Lu Chuan ultimately never heard the Silver Dragon King say "I've fallen in love with you" with her own lips.
Though the Silver Dragon King had already said it countless times in her heart,
she thought of her past, her previous life, her future... She had fallen in love with Lu Chuan in all of them.
But half an hour passed so quickly—
sometimes too quickly for anyone to react.
Tang Wuyue's body trembled faintly,
and those deep purple eyes, filled with nobility and authority,
flickered briefly,
then returned to the clear, lively gaze of a young girl.
"Brother? Why am I... standing here?"
Tang Wuyue rubbed her eyes,
looked around,
and spoke in the dazed, confused voice of someone who had just woken up.
She clearly remembered being in bed!
"You were sleepwalking!"
Lu Chuan made up an excuse without batting an eye.
Tang Wuyue was stunned. "I... I was sleepwalking?"
Lu Chuan nodded, speaking as if it were the truth. "That's right. You sprang straight up from your bed.
You held your arms straight out, pushed open the window, jumped out, then bounced right onto the road. I couldn't stop you.
You nearly got hit by a Soul Guidance Car just now. I was terrified! Luckily, you finally woke up!"
After saying that,
Lu Chuan let out a long breath,
and patted his chest lightly,
looking as though he'd just escaped a close call.
"Really? But why does what you described sound less like sleepwalking and more like a zombie?"
Tang Wuyue stared at Lu Chuan suspiciously. She felt like her brother was lying—and hiding something important from her!
For the first time, Lu Chuan felt a little guilty under her gaze.
He looked straight into Tang Wuyue's eyes,
and couldn't shake the feeling that the next moment,
the Silver Dragon King would leap out
and say:
[Golden Dragon King, I took a blade for you and did time in prison, and you still dare to lie to me!]
Since he couldn't talk his way out of it,
Lu Chuan silenced the girl with force,
then took her home to sleep.
After a few hours of light sleep,
Lu Chuan called in sick,
then headed to Mang Tian Studio.
With his current Soul Power Level,
Red Mountain Academy no longer made any demands of him.
He'd already been guaranteed a place in the advanced division of Eastsea Academy!
Tang Wuyue, on the other hand, still had to go to school on time.
Every time she put on her backpack and boarded the Soul Guidance Bus,
the girl envied Lu Chuan for being able to sleep in.
Mang Tian Studio
When Lu Chuan arrived,
Mang Tian's workshop was already bustling.
The hammer blows rang out without a hint of noise,
a testament to Mang Tian's formidable skill.
Every strike landed perfectly,
without the slightest deviation!
Lu Chuan watched from a distance,
until Mang Tian finally stopped hammering.
"Xiao Chuan, what brings you here?" Mang Tian asked, wiping away his sweat with a towel as he walked over.
Lu Chuan nodded. "Teacher, I want to try Spirit Forging. I was hoping you could guide me."
"Try Spirit Forging? Have you broken through to the third ring?" Mang Tian asked, taken aback. He looked at Lu Chuan in disbelief.
Mang Tian had only agreed to let Lu Chuan try Spirit Forging on the condition
that he had at least broken through to the third ring!
Spirit Forging was the threshold that ushered blacksmiths into a new stage.
Once they crossed it,
they would enter
an entirely different realm of forging.
It required not only arm strength, but Soul Power as well!
That was why
most blacksmiths didn't attempt Spirit Forging until they reached the fourth ring.
But Lu Chuan had been born with tremendous strength,
and his success rate for Thousand-Refined Grade One was as high as sixty percent.
That was why Mang Tian had made an exception and allowed him to try Spirit Forging at the third ring.
The truth was,
Lu Chuan's success rate for Thousand-Refined Grade One was just too high!
What did sixty percent mean?
The current president of the East Sea City Blacksmith Association,
an Eight-Star Saint Smith,
Mu Chen—
his success rate for Thousand-Refined Grade One before Spirit Forging was only fifty percent.
Mang Tian had been looking forward to Lu Chuan breaking through to the third ring,
but he'd never expected
it to happen so soon!
"Yes, Teacher. I'm already at the third ring!" Lu Chuan nodded, and three soul rings rose beneath his feet at once.
Dazzling purple light filled the workshop.
