Forging Process, a Brutal Demonstration

The second level of the artifact-forging area lay underground.

The moment they stepped inside, the searing temperature was several degrees higher than outside. Discomfort was plainly written across Liu Qingqing and Zheng Hao's faces.

Chu He also put on a show, wiping at nonexistent sweat a few times.

Looking around, they saw that the entire second underground floor had been hollowed out. There were twenty rooms on each side, forty rooms in total.

Du Bin had long been waiting in Room Three.

Just as Qi Chao had said, his left eye was blackened, as though someone had given him a solid punch in the eye. His whole bearing was somewhat listless as well.

The pipe in his hand puffed and crackled.

"Can you still demonstrate artifact forging for them in that state?"

Aunt Lan knew what Old Man Du had done and turned to ask.

"My qi and blood are somewhat depleted. It may be difficult to demonstrate the whole process from start to finish. Fortunately, I'd already forged a sword blank earlier. Demonstrating the soul fusion directly shouldn't be much of a problem."

"Good. Then let these little ones broaden their horizons."

Aunt Lan smiled, then looked at Chu He and the others. "In a moment, you'll understand why Iron Shirt is a required course."

Old Man Du took a deep drag from his pipe and looked at them. He nodded at Chu He, but when he saw Zheng Hao, he could not help rolling his eyes.

Zheng Hao: "???"

"Kid Chu, do you want me to take you under my wing from now on?"

Old Man Du rose to his feet and asked bluntly.

"It's a good thing to have someone guide you. It'll help you avoid taking some winding paths." Aunt Lan also stepped forward. "I've already decided to take Qingqing with me. As for Zheng Hao, that old fellow Li Shuangcheng will probably be in charge of him."

"I'd originally planned to arrange a master for you. Since Old Man Du has spoken up, that saves us some trouble. The rest depends on you."

Chu He pondered it. After weighing the pros and cons, he nodded lightly.

"Alright. Then I'll call you Master Du from now on."

"Hehe, call me whatever you like."

Chu He's agreement made Du Bin burst into a hearty laugh.

No one present understood Chu He's potential better than Old Man Du. Even if he had no talent for artifact forging later on, in martial training alone, he would still surpass most others by far.

"Enough nonsense. Now I'll show you the most important, and most crucial, step in forging a soul artifact!"

Creak, creak, creak—

The stone door scraped open, spilling out an orange glow of firelight.

The furnishings within the stone chamber were simple. Apart from some daily necessities, the most eye-catching thing was the bronze furnace in the middle of the room.

The furnace was entirely black, its surface carved with patterns of flowers and birds. It was oval in shape, around one zhang tall, with four openings in all.

Beside the furnace stood a waist-high forging stone platform. Its surface was mottled with age, covered in all manner of strange and unusual marks.

Fist prints, palm marks, claw scratches...

"You all stand farther back."

Aunt Lan gave the instruction softly.

Old Man Du then put away his pipe, rolled up both sleeves, and pried open one of the furnace's openings with his bare hands. The instant it opened, the temperature in the room surged severalfold, and the blistering firelight within the furnace became visible to the naked eye.

Zheng Hao and Liu Qingqing both instinctively took several steps back.

Even those in the Blood Condensation Realm could not withstand such heat!

Du Bin's expression tightened slightly. He raised a hand like a claw and made a fierce grasping motion toward a spot inside the furnace. In an instant, a crimson strip flew out from within.

Clang!

Du Bin caught the not-yet-fully-shaped sword strip in his palm, producing a crisp metallic ring. He shut the furnace door, then clapped his hands and tossed the crimson sword strip onto the forging platform, sending sparks scattering.

The next instant, no one knew when Du Bin had produced an enormous iron hammer. He smashed it viciously onto the red-hot sword strip. Sparks burst outward like an explosion, blazing with dazzling brilliance.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The hammer fell again and again, beating out a remarkably rhythmic cadence.

