Thousand Refinement and Spirit Awakening
In the central area of Gengxin City, there is the Blacksmith Association.
Fifth floor, foundry room number one.
Beside the furnace, Ling Yi wielded the forging hammer, his movements graceful and agile.
Not far away at the workbench, Lou Gao and Tie Futu watched Ling Yi's movements intently, watching the work gradually take shape under the forging hammer.
On the workbench in front of the two people, there were two rows of metal products.
These two rows of metal items correspond to each other, except that the right row is missing one item at the end compared to the left row.
"Clang--!"
A crisp, metallic sound rang out, and a pale purple halo erupted from the metal object on the anvil. The halo first spread out for about three inches before receding and merging back into the metal itself.
Ling Yi put down the forging hammer in his hand, without blushing or panting, and used pliers to clamp the metal piece radiating amazing heat from the anvil. He stepped to the other side of the workbench and placed the piece he had just finished at the end of the row of metal products on the right.
Tie Futu's gaze shifted from Ling Yi to the metal piece that had just been completed, then he looked at all the metal objects on the table, remaining silent for Jiujiu.
The Lou Gao next to them didn't react much, with a strange smile on its face, as if it were nothing unusual.
After a long while, Tie Futu took a deep breath before saying to Ling Yi, "You kid, you really are an absolute prodigy!"
After saying that, without waiting for Ling Yi to speak modestly, he continued, "The control of furnace temperature, metal ratio, forging point, force, hammering rhythm... have all reached their peak! Not to mention Grandmaster Blacksmith, even we two Divine Craftsman wouldn't dare say we could do better than you!"
Most importantly, the resonance of metal!
You actually learned ' Metal Resonance ' after only watching it once—?!...
It has to be said that although Tie Futu had heard Lou Gao say long ago that Ling Yi was a genius who defied common sense and had an extremely terrifying learning ability, he was still somewhat overwhelmed after witnessing it with his own eyes.
Beside him, Lou Gao grinned from ear to ear, finally someone could understand how he felt five years ago.
Back then, he only demonstrated the "Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique" to Ling Yi once, and then explained it to Ling Yi while Ling Yi was demonstrating and asking questions, and the man learned it on the spot.
That's not all. The next day, when Lou Gao saw Ling Yi again, the kid had mastered the "Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique," a skill that more than 95% of blacksmiths struggled to master!
At the same time, he said confidently, "At most, I've achieved some minor success. I'm still far from mastering it completely. As for the perfect state of consummate skill, and the later states of reaching the pinnacle and returning to simplicity, I'm even further away."
Family members, who can understand this feeling!
The "Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique," which ordinary blacksmiths could not master even after a lifetime of study, was not only learned on the spot by this prodigy, but the very next day he was able to reach the level of mastery that even Divine Craftsman like Lou Gao would only achieve after years of arduous practice.
Not satisfied with that, they added, "This isn't the final stage; there's still a long way to go..."
Now, finally someone has broken down, and Lou Gao is saying: Awesome!!!
"Junior brother, when do you think we should announce the concept of ' Spirit Refinement ' to the members of the association, and when should we showcase it to the mainland?"
Lou Gao gazed at the metal products on the workbench, his eyes revealing the look of a parent looking at their child.
There are two rows of metal objects, each a palm-sized rectangular metal block. The difference is that these metal blocks are all different colors, totaling thirteen colors and twenty-six blocks.
The thirteen pieces on the right were crafted on-site by Ling Yi today. Of the thirteen pieces on the left, nine were crafted by Master Tie Futu, and the remaining four were made by Lou Gao.
These thirteen metal blocks are all the results of the master and apprentice's work over the past two or three years!
Thirteen kinds of Thousand Refinement metal alloys with a certain spirituality!
Ling Yi had no idea what blacksmiths would be like in the future of the Douluo Continent, nor did he know which new path to forging should be taken. All the information he had came from snippets of information in fan fiction.
For example, in the era ten thousand years later, Soul Tool appeared on the stage of this world, and people regained control of the technology to manufacture Soul Tool.
For example, in the era 20,000 years later, it seems that the blacksmith profession has taken center stage, renamed as forging master, and reclassified into different levels: Hundred Refinement, Thousand Refinement, Spirit Refinement, Soul Refinement, and Heavenly Refinement.
But!
Whether these fanfiction authors don't want to quote too much from the original work or want to express some of their own ideas, they often only touch on the forging levels superficially, without any in-depth explanation.
This also led to Ling Yi only knowing these level titles, but having no idea what the subsequent Spirit Refinement, Soul Refinement, and Heavenly Refinement were all about.
But that's alright. Not knowing the true meaning of these titles doesn't mean that a blacksmith's career is over.
Ling Yi is not Wang Chao, and this world is not a sealed, magic-free world, so there is no situation of "no way forward".
If Ling Yi wanted to, he could bring countless ideas to the Douluo Continent, and then have Lou Gao and Tie Futu, the two Divine Craftsman, try them out one by one, find the idea that fits the rules of this world, turn it into a theory, and then research and develop a physical object.
For example, these thirteen spiritual metal alloys were created by combining the sword-making concepts from martial arts novels with the weapon-refining ideas from cultivation novels, and were crafted by the "Spirit Awakening Technique" developed by the Tie Futu.
Forge your form with the hammer of flesh! Unblock your meridians with the hammer of Soul Power! Nurture your spirit with the hammer of spirit!
During the hammering process, one finds the metal's breath and resonates with it. With each strike, Soul Power penetrates into the metal, working in conjunction with the immense force of the outside world to refine its internal texture. At the same time, spiritual power, along with the Soul Power and resonance, gradually nurtures a bit of spirituality within the metal.
In response to Lou Gao's question, Ling Yi shook his head and said, "Senior brother, now is not the time. The Blacksmith Association is still too weak. This kind of epoch-making technological revolution cannot be accepted by the world overnight."
"If we cannot train a sufficient number of blacksmiths who have mastered the ' Spirit Awakening Technique,' let alone announcing it to the mainland, it will be quite difficult to even get the blacksmiths within the association to accept the concept of ' Spirit Refinement.'"
"Furthermore, the saying goes, 'A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime.' Are you truly prepared to face the inevitable covetousness of various forces?"
Lou Gao remained silent upon hearing this. He was well aware of these things, but when Ling Yi arrived, his heart became fiery and restless.