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

Having lived three lifetimes, the Great God King Huo has developed a host of flaws, the most prominent of which is that he cannot bear to see others doing well. Seeing others living more freely than him is more painful than killing him.

After thinking for a long time, Huo Yuhao still couldn't come up with a good solution, so he simply stopped thinking about it. He didn't care about the artifacts; he had his brother Tianmeng by his side, a blessing that no amount of artifacts could buy.

Huo Yuhao could only comfort himself in this way, forcibly convincing himself that Ning Peiya was only temporarily in power. When the two 12th-order God-Slaying Soul-Guided Missiles destroyed Shrek's inner city in the future, would Ning Peiya, who had lost Yun Ming's protection, really be able to protect that divine artifact?

Thinking of this, Huo Yuhao took a deep breath and immediately set off to restore the room to its original state. Seeing the room clean and tidy, he walked out of the dormitory door with satisfaction.

Without a collective fighting spirit, Huo Yuhao's group members rarely see each other. Everyone is busy with their own cultivation. Each person's martial spirit is different, and their elective courses are also very different. What would they do if they didn't have anything important to do every day?

Huo Yuhao's main courses were cultivation, forging, and building connections. Cultivation was not too difficult, as Tianmeng Ice Silkworm was his backer. Having lived three lifetimes, he had never had any worries. The main things were forging and building connections.

At this point in time... he doesn't need to build a large network of connections; he only needs to maintain good relationships with the survivors of that catastrophe in the original timeline.

The only remaining task is forging.

After leaving the dormitory, Huo Yuhao ate some dried meat to replenish his energy and then headed straight to the Forging Association in Shrek Inner City.

As soon as Huo Yuhao stepped through the gates of the Forging Association, he immediately saw a burly man with fiery red short hair solemnly greeting a group of... unfamiliar faces.

Huo Yuhao naturally recognized the burly man with fiery red short hair; it was none other than Feng Wuyu, the president of the Forging Association of Shrek Academy, or more accurately, Shrek Inner City.

As a representative of the blacksmiths, Feng Wuyu may not have the title of Elder of the Sea God Pavilion, but he is qualified to attend the Sea God Pavilion meetings and has the right to vote.

Feng Wuyu's status at Shrek Academy was no lower than Cai Yue'er's; however, he was so engrossed in forging that he was laying the foundation for his breakthrough to becoming a master craftsman that he rarely paid attention to the internal affairs of Shrek Academy.

The only person Feng Wuyu would personally receive would be a blacksmith representative from a certain faction, but that faction certainly wouldn't be the Tang Clan!

The Tang Clan and the Sea God Pavilion share the same origin, so there's absolutely no need for these cumbersome procedures.

So, which faction do these blacksmiths come from? The Spirit Pagoda? The Five Great Families? The Body Sect? Or perhaps some obscure, small power?

Huo Yuhao's expression darkened. He strode over to the guard standing watch at the door and slipped a small bottle of spiritual tea into the guard's pocket. "Brother Chen, do you know which faction the group of blacksmiths that Guild Master Feng received came from?"

Despite the progress of the times and the fact that the mainland can now simulate the environment of the far north, resulting in a significant increase in the production of spiritual tea, the price remains high.

As a cultivation resource, spiritual tea is definitely worth its price, and its small size makes it perfect as a medium for making friends.

Seeing Huo Yuhao's sincerity, the guard surnamed Chen hurriedly explained, "Brother Huo, don't you know? Just last night, the delegation from the Star Luo Empire arrived at the port outside Tianhai City. This morning, the representative of the Star Luo Royal Family went to Mingdu, while the representative of the Star Luo Royal Academy came to visit our Shrek Academy."

Star Luo Royal Academy? Shouldn't it be called Monster Academy?

Also... it's quite surprising that the Star Luo Empire didn't treat Shrek Academy with state honors.

Thinking about it carefully, the Star Luo Empire's attitude in visiting Shrek Academy was truly a helpless move.

After all... the Sea God Pavilion and the Spirit Pagoda have conflicting ideologies and are now in a cold war, digging up dirt on each other. They might start fighting at any moment. As a force caught between the two camps, the Star Luo Empire must at least refrain from showing any favoritism towards Shrek Academy on the surface.

The man surnamed Chen whispered mysteriously in Huo Yuhao's ear, "Brother Huo... I heard from those adults that there's some kind of blacksmith exchange event later, a friendly match between blacksmiths from Shrek Academy and Star Luo Royal Academy. With your blacksmithing talent, you should... be able to be selected, right?"

"If Shrek Academy only has one representative, I definitely won't be selected. If there are two or more representatives, then I still have a chance to represent Shrek Academy in this friendly match."

Huo Yuhao was no longer the arrogant man he once was. He knew the principle that even a powerful dragon cannot suppress a local snake. As long as it was Ning Peiya's area of ​​expertise, even if Huo Yuhao had reached the threshold of Fusion Forging (a level 6 blacksmith), or even if he had already become a level 6 blacksmith, he might not be able to steal Ning Peiya's thunder.

Whether you show off or not is meaningless. The forging industry is mostly theoretical. As long as you have enough strength and master some skills, becoming an eight-star master craftsman is only a matter of time. What's there to show off?

Just as Huo Yuhao was lost in thought, the soul communication device on his left wrist suddenly rang with a pleasant ringtone.

Tang Wulin is initiating a video call with you...

Huo Yuhao frowned, but clicked "confirm" without hesitation.

Tang Wulin's slightly hurried voice then reached his ears. "Brother Hao, where are you now? Teacher Shen is looking for you. It seems like we need to attend some kind of... Blacksmith Exchange Meeting?"

"A blacksmith exchange meeting?" Huo Yuhao said thoughtfully, "Wulin, what does Teacher Shen mean? Among the participants in this blacksmith exchange meeting... is it just the two of us, or are all the blacksmiths from Class 1 of the first year going?"

Tang Wulin said with a blank look, "This... I'm not quite sure. I heard from Teacher Shen that the exchange competition is a best-of-five format. Shrek Academy should select five people to participate, right?"

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

"Um... Brother Hao, come over here first. I'll wait for you in the large conference room on the first floor of the office building. Teacher Shen will lead us to the Blacksmith Association in Shrek Inner City in a while."

After saying that, Tang Wulin unilaterally hung up the video call.

Huo Yuhao: "..."

Well, he has to go back to the foreign language department's office building. What a mess!

Despite his complaints, Huo Yuhao suppressed his restless heart and obediently headed to the outer courtyard's office building.

To represent Shrek Academy on a diplomatic mission to the Star Luo Empire, one cannot cause any trouble, nor can one display any arrogant attitude; simply being obedient is sufficient. (End of Chapter)