Replacing Soul Power with Bloodline Power

Soul Power continuously passed through the hammer strikes and infused into the ice crystal. Gu You's Spiritual Power spun at high speed, yet the ice crystal was like a bottomless pit, endlessly devouring his Soul Power and Spiritual Power. The expenditure far exceeded the supply.

He had to succeed—and he had to succeed spectacularly. Otherwise, his three years of painstaking study would have been for nothing.

Three years of tempering, three years of accumulation, all erupted at this moment. Driven by his powerful will, Gu You fully unleashed his own potential.

With his potential stimulated, every hammer strike and every exchange with the ice crystal was perfectly timed. The ice crystal underwent continual wondrous changes, and as Gu You maintained his connection with it, those changes guided him to perform even better.

During Spirit Forging, the greatest fear was losing one's connection with the rare metal. If the construction of life did not continue, then once that happened, the rare metal would instantly lose all spirituality and become ordinary metal. It would not even qualify as Thousand Refinement anymore. That was why Spirit Forging consumed so many resources.

Countless blacksmiths had been stuck at the Spirit Forging stage, unable to complete it even in their entire lifetimes. Aside from their own aptitude, the issue was that their money could not keep up. The success rate for Spirit Forging masters trained by great clans was higher because they had enough resources to throw at the process, forcibly hammering out Spirit Forging through sheer investment.

Gu You moved faster and faster. If he knew Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, this process would have gone even more smoothly. Unfortunately, he could not learn it.

The blue flames of light grew increasingly intense, while the ice crystal steadily shrank. Influenced by those flames, the Life Essence Hammers in Gu You's hands also emitted a green glow, faint golden patterns appearing across them. Those were the traces left behind by Gu You's blood sacrifice Spirit Forging.

Over the years, he had continuously used this pair of Life Essence Hammers for forging. He had no idea how many works he had made with them or how much money he had earned.

Now, as they struck the ice crystal, they themselves formed a wondrous connection with it. Together with the ice crystal, they changed little by little.

His Soul Power was being consumed far too quickly. Only ten minutes had passed since the Spirit Forging began, yet Gu You's Soul Power was already close to running dry. Without Soul Power as a bridge, his Spirit Forging could not continue. His earlier communication had been extremely smooth, but once his Soul Power was cut off, that communication would break as well. If the Spirit Forging failed, this ice crystal would become scrap. By then, having already gained a certain degree of spirituality, it would erupt with intense resentment and backlash against the blacksmith.

Even a four-ring Soul Master would need a long time to recover after suffering such backlash, let alone Gu You, who only had three rings. It might become a devastating injury from which he could never recover.

His Soul Power was nearly exhausted, yet the Spirit Forging was still incomplete. This piece of refined silver had already begun to possess the aura of life, like a tiny life form he had personally nurtured. It needed more vitality to complete its cycle and construct its own life system.

What should he do?

This was where the Milk Bottle showed its use.

A vast yet gentle stream of Soul Power continuously replenished Gu You, instantly restoring him to his peak state of Soul Power.

"Brilliant!"

Zhen Hua could not help but cry out. So it could be done this way. Why had he never considered using a Milk Bottle to replenish Soul Power before? It seemed that age had made his mind slow. His gaze fell upon the special gourd-shaped Soul Guide Milk Bottle at Gu You's waist, and countless thoughts ran through his mind. If so, the forging world would inevitably be stirred by a storm. Even with low Soul Power, one could still forge items of a higher grade.

Gu You made a bold decision. He suddenly switched the hammers to his left hand, gripping the pair of ice crystal hammers in it and continuing to strike, while his right hand pressed directly onto the refined silver.

Sizzle! White smoke rose, and Gu You's palm trembled violently. That was an extremely high temperature! If it had been an ordinary person, merely touching it would have been enough for the thousand-degree heat to melt their body.

But Gu You did not melt. White smoke only rose from his palm, while a purple-blue soul ring appeared along with purple scales on his arm.

He was insane!

Zhen Hua was naturally curious about the origins of that unusually colored soul ring, but stopping the Milk Bottle's supply of Soul Power now was completely and utterly a mistake. What was this child doing?

Zhen Hua had exceptionally sharp insight when it came to blacksmiths, but his understanding of Soul Masters' martial souls and bloodlines was quite limited. He had only heard of Bloodline Power, never seen it in person.

"Hah!" Gu You shouted. His forehead was already covered in sweat, and the intense pain seemed to be forcibly suppressed by that cry.

The connection continued, but what replaced his Soul Power was his own Bloodline Power. Gu You no longer used the Milk Bottle's supply!

He was testing whether his Bloodline Power was truly abundant. Furthermore, after the previous battle, Gu You had discovered that the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear palm bone had completely fused with his dragon claw. His right dragon claw should now have a new name: the Purple Emperor Dreadclaws. At the same time, the destructive power of this individual soul bone skill had become even greater.

With that shout, the clothes on his upper body suddenly exploded, revealing his sturdy physique. Zhen Hua could clearly see dense purple diamond-shaped scales covering Gu You's right arm, spreading all the way to his shoulder and right chest. Every one of those scales shone with dazzling brilliance.

Purple-gold mist rose from the purple scales on Gu You's right hand, enveloping the ice crystal. At the same time, he continued circling it, his left hand wielding the twin hammers as they relentlessly struck the ice crystal's sides.

Only after sensing the majestic, boiling aura of blood in the air did Zhen Hua indirectly confirm that it truly was Bloodline Power belonging to a dragon bloodline. This was his first time seeing it.

At the instant Bloodline Power replaced Soul Power, Gu You clearly sensed that the life force within the ice crystal was about to collapse. In that moment, his heart leaped into his throat.

However, the instant he pressed his right hand onto it—before the scales had even appeared—Gu You's blood flowed out as it was burned. Strangely, that blood seemed to seal the ice crystal's life force, forcibly stabilizing the life force on the verge of dispersing.

Gu You's Bloodline Power surged forth. The ice crystal's originally brilliant blue glow immediately gained a faint layer of purple, with weak golden light curling around it.

Using Bloodline Power in place of Soul Power?

Zhen Hua was utterly dumbfounded. Was this kid really so bold?

Gu You's eyes shone brightly. It really worked. His Bloodline Power really could replace Soul Power for Spirit Forging. If he had not been unfamiliar with it and had released the scales earlier during the transition, the palm of his right hand would not even have been burned.

His blood surged, and the powerful Bloodline Power made the blood within Gu You's body rush with a roaring sound. As the Bloodline Power poured in, the ice crystal began changing more rapidly. The Life Essence Hammers in Gu You's hands pounded at astonishing speed, yet strangely, when they struck the ice crystal again, it actually began to show signs of breaking down. With every hammer blow, it seemed as though a portion of the ice crystal stuck to the hammers and was absorbed into the Life Essence Hammers.