Mang Tian nodded. "The other hand!"
Xu Qing nodded, switched the hammer to his right hand, then raised it as before and brought it down with all his strength.
Bang-!
A metallic crash, distinctly more piercing than the last, suddenly rang out.
Mang Tian covered his ears.
As the sound faded, the testing device sounded in a cold electronic voice. "Striking force: seven hundred and forty-three kilograms."
Mang Tian nodded, thoroughly satisfied.
He really was a genuine little monster!
If only his and Wulin's Martial Souls weren't Blue Silver Grass! If they had other strength-type Martial Souls instead, their future achievements would surely be immeasurable.
With regret on his face, Mang Tian sighed and spoke.
"That's enough. Go get Wulin and bring him to your forging room. I'll wait for you there."
Xu Qing nodded, put down the testing hammer, and ran straight to Tang Wulin's forging room.
A moment later, he arrived at the door of Tang Wulin's forging room.
At that moment, Tang Wulin was holding his forging hammers, repeating his hammering motions. Every swing was steady and powerful, his rhythm regular. He was wholly immersed in forging, working extremely hard.
"Wulin, Teacher wants you. Come over for a bit," Xu Qing called.
Hearing his voice, Tang Wulin immediately stopped, put down his forging hammers, and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Okay! I'll be right there!"
Soon, Tang Wulin followed Xu Qing to his forging room.
Inside the forging room, Mang Tian was already waiting quietly.
Seeing the two enter, he said, "You two, come here."
Xu Qing and Tang Wulin exchanged a glance, then stepped forward together and stood before Mang Tian.
"Wulin, next, I'm going to teach Xu Qing Thousand Refinement. You can listen first. When you're ready to learn it, I'll teach you again."
Tang Wulin nodded.
Then Mang Tian took a metal block fifteen centimeters in diameter and ten centimeters wide from the shelf.
The metal's surface had a dull gray, dense sheen, and its texture was hard and heavy. To the naked eye, it looked no different from an ordinary iron block, but its density was actually astonishing. A fist-sized piece alone weighed over two hundred jin.
Heavy silver was a special metal formed through high-pressure deposition in the deep sea. Because it lay on the seabed tens of thousands of meters down, its yield was extremely low, and it was extremely difficult to collect.
However, this metal had one very obvious characteristic: it was extremely heavy. Of course, its hardness was also formidable.
It could be hammered into shape after being heated to an extremely high temperature.
Of course, this material also conducted Soul Power and Spiritual Power quite well, making it a top-tier soul tool material. However, because its strength and hardness were too high, it was more often used in weapons.
Mang Tian's main reason for choosing it was that Xu Qing seemed quite fond of it.
Then Mang Tian began explaining.
Xu Qing summarized the general content.
Thousand Refinement, also called Thought Forging, was the standard for a blacksmith to truly enter the profession. Its quality and value far surpassed Hundred Refinement, and a finished product could be worth over a hundred times as much as a Hundred Refined one.
Hundred Refinement was merely a process of quantitative change that removed impurities from metal, while Thousand Refinement was a qualitative change that reorganized the metal's internal grain and bestowed spirituality upon it. This was known as "a thousand refinements give rise to a spirit," and could give metal unique properties and life.
Sublimation was the defining hallmark of Thousand Refinement. Without sublimation, it did not count as true Thousand Refinement. Ordinary tungsten steel would shrink in volume after Thousand Refinement, its strength would increase greatly, and it would also display a sublimation effect that increased its weight.
The core of Thousand Refinement was to mobilize Spiritual Power to communicate with the metal, regard it as a living being, and gain its recognition. Thousand Refinement had no fixed method. One could not simply copy someone else's path, but had to rely on one's own insights.
When forging, the metal had to first be purified through Thousand Refinement, then shaped. Once shaped, it could not be reforged.
