Douluo Continent: This Tang San is different

Chapter 264 Bibi Dong: I must be crazy!

Tang San was helpless against Lou Gao, that old rascal. After much persuasion, he finally changed Lou Gao's mind about becoming his disciple, but in the end, they addressed each other as equals.

In other words, I call you "senior," and you call me "big brother," each of us using our own terms of address.

In the mind of a blacksmith master like Lou Gao, the most accomplished person is the teacher, regardless of age. Since Tang San was unwilling to accept him as a disciple, he would unilaterally call Tang San "Big Brother". In this way, Tang San would not treat his younger brother unfairly, right?

Hey!

"Brother, I'll give you this Endless Wind and Fire Furnace as a gift from your younger brother." Lou Gao kept his word.

"Senior, let's just leave it at that."

Although I am very curious about the Endless Wind Furnace, if it is taken away, the energy system of Gengxin City will be rendered useless.

It's an ancient city that has existed for nearly a thousand years; it can't just be abandoned.

"I said I'd give it away, so I'll give it away. Anyway, we can use the underground boiler to start a fire." Lou Gao didn't care at all about what would happen to Gengxin City in the future. "Besides, after I join the Spirit Hall, most of the people here will follow me. We can just rebuild it inside or outside the Spirit City. I have the blueprints for building the entire Gengxin City."

"That's really true—"

"So carefree." Lou Gao stroked his braided beard and laughed heartily. "I'm just that kind of free spirit. A mere Gengxin City can't hold me back at all."

Tang San was speechless, but finally asked, "Without this Endless Wind and Fire Furnace, can Gengxin City continue to function?"

"Of course, the boiler downstairs is boiling water," Lou Gao assured confidently. "We can just have someone add more coal later. Anyway, after I go to Wuhun City, most of the blacksmiths here will follow me one after another. The power will be slightly reduced, but it won't matter too much."

Seeing this, Tang San said nothing more and tacitly accepted the fact that the Endless Wind and Fire Furnace was to be moved away from Gengxin City.

In just one day, Lou Gao and Si Long dismantled the Endless Beacon Fire Road from the pipes and called on the other members of the Blacksmith Association to transport it to the Spirit Hall, where Nora helped transport it to Spirit City.

After learning that Lou Gao had been impressed by Tang San and joined the Spirit Hall, Nora exclaimed with deep emotion, "The Holy Son's actions are truly different; he has completely won Lou Gao over."

"There's nothing I can do; it's just that my forging skills are inferior to your Holy Son's." Lou Gao didn't seem to care about Nora's teasing at all, and instead readily admitted his inferiority. "Big brother, how about we have a contest to see who reaches the Heavenly Forging level first?"

"I'm afraid you can't compare to me, senior. Even for soul forging, you need at least the level of control I have." Tang San's implication was that Lou Gao's strength was too weak, and he didn't even qualify for soul forging.

In Tang San's imagination, Lou Gao would probably have to pay the price of his life if he wanted to undergo fusion forging.

Unless Lou Gao's strength improves in the future, he can only stop at the Spirit Forging stage before paying the price with his life.

However, even the Spirit Forging level is extremely powerful, as the metal it forges is sufficient to be used as material for crafting the next level of the Divine Seal Throne.

"Strength?" Lou Gao was silent for a moment, then said, "Strength and forging level complement each other. Without strength, I'm not even qualified to forge... Waaah, so frustrating!"

"Senior, don't be so sad. Don't you still have a disciple?" Tang Sanchao nodded excitedly to Silong and continued, "I think Silong has good talent. As a teacher, I always hope that the student will surpass the teacher. In the future, he may be able to reach a higher level of forging."

"Uncle-Master is right, I will definitely work hard, Teacher, don't worry." Si Long patted his chest and made a solemn promise.

"That's true, but I still hope I'll have the chance to forge Soul Forging, or even Heaven Forging." Lou Gao revealed a hopeful look. "Heaven Forging, infusing metal with dimensional laws, what kind of realm is that? I'm afraid only gods can do it, right? I really hope to forge the corresponding metal and use it to create a true divine artifact."

Three days later, Tang San returned to Wuhun City with Ning Rongrong, accompanied by Lou Gao and Si Long.

The other blacksmiths from Gengxin City will arrive in Wuhun City later.

At Tang San's urging, Bibi Dong personally met with Lou Gao and his apprentice and planned a blacksmith area for them in the city. However, Lou Gao did not want to live in the city, but wanted to build a brand new metal capital outside Wuhun City.

"Is that so?" Bibi Dong pondered whether to agree to Lou Gao's suggestion. After all, although Wuhun City was large, except for the area near Wuhun Mountain, the rest of the city was already inhabited. Forcibly carving out a piece of land would affect the people who originally lived there. It was not unreasonable to rebuild a small city on the outskirts.

"I have a proposal regarding the construction of the outer city."

Tang San suddenly said, "The walls of Wuhun City have six sides, so six cities can be built on the outer perimeter, each with a different character. For example, the city managed by blacksmiths can be called the Forging Capital, while the other five can be the Capital of Medicine, the Capital of Gourmet Food, and so on."

"The closer to the inner city, that is, the more distinctive the features, the more outward expansion can be carried out as the population increases in the future."

Bibi Dong nodded: "A good idea. At that time, Wuhun City will be located in the very center, occupying the position of being surrounded by stars."

Because Tang San joined the Spirit Hall, many commoner spirit masters on the continent also chose to join the Spirit Hall, making the staff of each Spirit Hall almost saturated.

