Echoes

With only a few days left before they departed for Eastsea City, Mang Tian specifically cleared his schedule and formally began teaching Chen An and Tang Wulin the true Thousandfold Forging Method.

"Thousandfold Forging means removing every impurity from the metal, increasing its density, and allowing it to produce an ascension effect during shaping. When performing Thousandfold Forging, all I can tell you is to forge with your heart and comprehend it."

Mang Tian took out two pieces of metal and placed them on separate forging tables.

Metal forged a thousand times was worth more than a hundred times as much as Hundredfold-Forged metal.

Chen An also knew that Mang Tian had not told them any techniques because he hoped they would comprehend them themselves.

Thousandfold Forging was also known as Mind Forging. During the forging process, one had to treat the metal as a living being and do everything possible to communicate with it. Only through perfect communication could one earn its true recognition, discover its mysteries, and find its patterns.

The moment Tang Wulin received the Sunken Silver, she followed the basic techniques she had learned in the past, raised her hammer, and began forging earnestly.

When performing Thousandfold Forging on the same type of metal, fewer hammer strikes meant higher quality and a more capable Thousandfold Forging blacksmith.

Her endurance was exceptional, and her strength far surpassed that of her peers. Even without using any techniques, she could complete it.

Very quickly, Tang Wulin immersed herself completely in forging.

Chen An, on the other hand, did not move for a long while after receiving the Sunken Silver. Tang Wulin's method would not work for him.

Sunken Silver was a metal produced at a depth of a thousand meters beneath the sea. The instant his fingertips touched its icy surface, the bloodline within his body resonated.

A faint bloodline sensation spread from his fingertips, clearly outlining the patterns within the Sunken Silver, the distribution of impurities, and the veins of the material.

Chen An closed his eyes and quietly comprehended the essence of the metal, remaining completely still.

Mang Tian watched from the side, his face full of surprise, but he did not make a sound to interrupt him.

He had taught for many years, yet he had never seen a beginner in forging who did not rush to swing a hammer and practice, but instead calmed himself to comprehend the metal itself.

Time passed bit by bit, and several hours slipped away unnoticed.

Tang Wulin had not stopped the entire time. She struck steadily again and again, exhausting a great deal of stamina. Beads of sweat covered her forehead, but she still gritted her teeth and persisted. Only then did Chen An slowly open his eyes and raise his forging hammer.

His hammering speed was not fast, and his strength was nowhere near as fierce as Tang Wulin's. It looked utterly ordinary, yet his forging progress rose at an astonishing pace, far surpassing Tang Wulin, who was hammering with all her strength.

No one knew that, relying on his bloodline senses, Chen An had already mapped out every impurity within the Sunken Silver. Every hammer strike landed precisely on a critical point, making him far more efficient than brute-force forging.

Thousandfold-Forged metal was in its best state only during its first shaping. Once it was reforged into another form, its internal structure would inevitably be damaged, affecting its quality. Every strike had to be made with care.

However, the most regrettable thing was that Chen An saw the sections on the Roulette change, but he had already used up his two draws. Whatever they contained no longer mattered.

Midway through the forging, Chen An lightly scratched open a tiny wound on the back of his hand with his fingertip. A drop of blood silently fell and soaked into the Sunken Silver.

Dragonkind Essence Blood seeped in soundlessly, quietly transforming the Sunken Silver's material.

After quite some time, Tang Wulin was the first to complete her Thousandfold Forging. She was utterly exhausted, her vision went black, and she fainted on the spot.

Mang Tian caught the unconscious Tang Wulin, cut open a small wound, and dripped her blood onto the Sunken Silver.

He gently carried her to a chair nearby and settled her there.

Mang Tian turned to look at Chen An, who had started hammering later but had also finished, his Sunken Silver far exceeding the standard in quality. At last, he could not help asking.

"Have you secretly read a great many forging manuals? Your methods are nothing like those of a beginner."

Chen An had prepared for this and nodded along.

"I don't usually like going out, so I read quite a few books at home. I was only trying to forge according to what I understood."

Mang Tian knew that Chen An was introverted and usually liked reading, so he did not suspect much. He simply thought the boy had extraordinary comprehension and privately marveled that he had awakened to forging so early.

Tang Wulin simply had pure brute strength.

