Fleshly Furnace Forging Method, Black Arrow's Breakthrough and Awakening!

"I never expected to get the lucky break in the end. This kind of talent is no less than a hero. It feels so good!"

Shen Xing thought with satisfaction, then continued to look at the other lizardman attributes to see if he could find any other treasures.

Unfortunately, apart from Aqi, the other reptilians were a level below.

But it's still very good.

Of these thirty-odd people, more than twenty were Tier Two units, and almost all of them possessed combat power of at least Elite One Star.

More importantly, they were all experts in Forging Mastery.

Of these, 27 Flame Lizardman possess 'Intermediate Forging Mastery', and another 6 Flame Lizardman possess 'Advanced Forging Mastery'.

Add a Master Rank blacksmith to the mix, and this is like an old lady finding gold in a cesspool—she's struck gold in the shit!

Shen Xing calmed his excitement and then took out the communication crystal. "Logan, come find me in the outer city."

After a few seconds of silence, Logan's excited voice came from the other end. "Roger that, I'm coming right away!"

After waiting for about two or three minutes, heavy footsteps came from afar.

"Thump! Thump thump!"

Under the watchful eyes of the Flame Lizardman, a gigantic head emerged from beneath the city gate.

Immediately afterwards, a giant with long, center-parted hair and a single eye appeared.

Logan's enormous eyes darted around a few times, and he quickly spotted the dozens of bright red lizardmen. His eyes lit up immediately.

"Oh! My lord, you've recruited new people for our territory again."

"Let me see, what is it this time? My God, it's a bunch of moving furnaces!"

"They look so hot, and they can breathe fire!"

Logan's expression was exaggerated, then he added, "But it's best to stay away from those dwarves, otherwise your flames won't hurt them."

The Flame Lizardman looked bewildered and asked, "Our flames can melt metal, so why can't they hurt the dwarves?"

"Because lizardmen can't bend over," Logan said seriously.

Flame Lizardman: "..."

"Stop fooling around."

Shen Xing glanced at him speechlessly and instructed, "These are a group of lizardmen I recently recruited. They all possess considerable forging skills. You will lead them to familiarize themselves with the territory later."

He paused, then turned to the old lizardman. "Aqi, from today onwards, you will continue to lead the people."

"I will provide you with unlimited bathing... holy water, hoping to cure your Frenzied Flame Disease as soon as possible."

His claim of unlimited supply is not just empty talk.

After all, that Lotus Pond is so big; even if they can drink a lot, could they possibly drink an entire lake dry?

Furthermore, Shen Xing discovered that the water in this Lotus Pond seemed to replenish itself automatically.

Although he didn't know the underlying principle, it was ultimately a good thing.

However, Aqi, the lizardman, thought for a moment and spoke again, "Your Excellency, in truth, we do not wish to cure 'Frenzied Flame Disease'."

"In fact, we contracted Frenzied Flame Disease ourselves."

"You contracted it on your own?" Shen Xing was stunned, staring at them in disbelief.

Even Leina and Logan behind them looked puzzled.

"Yes."

Aqi nodded and explained, "We Flame Lizardman are a race God-Gifted of Forging. All of us are born with a great deal of knowledge about forging in our minds."

"According to the family genealogy, if any lizardman reaches the Grandmaster Realm, he will receive the inheritance of the god of blacksmithing."

"Therefore... in pursuit of the ultimate forging technique, we voluntarily accepted the power of the Frenzied Flame."

Chapter 202: The Fleshly Furnace Forging Method, Black Arrow's Breakthrough and Awakening!

After listening to the story told by the master forging Master Aqi, Shen Xing seemed to be deep in thought.

This passage contains a lot of information, involving the inheritance of forging Grandmaster and the god of forging.

But this made him even more puzzled. "What does pursuing the ultimate forging skills have to do with deliberately contracting the Frenzied Flame Disease?"

Aqi knew he didn't understand, so he thought for a moment and asked, "My lord, could you give me a weapon?"

With a gentle wave of his hand, Shen Xing sent a rusty iron sword flying out of his backpack.

Aqi extended his claws and grabbed the iron sword.

Then, in front of Shen Xing, it opened its mouth full of sharp teeth, and a destructive energy was brewing in its throat.

The next moment.

A ball of dark red flame erupted from his mouth, pouring entirely onto the iron sword in his hand.

"Whoosh—whoosh—"

In just a few breaths, the entire iron sword was heated to a deep red.

