After Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen left Xu Zhengyang's dormitory, their eyes were still filled with shock. They couldn't believe that Xu Zhengyang's strength was truly earned through risking his life. Meng Hongchen even had a slight blush on her face.
Three days later, Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen took Xu Zhengyang away from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy and flew for a full two hours before finally arriving at their destination: the Hengduan Mountains.
This is a special mountain range in the Sun Moon Empire. The entire mountain range seems to have been cut in half. In the center of the mountain range is a huge basin, while the Sun Moon Empire's army is stationed on the outer perimeter of the mountain range.
After multiple identity verifications, Xu Zhengyang, Xiao Hongchen, and Meng Hongchen finally entered the heart of the Hengduan Mountains. This place looked like an extremely tall fortress, with extremely tight defenses around it, especially a gate that was over twenty meters high and made of refined iron more than a foot thick.
Upon entering the gate, they were greeted by a massive downward staircase, over twenty meters wide and seemingly bottomless. Both the staircase and the walls were constructed entirely of steel, resembling an iron fortress.
The three walked up the stairs for almost ten minutes before entering the next checkpoint. In terms of defense level, this place even surpassed the interior of the Illustrious Virtue Hall, with countless Soul Tool cannons seemingly ready to fire at any moment.
Xu Zhengyang also appeared unusually serious. "Is it really necessary to guard this place so heavily? It's just a lava field, isn't it?"
Xiao Hongchen scoffed, "You call yourself a member of the Xu Clan? You don't even understand this much? This isn't just a patch of lava; it's the Sun Moon Empire's largest Soul Tool forging base. Otherwise, do you think they could forge so many high-level Soul Cannon in that tiny place beneath the Illustrious Virtue Hall? The Sun Moon Empire's military strength is the best in the world, and this is the real foundation."
Once Xu Zhengyang entered the Hengduan Mountains, he felt his horizons broaden. Not only was the temperature significantly higher, but there were also individual small rooms, each seemingly separated from the others.
In the very center was an extremely hot lava field, inaccessible to ordinary people. Each room seemed to be specially made, with casting tables made of tungsten steel, and each casting table was extremely large, with a length exceeding ten meters, unlike any casting tables used normally.
Xiao Hongchen said, "This is the largest Soul Tool manufacturing base of my Sun Moon Empire. More than 70% of all soul tool cannons of level eight and above are forged here. Places like Illustrious Virtue Hall and Offering Hall are only used for research and small-batch production. This is the real arsenal."
Xu Zhengyang looked puzzled. "Why would you specifically choose to build this place? The cost of building it is probably far greater than that of the Illustrious Virtue Hall, especially considering the extreme heat it's under."
Xiao Hongchen shook his head. "There's nothing we can do about it. Normally, when Soul Master forges a high-level Soul Tool, they need a powerful flame. Apart from the Sun Martial Soul of the Xu Clan, ordinary flames simply cannot have a good effect on the materials of Soul Tool of Level Seven or above."
"This place is different. It has the boundless heat of lava and fire, with temperatures even exceeding those of fire-attribute Soul Sage. It's an ideal place, especially when creating super-large Soul Tool."
"Besides, our predecessors have already studied this volcano. The lava inside is very stable and will not erupt. This is much more convenient than burning ore and blowing air."
"My grandfather is Level 9 Soul Engineer. He has a private room here for his use, but he's away recently. You can stay here for a while, but you absolutely must not cause any damage."
After some discussion, Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen left the place.
Xu Zhengyang carefully examined the room again. The room was semi-open, with various items placed on one side and privacy guaranteed on the other.
On the other side, there was a continuous lava forging furnace, from which endless heat and terrifying flames emanated. If it weren't for Xu Zhengyang's long-term forging experience, ordinary people would not be able to withstand this level of temperature. Just as Xiao Hongchen said, this temperature was at least at the level of a fire-attribute Soul Sage.
After confirming everything, Xu Zhengyang took out the fist-sized golden solid from his person; it was the Gold of Life he had obtained back then.
During his year at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, Xu Zhengyang never stopped forging the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear, and he constantly nurtured it with his Soul Power, even injecting his own blood into it from time to time.
At this moment, the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear was emitting bursts of red aura, and it seemed even more ferocious and more like a living creature than it had been a year ago.
Without any hesitation, Xu Zhengyang simultaneously placed the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear and the Gold of Life into the lava to be forged. Under the terrifying temperature of the lava fire, the entire Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear quickly crackled and even turned fiery red.
Xu Zhengyang's gaze was fixed on the Gold of Life. He had once used lightning to melt the Gold of Life, but lightning was ultimately too dangerous, so he decided to use lava fire to melt Gold of Life.
The molten lava kept smelting the Gold of Life, and under the extreme heat, the surface of the Gold of Life began to soften gradually, as if forming a thin liquid layer.
Xu Zhengyang enveloped the Gold of Life with his Soul Power, carefully sensing every change in Gold of Life. He noticed that the originally extremely hard Gold of Life was gradually beginning to liquefy.
In that instant, Xu Zhengyang used his Soul Power without hesitation to retrieve the Gold of Life and the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear from the lava and placed them directly on the forging platform, while the Gold of Life covered the surface of the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear's tip.
Immediately afterwards, he picked up the black gold hammer with both hands and began to forge the Gold of Life and the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear incessantly.
This process was repeated for a full day before the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear was completely restored to its original form, and the Gold of Life was fully integrated into the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear.
Holding the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear, Xu Zhengyang couldn't help but burst into laughter. He had finally completed the step of infusing the Gold of Life into the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear. The Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear was no longer a purely power-based weapon, nor was it the completely unsharpened weapon it used to be.
Xu Zhengyang took out a piece of top-grade tungsten steel from his person, gripped the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear with both hands, and chopped it with all his might. The top-grade tungsten steel was instantly split in two. At this moment, the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear looked incomparably sharp, finally comparable to the weapons transformed from those top-level Tool Martial Soul.
"Haha, finally succeeded! Everything is as I expected. The Gold of Life is indeed the strongest metal in the world. Not only does it have the property of healing the wielder, but it can also enhance the connection between the Martial Soul and the Sea of Spirit, and even accelerate the absorption of the Heaven and Earth Yuan Power during battle, increasing the recovery speed."