After Chen Ming finished pondering, he casually picked up A Yin, who had curled herself into a ball, from the ground nearby.

  From a purely physical perspective, this was just a clump of Blue Silver Grass inexplicably curled into a small sphere. However, from a spiritual perspective, in Chen Ming's eyes, A Yin resembled a dignified and proud young dy who was nervously crouching in a defensive posture.

  Chen Ming casually injected a bit of soul power and life energy into her. After giving her a slight shake, A Yin finally breathed a sigh of relief and stretched herself out again.

  Looking at A Yin, who had now grown to nearly a meter in height, Chen Ming felt a bit conflicted. He wasn't sure how to handle her—should he just toss her directly into his storage soul tool, or should he find her a flowerpot first and then store her inside?

  When Chen Ming asked this question, A Yin, who had long grown tired of the stuffy environment inside the storage soul tool, couldn't help but dejectedly ask:

  ["Is there... any way to avoid putting me into the storage soul tool?"]

  "Hmm..." Chen Ming touched his right leg, sensing the connection between himself and A Yin. Then, gncing at his right arm, which housed a small sword, an idea came to him.

  He grabbed A Yin and pressed her against his leg, adjusting the flow of his soul power between himself and A Yin.

  As a blue-golden glow shone brightly, A Yin, who had grown to over a meter, rapidly shrank and merged into Chen Ming's right leg. Using her natural connection with the right leg bone, she directly settled herself and her essence within Chen Ming's leg.

  ["This feels... so strange."]

  It was A Yin's first time being absorbed—not devoured—into someone else's body. Feeling her current state, she couldn't help but instinctively compin.

  Though it felt strange, it wasn't uncomfortable. On the contrary, the sensation was rather pleasant, even intoxicating.

  Inside Chen Ming's body, a portion of his life energy and soul power naturally flowed through the right leg bone and into A Yin, greatly accelerating her recovery.

  Not only did her physical form grow stronger, but her spiritual form also gradually solidified and recovered.

  Chen Ming closed his eyes and slightly maniputed his spiritual power and mental energy. As a result, a phantom projection appeared beside him.

  This projection wasn't real; it was more of an illusion Chen Ming had created for himself and A Yin—a shared perception between them.

  In this state, A Yin could see what Chen Ming saw and even manifest a phantom body. However, in reality, she couldn't interact with or be perceived by the outside world, as she existed solely as an illusion Chen Ming created for himself.

  Though this sensation wasn't real, for A Yin, who had been dormant for so long, it was already a significant improvement.

  Even though they were still in the sealed lead chamber, A Yin curiously observed every corner of the room and every detail of Chen Ming, attempting to once again feel the sensation of being alive.

  Of course, this was only possible with Chen Ming's active control. If he didn't allow it, A Yin could only remain in a semi-dormant state within his right leg bone, slowly recovering. She wouldn't even be able to control her physical form to leave his leg.

  After adjusting his state, Chen Ming left the chamber. At the door, a middle-aged man was sitting on a chair, keeping watch. When he saw Chen Ming appear, he immediately stood up and bowed deeply.

  "Greetings, Hall Master."

  Chen Ming remembered that this was Si Long, one of Lou Gao's disciples. Although Chen Ming's status was special, Lou Gao's disciples were all aware of it. To Lou Gao, these disciples were not just his successors but also like his children. To these disciples, Lou Gao was akin to a father figure.

  Within the entire Bcksmith Association, these disciples were the people Lou Gao trusted the most. Thus, after Lou Gao and Chen Ming had discussed things, these disciples naturally became members of the Hall of Soul as well.

  Of course, the Hall of Soul consisted of only one Hall Master and one Forging Elder. Joining the Hall of Soul under Lou Gao's name was more of a formality and didn't carry much significance.

  "There's no need for such formalities," Chen Ming said warmly, helping Si Long up. "Has anything major happened at the Bcksmith Association during my seclusion?"

  Chen Ming had asked this casually, but to his surprise, Si Long showed a look of admiration.

  "As expected of the Hall Master—how could you know something happened here even while in seclusion?"

  "Recently, my master, Lou Gao, overexerted himself during forging and became somewhat physically weak. Because of this, some people in the association started to have ulterior motives. Initially, these people weren't much of a problem, but who would've thought that Tai Tan, the nominal Vice President of the Bcksmith Association and one of the Three Divine Bcksmiths alongside my master, also learned about this."

  "Although Tai Tan is just the nominal Vice President and doesn't usually involve himself in association affairs, his status as a Divine Bcksmith naturally commands great respect among bcksmiths."

  Si Long hesitated, unsure how to phrase his thoughts. To him, who was solely devoted to his master Lou Gao, Tai Tan didn't seem very deserving of the title of Divine Bcksmith. Especially after Lou Gao's recent breakthroughs in forging techniques, Tai Tan—still the only other publicly recognized Divine Bcksmith (Tang Hao was still officially missing)—felt increasingly irrelevant in the eyes of Lou Gao's disciples.

  After a moment's thought, Si Long continued.

  "Some bcksmiths, because of Tai Tan's status as a Divine Bcksmith, assumed that he would take control of the association once my master was incapacitated. So, they proactively pledged allegiance to Tai Tan and even leaked information about my master's breakthroughs in forging techniques."

  Si Long gritted his teeth as he spoke.

  "Logically, these things shouldn't have mattered, but the problem is that after my master recovered, rumors started spreading throughout the association. Some cimed my master had obtained a rare treasure. Others specuted he had forged a divine artifact. Some even spread the outrageous rumor that my master had killed a human-formed 100,000-year soul beast and obtained a 100,000-year soul bone, which is why his body recovered."

  "At first, Tai Tan pretended to remain neutral, but once these rumors spread, he was the first to step forward and demand that my master hand over these so-called treasures. He even demanded that my master surrender the bcksmithing manual he'd recently compiled."

  "Tai Tan is a Soul Douluo and the patriarch of the Strength Cn, one of the Four Attribute Cns. It's said his strength is comparable to a Titled Douluo. So, even though my master has recovered, he still can't directly refuse Tai Tan."

  "Over the past few days, people in the Bcksmith Association have been forced to take sides. Many have been coerced by Tai Yan and the Strength Cn into joining the faction opposing my master, demanding my master hand over the treasures, his forging achievements, and the bcksmithing manual he compiled."

  At this point, Si Long couldn't help but curse under his breath.

  "These people don't even care about pursuing higher levels of bcksmithing! They're all obsessed with external gains—what a disgrace to the Bcksmith Association!"

  Chen Ming looked at Si Long in silence.

  So, what bothered you most wasn't your master being pressured, but that these bcksmiths didn't care about pursuing higher levels of craftsmanship? Well, your priorities are... odd, but they do make sense in a way.

  PS: Ah Yin is like Cortana now.