Nineteen Minutes to Clear the Level 5 Blacksmith Assessment!

Blacksmiths have always been judged by the level of their forging.

Lu Chuan could not yet perform Soul Forging, and was unable to compete with Mu Chen in that regard, but there was one thing, Lu Chuan was confident, he could surpass anyone!

Without timidity, without fear, Lu Chuan walked into the chairman's office with a beaming smile, his gaze sweeping over Mu Chen, who sat upright in the main seat, and Cen Yue, who was leaning against the doorframe watching the show, his footsteps steady and unhurried.

Since the two old men wanted to play, he would play along with them, though it was hard to say who the real clown would be when the time came!

"For a Level 5 Blacksmith assessment, the rules require at least three Grandmaster-level judges to be present for supervision."

Lu Chuan walked up to the desk, braced his hands on the surface, looked down at Mu Chen, and grinned, "Since you are not away on business, Chairman, that works out perfectly to make up the number. With Master Cen and one more person invited, that will be enough."

Mu Chen stared at Lu Chuan's smile, the hand holding his teacup pausing slightly.

He had expected this kid to either turn tail and run in cowardice, or fly into a rage, slam the table, and start cursing, but he never expected Lu Chuan to withstand the pressure and continue with the assessment!

And he had even conscripted him into service!

Seeing that the atmosphere was off, Cen Yue reined in his smile and gave a dry cough to try and ease the tension:

"Little Chuan, there's no rush for the assessment, why not sit down and have a cup of tea first—"

However, Lu Chuan was not about to give him a chance to mediate!

If they wanted to treat him like a clown, they would have to pay the price!

"I am in a rush."

Lu Chuan interrupted him, his tone as cold as a stagnant pool, "I am very much in a rush. I told Teacher Mang Tian that if I don't forge for a single day, my hands itch with impatience. I assume he has already relayed that to you two."

Lu Chuan emphasized the word "two" heavily!

The detachment in his tone was obvious.

Mu Chen set down his teacup, narrowing his eyes as he scrutinized Lu Chuan.

He had clearly been a refined and sensible young man before, but now he was sharp and exposed, the keenness in those eyes

reminded him of himself when he was young!

In an instant, Mu Chen suddenly couldn't help but laugh.

He looked at Lu Chuan, then turned his head to instruct Cen Yue, "Fine. If you want to be tested, I will personally oversee the exam. Old Cen, go call Old Zhao up here."

Cen Yue looked at the tense, sword-drawn atmosphere, He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but swallowed the words back down before turning to leave. He had seen it clearly now: the two men before him might not be as burly as he was, but their hearts were more reckless than the last! If they felt even the slightest bit of injustice, they would trample Obstacle Mountain to pieces.

Less than ten minutes later, the three examiners gathered in the private Evaluation Room next to the chairman's office. Aside from Mu Chen and Cen Yue, the third was a white-haired old man named Zhao, who had been with the branch for over twenty years and was known for his severity.

In the center of the Evaluation Room stood a standard forging table, with standard metal ingots for testing stacked to the side: ten pieces of Hundred Forging refined iron and a few rare metals with different properties.

"The core assessment for a Level 5 Forgemaster is Spirit Forging."

"You have a two-hour time limit. Choose any rare metal and complete the Spirit Forging. The finished product will be voted on by the three of us; two votes are required to pass."

Mu Chen stood five paces away from the forging table with his hands behind his back, his voice devoid of emotion.

Lu Chuan ignored him and walked straight to the metal rack, his gaze sweeping over the three rare metals in turn: Red Copper, Star Iron, and Deep Sea Silver. Among them, Deep Sea Silver was arguably the metal he was most familiar with! It was perfect for a warm-up.

"Have you decided?" Cen Yue couldn't help but ask.

"Decided."

Lu Chuan grabbed the fist-sized piece of Deep Sea Silver and walked back to the forging table.

Seeing this, Mu Chen's brow furrowed imperceptibly. Although the first metal Lu Chuan had successfully Spirit Forged was Deep Sea Silver, it was arguably one of the most difficult materials to imbue with spirit among all rare metals. It conducted soul power easily, but its affinity for soul power was extremely low! Therefore, most forgemasters attempting to reach Level 5 would choose Red Copper or Star Iron. Choosing the most difficult material meant he was either arrogant enough to be ignorant of the heights of the world, or he truly had the confidence.

Mu Chen actually leaned toward the former; Lu Chuan was being influenced by his emotions! After all, the kid was only nine years old. Even if he had started practicing from the womb, how much experience could he possibly have?

But when the first hammer fell, Mu Chen's expression changed. Lu Chuan hadn't preheated the metal or tested it; the first strike was at full power. Then came the second hammer, the third hammer... The hammer head slammed against the surface of the Deep Sea Silver.

With a dull, lingering chime, the entire block of metal seemed to awaken in an instant, a visible ripple spreading across its surface.

"This is..." Elder Zhao took half a step forward, his pupils constricting.

The Chaos-Cloak Hammer Technique!

And not the ordinary version, but a variant that had been improved to compress the intervals between strikes. The gap between each hammer blow was impossibly short; before the force of the previous strike had fully dissipated, the next one was already layered upon it.

