Yu Yuanzhen and Yu Tianming, sometimes riding in a carriage and sometimes flying directly, journeyed south from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan to the heart of the Star Luo Empire, then turned west toward Gengxin City.
The route nearly spanned half of the Douluo Continent. Even with most of the distance traveled by flight, the journey still took them over a month.
Gengxin City was located within the Star Luo Empire but sat in the opposite direction of Longxing City. While Longxing City lay in the southeast of the Heaven Dou Empire, Gengxin City was in the southwest, deep in the Star Luo Empire's interior.
Aside from its nickname "City of Metal," Gengxin City was also known as the "City of Steel."
Unlike other cities, Gengxin City placed great importance on blacksmiths. The higher a blacksmith's rank, the more respect they received. The top three divine blacksmiths were Titan, Tang Hao, and the president of the Blacksmith Association, Lou Gao.
In short, this was a paradise for blacksmiths, a territory under the influence of the Clear Sky Clan, and later one of the foundations for Tang San's rise.
When Yu Tianming and Yu Yuanzhen arrived outside Gengxin City, their vision was dominated by towering city walls.
The city walls of Gengxin City were a dark iron-gray, as if cast from metal. Even before entering the city, one could faintly sense the metallic aura that the city exuded.
Yu Yuanzhen explained, "There are several large coal mines near Gengxin City, so the iron smelting industry is very well-developed. These city walls were built using discarded crucibles from the smelting process, making them exceptionally sturdy."
As everyone knows, construction materials for buildings and cities are usually stone, earth, brick, or wood. Gengxin City took a different route by using crucibles, which was quite a spectacular sight.
While the walls looked metallic, true metal is incredibly dense—several dozen tons for just one cubic meter. Building such enormous walls purely from metal would be far too costly.
Yu Tianming asked curiously, "How are these crucibles bonded together to form one structure?"
Seeing his interest, Yu Yuanzhen was happy to explain. "Workers would alternate the crucibles horizontally and vertically, pressing them together with iron slag and lime. Over time, the layers build up to form these massive walls."
Inside the city, the inner side of the wall was densely packed with small holes resembling a beehive. That's because the inner layer used smaller crucibles—about 15 cm in diameter and 20 cm in height.
From a modern perspective, this was an eco-friendly and economical engineering feat. The materials were both surprising and logical, and the unique style of the walls added to Gengxin City's charm.
Shops along the streets mostly sold weapons, armor, or iron furniture. Even the city's patrolling soldiers wore light metal armor, quite different from the cloth-armored soldiers seen in other cities, giving the place an exotic feel.
Noticing Yu Tianming's curiosity, Yu Yuanzhen pointed to the surrounding buildings and continued explaining:
"Gengxin City has more blacksmith shops than any other city. Thanks to the influence of the Clear Sky Clan, blacksmiths here are highly respected. They say there are over a thousand blacksmith shops in the city and tens of thousands of blacksmiths. Many blacksmiths from other cities even come here to take the certification exams. Passing the high-level blacksmith test means you can stay—this place is a blacksmith's paradise."
After a brief pause, Yu Yuanzhen added, "The Clear Sky Clan once classified blacksmiths into seven ranks: junior blacksmith, intermediate blacksmith, senior blacksmith, blacksmith artisan, blacksmith master, blacksmith grandmaster, and divine blacksmith. Currently, there are three divine blacksmiths, and two of them are under the Clear Sky Clan."
As they chatted, the two arrived at a tall five-story tavern at the city center. The building had no eaves, with straight vertical walls and sharp angles, resembling Russian architecture from Yu Tianming's previous life.
Yu Yuanzhen stopped and said, "We'll rest here for the night. After we finish purchasing supplies for the desert—like water, fruits, and vegetables—we'll head out at first light tomorrow to hunt your soul ring in the Star Luo Great Desert."
From a window seat on the upper floor of the tavern, they could see a massive building in the distance, at least thirty meters tall and covering a vast area. For such a building to occupy prime space in the city center, it was clearly of great importance.
From afar, the structure looked much like a Soul Arena in other cities. It spanned several streets and bustled with crowds. Without a doubt, this was the headquarters of the Blacksmith Association.
Yu Tianming couldn't help but sigh in admiration. "The Clear Sky Clan truly is remarkable. By founding this Blacksmith Association, they've drawn blacksmiths from all over the world. Their influence among blacksmiths probably far surpasses the Spirit Hall's influence among soul masters."
Yu Yuanzhen, who was busy eating and drinking, scoffed at this and said, "The Douluo Continent will always belong to soul masters. No matter how many blacksmiths the Clear Sky Clan controls, they're still no match for someone of my strength. Besides, the Clear Sky Clan has already gone into seclusion."
About to break through Rank 97, Yu Yuanzhen had begun to look down on even the so-called number one clan, the Clear Sky Clan. Little did he know that twenty years later, Tang San would use hidden weapons crafted by blacksmiths to easily defeat Spirit Hall's army and countless soul masters.
After a few rounds of drinks and dishes, Yu Yuanzhen called over a tavern servant, tossed him a few gold soul coins and a slip of paper, and said, "Go buy the items listed here. You can keep the change as a tip."
The servant hurried off to make the purchases, full of gratitude. Even in Gengxin City's most high-end inn, a few gold soul coins were a fortune for a servant—especially since the listed items were relatively cheap.
By the time the supplies were ready, the sun had set. After storing the goods in their soul tools, the two went to sleep.
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The next morning, Yu Tianming set off northwest, heading toward the Star Luo Great Desert in the far west of the Star Luo Empire.
The Star Luo Great Desert lay in the empire's westernmost region, southwest of the Star Dou Great Forest. Its relatively low latitude gave it a scorching climate.
Moist heat from the east passed through the Star Dou Great Forest, only to be blocked by a north-south mountain range that stood like a wall on the desert's eastern edge.
Even though the Star Luo Great Desert was near the ocean, dry descending air from the west brought no rain, making the region even hotter.
Flying under the blazing sun, it took the two of them two full days to reach the desert. They passed through sparsely vegetated, yellowing grasslands near Gengxin City, then across desolate, rocky badlands, and finally arrived at the sea of golden sand that was the Star Luo Great Desert.
(End of Chapter)
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