Xu Zhengyang grew increasingly impressed by Lou Li's words. Although he might not be a top-tier Soul Master, he truly had unique insights into forging, and even knew the advantages and drawbacks of forging Martial Souls.
Lou Li continued, "Relatively speaking, it should be Soul Masters with poorer-quality Martial Souls and lower Innate Soul Power who try to forge their Tool Martial Souls. In a certain sense, this method can indeed improve the condition of a Martial Soul, and even the body, but the risk is simply too high. At least, I've never heard of anyone cultivating into a high-level Soul Master through this method."
"Still, young friend, if your Martial Soul consists of Yang Flame Iron and Extraterrestrial Meteoric Copper, its quality shouldn't be too poor, and your Innate Soul Power shouldn't be too low either."
Xu Zhengyang nodded. "President Lou, my Innate Soul Power has indeed had a certain effect on me. I also asked someone else to identify my Martial Soul, and only then was it confirmed to be Yang Flame Iron and Extraterrestrial Meteoric Copper."
Lou Li looked thoughtful. "Young friend, could you let me take a look at your Martial Soul?"
Xu Zhengyang did not hesitate. Soul Power flickered around him, and the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear appeared in his hand.
Lou Li took the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear and examined it closely, not only hefting the entire spear to gauge its weight, but even carefully studying every line of its patterns. His initially somewhat casual gaze grew increasingly solemn.
Only after a full ten minutes did Lou Li sigh. "What a heavy Martial Soul. Yes, the shaft is indeed Yang Flame Iron, and the spearhead is Extraterrestrial Meteoric Copper. This is rather strange. How could a Tool Martial Soul formed from these two extremely rare and precious metals be so poor in quality?"
"And I vaguely feel that this spearhead isn't quite so simple. There seems to be some special power inside it, but because the Martial Soul's quality is too poor, that power hasn't fully awakened. It seems to be sealed."
Xu Zhengyang was startled to hear this. He had long been able to sense the abnormality in the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear's spearhead, but he had not expected Lou Li to detect it after just a brief examination.
"President Lou, where exactly does the abnormality in my Martial Soul lie? Did something go wrong during its awakening?"
Lou Li shook his head. "Young friend, your Martial Soul is indeed composed of Yang Flame Iron and Extraterrestrial Meteoric Copper, and both are indeed extremely high-quality metals. But your Martial Soul isn't pure enough."
"You're a blacksmith too, so you should understand that all iron ore contains impurities. I've handled Yang Flame Iron before and used it to forge weapons. Given your Martial Soul's volume, if it were formed from pure Yang Flame Iron and Extraterrestrial Meteoric Copper, it would weigh more than a thousand jin even without absorbing a Soul Ring. Yet right now, it doesn't even weigh eight hundred jin."
"Especially when your Martial Soul first awakened, it probably weighed less than five hundred jin. In other words, your Martial Soul contains a very high proportion of impurities."
"I examined your Martial Soul carefully, and it does indeed bear traces of countless rounds of forging. However, the forging technique is somewhat crude. And with your current Soul Power and strength, I'm afraid you cannot forge an object truly made from Yang Flame Iron and Extraterrestrial Meteoric Copper."
At that moment, Lou Li's eyes were filled with surprise, along with an extraordinary sense of regret. The blacksmith before him looked far too young, yet he had actually thought of a way to forge his own Martial Soul, and had continued for so long without any problems arising in his body. Just how strong must his physique be?
Xu Zhengyang hurriedly bowed. "Please guide me, President Lou. What must I do to truly succeed in forging my Martial Soul?"
Lou Li shook his head. "I can't guide you on that, nor can I help you. Hammering your Martial Soul means hammering your own body. I can't measure the limits of what your body can withstand. You can only slowly feel your way forward yourself."
"But I can tell you that I once forged a fine sword from Yang Flame Iron. Even with my Soul Sage cultivation, it took me a full month, and I had also asked a fire-attribute Soul Sage to help."
"You're a blacksmith. You should know that materials are only one part of forging a truly high-quality weapon. There are also the smith's Soul Power and strength, the smith's forging techniques, and control of the flames. Not one of these conditions can be missing, and every one is crucial."
"After I forged that fine sword from Yang Flame Iron back then, its hardness and sharpness alone were already no less than those of a Class 7 close-combat Soul Tool. It was also one of my proudest creations."
"For you to forge your Martial Soul now would only be more difficult. You haven't even mastered the most basic forging techniques, let alone met the other conditions. And your physique cannot withstand hammering at the Soul Sage level."
Hearing this, Xu Zhengyang instantly understood the predicament before him. In the end, he was still too weak. Whether in physical constitution or Soul Power rank, he simply had no way to forge an object made from Extraterrestrial Meteoric Copper and Yang Flame Iron.
But now this seemed to have become a vicious circle. If the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear did not grow stronger through honing and tempering, he would have no way to break through and become a high-level Soul Master. Yet only a high-level Soul Master could truly hone the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear.
"President Lou, is there really no other way?"
A faint, odd smile appeared on Lou Li's face. "And you call yourself a smith. Perhaps you can't succeed in the short term, but don't forget, we smiths have a saying: a hundred refinings turn iron into steel. Just as when we forge, if one hammer blow isn't enough, strike a hundred times. If a hundred aren't enough, strike a thousand, ten thousand times. True treasures have all undergone a thousand hammerings and a hundred refinings."
Xu Zhengyang instantly understood what Lou Li meant. "Thank you for the reminder, President Lou. I understand."
Just as Lou Li had said, if he could not finish forging it in a day, he could take a month, a year, or even longer. After all, Ji Juechen had spent several years forging a long bar of Extraterrestrial Meteoric Iron into the shape of a sword, enduring countless people's ridicule along the way, but he had succeeded in the end.
This was both because of his devotion to the sword and because of his confidence in himself.
Xu Zhengyang seemed to think of something and hurriedly asked, "President Lou, aside from a fire-attribute Soul Master at the Soul Sage level, is there any other way to temper Yang Flame Iron and Extraterrestrial Meteoric Copper?"
"And if one day I encounter even harder, stronger metals, are there other ways to hammer and refine them?"
Lou Li thought carefully for a while before speaking. "It's not that there are no other ways. Aside from Soul Masters, nature also possesses stronger energy and greater destructive power."
"For example, my great-grandfather once forged a top-tier weapon, and its material was precisely Extraterrestrial Meteoric Copper. Back then, even a fire-attribute Soul Sage could do nothing with it. He risked his life and completed the forging using the heat of magma. However, this method is extremely dangerous, and he nearly lost half his life in the process. Especially if you want to temper your Martial Soul, it's best not to use this method."
"Of course, I've also read about another method in ancient texts. There are places in this world where lightning strikes relatively frequently. By borrowing the power of lightning, it is likewise possible to complete the forging. But that would only be more dangerous. At the very least, it isn't something a Grand Soul Master like you could withstand."
Surprise appeared on Xu Zhengyang's face. Why hadn't I thought of magma and lightning? Those two forces might be terrifying, but if all he wanted was to destroy the Soul Devouring Carving Knife and extract the Gold of Life, they could definitely do it.
In particular, lightning was the bane of all evil things under heaven. It might even be possible to use lightning to remove the curse on the Soul Devouring Carving Knife.