“You sure have the cheek to threaten me!”


  The entire room shook as the voice thundered through, splitting eardrums along the way. It was a peculiar-looking room, stretching over three hundred square meters in area and made entirely of metal. Be it the chair, the table, or the equipment, all of it was metal. It was a futuristic metal world in here.

  The voice belonged to a tall man with long legs and lean muscles. His thick black hair accentuated his features, drawing out his chiseled jawline and fierce gaze. It was hard to guess his age from his appearance alone.

  He didn’t look to be more than thirty years old, but his eyes betrayed the wisdom of one had had experienced many decades. The hair at his temples was a snowy white, contrasting with the rest of his dark mane.

  But most striking of all were his hands. They were much larger than an ordinary person’s. The joints were inconspicuous, fair and slender like a maiden’s, and his palms were as translucent as jade.

  But his eyes. They blazed like fire.

  “That’s right! I’m threatening you!” chirped a middle-aged man, his lips revealing a carefree and daring smile.

  If Tang Wulin were here to witness this scene, he would hardly believe his eyes.

  Currently, his mild and refined teacher looked the part of a ruffian.

  The grinning man was, without a doubt, the President of Eastsea Blacksmith’s Association and the Skysea Alliance’s greatest blacksmith, Mu Chen!

  “When you said you wanted to move to that city where even the birds won’t shit at, I let you have your way. The Skysea Alliance’s economy is thriving under your guidance, yet now you’re telling me that you want to resign? Did you get kicked in the head by a donkey?” The black-haired man’s voice was thick with irritation. He gritted his teeth as he settled the raging fire of his thoughts.

  Why does this guy get my blood boiling every time I see him?

  Mu Chen was all smiles. “It’s precisely because the Skysea Alliance is on the right track that they don’t need me anymore! So I want to resign now. I’m a Saint Blacksmith, and I want to one day become a Divine Blacksmith. Zhen Hua, you’ve already eaten your fill, so you don’t understand what it’s like to still be hungry. This whole time I’ve been slowing consolidating my foundation in preparation to attack the next level.”


  “Bullshit! You’re not even a Title Douluo yet. Trying to become a Divine Blacksmith now is nonsense. Tell me your actual reason otherwise I won’t allow you to resign.

  The smile on Mu Chen’s lips gained a touch of mischief. He eyed Zhen Hua, the President of the Douluo Continent Blacksmith’s Association and the only Divine Blacksmith on the continent. “Whatever. I don’t care if you approve or not anymore. I’m leaving.”


  Mu Chen rose from his seat and made for the door.

  “Get back here!” In a flash, Zhen Hua threw his body in front of Mu Chen, obstructing his path.

  “I’ll allow it, but you have to give me a legitimate reason first. In case you didn’t realize, I still need to give an explanation to the other high-ranking members in the Association! As one of the Association’s pillars, how can you just leave like this?” Zhen Hua shook a finger at him. Voice growing louder by the second. “What do you want me to do? Aren’t we brothers? I can’t believe you would just abandon me like this. Have you no conscience?”


  Mu Chen’s eye twitched. “Don’t try that with me. It won’t work. We’ve known each other for far too long for you to play that kind of game. Alright. Fine. I’ll give you some face. I won’t completely resign, but I want you to transfer me to another branch. I’ve been in the outskirts of the continent for too long now. I want to live in the core of the continent.” He placed a hand to his chin, giving off the impression of thinking hard. “You know, Shrek City seems pretty nice. Make me the president of the branch over there. If you do, I’ll stay in the Association. If you don’t, then I guess it’s time for me to go.”


  “You want to be the president of the Shrek City branch? Was this your aim all along?” Just as Mu Chen understood him, he understood Mu Chen.

  Well, it wasn’t hard for this to be so. They had known each other since childhood and became blacksmiths together. Both were geniuses, inspiring the awe of those around them. There were many similarities between them. And while they were best friends, they were also rivals.

  In fact, they had even fallen in love with the same girl.

  In the end, the two were faced with a difficult choice: chase the dream or chase love.Zhen Hua chose to further his career. Mu Chen chose to marry the girl.

