Zhen Hua Takes Over

Zhen Hua took in everyone's expressions. "I attempted Heaven Forging countless times, but never succeeded."

"Then, by chance, I gave up my forging hammers and chose to focus my mind, using my heart as a guide to communicate with Spirit Forged metal that had developed intelligence. My goal was to better understand the metal's emotional changes and limits of endurance when facing tribulation lightning. But doing so would make the tribulation lightning's impact on me far more intense. One moment of carelessness could leave me severely injured, so I had never dared to do this before for the sake of my own safety."

"But I never expected that this all-or-nothing attempt would cause the Spirit Forged metal to take on my appearance under the guidance of my heart. The change delighted me beyond measure. I quickly comprehended the laws of Heaven and Earth, triggering elemental resonance. Then four elemental tribulation bolts descended, preparing to perfect the law imprint and achieve Heaven Forging in one stroke. When the first tribulation bolt fell, I finally discovered an anomaly that I had failed to notice through hundreds, even thousands, of previous failures. There was another exceedingly faint spiritual essence within the metal."

The Saint Craftsman-level blacksmiths present abruptly narrowed their eyes. One of them could not help cutting in. "Is this the metal's instinctive spiritual essence that you mentioned, President?"

"That's right." Zhen Hua nodded. "But that spiritual essence could not even last half a second before it was directly extinguished by the tribulation lightning. Or rather, it was only because I used my heart as a guide to communicate with it that I discovered this spiritual essence forced out by the tribulation lightning."

"When the second tribulation bolt arrived, the metal's life level suddenly declined by at least sixty percent. It could not possibly withstand the following tribulation bolts, so the Heaven Forging attempt failed once again."

"In the past, I would have felt regret and anger. But this time, I was delighted. I had clearly bestowed spiritual essence upon the metal during Thousand Forging with Spirit. Why, then, did it still conceal another spiritual essence when it came to Heaven Forging?"

"Following that discovery, I immersed myself in Thousand Forging with Spirit for three whole months, testing more than five hundred kinds of metal. In the end, I discovered the metal's instinctive spiritual essence."

"The reason Heaven Forging fails is entirely due to the external spiritual essence we bestow upon the metal. It occupies the dominant position over the metal's instinctive spiritual essence. Thus, by the time of Heaven Forging, the external spiritual essence has undergone repeated forging and grown into a towering tree, while the instinctive spiritual essence has received not the slightest nourishment. When faced with tribulation lightning, it is like a sapling, naturally extinguished in an instant."

"The destruction of instinctive spiritual essence is like the destruction of a human soul. Even if someone placed a new soul in your body, would that still be you?"

"A piece of metal incapable of controlling its body with its own spiritual essence will never be able to pass through tribulation lightning and complete its ascension."

Zhen Hua clearly understood just how astonishing today's lecture would be. He had even arranged for cameras to record the entire event so it could circulate online in the future. In a deep voice, he said:

"Remember this: a metal's instinctive spiritual essence is like a child who has closed off their inner world. When we bestow external spiritual essence upon it at Thousand Forging Grade One, we must spare no cost in pouring in Spiritual Power and Soul Power, allowing that external spiritual essence to become friends with the metal's instinctive spiritual essence and lead it out of its closed world."

"Afterward, we use the instinctive spiritual essence as the foundation and the external spiritual essence as support, completing the subsequent forging step by step."

"Until Heaven Forging!"

With that final word, an entirely new door opened for every blacksmith. In an instant, everyone rose to their feet and offered their most sincere applause without reservation.

Perhaps Heaven Forging was unimaginably distant for most of them, something they might never attain in their lives. But compared to a road shrouded in fog with no sense of direction, a forging path with a clear destination was far more inspiring.

Nan Liujing applauded from the bottom of his heart as well.

Zhen Hua had discovered the reason behind Heaven Forging's failures through relentless experimentation. Without an unyielding heart, no one could have persisted for so long.

What was more, despite reaching such heights, he had not kept his discoveries hidden. Instead, he had chosen to reveal them generously. To countless blacksmiths who made their living through forging, this was an immense favor.

He could even have selected people from within the Blacksmith Association and taught them privately, preventing blacksmiths from other factions from learning it. After all, if another faction produced a Divine Craftsman, it would be a tremendous blow to the Blacksmith Association. Yet he had not concealed anything, displaying it openly and unafraid of challenges.

Zhen Hua raised his hand again, and the applause gradually quieted.

He smiled. "All right, that concludes my insights on Heaven Forging. Most of the blacksmiths here today seem rather young. Good. Then I'll find someone and take over their Thousand Forging."

So-called taking over meant that a higher-level blacksmith would bring a lower-level blacksmith into their rhythm, allowing them to experience a higher level of forging.

Upon hearing that a Divine Craftsman would personally step in to take over, the venue immediately became lively. Countless people raised their hands.

