The difference in tools bridged the gap in strength, raising his skill to a whole new level.
Blood Sacrifice
Clap, clap, clap...
Just as he finished forging, applause rang out.
Zhen Hua looked at Bai Chen with immense satisfaction and said sincerely,
"You're truly remarkable. You are undoubtedly the most talented person I've ever seen. Even I am far inferior to you."
In the original story, Tang Wulin had broken the Blacksmith Association's record when he completed Thousand Forging at the age of nine.
But Bai Chen was now a full three years ahead of Tang Wulin.
Moreover, as the most outstanding blacksmith in the forging world today, Zhen Hua could tell at a glance that what Bai Chen had forged was no ordinary Thousand Forging.
This piece of metal was Second-Grade Thousand Forging.
Forging within the same level also had grades. Hundred Forging was divided only into upper, middle, and lower grades, while Thousand Forging was divided into five grades. First Grade was the highest, and Fifth Grade was the lowest.
Generally speaking, Fifth Grade products were forged by blacksmiths who had only barely reached the Thousand Forging level. As long as one could steadily produce Thousand-Forged Metal, its grade would reach Fourth Grade or even Third Grade.
But Second Grade was already extraordinary. If one's success rate in forging Second-Grade Thousand Forging exceeded twenty percent, one could even go to the Blacksmith Association and receive the badge of a Level-Four Blacksmith.
As for First-Grade Thousand Forging, it was known as Half-Spirit Forging. The higher one's success rate with First-Grade Thousand Forging, the greater the chance of breaking through to become a Level-Five Blacksmith.
Since Bai Chen could already forge Second-Grade Thousand Forging, it meant that even among Level-Three Blacksmiths, he was considered quite outstanding. Given some time, he might even attempt to break into the ranks of Level-Four Blacksmiths.
For the first time, Zhen Hua felt that his vocabulary was so inadequate. Every word he could think of to describe Bai Chen seemed unworthy of him.
He let out a long breath and said seriously,
"Your talent has truly astonished me. Become my disciple. I am confident that, under my guidance, you can become a new generation Divine Artisan in no more than twenty years."
If anyone else had said such words, they would surely have been mocked.
But the person saying them was the only Divine Artisan on the continent today, so his words carried tremendous weight.
At the same time, those words also displayed his determination.
To become a Divine Artisan within twenty years, the most basic requirement was for Bai Chen to become a Title Douluo before the age of twenty-six.
Although there were people in this era who had become Title Douluos before turning twenty-six, who were they? Yun Ming, the Nether Emperor, the Dark Blood Demon—they were all Limit Douluo-level powerhouses. The latter two were even Evil Soul Masters who had risen rapidly through evil methods.
Even Yun Ming, hailed as the most talented person of this era, had only become a Title Douluo at the age of twenty-three.
For Zhen Hua to say something like this meant that he would spare no expense in pouring resources into Bai Chen and increasing his strength.
Bai Chen respectfully bowed to Zhen Hua.
"I'll be relying on you, Master."
"Haha, good, very good!"
Zhen Hua immediately smiled in gratification and said to Bai Chen,
"You should have sensed it as well. The forging hammers in your hands were made from the Thousand-Forged Metal you forged last time. Come, hold out your hand. Prepare for the Blood Sacrifice."
Blood Sacrifice was a special method used by blacksmiths. It could be performed during the forging process or after the forging was complete.
Performing a Blood Sacrifice during forging could greatly increase the probability of success, while doing so after forging was complete could also improve the metal's quality to a certain extent.
At the same time, regardless of whether the Blood Sacrifice occurred during or after the process, metal that had undergone a Blood Sacrifice would completely belong to that blacksmith. If anyone else forcibly used it, it could even destroy itself.
However, using Blood Sacrifice caused considerable negative effects on the blacksmith. Excessive use could even leave irreversible damage. Therefore, aside from every blacksmith's first Thousand Forging product, they rarely used this special ritual.
The main reason Duan Xuan had not let Bai Chen perform a Blood Sacrifice last time was that Bai Chen had been far too weak then. He feared that using Blood Sacrifice at the time would ruin this six-year-old child.