Mang Tian stared at the three purple soul rings,
too shocked for words!
Because,
in his mind,
there had never been a Soul Master who had three thousand-year soul rings at the age of nine!
And besides,
he'd never heard of a blacksmith attempting Spirit Forging at just nine years old!
What was even more frightening was,
if Lu Chuan succeeded this time,
he would become the youngest Level Five Blacksmith in the entire Douluo Federation!
"Let's go!"
Without another word,
Mang Tian went straight into Lu Chuan's workshop.
If he thought about it any longer,
he was afraid his heart would pound too hard,
his blood would surge,
and he'd pass out
before he could witness a miracle being born!
Back in his own workshop,
Lu Chuan got himself into the right state immediately.
He took
a piece of Thousand-Refined Deep Sea Silver straight from the materials rack.
To be precise, it was Thousand-Refined Grade One,
with a market value of around 400,000 Federation Coins.
It was a finished piece he'd forged long ago!
If Spirit Forging failed, he'd lose the full 400,000 Federation Coins!
But Lu Chuan didn't hesitate in the slightest.
The path of forging had never been a smooth road without risk.
He held the Deep Sea Silver in his left hand,
gripped the Forging Hammer tightly in his right,
and the three purple soul rings beneath his feet pulsed together.
Soul Power surged like a rushing river,
flowing along his meridians and into his right arm,
then pouring into the hammer.
Having watched the process several times,
Lu Chuan knew exactly
what he had to do:
communicate with the metal.
Spirit Forging
was no longer a matter of simply shaping something through physical force.
Instead, it required Soul Power and spiritual power
to awaken the spirit within the metal.
Before anyone attempted Spirit Forging,
their teacher would explain this to them.
But that was only the theory.
Everyone had their own ideas
and methods for awakening the spirit!
Lu Chuan's idea was simple.
If Spirit Forging was the process of awakening a spirit,
then the metal must have been born with a spirit.
It was there from the start, but remained hidden—
most likely asleep.
So he would use Soul Power and spiritual power as his hammer,
and knock the spirit within the metal awake!
The real problem was figuring out how hard to strike,
so the spirit of the metal would wake up feeling comfortable.
Lu Chuan closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
When he opened them again,
a flame seemed to burn deep within his pupils.
It was the blacksmith's obsession and fervor!
The first hammer blow fell.
"Clang—"
The clear ring of metal on metal echoed through the workshop,
and a ripple visible to the naked eye spread across the surface of the Thousand-Refined Deep Sea Silver.
Mang Tian stood behind the observation glass and couldn't help nodding.
Just by listening to the hammer blows,
he knew Lu Chuan had his own understanding of Spirit Forging.
Savoring that last blow,
it was completely different from the fierce, forceful blows Lu Chuan had used in the past,
and instead carried a strange rhythm,
like someone knocking on a door.
"Knocking on a door? Could it be that you're trying to get the spirit of the metal to open the door and invite you in?"
Mang Tian's lips curled slightly as he carefully considered Lu Chuan's approach. For some reason, he felt it really did make sense.
The first blow ended,
and the second followed right after.
"Clang—"
This time,
the sound was a little deeper than before,
its echo lingering.
With this blow,
Lu Chuan infused it with Soul Power.
His Soul Power flowed down the handle of the hammer,
seeping into the inner structure of the Deep Sea Silver,
like a secret agent.
If nobody answers the door,
then I'll sneak into the room!
And this probing attempt
had truly allowed Lu Chuan to find a way in.
Something inside the metal seemed to be trembling faintly!!
Lu Chuan's eyes lit up at once.
Then,
the third and fourth blows fell one after another.
Inside the workshop,
the hammer blows began to vary.
At times, they were as rapid as rain beating on banana leaves;
at others, as gentle as a stream flowing by.
But after every blow,
Lu Chuan paused for a moment,
concentrating on sensing the information fed back by the metal.
The feeling was truly wondrous,
like having a silent conversation
with a stranger he had never met!
Seeing Lu Chuan's method of summoning the spirit,
Mang Tian couldn't help being stunned.
Because
he was shocked to discover that Lu Chuan was doing something even he couldn't do.
