Not Scrap
As Ling Yi explained, Lou Gao seemed to understand, while Tie Futu breathed a sigh of relief.
As an old man, he was shrewd and experienced. Although the Tie Futu was limited by the lack of education system on the Douluo Continent and spent his days dealing with metal and forging, his overall perspective and understanding of people's hearts were not particularly grand or profound. However, his more than eighty years of life experience made him feel uneasy when he first heard Lou Gao talk about raising the status of the blacksmith profession on the Douluo Continent. In addition to his own longing for such a scene to come true, he also instinctively felt a little uneasy.
He was worried that if Ling Yi and Lou Gao increased the influence and status of the blacksmith profession, encroaching on the interests of the established forces in the Soul Master system, it might invite suppression and malicious targeting.
The Blacksmith Association's foundation is too weak, the blacksmiths themselves are not particularly strong in combat, and the combat power of the higher-ups is zero. They simply cannot withstand the power from the Soul Master system.
Originally, these worries could only be kept to himself, because Tie Futu didn't know what to do. As a Divine Craftsman, in terms of forging, even Lou Gao, who was also Divine Craftsman in the Douluo Continent, was still lacking in experience and sophistication in his eyes. But when it came to developing power, planning routes, and promoting system reform, Tie Futu knew that he was not cut out for it.
As the saying goes, "Every profession has its own secrets." This is Douluo Continent, a barbaric world where knowledge is relatively closed off, the average person is almost illiterate, and individual strength reigns supreme. It is not the world of Ling Yi's previous life, where people are enlightened and life is filled with various thoughts and information in an electronic and networked manner.
Here, farmers grow grains, and besides eating them themselves, they only know to take them to the market to sell. They almost never think about whether they can process them a second time and sell them at a higher price.
Similarly, a blacksmith will only think about how to improve his skills and forge higher-quality pieces, thus justifying raising the selling price. He basically won't consider whether, if he monopolizes all ironware in a region, he can arbitrarily set the price of ironware...
Using concise and clear language, Ling Yi explained his philosophy regarding Lou Gao and the Tie Futu, as well as the initial reform plan he had formulated. He then returned to the topic of spiritual metals:
"Uncle-Master, Senior Brother, the initial research and development of Spirit-Forged Metal has been successful. We should move on to the next step, which is to transform it from raw materials into tools that can be used by Soul Master!"
"How far have you progressed in researching the Soul Guidance Array Patterns?" Ling Yi asked the Tie Futu master and his apprentice.
"This..." *2
Sensing the expectation in Ling Yi's eyes, Lou Gao and Tie Futu exchanged a glance, both noticing the awkwardness on each other's faces.
Well, seeing their behavior, Ling Yi knew he had been disappointed.
However, it wasn't entirely incomprehensible. The ability to develop formulas and forging techniques for thirteen different types of spiritual metals had already greatly exceeded Ling Yi's expectations. Furthermore, studying the metals themselves was more in line with their status as Divine Craftsman.
Soul Guidance Array Patterns were a bit beyond the scope of what two blacksmiths had ever studied before.
"Well... no, we didn't gain anything at all..."
Lou Gao stroked his beard and said softly, "My master and I forged a new furnace using fire-attribute spiritual metal and inscribed it with a Soul Guidance Array Patterns that has a fire-gathering effect..."
"Oh?" Ling Yi's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he asked expectantly, "Where is it? Can I take a look?"
"It's blown up," Lou Gao replied curtly, shrugging.
Ling Yi: "..."
"And another thing," Lou Gao continued, "I also used the enhanced ' Heavy Dark Steel ' to forge a new forging hammer and inscribed it with a Gravity Soul Guidance Array Patterns."
"This probably won't explode," Ling Yi remarked first, then asked calmly, "How was the effect?"
Ling Yi has already mastered one Soul Guidance Array Patterns related to gravity, and even created a "Gravity Soul Guidance Array Diagram" to use as one of the external aids when tempering his physique.
"There it is." Lou Gao pointed to the corner of the wall a dozen steps away.
Ling Yi looked over and saw a claw hammer the size of a human head standing quietly under a corner shelf where a lot of metal ores were stacked. The hammerhead was pointing downwards.
"The idea was to create a dual-purpose hammer, one that could be used as both a forging hammer and a warhammer..."
Lou Gao was also looking over, explained, "It's made entirely of ' Heavy Dark Steel 2.0. ' Originally, it weighed 480 jin, but after being inscribed with Gravity Soul Guidance Array Patterns, it now weighs nearly 2,000 jin. My master and I used all our Soul Power to barely lift it, let alone wield it. It's practically useless..."
"Can't it be turned off?" Ling Yi asked pointedly.
"It can't be turned off." Lou Gao shook his head and said, "At first, we thought we could use the weight of the material itself during forging. With my master's and my strength, it's less than 500 jin, and with the support of Soul Power, we can handle it freely..."
"Then, during battle, at the moment of attacking the enemy, using gravity amplification would be among the best, even among Thousand-Year Soul Skill. Unfortunately..."
Ling Yi nodded, understanding Lou Gao's line of thinking.
No problem. Tang San's "Sea God Trident" in the original novel has the same effect. It only weighs 108 jin when he holds it, but it weighs 108,000 jin when he fights an enemy.
Next, Lou Gao introduced Ling Yi to the Wind-Gathering Soul Guidance Array Patterns patterns made of wind-attribute spiritual metals, which were installed on the bellows to enhance the blowing effect; the battle sword made of metal-attribute spiritual metals, which was engraved with Soul Guidance Array Patterns to enhance sharpness; and the anvil made of earth-attribute spiritual metals, which was engraved with Soul Guidance Array Patterns to strengthen defense...
Well, they all have some effect, more or less, but the final result seems to have gone a little off track.
For example, the wind on the bellows isn't a continuous and even blowing; under the effect of the Wind-Gathering Soul Guidance Array Patterns, it can instantly create a gust of wind, the kind that can blow the glowing embers all over the room; the sharp battle sword's sharpness enhancement effect is in the middle section, while the tip and the end near the hilt remain at the original blade's sharpness...
After Lou Gao finished speaking, he looked embarrassed and shifted his gaze to the spiritual metals on the workbench.
However, to Lou Gao's surprise, Ling Yi looked delighted. "Senior brother, could you let me take a look at what you just mentioned?"
"Ah Yi, what do you need those scraps for?" Tie Futu asked, somewhat puzzled.
At first, Lou Gao and he studied the Soul Guidance Array Patterns together, but after several failures and rather disappointing results, Tie Futu gave up on the research of Soul Guidance Array Patterns and focused on his best skill, metal research.
"No, Uncle-Master, in my opinion, those aren't junk." Ling Yi shook his head and said with a smile, "They just haven't found a suitable location, not that these array patterns have failed."
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