Xu Tianran's Impotent Rage

Unfortunately, at this stage, there was no way to produce metal with life at too high a grade.

The conditions were far too lacking-not only in terms of technique, but possibly even in terms of the rules themselves.

Bao Liang suspected that, before a Spirit Forging system was developed, the pinnacle of forging on the Douluo Continent had been Lou Gao's forging ten thousand years ago, when he had sacrificed his life and blood.

Bao Liang ventured an even bolder guess-that forging had probably already brought the metal to the level of Spirit Forging.

To put it simply: Spirit Forging gave metal life, while Soul Forging gave life a soul.

Lou Gao had clearly been incapable of reaching the level of Soul Forging, and no single metal could withstand Soul Forging anyway. It had to be performed on an alloy.

Thus, that forging could only have reached the level of flawed Spirit Forging at best.

That led to another exceedingly awkward problem: metal formulas required generations of people to experiment, piling up experience over time before determining the optimal proportions for forging alloys.

With all these difficulties piled together, true Heavenly Forging was destined to be hard to achieve in this era.

A person had limits. One person's efforts could not match experience accumulated by others over generations.

Without outside help, one would have neither the strength nor, still less, the time.

Of course, if one stopped being human, it should be just barely possible.

Given the current situation, the best choice for Bao Liang and Xiao Hongchen was to advance a metal like Heavy Silver to Thousand Refinement or even Spirit Forging, and produce a true prototype of Battle Armor-or even forge a complete suit.

Bao Liang spread a blank sheet of paper in a corner of the workshop, drawing as he pondered.

He went over the entire forging process in his head again-which steps Xiao Hongchen had gotten right, where he could save effort next time, and which impurities had not been cleared out thoroughly enough-and noted each point beside the drawing.

Though he had not swung the hammer himself, his thinking was clearer than anyone's: this first piece of Hundred Refinement Heavy Silver was not the destination, but a paving stone.

Before Kong Deming left, he glanced back at them, a smile on his lips.

"The future really is just within reach."

After the three of them finished recording the forging process, Kong Deming and the others left the workshop to discuss their plans and schedule going forward.

Then they threw themselves back into the world of forging-not only did Xiao Hongchen begin working out higher-level forging methods on his own, but Bao Liang and Meng Hongchen also began studying forging under his guidance and trying their own hands at it.

After all, forging was not a road one person could travel alone.

Whether it was Thousand Refinement or Spirit Forging, more people were needed to pave the way.

For the development of Soul Tools, to advance forging, and also to develop Battle Armor later, Bao Liang was now sparing no effort to push forging forward.

The minimum requirement for making Battle Armor was Thousand Refinement metal-only one level above Hundred Refinement.

After leaving, Jing Hongchen and Ye Yulin also went straight back to their laboratories to try forging.

Though they were not as proficient as Xiao Hongchen, with pointers from Kong Deming and Bao Liang, they gradually began to grasp the principles.

The hands that had held Soul Tool engraving knives for years now picked up hammers, striking metal blanks blow after blow-at first, their strikes sounded uneven, and their aim was off, but after several days of practice, their hammering gradually acquired a proper rhythm.

They stood at their forging tables for half a day at a time, not even sparing a moment for lunch. Whenever they looked up, their eyes shone-the more they worked, the more enthused they became.

Of course, in the entire Sun Moon Empire, they were the only handful of people who would devote themselves to developing forging.

This was, after all, cutting-edge theory, and they had only just begun. It was not suitable for widespread dissemination.

Kong Deming had also specifically instructed that all preliminary results of their forging be sealed and kept secret. Not even those within the imperial family or the Worship Hall were to hear of them.

If word of this got out, the entire Soul Tool industry of Sun Moon could be upended.

Meanwhile, Bao Liang was also absorbed in exploring the subject.

After hearing what Xiao Hongchen had to say, Bao Liang was actually a little surprised.

According to Xiao Hongchen, during Hundred Refinement, he had actually been able to sense the grain of the metal, something only perceptible at the Thousand Refinement realm.