Zhen Hua did not choose any of them. Instead, his gaze settled on Nan Liujing as he said with a faint smile, "Would you like to come up and try?"

Ye Changming and Ye Xinglan looked at Nan Liujing in surprise.

Nan Liujing was proactive. Under the astonished gazes of more than a thousand people, he calmly stepped forward.

Although his body had developed much faster than that of an ordinary six-year-old because he was a Soul Master, his face still looked far too young.

No one could understand why Zhen Hua had chosen him.

Zhen Hua asked, "Have you ever tried forging?"

"No," Nan Liujing answered honestly.

Zhen Hua smiled. "Then we'll have to change things up for this demonstration. You only need to hold the forging hammers." Light flashed in his hand, and a pair of forging hammers appeared. Their hammerheads were white, yet faint pale-blue mist drifted around them, making them look exceptionally mystical.

They were Spirit Forged hammers that could be stored within flesh and blood.

Nan Liujing took them. They did not feel particularly heavy, as though some force was supporting him.

Before everyone's eyes, Zhen Hua placed a dull gray block of metal into the forge and heated it.

Once the heating was complete, the glowing-red Heavy Silver emerged.

Zhen Hua stood behind Nan Liujing, feet slightly apart, back straight, right hand raised.

Like a puppet on strings, Nan Liujing followed suit.

This kind of demonstration was truly one of a kind. The blacksmiths, who had initially been surprised, all became curious.

The forging hammer suddenly swung out. The sound of it tearing through the air swept forth, ripping apart the rolling heat waves rising from the heated metal as it smashed into one side of the Heavy Silver. With a bang, sparks scattered everywhere. Yet the forging hammer did not rebound. Instead, it adhered to the Heavy Silver as vortex-like vibrations drilled deep inside. Even the entire forging platform let out a dull rumble.

Experienced blacksmiths all knew that this was one of the forging hammer's special effects, called "Tremor." It was an exceptional effect with remarkable results in removing impurities from metal.

Nan Liujing clearly felt a powerful recoil spread up from his palm, but most of it was easily absorbed by the hammer. It seemed Zhen Hua had deliberately allowed him to experience it without making him bear the full force of the recoil.

Two seconds later, another hammer fell, this time on the other side.

After those two strikes, faint silver radiance actually seeped from the Heavy Silver, while silver, sand-like powdered impurities separated from within it.

The Hundred Forging purification was complete.

An unusual fluctuation emerged from within the Heavy Silver as the purification ended, and it was caught by both the forging hammer and Nan Liujing.

Nan Liujing and Zhen Hua's expressions changed almost at the same time.

A smile curved Zhen Hua's lips. Through the feedback from the forging hammer, he began the demonstration in an orderly fashion. His speed was not fast, enough for the young blacksmiths to see clearly.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Nan Liujing held the forging hammer, each strike landing slowly. Silver powdered impurities continuously peeled away from the Heavy Silver, though they gradually became scarcer.

What outsiders did not know was that the forging had now almost become a process led by Nan Liujing, with Zhen Hua assisting him.

Nan Liujing's exceptional physical strength had clearly reassured Zhen Hua.

Zhen Hua wanted to test more, and Nan Liujing could not be bothered to hide it, so he simply displayed it.

Somehow, a voice guided Nan Liujing toward where he should strike. Even with Zhen Hua's assistance, Nan Liujing's Spiritual Power and Soul Power consumption remained pitifully low compared to a blacksmith of the same master level. Every thread of energy was released with the precision of a surgeon's hand, never wasting the slightest bit. The metal's "illness" was almost gone, and dim radiance surfaced from it. It had clearly taken on the beginnings of Thousand Forging.

As the pale-blue mist flowing across the forging hammer's surface entered it through "Tremor," the particles inside the Heavy Silver rapidly compressed together. Eventually, fine, dense dark patterns appeared over its surface, as deep as rolling waves.

When the final hammer fell, under the gaze of more than a thousand people in the hall, brilliant silver radiance suddenly surged from the Heavy Silver. It seemed to contain dazzling starlight and rose more than five feet high, lingering without fading.

"Thousand Forging Grade One."

Cheers quickly erupted throughout the hall.

Zhen Hua smiled. "How does it feel?"

Nan Liujing stared at the Thousand Forged Heavy Silver before him, and an unusual feeling arose within his heart.

There seemed to be an urgent voice inside it, telling him to keep going and not stop.

That was the instinctive spiritual essence activated by the bestowed external spiritual essence. At this point, as long as he performed Spirit Forging and gave it life, it could become a piece of Spirit Forged metal.

This was the advantage of activating instinctive spiritual essence. Usually, if one suddenly stopped forging after reaching Thousand Forging Grade One, the external spiritual essence would fall dormant. Fusion Forging would then be required to reactivate it before Spirit Forging could begin. But this spiritual essence, with instinct as its foundation and external essence as support, was like it had chewed a pack of gum—it simply could not stop.

