Hundred Refinement Purification? Mu Xi Questions Her Entire Life-Had She Learned Nothing in Four Years?

At Yao Chuan's response, he walked over and stopped in front of the Strength Testing Platform, taking a deep breath.

He lowered his stance, then punched out with his right fist like a cannonball!

BAM!!!

A muffled boom echoed through the Forging Room, and the mercury column behind the testing device shot upward!

Mu Chen and Mu Xi hurried over to check the display panel. A bright red number flashed into view.

"Striking force: 513 kilograms."

Hiss—

Mu Chen couldn't help sucking in a breath.

But that wasn't all. Yao Chuan switched to his left hand and assumed the same stance.

BAM!!!

Another muffled boom rang out, and the number on the left display panel quickly followed.

"Striking force: 507 kilograms."

Mu Chen: "..."

Mu Xi: "..."

They both fell silent.

They stared at the glaring number beginning with "five hundred" on the display, then looked at Yao Chuan's somewhat slender frame.

Mu Chen muttered to himself, "Th-this... he's a Little Monster..."

More than five hundred kilograms of striking force! Balanced between both hands!

He was unquestionably the strongest newcomer Mu Chen had ever seen. No contest!

No wonder the eighty-jin hammer had felt light to him... With strength like that, using a hammer of that weight really would be like child's play.

After marveling for a moment, Mu Chen's eyes immediately lit up like lightbulbs. He clapped Yao Chuan on the shoulder.

"Good lad! You were born with tremendous strength! The heavens have truly blessed you! With strength like yours... why waste time slowly working your way up from the basics of Hundred Refinement? It'd be a complete waste!"

He rubbed his hands together excitedly.

"Come, come! Let's go straight for a higher level of forging. You should have no trouble trying Hundred Refinement purification! You might even... give the legendary Thousand Refinement a shot!"

He quickly explained the principles of Thousand Refinement to Yao Chuan.

"Thousand Refinement isn't as simple as hammering something a thousand times. It requires a blacksmith to have an exceptionally deep understanding of metal. Through countless strikes, you remove every impurity and increase its density, even elevating the metal's internal structure and bringing about a qualitative change! Once successful, the metal's value will skyrocket a hundredfold! That's the true first step toward mastering the essence of forging!"

Mu Chen spoke with such passion that it was as if he could already see Yao Chuan succeeding at Thousand Refinement.

However, the moment he finished speaking, Mu Xi, standing beside him, bristled.

"Dad! Have you lost your mind?"

She dashed in front of Yao Chuan, shielding him from Mu Chen like a mother hen protecting her chicks.

"Yao Chuan has only just started forging! How can you ask him to try Thousand Refinement right off the bat?"

Mu Xi's little face flushed with anger.

"I've been learning for nearly four years! I've worked myself to the bone, and I've only just reached the threshold of Hundred Refinement purification! Thousand Refinement? That's still an unreachable goal for me!"

She pointed at the heavy chunk of Heavy Silver.

"You're putting the cart before the horse! You'll put way too much pressure on Yao Chuan!"

Mu Xi was genuinely frantic. She thought her father was being completely ridiculous.

Yet behind the girl shielding him, Yao Chuan's eyes flickered faintly.

When he'd swung those two forty-kilogram hammers just now, the dormant Black Dragon Martial Soul and Black Dragon Bloodline within him seemed to have stirred. An indescribable restlessness coursed through his blood.

A craving to hammer! A craving to unleash his strength with wild abandon!

"Sister Mu Xi."

Yao Chuan spoke softly. His voice was quiet, yet carried a peculiar steadiness.

"I think... I can give it a try."

He looked at Mu Chen, his gaze clear and resolute.

"Pressure? I think it's great. Let's try it, Uncle Mu."

Mu Xi: "..."

She looked at Yao Chuan's serious profile, and every word of protest caught in her throat.

Why is this kid so stubborn?

"Fine, fine."

Mu Xi stamped her foot helplessly. "Try it if you must! But don't push yourself! Stop immediately if you get tired! Understand?"

She fussed over him like a housekeeper.

Yao Chuan nodded and said no more. His eyes swept over the hammers of various sizes on the forging table.

In the end, he walked toward the largest hammers lined up in the corner.

He picked up a heavy, dark-gold Tungsten Gold Hammer in one hand. It was clearly much heavier than the Thousand-Refined Tungsten Steel Hammer Mu Xi had given him earlier.

He hefted it once.

Mm.

This weight should do.

He walked to the forging table. The Heavy Silver had already been heated until it glowed red.

Yao Chuan took a deep breath and recalled Mu Chen's explanation of how to apply force.

He straightened his back and lowered his shoulders and elbows. Strength rose from the soles of his feet, passed through his hips, then surged into his arms.

BOOM!!!

The first hammer fell with sudden force, its muffled impact exploding like thunder!

Sparks flew everywhere!

The glowing-red Heavy Silver shuddered violently. Mu Xi covered her mouth in fright, while Mu Chen's eyes instantly went wide.

Good grief!

The force of that strike...

Precise! Ferocious! Nothing like a beginner's!

Yao Chuan was already immersed in the work, alternating between the two hammers.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The rhythmic blows rang out without pause through the Forging Room. Every strike landed with tremendous force, and every strike was perfectly placed. It was as if he had been born to stand here, to become one with the flames and the metal.

Sweat soon soaked the hair at his forehead.

But his eyes grew brighter and more focused with every passing moment.

Under his relentless hammering, the Heavy Silver began to shrink before their very eyes. Impurities were squeezed out bit by bit, and its density continued to increase.

Red light flowed through it, and a low hum seemed to rise from within the metal, as if it were answering the smith's will.

Time passed. Mu Xi's worry gradually turned to shock.

She watched Yao Chuan's movements in disbelief.

That fluid rhythm, that steady force, that precise judgment of the heat...

Could someone forging for the very first time really do this?

Whoosh!

Yao Chuan brought down his final strike, lowered his hammer, and stood still.

He let out a long breath of stale air, hot with the scent of scorched metal.

On the forging table, the Heavy Silver had shrunk by a full ring. Its surface was no longer rough and red-hot, but an even silver-gray, with a lustrous sheen hidden within.

Hundred Refinement purification!

His first attempt, and he had succeeded on the first try!

The result was remarkably good, too!

Mu Chen stared at the Hundred-Refined Heavy Silver, his mouth slightly agape. For a long while, he couldn't say a word.

This is too much...

This hit me harder than seeing my daughter get crushed just now.

Mu Xi was completely dumbfounded.

She looked at Yao Chuan, then at the Hundred-Refined Heavy Silver, then at herself. Suddenly, she wondered if she had spent the past four years learning absolutely nothing.

"Yao Chuan... you..." Mu Xi's voice sounded a little unsteady.

Yao Chuan lifted his arm and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He felt the stirring of the Black Dragon Bloodline within him.

During the forging just now, as he unleashed his strength, it seemed to have grown even clearer.

He looked at the Heavy Silver, now cooled and gleaming with a metallic sheen, his gaze sharp.

"I feel..."

Yao Chuan spoke. His voice carried the slight rasp of exertion, but it was exceptionally clear.

"Next time, I can do even better. I want to try another piece."

His blazing gaze fell on another piece of Heavy Silver waiting to be heated, filled with a longing to take on an even greater challenge.