Morning sunlight streamed through the windows of the forging room, casting patches of golden light across the floor. The air was thick with the scent of metal and furnace fire, mingled with the faint smell of evaporating sweat. It was the unique scent of a forging room, and to a blacksmith, it was more familiar than any perfume.
Before the forging bench, Xiao Cheng stood bare-chested, his sharply defined muscles displaying a smooth yet powerful beauty—not the exaggerated muscles deliberately built in a gym, but lean lines forged through long-term, high-intensity smithing and Martial Dao training. Every muscle was perfectly proportioned, containing explosive strength.
He held a forging hammer in each hand, completely focused on hammering the metal atop the anvil.
It was an alloy formed from Red Copper and Blue Silver Iron, gradually taking shape beneath his hammers. Crimson copper gleam and silvery-blue iron light intertwined and merged with every blow, like two wandering dragons playing and chasing each other across the metal's surface before slowly becoming one.
Xiao Cheng's breathing was steady and even, and every swing of his hammer carried a distinctive rhythm. His spiritual power was like invisible feelers reaching into the metal, sensing the fusion of the two metals and adjusting the force and angle of every strike.
"Clang—clang—clang—"
The hammering echoed through the forging room, steady and forceful like an ancient battle hymn.
Yuan Hua stood nearby with his arms folded, quietly watching Xiao Cheng forge. His gaze held approval, as well as a trace of sentiment.
A few months ago, when Xiao Cheng had first become his disciple, he had already been capable of completing Spirit Refinement. Yet when it came to fusion forging, he could only be called passable. His grasp of the timing and proportions for combining two metals had not