Tang Wulin was listening carefully to Zhen Hua's description, developing some base knowledge about heavenly refinement in the process.

Zhen Hua continued, "Come with me. The best way to teach you is to show you what heavenly refinement looks like. I'll demonstrate a heavenly refinement for you, then instruct you to perform one of your own. After that, you can go back to carefully ponder the process, then come to me once per week until you succeed in your first heavenly refinement. I don't care how busy you are, you have to stay here until you become a Divine Blacksmith. You have a far better foundation than I did, particularly in terms of spiritual power, and that'll benefit you immensely when it comes to heavenly refinement.

"Hence, don't think about slow and steady development; you want to succeed in heavenly refinement as quickly as possible. With one successful experience, the rest will be up to you to explore and fine-tune. Prior to this, I have to be by your side to ensure your safety."

Tang Wulin became rather hesitant upon hearing this. It was going to be a problem for him to stay in Bright City until he could succeed in his first heavenly refinement.

Neither he nor Zhen Hua knew how long this would take; what if the process took too long?

The Shrek Academy rebuild needed him, and he had to participate in the joust for a spouse.

The Spirit Pagoda was clearly using this joust for a spouse event to target him; if they were to fail, who knew what kind of other snide tactics they would come up with? As the Tang Sect Master and Sea God's Pavilion Master, he couldn't just run away from those responsibilities.

Zhen Hua could see his hesitation, and he said in a sincere and meaningful voice, "Wulin, I'm sure you understand how important heavenly refinement is. If you can become a Divine Blacksmith, you'll be able to benefit Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect in unimaginable ways. Perhaps you still don't understand the true importance of a Divine Blacksmith; if you can reach that level, you'll have the right to negotiate with the federation and demand that they revoke the announcement incriminating the Tang Sect as a treasonous organization, do you understand?"

"I can do that?" Tang Wulin was stunned to hear this.

Zhen Hua replied with a faint smile, "Profit is the true core of this world; in the face of sufficient profit, nothing is impossible. What I just said is definitely plausible, but the prerequisite is that you'll have to give the federation a lot of benefits, such as completing a certain number of heavenly refinement jobs for them. As such, I don't suggest for you to enter such negotiations as a Divine Blacksmith; I'm just telling you how important a Divine Blacksmith is to the federation. Up to this point, I'm still the only Divine Blacksmith on the entire planet.

"My abilities are only waning with age, but you're still young. All blacksmiths have a prime period; I'm not too old yet, but I'm already past my prime. My cultivation rank wasn't earned purely through arduous cultivation, and as I perform more heavenly refinements, I can feel that it's becoming more and more taxing on me. However, you're different. You have a very solid foundation, and you haven't given up your cultivation in preference for forging. You are far superior to me in terms of both strength and spiritual power; I daresay that you'll definitely surpass me if you can become a Divine Blacksmith.

"You will be the youngest Divine Blacksmith in the history of the entire continent, and that will make you an extremely important figure in the eyes of any major power. When that time comes, everyone who's looking to plot against you will have to reconsider, and the same applies to the enemies of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect. Think about it, how much of a boost would Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect receive if a Divine Blacksmith were to appear among their ranks?"

Tang Wulin knew that Zhen Hua was saying all this to try and convince him to focus on becoming a Divine Blacksmith before doing anything else, and he was naturally aware of the benefits that becoming a Divine Blacksmith could bring, but this wasn't a personal problem anymore; it was directly related to Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect as well.

"I'm sorry, Uncle-teacher, but I have to discuss this matter with the seniors of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect."

It was a fantastic honor and opportunity that a Divine Blacksmith was willing to instruct him in heavenly refinement in person, so he was feeling very apologetic.

Zhen Hua appraised him with a meaningful expression before heaving a faint sigh. "Fine, go ahead; I'm sure they won't be so short-sighted as to stop you from taking this opportunity."

Tang Wulin apologized to Zhen Hua again before walking off to the side and dialing a number on his soul communicator.

The first person that he contacted was Long Yeyue as opposed to Yali. As his godmother, Yali's decision-making would definitely be clouded by her emotional ties with him. As such, he was contacting Long Yeyue for an objective perspective.

Long Yeyue's response was very simple and straightforward. "Of course you have to take this opportunity! Even if the sky falls down during your absence, I'll carry it on my back until you return."

After that, he contacted Zang Xin.

"What's there to hesitate about? Both Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect need a Divine Blacksmith. If I were Zhen Hua, I'd be smacking the soul communicator out of your hand, haha!"

Tang Wulin turned to Zhen Hua, and sure enough, his expression had darkened significantly.

He hurriedly made his way over to Zhen Hua in sheepish manner. "I'm sorry, Uncle-teacher."

Zhen Hua couldn't help but burst into laughter at the sight of his obedient display. "Come with me."

He naturally wasn't going to blame Tang Wulin for considering his responsibilities. In reality, he was very glad that Tang Wulin had become the leader of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy.

He had seen a successor in Tang Wulin the first time he had ever met him, but he didn't think that Tang Wulin would possess such brilliant aptitude in areas other than forging. For the first time, Zhen Hua was struck by the feeling that it wasn't a good thing for one person to be too exceptional as there were simply too many people fighting over Tang Wulin!

As the only Divine Blacksmith on the entire planet, Zhen Hua was a very proud man, but he was forced to fight over this exceptional disciple as there was no other candidate with the same level of forging aptitude. If he couldn't nurture Tang Wulin into a Divine Blacksmith, then that would definitely be the biggest regret of his life.

If anyone else were hesitating about taking an opportunity to be instructed by him, he would've stormed out of the room, but he repressed his own pride and temper for Tang Wulin. Furthermore, it wasn't a bad thing for a young man to have a sense of responsibility.

Zhen Hua had already devised a plan for revenge; as soon as Tang Wulin became a Divine Blacksmith, he was going to force the title of blacksmith association president upon him!

On the heavenly platform.

This was a platform that was situated under a massive glass ceiling on the top floor of the blacksmith association building. It was one of the tallest buildings in Bright City, and had a total of 78 levels; there were no surrounding buildings that were anywhere near as tall as this one.

The glass ceiling was like a massive transparent dome, and when the weather was clear, one could see out into the distance for over 100 kilometers.

The massive heavenly platform was over 2,000 square meters in area, and was extremely spacious. One had to pass through three barricades just to access this place.

"Don't underestimate this protective barrier; it looks like it's made out of glass, but it was constructed according to the standards of a protective barrier for an aircraft carrier; even a Limit Douluo wouldn't be able to break through it," Zhen Hua introduced.

The entire heavenly platform was completely empty, and looking out of the surrounding transparent dome made one feel as if they were hovering in mid-air.

"What a fantastic view," Tang Wulin praised.