Now, however, things were different. Even after forging such a finished product, Bai Chen had clearly suffered little exhaustion. Performing a Blood Sacrifice now would not cause any serious problems.
Bai Chen obediently held out his hand. Zhen Hua made a swift cut, leaving a wound on it. Blood flowed out and dripped onto Bai Chen's forging hammers.
As the blood fell, the pair of golden forging hammers underwent completely different changes.
Blackish-purple patterns slowly emerged on the hammer in his left hand. Those patterns gradually outlined a bewitching shape, faintly exuding an ominous aura.
The hammer in his right hand, meanwhile, became strangely more illusory, as though an invisible force had wrapped around it, making even Zhen Hua unable to see through it clearly.
Even without actually trying the two forging hammers, Bai Chen could tell that they had respectively inherited the power of his Evil Attribute and Time Attribute.
Both supreme attributes stood above ordinary Ultimate Attributes. His other attributes simply could not compete with these two.
"Hmm..." Not only Bai Chen, but Zhen Hua had also noticed something. "It seems your two forging hammers have developed two different traits. That's truly rare. Why don't you try them now?"
"Okay."
Bai Chen nodded lightly and picked up the forging hammers again.
A powerful sensation of blood-deep connection immediately welled up within him. In Bai Chen's perception, the two forging hammers were like extensions of his arms, with no sense of awkwardness whatsoever when using them.
He first casually struck a piece of metal with the forging hammer in his left hand.
Bzzzz—
Astonishingly, with that single blow, the metal's luster instantly dimmed considerably.
"Stop!"
Zhen Hua hurriedly called out, stepped forward, and observed it for a while before murmuring,
"Strange. The quality of this metal seems to have worsened. Could your forging hammer's effect be to damage metal?"
By the end, he could not help feeling somewhat disappointed.
In truth, this trait was very powerful, especially in this era where Battle Armor and mechas were everywhere. A weapon capable of effectively damaging metal could be said to be extremely useful.
But that was judging it by the standards of a weapon. As a blacksmith, Zhen Hua naturally hoped Bai Chen's forging hammers could better serve forging.
Yet now, let alone forge metal of a higher grade, one blow from this hammer could even lower the metal's grade.
How could Zhen Hua not be disappointed?
However, Bai Chen shook his head.
"Wait, Master. Let me try again."
As he spoke, he lightly struck the metal once more.
A flash of blackish-purple light passed by. Then, under Zhen Hua's astonished gaze, the metal's luster actually recovered considerably.
Although it had not returned to its previous state, it had undoubtedly changed for the better.
"So that's how it is."
Bai Chen sighed.
"Master, this forging hammer's trait is Devouring and Bestowal."
Devouring and Echo
The core of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's Evil Attribute was the ability to devour. As a trait brought forth by the Evil Attribute, the effect of Bai Chen's forging hammer naturally could not be separated from Devouring Power.
When his hammer fell earlier and the metal's color dimmed, it had not merely damaged the metal. It had absorbed the energy within the metal into the forging hammer.
And as long as he wished, he could release that energy and improve the metal's properties.
There was a certain amount of energy loss between devouring and releasing it, so this ability could not be used on the same piece of metal. Otherwise, it would only have the opposite effect on that metal.
Conversely, Bai Chen could also make use of other metals, devouring their energy and releasing it into the metal he wanted to forge.
He could sense that, as a forging hammer made from Thousand-Forged Metal, this hammer had a limit to how much energy it could store. Once it reached a certain threshold, it could no longer absorb more energy. Forcing it to do so might instead damage the forging hammer.
Fortunately, as a forging hammer that had undergone his Blood Sacrifice, it was similar to an External Soul Bone and could possibly evolve gradually as Bai Chen's strength increased. As the forging hammer's material evolved, the upper limit of energy it could store would certainly increase as well.
Forcibly devouring and stripping away the power of other things to strengthen a target—one had to admit that the trait attached to this forging hammer was very much in the style of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
After he explained all this to Zhen Hua, Zhen Hua could not help drawing in a breath.
"What an incredible trait..."
