Thousand Forging Sublimation

Looking over the information on Ice Crystal Ore, Gu You took a deep breath and picked up the pair of Thousand Forging Life Essence Hammers.

After burning for only a few minutes, the Ice Crystal Ore had reached a forgeable state. Its surface had become extremely soft, like molten iron, yet unlike liquid iron, it did not flow and remained a solid whole.

Ice Crystal Ore could also be forged without heating, but only Grandmaster-level blacksmiths would dare attempt it.

Gu You lifted the Ice Crystal before him from the forge and secured it. Spreading his arms with a hammer in each hand, his gaze instantly turned focused. He gently raised a hammer and lightly tapped the Ice Crystal, producing a clear ding.

This hammer strike was called a test strike. Before beginning their work, blacksmiths used this method to assess the toughness of the ore or metal and form an initial understanding of its impurities.

Watching him concentrate so intently, Feng Wuyu nodded to himself. He had never taught Gu You about test strikes; the boy had learned it all from the Complete Guide to Ore Forging beside him just now. That alone showed how remarkably perceptive and attentive the child was.

This Thousand Forging attempt was undoubtedly an opportunity to assess his forging talent. From the moment Gu You had accidentally managed to forge something to the Thousand Forging level, Feng Wuyu had already known that, with proper guidance, this child could reach heights even he himself could never attain.

Yet that also made Feng Wuyu sigh. Gu You could not inherit his legacy. He could not teach this child, nor should he, because he did not know Heavenly Forging. Taking Gu You as a formal disciple was impossible. Even if he agreed, Yun Ming would never allow it once he found out. The only person who could truly become this child's master was that person. Still, accepting him as a registered disciple would at least sound more respectable.

As for tricking Gu You into calling him Master earlier, that had been nothing more than a playful whim.

He was only six this year. If he succeeded at Thousand Forging this time, he would probably shatter a legend. The current world record was held by a Saint Craftsman: ten years, six months, and four days.

Gu You naturally had no idea what Feng Wuyu was thinking. Every ounce of his attention was focused on the Ice Crystal before him, and all his Spiritual Power was fixed upon it.

He raised both hammers. With a hiss, the Ice Crystal deformed and flattened comically like rice cake. Before it could recover, he brought both hammers down again. Though there seemed to be no rhythm to his chaotic strikes, they reflected Gu You's exceptional understanding of the Ice Crystal's soft, unstable state under high temperatures. Since it was unstable, he would hammer it until it stabilized, then heat it again, repeating the process until no impurities remained.

Although he had never performed Thousand Forging before, Gu You had already integrated all the forging knowledge he had learned over the past two days with his limited practical experience. Recalling how he had accidentally achieved Thousand Forging before, his brows tightened. His own method of Thousand Forging came to him: infuse the ore or metal with life force in advance, then, combined with his unique understanding, complete it in one go!

Though he had never forged this kind of metal, according to Gu You's own philosophy, if some metals could adapt to this method, then most of them should be able to do the same.

He continued hammering, repeatedly returning the ore to the forge for reheating. Hundred Forging had begun to take shape. Though it was called Hundred Forging, Gu You had struck it far more than a hundred times, and every blow required his full strength. Otherwise, even if the Ice Crystal deformed beneath the hammer, it would quickly rebound.

With his Soul Power and martial soul enhancing him, Gu You felt that a single punch of his carried around two hundred jin of force.

Hundred Forging was the foundation of Thousand Forging. Only after completing the purification of Hundred Forging could one continue refining it further.

He swung both hammers again. Gu You's face was flushed red, and he panted heavily. It was not only because of the high temperature around the forge; more importantly, using his full strength with every strike consumed an enormous amount of stamina. It was like Feng Wuyu's training yesterday, except that with Soul Power enhancing him this time, he could endure longer. Furthermore, the life force had to be infused into the Ice Crystal, so Gu You absorbed very little himself. The special effect the Life Essence Hammer bestowed upon its owner naturally vanished as well. Still, it was not all bad. After all, adding life force to the Ice Crystal greatly increased the chance of succeeding at Thousand Forging.

By the middle stage of forging, Gu You began to hold back his strength. It was not merely to conserve stamina; more importantly, the impurities within the Ice Crystal had basically been removed. Generally speaking, it was impossible to eliminate all impurities after Hundred Forging, but Ice Crystal Ore was special. Buried beneath the extreme north all year round, it possessed a natural affinity with the ice element, leaving it with very few impurities. This also meant that once he reached the goal of a thousand hammer strikes and sublimation, he could complete Thousand Forging. It was somewhat easier.

Even Gu You did not know that the strength of one's Spiritual Power also determined one's comprehension. After enduring the pain of hammering, Gu You's Spiritual Power had grown noticeably.

Spiritual Power undoubtedly allowed Gu You to focus more deeply while forging, and for longer periods as well.

When Long Yali of the Spirit Pagoda tested his Spiritual Power, it had already reached seventy-four. Now, it might be nearing one hundred.

An hour passed, and the Ice Crystal began to solidify. A faint golden glow started to radiate from the snowy-blue crystal.

Three hours passed. The Ice Crystal had shrunk by two-thirds and now resembled a square blue gemstone. Its surface was milky white, with what seemed to be golden light flickering within.

Gu You's clothes were already soaked through with sweat. After every hammer strike, he had to pause for a while to recover his strength.

Though the progress was slow, during these three hours, Gu You had already communicated with the Ice Crystal.

If one looked closely, they would discover tiny indentations at each of the Ice Crystal's four corners. They were all identical in size, and no one knew how many times each corner had been hammered.

Every faint recoil, every sound produced by his strikes, and every vibration of the Ice Crystal itself when struck told Gu You about its properties.

Gu You took a long breath. He was about to exert himself!

After two hours of careful sensing, he had already grasped the characteristics of this metal. It was time for Thousand Forging Sublimation.

Immediately afterward, loud hammering rang out in rapid succession.

The furnace's intensity control was below. He held it down and turned it to maximum, and orange-red flames erupted from the ring of vents around it, scorching the Ice Crystal.

Though he was exhausted, whenever Gu You's arms began to ache, a stream of heat would rise from his spine and instantly flow through his limbs, easing the soreness in his arms. At the same time, he constantly directed Soul Power into both arms to maintain his strength.

Perfect purification? Feng Wuyu was stunned. This meant that as long as Gu You's hammering did not stop and he continued sensing the Ice Crystal, he could successfully complete Thousand Forging. As for sublimation? The life force from the Life Essence Hammers continuously pouring into the Ice Crystal was the best proof. No sublimation effect could compare to possessing an unceasing breath of life. In other words, from the very beginning, sublimation had already been destined through the hammering of the Life Essence Hammers!

Though he already knew the answer in his heart, how could Feng Wuyu not be shocked as he watched a six-year-old Thousand Forging prodigy appear before his very eyes?