"First, we would like to express our gratitude to you for helping us against the army of spirit beasts that attacked our city earlier."
The sect leader of the Armament Sect (the nickname I had for the coalition of blacksmiths living in Huo Yan Valley City), Ying Xing Ran, bowed his head gratefully. However, when he raised his head, I could see the skepticism in his dark eyes. An old man with graying hair, he wore a brown business suit and had wrinkles that made him appear his age of approximately sixty years. A neatly trimmed mustache and beard framed a square jaw, and he struck an imposing figure, which was expected of the leader of the city that had just fended off an invasion from a horde of spirit beasts. He should be beginner Earth rank, if not peak Mystic rank at least.
"But please forgive us for being suspicious. You showed up out of nowhere, leading your own group of spirit beasts." Ying Xing Ran narrowed his eyes. "I've never heard of cultivators being able to tame spirit beasts before."
"I'm a special snowflake," I replied with a shrug. "You know how protagonists of web novels and manhuas always have their unique skills? Summoning spirit beasts happens to be mine."
Both Ying Xing Ran and Myria gave me a withering stare. I sighed.
"Fine, it's just a unique ability I have. I'm not sure how to explain it to you, but if you don't trust me, then I'll have no choice but to leave."
"Our caution is no reason for us to behave so ill-manneredly." Ying Xing Ran shook his head. "Regardless of your reasons, the fact remains that you contributed significantly to lifting the siege of city. We are not so ungrateful and paranoid that we will chase you out or imprison you." He then clasped his hands and rested them on the coffee table between us. "Though I assume you helped out because you have a request to make of us. Almost everyone who visits Huo Yan Valley comes here for one thing."
"You're not mistaken," I admitted. "But you don't have to worry. I'll still pay for the blacksmithing services. Um, yeah, I'm here to hire a couple of blacksmiths to forge weapons for me. I even have the required materials."
"Do you already have someone in mind, or do you want me to recommend you a blacksmith?" Ying Xing Ran regarded me. I shook my head.
"I was planning to ask Gan Jiang and Mo Ye if they are available."
"Ah, the legendary blacksmith couple. An excellent choice." Ying Xing Ran nodded approvingly. "You have done your research, at least."
"Actually, my brother did my research for me," I confessed, recalling Jun Hai's advice. "And I trust him."
"Okay. I'll arrange for someone to lead you to their store." Ying Xing Ran rose from his couch. "But my men will be keeping an eye on you. For security reasons, you understand. I will order them not to invade your privacy, and as long as you don't do anything that will harm Huo Yan Valley City, they will not do anything."
"Understood." I frowned, but didn't object. There was something about Ying Xing Ran's attitude that told me that the situation in Huo Yan Valley was a lot more complex than I thought. Otherwise, they wouldn't be so suspicious of outsiders. Certainly, an attack from a spirit beast horde on a human city was common enough, which was why we had cultivators form garrisons to defend our civilizations from them, but for them to be distrusting of guests indicated there was another underlying threat to this city.
"This way, please." Ying Xing Ran's secretary, Mi Shu, was waiting for us at the door when we exited the room. Oh, by the way, we were inside a metallic building that was known as the town hall. Even though the exterior looked a little Spartan, the surface coated in Teflon and other arcane material to resist the heat, the interior was professional and no different from city halls in other provinces. The spirit arrays kept the inside cool and protected the administrators working inside from the high temperatures and scalding lava outside.
Mi Shu looked like the typical secretary, a pretty woman in her forties who was dressed in a business suit and straight skirt, her hair tied in a neat bun, and even stylish glasses perched on her nose. She nodded curtly and gestured with her hands.
True to her boss's word, Ying Xing Ran brought us to the workshop of the famous blacksmith couple, Gan Jiang and Mo Ye. Having been informed prior to our visit, the both of them were waiting outside their store when we arrived, Mi Shu having decided to take us out in the city council's car. Or to be more accurate, a black limousine.
Damn, I never imagined that I would get to ride in a limousine! But it was a short trip and I found myself leaving the luxurious seats and stumbling outside. Myria too found the experience novel, but she rarely had a chance to sit in a car, the only exception being when she joined us in my dad's car when we drove to Qin's Delicacies last night.
"I heard you wanted a weapon?" Gan Jiang asked, his head inclined slightly. He was a tall, handsome young man with stylish blue hair. For some reason, he was also dressed in a dark business suit. Not at all resembling my image of a blacksmith.
"Um, two, actually," I said. "How much will it be?"
"It depends," Mo Ye replied. She was slightly shorter than her husband, and was a beautiful woman with long red hair that reminded me of fire. Like her spouse, she was also dressed in a sharp and crips business suit, with a knee-length skirt. Again, not exactly what I thought she would look like when imagining a female blacksmith. She smiled and gestured into the workshop. "We should discuss the details inside."
"Then I will get going," Mi Shu said, returning into the limousine and ordering the chauffeur to drive off. Myria and I exchanged a glance before we followed the blacksmith couple into their forge. I noticed that it was located over a lake of lava, the steaming molten rock powering the massive furnace that made its core.
Fortunately, we weren't ushered toward the forge itself, but to a more comfortable room meant for guests. Gan Jiang had us seat down on a lush sofa while Mo Ye prepared coffee and tea for us.
"I think you already know, but I'm Gan Jiang, and this is my wife, Mo Ye." The blue-haired man regarded us coolly. I bowed my head politely.
"I am Song Jun Wen, and this is my, uh, fiancée, Myria Poseidon."
"Nice to meet you." Myria bowed politely.