Tyrannical. That was the first word that came to mind when describing this trait.
Destruction and enhancement were separated by only a single thought. It could be said that any metal that encountered Bai Chen's forging hammer would have its fate drastically altered.
"Then what trait does the other one have?"
Zhen Hua was already rather curious.
Just as the strength of Twin Martial Souls was usually similar, since Bai Chen could cause both forging hammers to awaken different traits, the strength of those traits was likely similar as well.
Bai Chen picked up the hammer in his right hand and struck the metal before him.
Ding—
A crisp sound rang out, but the metal itself did not change in any way.
Bai Chen's expression shifted slightly instead. As the owner of this forging hammer, he seemed to have already understood its trait.
He gently pressed the forging hammer against the metal. Very soon, another crisp sound actually rang out from the metal's surface.
Ding—
This sound was identical to the one that had just rung out, making Zhen Hua and Duan Xuan both think for a moment that they had misheard.
As major figures who had dominated the forging world for decades, their sensitivity to the sounds of forging went without saying. Bai Chen had merely pressed the forging hammer against the metal; logically, it should have been impossible for the metal to make such a sound.
Bai Chen removed the forging hammer from the metal and said to Zhen Hua,
"Master, I think I understand this forging hammer's effect. It inherited the power of my Time Attribute."
"Time?"
Upon hearing that, Zhen Hua's eyes widened in astonishment.
To give him a surprise, Duan Xuan had not told him Bai Chen's detailed information.
Now that he heard Bai Chen actually possessed a Time Attribute, he felt that he had vaguely guessed the ability of Bai Chen's second forging hammer.
Bai Chen explained,
"This forging hammer's trait is to copy and store the effects of strikes within a period of time. Earlier, it copied and stored my first strike. As long as I wish, I can release the stored strike at any time. Unfortunately, with its current material, it seems unable to store things for very long. After storing for around three seconds, it can no longer keep storing. It has to release what it stored first."
"That's already very powerful!"
Zhen Hua said immediately.
This was a recreation of the scene. In other words, the force Bai Chen recreated was completely identical to the force he had used at the time.
If used properly, it could reduce the difficulty of forging by half.
And it was not limited to forging. It could also play a powerful role in battle.
Zhen Hua said excitedly,
"Child, the trait of your forging hammer has never appeared before. According to the rules of the forging world, you may give it a suitable name yourself."
Bai Chen shook his head.
"Master should name it. You helped forge this hammer for me, didn't you?"
"Hehe, alright!" Zhen Hua's gaze warmed. He did not refuse, and after pondering for a moment, he said, "How about calling this trait Echo?"
When Bai Chen demonstrated it earlier, the second sound had resembled an echo of the first. Zhen Hua felt that this name suited it well.
Bai Chen nodded lightly, indicating that he had no objections.
Over the next period of time, Zhen Hua began his first lesson.
Having received such an exceptionally gifted disciple, and with his disciple's forging hammers possessing such outstanding traits, Zhen Hua was clearly in high spirits. As he taught, he practically beamed with excitement.
What thrilled him even more was that Bai Chen's comprehension ability was unexpectedly excellent. He could absorb and understand all the knowledge Zhen Hua taught with astonishing speed, making Zhen Hua find this newly accepted disciple increasingly pleasing to the eye.
While the two were teaching and learning, Duan Xuan quietly left.
As the president of the Skysea City Blacksmith Association, his schedule was packed as well. Since the matter of having Zhen Hua take Bai Chen as his disciple had been settled, there was no reason for him to remain in the room.
This lesson lasted for a full two hours before finally ending. When it ended, both Zhen Hua and Bai Chen still felt reluctant to stop.
Zhen Hua patted Bai Chen on the shoulder and said with emotion,
"I thought I had already evaluated your talent highly enough, but you still exceeded my expectations."
Zhen Hua was not normally someone who liked praising students so much, yet from the beginning of the lesson until now, his praise for Bai Chen had never stopped.
Excessive praise could make a child arrogant, but when facing this child, he only felt that he was stating the facts.
If he was unwilling to acknowledge even the most basic facts, it would instead have the opposite effect.
Before you continue