Looking at Xia Yi's radiant smile, Mu Xi immediately felt even more guilty.
"He looks so happy, he must think that Master will definitely teach him the Heavenly Forging Method. But if I tell him the truth about Master's real thoughts, will he get angry? Will he hold a grudge against the Association? Will he hate me and we will never have any contact again?"
Staring at Xia Yi, Mu Xi's mind was in turmoil. Just thinking about Xia Yi's cold gaze later made her heart tremble.
Hiding the Golden Water Harmony behind her, tears once again welled up in her eyes. She had no courage to give it to Xia Yi.
"Mu Xi, what are you hoping for? The Blacksmith Association treated him like this, how can you still have the face to associate with him?"
Mu Xi bit her lip, her beautiful eyes fixed on Xia Yi. She didn't dare blink, looking at him very seriously.
From now on, it might be impossible for her and Xia Yi to even be friends. He might never want to see her again in his life.
This was her last chance to deeply engrave Xia Yi into her heart.
Xia Yi didn't pay attention to Mu Xi's gaze, but instead, noticed her swollen eyes. He sighed softly and said, "Take it out. I saw it."
"I…" Mu Xi wanted to refuse, but when she saw Xia Yi's determined look, she knew she couldn't hide it from him.
Moreover, hiding it wouldn't make any sense.
"I'm sorry, Xia Yi." Mu Xi tremblingly extended her hand that was hiding behind her back and revealed the Jin Shui Xiang Han to Xia Yi.
She understood that with Xia Yi's intelligence, once he saw it, he would understand everything.
"Golden Water Harmony, not bad." Xia Yi took the Golden Water and didn't get angry. Instead, he smiled.
Mu Xi was momentarily stunned, thinking that Xia Yi hadn't yet realized the significance of Zhen Hua sending out the Golden Water. She gritted her teeth and reminded him, "Xia... Xia Yi..."
Xia Yi raised his hand to stop Mu Xi, saying, "This isn't the place to talk. You're familiar with this place. Find somewhere else, let's talk there."
"Come... come with me." Mu Xi obediently nodded. Regardless of whether Xia Yi understood what Zhen Hua's actions meant, as long as she could spend a little more time with him, she was more than willing.
"Let's go, don't be upset." Xia Yi glanced at Lan Fozi, who was beside him and looked displeased, then helplessly rubbed her dark blue hair, feeling quite good.
It must be said that seeing his woman angry because of him was truly a pleasant feeling.
The Blacksmith Association treated Xia Yi this way, and Lan Fozi almost wanted to summon the Demon Emperor to slap away this so-called Association.
"Don't mess with my hair. I really don't understand how you can smile like that." Lan Fozi pushed away Xia Yi's mischievous hand on her head, pouting her red lips, clearly displeased.
If Xia Yi hadn't been holding her back, she would've caused a scene at the Forging Master Association to let everyone see how Zhen Hua and the Forging Master Association treated the person who saved their lives.
"With you by my side, of course I can smile. Alright, I'll explain to you later." Xia Yi smiled softly, holding Lan Fozi and following behind Mu Xi.
Hearing the playful banter behind her, Mu Xi's heart trembled again.
Only she knew how envious she was of Lan Fozi at this moment.
Even back in Donghai City, Xia Yi had never been this gentle with her. Back then, Xia Yi only knew how to make her angry.
Mu Xi's heart was filled with sourness, her mind constantly thinking about Xia Yi and Lan Fozi behind her.
When she finally lifted her head and looked at the door of the room in front of her, she was instantly dumbfounded.
"What's wrong?" Xia Yi asked.
"It's nothing. Come in and talk." Mu Xi glanced at Xia Yi and Lan Fozi, mustered her courage, and opened the door.
The room was spacious, but the decoration was simple. There was a crystal soul guide light bulb on the ceiling, a huge wardrobe against the wall, a light pink bed in the center, a vanity beside it, and just a few common daily items.
The most eye-catching part of the room was the photograph on the bedhead.
The photo was of a forging room from the Donghai City Association. In the room, Xia Yi was focusing on forging a piece of metal. Though drenched in sweat, his gaze was extremely focused.
Lan Fozi immediately became very alert and instinctively stood between Mu Xi and Xia Yi.
This was Mu Xi's private room.
A photo of Xia Yi was hanging in her private room.
Clearly, Mu Xi had improper feelings for Xia Yi.
Xia Yi glanced at the photo and shook his head, saying, "When did you take this? Did you forget to use beautification?"
"I'm sorry!" Mu Xi's face turned red. In the Association, there were many places where people spoke, and any random forging room could be used.
She didn't know how it happened, but she had brought Xia Yi and Lan Fozi into her private room.
"Sigh!" Xia Yi sighed softly, took out the Golden Water, and asked, "So, what's going on?"
"I'm sorry!" Mu Xi apologized again. She couldn't do anything but apologize at this point.