This was one of the treasures left to Lu Chuan by the Silver Dragon King after she slew Tang San's divine consciousness!

An ordinary blacksmith using the Chaos-Cloak Hammer Technique would be exhausted after seven strikes, while those with exceptional talent could manage thirteen.

Yet Lu Chuan, without even realizing it, had already swung seventeen times!

"Clang!"

A crisp hammer chime rang out as the seventeenth strike landed. Cen Yue stared at the Deep Sea Silver, shocked to discover that fine, silvery liquid beads were already beginning to seep from its surface. This was the hallmark of internal impurities being expelled after extreme compression, a phenomenon that usually only appeared when metal purity reached the late stages of Thousand-Refined. Yet, Lu Chuan had achieved it by the seventeenth strike!

The hammering continued.

Twenty-one strikes.

The volume of the Deep Sea Silver had shrunk by a full third, its surface smooth as a mirror, reflecting three faces with vastly different expressions inside the Evaluation Room. Mu Chen's throat bobbed; seeing Lu Chuan forge for the first time, he realized that Lu Chuan's talent for blacksmithing was far more terrifying than he had imagined!

Elder Zhao's lips moved slightly as he counted Lu Chuan's strikes! Cen Yue had completely wiped the playful expression from his face, for even he, a veteran sixth-rank blacksmith, could not perform this feat of Lu Chuan's!

Thirty-six strikes.

The block of Deep Sea Silver lay quietly on the forging table, its surface shimmering with a strange, silvery luster, as if liquid light were flowing slowly within the metal.

Thousand-Refined Grade One, achieved in less than four minutes!

Inside the Evaluation Room, the only sound was the rhythm of Lu Chuan's hammer!

After Thousand-Refined, came Spirit Forging!

The essence of Spirit Forging lay in using the blacksmith's soul power and spiritual power to awaken or bestow spirituality upon the metal.

Having spent two months forging, Lu Chuan was well-versed in the process of awakening Deep Sea Silver.

Initially, his methods had been quite crude.

Knocking on the door.

Waking it up.

Soothing it.

This consumed a massive amount of soul power.

But now, Lu Chuan had found another, simpler method: using spiritual power to awaken the spirit!

For him, currently in the Divine Origin Realm, this method was nothing short of a godsend.

Lu Chuan's spiritual power spread out like a precise, intricate net, beginning to permeate the molecular structure of the Deep Sea Silver layer by layer.

Deep Sea Silver possessed an immense repulsive force toward soul power; the moment soul power made contact, it would likely be deflected.

However, it showed absolutely no resistance to spiritual power. Thus, as Lu Chuan's spiritual power entered the Deep Sea Silver, it was like a fish returning to the sea, able to drill into every molecular gap freely and without restraint.

Before long, the metal began to emit a low hum, responding to Lu Chuan's call.

The teacup in Mu Chen's hand was finally set down, placed silently upon the table.

At this moment, his gaze was entirely fixed on Lu Chuan's hands. Those eyes, which had remained as still as an ancient well for years, flashed with a trace of shock once again because of Lu Chuan!

Because he recognized this technique Lu Chuan was using to awaken the spirit—the Spirit Folding Art!

It was an ancient forging technique that had all but been lost to time!

Legend had it that this technique could fold a blacksmith's spiritual imprint layer by layer into the interior of the metal, granting the spirit-forged metal the ability to self-repair, almost as if it were a living creature!

In the current forging world, there were no more than three people who knew this craft, and all of them were renowned Saint Craftsmen of the eighth rank or higher!

How could a nine-year-old boy know it?

Lu Chuan did not give Mu Chen much time to be shocked. Seeing that the moment was ripe, he exerted force suddenly, his soul power and spiritual power output reaching their peak almost simultaneously at the final moment.

At the same time, the Deep Sea Silver beneath his Forging Hammer erupted with a blinding, silvery-white light, and the entire Evaluation Room suddenly brightened as if it were midday in the Far North!

A short while later, the light slowly dissipated.

Lu Chuan panted heavily, and on the forging table before him, a piece of Deep Sea Silver brimming with spirituality had been born!

Countless fine, water-like ripples appeared on the surface of the Deep Sea Silver, as if innumerable silver streams were flowing slowly across it.

"Spirit Forging... success!"

"Time elapsed... nineteen minutes!"

Elder Zhao the blacksmith announced Lu Chuan's results in disbelief.

At that moment, his voice was trembling.

Cen Yue swallowed hard, subconsciously glancing at Mu Chen.

He desperately wanted to say one thing right now:

Your daughter is likely nowhere near good enough for him!

This kid is ninety-nine percent certain to become a Godsmith in the future!

Mu Chen's expression was even more remarkable.

As an eighth-rank Saint Craftsman, he could tell at a glance that the Deep Sea Silver Lu Chuan had forged far exceeded the standard of an ordinary fifth-rank Spirit Forging, nearing the level of perfection.

However, before he could even offer his assessment, Lu Chuan spoke up first.

"The three of you, I would also like to attempt the sixth-rank blacksmith examination!"