Challenging Fusion Forging? A Monster!!

"You brat, you're already capable of Fusion Forging?" Cen Yue swallowed hard, looking at Lu Chuan in disbelief.

"Yes, I've succeeded twice. That's why I wanted to give it a try!"

Lu Chuan remained expressionless, confirming his statement to Cen Yue.

Upon hearing this, Cen Yue felt as if the sky were collapsing!

He wanted to call Mang Tian right now and ask where on earth he had picked up such a freak!

Was this something he could have taught?

He was a pure talent monster!

Mu Chen and Elder Zhao exchanged glances, both seeing the same thing in each other's eyes—absurdity!

Ignoring the reactions of the few, Lu Chuan walked calmly to the metal storage cabinet.

Today, he was going to overturn the records of the blacksmithing world!

From now on, whenever people spoke of this matter, they would first remember one thing:

Mu Chen was petty, acting aggressively toward a youth over a single drunken remark!

Cen Yue was a sycophant who feared the powerful, abandoning years of friendship to collude with Mu Chen!

Pulling open the cabinet door, dozens of rare metal samples were neatly stacked inside.

Each piece was the size of a fist, with labels indicating its name, origin, and purity grade.

Lu Chuan's gaze swept rapidly across the rows of labels, his fingers tapping the air before he precisely pulled out five metal ingots.

Clang!

Five metals of different colors were lined up on the forging table.

Lu Chuan had taken two of each.

In truth, he didn't need that many.

However, blacksmiths were allowed to take home the finished products after an assessment.

These rare metals were nearly impossible to buy on the outside market; it would be a waste not to take them!

Lu Chuan hadn't taken seven or eight of each to increase his margin of error for the Fusion Forging; he was already being quite restrained!

"My teacher once said that to pass the Level 6 assessment, one only needs to master Fusion Forging with six or more dual-alloys, or three or more triple-alloys, correct?"

Lu Chuan looked at Mu Chen with a cold, mirthless smile.

Mu Chen sighed at these words and answered affirmatively:

"That is correct!"

He felt truly uncomfortable inside now.

Because this was supposed to be the assessment criteria they were meant to explain.

Lu Chuan asking it this way clearly implied that they had just been deceiving him!

If it weren't for the fact that Lu Chuan was a genius... he would have already blown his top!

Cen Yue naturally heard the subtext in Lu Chuan's words as well.

He cast a bitter glance toward Mu Chen, then sighed helplessly.

Why on earth did he have to help the villain do evil?

A genius! Wasn't Mang Tian's genius effectively his own?

On the scene, only Elder Zhao the blacksmith looked at Lu Chuan with eyes full of admiration.

A young genius was a treasure to be cherished in any realm!

He stepped closer, intent on seeing which metals Lu Chuan had chosen.

As blacksmiths within the same East Sea region, they all shared and studied the formulas for spirit alloys, so he hoped to deduce the spirit alloy Lu Chuan intended to Fusion Forge based on the materials.

But he hadn't known what he was getting into; one look truly gave him a shock!

The five pieces of metal Lu Chuan had chosen were all incredibly tough nuts to crack!

The first piece: Flame Copper!

A rare copper ore produced deep within the volcanoes of the extreme south, it possessed extremely high internal thermal activity due to absorbing the essence of subterranean fire year-round.

During the forging process, it continuously released high heat; most blacksmiths, let alone attempting Spirit Forging, would likely be burned just during the Thousand-Refining stage!

Even more dangerous was the fact that the molecular structure of this metal was extremely unstable; if there was the slightest error in soul power control, it would immediately trigger a thermal explosion that one couldn't even dodge in time. Historically, at least hundreds of blacksmiths had been injured by explosions while Spirit Forging Flame Copper!

Recognized Spirit Forging difficulty: ★★★★★, a treacherous material ranked in the top ten among all rare metals!

The second piece: Frost Meteorite Iron.

An extraterrestrial meteorite that fell onto the Arctic ice plains, its core temperature remained below minus one hundred degrees year-round.

This metal's properties were the exact opposite of Flame Copper; it was extremely inert to soul power!

Injecting soul power was like a clay ox entering the sea—it vanished without a trace.

Even more troublesome was that it constantly absorbed heat from the surrounding environment during forging, causing the surface of the forging table to freeze, which made the sensation of hammering become incredibly bizarre.

A sixth-level master once attempted to Spirit Forge Frost Meteorite Iron and failed nine times in a row; by the time he succeeded on the tenth attempt, his lips were purple from the cold, and he had to recuperate for half a month before he could barely forge again!

Spirit Forging difficulty: ★★★★★, an extreme-type material on par with Flame Copper.

The third piece: Thunderclap Gold.

A rare associated mineral, its extraction was often accompanied by violent electromagnetic pulses.

It naturally stored a massive amount of electrical charge within its interior.

Untreated Thunderclap Gold will shock anyone who touches it with their bare hands until they lose consciousness.

However, the piece Lu Chuan chose had already been processed by the association.

After all, one couldn't have a single examination ruin a blacksmith!

