A Gift (Part One)

In the small courtyard, there was a special little hut: the Forging Room the Old Butler had deliberately prepared for Qian Chaoguang years ago, so he could temper his body through forging even at home.

Starting two years ago, Huo Yutong had also begun setting aside time in her daily routine to learn forging techniques from him. While training her body, it also counted as laying some groundwork for becoming a Soul Engineer in the future.

Now, however, Huo Yutong had done something unusual. She was not cultivating at home. Instead, she had gone out right after lunch.

Qian Chaoguang, meanwhile, was inside the Forging Room, his lean, powerful upper body bare as sweat poured off him.

The rise in his cultivation had accelerated his physical development, making his build look nothing like that of a ten-year-old boy.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

Two black-headed Forging Hammers collided with the red-hot metal, sending out a crisp, rhythmic forging sound.

Forging was a craft that required brains, not something as simple as the mechanical casting methods from ten thousand years ago.

Both of Qian Chaoguang's Forging Teachers had once told him that he had to feel the unique structure of every material, adapt to the circumstances, and choose the corresponding forging method.

Only by judging a metal's current grain characteristics through each strike, and changing one's forging method at any moment, could one become a qualified blacksmith.

Originally, Qian Chaoguang had not understood this very deeply.

After all, a worldview formed over more than twenty years was not that easy to change. His understanding of metal had still stopped at—this is just a piece of metal material. He had been unable to grasp those minute details.

As a result, aside from the improvement in his memory, his exploration of the Spirit Forging Method had also remained stagnant.

It was only after he began cultivating the Spirit Connection Art that, as his Mental Power increased, he gradually figured out a method for sensing metal.

The first time he sensed the inside of a rare metal, the worldview he had formed over the past twenty-plus years collapsed.

He even began to suspect whether Blue Star and Douluo Continent, two worlds that were highly similar, might have huge discrepancies in their physical laws because of the factors of elements and Soul Power.

With that feeling in mind, he cast aside the blind confidence he had as a transmigrator and, for the first time, came to know, read, and understand this strange world from an entirely new perspective.

It was also from that moment on that he truly worked out the rudiments of Hundred Refinements.

After a full twenty minutes of storm-like hammering, the piece of Tungsten Steel on the forging furnace had already become an excellent metal billet.

If weighed according to later generations' measurement standards, this piece of Tungsten Steel absolutely counted as high-grade Hundred Refinements.

If sold to a Blacksmith Shop or certain low-level Soul Engineers, it could easily fetch quite a few Gold Soul Coins.

"It feels like... it's still missing something."

Qian Chaoguang set down his Forging Hammers, raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and activated Extreme Ice Light, lowering the temperature inside the Forging Room somewhat.

Beside the forging furnace, there were nine more identical Tungsten Steel ingots.

These were materials the Blacksmith Shop had ordered from him in advance.

After the Old Butler passed away, he had no intention of sitting around and burning through his savings, so he relied on taking forging orders from time to time to earn some income.

The most basic Hundred Refinements had already been successfully completed during the month he spent cultivating the Spirit Refining Art.

This technique had long since taken an embryonic form in this era, but it had always been missing that final step.

Blacksmiths without the ability had only groped their way to the edge, while Soul Engineers with the ability paid more attention to carving core formations and discarded it like a worn-out shoe.

And so, this technique was not unearthed until several thousand years later.

Now, Qian Chaoguang had already grasped this technique ahead of time.

Using forging to optimize the arrangement of certain grains without damaging the metal's internal structure, thereby strengthening the metal itself—this was the secret of Hundred Refinements.

Hundred Refinements was easy, but to truly enter the domain of Spirit Forging, Thousand Refinement was only the starting point.

Only by successfully completing Thousand Refinement once could Qian Chaoguang truly break away from the category of an ordinary blacksmith.

Trying to reverse-engineer this technique through the few scattered descriptions in the original work was truly far too difficult.

Ring, ring.

