Douluo: Legend of the Holy Land

Chapter 23 Blacksmiths' Association

"Gengxin City has the most blacksmith shops, and only in this city are blacksmiths highly regarded. It is said that there are over a thousand blacksmith shops in the entire city, and tens of thousands of blacksmiths. Many blacksmiths from other cities come here specifically to take the blacksmith examination. If they can pass the advanced blacksmith examination, they can stay in this city. Simply put, this is a blacksmith's paradise."

As the saying goes, money makes the world go round. After entering Gengxin City, Xiao Yu and his companions spent some money to hire a local tyrant.

As a local strongman, his greatest skill was reading people. Xiao Yu and his companions' attire and demeanor indicated their extraordinary status. Most importantly, this local strongman was also a Soul Master, and his Martial Soul possessed a spiritual attribute. When he locked eyes with Hui Huo, who remained silent behind Xiao Yu and the others, his Martial Soul transmitted an overwhelming fear to him, like facing a ferocious beast. He instantly understood that these people were definitely not people he had provoked.

Therefore, he was extremely enthusiastic towards Xiao Yu and the others, and introduced Gengxin City to them incessantly: "Although blacksmiths are not valued by the two great empires, the weapons and equipment of the army, agricultural tools, buildings, and furniture all require the participation of blacksmiths. The more advanced the blacksmith, the more valuable the items they forge."

Blacksmiths are generally divided into seven levels, from lowest to highest: Junior Blacksmith, Intermediate Blacksmith, Senior Blacksmith, Master Blacksmith, Grandmaster Blacksmith, and Divine Blacksmith.

Currently, Gengxin City only has one master craftsman, namely Senior Lou Gao, the president of the Blacksmith Association. However, he is arrogant and rarely forges for others. If you are interested, I can recommend a few good blacksmith shops under the names of Masters Si Long and Si Yu. These are all Lou Gao's personal disciples, grandmaster-level blacksmiths, and their forgings are all exquisite, guaranteed to satisfy you, my esteemed guests.

Thank you!

Xiao Yu smiled slightly, but shook his head and said, "However, the purpose of our trip is to visit Master Lou Gao. Please lead the way."

"OK."

Seeing that Xiao Yu, who was clearly in charge among them, had spoken, the guide said no more and immediately led the group towards the central area of ​​Gengxin City.

Gengxin City itself wasn't very large. It didn't take them long to arrive at the central area of ​​Gengxin City.

"Distinguished guests, this is the headquarters of the Blacksmiths' Association."

Following the direction the guide pointed, a magnificent and towering building came into view for Xiao Yu and the others.

This is a simple and rugged spherical castle building. The entire castle has no fancy decorations. The three gates are open, and people come and go in an endless stream.

Xiao Yu and his group strolled into the hall with the flow of people. The tour guide, seeing this, began his explanation: "The headquarters is divided into five floors. The first floor is the trading area, where blacksmiths bring their best works or metals to trade. Of course, there are also merchants who specialize in selling various metals. On the left side of the hall are blacksmiths consigning their finished products, and on the right is the metal trading area. The association takes a 5% commission. Therefore, most of the blacksmiths who come to consign their products are master blacksmiths."

While prices at the association may be slightly higher than elsewhere, quality is absolutely guaranteed. All items undergo appraisal and evaluation by the association before being priced. If you are a distinguished guest wishing to purchase finished products or rare metals, you can rest assured that the blacksmith association will never betray its reputation.

While the prices outside are cheaper, the quality is unpredictable; whether you can buy something good depends entirely on luck.

Xiao Yu nodded. Shopping is the same principle in this life and the next. If you want to ensure quality and quantity, you can't avoid the issue of price. If you only focus on cheap prices, you will easily fall into a trap.

The guide continued, "The second floor is the high-end trading area. Rare metals are generally traded there. The third floor is the blacksmith registration and assessment area, specifically for assessing blacksmith levels. The fourth floor is the VIP area, which is also the auction area. Some particularly precious and rare forged items are auctioned there regularly. And the fifth floor is the office area of ​​the Blacksmith Association; Master Lou Gao's forging workshop is located on the fifth floor."

Xiao Yu scanned the hall. Through months of studying soul tools, he had gained a general understanding of rare metals. In just this brief scan, he discovered six rare metals of mid-to-high quality.

However, Xiao Yu didn't immediately rush to the trading area to make purchases. He had his own ulterior motives. If he could successfully recruit Lou Gao and the Blacksmith Association, perhaps he could directly use the Blacksmith Association's discounted price. Although he had brought a considerable amount of money with him on this trip, before establishing a stable source of income, the sect was still in a state of depletion, so it was best to save money wherever possible. As for having the Blacksmith Association foot the bill, he wasn't that shameless.

Having made up his mind, Xiao Yu no longer hesitated and went straight to the stairs to go upstairs.

In the original story, Tang San and Titan were checked by guards almost every floor they went up, but Xiao Yu didn't encounter this situation. He guessed that after the Soul Hunting Operation, the Spirit Hall accelerated its pace of annexing the Blacksmith Association, and that Bishop Miles was an incompetent scoundrel who bullied men and women, so he probably couldn't think of any good solutions and could only find people to cause trouble to force the Blacksmith Association to strengthen its security.

Xiao Yu walked up to the fourth floor, where he was finally stopped by the guards of the Blacksmith Association. After all, the fifth floor was the office area of ​​the Blacksmith Association, and all the master-level blacksmiths had their own private foundry on the fifth floor. It would be too unreasonable if there were no guards here.

"Hello, we've come to visit Master Lou Gao. We'd like to ask him to forge a divine weapon for us. Here are the blueprints."

Xiao Yu smiled politely and took out a blueprint from his storage soul tool. This was a blueprint for a level seven soul tool that he had copied. In the original story, Tang San tricked Lou Gao into joining the Tang Sect with a blueprint for the Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needle. He could use the same method. For a genius like Lou Gao who was obsessed with forging, this was the only thing that could move him.

"What nonsense! Get out of here! Don't offend Master Lou Gao's eyes."

Unexpectedly, the guard took the blueprints, glanced at them briefly, and tossed them aside like trash. He then stepped forward and herded Xiao Yu and the others downstairs.

Upon seeing this, Xiao Yu's expression darkened. Looking at the impatient guard in front of him, he wondered if encountering a few snobbish people was the standard for protagonists when traveling.

I've finished my work at midnight. Please add this to your favorites and recommend it!

(End of this chapter)