A moment later, Princess Xu Jiujiu withdrew her gaze from Jin Li and turned back to Huo Yuhao, who was sitting behind the desk.
A hint of subtle mischief flashed through her beautiful eyes, and the corners of her lips curled up slightly as she asked with a smile, "Is this your... girlfriend?"
Upon hearing this, Huo Yuhao's expression remained quite calm, and he simply shook his head gently: "Just a friend, here to help."
Hearing this, Princess Xu Jiujiu couldn't help but turn her head to glance at Jin Li, who was nestled in the sofa.
She didn't look like someone who was here to help at all; she looked more like a little girlfriend pampered by Huo Yuhao who had come here for a vacation.
However, she was, after all, the eldest princess of the Star Luo Empire, and she had an excellent grasp of propriety, so she did not dwell on this matter too much.
During this period, due to their cooperation on the Spirit Pagoda, she and Huo Yuhao had frequent contact, and their relationship was no longer as reserved or distant as it had been at the beginning, making their interactions much more casual.
She walked a few steps to the guest chair opposite Huo Yuhao's desk, elegantly smoothed her skirt, and sat down before immediately steering the conversation to the main business.
"I have already contacted the Blacksmith Association of Star Luo for you. When do you plan to go?"
Huo Yuhao pondered for a moment, tapped his fingers on the desk twice, and made his decision: "The sooner the better; I will go tomorrow."
Princess Xu Jiujiu nodded and noted this in her mind.
However, after a moment of silence, she was ultimately unable to suppress the curiosity in her heart and asked another question: "Actually, I have always been quite curious. What exactly are you looking for the Blacksmith Association for?"
The profession of a blacksmith was not considered respectable on the continent. Although there were Spirit Masters among them, most had mediocre Spirits, and those with talent had all gone to become battle Spirit Masters.
Therefore, seeing that Huo Yuhao seemed to attach some importance to the Blacksmith Association, Princess Xu Jiujiu was naturally curious.
Huo Yuhao did not hide anything and explained in a measured tone: "Whether a Spirit Tool is powerful or not, while the Formation design and energy circuits are certainly the core, the manufacturing Materials are also an important component that cannot be ignored."
"The final power and stability of a Spirit Tool are like how much water a bucket can hold; it does not depend on the longest plank, but on the shortest one."
"No matter how exquisite the Formation or how efficient the energy circuits are, if the quality of the metal Materials that carry these is not up to standard, the purity is insufficient, or the internal structure is uneven, then the upper limit of this Spirit Tool is locked from the very beginning."
After hearing this, Princess Xu Jiujiu's beautiful eyes were still full of confusion.
She tilted her head slightly, her fingers unconsciously twirling a strand of golden hair hanging by her shoulder: "Manufacturing Materials? Aren't rare metals just like that? Could you really come up with some new tricks?"
The corners of Huo Yuhao's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a mysterious smile, and he lowered his voice a little: "The current methods of crafting and processing rare metals on the continent are too crude. Whether it is the Royal Workshop of Star Luo or the Illustrious Virtue Hall of the Sun Moon Empire, they are still at a very primitive stage in terms of metal purification and Forging."
Hearing this, a sharp light flashed suddenly in Princess Xu Jiujiu's beautiful eyes.
She had been immersed in politics and business for many years, and her sensitivity to information was far superior to that of ordinary people. Although Huo Yuhao had only said a few words lightly, she had already sensed key information from these few sentences.
She hurriedly leaned forward slightly and asked in an eager yet calm tone: "So you mean, you have mastered a new method of producing Materials? A method that can bring the properties of rare metals to the extreme?"
Huo Yuhao looked at her eyes, which were so bright they almost seemed to emit light, and did not deny it, nodding and smiling frankly: "You could say that."
"If Big Sister Jiujiu is interested, you can go with me to the Blacksmith Association tomorrow to take a look."
"These technical matters cannot be explained clearly just by talking; seeing it with your own eyes is better than anything else."
Princess Xu Jiujiu did not hesitate at all, her voice crisp and decisive: "Alright, I'll come find you tomorrow morning."
A method of producing Materials that could directly enhance the power of Spirit Tools—she knew what this meant for the Star Luo Empire, so how could she miss it?
Even if it was just to take a look from the sidelines, she had to go.
...
In the northern part of Star Luo City, near the city wall, stood a magnificent five-story building.
This building was particularly eye-catching among the surrounding low houses and shops, not because of its luxury or exquisiteness, but on the contrary, because it was too rugged.
The entire building was built from large, unpolished, greyish-blue granite blocks. The stone walls were thick and angular, and the windows were narrow and small. From a distance, it didn't look like a respectable association hall, but rather like a small military fortress.
The outer walls of the building were covered with dark green vines, and the mottled traces left by the erosion of time could be vaguely seen between the stone joints; it was clearly quite old.
As the morning sun slowly rose above the city wall in the east, the pale golden radiance spilled over the battlements, dyeing the empty street with a soft and warm color.
Three figures walked slowly from the distance of the street, stepping on this pale golden morning light. Their shadows were stretched thin and long by the rising sun, swaying gently on the paved road.
From afar, one could see that quite a few people were already standing under the gate of the rugged building at the end of the street.
These people were all men, ranging in age from their early twenties to their fifties or sixties.
But they had one common characteristic, which was that their builds were extremely robust.
Whether broad-shouldered and thick-waisted or having the build of a tiger and the waist of a bear, their bulging muscles stretched their clothes to the limit, and their arms were several times thicker than an ordinary person's thighs.
They were the blacksmiths of the Star Luo Blacksmith Association. Their physiques, tempered by decades of swinging hammers, exuded a sense of the most primitive power.
Upon learning that the Star Luo Princess was coming in person today, the entire Blacksmith Association, led by President Zhu Wen, had prepared to welcome her early on.
After waiting at the door for about half an hour, three figures slowly appeared at the end of the street.
There was no entourage, and no imposing royal guards were seen accompanying them; only three young men and women walked side by side.
On the left was a tall girl with golden-red hair that shone like blazing flames, on the right was a stunningly beautiful woman dressed in a simple, elegant moon-white dress with her golden hair held up by a jade hairpin, and walking in the middle of the two was a boy who looked even younger.
However, President Zhu Wen of the Blacksmith Association had met Princess Xu Jiujiu before, and he recognized this eldest princess of the Star Luo Empire from the crowd at a glance.
Yet, the one walking in the very front at this moment was not Princess Xu Jiujiu, the princess of royal blood, but this boy who looked to be only fourteen or fifteen years old.
This gave Zhu Wen a slight shock in his heart. To be able to make the Star Luo eldest princess willingly walk half a step behind—what was this boy's background?
Zhu Wen searched rapidly in his mind, and soon his eyes lit up suddenly, and a look of realization appeared on his dark, weathered face.
Two years ago, he had attended the All-Continent High-Rank Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament.
The most impressive part of that final was not the last battle of the Shrek Academy team, but the thrilling battle that broke out after the match, under the eyes of everyone, between this boy named Huo Yuhao and his father, Dai Hao, the Duke of White Tiger.
From then on, everyone in the entire Star Luo Empire knew that Huo Yuhao had parted ways with the White Tiger lineage; he was surnamed Huo, not Dai.
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A/N:
I hope all of you are enjoying this story so far. I would appreciate some Power Stones if you can spare any. Leave a review if you like the story. Thank you.