Just as Qian Chaoguang was feeling regretful, the bell hanging on the door rang.

A little head poked in cautiously.

"Brother, are you busy?"

"No. What is it?"

Huo Yutong slipped into the Forging Room in a flash, holding up a piece of rare metal the size of a human head.

"Hehe, today is your birthday, so I'm giving you a present."

"This is... Lapis Lazuli Iron?"

After working in the blacksmithing trade for so long, Qian Chaoguang saw through the true nature of the metal in Huo Yutong's hands at a glance.

This thing counted as one of the better kinds even among rare metals.

A piece of Lapis Lazuli Iron this size had to be worth at least dozens, perhaps nearly a hundred Gold Soul Coins.

Other than the bit of money he gave Huo Yutong every week as spending money, the rest of the household funds were in his hands.

Where the money she used to buy this rare metal had come from was already self-evident.

Who knew how long the little girl had been saving up?

Qian Chaoguang sighed helplessly.

"You secretly went out to do shady jobs again, didn't you? How many times have I told you? It's dangerous."

"Heheheheh, well, it's your birthday, isn't it?"

Huo Yutong held that piece of Lapis Lazuli Iron and giggled foolishly, simply refusing to answer the important part.

Qian Chaoguang had always strictly forbidden her from going out to work on her own.

She was still too young, and she had grown up in the White Tiger Duke's Mansion all this time, never really coming into contact with society. Qian Chaoguang was worried she would be cheated, tricked, or abducted, and he was also worried she would be targeted by Evil Soul Masters.

A little girl with a spiritual-type Body Martial Soul, young, weak in cultivation, and with no backing—she was practically the perfect material in the eyes of Evil Soul Masters.

But.

Facing Huo Yutong, who had depended on him for so long, how could he truly harden his heart enough to scold her?

Qian Chaoguang took the Lapis Lazuli Iron from her hands and fondly rubbed her head.

"Just this once. It won't happen again."

"Ehehe, Big Brother is the best! Then I'm going to make Big Brother a feast!"

After tossing out those words, Huo Yutong slipped away and vanished.

"That girl, honestly."

Qian Chaoguang shook his head and held that piece of Lapis Lazuli Iron in his hand.

Feeling the faint warmth Huo Yutong had left on it, something inside him seemed to be touched.

Maybe...

Try again?

The moment the thought arose, it grew like wild grass in Qian Chaoguang's heart, impossible to suppress.

He skillfully lit the furnace and placed the Lapis Lazuli Iron at the nozzle.

A few minutes later, the surface of the originally pale green Lapis Lazuli Iron had been burned into a faint blue, proving it had reached the proper temperature and could be forged.

Qian Chaoguang placed it on the anvil and fixed it in place, adjusted the nozzle, held his breath, focused his mind, and gently swung the Forging Hammer in his hand.

Ding.

The hammer touched the metal, letting out a pleasant, soft ring.

Ding.

Ding.

Ding.

That strange rhythm sounded again, and the process of Hundred Refinements was rapidly underway.

This time, Qian Chaoguang seemed to enter some strange state. The hammer and the metal formed a unique resonance, as if the Lapis Lazuli Iron being forged had already come alive and was communicating with him.

Gradually, the Lapis Lazuli Iron began to shrink, and the purifying effect of Hundred Refinements slowly revealed itself.

Qian Chaoguang himself did not know how many times he had struck it.

The sound of hammer blows seemed to have disappeared. Before his eyes, that piece of Lapis Lazuli Iron seemed to release an almost imperceptible glow.

With every strike, it breathed once along with it, gradually merging with Qian Chaoguang's own breathing.

His eyes grew brighter and brighter, and his forging speed became faster and faster. The strength of his entire body seemed to gather in that pair of Forging Hammers.

His Bloodline Power was fully mobilized, gradually rising over the surface of his body with each hammer blow.

It was a feeling that could not be described in words. Only those who had truly experienced it could understand.

Right now, there was only one thought in Qian Chaoguang's mind.

This might work!