Forging the Flame-Listening Stone, a New Energy Source

Artifact Forging District, first-floor forging room.

Heat waves rolled through the room, hammer blows rang out in succession, and sparks crisscrossed in the air.

Chu He toyed with the hammer in his hand, looking utterly bored. On the forging table lay a black mineral that had been smashed into a twisted knot.

"Brat, it's only your first day, and you're already this lifeless?"

Old Du took a drag from his old pipe and said irritably, "Other people would beg heaven and earth, rack their brains bloody, just to squeeze into the Armor Forging Hall. But you? The moment you get in, you start acting like some lord. You won't learn this, you won't learn that. Tell me, then—what do you want to learn?"

"I've realized I don't seem to be very interested in hammering iron."

Chu He flicked the hammer aside and answered honestly.

"Oh? You haven't even learned to crawl, and you already want to run?"

Old Du sneered. "Hammering iron and forging artifacts are the basic skills. Not only that, you need to understand fire control, shaping, tempering... a whole series of complicated artifact-forging processes. In short, you can't just jump straight to forging soul artifacts. Everyone came up this way. No exceptions."

"No, I..."

Chu He knew the old man had misunderstood him and was just about to explain when Old Du pulled out a red stone from his pocket and tossed it to him. "Heh heh, don't you look down on hammering iron? Here, forge this Flame-Listening Stone into a strip, and I'll let you skip iron-hammering practice from now on."

The Flame-Listening Stone was an exceptionally rare ore, exclusively owned by the Armor Forging Hall. Its source was the ore tunnels in the back mountain.

If not for the Armor Forging Hall's deep pockets, coupled with its monopoly over all the Military Hall's weapons and equipment orders, it would never have had the chance to mine this ore exclusively. Otherwise, outside the hall, apprentices at the Blood Condensation Realm would not even be qualified to catch a glimpse of a Flame-Listening Stone.

Though there was one free chance to enter the tunnels each month.

Most of the time, however, ordinary artifact forgers could not detect these Flame-Listening Stones at all. Only artifact forgers at the Furnace Realm or above in the Armor Forging Hall had a chance to find such ore.

Du Bin had clearly taken out the Flame-Listening Stone to teach Chu He a lesson. Whether it was blood and qi, physical strength, or hammering technique, Chu He did not meet his standards. Forging it into a strip was basically impossible.

"Master Du, can weapons forged by the Armor Forging Hall be sold privately? Or do they all have to be handed over to the Armor Forging Hall for handling?"

Chu He held the Flame-Listening Stone. Its texture was smooth, and it felt icy cold in his hand.

After turning it over in his hand for a while, he suddenly asked.

"Either is fine."

Though Du Bin was displeased by Chu He's laziness, he still fulfilled his duty as a teacher. "Handle them however you want. Selling them privately generally fetches ten to twenty percent more than selling through the Armor Forging Hall..."

After explaining the pros and cons, Du Bin suddenly urged, "My promise still stands. If you can forge this Flame-Listening Stone into a strip, then however you want to handle artifact forging afterward, I'll cooperate with you. Want to give it a try?"

The corner of Chu He's eye twitched. From the moment he had taken hold of the stone, he had known Du Bin was trying to set him up. That was why he had deliberately changed the subject, yet somehow they had circled right back to it.

He looked at Du Bin. The smile on Old Du's face immediately widened. "Go on, give it a try. It's not like there's any danger."

"Fine. I'd like to see how you plan to trick me."

Chu He squeezed the Flame-Listening Stone hard. A faint vibration suddenly traveled back through his knuckles, but the sensation was extremely slight. With the toughness of his muscles, he could easily ignore it.

Placing the Flame-Listening Stone on the forging table, Chu He weighed the stone hammer in his hand. His gaze sharpened abruptly, and the hammer left an afterimage as it smashed heavily onto the stone.

Buzz—

A terrifying rebounding force surged into Chu He's left arm. The powerful impact instantly tore apart the sleeve on that arm, shaking it into scraps.

The muscles of his sturdy left arm stood out sharply, yet they trembled faintly beyond his control. He could barely keep hold of the hammer.

Chu He's expression changed slightly. His hand had gone numb!

The next moment, a voice suddenly sounded in his mind.

"Ding dong! Absorbed demon qi. Energy +1!"

"Eh? Your bones didn't even fracture from the shock?"

Old Du exclaimed in surprise, sounding rather disappointed.

"But it doesn't feel good, does it?"

Old Du paused. Seeing Chu He's darkened expression and dazed look, he nodded in satisfaction and continued, "That's why you need to start with the most basic iron-hammering. Once you learn how to deflect force, the Flame-Listening Stone's rebounding force will naturally be solved like a knife through butter!"

Buzz—

For some reason, Chu He ignored the numbness and struck the Flame-Listening Stone again. This time, the voice in his mind appeared once more.

"Ding dong! Absorbed demon qi. Energy +1!"

What was demon qi?!

Was it some kind of special energy, like eerie qi?

But why would this special energy appear inside a stone?

The scent of charcoal was thick in the air. Chu He stared blankly down at the blood-red stone before him, then a brilliant light suddenly burst from his black eyes!

He stripped to the waist and gripped the iron hammer once more.

Clang! Clang! Clang!—

The hammering rang out without end, and sparks scattered in all directions.

To verify his suspicions, Chu He secretly drew upon the power of the Furnace Realm, quietly resisting the Flame-Listening Stone's strange rebounding force.

"Ding dong! Absorbed demon qi. Energy +1!"

The notification appeared in his mind again, but compared to the previous two times, it came much more slowly. He had to strike several times before it appeared.

Slap!

The arm holding the hammer was suddenly seized.

Chu He nearly instinctively used the power of the Furnace Realm to strike back, but at the very last moment, he forcibly stopped himself.

"What's gotten into you, kid? Why are you suddenly acting like you've gone mad?"

Old Du looked at Chu He strangely.

After so many blows, his hand still had not broken?

That was truly bizarre.

"Eh..."

Old Du stood before the tempering platform. His eyes suddenly widened, and he snatched up the Flame-Listening Stone, examining the grain across its surface. Then he abruptly turned to Chu He. "It actually deformed! How did you do that?"

"No way around it. That's just my talent."

Chu He rubbed the arm that was nearly numb beyond feeling and replied calmly.

This time, Old Du did not laugh. Instead, he gave Chu He a serious look. "Hit it a few more times. Let me see!"

Naturally, Chu He did not refuse. He raised his hand and delivered several more blows.

Clang! Clang!

Unfortunately, no notification sounded this time.

Chu He could not help but ponder inwardly. It seemed this red stone did not contain much energy—only a scant few points.

Du Bin's eyes narrowed like a fox's.

From the way Chu He exerted force and the posture of those blows, it looked like utterly ordinary iron-hammering. Any forger with a bit of strength and experience could easily do the same.

Yet such an ordinary method had actually deformed the grain of the Flame-Listening Stone. Even Furnace Realm experts would have to put in considerable effort to accomplish that.

Could it really be talent?

Old Du took a deep breath, shock in his eyes. "You brat... I take back what I said. You don't need to forge the Flame-Listening Stone into a strip anymore. Whatever you want to do in the future, this old man won't stop you. If your request is reasonable, I'll do everything I can to cooperate with you."

Old Du suddenly realized that Chu He's talent was simply too high.

He was not qualified to be Chu He's teacher. Now, it seemed that letting Chu He grow on his own was the most correct choice.

Chu He did not understand why Old Du had suddenly changed his mind. After weighing his words, he said, "Do you have any more Flame-Listening Stones? I want to hammer a few more."