Douluo Dragon King: The stars of the heavens, transform me into king!

Tiandou City Blacksmith Association.

The sunlight fell directly on the association's black building.

Gu Yuexing stepped out of the car and walked naturally into the gate.

The hall was spacious today, but not particularly lively. It seems that Master Craftsman Zhenhua did not give a lecture today.

The young receptionist behind the front desk looked up, her gaze meeting Gu Yuexingyan's, and she paused for half a second.

She immediately realized what was happening, quickly grabbed the internal communicator, and whispered a few words.

After hanging up, she walked around the counter to greet him, bowed slightly, and gestured towards the stairs on one side: "Speaker, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, please follow me!"

Her movements were respectful, but her eyes betrayed a hint of nervousness—only the Divine Craftsman and other Limit Douluos had such an honor to have the Federal Council Speaker personally present!

She stepped half a step forward and led Gu Yuexingyan toward a private elevator on one side.

The elevator ascended silently.

The only sound in the cramped space was the hum of machinery. The clerk stood ramrod straight, his eyes fixed on the fluctuating numbers, his heart pounding, appearing extremely tense.

Once the top level is reached.

The elevator doors opened, revealing a wide corridor covered with a dark blue carpet. The walls on both sides were fitted with illuminated cabinets displaying rare metals, the light emanating a cold glow.

At the end of the corridor were two heavy wooden doors. The receptionist stopped there, bowed deeply, and stepped back, showing no intention of following him inside.

"Your Excellency Speaker, the Divine Craftsman is in his office!"

Gu Yuexing nodded and pushed the door open to enter.

The office was exceptionally spacious, occupying almost half a floor. One side featured floor-to-ceiling windows, revealing the outline of Tiandou City in the sunlight; the other side boasted a massive bookshelf reaching to the ceiling, crammed with classic texts.

In the center of the room, behind a large ebony desk, a man looked up at us. He appeared to be in his early thirties at most, with well-defined features and thick black hair.

However, what anyone noticed first was not his youthful appearance, but the snow-white hair at his temples, a clear sign that the Heavenly Forging technique consumed a significant amount of life force.

What's most striking are his hands. They are hands that are at least 50 percent larger than those of an average person, yet they have no prominent knuckles. They are fair and slender, like the hands of a woman magnified several times.

Even the skin on her palms was crystal clear, like jade.

This is the Divine Craftsman, the strongest blacksmith known throughout the entire Blacksmith Association, no, across the three continents.

Zhenhua, the master craftsman Zhenhua.

"Greetings, Speaker of the Federal Council!" His voice was calm. As the 'only' master craftsman of our time, he was naturally qualified to speak to Gu Yuexingyan as an equal.

Gu Yuexingyan seemed unsurprised. He walked to the armchair opposite the desk, sat down, and said with a smile, "Master Craftsman Zhenhua, it's been a long time!"

"How's things going at the association lately? Isn't our Mainland Blacksmiths Association teeming with talent?"

"Thank you for your concern, Speaker." Zhenhua took out a set of plain white tea utensils from the constant-temperature soul tool beside him, skillfully pouring in hot water. Wisps of steam rose, blurring his face. "Our Continental Blacksmith Association is thriving!"

He pushed a cup of tea in front of Gu Yuexingyan, looked up, and smiled, "It's you who's always worrying about this and that."

"You're used to it! No evil spirit masters have attacked you lately, have they?" Gu Yuexingyan took the tea, but didn't drink it, and said in a gentle voice.

"No, they've been much more well-behaved since you cleaned them up!" Zhenhua's tone was flat, his gaze lingering on Gu Yuexingyan, as if he were looking at something. "I'm more concerned about something else than that."

"For example, which blacksmith crafted the 'Zhou Tian Xing Dou' set you're wearing!"

The air in the room seemed to freeze for a moment. Birds flew silently past the window.

Gu Yuexingyan didn't answer immediately. He raised his eyes, met Zhenhua's probing gaze, and said with a smile, "Oh? Even the Divine Craftsman finds this unfamiliar?"

"The level of Heavenly Forging, the unique life fluctuations, cannot be faked." Zhenhua leaned back in his chair, his voice calm. "That wasn't my doing. Theoretically, there shouldn't be anyone else within the Federation's territory who could achieve this."

"The metal itself cannot be faked. It is truly forged by the heavens, not something achieved through the combined efforts of multiple master craftsmen and subsequent nurturing!"

He fell silent, simply gazing at Gu Yuexingyan, awaiting an answer. With a second master craftsman, these people wouldn't be bothering him every day!

Gu Yuexing met his gaze. "It seems nothing can be hidden from you! The metal is genuine, but as for the person, well, that's a story!"

"It was done by a friend. He doesn't want to show his face and doesn't belong to any association."

Zhenhua's eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly. "Friend."

He murmured, repeating those two words over and over.

After a long silence, he slowly said, "I'd really like to meet the 'friend' who can forge such metal if I have the chance. It's a pity, though, that they're afraid of overdrawing their life force and thus dare to remain hidden from the world!"

"There will be an opportunity." Gu Yuexingyan's answer was like a promise, yet also like a polite refusal.

As soon as Zhenhua finished speaking, the office door was pushed open without warning. A faint, damp, salty smell wafted into the room.

The newcomer was a middle-aged man, burly and giving off a solid impression. He wore simple cloth clothes, with the sleeves rolled up, revealing half of his forearm.

The visitor was none other than Mu Ye, the current sect leader of the Body Sect.

He seemed completely oblivious to what he had interrupted, his gaze sweeping over Zhenhua before immediately fixing on Gu Yuexingyan.

His eyes instantly lit up with undisguised excitement as he strode forward. "Gu Yuexingyan, no, I should now call you Speaker of the Federation. When did you arrive? If I had known you were coming, I should have prepared a sumptuous lunch for you."

He stopped in front of the desk, the lingering fishy smell becoming even more pronounced. He looked Gu Yuexingyan up and down, as if examining a priceless treasure, with the straightforward joy of reuniting with an old friend.

"Long time no see!" Gu Yuexingyan said with a smile.

"Long time no see!" Mu Ye grinned, his smile frank and even a little rough. "When I saw you in the Endless Mountains back then, I knew you were no ordinary kid! I wanted to invite you to join the Body Sect, but you wouldn't agree no matter how much I pleaded, insisting that we were on different paths."

"Hey! Who would have thought you actually managed to awaken your true martial soul, the 'Golden Awakening,' all on your own! You're truly gifted!"

The atmosphere in the room had completely changed. The tension that had been flowing between Gu Yuexingyan and Zhenhua had vanished.

The atmosphere eased considerably as soon as Makino appeared.

Mu Ye laughed loudly and invited Gu Yuexingyan, "I wonder if the Speaker of the Federal Council would be interested in accepting my invitation to dine together? Although I cannot tell you the secrets of the Body Sect, I am the person on the Douluo Continent who knows the Body Martial Soul the most!"

"With pleasure!" Gu Yuexingyan did not refuse.