At dusk, Tang Ziran came to the workshop to take the two children home.

Tang Wulin was still unconscious. Tang Ziran carefully carried her on his back, his footsteps gentle.

Chen An quietly followed behind. The figures of the three were stretched long by the setting sun.

On the way home, the evening breeze was soft. Tang Ziran's gentle voice rose, carrying the simplest hopes.

"This is the first time I've seen Wulin this exhausted. You've both worked very hard."

Chen An spoke slowly, imitating the way a shy child would speak.

"I've never seen Sister Wulin like this either. She didn't stop for several hours straight today. She's amazing."

Tang Ziran smiled. "Is that so? The teacher said you two are geniuses. That makes me really happy too."

"Mm, we're geniuses. We'll work hard to earn money."

The car drove down the street, stirring up a light breeze.

"Little An, actually... Dad has never hoped that you two would become especially strong, famous, or wealthy in the future."

Chen An was suddenly startled when he heard this and tilted his head to study Tang Ziran.

A strange breeze began to comb through his hair.

Tang Ziran looked ahead, as though smiling at something beautiful.

"Cultivation, forging, becoming stronger—none of those are necessities in life. My only wish is for you two to live easily and happily."

Chen An's footsteps suddenly halted.

It was such a simple hope, without grand ambitions, containing only pure familial affection and love.

From beginning to end, he had infiltrated the Tang Family with a clear purpose, approached Tang Wulin, and accompanied her as she grew.

Everything had been built around his own future, and he had never truly regarded the Tang couple as his parents.

Yet at that moment, hearing those plain and gentle words, seeing the father and daughter relying on each other ahead of him, and seeing the three intertwined shadows on the ground, the hard obsession in his heart quietly loosened for an instant.

Perhaps it was because of the hundred thousand years of empty memories in his mind, but he found himself somewhat reluctant to let go of such feelings?

After a brief daze, Chen An suppressed the faint stirrings in his heart, gathered his stray thoughts, and quickly caught up to the figures ahead.

The next day, Tang Wulin woke up, her strength fully restored.

The siblings returned to Mang Tian's forging workshop to complete the final step of the Thousandfold Forging test—personally forging their own exclusive Thousandfold Forging Hammers.

After being infused with essence blood and tempered through Thousandfold Forging, Tang Wulin finished first. Two Thousandfold Forging Hammers, pure white throughout with a delicate texture, took shape.

Chen An's forging hammers, however, were different in color, one dark and one light. Wave-like dark patterns covered the hammerheads and every corner of the handles.

"Try them. Let's see what their Thousandfold Forging effects are."

Even anticipation appeared in the eyes of Mang Tian, a Grandmaster Tier forging master.

The Thousandfold Forging Hammers were heavier than the forging hammers they had held before, yet the instant they touched the handles, soul power surged within their bodies.

As a feeling of bloodline connection arose, the pair of heavy hammers noticeably became lighter.

As they picked up their Thousandfold Forging Hammers, a piece of metal that had long been prepared rose from the forging furnace.

Tang Wulin went first.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

This time, because her movements were larger, Tang Wulin and Mang Tian could both clearly see that the instant one hammer fell, two afterimages were dragged behind the Thousandfold-Forged Sunken Silver Hammer. The two subsequent booms had been caused by them.

"Clang! Clang!"

Every time Chen An's hammer fell, the hammerhead produced a faint, almost imperceptible metallic resonance.

The frequency was steady and restrained. It did not shake other objects or reveal any sharpness, yet it could compress metal to the utmost and amplify the power of forging strikes, perfectly suiting his Ripple power and bloodline traits.

"Clang!"

Several days passed in the blink of an eye, and the day of parting arrived as scheduled.

After simply packing their luggage into the Storage Soul Device Mang Tian had given them, the family quietly said their farewells at the door.

Lang Yue's eyes were filled with reluctance as she repeatedly reminded the two of them to take care of themselves outside and support one another.

Tang Ziran wore a gentle expression and offered no excessive instructions. He only wished them a safe journey and a smooth, worry-free life in Eastsea City.

The siblings waved goodbye to their parents, then turned and walked side by side toward the distant Soul Train station.

The train whistle sounded, and howling wind swept past their ears. The two stepped aboard the train, formally bidding farewell to Aolai City and heading for Eastsea City, a thousand miles away.