Douluo Continent: Simulating Douluo Dalu III to Screw Over Tang San

Hearing Ma Hongjun suddenly say he would not stay after all, Flender could not help feeling a surge of anger. Damn it, kid, if you could just make up your mind to stay, your teacher's lifelong marriage prospects might finally be settled. But you're blinded by lust. There's no way Xiao Wu could ever like you.

"Since you've all made up your minds, I won't ask you to stay. Have a safe journey, everyone!" Gong Yu grinned. Whether these people stayed or left truly did not matter to him, but since the two sides were at odds, it was better not to have them stay and be an eyesore.

After that, the people from Shitrek finally left, though two teachers stayed behind. One had the Sugar Bean Martial Soul, while Gong Yu did not know much about the other. Both were getting on in years and no longer wanted to follow Flender on his aimless escapades. They wanted somewhere to settle down and live in peace.

Heaven Dou Royal Academy had been a good choice, but after Dai Mubai beat up Xue Beng, the two teachers naturally had not wanted to stay there, so they had left with Flender again. Now, however, the Academy of the Gods was willing to take them in, and they had no grudge against it. Staying was their best option.

Flender did not insist, either. After all, he himself had once been tempted to stay. If not for Yu Xiaogang and Ma Hongjun, he really would not have left.

As they were leaving, Liu Erlong slipped Flender a gold card, keeping it secret from Yu Xiaogang. In the end, Flender had gotten Liu Erlong to support him financially. At the time, he had grinned from ear to ear, saying over and over that he was borrowing it from her and would definitely pay her back someday.

Liu Erlong waved her hand, showing she did not much care. She only told Flender to keep in touch and let her know how Yu Xiaogang was doing from time to time. The mention of Yu Xiaogang made Flender a little uncomfortable, but he agreed all the same.

With the matter of Shitrek settled for the time being, Gong Yu gave himself a few days off.

Calling it time off, however, meant that Gong Yu spent those few days finding a professional architect to build him a forging room.

On this day, Gong Yu entered the forging room, with Gong Xiao following behind him.

After firing up the furnace and making all the necessary preparations, Gong Yu began forging. This time, he intended to attempt Spirit Forging.

Spirit-Forged Metal was essential for making Two-Word Battle Armor, so this was a stage Gong Yu had to reach. Otherwise, his Battle Armor would never be able to advance.

His One-Word Battle Armor, however, had been tailored to him. It had reached the black grade and was made entirely from an alloy of spirited metals that had reached the peak of Thousand Refinement-in other words, fusion-forged metal.

So advancing it to Two-Word Battle Armor did not require remaking it at all. He only needed to incorporate suitable Spirit-Forged Metal and redesign it, and it would advance on its own.

Of course, he also had to add the missing components before it could be considered a complete set of Two-Word Battle Armor, such as wings.

Looking at Gong Xiao beside him, Gong Yu took a piece of red-hot Heavy Silver from the furnace. As he struck it repeatedly with his forging hammer, he said, "To advance to Spirit Forging, it's best to reach the peak of Thousand Refinement before taking the next step. It's a little better that way, but it's all right if you don't reach the peak."

Gong Xiao asked, "Then how can you tell whether you've reached Thousand Refinement?"

Gong Xiao's forging skills had actually already reached Thousand Refinement. She had simply never asked what counted as reaching it. In the past, Gong Yu had always judged it for her and told her she had reached Thousand Refinement, so she believed she had.

Gong Yu continued striking with his forging hammer as he explained, "That's simple. Generally speaking, Thousand Refinement brings forth spirit. Once you reach Thousand Refinement, a brilliant light will shoot upward. Normally, a light rising five feet is already quite astonishing for Thousand Refinement with Spirit, but five feet isn't the limit."

Gong Xiao recalled her own forging sessions. Light had indeed shot up from the ground, though she had not paid much attention to how high it rose. Still, since it had happened, she had indeed achieved Thousand Refinement with Spirit.

She immediately asked Gong Yu, "Then how high does the light have to rise to count as the peak of Thousand Refinement?"

Gong Yu smiled and said, "Only when the light soars straight up to a height of more than one zhang does it count as the peak of Thousand Refinement. Just like this."

As his words fell, golden scales suddenly covered his right hand, which held the forging hammer. Then he brought the hammer down.

