Blood Spirit Metal Inquiry

October, 2609th year of the Douluo Calendar.

That evening, Ling Yi was conducting his 286th theoretical verification of the Storage Soul Tool.

Ling Yi, Yang Shelly, and Ah Yin stood ten meters away. A blue vine about ten meters long had one end in Ling Yi's palm and the other end, like a finger, nimbly touching the silver-gray spiritual metal, slowly injecting Soul Power to activate the engraved Soul Guidance Array Patterns.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths...

Suddenly, Ling Yi clenched his fist, and the Soul Power he was slowly transmitting immediately stopped. Affected by this, the array pattern that had lit up a third of the way flickered a few times and then went out like a candle flame.

However, Ling Yi didn't look at the Soul Guidance Array Patterns on the spiritual metal. Instead, he suddenly turned his head and looked at the wall beside him.

"Brother Yi?" Yang Shelly was taken aback by Ling Yi's sudden action.

Ah Yin, on the other hand, also turned her gaze to the wall, seemingly able to see through it, just like Ling Yi.

"Walk!"

Ling Yi left with a single, brief word, offering no explanation, and immediately strode toward the metal door of the No. 3 foundry.

Ling Yi Ling Yi pulled open the metal door and strode into the corridor. When he passed the No. 2 foundry, he didn't stop at all and continued walking forward, or rather, he started jogging.

"Shelly, please call my senior brother for me!"

From afar, Yang Shelly and Ah Yin, who had just come out of the No. 3 foundry, heard Ling Yi's solemn voice calling out.

Yang Shelly also jogged over there, taking two steps to the door of the No. 2 foundry. As she knocked hard on the door, Ling Yi had already arrived at the metal door of the No. 1 foundry.

Having already learned the opening technique from the Tie Futu, Ling Yi didn't knock. Instead, he channeled his Soul Power into his fingers and quickly tapped different spots on the door.

In less than two breaths, his hand moved like a blur as he tapped thirty-six times, and then a series of soft whirring sounds came from inside the doorway.

With a soft "click" sound, Ling Yi placed his right hand on the door and pushed it hard.

"Who is it? Is it my junior brother?"

On the other side, Lou Gao's voice rang out from behind the door of the No. 2 foundry.

"President Lou Gao, Brother Yi asked me to call you. I saw Brother Yi run to number one, he seemed to be in a hurry..."

Before the metal door was fully open, Yang Shelly spoke rapidly towards the Lou Gao behind it.

"What?!" Upon hearing this, Lou Gao disregarded everything else and forcefully pulled open the metal door, which weighed several hundred pounds.

The next second, Lou Gao, with an agility and speed completely out of character for his round body, bypassed Yang Shelly and Ah Yin, and with a few leaps, crossed the distance between the No. 2 and No. 1 foundry rooms, following closely behind Ling Yi into the room.

"Uncle-Master!"

"Master!"

Inside the No. 1 foundry, Ling Yi and Lou Gao, who entered one after the other, immediately saw Tie Futu lying face down in front of the furnace.

The two exerted force with their feet at the same time, instantly arriving beside the Tie Futu. They squatted down and carefully observed the Tie Futu's condition.

The good news is that the Tie Futu is still alive.

The bad news is that he only has half a breath left, the kind that could be swallowed at any moment.

"How... how could this be..." Lou Gao panicked like a child, reaching out his hand to shake the Tie Futu, but then stopped in mid-air, not daring to actually shake it.

Ling Yi ignored the fifty-something-year-old child beside him, and with a flick of his right hand, his "Blue Silver Grass" Martial Soul immediately appeared.

With a thought, a rich emerald green light emanated from his palm, covering the chest of the Tie Futu.

In order to maximize the effect of his Soul Skill, Ling Yi, who could have skipped the Soul Ring to activate his Soul Skill, not only revealed all three Soul Ring (two yellow and one purple), but also mobilized more than 90% of his mental power to activate his Third Soul Skill, which had a lifespan of two thousand years, to a level that almost exceeded the limits of the Soul Ring themselves.

Fortunately, Ling Yi's efforts were not in vain. At least under the effect of the Thousand-Year Soul Skill - Endless Life, the half breath that was about to be swallowed was stabilized, and the other half breath was also restored.

Seeing that Tie Futu's breathing had stabilized slightly, Ling Yi's gaze shifted from Tie Futu's aged face to his right palm.