The difficulty of Spirit Forging Thunderclap Gold lies in the fact that the blacksmith must use their own soul power to guide the electrical charges within the metal to flow in an orderly fashion. This is extremely taxing on both soul power and mental strength; if one is even slightly careless, the charges will run wild and destroy the spiritual structure that has already been completed!

What is even more terrifying is that the moment Spirit Forging is successful, Thunderclap Gold releases a powerful electromagnetic pulse. At best, it fries nearby electronic devices; at worst, it directly attacks the blacksmith's sea of consciousness.

Spirit Forging Difficulty: ★★★★☆. It has extremely high requirements for both mental strength and soul power!

The fourth piece is Shadow Steel.

A special metal produced near the Abyss Rift, its texture is incredibly light, with a density only one-third that of ordinary steel, yet its strength is five times that of steel of the same weight.

Its characteristic is "Devour."

It has an extremely strong absorption capacity for all external energy.

This means that whether a blacksmith injects soul power or mental strength, it will be rapidly absorbed by the Shadow Steel in no time, making it very difficult to accumulate enough to reach the threshold required to trigger its spirituality.

To Spirit Forge Shadow Steel, one must inject a torrent of soul power or mental strength that exceeds its maximum absorption rate in a single instant. This is a hellish test of both the explosive power and the precision control of one's soul power.

Spirit Forging Difficulty: ★★★★★. It is likewise extremely draining on soul power and mental strength.

The fifth piece is Life Crystal Ore.

Strictly speaking, it is no longer considered a metal.

It is merely a type of mineral crystal.

Or, in other words, a stone.

Yet, it possesses a characteristic that no metal can compare to: an extremely high affinity for life energy!

The difficulty of Spirit Forging Life Crystal does not lie in technique, but in timing.

It only enters an "activated" state under soul power vibrations of a specific frequency, and this frequency varies from person to person; it is different for every blacksmith.

Some blacksmiths spend their entire lives without ever finding that frequency, while others succeed by sheer luck on their very first attempt.

Spirit Forging Difficulty: ★★★★. Its potential is extremely high, but it relies entirely on fate.

Five pieces of metal, five types of extremes.

Any one of them would be enough to give a veteran fifth-level blacksmith a headache for half a day, yet Lu Chuan had chosen all five at once!

"He's absolutely insane!" Cen Yue grumbled, cursing under his breath.

Mu Chen had been struck by reality so many times that he inexplicably began to feel that Lu Chuan might actually succeed in Fusion Forging!

Master Blacksmith Elder Zhao was waiting for a miracle!

Lu Chuan was not affected by their emotions; instead, he quickly entered his own rhythm.

The order of Spirit Forging for the five pieces of metal was crucial.

He had to start with the easy and move to the difficult, from the stable to the extreme; he had to ensure his state reached its peak when he tackled the most difficult piece.

Taking a deep breath, Lu Chuan reached out and grasped the first piece of metal.

Flame Copper!

High temperatures and instability were all relative in his eyes!

No one understood how to master the power of destruction better than he did!

The moment the forging hammer fell, the temperature in the evaluation room suddenly soared to an unimaginable degree.

The Flame Copper was like a startled beast, a layer of crimson heat waves instantly surging from its surface!

Yet Lu Chuan remained completely unaffected, swinging his hammer methodically; every strike landed precisely where it needed to, the force penetrating the surface to reach the metal's core.

Before long, the high-heat energy within the Flame Copper was fully stimulated by Lu Chuan's hammer strikes and began to gush outward frantically. The edges of Lu Chuan's sleeves curled from the heat, and the stray hairs on his forehead felt as if they might ignite at any moment, but he remained as steady as a mountain.

In just twenty-eight strikes, Lu Chuan completely suppressed the riotous thermal energy of the Flame Copper. A thousand strikes bring spirit, a thousand strikes for a top-grade product!

Seeing this, Mu Chen and Cen Yue both felt a bit depressed; it was as if a top-grade thousand-strike product was just a toy in Lu Chuan's hands, something he could produce with a casual wave?

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Lu Chuan began to channel his spiritual power, layering his spiritual imprint into the interior of the Flame Copper.

The essence of the Spirit Folding Art lay in "concealment"—it was not about crudely injecting spiritual power all at once, but rather like weaving, layering it one upon another with imperceptible gaps between each layer, allowing the metal's own spirituality to breathe freely within those spaces.

It did not take long for Lu Chuan to awaken the spirit of the Flame Copper. At the same time, the surface of the Flame Copper no longer displayed that aggressive, flaming color; instead, it resembled embers on charcoal, harboring astonishing heat within without letting it easily escape.

But as soon as it was stimulated by soul power, it turned a brilliant crimson once again!

The entire process took twenty-four minutes.

He didn't bother to reorganize his records, but Lu Chuan was already quite satisfied!

Without a pause, he placed the Flame Copper directly into the cooling trough, and Lu Chuan turned around to grab the second piece of metal.

Forging is a thrill, and forging forever is a greater thrill!

This phrase could already serve as his motto!