Douluo: Trinity, I run through the timeline.

Chapter 47 Zhu Jiuyang's Identity (Please continue reading!!!)
When negotiating with Ning Fengzhi, Su Ming dealt with the situation according to the circumstances. Since Ning Fengzhi came in person, showing his sincerity, Su Ming didn't try to be evasive.

But we need to reconsider our relationship with the blacksmiths' association.

"Lou Gao is truly obsessed with forging, so he should be easy to persuade. It's not a big problem for me alone. The key issues are the name change and a series of collaborations, which Lou Gao and I definitely won't handle personally."

The recent negotiations with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School have only established an intention to cooperate. The two sides will have a cooperative relationship in the future. As for how to cooperate and the content of the cooperation, more detailed discussions are needed later. These are not things that Su Ming can handle.

"After the name change to the Forging Masters Association, there is a series of operations that Lou Gao and I cannot handle. We have to hand them over to others, and they have to be trustworthy."

Su Ming frowned.

"Let's find our senior brothers first."

Zhu Jiuyang had three disciples in total. Su Ming was the third, and he had two senior brothers. The second senior brother was, of course, Duan Jin, who had introduced him to the sect.

When Su Ming first entered the sect at the age of seven, he was a Duan Jin Soul Venerable. Now, after three years, he has reached the thirty-ninth level of Duan Jin.

There was nothing he could do; he had been stuck at level 39 for a whole year and didn't know when he would be able to break through this bottleneck.

This is the proper way for a Soul Master to cultivate.

As Su Ming pondered, he heard the door of the forging shop being knocked on again.

He opened the door, surprised to see Duan Jin arrive.

"Senior brothers, what brings you here?"

Although he was asking a question, Su Ming had a guess in his mind as he looked at Duan Jin's excited expression.

He stepped aside to let Duan Jin and his senior brother, who was behind Duan Jin, in.

Su Ming's senior brother was named Huo Lie, and he was Zhu Jiuyang's first disciple. Unlike Duan Jin and Su Ming, this senior brother did not become an apprentice through the blacksmithing route. At that time, Zhu Jiuyang had not yet become obsessed with the blacksmithing industry.

As Zhu Jiuyang became engrossed in blacksmithing, Huo Lie followed him to Gengxin City. Putting aside everything else, the environment of Gengxin City was perfectly suited for his cultivation, offering a simulated cultivation effect. This was also why, when he initially didn't understand his teacher, he stayed by Zhu Jiuyang's side.

After another attempt, he discovered that he could also enjoy the effect of a simulated environment when forging, and the effect was even better!

Thus, Huo Lie also fell into the world of blacksmithing along with Zhu Jiuyang.

Zhu Jiuyang rose to prominence quickly and became a master blacksmith, while Huo Lie simply enjoyed the process of forging iron without enjoying the result. So, after forging iron for so many years, he was only a master blacksmith. However, his strength was not weak. He was a five-ring Soul King with a Soul Power of up to level 59, and he was only 35 years old this year, in the prime of his life.

Like Duan Jin, he was stuck at level 10 for a long time. Duan Jin was stuck at level 39 for a year, while he was stuck at level 59 for a full three years.

This is clearly not Huo Lie's limit, so it's inevitable that he will break through to level 60 within one or two years.

The probability of breaking through to Soul Saint in another ten years is also extremely high.

"Xiao Ming, I've broken through!"

Duan Jin's first words upon entering confirmed Su Ming's guess.

"So, senior brother, are you planning to acquire a soul spirit in the fourth ring?"

"Of course!" Duan Jin answered firmly, saying, "The Thousand Refinements with Spirit was the standard of the former master craftsmen, so of course I want to learn it."

"Have you chosen your soul beast?"

“I’ve already found one. It’s a 6,000-year-old wild gorilla, which is perfect for me. After all, I’m not a teacher, so I don’t need a soul ring of that age. Besides, didn’t you say that thousand-year-old soul beasts don’t have high intelligence and mostly follow their instincts? As long as I beat them into submission, I can form a soul contract with them.”

Su Ming wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Senior brother, you only heard the first half of the sentence. There is no problem with signing a soul spirit like this, but the purpose of you absorbing the soul spirit is for forging. A six-thousand-year-old soul spirit, senior brother, you probably only have this one chance. I don't know what level of spiritual power you will have to cultivate before you can try a second soul spirit."

One can fuse with a thousand-year-old soul in the Spirit Connection Realm, but only in the Spirit Sea Realm can one fuse with a new soul.

The Spirit Sea Realm will be nothing in the future; it will be a standard requirement for the strong. Duan Jin also has the talent of a strong person, but the problem is that he is a Soul Master from the Douyi era.

Acquiring a soul spirit now, while beneficial for his future spiritual power enhancement, would mean he's already past the prime of his physical development. If he fused with a soul spirit before the age of ten, he could enjoy both the easier spiritual power boost from the soul spirit and the benefits of his physical development—the two effects would be cumulative, resulting in a synergistic effect greater than the sum of its parts!
Although Duan Jin, now 23, has not yet reached his peak, he has already missed the period of greatest opportunity.

"Don't worry, we've analyzed that. Wild Apes aren't exactly known for their sharp minds, so they should be relatively easy to fool once they've been defeated," Huo Lie said.

Su Ming was taken aback.

Is this okay?

A wild gorilla six thousand years ago.
Well, they might be even easier to fool than the newly minted King Jin when he first came to power.

"So, senior brothers, will you set up the formation yourselves? Or should I go with you?"

"Do we two look like people who would set up a soul-guiding array?" Duan Jin asked rhetorically.

Su Ming knew that.

"I have other things to take care of first."

He recounted his discussions with Ning Fengzhi about their collaboration to his two senior brothers.

"You're really bold," Huo Lie said. "But thankfully, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School should also be wary of our teacher's identity."

Su Ming was drawn to the second half of his sentence.

"By the way, senior brother, what's so special about our teacher? You never mentioned it before."

Huo Lie hesitated for a moment, then said, "This isn't a good thing either, which is why I didn't let you tell me before."

Not a good thing?

Su Ming frowned.

How could an identity that makes the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School wary not be a good thing?
"Well, let me put it this way, the teacher's younger sister almost became the Pope's wife back then."

Ok.

Ok?
Su Ming's expression immediately changed.

The Pope's wife?

Whose wife?

My teacher isn't that old, and my sister would be even younger. And the most recent pope is probably the only one who fits the criteria, right?
"Qian Xunji?" Su Ming blurted out.

Huo Lie looked surprised.

"It's him." Huo Lie further explained, "The Zhu family, where our teacher is from, has a sacred fire as its inherited martial spirit, and has maintained intermarriage with the Qian family, which has inherited the angelic martial spirit, for generations."

Su Ming thought to himself that he had stumbled upon a juicy piece of gossip.

That bastard Qian Xunji almost became his own teacher's brother-in-law?
Thankfully it didn't happen!

"So, the teacher actually holds a very high position in the Spirit Hall?" Duan Jin asked.

He didn't understand the high-level structure of the Spirit Hall as well as Su Ming, and he wasn't deeply impressed by what he heard about the Qian family and the Zhu family.

"Teacher had a falling out with the Qian family and directly dissolved the engagement." Huo Lie gave a bitter smile and said, "So, Teacher has nothing to do with the Spirit Hall now."

Duan Jin was puzzled.

It's alright, what is the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School afraid of?
On the contrary, Su Ming found out.

It's okay, but it can be a relationship at any time.

(End of this chapter)