One Step to Heaven! Myriad Forgings, Spirit Ascension!

Gu You's body spun continuously. Each hammer blow was heavier than the last, every strike seeming to carry all his strength. After the heavy hammer fell, the ice crystal was repeatedly nudged into minute adjustments of angle, each one perfectly timed. Its volume shrank at a visible rate.

Zhen Hua's expression was somewhat strange. It was the first time he had seen such a forging technique. It was too wild, yet incomparably meticulous in practice.

"I'll be leaving first." Yun Ming looked at Zhen Hua.

"Leaving? Where are you going? Isn't this child returning to Shrek?" Zhen Hua's eyes were filled with confusion.

"He isn't going back. He has his own plans, and I won't interfere. There are many matters to handle in the Inner Court, so I shouldn't stay long. Once he successfully becomes your disciple, he should tell you himself." Yun Ming stepped lightly into the void, leaving behind those words.

Zhen Hua did not ask further. After all, if Yun Ming wanted to leave, no one could stop him. He could only wait until Gu You finished forging. Perhaps then the answer would surface.

As they spoke, the ice crystal had already become transparent and gleaming beneath Gu You's relentless hammering. Its patterns gradually became refined and regular, while the booming strikes turned crisp and clear. This was clearly the result of the metal's quality continuously improving.

The hundred forgings were complete. Gu You's twin hammers began to move faster and faster, their power steadily increasing.

That was it. Exactly this feeling.

Zhen Hua was captivated by Gu You's forging method. It was wild without losing its gentleness, and gentle while carrying a streak of savagery.

Boom— A violent roar accompanied a streak of blue light shooting into the sky.

It was as if the ice crystal itself had let out a cry of joy. The blue light blooming from it was like a soaring dragon, rising a full three feet into the air and lingering without fading.

Gu You withdrew his twin hammers to his sides. His eyes had completely turned purple, and at the same time, three soul rings rose beneath his feet.

Thousand Forgings with Spirit, first-grade realm!

Two tangible rays of purple light shot three inches from Gu You's eyes. With a sliding step, he circled to the side of the ice crystal. His twin hammers lightly tapped the Thousand-Forged ice crystal, producing a crisp, pleasant "ding ding."

The Thousand-Forged ice crystal actually answered with its own "ding ding," as though responding to Gu You.

What was that?

Red?!

Zhen Hua rubbed his eyes, making sure he had not seen wrongly.

A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring! How had he obtained one? Leaving aside how rare ten-thousand-year soul rings were, the Federation had officially recorded only thirty-two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, including Sea Soul Beasts known to humanity.

This was practically a miracle. A three-ringed Soul Elder possessing a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring—no one would believe it, yet the truth stood right before his eyes. If this child truly grew up, he would surely become the next monstrous powerhouse.

Zhen Hua was no longer surprised. Or perhaps he had simply been shocked too many times already and had become calm instead. In any case, once Gu You finished forging, the answers should become clear.

Gu You began circling the Thousand-Forged ice crystal. In complete contrast to his earlier violent forging, his hammer strikes were now exceptionally light. Yet one could clearly see a gentle greenish-white golden glow contained within his twin hammers. It was unmistakably his own Soul Power, along with the life force originally contained in the hammers themselves.

At the same time, purple Dragon Scales began covering Gu You's entire body. Powerful Dragon Might swept through the surroundings, its aura slowly spiraling upward and winding around the blazing ice crystal as purple mist continuously rose.

True Dragon Martial Soul...

Zhen Hua narrowed his eyes. No wonder his strength was so great. His innate talent was simply extraordinary.

Thousand Forgings with Spirit bestowed the ice crystal with a semi-spiritual nature. While this spirituality was present, one used Martial Soul Spiritual Power as a bridge to communicate with it and help it shape life. That was the process of Spirit Forging.

Using the mind and spirit as a hammer, the Martial Soul as a guide, with heart and mind as one—Myriad Forgings Give Birth to Life. That was Spirit Forging.

Spirit Forging and Thousand Forgings were separated by a qualitative difference, just as battle armor could differ by only a single word while their power was worlds apart.

Spirit Forging allowed metal to ascend, transforming it into an entirely different realm. A blacksmith who reached the Spirit Forging level was no weaker than a Mecha Manufacturer or mecha designer of the same rank, and was even rarer.

Once one completed Spirit Forging and possessed even a single Spirit Forging work, one would become a fifth-rank blacksmithing grandmaster. This step was the most important one for any blacksmith.

Gu You could actually have received his fifth-rank Blacksmith Emblem long ago. However, Feng Wuyu believed that registering him would be far too conspicuous. A nine-year-old fifth-rank blacksmith—what kind of concept was that? Furthermore, Gu You's mastery of Spirit Forging had not been stable at the time, and he often failed. To keep Gu You from losing confidence, Feng Wuyu had pulled many strings to specially customize and register a provisional fifth-rank special Blacksmith Emblem for him. The Federation had also issued proof acknowledging it.

Back then, Zhen Hua had paid countless prices before successfully taking this step. Now, seeing someone so young about to successfully forge a Spirit Forging work, Zhen Hua felt somewhat inferior. Yet he was also deeply gratified. At last, he could have an heir, and Gu You had already far surpassed the image he had imagined for his successor.

Compared with ordinary blacksmiths—or rather, blacksmiths of the same level—Gu You possessed an advantage in Spiritual Power. His Spirit Sea Realm Spiritual Power allowed him to clearly control everything and infuse a soul into the metal.

Gu You had already immersed himself in communicating with the ice crystal. He could sense the delight and faint timidity it conveyed. It seemed afraid to take that step, and Gu You's task was to guide it through this crucial threshold.

One step to heaven! Myriad Forgings Give Birth to Life.

Mental Myriad Forgings consisted of constant exchange and spiritual communication. Every light strike preserved the spirituality of the Thousand-Forged ice crystal, while Soul Power poured into it, guiding it to produce a life of its own.

It was like the cultivation of Soul Beasts. Ten-year Soul Beasts possessed intelligence no different from ordinary animals, while hundred-year Soul Beasts had already developed a certain spirituality. Upon reaching a thousand years, their vitality underwent a qualitative leap, and their intelligence gradually grew. By the time they became ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts, their intelligence was no longer inferior to that of humans.

The higher the level of a Soul Beast, the stronger it was—not merely because of the strength of its own energy, but also because of the improvement in its intelligence.

Metal was the same. The greater its spirituality, the more capable it was of improving itself and undergoing qualitative transformation.

A strange scene began to unfold. The already much-smaller Thousand-Forged ice crystal trembled continuously beneath Gu You's gentle strikes. The blue light bursting from it gradually began to change. Layers of purple patterns rotated softly like vortices, while its volume naturally shrank on its own. The blue-violet light surging from it also grew increasingly intense.

This meant that Gu You's communication with it was proceeding smoothly, and that the two had successfully formed a connection.

Now it depended on whether he could maintain that connection, continuously trigger the ice crystal's qualitative transformation, and ultimately complete the Spirit Ascension process.