Zhao Shiyan first walked over to one side and rummaged around for a while. He carefully picked out a piece of Mysterious Iron with excellent quality and appearance from the wooden basket, tossed it into the furnace, and began preparing to forge it.
Lu Lin's gaze shifted slightly.
Mysterious Iron, Azure Iron, Refined Iron, and the like were among the most common general-purpose metals. Even here in Douluo Continent, where metal resources were relatively scarce, they were not rare, and were among the first choices for making some low-level Soul Tools and weapons.
Rare metals such as Mithril and Demon Silver, on the other hand, were far less abundant here in Douluo Continent than on Sun Moon Continent.
This was one of the reasons the Sun Moon Empire's Soul Tool technology had such a vast lead over Douluo Continent's.
A short while later, the Mysterious Iron was heated through.
Zhao Shiyan skillfully used iron tongs to lift out the glowing-hot piece of Mysterious Iron. Holding a hammer in one hand, he planted his feet and began forging with practiced ease.
Thud—
The first hammer blow came crashing down with tremendous force.
Lu Lin, watching and learning from the side, looked on in amazement.
He keenly noticed that, unlike before, Zhao Shiyan was using Soul Power as he forged.
And he wasn't simply using Soul Power to help him hammer the metal, as Lu Lin did. He was truly infusing his Soul Power into the Mysterious Iron.
That single blow had already removed many of the impurities in the Mysterious Iron.
So this was what real forging looked like!
It seemed that the forging profession hadn't developed into a system of its own on Douluo Continent and flourished in the era of Dragon King Legend for no reason. It wasn't as simple as it appeared on the surface.
Still, it was a profession that demanded a great deal of talent.
Lu Lin remembered that Tang Wulin's talent for forging was practically top-tier.
Yet even he had started learning to forge at six, and with the renowned master Mang Tian teaching him, it had still taken him two or three years before he began working on Thousand Forgings.
Besides, that kid had the Golden Dragon King's bloodline. He was practically born to be a forging prodigy.
At last, Lu Lin had developed some interest in the forging profession.
Before, he had only treated forging as a way to improve his physique.
Zhao Shiyan's teaching style was as simple and blunt as ever.
He didn't explain anything. He only demonstrated in front of Lu Lin, leaving it up to Lu Lin's own insight to grasp as much as he could.
Only when Lu Lin asked a question would he explain.
What he didn't mention was that Lu Lin had already stumbled into the method of Hundred Forgings from the very beginning.
Since he couldn't lift the Forging Hammer, he had to find a way to use Soul Power to help.
Unfortunately, the kid's physical condition was too poor. If only his Martial Soul were something like a hammer, then he could have gone much further on the path of forging...
Lu Lin had no idea that Zhao Shiyan regretted his Martial Soul wasn't a hammer.
He simply stood to one side, carefully studying Zhao Shiyan's Hundred Forgings technique: when he infused Soul Power, how long he quenched the metal, and so on. He rehearsed it over and over in his mind.
In Lu Lin's view, Zhao Shiyan's movements grew faster and faster. The hammer blurred through the air, like an endless rain of blows falling on the glowing-red iron.
Under Zhao Shiyan's repeated hammering and the penetration of his Soul Power, the Mysterious Iron visibly shrank and grew more compact.
Time slipped by with every blow Zhao Shiyan struck.
"Vrrm—!"
When Zhao Shiyan brought down the final blow with an air of effortless ease, the piece of Mysterious Iron had shrunk to nearly half its original size. Its surface gleamed with a restrained luster, plain and unadorned.
It was utterly different from the Mysterious Iron before forging, as if it had been reborn as a different metal.
Hundred Forgings, complete!
"It's ready."
Zhao Shiyan set down his Forging Hammer and spoke to the man, gesturing for him to come over and inspect the goods.
The man stepped forward as asked, picked up the Hundred-Forged Mysterious Iron, and turned it over in his hands. Then he nodded in satisfaction.
The ring on his middle finger flashed blue, and the Hundred-Forged Mysterious Iron in his hand disappeared.
A Storage Soul Tool?
A hint of surprise flashed through Lu Lin's eyes.
He hadn't expected this man, who seemed to be a Soul Engineer, to own a Storage Soul Tool.
Then, after thinking it over, he found it understandable.
After all, this wasn't the era of Spirit Hall nine thousand years ago. Sun Moon Continent and Douluo Continent had collided, and Soul Tools had long since become widespread.