There was a tradition in the forging world: the first Thousand Refined work required a blood sacrifice. The first work was more likely to develop exceptional special effects, and a blood sacrifice could link the metal to the blacksmith's bloodline, pushing those effects to their limits. The work would accompany the blacksmith in body and mind. Most blacksmiths forged their own hammers as their first Thousand Refined work.
After explaining the knowledge related to Thousand Refinement to the two of them, Mang Tian gave them a complete demonstration using adamantine, then left the forging room, leaving the two to think on their own.
Tang Wulin couldn't help marveling. "Thousand Refinement really is amazing."
Xu Qing nodded lightly. "Yeah. All right, Wulin, go back first. I'm going to try gaining some insights."
Tang Wulin nodded, turned, and walked out of the forging room.
Meanwhile, Xu Qing walked to the metal rack, selected another piece of metal, and placed it on the forging table.
He began swinging his hammer, trying to sense the metal before him according to the method Mang Tian had just described.
Time slipped quietly by, and before he knew it, it was time to go home.
Xu Qing took a long stretch, the taut muscles throughout his body suddenly relaxing, then gently set down his forging hammer.
After tidying the forging table, he left the forging room, briefly said goodbye to Tang Wulin, who was still practicing, and left Mang Tian's Workshop.
The evening streets were quiet and slightly cool. The evening breeze blew gently, soothing some of the heat on his body.
Xu Qing walked slowly home, Mang Tian's words from earlier that day and the scene of Thousand Refinement sublimation still replaying in his mind.
The more he recalled them, the more he appreciated the strange wonders of Thousand Refinement.
Upon entering the house, Xu Qing saw Gu Yuena watching soul television. He casually picked up an apple from the table and took a bite, and sweet and tart juice immediately flooded his mouth.
Then he walked over and sat down beside Gu Yuena, watching soul television with her.
After dinner, Xu Qing cultivated with Gu Yuena for a while as usual.
Then the two returned to their respective rooms.
Back in his own room, Xu Qing locked the door.
With a shift of his thoughts, he entered Parallel Earth directly.
As the surrounding space rippled slightly, Xu Qing's figure appeared inside his base.
Many pots of Blue Silver Grass stood inside the room, their stems and leaves swaying gently as though welcoming Xu Qing's return.
Xu Qing walked to the table, picked up the long saber leaning against the wall, and left the steel fortress to begin today's slaughter.
Beneath the night sky, a large number of zombies rapidly gathered at the sound. Hoarse roars rang out one after another as they lunged swiftly straight at Xu Qing.
Facing the surging horde, Xu Qing did not dodge at all. Gripping his long saber, he took the initiative to meet them.
His figure flashed, and he delivered a clean slash, instantly killing the foremost zombie lunging at him. Following through, he kicked away a monster approaching from his side, then swept his saber horizontally. As the blade flashed up and down, he continuously reaped the charging zombies.
Only the dull sounds of metal cleaving flesh and the zombies' roars remained throughout the area.
After a short bout of fighting, a large pile of zombie corpses had accumulated at Xu Qing's feet.
He panted heavily, gripped his long saber, and kicked away several more zombies lunging at him.
"Time to get serious."
Faint blue light flowed, and a bright yellow Soul Ring slowly rose behind him. Lingrong also appeared on his shoulder. Xu Qing mobilized his Soul Power, and his first Soul Skill, Blue Silver Spores, suddenly activated.
Countless stalks of Blue Silver Grass broke through the ground, simultaneously releasing spores nearly invisible to the naked eye into their surroundings, where they drifted in all directions on the wind.
Before long, stalks of Blue Silver Grass rapidly sprouted from the zombie corpses and the ground, then tightly bound the zombies still alive, restricting their movements.
Xu Qing nodded slightly and wound Blue Silver Grass around the blade of his long saber.
Pale blue light flashed, and spores attached themselves to the blade. In an instant, he had added a layer of buff to his long saber.
For the application of his first Soul Skill, Xu Qing had taken inspiration from the use of poison.
In Xu Qing's view, spores could actually be regarded as another kind of toxin.