Forging in Progress

Hours later, Elder Qian slowly woke up.

Elder Qian realized he had fallen asleep and immediately jolted upright, his eyes darting around, searching for Shi Fen's trace.

Seeing Elder Qian awake, Shi Fen jogged over, saying happily, "Master, you're awake! How was your rest? Did your energy recover? I'm ready, we can start forging anytime."

Elder Qian had just woken up and still felt a bit tired, a fatigue that sleep alone couldn't completely dispel.

Elder Qian yawned and signaled Shi Fen to begin.

Shi Fen immediately opened the furnace, preparing to forge the Youquan Blade again. Elder Qian stretched his muscles, working to shake off the fatigue of the past few days, while meticulously observing every detail of Shi Fen's movements.

Shi Fen put on the heat-insulation suit and placed 6 blocks of 20kg Blue Gold into the melting furnace.

While the Blue Gold was heating, Shi Fen's Spiritual Force scanned the exterior of the heat-insulation suit. The suit he bought looked more like an EVA suit, extremely bulky. The heat-insulation suits here were practically skin-tight, a huge difference.

Shi Fen's curiosity about such high-level materials was as instinctive as breathing.

"Such exquisite design, and I don't recognize the material, I wonder what it is..."

The furnace had heated the Blue Gold to the preset temperature, emitting a crisp "ding" that interrupted Shi Fen's "daydreaming."

This time, forging the Youquan Blade, there was no need for any concealment. Shi Fen planned to show Elder Qian a bit of "flash."

Two identical forging hammers flew from the rack and landed in Shi Fen's palms. Shi Fen gripped the hammers tightly as the 6 blocks of Blue Gold, now glowing golden, flew directly out of the furnace and hovered in front of him, radiating intense heat.

Two searing blocks of Blue Gold detached themselves and landed on the forging platform in front of Shi Fen. Shi Fen swung his two large hammers, lightly striking the surface of the Blue Gold. The hammers spun rapidly, Shi Fen's movements so fast that the hammers seemed like two Shadowless Hammers, constantly "caressing" the Blue Gold.

After a few strikes on the Blue Gold, Shi Fen's Spiritual Force immediately controlled two more searing blocks of Blue Gold to land on the forging platform. Shi Fen's "Shadowless Hammers" flashed, and he immediately switched to the next two blocks, repeating the process.

The temperature of the 6 blocks of searing Blue Gold changed very little, barely cooling down. Shi Fen completed the basic forging of the Blue Gold, and the quality of all 6 metal blocks surpassed the extreme of the Hundred-Refined God-Forging Steel stage.

At this point, the searing Blue Gold could be called "Two Hundred Refinements" in terms of quality.

With his strength surging and all restrictions removed, Shi Fen's forging had actually achieved a new breakthrough. In terms of basic forging, relying on his astonishing strength and metal perception, Shi Fen had discovered an entirely new path.

"Hundred Refinements" seemed not to be the end.

There were "Thousand Refinements," "Ten Thousand Refinements," and perhaps even higher levels.

Elder Qian's eyes went wide the moment Shi Fen began swinging his hammers. Witnessing Shi Fen's incredibly "arrogant" forging method, Elder Qian was utterly shocked. "If I hadn't rested, I might not have been able to see some of the forging details clearly. No wonder this kid told me to rest..."

Shi Fen, while the Blue Gold was still hot enough, stacked them together for the subsequent forging. Shi Fen's hammer swings were fast and accurate. At this point, the Blue Gold's "slow heat dissipation" had become a hindrance.

Shi Fen released his grip, the hammers hovering beside him. He walked over to Elder Qian and started a casual chat out of boredom.

"Master, I told you you needed to rest. These past few days, I've hammered the air countless times. How's my hammer technique?" Shi Fen blinked lightly, his face innocent.

Elder Qian remained silent.

After a long while, Elder Qian, against his better judgment, managed to maintain a calm tone and put on a wise demeanor, replying, "It's alright."

Although Elder Qian appeared calm, he was inwardly cursing, "How can this kid be so monstrous? Even with Spiritual Force assistance, it shouldn't be this exaggerated."

Elder Qian had a disciple who was a Spiritual Force Master.

This person had reached the intermediate War God level, but his forging ability was worlds apart from Shi Fen's. Spiritual Force indeed helped him greatly, allowing him to perceive the inside of metals and progress rapidly in forging.

