Please support the novel with your power stones, it motivates me. Thank you! Every 10 power stones = an extra chapter!!
If one were to ask which city in the Heaven Dou Empire was the most prosperous, the answer would naturally be Heaven Dou City, the imperial capital.
Heaven Dou City was the political center of the empire and one of the two greatest cities on the entire continent. Only Star Luo City, the capital of the Star Luo Empire, could rival it.
Bai Chen and his group didn't make any detours. They headed straight for the most prosperous city on the continent.
After arriving in Heaven Dou City, Bai Chen immediately went to the local Spirit Hall branch to register his identity and collect the subsidy given to spirit masters.
As a one-ring Spirit Master, the subsidy he received wasn't much, but it was enough to serve as his starting capital.
After wandering around the city for a while, Bai Chen quickly found a blacksmith shop.
Listening to the metallic clanging coming from inside, Bai Chen smiled slightly. Instead of walking straight in, he turned into a nearby alley.
When he stepped back into the sunlight again, his appearance had already changed—he now looked like an ordinary eighteen-year-old young man.
"Your illusion technique is pretty impressive," Bai Yueqiu said, widening her eyes. "Even I can't see through your disguise."
Bai Chen adjusted his collar and smiled.
"This isn't an illusion. It's mimicry."
This soul skill was extremely useful. In terms of functionality, it was probably the most powerful soul skill he currently possessed.
After confirming with his spiritual detection that there were no problems with his disguise, Bai Chen led Chi Wang and Bai Yueqiu into the blacksmith shop.
"Welcome. What can I help you with?"
Hearing the door open, the shop owner immediately came forward with a friendly smile.
Bai Chen asked directly:
"Are you hiring? I want to work here."
"Uh… this…"
The shop owner froze for a moment, clearly about to refuse.
Then his eyes suddenly widened.
Two yellow and two purple soul rings appeared around Bai Chen's body.
He had deliberately simulated this appearance beforehand.
With his true strength and number of soul skills, a one-ring Spirit Master would never make sense. At the very least, it would require Soul Elder level cultivation to explain.
But a six-year-old Soul Elder would be far too outrageous.
So he simply disguised himself as an eighteen-year-old Soul Elder instead.
This way, although still talented, it wouldn't be unbelievable.
Seeing that Bai Chen was a noble Soul Elder, the shop owner instantly changed his expression and politely gestured toward the forging table.
"Of course you can, sir. Would you mind showing me your skills first?"
"No problem."
Bai Chen walked to the forging table and picked up a forging hammer, excitement flashing in his eyes.
He had long wanted to test his forging ability in this era. But previously, he had been confined to the core region of the Star Dou Forest, so he never had the chance.
According to forging theory, the most suitable attributes for a blacksmith are fire and light, and Bai Chen possessed both at extremely high levels.
He even had strong strength attributes, meaning his forging talent might not be inferior to his future self in another era.
After obtaining his first soul ring, he had already begun suspecting something.
As his spiritual detection network spread silently, golden light flickered within his eyes as he began forging.
Within seconds, the shop owner made a judgment.
This young man's forging level was above his own.
Whether it was the force of the hammer or the rhythm of the strikes, everything created an almost artistic visual effect.
If forging were a mountain, and he himself stood at the foot of it, then in his eyes, Bai Chen had already reached the summit.
While the shop owner watched in shock, Bai Chen entered a strange state.
He now confirmed something:
In this era, his forging talent was even higher.
It wasn't only because his attributes were more suitable. His newly obtained soul skill also helped greatly.
His spiritual detection had a predictive function, allowing him to see one second into the future.
In other words, he could directly see the result of his next hammer strike.
Errors were common even among low-level blacksmiths. No one could guarantee perfect forging.
But Bai Chen, relying on future prediction, could almost completely avoid mistakes.
Whenever he saw an unsatisfactory future result, he simply changed his movement until he saw the best possible outcome.
One second of future vision might seem short, but in forging, it was more than enough.
When golden light burst forth and the Thousand-Forged metal was completed, Bai Chen even felt a bit unsatisfied.
This metal had reached top quality within the first-grade Thousand-Forged level, already extremely close to Spirit Forging.
If he had used a Thousand-Forged hammer, could he have stepped into an even higher realm?
Bai Chen took a deep breath and looked at the shop owner.
"Boss, are my abilities enough to work here?"
"Enough? It's more than enough."
The shop owner's expression had completely changed. The previous hesitation was gone, replaced with sincere respect.
"I don't even know why someone like you would come to such a small shop."
To people of this era, forging metal that emitted golden light was almost as unbelievable as cooking rice that produced divine light.
Bai Chen raised a finger to his lips and smiled mysteriously.
"Some things don't need to be known too clearly. That's better for both of us. Understand?"
"I understand."
The shop owner nodded immediately.
"I'll pay you according to the highest standard. You can work whenever you want. Is that acceptable?"
In his heart, he had already concluded that Bai Chen must be a young master from some powerful faction, merely experiencing life outside.
A skill like this could never belong to an ordinary wanderer.
"Alright. Thank you."
Bai Chen nodded in satisfaction and gave a reassuring gesture to Chi Wang and Bai Yueqiu.
This meant that he had successfully taken the first step.
But he couldn't relax yet.
The next moves were the most important.
After all, this was the core city of the Heaven Dou Empire. Any movement here would attract attention.
What he needed to do now was gather as many benefits as possible and build the financial foundation for his future plans.