He led Leng Yaozhu and Wang Chuan through another door beside the office and into his private forging studio.
The security level here was the Federation's highest. It was completely isolated from the outside world; only here could the sounds of forging be kept from leaking out in the slightest.
The studio was enormous, with specially made metal display racks lining both walls.
Various metal ingots of different colors and shapes were arranged by category upon them. Some gave off a faint glow, while others appeared plain and unremarkable despite containing strange fluctuations within.
Wang Chuan's gaze swept over them, and his heart tightened slightly.
Almost all of them were top-grade rare metals that could not be bought at any price. Only someone with Zhen Hua's status, position, and skill could gather such a collection.
Zhen Hua walked to a workbench and took a pair of standard-issue forging hammers, made from exceptionally fine materials, from the tool rack beside it.
He then took out a metal block roughly the size of a human head, dark in color but glinting with a silvery-gray sheen.
This was Sinking Silver.
A relatively stable metal commonly used for beginners' practice and testing.
He placed the hammers and the Sinking Silver on the workbench, then looked at Wang Chuan and said steadily:
"Keep hammering this piece of Sinking Silver until I tell you to stop."
Wang Chuan was slightly surprised.
This method of testing seemed completely different from the one Tang Wulin had undergone while studying under Mang Tian in the original work.
But on second thought, perhaps this was a Divine Craftsman's method—more direct, and better suited to testing a forger's most essential intuition and instinct.
Without hesitation, Wang Chuan stepped forward and gripped the forging hammers with both hands.
The hammer handles were slightly cool to the touch and not light, but their weight was just right for his strength.
He adjusted his breathing, raised the hammer in his right hand, aimed at the center of the Sinking Silver, and drove his arm with the force of his waist as he brought it down!
Bang!
A dull, solid impact echoed through the perfectly soundproof studio. The surface of the Sinking Silver dipped slightly, leaving behind a clear hammer mark.
Immediately afterward, Wang Chuan did not pause. His left hammer followed, his arms alternating as rhythmic bang! bang! bang! sounds began to ring out without pause, like war drums beating in succession. Before long, they filled the entire space.
At the side, Zhen Hua stood with his arms folded, watching quietly without much expression on his face.
Given Wang Chuan's physique as a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor and the physical gifts granted by his top-tier Martial Soul, it was hardly surprising that he could keep swinging the hammers with even force.
What Zhen Hua truly wanted to test was whether, without any systematic knowledge, Wang Chuan could touch upon something deeper in forging through pure hammering, relying on instinct and comprehension alone...
That "intent" of communicating with metal and guiding changes in its internal structure.
Time passed second by second, and before they knew it, an hour had gone by.
The pounding in the forging room never ceased. Its rhythm even became steadier, while the control of force grew increasingly exquisite.
Fine beads of sweat appeared on Wang Chuan's forehead, yet his breathing remained calm and deep.
The Five Virtues Phoenix Martial Soul within him circulated silently, linking him incomparably closely with the Heaven and Earth Vital Energy around him.
The stamina consumed with every exertion was replenished by the endless stream of pure vital energy flowing into him with each breath, forming a perfect dynamic balance.
Not to mention an hour—even forging continuously for several days would not have been difficult for him.
Meanwhile, the Sinking Silver had undergone obvious changes beneath Wang Chuan's sustained, even hammering.
Its volume had shrunk by roughly fifteen percent. Its dark surface had become uniform, and its texture was visibly denser. A restrained silver gleam faintly shone through—it had reached the hallmark of Hundred Refinement.
For a Soul Master with sufficient physical fitness and a grasp of basic exertion techniques, reaching Hundred Refinement was not especially difficult.
Yet Zhen Hua still did not tell him to stop.
His gaze grew more focused, and even carried a trace of anticipation.
Hundred Refinement was easy to attain; Thousand Refinement was hard to find.
Thousand Refinement, also known as Intent Forging, was the crucial step in which a forger resonated deeply with metal and used their will to guide a qualitative change in its internal structure.
Every forger completed Thousand Refinement in a unique way, with unique insights.
What he wanted to see was whether Wang Chuan could comprehend this vital step on his own without any guidance!
If he could, it would prove that this boy's talent in forging was terrifyingly great!
He would surely become a Divine Craftsman in the future!
At this moment, Wang Chuan's mind was completely immersed in the hammers in his hands and the metal before him.
At first, he had merely repeated the hammering motions mechanically, feeling the feedback from each strike.
Gradually, amid the endless impacts and the ongoing interaction between his body and the metal, a wondrous sense of rhythm began to emerge in his heart.
He no longer relied solely on his eyes to see where the hammers landed or his ears to hear the sounds. Instead, it was as if he could "feel" the tiny textures within the metal beneath his hammers, the arrangement of its particles, and the flow of its energy...
He instinctively adjusted the angle, force, and rhythm of every strike. He was no longer simply hammering to compress it.
Rather, like a master painter, he used the hammerheads to "paint," guiding those metal particles to arrange and combine in a more reasonable, harmonious, and vibrant direction.
The volume of the Sinking Silver no longer shrank.
Yet its internal texture was undergoing subtle, extraordinarily precise adjustments and optimization beneath every strike from Wang Chuan—strikes that appeared identical but actually contained minute differences.
An indescribable sense of compatibility quietly formed between Wang Chuan and the Sinking Silver.
As a Divine Craftsman, how could Zhen Hua's senses not be sharp?
He caught that subtle change in Wang Chuan's strikes almost immediately.
That "intent" which faintly resonated with the metal, seeking to guide it rather than merely alter its shape!
A sharp light flashed in his eyes. He held his breath, while stormy waves already surged in his heart.
He actually...
Had touched the threshold of Thousand Refinement without anyone guiding him?!
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang...
Suddenly, the rhythm of Wang Chuan's hammering changed by an incredibly subtle degree. It became gentler, yet seemed to carry a strange cadence.
Amid that string of unusual strikes, the Sinking Silver suddenly trembled faintly!
Then, a brilliant, pure silver radiance burst forth from within the Sinking Silver!
The silver light blazed fiercely, instantly breaking through the glow of the forge fire and illuminating the vast, somewhat dim forging studio in dazzling brightness, as though it had become day!
A flash of inspiration came to Wang Chuan. He raised both hammers at once, then brought them down heavily and in perfect sync upon the Sinking Silver, with a force that held all of his current understanding!
Boom—!
A deep, lingering muffled sound far heavier than any previous strike echoed out.
Rather than weakening beneath that blow, the bright silver radiance became wilder and more agile, flowing and dancing across the metal's surface as if it had come alive!
It was done!
A Thousand Refinement phenomenon!
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