"Oh? Fiancée?" Mo Ye looked excited when she brought a tray with cups over. "Just like us then, when we were younger. How nostalgic."
"Ha ha, it'll be a long while, though. We're still underaged, though." I scratched my head, feeling embarrassed.
"You said you wanted two weapons?" Gan Jiang asked once his wife took her seat beside him. I nodded and took out the sea steel, Dragon Tree wood and all the spirit ores I had.
"Yeah." I pushed my glasses up my nose, exhaling at the relief I felt in the cool air. Outside, the moment I stepped out of the limousine, it had felt like a heated furnace. It was a relief to be back inside. Like Myria said, I didn't know how these guys could endure the extreme environment. I mean, I knew how, but…ugh, you know what I mean.
"Oh? Wood? That's an unusual material." Mo Ye picked up the Dragon Tree wood and raised an eyebrow. She then studied me intensely. "From your build and arms, I don't think you're a spear or staff user. You're probably an archer, so you want a bow?"
"That's right." I was amazed that she could guess correctly at just a glance.
"As for the other weapon…" It was Gan Jiang's turn to scrutinize me, particularly the callouses on my hands. His gaze then slowly moved toward the sea steel on the table and he nodded to himself. "You want a sword forged with that sea steel as the core, correct?"
"Yeah, that's right." I was impressed again, but not as surprised as earlier. If his wife could correctly deduce what weapon I needed from the Dragon Tree wood, it was natural that he would also be able to figure out what I wanted with the sea steel.
"Excellent. My wife and I will begin forging right away."
"Really? I thought you guys would have other commitments, so you would need more time."
"Of course, we have a condition." Gan Jiang raised a hand. "If you fulfil a request from us, we will not only start forging your weapons immediately, we will also not charge you any service fees for our blacksmithing at all."
"You're kidding, right?" The blacksmiths of Huo Yan Valley were notorious for the exorbitant prices they charged for their blacksmithing services, though the high fees were always totally worth the superlative quality of their products. I gaped at them in astonishment when I saw that Mo Ye agreed with her husband. "You're forging my weapons for free if I fulfil your request?"
"At least hear out what our request is first," Mo Ye teased with a laugh. "You might prefer to pay the blacksmithing fees over risking your life."
"He's a cultivator, dear," Gan Jiang said. "I don't think he'll be discouraged from danger." He then returned his attention to me. "We'll be asking you to do cultivator work in exchange."
Yeah, I got that from their conversation.
"What do you need me to do?"
"Us," Myria corrected. When I raised an eyebrow, she scowled and smacked me. "I'm coming with you, obviously."
"All right."
Gan Jiang stared at us, amused, and shook his head. Beside him, Mo Ye giggled.
"They really remind us of when we were young, right, honey?"
"Yeah." Gan Jiang smiled. Then he turned serious. "I heard that you participated in the fighting earlier. According to the valley leader, you helped us in decimating the horde of spirit beasts that attacked our city."
"Um, we didn't do much. The mortars from your city killed most of them."
"Give yourself more credit than that," Mo Ye chided. Gan Jiang nodded.
"Yeah. We heard you did way more than that. And I was hoping you could put those combat skills to further use. As you saw, the spirit beasts have been a lot more active lately, and bolder. They are launching attacks against the city with increasing frequency. We suspect there might be something – or someone – influencing them."
"What? How's that possible?"
"Demons," Mo Ye explained. "There are rumors that they have ways of directing spirit beasts against us humans."
"As such, we would like you to investigate. Search the volcanoes in Huo Yan Valley and see if you can find anything. A hideout. Or the cause of the recent spirit beast aggression. If possible, eliminate it, or at least report it back to us so that we can strategize against it."
"Understood." I didn't hesitate. "I'll take on the mission."
It wasn't just because of the benefits I would get in return. I had to visit the volcanoes anyway because I needed to toss my Salamander Egg into the lava and hope it hatches. Furthermore, if there was something amiss about the repeated attacks and how frequent it became, then it was natural that I had to do something about it. It was my duty as a cultivator to protect the citizens of Hua Xia against spirit beasts and demonic monsters.
Furthermore, if this really was done by demons, then the danger was a lot greater than I first imagined. I couldn't let this get out of hand, otherwise Huo Yan Valley would fall…and like a domino, all the other provinces would follow shortly.
"Are you sure?" Mo Ye asked, concerned. "Even though we are the ones requesting this, it is a dangerous mission. You won't just be encountering the Yellow ranked spirit beasts you fought today. There are also Mystic ranked spirit beasts dwelling in the volcanoes."
"I'm sure. If the enemy is too strong, we'll avoid battle and return with whatever intelligence we can get."
"Excellent." Gan Jiang beamed. "I knew you will agree to it."
"We will begin tomorrow," I declared, glancing at the time in my smartphone. By now, the sun had set and it was dark outside. Too dangerous for us to move around in the volcanoes. And we needed some rest after fighting so hard earlier. "We'll do our best to get to the bottom of this."
"Thank you," Mo Ye said. "We're counting on you."
Before we left, though, I had one last question for the blacksmith couple.
"Um, by the way, did the both of you watch My Holy Weapon?"
"Huh?" Gan Jiang and Mo Ye stared at me blankly. "Why?"
"Uh, you just remind me of…a couple of characters from that dongman series."
"Maybe we will consider telling whether we watched My Holy Weapon." Gan Jiang snorted. "If you and your fiancée change your names to Chang Tian and Chu Qing Cheng, and make sure to vote for the manhua series on the official Tencents website."