The Legend of the Dragon King

Tang Wulin felt astonished but his gaze began to shift soon after.

“Are you talking about her? This person is a rising political star from the Dove Faction. Speaking of which, she had a rather pitiful life experience. She was once a conductor of a soul train. Later, she became a hero when she protected the common people during a confrontation with the Holy Spirit Cult’s scoundrels in which she was severely injured. Her father was initially the Heaven Dou City’s consul and a member of parliament. However, her father died in the attack of the Holy Spirit Cult. At the time, she was a member of the Heaven Dou City’s officials under her father’s request. When Heaven Dou City was in chaos, she stood out in leading the officers to handle the emergency. Not only was her father sacrificed, but her husband and child died as well in the great explosion. She endured immense sorrow and pain to comfort the common people while keeping complete control over the situation. She is truly a strong woman!”

Upon listening to Ji Qi’s words, Tang Wulin could not help feeling immense sorrow in his heart. The consul Mo Wu was deceased and even Sister Mo Lan’s husband and child were…

How much pain did she have to endure?

Tang Wulin clenched his fists subconsciously. ‘Holy Spirit Cult! The Holy Spirit Cult!’

‘These evil soul masters who have committed sins will not die in peace!’ Tang Wulin was bursting with an unprecedented frenzy of rage.

“What happened afterward?” asked Tang Wulin closely as he suppressed the emotions in his heart.

Ji Qi answered, “Madam Mo Lan received Heaven Dou City’s huge support, especially from the common people. During the parliament’s re-election, she was nominated to the post of Heaven Dou City’s representative. Thus, she became one of the youngest members of parliament from the Dove Faction. Simultaneously, she’s holding the post of deputy consul for Heaven Dou City, while the consul’s post is held by the deputy speaker of the parliament. Most of the affairs are handled by Madam Mo Lan. She’s been acting peculiar lately. Apart from sleep, she spends most of her time at work. It’s as if she’s working to numb herself to forget the pain.”

Tang Wulin felt uneasy as he listened to Ji Qi.

“Where’s she now? Is she in Heaven Dou City or Mingdu?” asked Tang Wulin.

Ji Qi spoke, “The parliament recently convened the third plenary meeting, so she’s supposed to be in Mingdu. The meeting’s agenda is to discuss the use of military force on the Star Luo Empire.”

Tang Wulin raised his brows. “Can we locate her residence?”

Ji Qi answered, “We should be able to do that. However, due to the Holy Spirit Cult’s malice, the security for the parliament members is extremely tight now. Even if we can locate her, you may not necessarily be able to meet her. Do you know her?”

Tang Wulin nodded quietly. His lips cracked into a bitter smile. ‘Sister Mo Lan, are you still alright?’

With a heavy heart, Tang Wulin left the Tang Sect’s point of contact. He had gained much from this trip. It was beneficial for him to understand the overall political situation of the continent. However, he also received news about the death of Mo Lan’s family.

Tang Wulin boarded the taxi and headed to Mingdu Blacksmith’s Association.

No matter how tight the security was, he would think of a way to meet Sister Mo Lan. If not for anything else, he just wished to comfort her.

As for the security, Tang Wulin was quite confident that he could pass through with ease.

The Mingdu Blacksmith’s Association was no smaller than the Blacksmith’s Association headquarters located in Heaven Dou City. After all, Mingdu City was the Federation’s capital, so high-quality forging work was in demand as well.

Surprisingly, Tang Wulin felt that the place was desolate when he walked into the Mingdu Blacksmith’s Association.

‘Shouldn’t this place be filled with an endless stream of blacksmiths?’ Although the people who chose to be blacksmiths were few, there were still a good number of blacksmiths who were of low and medium ranks.

Many blacksmiths below rank-3 were not even soul masters. They relied on their proficiency in their skills to make a living. After all, the metals forged by these people were good enough to produce ordinary mechas.

Nonetheless, Tang Wulin described the place he saw on the first level of the spacious Blacksmith’s Association as ‘deserted’. There were fewer than ten blacksmiths. The place appeared unusually empty and there was hardly any service staff around.

What was going on?

Tang Wulin walked to a counter in puzzlement. The service staff on the other side of the counter stood up. “Hello. May I know if you’re here for a mission, or are you a blacksmith?”

Tang Wulin answered, “I’m a blacksmith from another place. What happened here? Why is the association so deserted?”

The service staff spoke with a bitter smile, “The place has been recalled by the military! Could it be that you have yet to receive the military requisition order? There’s a possibility of an impending war, so the military is hiring blacksmiths with high wages, especially blacksmiths below rank-5. The military is providing a large number of rare metals for the blacksmiths to forge, so it’s an attractive deal for the blacksmiths who are trying to break through to the Spirit Forging Realm. Hence, there are so few blacksmiths on our floor. However, the military requisition deal is not so attractive for the blacksmiths above rank-5, but the high-ranking blacksmiths are not on our level.”

Upon listening to him, Tang Wulin was astonished. “I thought that the parliament is considering the possibility of dispatching our army to wage war. Why are they hiring the blacksmiths?”

The service staff smiled coldly. “What do you mean considering? I thought that they’ve already mobilized the army earlier. I have a friend in the army who has already been transferred to the Eastsea. As a formality, the parliament is only carrying out an assessment.”

Tang Wulin frowned. ‘Has the situation reached this extent? The Hawk Faction is truly impatient!’

Although the situation benefited him as he strived to rebuild Shrek Academy, he truly did not wish to witness the waging of war. He could not say that he felt good about the Star Luo Empire, but everyone on Star Luo Planet was human. Once war was waged, the people would certainly be plunged into misery and suffering!

“Understood, thank you. Is there any forging mission that is available, such as those of a higher rank?” asked Tang Wulin.

“Of course. The current forging missions are piling up like a mountain! If you’re a rank-3 or rank-4 blacksmith, our forging missions are endless. May I take a look at your blacksmith’s badge?”

Tang Wulin smiled and procured his blacksmith’s badge before he hung it in front of his chest.

The badge had a background of gold with black starlights. Seven black stars shimmering with radiance adorned the badge.

Upon seeing the badge, the service staff was immediately stunned. He could not help saying, “Seven stars. A Saint Craftsman?”

In the blacksmith’s world, the badge was used to represent one’s rank and status. Even for such a large division in Mingdu, it was still exceedingly rare to find a Saint Craftsman!

The blacksmith’s badge was categorized as follows:

One to two stars. Blue background with white stars: Master.

Three to four stars. Orange background with yellow stars: Grandmaster.

Five to six stars. White background with purple stars: Master Craftsman.

Seven to eight stars. Gold background with black stars: Saint Craftsman.

Nine stars. White-gold background with red stars: Divine Craftsman.

As soon as Tang Wulin’s badge was shown, he immediately revealed that he was a Saint Craftsman who could perform soul forging! He was a rare find and was at the apex of all the blacksmiths on the entire continent.

The reason three-word battle armor masters were far fewer than two-word battle armor masters on the continent was not because the two-word battle armor masters had yet to cultivate to that extent, but because there were too few Saint Craftsmen. They were too busy forging three-word battle armors. The three-word battle armor needed to be made with high-quality metal, and the blacksmith would need to start all over if the process failed. Thus, many two-word battle armor masters would rather keep his or her battle armor than upgrade without adequate assurance and financial support.

Thus, any Saint Craftsman had a well-respected status in the blacksmith’s world or even the entire continent. It was almost equal to the rank of a division president of a city’s Blacksmith Association.