitable to teach him?

Hearing Zhenhua's somewhat excited voice, Kong Xuan sneered, "Don't even think about it, Lu Fa is my disciple."

"But you are a disciple in name only, right?" Zhenhua's voice began to grow heavy.

Kong Xuan, on the other end of the phone, sensed something was wrong. "What are you trying to do? Even if he's just a registered disciple, he's still my student."

"Hmph, he's not a direct disciple, what kind of disciple is he if he's just a nominal one?"

"Zhenhua, you..."

Zhenhua abruptly hung up the soul communication device, his expression extremely smug.

Sorry, old man Kong, now that it's confirmed that the other party is a nominal disciple, don't blame me for NTRing you. It's your own fault for not accepting the other party as a personal disciple.

Why do you think he called Kong Xuan? It was to confirm whether Kong Xuan had actually accepted Lu Fa as his disciple.

"Tsk tsk tsk, Old Man Kong is really lucky. He actually managed to get two outstanding disciples in a row," Zhenhua said with a sigh.

However, Zhenhua's expression quickly turned extremely sinister. "But so what? They can only be NTR'd by our lineage."

Kong Xuan's eldest disciple back then, now the eight-star master craftsman Mu Chen, turned to Zhen Hua's lineage and became Zhen Hua's junior brother because he wanted to pursue a higher level of forging.

"Old Kong, he's really had it rough," Zhenhua sighed, but quickly put on an indifferent expression. "But what does that have to do with me?"

Lu Fa's talent is truly exceptional. At the half-step Soul Forging stage, not only is his foundation extremely solid, but judging from his terrifying blood and qi power, his physical attributes are also beyond the norm.

Such a promising talent means that the next master blacksmith of the Blacksmith Association has been found!

As long as he grows up normally and his cultivation improves normally, Lu Fa will almost certainly become a divine craftsman. Of course, the premise is that he can become a powerful expert at the title Douluo level.

However, for blacksmiths, becoming a Title Douluo is far easier than for Soul Masters who cultivate for the purpose of combat.

Even rare and precious materials can be used to build it up. What does it matter if the foundation is unstable? As long as you can reach the level of a Title Douluo and have enough soul power to forge it, that's enough.

Therefore, Zhenhua wasn't worried about any of this. In terms of resources and wealth, he was among the top ten in the entire continent. The problem was, he had nowhere to look for a child with talent like Lu Fa!

"Moreover, his cultivation talent and combat strength might not be low." Zhenhua thought of the martial spirit that Lu Fa displayed when he forged it. That terrifying pressure was definitely a top-tier martial spirit.

Compared to his junior apprentice Tang Wulin, Lu Fa clearly fit his criteria better. After all, the other party was exceptionally talented, and hadn't even been formally accepted as a disciple yet; a nominal disciple was at most like a helper. Coming from NTR wouldn't be considered a betrayal of the sect.

"Hey? Thinking about it this way, Old Man Kong isn't so bad after all, since he didn't even take Lu Fa as his disciple." Having figured out the key point, Zhenhua became even more self-righteous.

……

Arriving at his small canteen, Zhenhua's expression had returned to normal. Now that he had decided to poach someone from another company, he would not hesitate.

Then he saw Lu Fa, who seemed to be communicating with Smith. As a divine craftsman, his cultivation had reached the level of a Title Douluo.

Moreover, Lu Fa and the others were talking quite loudly; with just a slight twitch of the ear, one could clearly hear what they were saying.

Lufa: "Smith, is the relationship between Chairman Zhenhua and my teacher very bad?"

Smith looked somewhat troubled, but still said in a low voice, "There is indeed some unpleasantness between President Kong Xuan and the Divine Craftsman."

Lu Fa pressed further, "What was the unpleasantness? Did they have a grudge against each other?"

Smith looked around and finally whispered, "I don't know the specifics, but I heard that what happened back then caused Chairman Kong Xuan to lose face. All these years, he's been trying to get revenge."

"Ahem!" Just then, Zhenhua coughed. If he let Smith continue, the difficulty of his apprenticeship plan would increase dramatically, so he immediately spoke up to remind him.

Upon hearing Zhenhua's voice, Smith immediately shut up, like a mouse seeing a cat. He sat motionless in his seat.

"President."

Zhenhua waved his hand, gesturing for Lufa to sit down.

"Have you eaten?"

"have eaten."

"Yes." Zhenhua said, "I just communicated with your master through the soul guide and told him that you are with me. He asked me to take good care of you and give you some guidance."

"President, is your relationship with my master not very good?" Lu Fa suddenly asked.

"Ahem." Zhenhua glared at Smith. If the other party hadn't been so talkative, his plan to poach Smith's girlfriend would have gone much more smoothly.

But he still said softly, "There is a little unpleasantness between your master and me. But that's all from the older generation, so you don't need to worry that I will make things difficult for you because of it."

Zhenhua chose to take the initiative. Even though Lu Fa asked about his relationship with Kong Xuan, he told Lu Fa not to worry, as he would make things difficult for Lu Fa because of Kong Xuan.

"Is that so?" But this also seemed to let Lu Fa know that their relationship was really bad.

Immediately, Lu Fa stood up and said to Zhen Hua, "This junior, Lu Fa, represents my master, Kong Xuan. I have come to seek guidance from all the blacksmiths in the Tian Dou City Blacksmith Association, except for the president, Zhen Hua. Please grant me your challenge."

"Go away, go away, stop causing trouble." Zhenhua said irritably. This little guy's attitude changed far too quickly. He had just eaten a meal here, and the little guy was calling him "Chairman" so respectfully.

Now, upon hearing that his relationship with his teacher Kong Xuan was strained, he immediately turned into a declaration of war on behalf of his teacher. In the Blacksmith Association of Tiandou City, apart from him, a master craftsman, the other blacksmiths were at most at the sixth level.

After all, there are only twenty or thirty Saint-level blacksmiths in the entire continent, and they all need to serve as the president of the association in their respective cities.

Basically, the blacksmith associations in major cities usually only have one master blacksmith in charge. The presidents of some medium-sized cities are only at the fifth or sixth level.

If this little guy were to challenge him now, aside from the president, which blacksmith in the Heavenly Dou City Blacksmith Association could defeat him?

Moreover, the news that this little guy was able to achieve half-step Soul Forging has probably spread throughout the association. Which blacksmith would dare to compare with him?

However, Lu Fa's actions made Zhen Hua admire him even more. Excellent, excellent. Fearless of authority, loyal and righteous, even willing to seek justice for his teacher when facing a master craftsman like himself.