Basic Soul Tools were no longer as scarce as they had been nine thousand years ago. At least for Soul Masters with a decent amount of wealth, getting a Storage Soul Tool wasn't difficult.
Besides, Frostwind City, where Lu Lin lived, wasn't some small town. It was one of the major cities in the southern part of the Star Luo Empire.
Even an ordinary junior academy wouldn't have a big shot like Liu Yanchi, a Soul Ancestor, stationed there.
After putting away the Hundred-Forged Mysterious Iron, the Soul Engineer took out a heavy gray cloth pouch and tossed it to Zhao Shiyan. Without even looking up, Zhao Shiyan caught it with ease.
Was forging really that profitable?
Lu Lin was slightly startled. Judging by its weight, the little pouch held at least forty or fifty Gold Soul Coins, possibly even more.
Still, Zhao Shiyan had gone three years without a big job, so one big job could feed him for three years.
At least, in the more than two months Lu Lin had been here, this was the first time he had seen Zhao Shiyan land such a large order.
After receiving the Hundred-Forged Mysterious Iron, the Soul Engineer didn't linger. He turned and left the Giant Rock Blacksmith Shop without hesitation.
Looking at Lu Lin, whose brow was furrowed in thought, Zhao Shiyan suddenly asked, "Did you understand?"
"Not really, but I learned a lot."
Lu Lin answered honestly.
Zhao Shiyan gave a slight nod. "Once you can complete Hundred Forgings Purification, you can call yourself a proper blacksmith. Take your time."
Zhao Shiyan knew his own abilities best. Though he made Hundred Forgings look easy now, that was only because practice made perfect.
It was only after he obtained his second Soul Ring and became a Soul Grandmaster that he could complete Hundred Forgings on his own and truly become a blacksmith.
Hearing this, Lu Lin nodded thoughtfully.
He still remembered some of the descriptions of the forging system from the original story.
Hundred Forgings Purification, Thousand Forgings Sublimation.
If a blacksmith could complete Thousand Forgings, they could be considered a true master of the craft.
But Thousand Forgings seemed to require at least the Soul Power of a Soul Elder. Tang Wulin had simply been cheating; he couldn't be treated as an ordinary blacksmith.
And Zhao Shiyan was only a Soul Grandmaster, so it seemed he hadn't reached the level of Thousand Forgings either.
This wasn't to say Lu Lin looked down on Zhao Shiyan.
The two of them hadn't formally become master and disciple.
Under the circumstances, Zhao Shiyan was still willing to teach him the Hundred Forgings method without reservation. Lu Lin was already very grateful.
After a brief conversation, Zhao Shiyan told him to leave.
The next day, Lu Lin officially began trying Hundred Forgings Purification.
Of course, Lu Lin didn't forget his regular duties.
For the first two hours, he continued with the work he'd done over the previous two months—hammering iron blanks or helping Zhao Shiyan forge simple ironware, farm tools, weapons, and the like.
Only after finishing those two hours of work did Lu Lin use Soul Power to help with forging and test the waters of Hundred Forgings.
That's right, he extended the time he spent at the blacksmith shop each day to three hours.
Zhao Shiyan didn't say anything about Lu Lin taking the initiative. In the third month, he simply raised Lu Lin's wages to two Silver Soul Coins.
On one hand, he admired Lu Lin's character: he was grounded, steady, and never arrogant. Besides, Lu Lin truly had talent.
At the same time, he felt even more regret over Lu Lin's extremely poor physical condition.
Once he truly began working on Hundred Forgings, Lu Lin helplessly discovered that Hundred Forgings Purification was still far beyond him at this point.
The first problem was that the meager Soul Power in his body couldn't sustain the demands of Hundred Forgings. The way he'd previously used Soul Power to assist was just barely enough.
The second problem was that infusing Soul Power into the iron blank while forging was incredibly difficult, let alone removing the metal's impurities and changing its properties.
Fortunately, at least he had something to look forward to.
Using the Hundred Forgings method to forge iron blanks produced better results than before.
At least he was earning the wages Zhao Shiyan paid him.
Time slipped by.
One day, in the small woods behind the academy.
Two and a half years had passed since Lu Lin's Martial Soul Awakening.
In the faint light of dawn,
Lu Lin opened his eyes as he sat on a rock and slowly breathed out the stale air in his lungs.
A violent surge of Soul Power rose from his body. At that moment, his Soul Power Level officially broke through to 10.
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