Lava Cavern

Sunlight dappled, moonlight cast dappled shadows; in the blink of an eye, the year 2615 of the Douluo Calendar had passed.

In the year 2616 of the Douluo Calendar, Ling Yi was about to turn twenty-five.

That noon, after exchanging a few words with Yang Shelly and the other two girls, Ling Yi went alone to the "Lava Cavern," the fire-attribute Mimicry Cultivation Ground of the [Heavenly Craft Academy].

As soon as he entered, Ling Yi saw Liu Erlong he hadn't seen for more than half a month.

"Hello, Dean Ling!"

Liu Erlong also saw Ling Yi entering the "Lava Cavern". He immediately stood up straight behind the forging table and greeted him loudly.

Upon hearing this, Ling Yi raised his eyebrows slightly and looked at Liu Erlong with some curiosity. This kind of linguistic art of addressing a deputy without using the word "deputy" would not have been anything special in his previous life, but to be honest, Ling Yi had only seen it in a handful of people in this Douluo Continent.

Although surprised, Ling Yi's warm smile remained unchanged. He nodded slightly and replied with a smile, "Hello, Liu. I heard from Dean Hamo Reit that you recently broke through to level forty in Soul Power and went out to Soul Hunting?"

"Mmm~ Yes~" Liu Erlong smiled, clearly pleased with her improved strength.

Seeing this, Ling Yi walked towards a forging table, smiling as he said, "It seems that Liu is quite satisfied with her Fourth Soul Ring— "

"The ' Explosion Fire Dragon Ape ', which is 5,900 years old. ★💔 ♙☮"

Liu Erlong made no attempt to hide anything and directly revealed the origin of her Fourth Soul Ring: "The Dean (Tie Futu) personally helped me hunt it down."

"The ' Explosion Fire Dragon Ape '?"

Ling Yi nodded, his gaze sweeping across the forging table to check if the tools were complete and suitable. He then added, "Is it in the ' Golden Sand Desert '? I remember there's a small ' Explosion Fire Dragon Ape ' clan in the area around the Roaring Volcano..."

"Sharp!"

Liu Erlong's starry eyes widened slightly as she watched Ling Yi open the fire pit and light the furnace.

"Hehe~" Ling Yi looked up at Liu Erlong, shook his head with a smile, and said, "It's not that I'm amazing, it's that you said your master (Tie Futu) personally led you to hunt for the Soul Ring."

"A few years ago, my uncle's Soul Power broke through level 80. His Eighth Soul Ring was obtained in the Roaring Volcano of the Golden Sand Desert. At that time, Senior Brother Lou Gao, Senior Brother Ah Gu, Shangguan Tianyou, and I were all his companions..."

Ling Yi didn't ask Liu Erlong if the Soul Hunting went smoothly. With his Tie Futu Soul Douluo- level strength, helping Liu Erlong hunt down a 5,900-year-old "Explosion Fire Dragon Ape" was a piece of cake.

Even if there is a leader in that small "Explosion Fire Dragon Ape" group who is only about ten thousand years old, it will only take a little effort at most.

Previously, Zhang Ji helped his nephew Woma hunt down the 17,000-year-old "Six-Armed Demon Bear." Aside from the effort spent finding the target, the only time Zhang Ji actually did any physical work was during the final few blows with the stick in the tree hollow. 🐍♠ 🍓👺

Both Tie Futu and Zhang Ji are normal Soul Douluo- level powerhouses. There is no way they would let a mere two-thousand-year-old "Man Faced Demon Spider" escape from their hands. If that were to be said, they would be laughed at by all Soul Douluo- level powerhouses on the continent for a hundred years.

Without exchanging many words with Liu Erlong, the two of them focused on their respective tasks after a few casual chats.

Liu Erlong stepped on the bellows pedal, and when the knife blank in the furnace turned bright red, he used iron tongs to take it out, raised the forging hammer as big as a human head, and began to hammer it like a storm.

"The Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique" —!!!

On the other side, Ling Yi didn't look up. He took out a series of special tools from his Storage Soul Tool at his waist. Just by listening, he could tell that Liu Erlong's "Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique" was about to reach its peak.

Furthermore, by observing the metallic clang of the metal striking the blade blank, Ling Yi could determine that Liu Erlong was also only one step away from becoming Blacksmith of the Thousand Refinement level.

"Call--!"

On the unique bellows, the patterns of the wind-attribute Soul Guidance Array lit up, and oxygen in the air was continuously sent into the furnace, causing the crimson flames to gradually turn orange-red, and then rapidly evolve towards yellow, white, and blue-white.

This rapid heating was also thanks to the pile of specially made charcoal that Ling Yi had just put into the furnace.

The heat wave made the already hot "Lava Cavern" even hotter.

Ling Yi threw silver-gray metal ingots into the furnace and waited for them to heat up. Then, he took out two head-sized cyan scales from his Storage Soul Tool.

Ling Yi placed one of the scales on the forging table, gripped the blue scales with both hands, stood firmly, and exerted force from the ground, from his feet to his calves, then to his waist, hips, spine, arms, and palms. With a burst of force from his palms, the blue scales, which were several times harder than steel, were instantly shattered into pieces the size of a little fingernail.

The same operation was completed once again, and a pile of cyan fragments appeared on the forging table in front of Ling Yi.

The fragments are similar in size and shape; with a little polishing, they will become identical.

Then, Ling Yi took out a file and a small tool that looked like an ice pick and began to polish and process the broken scales in front of him.

A full hour passed, and while Liu Erlong's blade blank was forged into a gleaming, cold-light treasure, Ling Yi's pile of blue scale fragments was only about four-fifths complete.

Shaking his hands wearily, Liu Erlong turned his gaze toward Ling Yi. He first looked at the two piles of blue scale fragments, one large and one small, and then his attention was drawn to the stove next to Ling Yi.

Inside the furnace, the flames were a pure blue color, and just by looking at them, Liu Erlong could feel the terrifying temperature within.

But what truly caught Liu Erlong's attention was that within that ball of blue flames, the three dull-colored metal ingots still retained their basic shape and had not completely melted!

Having practiced forging for over two and a half years, Liu Erlong is now only one step away from becoming Blacksmith due to her exceptional talent. Therefore, she clearly understands just how terrifying metal must be to remain unmelted even under such high temperatures!

After hesitating for a while, Liu Erlong finally couldn't suppress his eagerness to learn and tiptoed toward Ling Yi.

Since Dean Ling didn't avoid me and didn't announce the clearing of the area when he arrived, he probably doesn't mind me observing and learning on my own.

With this thought in mind, Liu Erlong's steps became more and more steady.

Ling Yi naturally noticed Liu Erlong's approach, but just as Liu Erlong had guessed, as long as he didn't cause trouble, Ling Yi didn't care whether anyone was watching.

Once all the blue scale fragments were processed, the three metal ingots in the furnace finally melted and coalesced into a pool of molten metal.

At the same time, due to the excessively high temperature of the furnace, the "Obsidian Olivine" used to shape the furnace also began to melt, and the inner wall of the furnace even showed signs of liquefaction.

It should be noted that this "Obsidian Olivine" was salvaged from the underground lava river in this "Lava Cavern". Its resistance to high temperatures of flames is strong enough to withstand the high-temperature burning of the Ninth Soul Skill of a fire attribute Titled Douluo!

To be continued tomorrow, goodnight everyone~