To avoid dampening others' enthusiasm for joining the Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong thought that some of the spirit masters could be transferred here to build the city... In Tang San's words, how did he put it again?

By the way, provide job opportunities.

Thus, Wuhun City began a massive expansion, and personnel from the other branch halls and within Wuhun City were mobilized to participate in the construction work.

As construction began, the funds accumulated by the Spirit Hall dwindled at a visible rate, causing Bibi Dong great distress. She even suspected that Tang San intended to deplete the Spirit Hall's already limited resources.

Then, at Tang San's suggestion, Bibi Dong promoted the Spirit Hall's new philosophy: "To establish martial arts for heaven and earth, to forge souls for all living beings!"

[Wuhun City is currently undergoing expansion and is recruiting talents from all over the continent. Whether you are a Soul Master or not, as long as you have a skill, whether it's farming, blacksmithing, or knowledge of medicine, you are welcome to come to Wuhun City!]

The Spirit Hall will surely treat you well!

In addition, to ensure that the people of the mainland have enough to eat and wear and live happier lives, the Spirit Hall has decided to establish Spirit Academyes in every city and even every village.

If this academy is located in a city, it collaborates with local primary schools to teach illiterate children to read; if it is located in a rural area, it is responsible for teaching villagers to read and even instructing them on skills such as farming, hunting, weaving, and forging.

To raise funds, the Pope of the Spirit Hall plans to personally visit the emperors of the two great empires, hoping they can provide a meager amount of gold spirit coins for his own enjoyment...

Bibi Dong felt she must have gone mad to do something like this under Tang San's influence; she was sure to be laughed at by the higher-ups of all the major powers.

In the Star Luo Empire, when Dai Lego received the video footage projected onto GG from the Spirit Hall within Star Luo City, his mind went blank: "Has the Spirit Hall gone mad? Or has the current Pope gone insane?"

The ministers in the hall looked at each other, unsure how to express their feelings.

Dai Lego stepped forward and expressed his opinion: "Your Majesty, according to my spies, Tang San brought Lou Gao from Gengxin City to Wuhun City. Lou Gao proposed to build another city outside Wuhun City. The current Pope agreed after being persuaded by Tang San. However, as we all know, Wuhun Hall does not engage in production. Its funds mainly come from our Star Luo Empire, our enemy Heaven Dou Empire, and other small countries."

"So, the Spirit Hall is out of money?" Dai Lego felt he had guessed the truth. "Then, if the Pope of the Spirit Hall were to personally come, how many gold soul coins should be given as a gift?"

They definitely have to give it, since the Spirit Hall has come up with the reason of "establishing the Spirit Academy to seek a better life for the people." If they don't give it, or give too little, they will probably lose the support of the people.

Things are different now. With the emergence of soul-guided cameras, soul-guided photography boxes, and mother-and-child soul-guided photography spheres... How come we never thought of these things before, that they would have such a big drawback to the Empire?

News spread quickly, and ordinary people became more knowledgeable and less easily fooled.

Unfortunately, it's too late to ban it now.

Sigh~ I hope the Spirit Hall won't ask for an exorbitant price. It's not that he's heartbroken, but once there's a first time, there will inevitably be a second, a third, and countless more.

But we can't refuse to give it.

Blanch!

This must have been Tang San's idea!

"Actually, I think this might not be a bad thing." Seeing Dai Le Gao's worries, Davis was confident. "As long as the Spirit Hall fails to keep its promise, it will inevitably be despised by the world and trapped by its own actions."

"Indeed, the amount of gold soul coins required by a martial soul is certainly not small. If I were that pope, I would definitely embezzle them for my own use."

Why is Lego so certain?

The reason is simple.

Empires like Xingluo and Tiandou rely heavily on tax revenue, especially agricultural tax, for their fiscal income.

Where does agricultural tax come from?

They were, of course, peasants who toiled in the fields for a living.

No matter how much they look down on those peasants, and how much they insult, belittle, and mock them, they will still ensure that most of them do not starve to death. This is because they all understand that the ordinary people who grow food are the true foundation for an empire to function, while the cities built upon the Soul Beast Forest are secondary.

And what about the Spirit Hall?

All members are Soul Masters.

Soul Masters have always looked down on ordinary people.

Those Soul Masters from major sects are alright; they have some manners and at least maintain a good public image. When they go out to train, they often do chivalrous deeds and earn a good reputation.

But what about the Spirit Hall?

There are indeed many branch halls, but each branch hall is independent of the others. You could say that each branch hall has its own style of conduct and behavior.

Even in most small towns and cities, the Spirit Hall Soul Masters tend to be more caring towards their own people, while being much more indifferent to strangers. Sometimes, they even openly favor their own people on matters of principle.

True nature?

If he were just an ordinary free spirit master, or a disciple of a sect who went out to train, this wouldn't be a big problem. But if he joined the Spirit Hall, this so-called "righteousness" would be criticized, and it might even implicate the Spirit Hall itself.

Officials in both empires tend to favor their own people, and in formal settings, they at least try to find some suitable reasons to justify their biases.

It was only through the Spirit Hall's efforts to help commoner children awaken their spirits, and its recent efforts to purge the corrupt elements within its various branch halls, that things truly began to improve.

In the past, after Bibi Dong took office, the Spirit Hall began to expand and develop, but it was not actually taken seriously by the two great empires. They were just wary of the titled Douluo in Spirit City.

Now, it has truly caught my eye.

Meanwhile, the higher-ups of the Heaven Dou Empire shared similar thoughts...

(End of this chapter)