Blacksmith

The Moon Village's main hall where the village chief and all the elders currently gathered was in obvious uproar.

That was because news that Gale Village had sent someone to Shu family for marriage proposal had already reached their ears.

They fully believed that it was Gale Village's ploy to have the Shu family under its influence.

"What if we marry someone from the village off as well?" An elder weirdly suggested.

"I heard Shu Wei did not truly agree," another elder claimed.

"Let's get someone from Han Valley to help us persuade master Shu Wei," still another one proposed.

One opinion after another was raised but the village chief was unmoved. It wasn't really an issue to begin with knowing fully the personality of Shu Wei well.

However, Gale Valley had truly made a drastic but potent move. They did their assignment and investigated about Xiao Ning and they found her to be somewhat interesting. That was at least to their standards.

It would indeed spell headache for them should the Shu family join hands with Gale Village. Little did they know that Shu Wei himself had no such intention whatsoever.

No one among those gathered could give any clear suggestion until an intelligent point echoed.

"What about inquiring directly from the boy, Shu Qai, himself?"

It was the merchant from whom the 'Beast Taming' skill scroll came from back when Qai first visited the village.

Everyone fell silent.

"What do you mean Elder Lu?" The village chief asked.

"With all due respect Chief, please allow me..," Elder Lu slightly bowed and went on to explain, "..from what I know, the kid is special himself."

"Ah."

"Last time, he purchased a 'Beast Taming' skill from my store," he narrated. "At first I thought I was a foolish move.. but then I heard he's now at the peak Sky stage and so is his tamed black tiger beast.. and the most surprising thing is, he's only 7."

Everyone who heard it was dumbfounded.

"My nephew, Su Yu, who stays with me has barely scratched the peak Sky stage..," Elder Lu described in comparison. "But he's already 14."

'Peak Sky stage in just a year!?' It was the common thought among the elders.

"If Shu Qai ain't special, then we must all be trash...," the merchant emphasized. "What I think is.. I think he's a 'tiger' himself destined for something big."

The merchant elder paused then sighed before he continued.

"Point is," he said, "..why don't we hear first what the boy has in mind before we do anything reckless.. we might have something that Shu Qai needs.. so let's not act rashly lest we end up the fool ourselves."

Everyone was awestruck with his words.

Some felt embarrassed, others envious. They never knew they had someone with such wisdom in their fold—and how they wished that they were the ones who came up with such an idea.

"Wise indeed," the village chief nodded in approval then looked intently into the eyes of the rest of thd elders before he asked.

"Any other ideas?"

***************

Right at that very moment, the merchant's nephew, Su Yu, was taking charge of his uncle's shop.

Elder Lu doted his nephew much who, like himself, had 'Metal' elemental affinity. In fact, the merchant spent a lot of his resources to nurture Su Yu's cultivation as his own disciple.

At peak Sky stage of expert realm, Su Yu learned 'Smash,' as his first skill. It was a common skill but it greatly complimented his Sledgehammer as his preferred weapon.

The skill, when activated by basically hammering the target, would create a 10-meter radius elemental damage.

Elder Lu wanted his nephew to learn blacksmithing skill as such was valueable among cultivators, especially since the blood of merchants ran through their veins.

And so for his second skill, Su Yu started his blacksmithing path by equipping, 'Basic Crafting.'

Most of his works were eventually sold in Elder Lu's shop together with his master-uncle's works.

***************

Back in the village hall, meanwhile, the deliberation was about to conclude.

"Since you already met him once," the village chief told Elder Lu, "why not you accompany me to meet Shu Wei's son."

"No problem Chief," the merchant happily replied.

"Good, good," the chief smiled. "We'll depart tomorrow at sunrise."