Chapter 11: The Decision

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When Xu Shengqun had approached Zhen Hua earlier, he only mentioned that Xu Yuan was a younger relative and didn't disclose any information about Xu Yuan's parents.

Upon arriving here, when Xu Yuan addressed Xu Shengqun as "Uncle," Zhen Hua hadn't given it much thought at the time.

But now, seeing Xu Yuan's Tianyuan Brush martial soul and its spear form, Zhen Hua suddenly felt a sense of familiarity. This sudden feeling reminded him of an old acquaintance—two and a half years ago, that person had visited the Blacksmiths Association.

"Uncle, do you know my father?" Xu Yuan asked in surprise.

Zhen Hua sighed deeply.

"Not only do I know him, but your father conducted research related to forging and came to discuss it with me. That's also how I got to know your uncle."

Xu Yuan hadn't expected there to be such a connection.

From Zhen Hua's words, Xu Yuan guessed the research in question was likely the *Soul Spirit Cultivation Method*. His father had chosen metal spirit souls as the breakthrough point for his research, which led to frequent discussions with Zhen Hua, the foremost godly blacksmith of this era.

"Unfortunately, life is unpredictable." Zhen Hua sighed again.

After a long silence, Xu Yuan finally spoke softly. "Uncle, do you know why my parents were framed by the Spirit Pagoda?"

Zhen Hua's gaze grew distant as he looked at Xu Yuan.

"Xiao Yuan, do you know about the Soul Spirit Cultivation Method?"

"My uncle told me about it."

Zhen Hua was momentarily surprised, not expecting Xu Shengqun to have shared so much with Xu Yuan.

"Mm, your father's project was based on that. Did your uncle tell you that the project was disproven?"

"Isn't that what happened?" Xu Yuan instinctively countered, but quickly realized the implication behind Zhen Hua's words.

"You're saying that my father's research wasn't flawed, but it was forced to end due to certain reasons?"

"Yes. Xu Zhi chose weapon martial souls as his breakthrough point, drawing inspiration from a legendary Sword God Douluo from ten thousand years ago who infused ordinary iron swords with meteoric iron from beyond the heavens. Confident in modern forging techniques and driven by his own desperate desire to become a soul master, he devoted himself to the research and made some progress."

Xu Yuan held his breath, carefully listening to Zhen Hua's explanation.

The Sword God Douluo from ten thousand years ago?

Could it be that Sword Fanatic?

As far as Xu Yuan knew, the Sword Fanatic's martial soul was indeed an ordinary iron sword, but he had infused it with meteoric iron, forging it into his own blade. He eventually broke through to become a Title Douluo.

As for his ultimate achievements, Xu Yuan wasn't entirely sure.

"Unfortunately, your father's chosen direction suited him perfectly but also offended the Qiangu family."

"The Qiangu family?" Xu Yuan asked in confusion.

Mu Ye snorted coldly from the side. Having spent a lot of time with Zhen Hua, he had met Xu Yuan's father before and knew some details.

"The effects of your father's Soul Spirit Cultivation Method on other martial souls are uncertain, and whether it could be applied to beast martial souls is debatable. However, for weapon martial soul users, it was almost universally applicable. The Qiangu family's ancestral martial soul, the Coiling Dragon Staff, is itself one of the top-tier weapon martial souls."

"Shouldn't they have benefited from it, then?"

"Hmph. By this point in the evolution of martial souls, the Qiangu family's Coiling Dragon Staff is already among the most powerful martial souls. How could they benefit further? If this technology were widely applied, more and more geniuses with weapon martial souls would emerge, and the Qiangu family would face significant challenges."

What? Was the Qiangu family really that petty?

Although Xu Yuan knew Qiangu Dongfeng wasn't exactly upright, he found it hard to believe that an entire influential family would shy away from facing such a challenge.

"Xiao Yuan, you're oversimplifying things. Your uncle has already hinted at it—the development of modern forging techniques was what your father valued most. Otherwise, even at thirty years old, despite still being able to cultivate, his future wouldn't have been particularly bright. But with Zhen Hua's full cooperation, crafting the most compatible raw materials for artificial spirit souls and refining them through heavenly forging could grant him top-tier talent. He still had hope of becoming a Title Douluo."

Xu Yuan took a deep breath, finally grasping the crux of the issue.

This was truly the creation of a monstrous genius.

And the key wasn't the technology—it was the godly blacksmith Zhen Hua!

"Qiangu Dongfeng's relationship with me isn't just bad—it's extremely bad," Zhen Hua added.

If it weren't for the Spirit Pagoda's overwhelming influence and monopoly over spirit soul technology, and the large number of soul masters within the Blacksmiths Association, Zhen Hua wouldn't have been forced to comply with their exorbitant demands to avoid giving Qiangu Dongfeng an excuse to terminate the supply of high-quality spirit souls to the association.

Yes, while the Spirit Pagoda monopolized spirit souls, they couldn't outright refuse to provide them—it would provoke widespread outrage—but they could cut off cooperation.

The Blacksmiths Association, as a massive organization, had intricate ties with the Spirit Pagoda. Many of the association's top blacksmiths were also talented soul masters with significant demand for spirit souls. Thus, they had agreements with the Spirit Pagoda to obtain high-quality spirit souls at lower costs and with priority.

Blocking a single soul master from obtaining spirit souls would provoke resistance from the entire soul master community, but cutting off benefits to the Blacksmiths Association as a whole only affected the association itself.

It could be said that while godly blacksmiths seemed untouchable in theory, in practice, those who reached the pinnacle of power could afford to offend even a godly blacksmith.

Though Qiangu Dongfeng could use his authority to obtain heavenly-forged metals for his four-word battle armor, it didn't mean he could freely acquire them from Zhen Hua.

A spirit soul crafted from heavenly-forged metal could theoretically grant a soul master with a useless martial soul the equivalent of maximum innate soul power cultivation potential. And if subsequent spirit souls were also paired with metal spirit souls according to optimal theory, the soul master's growth path...

"Actually, that's not all. The Qiangu family's Coiling Dragon Staff was already top-tier, and with their control over the Spirit Pagoda's channels, even if they faced challenges, the impact could be managed."

"But undoubtedly, your father's research put him at odds with Qiangu Dongfeng."

"A year ago, something triggered Qiangu Dongfeng to act without regard for consequences."

Xu Yuan fell silent after hearing this.

Mu Ye shot Zhen Hua a subtle glare, seemingly reproaching him for sharing such heavy news with a child like Xu Yuan.

"Thank you for telling me this, Uncle. I'll complete the work my father couldn't finish," Xu Yuan said softly.

"Hmm?"

Hearing Xu Yuan's words, Zhen Hua was momentarily stunned.

"You mean you're going to use your father's theories to cultivate your Tianyuan Brush martial soul?"

"Yes." Xu Yuan nodded. "In fact, yesterday my uncle already confirmed my first spirit soul choice—it's the spear spirit soul my father created."

Zhen Hua fell silent.

After a long pause, he sighed deeply and stepped forward to pat Xu Yuan on the shoulder.

"Xiao Yuan, do you realize how difficult this decision will make your path?"

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