His powerful sense of smell allowed him to detect a fresh, metallic scent of blood the moment he entered.

The source of this bloody smell was none other than the right hand of the Tie Futu!

Lou Gao was also looking towards the right side of the Tie Futu.

Seeing that Tie Futu's aura had stabilized, Lou Gao, whose mind had also calmed down, regained his rationality. His eyes, sharp as a hawk's, scanned his master Tie Futu and the surroundings of the No. 1 forging room.

Upon seeing the three pieces of crimson metal in the furnace, half-melted and fused together, Lou Gao's expression changed. He suddenly bent down and pressed his head close to the right palm of the Tie Futu, which was resting diagonally on the ground in front of his head.

Upon seeing the bloody gash gradually heal under the effect of Ling Yi's ' Third Soul Skill - Endless Life ', Lou Gao's face turned ashen, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "It's the ' Blood Spirit Metal Inquiry Technique '!"

Upon hearing Lou Gao's words, Ling Yi's pupils contracted, and he asked solemnly, "That forbidden technique for testing mineral properties?"

Lou Gao nodded stiffly, his neck arched.

"Blood Spirit Metal Inquiry Technique" is a forbidden technique with a rather rustic name and a brutally effective result. Its creator and creation date are unknown; all that is known is that it is a secret technique that allows the user to use their own blood essence to permeate unfamiliar minerals, thereby sensing their properties.

It's important to understand that there are countless types of minerals in the world. Even gold and iron minerals mined from the same vein will have slight differences, just as it's rare to find two identical leaves. Similarly, even a Divine Craftsman blacksmith wouldn't dare claim to recognize all the materials in the world.

Therefore, this secret technique, which allows one to directly master the properties of a mineral never seen before, is definitely no less than an S-level inheritance of the "Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique" in the eyes of a blacksmith!

However, since this "Blood Spirit Metal Inquiry Technique" is listed as a forbidden technique, it is obviously not something that can be performed simply by consuming some essence blood.

Think about it, what is the basis of a skill that can directly obtain the basic properties and values of a target mineral, similar to the appraisal skill in online games?

The identification of equipment in online games is based on a huge database, which can be directly retrieved for comparison when needed.

Just like the appraisal of antiques and calligraphy, appraisers rely on their eyesight, but most importantly, they have a vast knowledge base as their foundation.

Without these databases, obtaining the attributes and values of a target would require a process akin to "Shennong tasting hundreds of herbs," a hands-on experience.

However, minerals, metals, or stones, unlike grass, leaves, flowers, and fruits, cannot be ingested to experience their various effects on the human body.

In this context, the "Blood Spirit Metal Inquiry Technique" was invented by an unknown being. It uses blood essence containing Soul Power to infect the target, creating a state similar to "self-questioning and self-answering" or "empathy," directly acquiring all attributes and values.

However, the consumption of Soul Power and essence blood is no joke!

At first, the blacksmiths thought that the "Blood Spirit Metal Inquiry Technique" only required the consumption of blood, which was not a big problem for Soul Master with Martial Soul power. Whether it was the healing of Healing System Soul Master or the nourishment of Food System Soul Master, they could make up for the weakness caused by the consumption of blood.

However, what the Blood Spirit Metal Inquiry Technique consumes is not just blood, but also the essence, energy, and spirit of the human body, and the original vital energy of the human body!

In other words, the use of this forbidden technique comes at the cost of the user's lifespan!

Five years ago, Lou Gao taught Ling Yi almost all the forging skills and secret techniques he knew, but Lou Gao did not teach him the "Blood Spirit Metal Inquiry Technique".

Even Lou Gao, after becoming Grandmaster Blacksmith and reaching a considerable age, was taught this forbidden technique by Tie Futu, who felt he had matured and become more stable, with the intention of preventing a super inheritance from disappearing.

"I knew it!" Lou Gao shouted in a low voice, "Although I spent a lot of time in the association, it doesn't make sense. In about the same amount of time, I only managed to research four kinds of spiritual metals, while my master has researched nine—!!!"

Hearing this, Ling Yi remained silent, looking at the old face of the Tie Futu, which was no longer rosy and was as pale as paper, and felt a little uncomfortable.

Why bother?

Is it worth it?

The next chapter will be posted tonight.