Despite his rapid progress, reaching Elder Qian's level would still take a considerable amount of time.

Elder Qian seemed to recall something and hurriedly asked Shi Fen, "Why do you swing your hammers so fast? Aren't you afraid of making mistakes?"

"I'm not swinging fast. My mind calculates quickly, and the hammer swings are almost subconscious. For the sake of success rate, I've already restrained my hammer speed," Shi Fen said "humbly."

"Holy crap." Elder Qian couldn't help but exclaim, his expression incredibly complex, shifting from initial shock to deep resentment and envy.

"I'm going to cut the metal."

Seeing the situation turning unfavorable, Shi Fen quickly slipped away.

Elder Qian's heart was filled with mixed emotions.

Elder Qian watched Shi Fen skillfully cut the metal, heat it, and forge again.

Shi Fen's technique and all other aspects of his operation were impeccable, utterly perfect. The level of each operation could be described as "textbook perfect." "How do I teach a disciple like this? How should I teach him!"

Elder Qian was truly worried.

Shi Fen's movements were swift and efficient, without any wasted motion. He didn't dare chat with Elder Qian anymore. To help the weapon blank cool down faster, he picked up a fan and blew vigorously at it.

In a short time, he completed the manufacturing of the rough weapon blank and two scrap daggers.

Shi Fen's hands moved quickly as he prepared the special mud for covering. This time, he didn't use his hands but directly controlled the mud with his Spiritual Force, spreading an even layer of mud over the surface of the weapon blank.

Quenching, installing the hilt, grinding, sharpening, acid washing...

It took about an hour.

A brand new Youquan Blade and two Chrysanthemum Pattern Flying Daggers were handed to Elder Qian.

Elder Qian examined them meticulously, turning them over and over. He was shocked to discover that the new Youquan Blade, whether it was the pattern, the shape, or even the distribution of its center of gravity, was almost identical to the previous one.

If it hadn't been tested and found to be of even higher quality, Elder Qian would have truly believed it was a replica.

This brand new Youquan Blade and the two flying daggers all reached Level 7 quality. Although the Youquan Blade was light at only 108 jin, it was sufficient for an intermediate War God to fight with. A blade of this quality forged from Blue Gold could only be described as "divinely skillful."

Elder Qian believed that he himself possessed the ability to forge cold weapons of this caliber using Blue Gold, and his forged weapons would even be stronger than Shi Fen's. However, he absolutely could not create such uniform and well-proportioned patterns.

"Who exactly is teaching whom here?" Elder Qian was completely dumbfounded.

"Has this Youquan Blade reached the level 7 standard?" Shi Fen was pleasantly surprised. He hadn't expected the forging effect from breaking through from "one hundred refinements" to "two hundred refinements" to be so astonishing.

"It has." Elder Qian gave Shi Fen a definitive answer. After a moment of contemplation, he continued, "Your foundational forging techniques are incredibly solid; it seems I don't need to teach you in that regard. We can proceed directly to higher-level experiments."

Shi Fen nodded, his expression calm. Without showing a hint of arrogance, he said excitedly, "That would be great. I want to try my method to see if I can forge higher-grade Kro Alloy."

Elder Qian reached out and pressed his hand downward, signaling Shi Fen not to get too excited. Suppressing his own shock, Elder Qian summoned his full sense of responsibility and said sternly, "Not yet. You must forge all kinds of cold weapons first."

"You have had too few opportunities to come into contact with high-grade materials, and your forging experience in that area is lacking. While your foundational techniques are solid, you must also build a solid foundation regarding the properties of materials."

"Understood, Master. I will listen to you," Shi Fen replied obediently.

Elder Qian was very satisfied with Shi Fen's attitude. He handed the new Youquan Blade and two flying knives to Shi Fen, saying with gratification, "Keep the blade you forged yourself; I am not short of these things. How can you train in martial arts and Spiritual Force without any weapons?"

"You got it."

Shi Fen's eyes lit up. Weapons were extremely scarce for him; he was currently the "poorest" invincible God of War in the world.

He didn't have a single high-grade weapon.

This Youquan Blade solved Shi Fen's urgent need, allowing him to start practicing blade techniques. Shi Fen didn't know which weapon he was best suited for; he would have to find the most suitable one while studying various secret manuals.

