His left hand swung up as his right came down, the forging hammers in his hands alternating like a raging gale and torrential rain.
Clang, clang, clang, clang-
The rapid, crisp, orderly hammer strikes rang out one after another like a joyous melody.
Countless sparks scattered in every direction.
After two years of practice, he could already be said to have reached the pinnacle of mastery in Hundred Refinement.
Xu Qing's hands rose and fell in alternation. One hammer struck heavily and bounced away from the metal's recoil, and the other swiftly descended. With every strike, Xu Qing sensed the changes and properties of the heavy silver.
It took only three short minutes,
and the Hundred Refinement purification was complete.
The heavy silver on the anvil had shrunk by nearly ten percent. All the remaining impurities, from its surface to its interior, were slowly stripped away under the repeated hammer blows, and its already exceptional density increased once more beneath Xu Qing's strikes.
Hundred Refinement meant removing impurities from within a metal without damaging its internal structure, increasing its density.
Watching the changes in the heavy silver beneath Xu Qing's hammer, Mang Tian nodded slightly, a trace of approval appearing on his face.
With this solid foundation alone, even if Xu Qing failed to break through to Thousand Refinement in one go today, given some more time to consolidate his skills, he would surely cross its threshold smoothly.
At the center of the forging, Xu Qing did not stop after completing Hundred Refinement. Instead, he grew increasingly focused, gradually, gradually seeming to enter a state of self-forgetfulness.
Threads of Spiritual Power flowed along the hammers, slowly seeping into the heavy silver.
In a trance, he seemed able to "see" the layers of fine, dense grain within the metal, to catch its faint rhythms after ten thousand years of silence and its soundless "breathing." He seemed to have established a silent connection with the heavy silver.
Every fall of his hammer and every rebound from the metal was like a silent exchange.
Xu Qing maintained a gentle, deeply rhythmic tempo, as though soothing a child.
The ringing hammer blows formed an ethereal movement of forging music, incomparably pleasing to the ear, echoing soothingly through the quiet workshop.
Yes? This was it! This was exactly the feeling!
Beside him, Mang Tian forcibly suppressed his excitement, pressing his lips together tightly, not daring to make the slightest sound for fear of disturbing Xu Qing.
As a forging grandmaster at the Master Craftsman level, he understood this state very well. Xu Qing had clearly truly touched the core of Thousand Refinement.
Thousand Refinement bestowed spirit; intent forged metal.
This was a profound realm that countless forging apprentices struggled to touch even after years or decades of effort, an unbridgeable chasm that over ninety percent of blacksmiths could never cross in their lifetimes.
Yet now, Xu Qing, only eight years old, already had one foot through the gates of Thousand Refinement.
The Blacksmith Association's current record for the youngest person to achieve Thousand Refinement had been set by a rank-eight Saint Craftsman.
If Xu Qing successfully broke through today, he would push the Federation's record ahead by several years or more, making him a monster among monsters.
At the thought that he could personally nurture a future Divine Craftsman, his breathing involuntarily quickened slightly with excitement.
Meanwhile, Tang Wulin, who was watching from the side, unconsciously held his breath amid the tense atmosphere.
At this moment, however, Xu Qing's mind had long since shut out every disturbance from the outside world.
In his world, only the two hammers in his hands and the heavy silver remained.
As the forging continued, his hammering grew increasingly steady, his strength waxing and waning in measured degrees.
Each strike not only further purified the metal but also used Spiritual Power to guide the grain structure within the heavy silver, arranging its chaotic grain ever more neatly and densely, continually improving the metal's toughness, stability, and affinity, like a woman carefully tending her long hair.
Ten minutes, twenty minutes, an hour... three hours!
For three full hours of intense forging through intent, the heavy silver on the anvil shrank at a rate visible to the naked eye: five percent, ten percent, fifteen percent. A blue halo flowed over its surface.
Under the prolonged saturation of intent and tempering of hammer force, even an extremely subtle, distinctive resonance quietly began to linger deep within the heavy silver.
The prolonged, continuous expenditure of Spiritual Power took an enormous toll on Xu Qing.
His arms were only slightly sore and swollen. Large beads of sweat slowly fell, then evaporated in the furnace's heat. His Spiritual Power continued to drain rapidly, his head felt slightly swollen, and fatigue welled up within him.
But Xu Qing did not stop. His gaze remained firmly fixed on the heavy silver.
He could clearly sense that after hours of adjustment, communication, and tempering, a special connection had gradually formed between this piece of heavy silver and his Spiritual Power, while its internal grain had become like a beautiful painting.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
When the moment for the final strike arrived!
A sudden flash of inspiration welled up within Xu Qing, and he gave a low shout:
"Succeed!"
As his words fell, he raised the final hammer high.
He abruptly unleashed his strength, pouring all the power and will of his body into the forging hammer, which then crashed down like a meteor.
Clang-!
A deep, tremendous metallic crash exploded outward, and the entire forging room trembled slightly.
Under the blow, the heavy silver on the anvil also began to tremble slightly. The next moment, dazzling blue radiance suddenly burst through the blockade of the furnace flames, illuminating the entire forging room so brightly that no one could keep their eyes open.
"It worked!"
Delighted surprise burst from Mang Tian's eyes, but he reacted extremely quickly, immediately tossing a dagger to Xu Qing and speaking urgently. "Quick, Xu Qing! Hurry and drip your blood onto the metal, just as I taught you!"
Xu Qing nodded.
"All right!"
He caught the dagger steadily and, without the slightest hesitation, drew its tip lightly across his palm.
But unexpectedly, the originally razor-sharp dagger left only a faint white mark on Xu Qing's palm.
Xu Qing was not particularly surprised. After all, during these two years of fighting zombies, he had discovered that as his body continued to grow stronger, his defenses also kept improving. He applied more force, and a shallow cut appeared in his palm, warm blood slowly seeping out.
Xu Qing held his hand over the metal.
A drop of blood slowly fell onto the thousand refinement heavy silver below, over which silver light flowed.
Hiss, hiss-
Wisps of smoke rose, accompanied by the hissing of water meeting fire.
The instant the blood landed on the heavy silver, the intense heat on its surface rapidly faded, its red color vanished entirely, and its volume shrank a little further.
"Thousand Refinement! Haha! An eight-year-old rank-three blacksmith! Congratulations! Xu Qing, do you know? You've set a record! A record ordinary people will struggle to surpass! If those fellows at the Blacksmith Association found out, they'd go mad."
Looking at Xu Qing, Mang Tian could hardly conceal his excitement. A burning light shone in his eyes, and his voice was utterly exhilarated.
If his two disciples had not been present, Mang Tian would have wanted to jump for joy.
"Xu Qing, congratulations!"
Tang Wulin spoke with some envy.
Although he did not understand as clearly as Mang Tian just how astonishing an eight-year-old rank-three blacksmith was, Mang Tian's fervent reaction made it easy to see that an eight-year-old rank-three blacksmith held tremendous historical significance.
"Haha! Isn't it all thanks to Teacher's excellent instruction?"
After all, in the original story, Mang Tian had never demonstrated it for Tang Wulin.
"And Wulin, you don't need to worry too much either. You should be close too."
Tang Wulin nodded.
A smile unconsciously appeared on Xu Qing's face as well, but he soon calmed down and curiously examined the completely transformed heavy silver before him. Moreover, Xu Qing could sense what seemed to be an exceedingly wondrous connection between himself and it.
It was the wondrous feeling of being joined by flesh and blood.