Three Touches and a Scratch

When Zhen Hua heard about "Fusion Forging three kinds of metals," his smile remained unchanged, but the light in his eyes shone even brighter.

He put down the lid of the brass humidifier in his hand, turned around, put his hands behind his back, took two steps toward Yun Jingheng, and spoke with an undisguised interest in his tone.

"Fusion Forging three metals together, stable? Kid, do you know how many level-five blacksmiths in the Blacksmith Association have a success rate of less than 30% for Fusion Forging three metals together?"

"You, who major in Soul Tool, claim you can reliably perform three types of metal Fusion Forging — Wulin, how much of what you say do you really believe?"

Tang Wulin initially wanted to answer "100%", but seeing Yun Jingheng looking at him indifferently, he changed his mind. "Teacher, he's the kind of person who, when he says he 'knows' something, really knows it, and when he says he 'hasn't taken the exam,' he really hasn't taken it. If you don't believe me, you can give me a question."

Zhen Hua laughed twice, his voice deep but not harsh.

He walked to the table, parted the two stacks of drawings, revealing a square metal sample underneath.

The sample was small, about the size of a palm, with a very deep blue-gray surface. When viewed under a light, faint dark red streaks could be seen shining through from within.

"Come, take a look at this."

Zhen Hua casually pushed the sample towards Yun Jingheng, but his eyes held a testing intent. "Tell me which three metals were used and what the Fusion Forging sequence was."

Yun Jingheng didn't rush to reply.

He bowed slightly, held the sample in his palm, and slowly ran his fingertips along the metal surface.

The surface of the sample was originally cool, but when it touched his fingertips, the dark red light patterns inside suddenly moved, like a fiery serpent disturbed from its slumber.

He turned the sample over, observed the texture and layering of the cross-section, and then took out a small steel needle and gently scraped the back of the sample.

Just one scratch, an extremely light scratch, almost invisible.

He stared at the scratch for two seconds.

"The outer layer is made of Cold Iron and Star-Pattern Silver, which is first Fusion Forging shape."

He placed the sample back on the table, his tone calm and his explanation clear. "The Star-Pattern Silver on the outside provides heat resistance and ductility; the Cold Iron on the inside forms the framework."

"The third layer is Scarlet Flame Copper. It was not Fusion Forging at the same time as the first two metals. Instead, it was heated to a semi-molten state separately and then pressed into the main body using a wrapping method."

"During the final overall tempering, the Scarlet Flame Copper was not sufficiently carburized, so the fracture surface was brittle. If the stress exceeded the critical point, cracks would start from the Scarlet Flame Copper layer."

He paused, then added, "The layers are: Cold Iron, Star-Pattern Silver, and Scarlet Flame Copper. The order is: Cold Iron as the base, Star-Pattern Silver in the middle, and Scarlet Flame Copper on the outside. The Fusion Forging wasn't completed in one go; it was done in two stages. During the second coating process, the temperature was slightly higher, about three to five degrees, so there was a slight overheating at the junction of the Scarlet Flame Copper and Star-Pattern Silver."

After he finished speaking, the entire study became so quiet that you could hear the humidifier bubbling.

Tang Wulin stood aside, watching his teacher.

Zhen Hua's smile had vanished; it wasn't from anger, but from utter surprise.

"... You still say you only know how?"

Zhen Hua finally spoke, his voice trembling slightly, not with excitement, but with a feeling of wanting to laugh but being unable to, "It's three to five degrees too high. When I was making this lousy thing back then, it was my eldest disciple who turned on the furnace. His hand slipped and pushed the temperature control valve up four degrees too high."

"Regarding the fourth degree, after I finished making it, I felt something was off, but I couldn't quite put my finger on why. In the end, I just left it on the table as scrap material to pad the blueprints. You touched it three times, scratched it, and then you said everything?"

"Um... intuition."

Zhen Hua remained silent.

Zhen Hua stared at Yun Jingheng speechlessly, his expression shifting between wanting to laugh and wanting to curse, before finally letting out a long sigh from deep in his throat.

He turned around, picked up the sample from the table, weighed it in his hand, and put it back, his movements filled with complex emotions.

Tang Wulin's shoulders trembled as he tried to suppress his laughter.

Zhen Hua turned to Tang Wulin: "What are you laughing at? Didn't you do the same thing during your entrance exam? You dismissed me with just 'feel'. Is this how everyone from Shrek talks?"

Tang Wulin immediately suppressed his smile and said seriously, "Teacher, that was just my feel. Jing Heng probably just had a gut feeling."

"My Nano Protective Suit was made by Jing Heng in the Shrek underground. I didn't use any special equipment; I just had a carving knife with me."

"Forget it. Whether it's intuition or experience, with your skills, it's a shame you're not a forger."

Zhen Hua waved his hand, turned around and walked to the large forging table in the corner, pulled out the bottom drawer and took out a notebook.

He tossed the notebook into Yun Jingheng's arms.

"These are my insights from when I was Soul Forging. I've added to them since then. Take a look; they might help you with your Soul Forging forging. I'm also familiar with your dad; just call me Uncle."

Yun Jingheng took the notebook but didn't rush to open it.

The notebook cover is a dark brown hardcover with shiny edges. The four corners are wrapped with thin copper sheets, which are blank except for a very faint hammer mark in one corner.

He held the notebook in his hand, paused for a moment, then looked up at Zhen Hua, his eyes filled with a gratitude that was even more solemn than before.

"Uncle... Uncle, to be honest, my Battle Armor is different from that of ordinary Soul Master. It cannot be forged into shape using forging techniques. It can only be nurtured by the Moonlight and slowly developed into a spiritual form through Divine Power and Soul Power."

He paused here, seemingly considering his words, "So, strictly speaking, I haven't had many opportunities to use this manual on my Battle Armor."

Zhen Hua didn't show much surprise upon hearing this.

He looked at Yun Jingheng and nodded slightly, as if he had already guessed some of it. "I know your Battle Armor wasn't forged in a forge; Cai Yue'er came here a long time ago."

He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and his tone softened. "However, while Battle Armor can't be forged, other things can. I heard you want to build a mecha."

Upon hearing this, Tang Wulin nearly choked on the mouthful of tea he had just drunk.

He turned to look at Yun Jingheng, his expression as if he had heard some incredible news. "You're going to build mechs? When did this happen? It wasn't mentioned in the mech design document."

Yun Jingheng remained expressionless. "I just spoke to your teacher in the mecha, didn't you hear me?"

Tang Wulin was speechless.

He subconsciously looked at Ye Xinglan, and seeing that Ye Xinglan did not show any surprise on her face, he knew that the two of them had talked about this before coming to Heaven Dou City.

Zhen Hua put down his teacup, tapped his fingers lightly on the table, and let out a laugh from deep in his throat, "Mechas are different from Battle Armor and Soul Tool. They require the precision of Soul Tool, the intelligence of Battle Armor, and, more importantly, the sense of 'human-machine integration' in control."

"Mu Ye's Red-Grade Mecha was only barely controllable after he fused it with his own Soul Spirit and went through some very complicated procedures."

"If you want to build mechs, you need to move up the ranks and understand Soul Forging, Spirit Forged, and even Celestial Forging."

"Let me see, it's getting late. Wulin, why don't you take Jing Heng to that room to rest? We can talk again if anything comes up."