The sword strip on the forging platform seemed to be made of some unknown material. Even under Du Bin's full-force strikes, it only slowly deformed and reshaped.

With every blow, Chu He and the others could feel the ground tremble faintly beneath their feet. It was clear just how terrifyingly powerful the strikes were.

Old Man Du's blacksmithing silhouette reflected in Chu He's eyes. He noticed that the man's swings were growing faster and faster. Every second, the hammer shadows battered the sword strip like a torrential downpour, unleashing dense peals of thunderous noise.

The pleasant clanging gradually began to stab at their eardrums.

"Done!"

Du Bin suddenly gave a low shout and flung out a severed finger covered in incantations.

The finger traced an arc through the air and landed atop the sword strip.

Zheng Hao's gaze shifted. For some reason, he found that severed finger somewhat familiar.

At the same time, Aunt Lan moved at once upon hearing this.

She pulled a murky stone from her waist and tossed it to Du Bin.

Du Bin caught it in one hand and held it above the scorching sword strip. Curling his five fingers, he crushed the stone into powder with force.

"Aahhh!!"

A shrill, piercing scream suddenly rang out.

A phantom-like long-haired female ghost abruptly appeared before Du Bin. In an instant, yin energy flooded the room, black qi billowed to the heavens, and a chilling wind sprang from nowhere, even suppressing the blazing heat inside the forging chamber.

Chu He's eyes narrowed. This ghost was at least Fierce-grade!

The moment the female ghost appeared, she was drawn to the severed finger fused into the sword strip. Disregarding the heat of the sword strip, she slowly approached the reddened metal.

Yet midway through, she suddenly seemed to awaken and retreated at high speed.

"Behave yourself!"

Du Bin's eyes widened, and his qi and blood surged like a furnace.

His scorching hand seized the female ghost by the throat and slammed her toward the sword strip. At the same time, he raised his other hand, took out the powders from dozens of jars on the other side, and scattered them all over it.

The previously ordinary sword strip flashed with strange light, as though it had come alive. Its uneven surface began to squirm, as if opening a great mouth to swallow the approaching ghost bit by bit, fusing her into the sword strip.

"Aahhh!!"

The piercing shriek rang out again.

This time, the ghost erupted into a violent struggle. Her ten sharp claws hammered against Du Bin's body, instantly burning his coarse upper garment to ashes and exposing his burly muscles, all bronze in color.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Du Bin pinned the sword strip down with one hand while desperately gripping the ghost with the other and forcing her inside. With both hands occupied, he had no chance to defend himself and could only allow the ghost to batter his body.

It was at this very moment that Iron Shirt displayed its true power!

Whenever yin energy struck his body, it gave off a sizzling mist. Whenever the claws scraped across his skin, dazzling sparks flew.

Du Bin completely ignored the ghost's attacks, holding the two down as he forced them to fuse. The moment the ghost touched the sword strip, he immediately pulled out his hammer and unleashed a barrage of blows upon them, making that mysterious rhythm even more intense.

Chu He watched from behind, slightly stunned.

So this was the soul fusion process?

He had thought it was some ancient secret method. It turned out to be so simple and brutal!

Amid the ghost's repeated howls, the hammer descended again and again, until at last the ghost was completely hammered into the sword strip.

Hum—

The sword strip gave a soft cry and trembled faintly.

The sword blank, which had originally been lifeless and dull, now felt like a living creature. Not only did it leap about energetically, it could even hover in midair by itself.

Du Bin wiped away a sheen of sweat and panted heavily.

Though it had looked utterly devoid of technique just now, in truth, every step and every hammer blow contained an artifact forger's years of experience.

Du Bin picked up the sword strip in his hand and grinned.

Whoosh—

A sword shadow flashed. Though the sword strip had not yet been sharpened, it carved a deep mark into the forging platform, carrying with it a scorching heat.

Faintly, they could even hear the wail of a fierce ghost within!