The Battle Armor Master's Path Was Cut Off? (Please Follow!!!)

Su Ming stopped swinging his Forging Hammer.

He stared at the iron block before him, which he had already hammered to its limit, and fell into deep thought.

Beside him, Duan Jin looked at Su Ming as if he were some rare treasure, then shifted his gaze to the iron block Su Ming had forged.

Seeing Su Ming lost in thought, he assumed Su Ming had been in excellent form just now and was now digesting the progress he had made.

In reality, Su Ming had fallen into doubt.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with my state just now. I followed a blacksmith's method to knock on the window of the metal and communicate with it, yet the metal showed none of that spirituality.

The forging principle from the Dou San era—Metal Has Spirit—was completely unusable in Dou Yi!

That was not good news.

If this guess proved true, then Su Ming of the Dou Yi era would lose the chance to become a blacksmith and master later-age forging techniques such as Spiritual Forging, Soul Forging, and even Heavenly Forging ahead of time.

If he lost the possibility of becoming a blacksmith, then he would no longer be qualified to continue down the Battle Armor Master path.

Su Ming took a deep breath and calmed himself.

Maybe this piece of iron is just ordinary iron. Since it isn't Rare Metal, perhaps it has no spirituality.

He made himself stop feeling dejected. In truth, even if he could not follow the Battle Armor Master path, it would not affect him much. He could still remain invincible among those of the same rank in the Dou Yi era. That was the confidence his Body Martial Soul gave him.

It was just that the pressure on his other two clones would increase. The three secondary professions would no longer be handled by three clones at once, but by only two.

After all, if Battle Armor could not improve Su Ming in Dou Yi, then researching any secondary profession would be a losing investment. In an era where it was easiest to Become a God, wasting energy on a losing investment would only result in even greater invisible losses.

I still can't completely determine that Spiritual Forging is impossible in this era. I need to remain somewhat optimistic.

While Su Ming wrestled with his thoughts, Duan Jin had already picked up the Fine Iron he had forged and begun examining it.

"Too perfect. This piece of iron feels as though it could transform at any moment," he muttered. "If its base material were legendary Divine Metal, it might be able to transform further and give birth to spirituality."

Su Ming snapped out of it and heard Duan Jin's quiet muttering.

A gleam flashed through his eyes.

He had just been doubting whether Spiritual Forging was possible in this era, and Duan Jin had immediately given him an answer.

So this era already had the concept of Spiritual Forging?

Since Duan Jin could speak of metal giving birth to spirituality, the Blacksmith Association clearly had records concerning it.

"Brother Duan, what did you mean just now by giving birth to spirituality? Can metal possess intelligence too?"

Duan Jin had not expected Su Ming to focus on his words after waking from his thoughts.

He smiled and explained, "Giving birth to spirituality doesn't mean it possesses intelligence. It only means the metal becomes more vibrant. At the same time, it gains the prerequisite to become true Life and nurture intelligence."

He continued, "On Douluo Continent, all things can become Soul Beasts. There are animal-type Soul Beasts, plant-type Soul Beasts, and many other strange forms of Life that become Soul Beasts. The Blacksmith Association has records of works made by Divine Blacksmiths whose names were recorded in history. Their famous works all gave birth to spirituality and truly had the potential to become Soul Beasts."

They truly had the potential!

Su Ming caught Duan Jin's wording.

In other words, the Blacksmith Association had cases that had stood the test of time, where metals that initially possessed only basic spirituality eventually became Soul Beasts!

"Metal can become a Soul Beast too..." Su Ming murmured.

He did not merely say it to himself. He spoke aloud because he wanted Duan Jin to explain further.

"Yes. Metal can possess Life as well, and that is the lifelong pursuit of us blacksmiths. So long as one can forge metal with spirituality, one can become a Divine Blacksmith!"

"Become the unquestioned god of the entire blacksmithing field!"

Su Ming drew in a sharp breath.

"So this is the standard for judging a Divine Blacksmith."

"That's right!" Duan Jin said. "This is no secret within the Blacksmith Association. To become a Divine Blacksmith, one must forge a work that possesses spirituality."

There were three great Divine Blacksmiths in the current era, which meant three people had accomplished this feat.

But there were only three.

While Su Ming felt excited, his heart also grew heavy.

He could sense that forging spiritual metal in this era definitely came with many restrictions.

"Alas, true spiritual metal is not so easily achieved. Timing, location, and people are all indispensable. Not only must there be suitable special metal, but it also needs the help of an environment compatible with that metal, along with the forging techniques of a truly top-tier blacksmith."

Su Ming asked, "Are such special metals rare?"

"More than rare." Duan Jin shook his head. "Gengxin City gathers the vast majority of the continent's precious metals, yet it may not find even one piece of special metal capable of giving birth to spirituality every ten years. Such special metals already count as Divine Metal themselves, and their forging difficulty rises exponentially compared to Mortal Iron. Take your case, for example. You forged this piece of Mortal Iron to the threshold of giving birth to spirituality, but with your current skill, if you forged those special metals, you likely could not even complete Hundred Forgings."

Su Ming spoke with Duan Jin for a long time afterward, learning about the current state of the blacksmithing industry.

At last, recalling what Duan Jin had said about metal becoming Soul Beasts, he asked, "Brother Duan, does the Blacksmith Association really have metal that transformed into a Soul Beast?"

That should count as Heavenly Forging, right?

Although it had relied on time to accomplish it, theoretically speaking, it had already completed the stages of Soul Forging and Heavenly Forging after Spiritual Forging.

"Yes. Every blacksmith in Gengxin City knows that the pinnacle work of the first Divine Blacksmith in the blacksmithing field a thousand years ago transformed into a Soul Beast after five hundred years."

A work from a thousand years ago?

It transformed into a Soul Beast after five hundred years?

That was not a long time—

If spiritual metal could be forged in batches, then after five hundred years, wouldn't one be able to harvest a batch of Heavenly Forged Metal? Su Ming naturally regarded Soul Beasts transformed from metal as Heavenly Forged Metal.

"Over the past thousand years, generation after generation of Divine Blacksmiths have poured out their hearts and blood, yet only that single piece of metal transformed into a Soul Beast."

All right. Upon hearing Duan Jin's words, Su Ming felt that this metal Soul Beast must have been rather special.

"Then is that Soul Beast still in the Blacksmith Association?"

Duan Jin said regretfully, "No. That Soul Beast was killed more than a hundred years ago and became someone's Soul Ring."

Su Ming also showed a regretful expression.

After sighing over it, Duan Jin remembered the important matter.

"My father said you wanted your first Soul Ring to be a hundred-year one?"

Su Ming nodded.

"No problem, but you need to come with me to Gengxin City. I'll help you find a teacher."

"Okay!"

After learning that special metals existed, Su Ming no longer doubted whether Spiritual Forging was possible in this era.

Spiritual Forging was definitely possible. There were simply too few suitable materials.

"Have you decided what type of Soul Ring you want?" Duan Jin asked.