A distinct dragon's roar rang out in the forging room. A beam of light then shot skyward like a flood dragon, stopping only after it had risen more than one zhang.

Gong Xiao's eyes widened. She might be able to forge Thousand-Refined metal now, but she was absolutely certain she could not do what Gong Yu had just done.

After reaching the peak of Thousand Refinement, Gong Yu did not stop. He continued hammering the Heavy Silver and said, "Next I'm going to start forging Spirit-Forged Metal. Since it's my first time, I can't divide my attention to talk to you. Watch from the side, and ask me anything you want afterward."

"Understood, young master. I'll watch carefully from here." Gong Xiao nodded. She knew the importance of certain things.

Gong Yu took a deep breath. As the light rose, he spread his forging hammers to either side of his body, and his eyes grew bright.

His forging hammer traced an arc through the air. Without waiting for the silver light to fall, he swung it out again.

A streak of light fell with it, striking the Thousand-Refined Heavy Silver and producing a much brighter ring than before.

Looking at the Heavy Silver now, one could see a layer of fine, densely packed cloud patterns on its surface.

The cloud patterns themselves shone brilliantly, their halos flowing as though the piece had become a different metal altogether.

After being refined to the peak of Thousand Refinement with Spirit, the Heavy Silver's internal structure had been completely ordered. It was countless times harder than before and could finally withstand Gong Yu's strength.

His eyes bright, Gong Yu fully opened his spiritual world. His spiritual power surged forth and flowed gently into the Heavy Silver with his forging hammers.

His spiritual power merged with his blood and Qi, so that each time Gong Yu struck the Heavy Silver, it gave a faint dragon's roar, and its cloud patterns shifted ever so slightly.

Soul Power flowed in, followed by spiritual power. This marked the beginning of the most important process in Spirit Forging: awakening life.

The greatest difference between Spirit Forging and Thousand Refinement was spirituality. Without question, the more spirituality a piece of rare metal possessed, the more valuable it was.

The Soul Power he infused was normal, but he seemed to be releasing too much spiritual power. Under normal circumstances, there was no need for so much. Clearly, Gong Yu had added something of his own to it.

The dragon's roar was proof. Under normal circumstances, such a distinctive sound should not have appeared, at least not at this stage.

Gong Yu swung his forging hammers with great steadiness. His blows were not as light as before, but neither did they look as heavy as they had earlier. He simply brought them down on the Heavy Silver, one normal strike after another.

The silver cloud patterns on the Heavy Silver gradually changed shape, twisting where they had once been smooth. As Gong Yu infused his Soul Power, they began to pulse faintly and rhythmically.

This was a sign that the metal was beginning to develop spirituality!

Chapter 100: Blood Essence Soul Rings

He had entered the Spirit Forging stage in about five minutes. This was an astonishing feat, one no ordinary person could accomplish-not even the three men known as the Divine Craftsmen of the present age.

The three Divine Craftsmen, Tang Hao, Tai Tan, and Lou Gao, were not truly Divine Craftsmen at all. They had merely reached the Thousand Refinement stage.

Gong Yu had once spent five years in Gengxin City and had studied forging under Lou Gao for a time. But Lou Gao could only forge rare metal that produced a light less than one zhang high. In other words, he had not even reached the peak of Thousand Refinement.

Lou Gao's finest work was the best proof. The strongest piece of armor he had forged could only withstand one blow from a Soul Saint!

According to Lou Gao, Tai Tan was about the same as him, except that the light Tai Tan produced when forging metal rose a little higher than his.

Tang Hao, on the other hand, was a little stronger. The light produced while he forged metal rose higher than one zhang, meaning that his forging skills had reached the peak of Thousand Refinement.

By rights, the three Divine Craftsmen of the present age should at least have been able to reach Spirit Forging. But because of the limitations of the era, blacksmiths held a low status and lacked technological innovation, leaving the art of forging still in its infancy.

Thus, blacksmiths-even the so-called three Divine Craftsmen of the present age-had never considered gently infusing their spiritual power and Soul Power into metal during forging to awaken life. They simply knew how to hammer metal, and thought reaching Thousand Refinement with Spirit was enough.

For that very reason, no Spirit Forging-level blacksmith had appeared on the Douluo Continent to this day.

