Shi Fen's Second Life (Seeking Collection)

Primal Universe.

Galaxy, Earth.

Jiangnan Base City, Yangzhou City.

South Bank Residential District.

Inside the mysterious Virtual Trial Space.

Shi Fen leaned against the edge of the forging table.

One of his hands loosely gripped a forging hammer of exaggerated size and peculiar appearance. The diameter of the hammerhead exceeded 30 centimeters, far larger than a standard watermelon.

At this moment.

His eyes revealed a hint of bewilderment.

On the anvil in front of Shi Fen lay an iron block, glowing with a dark red light and radiating residual heat. As Shi Fen remained lost in thought, the iron block gradually cooled, turning into a square, pitch-black lump.

The forging genius in the eyes of his family and friends was currently acting like a salted fish, having lost all confidence in the future.

Shi Fen was utterly lost.

The 18-year deadline was drawing ever closer.

For over two full years.

Shi Fen had been firmly stuck at the eighth sub-stage of the "Treasure Refining Inheritance." He hadn't made the slightest bit of progress in all this time. Now, let alone the final ninth stage, Shi Fen couldn't even find the threshold to step into it.

Failing to reach the final ninth stage meant that Shi Fen could not complete the trial requirements and would be unable to obtain the "extra reward" of the Treasure Refining Inheritance.

In Shi Fen's heart, the mysterious powerhouse who bestowed the Treasure Refining Inheritance was a "Great Being" with heaven-defying methods and terrifying, boundless power. It was this Great Being who had "personally" told him that he might be able to complete the "Qualification Trial" of the first stage of the Treasure Refining Inheritance before the age of 18.

For this reason.

Shi Fen had poured his heart and soul into these 18 years, studying desperately and practicing frantically.

He did it not just for the reward, but to prove himself. The Great Being who sent him to the Swallowed Star world said he could do it, so he had to do it—he even wanted to do it ahead of schedule.

These 18 years had been incredibly grueling for Shi Fen.

For 18 years, he had lived a "top-tier senior year of high school" life, running nearly 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without a single day of rest. His mind and body had been under the pressure of the Treasure Refining Inheritance every single moment.

As the deadline approached, Shi Fen's pressure grew heavier and his mind became increasingly anxious, pushing him to the brink of collapse.

Even with such desperate effort.

The reality of the results dealt Shi Fen a heavy blow, and he had almost lost all faith in himself.

The last shred of Shi Fen's reason told him that with only two months left until the deadline, even if he were to collapse, he had to wait until after his 18th birthday. He still had a chance now; he could not fall here.

Before Shi Fen was reincarnated into this world, he was the world's top expert in materials science and a legendary, accomplished scientist in China. Relying on his intelligence, he had gained countless honors and wealth in his past life.

When he was young and full of spirit, he contracted a strange illness that threatened to destroy his future. After a brief period of depression, he chose to fight the illness head-on. After a period of recovery, Shi Fen returned to the front lines of critical scientific research, once again taking up the mantle of overcoming challenges in materials science.

He fought that illness for over 30 years.

He fought against the heavens, he fought against fate. Relying on his iron will, Shi Fen created a medical miracle, snatching his lifespan from the hands of the King of Hell and living to the age of 61.

But an unexpected accident in his 50s caused complications in his battle against the heavens. The intense shock left Shi Fen in a coma for three years. When he woke up, he knew his time was running out.

After settling his affairs.

Not long after, Shi Fen could no longer hold on and collapsed in his study.

Although Shi Fen had never married and had no children in his past life.

He did not leave this world alone.

Outside the study were hundreds of children he had adopted from the orphanage under his name; these were his children, the apple of his eye.

Inside the study were the works he had achieved throughout his life, his collection of various books, scientific materials related to his work, philosophical masterpieces, theological classics, world literature, and the various novels he loved to read as a child.

Sensing his impending death.

Shi Fen opened the vintage wine his father had cherished for him. He happily savored the fine wine he had wanted to drink his whole life but never dared to, while flipping through the science fiction novels he loved most as a child.

With a smile on his face, Shi Fen left this world.

A man who had fought against the heavens his whole life was finally taken away by them.

Perhaps good people are rewarded.

Shi Fen arrived as he wished in his favorite world of Swallowed Star. Here, he began a new life.

To integrate into this new world.

Shi Fen tried not to live by the experiences of his past life, forcing himself to "lower his intelligence." He mimicked every move of the children he had once adopted, letting himself behave like a real child rather than a reincarnated old soul.

For 18 years, no one saw through the facade; Shi Fen had hidden it well.

It was precisely because of the complex and bumpy experiences of his past life that Shi Fen could withstand such high-pressure and grueling 18 years. In this magical world, the Treasure Refining Inheritance relied entirely on him "crossing the river by feeling the stones," studying on his own in silence, and conducting countless forging attempts.

It was precisely Shi Fen's ruthlessness toward himself.

Shi Fen progressed at a speed unimaginable to ordinary people, entering the eighth sub-stage of the "Qualification Trial" at just 16 years old.

One must understand the content of the seventh, eighth, and ninth sub-stages.

They involve forging methods that completely subvert common sense.

This method can alter the state of metal atoms through forging, breaking the "metallic bonds" between them and forcibly interlocking the atoms to "condense" the volume of the metal.

The "iron blocks" forged through such means have metal performance levels many times higher than normal.

Shi Fen, who has now fully mastered the eighth sub-stage, can condense metal by nine times. He has tested this metal, and its performance is off the charts. Data regarding its metal strength, toughness, wear resistance, and corrosion resistance are ridiculously high.

