Spirit Awakening

This...

Qian Chaoguang had no idea what was going on. He could only try it first and see.

He raised his hammer and lightly tapped the metal before him with the one in his right hand.

Ding...

A lingering, melodious hum rang out, reaching his ears with perfect clarity.

Qian Chaoguang's gaze sharpened. His right arm swung around, and he fiercely brought the hammer down upon the metal.

Clang...

Another long, resonant echo.

What had happened?

There was no teacher to guide him. He could only rely on himself for everything.

The Spiritual Power cultivated through the Spirit Communication Art spread outward under his control, continuously sensing the condition of the metal before him amid the scorching heat.

The emotional power it fed back to him seemed to have grown stronger?

It was far more apparent than before.

After a moment of hesitation, Qian Chaoguang swung his hammer again. The clanging of metal rang continuously through the Forging Room like rain striking banana leaves.

As he continued forging, it felt as though something inside Qian Chaoguang was being awakened.

The Extreme Ice Light Martial Soul released a faint glow across his chest.

Had the power of ice weakened?

Was that just my imagination?

Focused on forging, Qian Chaoguang had no time to investigate the mysteries of his Martial Soul. Instead, he devoted All Energy to forging the metal before him.

With every strike, the metal block steadily shrank. Specks of light actually appeared across its surface, as though something within it was about to be born.

At the same time, Qian Chaoguang clearly sensed that the feedback was becoming increasingly distinct. The emotions emanating from the metal were incredibly vivid, as if a real person were speaking with him.

Hum...

With each hammer strike, the light on the metal gradually connected into one whole, resonating with a low hum.

What he was forging was a piece of Flame Iron, a metal with exceptional temperature conductivity that was often used to make fire-element Soul Tools.

Once it was entirely covered in light, an even more intense heat erupted from within the Flame Iron, nearly melting the anvil.

To do a good job, one must first sharpen one's tools.

With the two Thousand Forgings Azurite Hammers, Qian Chaoguang easily entered a state of fusion, forming a wondrous connection with the Flame Iron.

In this state, the metal absorbed the blacksmith's emotions and ideals, often giving birth to an exceptional creation.

Boom!

As the next hammer fell, the Flame Iron erupted with unprecedented brilliance, and the temperature in the Forging Room soared dramatically in that instant.

Qian Chaoguang swiftly grabbed a glass bottle full of blood from his left and hurled it toward the Flame Iron.

Glass collided with metal and shattered into countless fragments.

The blood inside splashed over the metal, stirring up another wave of heat.

Blood Sacrifice Thousand Forgings, complete.

He hurriedly opened the door to the Forging Room and released Extreme Ice Light to cool it down.

If he delayed any longer, some of the dry furniture would surely catch fire.

Mm?

When Extreme Ice Light illuminated the entire Forging Room, Qian Chaoguang keenly noticed something was off.

The icy power contained within it truly was weaker than before, and its temperature was no longer as low as it had been.

This...

All he could say was that this Martial Soul was truly strange...

Looking at the Thousand Forged Flame Iron radiating heat throughout the Forging Room, Qian Chaoguang decided to set the matter of his Martial Soul aside as he had before and ignore it.

Still, the post-Blood Sacrifice enhancement effect of this Azurite Iron was really something!

With its assistance, this Thousand Forging had been remarkably easy. At the very least, it had saved him half the hard work.

Since that was the case, he might as well call this enhancement effect Spirit Awakening.

Perhaps ten thousand years from now, this Spirit Awakening effect would not be considered especially outstanding, merely ranking in the middle among top-tier effects.

But in this era, when Spiritual Forging had barely taken its first steps, it was undeniably a top-tier effect.

The blacksmiths of this era did not lack Rare Metal, nor did they lack time. What they lacked was a way to push their forging even further.

With this pair of Azurite Spirit Awakening Hammers, Qian Chaoguang would face far less difficulty exploring Spiritual Forging in the future.

To him, this was the best top-tier effect.

Envisioning the road ahead, Qian Chaoguang slowly returned to the Forging Room.

The blazing orange-red light on the Flame Iron had already faded. It now resembled a flawless piece of red agate, quietly awaiting a master to carve it.

Mm...

I wonder what the Flame Iron's enhancement effect is?

His second Thousand Forging creation could not be wasted.

Three days later, on her birthday, Huo Yutong received a Dark Red grill, a Dark Red pot, and a gleaming silver set of knives.

Feeling the faint sense of connection coming from them, Huo Yutong could not put them down. She loved them dearly.

If Soul Masters of later generations witnessed this scene, they would surely cough up blood three times and cry out that it was an outrageous waste.

Such precious Thousand Forged Metal, and you were fucking using it to make kitchenware?

That was right. These two pieces of kitchenware had been made by Qian Chaoguang from the Flame Iron he had forged three days earlier.

Originally, he had wanted to use its extreme flame resistance to forge a piece of protective equipment for Huo Yutong to defend herself with.

But unexpectedly, the enhancement effects that appeared after the Flame Iron underwent Thousand Forging were Flame Attachment and Heat Resistance Enhancement.

Simply put, this thing could withstand extremely high temperatures without being damaged. Its temperature conductivity was excellent and uniform, and when stimulated with Soul Power, it could heat itself and retain heat. It was superb raw material for kitchenware.

After giving it some thought...

Qian Chaoguang decided to make better use of its strengths and turn it into two cooking utensils.

Huo Yutong herself happened to love cooking. Wasn't the point of giving gifts to suit the recipient's tastes?

Afterward, he used over ten pieces of high-quality Hundred Forgings Star Steel to create a full set of sturdy knives based on various advanced designs from Blue Star.

He had never used them himself, but according to Huo Yutong, they were quite handy.

Late at night, Qian Chaoguang did not continue cultivating for once. Instead, he picked up a pen and wrote something on a sheet of paper.

Upon closer inspection, it was actually a Douluo Calendar marked with Arabic numerals and Chinese.

His and Huo Yutong's birthdays were both in January. In other words, there were still twelve months and a few days until Shrek began classes.

The entire break was Shrek's enrollment period, lasting until the night before school began.

Old Butler had once told him that Shrek took a month-long holiday every January and officially began classes on February 1st.

Based on this, Qian Chaoguang bought a copy of the Continental Common Calendar and worked backward according to the time descriptions in the Original Work.

Subtracting six days for travel, a short period for Huo Yuhao's fusion with Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, an unknown amount of time for exploration and the battle with the Mandala Snake, over two hours for Tang Ya to absorb her Soul Ring, another five days to reach Shrek, and three days spent waiting within Shrek, Qian Chaoguang arrived at a rough estimate for the point when the events of the Original Work would occur.

The Huo Yuhao of the Original Work should have set off around the sixteenth or seventeenth and encountered Sky Dream Ice Silkworm around noon on the twenty-first, at the southern edge of the Star Dou Great Forest.

He rubbed his temples and sighed lightly.

The time descriptions in the text were mostly vague. Reducing the margin of error to within three days was already the limit.

For the time ahead, he should continue diligently cultivating the Spirit Communication Art.

If he could advance early into the next stage, Condensing Divine Sense, his chances of attracting Sky Dream Ice Silkworm would increase by a little more.

If Sky Dream Ice Silkworm truly ignored him, then he would have no choice but to stand at the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest like an idiot and shout, "With sun and moon in hand, I pluck the stars; there is no one else in this world like me," to draw Electrolux's attention.

Hopefully...

Everything would go smoothly. After all, Plan B was just too stupid...