Chapter 3: The Blacksmith's Deception
The private, sleek Spirit Airship had already departed, leaving Huo Wujiu standing on the small, salty dock of East Sea City. The local Spirit Pagoda Elder, Fang, quickly escorted the young genius through the bustling, coastal city to his primary destination: East Sea Academy.
The academy itself was a collection of sturdy, functional stone buildings, respectable but clearly lacking the grandeur of Heaven Dou's institutions. It was exactly the mid-tier environment Wujiu had planned for. Elder Fang led him directly to the Headmaster's office.
Headmaster Lin was an older man, a Spirit King whose face was etched with the strain of running a regional academy. He stood quickly upon Wujiu's entrance, clearly intimidated by the paperwork that accompanied the red-haired prodigy.
"Young Master Huo," the Headmaster began, bowing slightly. "Welcome. We are deeply honored, though slightly overwhelmed, to host the son of Elder Huo Zhen. Your innate Level 10 power..." he trailed off, intimidated.
Wujiu did not smile. He adopted the condescending, arrogant persona he had rehearsed. "Headmaster, let us dispense with the formalities. My father sent me here for a specific reason: specialization. Your academy, as I understand it, is one of the few places that maintains the archaic deep-sea metalworking traditions."
"Ah, yes. The Forging," the Headmaster said, visibly relieved that the conversation had a practical point. "We have prepared a private space. I've also assigned Master Su, our most experienced blacksmith, to be your tutor. He is a Rank 3 Blacksmith."
"Unacceptable," Wujiu stated immediately, his voice sharp and dismissive. "A mere Rank 3 Master will pollute my unique fire spirit with inferior methods. I require only access to the workshop and the resources. I will pay a rental fee, but I will train in absolute solitude. My methods are proprietary."
The Headmaster hesitated, clearly wanting to object to the disrespectful rejection of his best tutor, but the terrifying authority of Huo Zhen's name hung in the air. "Very well, Young Master. The workshop is yours. And Master Su can be on call only to source the specialized metals you require."
With the Headmaster sufficiently cowed and his freedom secured, Wujiu's final piece of the cover was put in place.
The Headmaster then personally introduced him to the workshop, a large, isolated stone building on the campus periphery—a perfect, self-made fortress. The rest of the student body knew only this: the ridiculously talented, red-haired son of a Title Douluo had arrived, and he was an arrogant artisan too good for their teachers.
Wujiu spent his daylight hours deep in the workshop, perfecting his disguise. The key to the ruse was not mastering forging—though he had to be competent—but mastering the Primordial Phoenix Divine Flame's control.
He spent hours striking low-grade sea metals, forcing the divine fire to flow through his hands, not to obliterate the metal, but to purify and temper it. This was the true genius of the Phoenix God Cultivation Manual in action: the fire was a tool of refinement, and the forging served as a plausible, visible explanation for the constant, demanding exertion of his spirit power. Every strike of the hammer was a subtle tempering of his own spirit sea.
"Inferior!" Wujiu would declare loudly, throwing a piece of slightly imperfectly tempered iron across the room, ensuring the few, distant student observers solidified their impression of him as the overly critical, demanding prodigy.
His nights were dedicated entirely to cultivation. In the silent, warded safety of his small apartment, the Omni-Source System was his only companion. He was already Rank 12, and his goal was to achieve the cusp of Rank 20 before the timeline's major figures made their appearance.
The Phoenix God Technique worked relentlessly, consuming the ambient spirit power of East Sea City and transforming it into ultra-pure energy. His progress was staggering, easily advancing a full rank every few weeks, a pace that defied the laws of spirit mastery.
One evening, as Wujiu was pushing his spirit power past the mid-point of Rank 14, the System pulsed with a new notification for a Local Resources Mission. The opportunity spoke of a regional anomaly—a massive, deep-sea spirit coral treasure located in the Azure Reef Island Chain, promising a huge surge in pure spirit essence.
Wujiu paused his cultivation.
He allowed himself a moment of internal reflection, running the canon timeline. He knew Tang Wulin was still far away, tied up in his first academy. Gu Yue was the imminent objective. Wujiu's entire presence in East Sea City was a high-stakes gambit, betting that his own supreme divine aura would act as an alternative magnet, drawing the Silver Dragon King to the area before Tang Wulin's weaker, awakening aura did. Securing this mission's resource was essential to maximize his power before that confrontation.
He used his family's credit chip, easily arranging passage on a reliable fishing vessel heading toward the Azure Reefs, explaining to the Headmaster that he needed to source "true deep-sea metals" for his specialized needs.
The journey took two days. The fishermen, intimidated by his elite clothing and detached manner, dropped him off at the largest of the uninhabited, rugged islands. Wujiu immediately located the anomaly: a dense spiritual signal pulsing from a cave deep within the island's core.
He descended into the humid cavern, dealing swiftly with low-level aquatic Spirit Beasts by unleashing his Primordial Phoenix Divine Flame. The fire was not wild, but an intense, controlled, searing heat.
Overwhelmed by the sheer purity of the divine energy, the creatures simply collapsed into faint wisps of spirit light, which Wujiu efficiently absorbed.
He finally reached a large cavern. In the center, submerged in a pool of heated spring water, was the treasure: a massive, shimmering piece of deep-sea spirit coral.
It had absorbed centuries of refined essence.
Wujiu sat at the edge of the pool and channeled the Phoenix God Manual's highest technique he could handle: a concentrated Purification Draw. His Divine Flame acted as a vacuum, relentlessly drawing the pure, refined essence of the coral into his spirit channels.
The influx of energy was immediate and overwhelming. It was the purest spirit essence he had ever absorbed, equivalent to months of dedicated cultivation. The power surged through his body, pushing him past Rank 15 and sending him hurtling toward Rank 16.
He was forced to spend several hours in the cavern, meditating intensely to stabilize the immense influx of energy, preventing an internal rupture.
When he finally emerged from the cave system, Wujiu was physically exhausted but spiritually ecstatic.
He was securely Rank 15, and he felt a profound change in his Martial Soul. The System confirmed the mission was complete, granting him the Accelerated Spirit Power Gain (x1.5) buff and unlocking the Rebirth Flare (Minor)—a new, powerful defensive ability.
He quickly signaled the returning fishing vessel. Two days later, he was back in his East Sea City apartment. He had secured the resource surge he needed, maintained his secretive facade, and was now far, far ahead of schedule.
His focus now sharpened on one thing: reaching Rank 20, acquiring his first powerful spirit ring, and preparing the stage for the inevitable meeting with the Silver Dragon King. He knew the time for hiding was ending, and the time for direct intervention was rapidly approaching.
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