"Uncle Zhen, can I experience Spirit Forging?" Nan Liujing did not disappoint the metal's spiritual essence.

"Of course." Zhen Hua laughed loudly. Under the stunned gazes of everyone in the hall, he actually began another round of taking over.

The reason Spirit Forging consumed so much Soul Power, Spiritual Power, vitality, and even mental focus was because one had to give life to the spiritual essence without allowing it to stray. Like a father, one had to encourage it to take the steps necessary for growth.

A martial soul and Soul Power were the bridge that kept the path between the outside world and the metal's interior open. Spiritual Power, meanwhile, was the tool that allowed one to control the forging rhythm. Once Spiritual Power was greatly depleted and control became chaotic, the spiritual essence would become like cars on a highway, gradually veering all over the place before ultimately crashing into the roadside and causing the forging to fail.

The process was like a circular image loading bit by bit and gradually revealing itself. If something went wrong, it would freeze or lose connection.

But if one remained steady throughout, the spiritual essence would sense one's life aura through the bridge one had built and the guidance of Spiritual Power. It would continuously absorb the life elements between Heaven and Earth through the blacksmith, combining them with its own vitality to ultimately build its own life system.

The expenditure was immense. Even with Zhen Hua assisting him, Nan Liujing could clearly feel that he did not have much Soul Power left.

After all, he was only a one-ring Soul Master. Even if the spiritual essence was practically rushing to be doted on by him, he was becoming somewhat powerless.

Yet at that moment, something happened that astonished Zhen Hua once more.

Whenever Nan Liujing lightly struck the metal and guided the spiritual essence away from straying, invisible Heaven and Earth Origin Energy would always gather around him, helping him hold on. As a result, the forging time was extended several times over.

Zhen Hua thought to himself, This child isn't merely compatible with metal. He also has an exceptional affinity for Heaven and Earth Origin Energy. No, I need to ask Sun Kong for him. Sun Kong will most likely teach this child forging anyway, so it would be better for me to do it.

With neither wife nor children, and with his whole heart devoted to forging, Zhen Hua wanted nothing more than to take in a disciple who satisfied him. Now that such a disciple had been delivered right to his doorstep, refusing him would be letting down his ancestors.

The thousand-plus spectators in the hall slowly widened their eyes, because the brilliant silver light radiating from the Heavy Silver on the forging platform was growing increasingly intense.

Zhen Hua stepped back, pulling Nan Liujing with him. Then he gripped both hammers tightly and delivered the final strike to the Heavy Silver.

Boom!

Amid a deep, thunderous blast, a streak of silver flame burst from the Heavy Silver and shot several feet into the air. Before everyone's eyes, it transformed into a cloud of light. A faintly visible Thunder Dragon swam through it, and throughout the enormous hall, an excited dragon's roar could be heard.

Even those who were not blacksmiths could hear the joy within that dragon's roar. It was the most sincere greeting offered to the world upon its birth.

The flame persisted for a full ten seconds before disappearing.

The Heavy Silver's surface was as smooth as crystal, yet its interior contained countless dark-blue lightning patterns, as though it had long since become a world of storm and tempest.

Since Nan Liujing had taken the lead in the forging, this piece of Heavy Silver had naturally been influenced by the Thunder Dragon Soul.

At the instant the forging ended, the two hammers Nan Liujing held tightly in his hands turned into streams of light and returned to Zhen Hua's body.

"How was it?" Zhen Hua laughed loudly.

Nan Liujing could clearly sense the spiritual essence within the Spirit Forged Heavy Silver constantly thanking him. The feeling was strange. A faint smile appeared on his lips as his voice spread throughout the hall through the amplification Soul Tool.

"Awesome!"

"Hahaha!"

The entire hall immediately broke into cheerful laughter.

A successfully forged piece of metal was exactly as Nan Liujing had said—utterly awesome.

The only things that could compare were the first gulp of ice-cold beer or cola in summer.

In the end, Zhen Hua gave this piece of Spirit Forged metal to Nan Liujing, but the Divine Craftsman's lesson did not end there.

Only after eight blacksmiths of different ranks had each raised the difficulties they encountered in forging, and Zhen Hua had explained them one by one, did this highly anticipated gathering officially come to an end.

People left reluctantly, while Zhen Hua came over to Nan Liujing's group. "Changming, it's getting late. Why don't you stay for lunch?"

"Sounds good. I've been craving Mu Ye's cooking for a long time." Ye Changming had quietly guessed why the other man had invited them to eat.

Forging in the original work is seriously messy, so I made quite a few secondary settings in many places. It's not that my own settings are better than the original's—I mainly did it to make them easier for me to remember.

The other professions are more or less the same. I haven't seen particularly detailed divisions of professional techniques.