In Douluo Continent, I am the mastermind behind the scenes.

boom! boom! boom!

In a workshop of the Shrek City Forging Association, a girl less than 1.6 meters tall stood on a metal box, her forging hammer striking the metal on the workbench.

After an unknown amount of time, Ning Peiya tossed aside the forging hammer in her hand, stepped down from the metal box, faced the green-haired girl beside her, and gestured for the already forged metal on the workbench to proceed. "The Thousand-Forged Grade One is complete. Miss Zheng, please come and inspect the goods."

Zheng Yiran nodded, then stepped forward and climbed onto the metal box with some difficulty. She put on special gloves and picked up the metal on the cutting board to examine it carefully.

The height of the worktable was designed based on the standard of a 1.8-meter-tall man. Although Zheng Yiran's height is not as tall as Ning Peiya's, who is only 1.5 meters, she is not 1.7 meters tall either. She has to stand on tiptoe to pick up the metal on the cutting board.

As the eldest daughter of the Jade Phosphorus Serpent family, the elegance of a noblewoman is etched into her DNA. How could she possibly do something so unbecoming of her status?

After an unknown amount of time, Zheng Yiran placed the metal back on the cutting board, then turned to Ning Peiya and said with admiration, "Not bad, not bad. This finished product is the best I've ever seen among all the top-grade, thousand-forged pieces. If the maximum score is ten, this piece would definitely be at least nine points."

"Ning Peiya, would you be interested in joining our team?"

As she spoke, Zheng Yiran extended her right hand with a smile.

Ning Peiya didn't immediately accept Zheng Yiran's invitation. Instead, she used her beautiful eyes to scrutinize the green-haired girl in front of her. "Knowing that I'll most likely never break through level 80, those people are practically avoiding me, afraid that I'll consume too many of their resources and ultimately fail to reach the level they want."

"So you think your family's size isn't enough to retain a blacksmith with the potential of a master craftsman, so you've resorted to targeting me instead, right?"

Zheng Yiran: "..."

How dare he spout such obvious truths!

"What you say is not wrong. Even with the addition of the old Star Luo City, our Bilin Snake Zheng family cannot support a master blacksmith of the Heavenly Craftsman level. It's not that we don't have enough resources, but that our strength doesn't allow it."

Zheng Yiran stepped forward and grabbed Ning Peiya's hands. "Sister Xiaoya, I know you have resentment in your heart. The once glorious Upper Three Sects have been completely reduced to dust under the trend of the Battle Armor Era. The number of Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Masters remaining in the entire Douluo Continent is conservatively estimated to be less than two hands."

"You are very strong. As a woman, you have achieved what many men can only look up to. But... then again, even if you can't break through level 80, with your Soul Saint cultivation, you are already qualified to equip a three-word battle armor. The set effect of the three-word battle armor can forcibly raise your strength to the level of a Title Douluo. Coupled with your powerful physical skills and... your disgust for the era of battle armor, I can't imagine how many people will feel fear because of your existence."

Zheng Yiran stopped abruptly, leaving Ning Peiya with ample room for imagination rather than making her point too clear.

After hearing Zheng Yiran's words, Ning Peiya fell silent instantly.

An assassin with no attachments is terrifying.

She didn't know if she would harbor evil intentions in the future, and if she couldn't destroy the Battle Armor Era, she might turn on the younger generation of various forces... No one would entrust their life and fortune to the kindness of others.

Thinking of this, Ning Peiya nodded with a smile. "Little sister Yiran, please... take good care of me in the days to come!"

……

The scene shifts to the black market in Shrek City.

Ning Peiya and Zheng Yiran strolled arm in arm through the various stalls of the black market.

Some people misunderstand the word "black" and think that a black car is a black car, which is incorrect.

The so-called "black car" is actually a private car without operating license; the word "black" here refers to illegal operation.

Similarly, the black market is not a market that only operates at night, but rather a place that sells goods that are not suitable for open sale.

What? You mean what's a market called that only operates at night? Haha, surely no one hasn't heard of a night market, right?

The black market stalls are incredibly diverse; if you can imagine it, there's nothing the Shrek City black market won't sell.

Some stalls even displayed high-age sub-dragon spirits. These spirits were not made by the Spirit Pagoda, but were practice creations of powerful individuals from the common people, and their main feature was instability.

Of course, while it may be unstable, the price is half that of similar soul spirits from the official Spirit Pagoda. Only students without family backing and whose strength is not outstanding will choose to buy soul spirits on the black market.

Zheng Yiran would drag Ning Peiya to the black market purely because she was interested in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul's treasure appraisal ability. Although the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Clan was too small to care about such paltry gains, this was a way to bring the two of them closer.

And so, the two women stopped in front of a blind box stall. It was called a blind box stall, but it was actually just a place where scrap metal dug up from who-knows-where was placed on a waterproof cloth and sold at extremely low prices to Soul Masters who wanted to get a bargain.

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

Ning Peiya did not reveal her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul. Almost everyone knew that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul had the ability to appraise treasures. If she revealed her Martial Soul, the stall owner would definitely try to bargain down the price of the items she wanted, and she would lose the fun of finding a bargain.

The moment Ning Peiya's gaze fell upon a rusty longsword, she felt her soul tremble. It was as if a voice inside her was urging her to buy the sword.

Ning Peiya's expression remained calm as she discreetly selected several items that appeared to be of considerable value. However, when her hand brushed past the longsword, she paused for a few seconds before finally taking it into her hand.

"I want this sword."

As a slightly deep male voice rang out, a large hand made a grabbing motion toward the location of the longsword, and Ning Peiya hurriedly hugged the longsword in front of her.

At this moment, Ning Peiya felt extremely fortunate to be a woman.

Seeing that the other party no longer tried to snatch the longsword from her arms, Ning Peiya breathed a sigh of relief. She subconsciously turned around and saw... Huo Yuhao staring at the longsword in front of her with a burning gaze.

The next moment, Huo Yuhao suddenly stepped forward, cupped his hands in a gesture of respect towards the stall owner, and said, "Uncle, this sword is your product, so you should set the price." (End of Chapter)