: I feel safer by my teacher's side.

"Is this Heaven Dou City? It's so small... right, brother?"

Looking at the scenery of Tiandou City outside the car window, Na'er, who had pressed herself against the window, couldn't help but show a look of disappointment.

Although Shrek City is not a typical modern metropolis, the buildings in all the other places, except Shrek Academy, are not short.

Tian Dou City is different. Because it is necessary to preserve the style of the ancient times, at least 80% of the buildings in the city are very short. Although it has a historical charm, it means boredom for Na'er.

Gu Lie did not answer, but simply nodded slightly.

For him, the scenery here was more pleasing to the eye than the more modern high-rise buildings.

However, he didn't say anything that would easily make Na'er feel even worse.

The roads in Tiandou City were exceptionally smooth today; the vehicle they were in barely stopped at traffic lights, which reminded Gu Lie of a famous scene where a major plot twist had occurred:

"Our operations are unimpeded, unimpeded!"

Soon, the Heavenly Dou City Blacksmith Association came into view.

In Tiandou City, where buildings are generally not very tall, the Blacksmith Association is already one of the relatively tall buildings.

Leng Yaozhu calmly led Gu Lie and Na'er inside. She said something to the receptionist, which made the staff member extremely respectful and immediately contact someone via internal communication.

"That's true. Today is a time that the teacher specially booked, so there definitely won't be any public lectures."

Gu Lie looked around the hall, which was often used to hold fan meetings (scratch that) the forging classroom of the master craftsman Zhenhua, while pondering something.

Na'er looked curiously at the extremely spacious first-floor hall, which was completely different from the main building of the Spirit Pagoda, as well as the signs and paintings hanging on the walls of the hall. Her attention was basically drawn to those contents.

Those are records of some popular science content about forging that Zhenhua once talked about. The explanations are vivid, interesting and easy to understand. Even people who don't know anything about forging can read them easily.

In less than half a minute, led by the staff member, the group entered a secret soul-guided staircase and successfully arrived at the office privately owned by the legendary master craftsman Zhenhua. There they met the legendary master craftsman Zhenhua, and...

The chef next to him was Makino, who looked rather thin.

Unlike the master craftsman Zhenhua, who exchanged social greetings with Leng Yaozhu, the chef's gaze remained fixed on Gu Lie after he saw him, unable to look away.

His facial expression also changed significantly, from initially being expressionless to extremely shocked, and then to an undisguised desire, which made Gu Lie feel clearly uncomfortable.

"What's this guy up to? Is he planning to kidnap me and throw me into the ocean to feed sharks with chili peppers?"

Recalling the incredibly laborious cultivation methods of the Body Sect in the original work, Gu Lie could only politely decline.

While that method can indeed improve a Soul Master's physical attributes, and even squeeze out the potential deep within a Martial Soul by putting the Soul Master into a revolving state, it is not suitable for Gu Lie, as the owner of a Pokémon Martial Soul, to do so.

If the soul bone hadn't been fused, it wouldn't have mattered. But in the current situation, Gu Lie had a feeling that if the chef really dared to let him experience deep diving without equipment, then Zekrom would jump out and give the chef a three-punch slap.

"Is this His Majesty the Heavenly Phoenix's personal disciple? He is indeed very sturdy, and looks to be nine years old. Learning forging shouldn't be a problem for him... What's wrong?"

After exchanging pleasantries, Zhenhua began to observe Gu Lie, but halfway through his conversation, he noticed the strange expressions on Leng Yaozhu and Na'er's faces.

"Master craftsman, I'm not even seven years old yet."

"Ah... No wonder you're His Majesty the Heavenly Phoenix's personal disciple. Truly, heroes emerge from among the young. What's wrong with you, brother?"

Realizing his lapse in composure, Zhenhua quickly responded with his superior emotional intelligence, while looking at Mu Ye, hoping that as the sect leader of the Body Sect, he could say something.

But seeing Mu Ye's greedy expression, Zhen Hua couldn't speak.

He had known Makino for a long time, but he had never seen Makino show such an out-of-control expression.

"Boy, what is your martial spirit?" Mu Ye finally spoke, but he ignored Zhen Hua and Leng Yaozhu, staring straight at Gu Lie.

"My martial spirit is Garchomp." As always, Gu Lie did not distinguish between the pre- and post-evolution forms, and instead moved closer to Leng Yaozhu.

Faced with the covetous gaze of a Title Douluo, it's clear that Leng Yaozhu's side is still the safest place to be.

Upon hearing Gu Lie's reply and noticing Leng Yaozhu's unfriendly expression, Mu Ye's eyes cleared again, and the greedy look on his face vanished without a trace, replaced by regret and sorrow.

"It's not his original spirit... even though his physical strength surpasses that of all the original spirit disciples I've ever seen..."

"I apologize for making Your Majesty Tianfeng laugh. My old brother here has always had some strange obsessions."

"Hey buddy, aren't you going to prepare a feast to make up for your blunder just now?"

Zhenhua raised his hand and nudged Muye, signaling him to leave quickly. Then he got up and led Leng Yaozhu and the others to his private forging room.

At this time, Zhenhua had not yet built the ideal Heavenly Platform that could improve the success rate of Heavenly Forging, but even so, the layout of this forging room was still breathtaking.

But Gu Lie ignored everything else and, after getting Leng Yaozhu's consent, followed Zhen Hua to a forging platform.

Zhenhua took out a piece of deep-sea silver and placed it on the forging table, then took out two standard forging hammers and placed them on either side of the forging table.

"This is deep-sea silver, with very high density and hardness."

"You hit it a thousand times first, and let me see how far you can go."

After briefly teaching Gu Lie the correct way to hold the hammer, Zhenhua assigned Gu Lie his first task.

He understood the client Leng Yaozhu's request very well; this method was the most suitable to test Gu Lie's physical qualities and talents.

Moreover, this metal, silver, is very suitable for testing the skill of blacksmiths, unlike other rare metals, which pose various risks when forging fails, such as energy outbursts or explosions.

Zhenhua wasn't worried that Gu Lie couldn't lift the forging hammer. The fact that Leng Yaozhu had taken a liking to him and that Mu Ye had shown such a flustered expression meant that his strength must be considerable.

Moreover, the standard forging hammers he provided each weighed two hundred pounds.

"Dual hammers... never mind, the essence of dual-wielding is to achieve miracles through brute force, and two forging hammers should be the same."

Gu Lie picked up the two hammers. At first, he felt a little strained, but as he gripped the hammers in the way Zhen Hua had introduced and adjusted his stance, Gu Lie quickly stopped feeling that strain.

Looking at the sunken silver in front of him, Gu Lie raised the hammer in his right hand and smashed it down hard.

Just as the forging hammer collided with the slush, a mysterious feeling surged into Gu Lie's mind.

"This is?

"……I see!"