"You don't have to apologize. I'm not angry. Just tell me what's going on." Xia Yi smiled and said.
"It's all because of my father…" Mu Xi's eyes reddened again, and she recounted everything that had happened, leaving nothing out.
"Xia Yi, I know. The Blacksmith Association wronged you. What kind of compensation do you want? As long as I can provide it, I'll give it to you." Mu Xi looked at Xia Yi with red eyes.
"What can you give me?" Lan Fozi snorted disdainfully.
"I… I can steal Master's forging insights and give them to you. I can also install remote monitoring in Master's forging room so you can secretly learn the Heavenly Forging Method." Mu Xi bit her red lips as she spoke.
She couldn't change Zhen Hua's decision, this was the best she could do.
Upon hearing this, Lan Fozi's eyes immediately brightened.
"Stop, stop, don't say anything more absurd." Xia Yi quickly shook his head and said, "To be honest, the reason I came to the Association was just to accompany Zhu'r and Yue'er, to go through the motions. I didn't really plan to learn the Heavenly Forging Method."
Xia Yi smiled and looked at Mu Xi, saying, "To tell you the truth, Zhu'er saved Master Craftsman so that he would teach me the Heavenly Forging Method. But as for myself, I really have no intention of learning it."
Xia Yi wasn't lying. If he had truly wanted to learn the Heavenly Forging Method, he would've made an effort to rescue Zhen Hua the moment he returned from the Blood God Legion.
The reason he saved the soul beasts in the Spirit Pagoda first and spent over three months crossing the sea with Lan Fozi was because he never intended for Zhen Hua to teach him the Heavenly Forging Method just because he owed him.
Originally, Xia Yi had thought that Leng Yaozhu would attack the Cult herself and conveniently rescue Zhen Hua. That way, he would fulfill his promise to Mu Xi.
Unexpectedly, Leng Yaozhu delayed the attack on the Spirit Church by three months just to ensure that he could learn the Heavenly Forging Method.
Xia Yi didn't want to disappoint her, so he cooperated and rescued Zhen Hua himself, personally bringing him to the Association.
If Zhen Hua was willing to teach him the Heavenly Forging Method, he would learn it for Leng Yaozhu.
If Zhen Hua wasn't willing, he didn't care. That was actually perfectly fine with him.
In truth, Zhen Hua was just a pawn in this whole scheme.
Looking at the essence of this situation, this was Leng Yaozhu and Gu Yue's first covert competition.
It was a battle for Xia Yi.
Gu Yue knew that sooner or later, Xia Yi would reveal his identity to Leng Yaozhu. When the Soul Beast's Battle Armor was exposed in the Blood God Legion, part of the reason was to compete for more Plane Seeds.
Another reason was to let everyone know that the soul beasts had battle armor.
If Mu Chen and Zhen Hua could guess that the Soul Beast Battle Armor came from Xia Yi, other high-level humans would naturally guess as well.
This was the effect Gu Yue wanted.
She wanted everyone to know that Xia Yi had a connection to the soul beasts, and for everyone to reject him just like Zhen Hua did. Over time, Xia Yi's sense of belonging to the soul beasts would grow much stronger than his sense of belonging to humanity.
Leng Yaozhu had somewhat guessed Gu Yue's plan.
She had Xia Yi rescue Zhen Hua because she hoped that Zhen Hua would feel an unreserved gratitude toward Xia Yi and support him.
As long as Xia Yi gained more benefits in the human world, his sense of belonging to humans would strengthen.
However, she couldn't directly tell Zhen Hua that Xia Yi was a soul beast, but had only transformed into a human.
She had done all she could, and now she could only leave the rest to fate.
But it was clear that in this round, she had lost to Gu Yue.
Xia Yi had already seen through the covert competition between these two women.
Both of these women were ones he couldn't afford to offend. He could only let them manipulate him and cooperate with them to complete their hidden contest.
As for Zhen Hua, he was just a pawn. He had fallen into a trap of understanding that Gu Yue had set up. Xia Yi truly didn't feel the need to be angry with him.
The Heavenly Forging Method?
Xia Yi didn't care at all.
One thing Zhen Hua said was right.
With Xia Yi's talent, he could figure out the Heavenly Forging Method on his own.
The only difference was that it might take him a bit longer than if he learned it from someone else.
However, Xia Yi preferred to figure it out by himself. He didn't want to follow Zhen Hua's teachings.
If Zhen Hua didn't want to teach, that was perfectly fine with him.
"Are you really not angry?" Mu Xi looked at Xia Yi curiously, realizing that he really didn't seem to be angry.
"A little bit, but to be honest, your Master, he doesn't want to teach. I have no objections, but he could've come to talk to me directly instead of pushing you out as the bad guy. That's really beneath his dignity as a master craftsman." Xia Yi glanced at the photo in Mu Xi's bedroom again, then turned to look at Mu Xi and added, "But if he's creating an opportunity for you, then forget I said anything."
(End of Chapter)