Having seen the limitations of forging in this era, Gong Yu had stopped studying under Lou Gao after reaching Thousand Refinement, since there was no point in continuing. Lou Gao had even wanted to add Gong Yu's name to the list of Divine Craftsmen, but Gong Yu had refused.

Now, in the forging room, Gong Yu did not stop after the metal in his hands reached Spirit Forging. He continued hammering, wanting to see where his limits lay.

Between Spirit Forging and Soul Forging lay an insurmountable chasm. Even twenty thousand years later, countless blacksmiths would still be stuck at this hurdle, unable to cross it.

Gong Yu wanted to see whether he could reach Soul Forging in one attempt. By rights, his strength was already sufficient to support him at the Soul Forging level, and his Spirit Abyss Realm spiritual power was sufficient as well. What he lacked was the support of Soul Power and, lastly, the infusion of soul power.

Clink, clink... clang, clang...

In the forging room, the sound of hammers striking metal echoed rhythmically.

"Hum..." Just then, the Heavy Silver gave a faint hum.

Immediately afterward, the Heavy Silver itself trembled lightly. Its cloud patterns flowed and changed as though they had come alive, faintly taking the shape of a dragon. The previously faint dragon's roar instantly grew distinct.

A feeling of jubilation burst forth from the Heavy Silver!

Spirit Forging was complete. The entire process had taken only eight minutes.

The reason he had managed it so quickly was entirely thanks to the advantage his Golden Dragon King Bloodline gave him.

This time, Gong Yu paused, but that did not mean he intended to stop forging.

A faint smile played on his face, as though he were listening to the Heavy Silver's jubilation, like a newborn life showing off to its father.

The next moment, Gong Yu's presence changed dramatically.

A powerful surge of blood and Qi burst forth, and diamond-shaped scales emerged, giving his entire figure a formidable look.

The only skin visible was on his neck and arms. Scales covered Gong Yu's neck all the way up to his jaw.

His hands were completely covered in golden scales, though his Golden Dragon Claw did not appear. The powerful surge of blood and Qi startled Gong Xiao, who stood nearby.

Gong Xiao could circulate her blood and Qi too, as could her sisters. After all, they all cultivated Dragon Elephant Prajna and regularly used the blood of subdragons and elephants to assist them, so circulating blood and Qi was merely a basic skill for them.

But now, faced with Gong Yu's surging blood and Qi, she felt that his was dozens of times stronger than theirs, if not more.

The powerful pressure from his bloodline directly stimulated Gong Xiao's Martial Soul into manifesting, and Soul Rings rose one after another from beneath her feet.

Before Gong Xiao could recover from her shock, an even more astonishing sight appeared.

As Gong Yu's presence continued to soar, Gong Xiao saw golden rings of light rise one after another from beneath his feet-five in all.

The five golden rings were Gong Yu's Blood Essence Soul Rings. After he fused with the Golden Dragon King Bloodline, the system had placed nine seals on him. It was not that he did not want more seals; the Golden Dragon King Bloodline he had obtained was incomplete to begin with, only enough for nine seals!

Whenever Gong Yu obtained a Soul Ring, one bloodline seal would be released. He had now released five seals, and each time one was released, he gained a Golden Dragon King skill.

This was also Gong Xiao's first time seeing Gong Yu's Blood Essence Soul Rings, so the shock on her face only grew. It was mainly their golden color: Gong Yu had told her that gold was the outward sign of a Million-Year Soul Ring. Thus, amid her shock, she could scarcely believe her eyes.

Gong Yu spread his arms and gave a slight shudder. The fluctuations of blood and Qi throughout his body immediately grew stronger. A golden mist swirled around him, and his eyes had turned gold as well.

The Heavy Silver seemed to sense the fluctuations in Gong Yu's presence, and its earlier jubilation seemed to turn to curiosity.

Just then, Gong Yu's forging hammer moved. This time, his Bloodline Power had dyed it gold. It came crashing down with tremendous force, no longer light as before but incomparably heavy.

With every strike, even the entire forging room trembled slightly. Deep booms rang out one after another, like artillery shells carpet-bombing the ground.

Each time the Spirit-Forged Heavy Silver took a blow, it let out a whimpering groan, as though it were feeling both pain and pleasure.

