Early that morning, in the foundry, besides Xu Zhengyang and the five workers, even Lou Li had come.
Over the past year, Xu Zhengyang had sought Lou Li's guidance many times. As expected of the president of the Blacksmith Association, Lou Li possessed exceptionally refined forging skills. He was also very interested in Xu Zhengyang's method of tempering his Martial Soul and had even offered quite a few suggestions.
Although Xu Zhengyang's forging methods fell far short of Lou Li's, he had, after all, spent a year in the Xu Clan's Soul Tool manufacturing factory. On the Sun Moon Continent, there was also a systematic training program for blacksmiths to improve the efficiency of Soul Tool production, and it differed considerably from that of the Douluo Continent.
Through exchanging knowledge, both had benefited.
After a year of tempering, Xu Zhengyang knew every pattern on the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear with extraordinary clarity. He even understood the flaws in its structure. Just as Lou Li had said, those flaws came from the excessive impurities in the spear's Yang Flame Iron.
After a year of Xu Zhengyang's tireless refinement, the entire shaft of the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear had begun to give off a faint red glow. It now measured about seven centimeters in diameter, making it handier to wield and more compact.
By comparison, Xu Zhengyang had fallen somewhat behind in refining the spearhead. In fact, it could be said that he had barely refined it at all.
That was because the Extraterrestrial Meteoric Copper was considerably higher in quality than even Yang Flame Iron, and Xu Zhengyang's forging had little discernible effect on it.
At that moment, the five workers were pumping the bellows with all their strength. The entire furnace blazed with heat, and even the Extraterrestrial Meteoric Copper on the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear had turned red-hot.
Despite all these years of forging, the spearhead had yet to take shape. It still resembled an iron spike, without even the shape of a spearhead, let alone a sharpened edge.
After a full half hour of continuous heating, even the five workers pumping the bellows were drenched in sweat. The spearhead's heat seemed to have reached its utmost limit, even approaching the limit of what Xu Zhengyang could endure.
Sensing these minute changes, Xu Zhengyang abruptly opened his eyes and guided the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear onto the forging table with his Soul Power.
At that very instant, Xu Zhengyang gripped an enormous black-gold hammer over a meter long. Carefully sensing the patterns in the spearhead, he brought the hammer down on it with all his strength.
The spearhead was much harder than Xu Zhengyang had imagined. Apart from a dull thud, the hammer blow produced no change whatsoever. It did not budge in the slightest.
Yet Xu Zhengyang could clearly sense an extremely minute change in the spearhead at that moment.
Without hesitation, Xu Zhengyang used the black-gold hammer's rebound to swing it through a strange angle in midair, then smashed it onto the spearhead again with all his strength.
This was the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Technique's method of borrowing force to deliver force, and it was also one of the Douluo Continent's most renowned forging techniques.
Gripping the black-gold hammer, Xu Zhengyang employed the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Technique to strike the spearhead again and again.
As the hammer blows stacked, the force carried by the black-gold hammer grew stronger and stronger. Xu Zhengyang focused all his spiritual power on the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear, carefully sensing every minute change in the spearhead and the force between each hammer blow.
As the hammer blows stacked, Xu Zhengyang's strength was also consumed at an alarming rate, even seeming to exceed the limits of his own strength.
When the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Technique reached its eighty-first blow, the entire black-gold hammer resembled a black dragon. With a force that seemed to shatter stone and startle the heavens, it slammed into the spearhead.
The spearhead seemed unable to withstand that terrifying force and let out a mournful cry. Yet within that cry was something faintly resembling a tiger's roar, and the previously minute changes began to grow more pronounced.
Lou Li, who had been staring fixedly at the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear, suddenly changed expression. He seemed to have sensed the change brought by that final blow as well, and his eyes filled with astonishment.
He was a Soul Sage-level expert, after all, and his spiritual power and powers of observation were countless times greater than Xu Zhengyang's. At a glance, he could tell that Xu Zhengyang's body had suffered an enormous impact after that final blow. He could also sense that the spearhead seemed to have shrunk a little.
Xu Zhengyang did not hesitate either. Taking advantage of the interval after exhausting his physical strength by unleashing the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Technique at full power, he used his Soul Power to guide the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear back into the furnace.
Xu Zhengyang had modified this foundry. The furnace and forging table were connected, and the entire forging table had turned red-hot under the high temperatures, though it was still not as hot as the furnace's interior.
The five workers were also pumping the bellows with all their might, and the flames in the furnace had reached their maximum intensity.
After heating it for several minutes, Xu Zhengyang once again guided the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear onto the forging table with his Soul Power and resumed hammering the spearhead with the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Technique.
This process repeated without pause. Each time he pushed the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Technique to its limit and exhausted his strength, he returned the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear to the furnace to heat it, while finding ways to replenish his stamina as quickly as possible.
After a full five hours, the previously conical spearhead had finally begun to take shape. Although it still lacked a sharp edge, it was gradually being hammered flat and even. But this seemed to be Xu Zhengyang's limit.
Xu Zhengyang's face was filled with unwillingness to give up. He had put in so much effort and made so many preparations. Even the ore being burned this time had been specially prepared and was sufficient for forging the forms of Class 6 Soul Tools.
Even though the five workers took turns replenishing their nourishment, their backs were now drenched in sweat, and they were panting with exhaustion.
Just then, Lou Li suddenly shouted.
"You're at the final hurdle! Even your black-gold hammer won't be enough. Use mine!"
Soul Power flickered around Lou Li, and a somewhat oddly shaped long chisel measuring over a meter appeared before Xu Zhengyang. It was none other than Lou Li's Martial Soul, the Vajra Chisel.
Disregarding his status as president of the Blacksmith Association, Lou Li actually went over to the furnace. Not only did he add some special fire stones, but he even began pumping the bellows with all his strength, fully unleashing the Soul Power throughout his body.
Xu Zhengyang's spirits lifted as well. Holding the Vajra Chisel in his left hand and the black-gold hammer in his right, he continued forging the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear's spearhead with every ounce of his strength.
The Vajra Chisel truly lived up to its reputation as a Tool Martial Soul suited to forging. Not only was it exceptionally hard, but it was also extremely handy to use.
With Lou Li's help, Xu Zhengyang worked with both hands, continuously hammering the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear's spearhead.
Xu Zhengyang now completely disregarded his own expenditure, even using a Milk Bottle to replenish his strength and Soul Power as he hammered the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear's spearhead with all his might.
After a full hour, with one final all-out hammer blow, the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear seemed to transform into an enormous, ferocious tiger and let out a terrifying roar. Xu Zhengyang's body also seemed to have gone far beyond its limits. He spat out a mouthful of blood, staining the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear's spearhead red.
The Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear seemed to sense something. Not only did it conform to what Xu Zhengyang envisioned, but it actually began to merge with the blood he had spat onto its spearhead.
His strength utterly exhausted, Xu Zhengyang collapsed into a sitting position on the ground. This had truly worn him out.
Lou Li also stopped pumping the bellows and instead took up the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear to examine it closely.
The Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear's shaft was still pitch-black all over, but it now faintly radiated a crimson glow. Where the original spearhead had been was a black-and-gold tiger's head, its mouth engulfing the blade.
Lou Li could not help praising it. "What a fine spear. Extraterrestrial Meteoric Copper truly lives up to its name. Although the edge hasn't been sharpened, its quality is already no inferior to my Vajra Chisel."