Two hours later.
Yu Tianheng stood stiffly at the entrance of the alley, his stomach churning.
When Yu Ming finally emerged, Yu Tianheng instinctively took a step back.
The smell of blood was overwhelming. Not the fresh metallic scent alone—but something deeper, heavier, as though despair itself clung to Yu Ming's clothes.
Yu Tianheng swallowed hard.
"B-Brother…"
Yu Ming glanced at him sideways, noticing his expression, and chuckled lightly.
"Don't look at me like that," he said casually. "I didn't kill him."
He wiped his knuckles with a cloth, already soaked dark red.
"I simply blocked his mouth with my fist when he was about to scream."
Yu Ming shrugged.
"That's why he can only whimper now. I only peeled a layer of his skin not something hazardous to his life"
Yu Tianheng's face turned pale.
Yu Ming noticed—and laughed.
"What?" he asked. "Are you surprised by my torture skills?"
His eyes glinted with cruel amusement.
'This technique… I refined it for those stubborn women who would rather die than climb into my bed.'
'Once, I tested it on a family member—They broke surprisingly fast. After that, they served me obediently.'
Outwardly, Yu Ming simply rolled his shoulders.
"But what truly surprised me," he continued calmly, "was the information I extracted from Qin Ming."
Yu Tianheng forced himself to listen.
Yu Ming's thoughts raced with unnatural clarity, the pieces aligning perfectly in his mind.
'Clear Sky Douluo was poisoned a few months ago.'
'And the Shrek team's martial soul evolutions are completely different from the original storyline.'
Yu Ming's eyes gleamed.
'That means Tang Hao must have fought Dugu Bo.In that battle, he likely seized some medicinal herbs.'
'But— Unlike the original story, Tang San did not obtain all the immortal herbs.'
'Which explains why the Shrek team's evolutions are… distorted.'
The conclusions snapped together in his mind like.
Then—Another thought struck him.His pupils narrowed sharply.
'…If Tang Hao was injured so severely…'
He paused.
'What about Dugu Bo?'
A predatory light burst forth. Yu Ming suddenly laughed and pulled Yu Tianheng into a crushing embrace.
"You're my lucky star, Tianheng!"
Yu Tianheng froze, utterly confused.
"This is a perfect opportunity," Yu Ming said excitedly. "I need to inform Grandfather and the uncles—immediately."
He turned and dragged Yu Tianheng along, his pace hurried, his steps light with anticipation.
They rushed toward the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's branch in Heaven Dou City, excitement drowning out all caution.
In their haste—
Yu Ming did not notice.
As he passed through a bustling street, he brushed past a girl seated calmly by the roadside.
She had golden hair and purple eyes.
She was eating kebabs elegantly, her movements refined, eyes half-closed in clear satisfaction.
The girl paused mid-bite. Her lips curved slightly upward as her eyes narrowed— in quiet amusement.
The signboard above the stall swayed gently in the breeze.
"Dragon meat Kebabs."
----
Gengxin City
Lou Gao came out of his foundry pretty much pleased with himself.
"Ha! Ha! I should reward myself with a whole barrel of good booze!"
Last night—he had achieved something that even now made his heart beat a little faster when he recalled it.
Using his own martial soul as a bridge, he had infused life into metal.
Not simply soul power tempering, nor ordinary soul-forging, but something deeper—something that felt as if the metal itself had begun to breathe under his hammer. Then, by combining seven different soul-forged metals, he had created an entirely new alloy, fusing them together while simultaneously imprinting his own natural endowment into it.
Lou Gao stopped in his steps, the smile on his face gradually fading into a thoughtful expression.
Everything he had achieved so far was the result of clawing his way forward alone, relying only on instinct, experience, and the fragmented forging principles recorded in that thin booklet Julia had given him.
That booklet's every line felt like condensed wisdom. Not step-by-step instructions, but directions—conceptual hints about forging types, and the invisible relationship between soul power, metal, and intent.
Anyone else might have found it obscure, but to Lou Gao, it was like a lamp illuminating a dark road.
One could not help but envy his talent in blacksmithing.
Otherwise, in the original flow of fate, he would never have succeeded in forging the Torrential Pear Blossom Needle, at the cost of his own life .A terrifying weapon capable of killing even Titled Douluos like chickens.
Talent… obsession… and madness. All three were things Lou Gao possessed in abundance.
Yet just as his excitement surged, it was forcefully pressed down by rationality, as his smile vanished completely.
"No… now is not the time to enjoy myself."
His gaze sharpened.
"What I've done is only the beginning."
Last week, an agent from the Hermit Order had visited him in secret and presented an item ,a soul guide.
Its structure was unfamiliar, its lines precise and eerily symmetrical. More importantly, the agent had mentioned its source casually.
'Sun and Moon Continent.'
Even now, Lou Gao found it hard to believe, that a vast continent… on the other side of the endless sea exists.
"The world is truly full of wonders…"
He exhaled slowly.
"Sun and Moon Continent… what a wonderful-sounding place."
The old blacksmith turned and walked back into his workshop.
"Anyway, I should take a closer look at the soul guide array carving on the samples they provided."
Several metal plates lay neatly arranged on the worktable. Their surfaces were carved with intricate lines—arrays layered within arrays, each line flowing smoothly into the next, as if guided by some unseen logic.
Just as Lou Gao reached out, fingers hovering above the first plate—
Knock. Knock.
The sound came from the door.