Su Ming looked at the elderly man behind Zhu Jiuyang.
His first impression was of jade green.
The old man wore a gray robe dotted with many jade-green spots. All of his hair was jade green, and his pupils were like emeralds, making one uneasy under his gaze.
The second impression was one of pressure.
Su Ming could sense that the other party was restraining his Spirit Power and not actively releasing any aura. Yet, he carried a natural pressure that made it difficult to breathe.
He often spent time with Zhu Jiuyang, who was a Spirit Douluo.
There was only one rank difference between a Spirit Douluo and a Titled Douluo; the gap shouldn't be this obvious.
Moreover, Su Ming had met other Titled Douluos before, none of whom gave him such a distinct feeling.
So, summarizing, there could only be two possibilities. First, Dugu Bo was truly weak, unable to properly restrain his aura. Second, Dugu Bo was a lone wolf, and his long-standing habits meant that even when consciously trying to suppress his intimidating presence, remnants still lingered.
"You are Su Ming?"
Dugu Bo spoke, scrutinizing Su Ming up and down.
His eyes revealed intense curiosity.
That such a young boy could develop the blacksmithing system... truly, one shouldn't judge a book by its cover.
He had carefully looked into it; the Blacksmith Association's reforms had been going on for several years. Going back a few more years, Su Ming would have been even younger when he reformed the forging methods. Such talent was truly astonishing.
Even if the foundation of forging was Spirit Souls, and Su Ming fumbled out the Spirit Soul formation due to a special opportunity, obtaining a Spirit Soul which provided the premise for Spirit Infusion, which one of these steps wasn't groundbreaking?
Pure dumb luck was absolutely not a valid explanation.
Strength was the foundation.
Even disregarding the 'Spirit' aspect, the skill of Thousand Refined with Spirit alone would have been enough to rank him as a Sacred Blacksmith in the old Iron Smithing Association.
"Su Ming pays his respects to Lord Dugu."
Dugu Bo waved his hand.
"This old man doesn't care for such formalities."
"Senior Dugu, please come in."
Su Ming first ushered Dugu Bo into the room. After he was seated, Su Ming began inquiring about the purpose of the cooperation.
He mentally calculated the relationship between Dugu Bo and the forging system.
"I'm not interested in the forging system itself, only in the finished products you forge," Dugu Bo stated, getting straight to the point. He asked, "What is the current limit of your forging technique?"
Asking about the limit right away... that was typical Dugu Bo.
"Fusion Forging," Su Ming replied.
"Is that the Spirit Alloy forged by fusing rare metals?"
"Exactly."
"I've heard that Spirit Alloys can integrate into a Spirit Master's body."
Su Ming thought, just as I suspected.
Dugu Bo came to the Blacksmith Association specifically for Spirit Alloys.
"That is indeed an effect. Spirit Metal can resonate with a Spirit Master's Martial Soul, providing a certain degree of amplification. However, the higher the Spirit Power level, the weaker this amplification becomes. Therefore, we began fusing different rare metals to enhance the amplification effect of the Spirit Metal, and accidentally discovered that Spirit Alloys can integrate into the Spirit Master's body."
"I want to know the types of Spirit Alloys you have developed so far."
Dugu Bo seemed to realize his tone wasn't the best, but it was his habitual way of speaking and hard to change. After a moment's thought, he didn't just make demands but also showed some sincerity.
"If cooperation is possible, this old man can agree to one condition for you."
Dugu Bo had always been true to his word. If he promised something, he would definitely do it, provided it was within his capabilities.
Su Ming and Zhu Jiuyang exchanged a glance. Zhu Jiuyang took the lead in explaining the two types of Spirit Alloys they had currently developed.
That's right, only two.
One was Jade Silver, the other was Heavy Gold.
Jade Silver was created by Fusion Forging Spirit Heavy Silver and Magic Silver. Heavy Gold was created by Fusion Forging Spirit Heavy Silver and Fine Gold.
After listening to Zhu Jiuyang's explanation of the two Spirit Alloys, a trace of disappointment appeared in Dugu Bo's eyes.
Neither of these Spirit Alloys met his requirements.
Noticing Dugu Bo's expression, Su Ming spoke up, "Senior Dugu, if you have specific requirements, you can tell us. We've only been developing Fusion Forging techniques for less than a year. The development speed might get faster in the future, who knows?"
Dugu Bo was also tempted.
His需求 (requirement) was simple: find a Spirit Alloy that could amplify the Emerald Phosphorus Snake Martial Soul. It would be even better if it could suppress toxins or store them.
Clearly, these were for Dugu Yan's sake, not his own. He was deeply aware of his own condition and had basically given up hope of curing his own poison, only wishing for Dugu Yan to live a good life.
"This old man wants a Spirit Alloy suitable for amplifying the Emerald Phosphorus Snake Martial Soul."
"To amplify the Emerald Phosphorus Snake Martial Soul, Nether Iron after Thousand Refined with Spirit can achieve that. Does Senior insist it must be a Spirit Alloy?" Su Ming listed several rare metals from memory.
"Then start with the Nether Iron you mentioned. I want the best finished product you can forge. As for the reward, rest assured. If the forged Nether Iron is effective, this old man can afford any price."
Dugu Bo also wanted to first try a piece of Spirit Metal to see the effect. If it truly helped Dugu Yan suppress the toxins within her poison skills, then he would truly go all out, support the Blacksmith Association, and spend great effort to steer the Association's research direction towards developing Spirit Alloys using Nether Iron.
Zhu Jiuyang spoke up hesitantly, interrupting the conversation between Dugu Bo and Su Ming.
"Senior, currently, our Blacksmith Association has received no more than ten pieces of Nether Iron in total."
Su Ming nodded beside him, confirming Zhu Jiuyang's words.
Nether Iron was still very rare in the Soul Land I era.
However, Nether Iron didn't necessarily have to be scarce, because he had found the location of a mineral vein from Soul Land III data that contained an extremely wide variety of rare metals, including Nether Iron.
As long as Dugu Bo invested, he could guide the rare metal mining team to excavate towards that corresponding vein, find the ore deposit, and then mine the Nether Iron.
Everything could actually proceed logically.
But this was from Su Ming's perspective.
From Dugu Bo's perspective, Nether Iron was a very scarce, rare metal with no fixed producing veins. Using it as a material to develop Spirit Alloys would be exceedingly difficult.
At this point, Su Ming needed to use a heavy-handed approach.
Because he needed Dugu Bo's investment, he needed Dugu Bo to follow the path he had arranged.
To put it bluntly, he had his eyes on Dugu Bo's Ice Fire Two Eyes!
This was a fortuitous encounter he had to seize!
Therefore, Su Ming didn't string Dugu Bo along this time. He directly took out a piece of Nether Iron he had forged before.
"Senior, what do you think of this piece of Nether Iron?"
Dugu Bo looked at the piece of Nether Iron in Su Ming's hand and was shocked by its rich spirituality.
He had previously acquired a piece of Spirit Metal through less-than-proper channels, but its spirituality was worlds apart from the Nether Iron in Su Ming's hand.
He reached out and took this piece of Thousand Refined One Peak Nether Iron, which had emitted a three-foot-high spiritual light upon completion, into his palm.
(Chapter End)