In his past life, he exhausted all technological means to manufacture many cutting-edge materials.

Those cutting-edge materials were national-level treasures, yet compared to the performance of "Nine-Fold Iron," "Nine-Fold Iron" achieves a crushing, all-encompassing victory.

The gap between the two is beyond measure.

And this is only the condensed iron of the eighth sub-stage.

The ninth sub-stage is the ultimate, capable of "condensing metal 100 times."

If "Nine-Fold Iron" is already this formidable, "Hundred-Fold Iron" could likely be called "God Iron."

Based on data from the internet, Shi Fen has calculated this carefully.

By conservative estimates.

"Hundred-Fold Iron" could fully serve as the primary material for SS-grade weapons and equipment, and could even be used to manufacture SSS-grade weapons and equipment.

SS-grade and SSS-grade weapons and equipment are the "standard combat configuration" for Invincible War Gods and powerful inspectors. Only when they use weapons of this level can they unleash their full strength without the weapons easily breaking.

One can imagine just how powerful the performance of "Hundred-Fold Iron" is.

As for Shi Fen now, let alone condensing it a hundred times, he cannot even manage 91 times. He has been stuck at this bottleneck for two full years, with no leads to this day.

Shi Fen has considered many reasons.

The most likely cause.

Is that he must first awaken his spiritual force. With the aid of spiritual force, forging should yield twice the result with half the effort, allowing him to break through in one fell swoop.

After finding it difficult to make any progress, Shi Fen has spent the last two years frantically building his foundation. He used devices to create all kinds of special steels, practicing from multiple angles and in every aspect. He also trained with all his might, striving to awaken his spiritual force as soon as possible.

Because every new type of steel has a different internal composition, each one represents a brand-new path for forging "Nine-Fold Iron."

Therefore, whenever he switched to a new material, Shi Fen could not forge it into "Nine-Fold Iron" immediately. He needed to improve bit by bit, gradually mastering the "Nine-Fold Iron" forging method for that specific metal.

Over these two years, Shi Fen has mastered a total of 52 forging methods for "Nine-Fold Iron," laying a rock-solid foundation.

Now, there are only about two months left until his 18th birthday. Shi Fen's physical fitness is already approaching the threshold of a prospective fighter.

Shi Fen can feel the unusual sensations in his body recently; these are signs of his spiritual force faintly awakening. He has a premonition that in at most one or two weeks, he will completely awaken his spiritual force.

Shi Fen did not dare to waste these one or two weeks, constantly practicing those 52 forging methods and exercising even more frantically.

But when he truly began to "review his lessons," Shi Fen was stunned. He finished training all 52 forging methods in less than 3 hours. The time consumed for each forging method averaged less than three and a half minutes.

It was precisely this excessive proficiency that left Shi Fen completely bewildered and desperate.

He could not understand why, despite being so strong, he still could not break through the limit of the eighth sub-stage.

Looking at the metal lump cooling before him, Shi Fen gradually came to his senses. He put down his hammer and, for once, did not tidy up his workspace. Leaving the mess behind, his figure gradually dissipated as he exited this special "Virtual Trial Space."

The "Virtual Trial Space" resides within Shi Fen's sea of consciousness.

He can enter that special "Virtual Trial Space" through the golden orb of light at the center of his sea of consciousness.

Consciousness has a strong recovery ability within the "Virtual Trial Space"; resting for 10 minutes inside is more effective than sleeping for 8 hours outside. Therefore, even if he stayed for seven days and seven nights, working continuously, he would not feel tired.

Relying on this characteristic.

Shi Fen forced himself not to sleep, wasting no time on slumber, and gave his all in hopes of breaking through as soon as possible.

Shi Fen has been a workaholic for these 18 years.

The golden orb of light at the center of his sea of consciousness usually releases energy at an extremely slow rate, gradually improving his physical fitness. If not for this miraculous effect, Shi Fen would not have been able to practice forging every day and still have his physical fitness approach the prospective fighter standard before turning 18.

If not for the fact that his current strength is too low and he must consume food to provide nutrition for his body, Shi Fen would definitely have stayed inside and never come out, given his desperate drive.

Shi Fen's consciousness returned to his body, and he immediately opened his eyes to check the time.

"It's only past 7 in the evening."

"I won't continue forging tonight; I'll go out for a stroll and relax my mind."

Shi Fen thought that by relaxing appropriately, he might be lucky enough to awaken his spiritual force sooner. After all, with less than two months left, he wanted to use this final bit of time to push for the "hundred-fold condensation" of the ninth sub-stage.

"Luo Feng should be studying at this hour, right? The economics materials for Luo Hua have arrived; I'll go over to their place tonight." Shi Fen glanced at the side of his bedroom door, where a large stack of unopened packages sat, and he immediately made up his mind.

Shi Fen picked up the large stack of packages, pushed open the front door, locked it with one hand, and strode toward Luo Feng's house.

His home is separated from Luo Feng's by only a single wall.

After taking only a few steps, Shi Fen arrived at Luo Feng's doorstep. He knocked gently with his free hand and called out with a very familiar smile: "Uncle, Auntie, it's me, Shi Fen, here to visit."

Shi Fen not only arrived in the world of Swallowed Star but also happened to become neighbors with Luo Feng. For these 18 years, the two of them have truly grown up side by side.

With nearly 18 years of friendship since childhood, Shi Fen and Luo Feng have become brothers who share everything.

Shi Fen is not only Luo Feng's neighbor, but the two were also born on the same day, though Luo Feng is about an hour older than Shi Fen.

Shi Fen does not care much about this; he considers his rebirth a great stroke of fortune, so how could he dare to ask for anything else!