Morning light had just spilled over Spirit City's inner walls, while the pale golden halo of the Soul-Gathering Array Disk atop Spirit Mountain continued its slow rotation.
Below, a fresh wave of activity had already swept through the city-for nearly a month, the Soul Tool Department on the western side had been enveloped in blazing firelight and the clang of forging, with even the air carrying the scorching scent of metal.
Outside the newly built Blacksmiths' Guild forge, rare ores lay piled like small mountains:
Starglow mithril shimmered with faint violet light, like a river of stars frozen solid; empathic scarlet gold blazed like dancing flames, a crimson sheen flowing across its surface; everlight titanium crystal refracted rainbow patterns in the morning light, every piece enough to turn heads throughout the Soul Master World.
These were all core materials for forging the Holy Spirit Guardian Light Array, treasures Fasno had transferred from Spirit Hall's vaults. Ordinary blacksmiths rarely even had a chance to see them.
The roaring red furnace fires dyed half the sky orange. Inside the forge, two enormous hammers struck the anvils in turn,
Their clang-clang rang out, deep and powerful. Sparks scattered across the flagstones, scorching tiny black spots into them before quickly cooling into dark marks.
Lou Gao worked bare-chested, beads of sweat covering his bronze skin and sliding down the contours of his muscles.
The Heavenly Forging Hammer in his hand weighed a hundred jin, yet every blow landed with unerring precision, gradually spreading a piece of starglow mithril. Its muffled clang shook dust from the workshop's rafters.
"Teacher, the empathic scarlet gold is almost at its melting point!"
Si Long faced a metal ingot gleaming crimson, cold sweat coating his temples. Even his breathing had grown shallower.
Empathic scarlet gold was the key metal