Every time Lu Chuan's hammer fell,
it actually altered the arrangement of the Deep Sea Silver's internal structure!
The metal molecules that had once been disorderly
recombined after every blow,
following a mysterious pattern.
This wasn't something brute force could accomplish.
It required Soul Power to be controlled with utmost precision,
and, beyond that,
it demanded powerful mental strength to guide it!
Yet Lu Chuan was only nine,
and his mental strength seemed... even greater than his!
"Could this kid... really succeed on his first try?"
Mang Tian drew a deep breath, a complicated look flashing through his eyes.
He suddenly remembered his first attempt at Spirit Forging.
He had already been forty,
and had the cultivation of a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor,
yet he had still failed a full hundred times before finally managing to succeed.
So much so that even now,
he was still paying off the debt from his failed Spirit Forging attempts!
And Lu Chuan was nine, a three-ring Soul Elder...
And he'd succeeded on the first try!
At the thought,
Mang Tian didn't know whether to be happy
or cry!
Time passed second by second.
Three hours had gone by since Lu Chuan began forging.
After three hours of high-intensity, high-precision output of Soul Power and mental strength,
even Lu Chuan, the Golden Dragon King,
couldn't help feeling drained,
and fine beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead.
Even his breathing was growing heavier!
Spirit Forging consumed far more Soul Power than he had imagined.
More than half the Soul Power in his body had already been used up!
But Lu Chuan stopped all the same,
because he could feel
that the "spirit" within the Deep Sea Silver had mostly awakened.
It was like when he called his little sister to wake up that morning:
she had already answered,
and only one last step remained to wake her completely—
pulling her out of bed to wash her face and brush her teeth,
so she could see the world outside!
So
Lu Chuan began hammering furiously.
He hadn't expected, though,
that right at that moment,
something unexpected would happen.
A tiny crack suddenly appeared on the surface of the Deep Sea Silver!!
It was incredibly fine,
but deadly!!
A crack appearing during Spirit Forging
meant the metal's internal structure could no longer withstand the external impact.
If he continued,
the entire piece of Deep Sea Silver might shatter and be ruined!
To Mang Tian,
ruining the metal was a minor concern.
He was afraid that the Deep Sea Silver, heated to forging temperature, would shatter and send fragments flying,
injuring Lu Chuan!
"Xiao Chuan, stop! Hurry!" Mang Tian shouted urgently.
However,
Lu Chuan ignored him completely.
What worried Mang Tian even more
was that Lu Chuan not only failed to stop,
but actually began swinging the hammer faster!!
At that moment,
Lu Chuan's gaze was focused to the utmost.
The crack on the surface of the Deep Sea Silver was reflected in his pupils.
He was thinking it through and testing his theory:
why had the crack appeared?
Was his strength too great?
A stronger blow fell, but the crack didn't grow.
No!
Was his mental strength too high?
A blow guided by even greater mental strength fell, but the crack didn't widen.
No!
Was there too much Soul Power?
A blow carrying even more Soul Power fell, but the crack still didn't widen.
Still no!
Then,
once every factor on his end had been ruled out,
there could be only one truth!
The metal's spirit was resisting from within!
It was just like how someone woken from sleep
would instinctively feel irritated and resist!!
I understand!
The corners of Lu Chuan's lips lifted slightly.
His eyes gleamed
as he came up with a way to handle it.
The Forging Hammer in his hand traced an arc through the air,
then—
came down gently.
That's right, gently!
The blow made almost no sound at all,
like a feather settling on the surface of the water.
Why strike so gently?
Because someone who'd just thrown a tantrum only needed a little soothing!
And sure enough,
the instant the hammerhead touched the Deep Sea Silver,
a miracle happened.
The Deep Sea Silver let out a low "hum,"
and the crack healed at a speed visible to the naked eye!
A faint silvery sheen began to spread over the surface of the entire piece of Deep Sea Silver,
as though moonlight had laid a layer of frost upon it.
The light grew brighter,
more and more radiant,
until at last it became a dazzling orb of light,
floating above Lu Chuan's palm.
Mang Tian stared blankly at the orb, his eyes wide and his lips trembling slightly.
"The spirit has awakened, and it's floating on its own... Spirit Forging succeeded!"
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