Gong Xiao saw that with one strike of Gong Yu's hammer, the Heavy Silver was instantly dyed gold. Although the color faded in the next instant, there was no doubt that the forging hammer in his hand was imbuing it.

The greatest difference between Spirit Forging and Soul Forging was that Spirit Forging bestowed life, while Soul Forging bestowed one's own inheritance upon the metal, much like passing on a soul.

Without question, Gong Yu had now begun the process of advancing from Spirit Forging to Soul Forging. He was pouring his bloodline presence into the Heavy Silver with all his might, while also infusing it with his soul and his own presence.

Forging was not merely working the metal from the outside. It also worked from the inside out, infusing one's presence, Soul Power, and spiritual power into the metal.

Through his connection with the metal itself, he forged it to a certain extent from within. By combining the inside and outside, he brought out the metal's inherent properties to the fullest.

Then, by imbuing it with his own soul power, it was much like creating a clone of himself.

After beginning the Soul Forging process, Gong Yu grew noticeably more cautious. Every hammer blow landed with immense weight.

The powerful fluctuations of his bloodline poured into the metal without reservation, yet showed no sign of weakening.

As time continued to pass, at a certain moment, a sound rang out again.

"Clang! Ding!"

A crisp sound echoed from within the Heavy Silver.

Chapter 101: Soul Forging Failure

Resonance seemed like a very ordinary thing.

But in this era of limitations, it held epoch-making significance.

Gong Yu understood all too well what it meant.

Soul Forging was immensely difficult, and resonance was a milestone victory on the way.

It meant that the various energies he had infused into the metal had been integrated and could now assist the forging from within.

Its effect was tremendous!

Soul Forging Resonance also signified the blacksmith's understanding of the rare metal, and that all the preparation beforehand had not been in vain.

Gong Yu's expression remained unchanged as he continued forging.

Sure enough, every hammer blow produced a resonance, and it grew clearer and clearer.

Gong Xiao stared wide-eyed. She did not understand why resonance appeared when metal was forged to this point. She only felt that the sound was wonderfully pleasant to hear.

No two people's blood and Qi, Soul Power, or spiritual power could be exactly alike. Thus, with Soul Forging Resonance, only the sensation could be passed on; there was no technique to teach. Each blacksmith had to comprehend it for themselves, so Gong Yu had no way to tell Gong Xiao much about it.

After Soul Forging Resonance came Soul Forging Solidification.

Once solidification was complete, Soul Forging would be seventy percent finished. After that came the final stage, Soul Calling. Once Soul Calling was complete, Soul Forging would be a success.

Gong Yu began bringing his hammer down faster. His Bloodline Power was exceptionally strong and still showed no sign of weakening, while the golden mist around his body grew denser and denser.

Under his repeated hammer blows, the Heavy Silver had turned completely gold. The waves of dragon roars and the clear sound of Soul Forging Resonance all meant that everything was moving in a good direction.

Suddenly, the golden Heavy Silver shook violently and actually jumped off the forging platform.

"Xiaoxiao, be careful! That's life vibration. It's developed intelligence and wants to escape! Go shut the doors and windows, then summon your Martial Soul. If it runs, aim and give it a whack. I'll explain why later." Gong Yu quickly gave Gong Xiao instructions so he would not be distracted.

Sure enough, Gong Yu had barely finished speaking, and Gong Xiao had not even had time to do as he had instructed, when the little thing tried to flee.

But Gong Yu remained calm and gave a cold shout. "Hmph, trying to run? Get back here!"

As he gave that low shout, the third golden ring on his body flashed. The golden Heavy Silver trembled and fell back onto the forging platform with a clang.

The Heavy Silver already bore Gong Yu's bloodline presence, and the Golden Dragon King Bloodline was tremendously powerful. Intimidated by his voice, the Heavy Silver could not resist and returned.

Taking a deep breath, Gong Yu raised the heavy hammer in his hand once more and brought it crashing down, beginning the next stage: Soul Solidification!

His eyes changed from gold to violet-gold. With every swing, he released less bloodline presence, but his spiritual power increased.

Two beams of violet-gold light, each more than a foot long, shot from his eyes as he directed the Purple Demon Eye's soul attack straight at the metal.