  Mu Chen wasn’t at the remote Eastsea City just because it was his hometown.

  “Fine. Go to Shrek City then. But let me remind you of what sort of place Shrek City is. All associations are weak there because of Shrek Academy’s influence. Don’t forget, Shrek’s own Blacksmith’s Association houses that lunatic. You need to be careful if you’re going there. You and that old lunatic are at the same blacksmithing level, but in a fight? Not even ten of you could match one of him. Don’t provoke him.”


  Mu Chen smiled wryly. “So what if he gets angry? Don’t I have your backing? If he troubles me, I’ll just throw him your way.”


  The corner of Zhen Hua’s mouth began to twitch. “Do I owe you something?”


  “That’s right!”


  Taken aback, Zhen Hua forced out a bitter laugh. “Fine, fine. You win. Is Bao’er doing well?”


  “She’s doing great,” chirped Mu Chen.

  Zhen Hua scratched the back of his head. “You always know how to take advantage of people. Back then, if it wasn’t for…… Oh whatever. I’m done with you. I’ll just treat this as a favor to you and your wife. When do you plan on leaving for Shrek City?”


  “Immediately,” Mu Chen answered. If he didn’t hurry, he was afraid his disciple would be swiped right under his nose.

  “Is Little Xi going with you too?” Zhen Hua asked.

  “Yeah. My daughter and wife are coming along. Can you pull some strings to get Little Xi into Shrek Academy?”


  Zhen Hua’s cheek twitched again. “Why are you blabbering that like that’s an easy thing to do?”


  “But isn’t it?” said Mu Chen, wiggling his eyebrows.

  “Simple?” The room shook once more from thundering voice. “You’re just trying to make me suffer, aren’t you?”


  “That’s right!”


  “Get out! Get out now! I don’t want to see your smug face any longer!”


  ☀

  “What are you doing?” Tang Wulin watched as Yuanen washed some items in front of the tap, eyes curious.

  He’s already cleaning so early in the morning? Is he a clean freak?

  Yuanen held a dour expression, gaze settling on the younger boy. “An annoying pest came, so I switched rooms. Now I need to clean.”


  “Yue Zhengyu?”


  “You know about it?” Suspicion peppered Yuanen’s expression.

  “Yeah. I heard it from him. You guys are in the same class anyway.”


  Yuanen nodded. “I don’t want anything to do with him.”


  “Is he in the dormitory now?”


  “Yeah.”


  Tang Wulin smiled. “Then I’ll go welcome our new fellow working student.” With that, he made his way to Yuanen’s old room.

  Yuanen frowned while watching him leave. For some reason, he had the gut feeling Tang Wulin was up to no good. Well, he’s scheming against Yue Zhengyu, so it’s fine.

  Once he reached his destination, Tang Wulin knocked on the door.

  “Who is it?” After opening the door, Yue Zhengyu was surprised to come face to face with Tang Wulin.

  “I heard you’ve moved in, so I came to welcome you.”


  “Come on in.” Yue Zhengyu didn’t seem at all happy.

  This was because after exploring the entire dormitory, Yue Zhengyu came to a depressing realization. The conditions here were far too shabby for a young master like him.

  But true to his proud nature, he found it impossible to abandon a plan halfway through. And if Yuanen could live here, then so could he!

  Yue Zhengyu’s dorm room was like Tang Wulin’s, simple and practical. It was already quite clean, a sign of Yuanen’s previous efforts. He sat on the side of his bed.

  “Sorry, I don’t have much to entertain guests with yet. Just take a seat wherever you can. I’ve got to say though, the living conditions for you working students are absolutely horrible.”


  Tang Wulin shrugged“You’re a working student now too, you know. Well, there’s nothing we can do about it. We’ll just have to suffer some hardships. Oh right, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about. Maybe you’ll be interested.”


  “What is it?”


  Tang Wulin extended both his hands, and in a flash of light, two pieces of metal appeared in his palms.

  The moment the metals materialized, light scattered off of them into an array of bright specks, painting the room like a sea of stars.

  Yue Zhengyu’s eyes lit up at the sight. “This is…… meteoric iron?” With his background, there was no way he wouldn’t recognize what was in front of him.