Teacher Understands (Please Follow!!!)

Arm Soul Spirits with external objects, then allow them to undergo evolutions impossible through the normal paths of Soul Beasts!

"Can it really be done?"

Zhu Jiuyang took a deep breath, harboring some doubts about the idea as well.

"Teacher, when you steadfastly chose blacksmithing as your profession, wasn't it because you believed that metal, too, could undergo a qualitative transformation after countless hammerings?" Su Ming said.

Zhu Jiuyang fell silent.

Indeed.

Mortal Iron could also become Divine Metal.

That had been the philosophy of a young Divine Blacksmith more than a decade ago. When it was first proposed, it had shocked the Blacksmith Association.

The high-ranking blacksmiths within the association all held similar beliefs.

In the past, Zhu Jiuyang had also felt that turning Mortal Iron into Divine Metal was an illusory dream. Only those special metals that were already Divine Metal could possibly be forged by blacksmiths to acquire Spirituality.

But now, he no longer felt that this was impossible.

The Spiritual Forging System Su Ming had developed through Soul Spirits directly solved the issue of materials. Metals capable of acquiring Spirituality were no longer limited to the handful of uniquely blessed pieces of Divine Metal. Most high-grade metals could do so as well—in other words, the Rare Metals as defined by Su Ming.

Were Rare Metals rare? They were, but not to the absurd extent that there were only a few pieces in the entire continent. On the contrary, they existed in clearly defined categories and could be mined in large quantities. Their so-called rarity referred to their unique properties, which could be awakened through Thousand Forgings with Spirit into distinct characteristics.

Previously, materials had been limited, and Thousand Forgings with Spirit had been the limit. But now that the material problem had been solved, was Thousand Forgings with Spirit truly the limit?

Zhu Jiuyang took a deep breath. The Thousand-Forged Metal Su Ming had created flashed through his mind, its immature Spirituality seeming to dance before his eyes.

He had his answer—Thousand Forgings was absolutely not the limit!

"Teacher Understands."

While Zhu Jiuyang had come to understand, Little Gold let out a puzzled roar.

"Roar."

He was asking Su Ming what other Soul Skills he could bestow upon him.

"The best ones are Soul Skills with fundamental properties, such as skills related to Metal Element Control. If you can manifest that Soul Skill and bestow it upon me, it will become the most important Soul Skill to me," Su Ming said.

"Roar!" (That's a talent—I can't give it to you!)

"Then develop that talent. Once you succeed, an ability you can control yourself can also count as a Soul Skill."

"Roar..."

Little Gold felt the pressure mounting.

"Strictly speaking, my First Soul Skill mutated because of you as well. It is now Dark Gold Power. You can start with my First Soul Skill and see whether you can make my First Soul Ring belong to you too. Once you have that experience, you'll have more freedom when bestowing my Third Soul Ring," Su Ming said.

"Roar." (Soul Master, you're making things difficult for me.)

"Keep it up, Little Gold. I'm planning to place the positions of all three Soul Rings on your shoulders, so don't let me down." Su Ming patted Little Gold on the shoulder.

At that moment, Little Gold felt as though a mountain rested on his shoulders, unbearably heavy.

With a solemn expression, he nodded.

"Roar!" (I'll do my best!)

"Don't worry, I'll help you too."

After making arrangements for Little Gold and giving him a rousing pep talk, Su Ming had him return to the Sea of Consciousness to begin cultivating.

For at least the next half year, Little Gold would cultivate twenty-four hours a day.

Soul Beasts cultivated slowly?

Of course they progressed slowly when they spent every day sleeping and living off their bloodline. How could Little Gold possibly fail to improve when he worked this hard?

Besides, Su Ming knew that the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear had a path of further advancement. In the future, they could excavate his Behemoth Bloodline. The Behemoth Clan had once fed on dragons. The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear was a type of Soul Beast born from the perfect fusion of the Behemoth Bloodline and the ultimate metal attribute. The Dark Gold Dreadclaw was even more outrageous, a perfect union of strength and the metal attribute. It was precisely this innate ability, Dark Gold Dreadclaw, that made the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear no inferior to a pure-blooded Behemoth. Yet excavating the Behemoth Bloodline would undoubtedly strengthen the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear and allow it to continue evolving.

The most important talent of the Behemoth Clan was Devour.

This was also the aspect Su Ming intended to focus on improving for Little Gold. In his later forging, he would find a way to create Thousand-Forged works with similar properties and add them to Little Gold's Spirit Armor, stimulating his Behemoth Bloodline.

"Teacher, you need to work hard too."

Su Ming looked at Zhu Jiuyang, who was still deep in thought, and spoke in an encouraging tone.

Zhu Jiuyang sensed that something was off.

But for the moment, he could not figure out what was wrong.

"Teacher, a blacksmith is still a blacksmith, but Soul Spirits can allow us to cast off the title of blacksmith. We are forgers." Su Ming said seriously, "I'm under a lot of pressure alone right now. I need your help, Teacher."

Zhu Jiuyang felt the pressure as well.

"Teacher will find a Soul Spirit as soon as possible."

After encouraging each other, they redoubled their efforts.

Su Ming returned directly to Gengxin City, entering seclusion for arduous cultivation while devoting himself to forging every day, gambling on the emergence of a Devour-type property. He no longer confined himself to metals like Sinking Silver. Drawing on some knowledge from the future, he selected the Rare Metals most likely to develop Devour-type properties and experimented relentlessly.

Meanwhile, Zhu Jiuyang personally ventured deep into the major Soul Beast habitats beyond the Star Dou Great Forest, frantically searching for a suitable Soul Spirit.

Under Su Ming's relentless squeezing... encouragement, Little Gold first worked hard to control Dark Gold Power, then cooperated with Su Ming's nonstop forging while trying to tap into his Devour ability. Every time he absorbed a metal's spirituality, he would simulate the act of devouring it.

In the blink of an eye, four months had passed.

Xiao Ming's Forge Shop.

Ning Yuan had barely stepped one foot into the forge when he heard the boy inside sigh.

"I'm already ten, and I still haven't become a Soul Elder."

Ning Yuan's mouth twitched.

This...

"Uncle Ning, you're here to place another order?"

Su Ming stretched and walked toward the door to welcome today's distinguished guest.

Back when Xiao Ming's Blacksmith Shop had first opened, Ning Yuan had been its first customer—and a major one at that. Even now, he continued placing large orders, and it could be said that ninety-eight percent of Su Ming's forging income came from Ning Yuan.

"Heh, although I'm from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, I don't have that many forging orders. Our sect has its own blacksmiths as well." Ning Yuan said helplessly, "If the quality of your finished products weren't truly excellent, then even as the steward in charge of the sect's procurement, I wouldn't have any reason to keep placing orders with you."

"No orders? Then what are you here for?" Su Ming asked in surprise.

"To pay more." Ning Yuan said, "The ten sets of armor you forged recently are all top-grade. The Sect Master specifically instructed me to come and make up the difference."

"Uncle, have a seat inside."

Su Ming brought Ning Yuan a stool.

Ning Yuan waved his hand. "I won't be staying long."

As he spoke, he took out a golden card and handed it to Su Ming.

"There's one million Gold Soul Coins on this gold card."

"How much?"

"One million Gold Soul Coins. The Sect Master said that the metal used in those ten sets of armor was very special. A Soul Master's Soul Power could flow into it with exceptional ease, even allowing them to freely enhance themselves with it. For now, he calculated the price at one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins per set. This one million is your payment, and you don't need to return the few thousand Gold Soul Coins from before."