It was only because his own skill was insufficient that he could not truly reach Thousand Refinement.

Xiao Hongchen, however, was completely unaware of this-he did not know that he had already touched the threshold of Thousand Refinement.

At Thousand Refinement, forging already had to incorporate the use of intent.

Through resonance with the metal, one sensed its emotions and treated it as a living thing.

With his affinity for metal maxed out, Xiao Hongchen had undoubtedly already achieved this.

Perhaps before long, he would reach the Thousand Refinement realm and forge true Thousand Refinement metal.

Of course, Bao Liang could also reach a similar level to Xiao Hongchen through another method.

That method was none other than the effect of Bao Liang's ultimate talent and his second Soul Skill-Hot Core assimilated the metal's core, Deflagration rapidly burned away impurities, and Molten Fire Thousandfold Forging turned it into the form he wanted.

Still, this method was ultimately a shortcut and could not escape the true nature of his Martial Soul, Explosion.

Nevertheless, for the future, he had to use every means at his disposal to sense and touch the threshold of "life."

And Spirit Forging and Thousand Refinement were the quickest paths currently available to Bao Liang.

Just then, Xiao Hongchen suddenly asked Bao Liang, "By the way, Bao Liang, you spend all day with me in the forging workshop. Won't that hold up your cultivation?"

"Not much," Bao Liang explained. "Ultimate Flame is different from Ultimate Fire.

"Ultimate Flame commands ultimate heat and destruction, rather than Ultimate Fire's destructive power and inextinguishability.

"When metal is forged, it can be said to be breathing in another way-and this breathing stirs the surrounding Soul Power into a frenzy, speeding up its circulation, absorption and use. The effect is comparable to being in a Mimicry Cultivation Environment.

"Better yet, as our forging skills grow more refined in the future, the effect can improve further."

He paused, then added, "After all, the metal isn't the only thing that heats up and breathes during forging. We do too.

"So there's no need to worry about my cultivation speed."

After hearing Bao Liang's explanation, Xiao Hongchen was finally reassured.

But there was a puzzled look in his eyes as he glanced at Meng Hongchen beside him-

"If you're fine, Bao Liang, why did you ask Meng to come hammer iron with us too? She's an ice-attribute Soul Master."

Meng Hongchen blinked in equal puzzlement.

Bao Liang then explained that his main purpose in having Meng Hongchen join them was not to teach her forging, but to teach her to sense the metal's breathing and resonance.

That would play a very important part in the future Battle Armor plan.

"As for the drawback..." Bao Liang paused. "Meng's cultivation progress might slow down somewhat.

"After all, the high temperatures in a forging workshop aren't particularly friendly to an ice-attribute Soul Master."

With Bao Liang's explanation, Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen understood what he had intended.

As for the drawback, they cared even less about that-being able to sense metal's breathing would be icing on the cake for Meng Hongchen.

The two of them then applied themselves even harder to sensing and resonating with various metals.

Elsewhere, as the Worship Hall took more and greater actions, Xu Tianran found himself growing afraid for no apparent reason.

Something had slipped out of his control, and he did not even know why. That was what made him afraid for no apparent reason.

Several times, Xu Tianran tried to reach deep into the Worship Hall and find the root of it all, but Kong Deming blocked him at every turn-not leaving him so much as a trace.

That left Xu Tianran without even a reason to question Jing Hongchen and Ye Yulin about it.

Even if he had one, he would only get excuses such as "This is all Teacher Kong's arrangement" and "Everything is for Sun Moon," which were obviously false at a glance.

"Damn it! You all deserve to die!" Xu Tianran's face was full of resentment.

The feeling of things slipping out of his control even made him feel, for a moment, as though he had returned to the time when he had been framed and had his legs blown off.

It made Xu Tianran increasingly violent at heart.

"Fine! Since you all say it's for Sun Moon-if you fail to give me an answer that satisfies me in the future, then wait for me to settle accounts with each of you in turn!"

"In the future where I unite Sun Moon, there will be no place for disloyal subjects like you."