Inside the forging room.
Dense spiritual light filled the room.
The sight of the Star Meteor Iron bouncing off the Forging Table and meeting the forging hammer had utterly shocked Mu Chen, an Eight-Star Saint Craftsman.
He knew perfectly well what that scene represented.
Thousand Refinement gave metal spirit, while the standard for Spirit Forging was creation.
Creation meant giving metal life, allowing it to merge with a Soul Master.
This was also the basic requirement for crafting a two-word Battle Armor.
A blacksmith capable of Spirit Forging was rated by the Blacksmith Association as...
A Level 5 Grandmaster Craftsman!!!
But at that moment, Mu Chen suddenly shuddered. His eyes widened as he cried out in a low voice, "No, that's impossible!"
Mu Xi beside him was also jolted awake from her shock by his shout.
Her gaze drifted away from the spiritual light before her as she looked at her father in confusion.
"What is it, Dad?"
"Xi, do you remember what I once taught you?"
Mu Chen's eyes were filled with disbelief as he stared at Xu Yue's forging hammer.
"Xiao Yue chose Star Meteor Iron just now!"
"Star Meteor Iron?! What's wrong with Star Meteor Iron..."
Mu Xi stopped abruptly after only a few words.
She remembered what Mu Chen had once told her about the properties of Star Meteor Iron, and her fair throat bobbed unconsciously.
Gulp—!
"Dad, didn't you say Star Meteor Iron can't undergo Spirit Forging?"
"But A-Yue..."
Mu Chen nodded heavily. As a Saint Blacksmith, he knew every known type of rare metal inside and out.
"That's right. The Blacksmith Association publicly recognizes Star Meteor Iron as a material that cannot undergo Spirit Forging. Its highest limit is First-Grade Thousand Refinement."
"I thought Xiao Yue had chosen Star Meteor Iron merely to perform Thousand Refinement again..."
"But I never expected him to give it life."
"This is no longer a miracle. It is a divine miracle."
By this point, even his voice was trembling slightly.
"Xiao Yue's future will absolutely not stop at Divine Blacksmith. He will become the king of all blacksmiths. Even your Uncle Zhen Hua would have to bow before Xiao Yue!"
Mu Xi instantly understood what he meant and could not help nodding.
"So that's why you just called him the 'King... King of Casting.'"
"Uh..." Mu Chen paused. "That was just... a word that suddenly sprang from the bottom of my heart!"
He looked at Xu Yue before him, his expression incomparably complicated.
There was surprise, admiration, and countless tangled emotions.
But they were swiftly swallowed by joy and anticipation.
Could it be that I'm going to raise a god too?!
Yet that thought vanished in an instant. He was not shameless enough to attribute Xu Yue's talent and potential to himself.
Yu Xiaogang: "Ah, right, right, right!!!"
Elsewhere.
What Mu Chen had not expected was that his cry of "King of Casting" nearly caused Xu Yue, who was giving life to the Star Meteor Iron, to lose his composure on the spot.
What the hell is this King of Casting? Can you just say something like that?!
Uncle Mu, do you really want to get smashed by the Amber King's giant hammer?
At the very least, you should call him the God of Precious Metals, shouldn't you?
Wasn't the Herrscher of Rock the Lord of Rock? And why didn't the Star of Eden, formed from the collapse and mutation of a sun Martial Soul, count as a Heavenly Star?
That old man with identities layered like an onion would definitely agree.
But at that moment, beneath his hammer, the Star Meteor Iron had not only awakened its spirit, but had also been born with vitality.
The massive chunk of Star Meteor Iron atop the Forging Table had already shrunk by more than thirty or forty percent.
The scattered specks around it were all impurities contained within the metal.
With the aid of gravity and the metal's own repulsion.
Xu Yue had completed the purification process with a single hammer blow.
At that moment, there was not the slightest extraneous sound in the forging room.
Only the ceaseless crackling of the fire in the forging furnace could be heard.
Under the silent gazes of the three of them.
The Star Meteor Iron on the Forging Table trembled as it floated into the air, releasing waves of joyous metallic humming as it began circling Xu Yue's body.
After circling him three times, it quietly landed in Xu Yue's palm.
After waiting for a moment, however, Xu Yue did not hear Mu Chen and Mu Xi cheer.
He then glanced at the two watching from not far away with some confusion.
Meeting Xu Yue's gaze, Mu Chen spoke with a complicated expression.
"Xiao Yue, you're making this very difficult for me!"
"One-Hammer Master Craftsman. Such an achievement has never been seen before and will never be seen again. No one will ever break this record."
"With you like this... I truly don't know what I, as your teacher, can teach you."
Xu Yue's expression turned slightly awkward at those words.
He had only wanted to test how much the Authority of Rock boosted forging. He had never expected it to be this absurd.
Thinking of that, he looked at the living Star Meteor Iron in his hand and replied.
"Uncle Mu, I heard that Spirit Forging requires the infusion of one's blood vitality and spiritual power to succeed. Doesn't this just count as taking a shortcut?"
"A shortcut?" Mu Chen shook his head with a bitter smile and answered solemnly.
"No matter the method, the ultimate goal is to create life within the metal. As long as that is accomplished, there is no such thing as a shortcut."
"If I weren't afraid it would be too shocking, I would truly hand you a Level 5 Blacksmith badge right now."
"..."
Dinner time.
The atmosphere around the entire table was rather quiet.
Seeing everyone in the family acting this way, Yuan Bao'er thought Xu Yue's studies had not gone very well that day.
She could not help softly comforting him.
"Xiao Yue is learning for the first day, after all. It's normal if things don't go well. Even Senior Disciple only became a Level 1 Blacksmith when he was eight, didn't he?"
"Teach him properly. I think Xiao Yue has quite a bit of aptitude."
Quite a bit of aptitude?
Mu Chen's hand, which had been reaching for food with his chopsticks, suddenly froze in midair.
If Xu Yue only counted as having aptitude, then every other blacksmith, even Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua, could only be considered a paramecium.
Just as Mu Chen was about to explain.
Clink!
A crisp collision of bowl and chopsticks broke the silence.
"I'm done eating." Mu Xi's slightly calm voice rang out. "I have something to do, so I'm heading out first."
As soon as she spoke, she stood and quickly left the dining room.
Watching Mu Xi's departing back, Xu Yue exchanged a glance with Mu Chen. Seeing the signal in the other man's eyes, he quickly finished the food in his bowl and stood as well.
"Uncle Mu, Aunt Bao, I'm done too."
After saying that, he also hurried in Mu Xi's direction.
However, when Xu Yue stepped into the elevator and was about to press the button for the first floor, he suddenly changed his destination.
Yuan Bao'er stared blankly as the older and younger children of the household left one after the other.
"Honey, did I say something wrong?"
Mu Chen sighed. After remaining silent for a long while, he nodded.
"Bao'er, you did say something wrong. Xiao Yue's talent isn't bad. It's far too good!"
"His talent is good?" Yuan Bao'er was puzzled. "Isn't that a good thing? Why are all of you making those expressions?"
"Because we're rebuilding our worldview!"
Mu Chen's expression was complicated. That scene still replayed in his mind. Seeing his wife's confusion, he continued.
"What if Xiao Yue succeeded in Spirit Forging and became a Grandmaster Blacksmith on his very first day of learning forging?"
Mu Chen's words entered Yuan Bao'er's ears, and her expression instantly stiffened.
The chopsticks in her hand clattered to the floor as her red lips trembled and formed a few words.
"Spirit... Spirit Forging? Grandmaster Blacksmith?!"
Before you continue