With Long Yuan's encouragement, Tang Wulin was fired up to give it a thousand percent. After all, if he hadn't saved up enough to buy those three spirit items by the time the deadline came, he would be "dead" in the most miserable way.
Of course, it was all a lie.
When the time came, the divine sense of Tang San left within him would probably take action.
Inside the Forging Room, Tang Wulin swung the Thousand-Refined Tungsten Steel Hammer in his hand, striking the Cyan-Red Stone in front of him again and again.
His forehead was slick with sweat, but he still resolutely raised the forging hammer as high as he could, striking once, then again.
The blood surging through his body continuously filled him with strength, as though he would never tire. Whenever his arms began to ache, a stream of warmth flowed from his spine, spreading through every limb and easing the soreness in his arms.
Mang Tian watched silently from the side, deep astonishment in his eyes.
More than half a year ago, Tang Wulin had completed his first Thousand Refinement. It had been a piece of Sinking Silver, and it had taken him a full three hours.
But that had also marked his successful advancement to the rank of a Third-Grade Blacksmith. Outside, people could even respectfully call him a grandmaster.
After that, Tang Wulin had attempted Thousand Refinement almost every ten days or so. He hadn't forgotten that he still needed to save money.
For ordinary metals like Tungsten Steel and Refined Iron, a standard-sized piece of Thousand-Refined metal could sell for around a hundred thousand Federal Coins. Mang Tian hadn't pocketed the money; he had paid Tang Wulin the full market price.
As a grandmaster, he wasn't short of money. Besides, he could tell that Tang Wulin was.
But today was different. A few days earlier, Tang Wulin had asked him to buy a piece of Cyan-Red Stone.
This was an exceptionally unusual metal, normally hidden inside a drab, gray stone. Only after being heated to a high temperature would its blue and red colors appear. At that point, if it was Thousand-Refined, the outer stone and the metal could be smelted together.
It was a natural Fusion Forging metal. Ordinarily, only a Level 6 Grandmaster could master Fusion Forging, so it was easy to imagine how special Cyan-Red Stone was.
If it were used as the material for a Soul Tool core, even Thousand-Refined Cyan-Red Stone would be stronger than many ordinary Spirit-Refined metals.
That single piece of raw material had cost him a full five hundred thousand Federal Coins!
Time passed second by second. At some point, Tang Wulin had activated his first Soul Skill. His arms had grown much thicker, and what looked like blood energy seemed to coil around his forging hammers. His strikes were coming faster and faster, all the strength in his body gathering into the pair of Thousand-Refined Tungsten Steel Hammers.
It had taken Tang Wulin a full five hours just to understand this piece of Cyan-Red Stone. Now he had been forging continuously for almost two hours, and his body was nearing its limit.
Yet a natural sense of harmony was gradually forming between him and the metal.
Mang Tian sensed it keenly. A faint smile touched his stern face.
Only someone who had truly completed a Thousand Refinement could understand that feeling. He knew this piece of Thousand-Refined Cyan-Red Stone was as good as done. All that remained was the slow, painstaking work.
Watching Tang Wulin swing his forging hammers with all his might, Long Yuan couldn't help sighing with emotion.
Kids these days were getting more and more monstrous. In his previous life, who could have swung a giant hammer for seven hours straight? No wonder this kid would accomplish great things.
"Clang, clang, clang—"
Tang Wulin's Soul Power had been drained completely, and the boost from his Soul Skill had ended. His arms were limp and powerless, yet his eyes grew brighter and brighter. His willpower kept him going, and he continued forging.
At last, his final hammer fell with a heavy blow onto the Cyan-Red Stone, producing a deep, muffled sound.
The Cyan-Red Stone he had been hammering trembled slightly. Blue and red light broke through the burning furnace flames and spread outward.
Tang Wulin could hold on no longer. The blood he had been forcing down surged from his throat and sprayed onto the Cyan-Red Stone, making it appear even more uncanny.
Mang Tian darted forward and caught Tang Wulin as he staggered.
"Teacher... I did it!"
His face was pale, but Tang Wulin still forced himself to stay alert, staring intently at the Cyan-Red Stone as it gradually transformed.
"That's right, Wulin. You did it. Even a Level 4 blacksmith couldn't easily complete this piece of Thousand-Refined Cyan-Red Stone, yet a nine-year-old child managed it. I doubt anyone would believe it if they heard."
In the end, the blue light prevailed, while the red became a mere accent. The two colors faded into silence, leaving only a dazzling piece of metal lying quietly on the forging table.
Unlike dull, gray Thousand-Refined Sinking Silver, even someone who knew nothing about metalworking could tell that this Thousand-Refined Cyan-Red Stone was extraordinary.
"Teacher, how much do you think this Cyan-Red Stone could sell for?"
Mang Tian came back to himself and looked at his precious disciple with a strange expression. "You're so exhausted you can barely stand, and you're still wondering how much it could sell for?"
"Hehe, you know I'm a little short on money, Teacher."
"You little miser. You've got a bit of your father in you." Mang Tian gave him an exasperated look, then patiently explained, "Special metals like Cyan-Red Stone are extremely difficult to forge and rarely appear on the market. So there's no set market price to use as a reference. Most of the time, they're traded for other goods."
"Besides, didn't you just blood-sacrifice this metal? Who would buy metal that someone else has blood-sacrificed?"
After completing a Thousand Refinement, a blacksmith could use his blood to perform a blood sacrifice on the metal. Blood-sacrificed metal couldn't be used by anyone else—not even to make a Soul Tool. So no one would buy it.
"Huh? That counted as a blood sacrifice...? Then wasn't the money I spent on the Cyan-Red Stone wasted?"
"Hmph. I swear, all you think about is money!"
Mang Tian helped Tang Wulin back to his office, took a card from his desk drawer, and handed it to him.
"This is a Federal Central Bank card. There are five million in it. The last time a piece of Thousand Refinement First Grade Cold Spirit Iron was auctioned in Eastsea City, it sold for five million. Your Cyan-Red Stone is only an ordinary Thousand Refinement, but it's more precious than Cold Spirit Iron, so it should be worth around the same."
"As for the Cyan-Red Stone, keep it for yourself. After all, it's the first special metal you forged and blood-sacrificed."
Tang Wulin repeatedly waved his hands and didn't take the card. "Teacher, that's too much. I can't accept it."
"Take it when I tell you to!" Mang Tian roughly shoved the card into his hands, then sat back down across from him.
"I don't know what you're planning, but I can tell you're short on money. Just keep it. Your teacher isn't short of a little money."
Then Mang Tian changed the subject. "I heard you graduated from Red Mountain Academy?"
"That's right. I reached Level 10 a year ago, but I wanted to keep learning forging from you, so I put it off. Now I've officially graduated, too. I'll have to report to Eastsea City before long."
"Eastsea City, huh? It's the core city of our Skysea Alliance. It should be a good place for you to study. There's nothing more I can teach you. Remember, work hard when you get there!"
Tang Wulin hurriedly replied, "That's not true. You'll always be my teacher. I still have so much to learn from you."
"Hehe, I probably won't have the chance to become a Saint Craftsman in this lifetime, but watching my disciple become one would be a fine outcome. When you get to Eastsea City, you can take the blacksmith certification exam. It'll make things much easier for you."
"Teacher..."
Tang Wulin wanted to say more, but Mang Tian cut him off.
"There's nothing more to say. I've already called your father and told him to come pick you up. As for the Cyan-Red Stone, leave it here. Come by the day before you leave Aolai City. I have some other things to give you, too."
Tang Wulin: "..."
"Okay."