Vermilion Clear Ice Toad

The more times a metal is forged, the fewer impurities it contains.

Removing all impurities through continuous forging is the limit of hundred-refinement, and also the foundation of thousand-refinement.

The greatest special effect of thousand-refinement is sublimation.

Only by inducing the sublimation effect during the process of forging metal can it be considered true thousand-refinement.

Although Mu Han's work was only hundred-refined.

The impurities within the metal had already been completely removed; it simply lacked the sublimation effect.

At that moment, Mu Xi was bewildered.

Casting only requires a mold, using machinery to press the metal into shape according to the mold.

Forging, however, is a craft, not a task for a mere skilled laborer.

One must judge the texture and characteristics of the metal through the feedback and changes in the metal during the hammering process.

Yet, compared to Mu Han's method, so-called forging seemed so crude.

Mu Xi finally understood why Mu Han wouldn't craft parts.

It was because Mu Han had never systematically learned forging at all.

He had simply used the characteristics of his martial soul to forcibly remove the impurities from the metal.

Although Mu Xi was competitive, it was precisely because of this that she had self-respect.

She would not compete with Mu Han under these circumstances.

If it came to pure metal purification, Mu Xi had no chance of winning.

But if it came to parts processing, then Mu Xi would be winning unfairly.

Thus, Mu Xi brought this child back.

At the time, Mu Han was not yet called Mu Han.

But when Mu Xi brought him to Mu Chen, and Mu Chen proposed to take him as a disciple.

Mu Han knelt down directly: "I have drifted for half a lifetime, only regretting that I have not met a wise master. If you do not despise me, I am willing to acknowledge you as my foster father."

Afterward, he changed his name to "Mu Han."

He was considered Mu Chen's foster son, and also Mu Xi's foster younger brother.

Having acknowledged this eighth-rank Saint Craftsman as his foster father, Mu Han no longer needed to worry about cultivation resources.

He could naturally choose a more compatible spirit soul as well.

The reason he sold that free quota was not just to repay the kindness of the orphanage.

It was mainly because the free spirit soul provided by the Spirit Pagoda was not compatible.

Unless he was willing to join the Spirit Pagoda, the selection range for this free spirit soul was likely quite limited.

Rather than getting an incompatible spirit soul, it was better to sell the quota.

After all, it was a free quota that could select a century-level spirit soul.

A century-level spirit soul starts at one million on the market, and his quota had sold for several hundred thousand.

He had relied on this money to support himself and Na'er for the past year.

However, he no longer needed to "live off his savings."

Under Mu Chen's guidance, Mu Han quickly reached the level of a second-rank blacksmith.

In reality, his forging level was already at the second-rank standard.

As for parts processing, it was actually just a minor detail.

At the same time, the Blacksmith Association quickly helped Mu Han find the spirit soul he needed.

However, Mu Han was not in a hurry to absorb it.

In the original work, the protagonist Tang Wulin reached level ten at nine years old, absorbed a spirit soul to become a one-ring spirit master, and completed his first thousand-refinement.

Now, he wanted to try to attempt thousand-refinement with the cultivation of a level ten spirit apprentice.

If he could succeed, that would be best; if he failed, it didn't matter.

He would just treat it as suppressing his own cultivation to ensure he could enter Class 5 of the first grade.

In Mu Xi's view, Class 5 of the first grade at Eastsea Academy was a group of losers.

But only Mu Han knew that Class 5 of the first grade was the beginning of the protagonist group.

It was the place where the protagonist Tang Wulin found the first member of the protagonist group after leaving his starter village, Proud Arrival City.

Fortunately, Mu Han succeeded in the end.

He began to come into contact with hundred-refinement after the age of six.

He became a first-rank blacksmith at seven and acknowledged Mu Chen as his foster father.

He became a second-rank blacksmith at seven and a half.

Another year passed.

Having practiced for two and a half years, he finally completed his first thousand-forged work.

Yet, he remained only a level ten Soul Apprentice.

Thousand-forging requires more than just strength; it demands insight, especially a deep understanding of metal.

Only by reaching the level of thousand-forging can a blacksmith be considered to have truly entered the craft.

However, this entry point is something ninety percent of blacksmiths will never reach in their entire lives.

Mu Han's martial soul, Gold-Water Mutual Containment, indeed possesses a unique advantage for forging.

But the reason he could achieve this step also relied on his hard work and spiritual power.

His current spiritual power value has reached as high as four hundred and ninety-nine, just a step away from the Spirit Sea realm.

Furthermore, due to forging, his physical fitness has also improved significantly.

Mu Chen values this gifted adopted son highly, providing an unlimited supply of various precious treasures for body tempering.

Now, he is more than capable of refining a thousand-year soul spirit.

A toad, white as jade, lay perched on Mu Han's shoulder; it was his first soul spirit, the Vermilion Clear Ice Toad.

It was pure white and translucent, save for a pair of blood-red eyes that seemed as if they might drip fresh blood.

As the bottleneck of his soul power was shattered, a purple soul ring bloomed.

This was the unique soul ring of a soul master, pulsing rhythmically around him once it appeared.

Ten thousand years ago, before soul spirits existed, the most iconic feature of a soul master was the soul ring.

And this was a thousand-year level first soul ring!

Do not be fooled by the fact that he only has one ring now.

This thousand-year soul ring is the threshold for a three-ring Soul Elder!

A thousand-year first soul ring is even rarer than possessing three soul rings!

Because this means he will never have a soul ring below the thousand-year level.

All his future soul rings will be at least at the thousand-year level.

The Vermilion Clear Ice Toad population is extremely small, and their movements are elusive.

Because their territory lies where the outskirts of the Far North meet the human world, they are known as the kings of the cracks.

Their greatest strength lies in the highly toxic poison they cultivate by absorbing the extreme cold energy of heaven and earth.

Although the Vermilion Clear Ice Toad is primarily of the ice attribute, its eyes are of the fire attribute.

It is precisely through the alternation of its own ice and fire abilities that it produces that special poison.

Wherever the Vermilion Clear Ice Toad passes, it leaves behind a long-lasting, potent poison.

Though it is primarily ice-based, it holds the origin of fire deep within.

Mu Han's martial soul, Gold-Water Mutual Containment, is a combination of the metal element and the water element.

The metal element and water element are perfectly fused without the slightest flaw.

Yet, under the containment of the water element, the metal element constantly changes, altering its own vibrational structure at every moment.

When the martial soul Gold-Water Mutual Containment meets the soul spirit Vermilion Clear Ice Toad:

Metal generates water, water condenses into ice, ice nurtures fire, and fire generates earth.

In the soul master world's system of the four elements—water, fire, earth, and wind—the metal element is a mutation of the earth element.

Just as the ice element is a mutation of the water element.

The original records mentioned that Shrek Academy once had a soul master who controlled three elements.

But in the end, he could only cultivate to the seven-ring Soul Saint level before being unable to advance any further.

This was because the three elements distracted him too much.

However, Mu Han's situation is different.

Although he only masters three of the four elements—water, fire, and earth—the characteristics of the Vermilion Clear Ice Toad create a source where water and fire coexist.

Coupled with the characteristics of Gold-Water Mutual Containment, it forms a fusion of water and earth.

Therefore, his three elements of water, fire, and earth can coordinate with each other just as if all four elements were present.