From this day on.

The old man and the young man, much like "internet-addicted teenagers" obsessed with being online, stayed in the forging room every day, unwilling to leave.

Elder Qian guided him from the side, teaching Shi Fen how to use Kro Alloy made from various monster materials to forge weapons best suited for that metal. Shi Fen listened obediently to Elder Qian's instructions, crafting weapons like an assembly line.

Starting from level 1 standard weapons, he forged every common type of cold weapon.

This kind of forging was extremely easy for Shi Fen. For weapons below level 6, he only needed to heat the corresponding grade of Kro Alloy and forge it into shape. The weapons relied entirely on the properties of their own materials.

The craftsmanship of these weapons was extremely rough and simple.

Shi Fen's true capabilities were barely utilized.

Shi Fen transformed into an "assembly line," acting like a forging tool, making no mistakes as weapon after weapon was rapidly produced.

Starting from level 7 standard weapons, the craftsmanship began to become slightly more complex, but with Shi Fen's strength and skill level, the forging remained simple. He could still rapidly forge weapon after weapon, just like an assembly line.

Level 8 standard weapons, level 9 standard weapons, S-grade standard weapons, SS-grade standard weapons...

Shi Fen broke through obstacles like a hot knife through butter, advancing triumphantly.

Shi Fen forged crazily day and night, and in just over three months, he quickly cleared the "checkpoints" set by Elder Qian.

As a result, Shi Fen gained a full set of SS-grade equipment. He forged 30 flying knives alone, and for common weapons like blades, swords, staffs, clubs, spears, and shields, he forged two of each—one to hand over to Elder Qian as a task, and one to keep in the forging room for martial arts training.

Seeing Shi Fen working so hard and forging with such dedication, Elder Qian was quite generous. He sent all the weapons Shi Fen had forged to the Extreme Martial Arts Hall to be sold. Elder Qian didn't take a single cent of the profit, transferring it all directly to Shi Fen's account.

He even gifted Shi Fen another bottle of Spirit of Vegetation medicinal wine, telling him to use it to quickly recover the energy consumed during forging and to boost his physical fitness to the God of War limit. Shi Fen learned from Elder Qian that this was a concentrated medicinal wine made from Millennium Black Crow Root, with astonishing efficacy; half a jin of this wine was worth nearly half a portion of Millennium Black Crow Root. Shi Fen couldn't bear to drink a drop for three months, intending to save it for his family to forcibly raise their strength.

With this round of forging finished, the two tacitly decided to rest for seven days; even an iron man couldn't handle three consecutive months of non-stop work.

When it's time to rest, one must rest.

Shi Fen planned to go home for a few days; he had only stayed at their new villa once, which felt a bit strange.

Returning this time, he could just happen to improve his family's strength.

Over these three months, in order to rapidly improve his strength, Shi Fen had to endure fatigue every night, training under the extreme gravity of his Inner World while wearing several strings of the lowest-grade World Rings to increase his training load, honing his martial arts and improving his physical fitness.

Through his desperate efforts, Shi Fen managed to increase his strength to over 350,000 kilograms in three months. In three months, without using other means, he had increased his strength by 50,000 jin—an average growth of 500 jin per day.

This cultivation result could scare a whole group of God of War powerhouses to death.

It was all thanks to the Inner World and the residual medicinal power in his body that Shi Fen could break through so quickly.

After becoming a God of War, Shi Fen could finally lift the medium-level World Rings.

The medium-level World Rings weighed an astonishing 30,000 kilograms. Shi Fen was truly stunned by the incredible density of the material in such a small ring. The material of the ring far exceeded the density of "Red Chaos Copper Mother." Shi Fen couldn't imagine what level of material this was.

Could it be G-grade?

Shi Fen could only guess high.

As for the highest-level World Rings, even with his strongest Spiritual Force, Shi Fen couldn't move them at all; they weighed at least over a million jin.

The better the material, the more excited Shi Fen became.

When the time came to sell the rings, the price would surely satisfy him.

On the ground of the Treasure Refining World, the small transparent box filled with Storage Cards remained there, motionless. Shi Fen had tried to move it back many times using the world power of his World Ring, but he had never succeeded.

The road Shi Fen had to travel was still very, very long...