Then, he crouched down and placed the red-hot iron sword on the hard ground.

Then he raised his right claw, clenched it into a fist, and slammed it against the sword.

Clang! Clang clang!

A heavy thud resounded as the scaled right fist clashed with the red-hot iron sword, sending sparks flying.

Shen Xing clicked his tongue in amazement.

This lizardman's forging methods are damn brutal.

However, he also noticed that Aqi, the lizardman, wasn't just randomly hammering, but rather striking rhythmically and methodically.

With each punch he threw, a strange energy ripple spread through the air, as if playing some ancient war song, making everyone's blood boil.

"Oh! Ancestors above!"

One-Eyed Logan exclaimed, "Using the body as a furnace and the fist as a hammer... could this forging technique be the legendary... Xia Jiba Forging Method?"

Everyone was slightly taken aback.

A lizardman nearby explained, "This is our tribe's ancestral 'Fleshly Furnace Forging Method,' not the 'Xia Jiba Forging Method.'"

"Haha, I know!" Logan chuckled, scratching his head. "I just think the other name is more fitting, don't you guys think so?"

The crowd ignored him and continued watching the old lizardman's forging.

Less than half a minute later, Aqi, the lizardman, struck the hammer a full nineteen times.

Then, he picked up the iron sword and quickly placed it into the wooden bucket next to him that contained Lotus Pond Water.

"Hiss—"

A plume of white smoke rose up.

When the smoke cleared, he took out a brand new iron sword.

The sword had a faint, dark red sheen, and you could even see wave-like patterns on it.

Aqi extended both hands and respectfully handed over the iron sword.

"My lord, please take a look."

Shen Xing took it.

[Obtained: Flame Water-Quenched Longsword (Blue)]

[Quality: Excellent]

[Equipment Level: 10]

[Attribute Bonuses: Strength +30, Agility +20, Fire Attack, Water Attack]

[Special Effect ①: Water and Fire in Harmony (The sword incorporates both the power of pure water and the power of heat, achieving a delicate balance between the two forces, increasing water and fire elemental damage by 20%)]

[Additional Effect ②: Bipolar Conversion (When a fire-attribute attack hits, there is a chance to trigger 'Flame Splash', causing burning damage to enemies around the target.]

When a water-attribute attack hits, there is a chance to trigger 'Purification,' removing one buff from the target.

(Note: A rusty iron sword, after being crafted by a lizardman Master, has revealed a whole new power.)

"!!!"

Shen Xing was completely stunned.

Good grief, I remember giving you a plain iron sword, right?

You just banged it a few times and it turned me into a blue- Excellent?

Isn't this a bit too outrageous?

Logan, who was standing next to him, also sensed the power contained in the weapon. He put away his joking expression and gradually became serious.

Although Aqi the Lizardman only showed this much, he could still tell.

This person's forging skills are no less than mine, and perhaps even better.

"So... this is a unique forging method of your lizard people." Shen Xing withdrew his gaze and asked again, "What does this have to do with you deliberately contracting the Frenzied Flame Disease?"

Archie, the lizardman Aqi, respectfully explained, "As you can see, our forging methods differ from traditional forging."

"We don't need a stove; we rely mainly on the flames within our own bodies for heating."

"The first step in crafting a piece of equipment is heating the iron blank. It sounds simple, but it is one of the most important steps."

"If the heating process is not done properly, causing the iron billet to overheat or not reach the specified temperature, it will affect the quality of the final product."

Logan nodded in agreement. "That's right, this lizardman Master is indeed an expert!"

"Don't interrupt." Shen Xing glanced at him and then said, "Aqi, continue."

Aqi nodded and continued, "Details determine success or failure. Iron blanks heated by our bodies often acquire special properties in the finished product."

"This is one of the reasons why the equipment crafted by our Flame Lizardman race is more powerful than other equipment of the same tier."

"But as our forging skills improved and the equipment we crafted became more advanced, we discovered that our flames could no longer heat materials of this caliber."

Even if you exhaust all the fire energy within your body, even if your vocal cords break, you still can't heat it to the right temperature.

"At this point, we have two paths before us."

"One possibility is that they will be stuck here, forever trapped at this level, and will never be able to inherit the legacy of the God of Forging."

"Secondly, we will abandon the 'Fleshly Furnace Forging Method' and learn ancient forging techniques, but this means that we lizardmen will be reduced to Common blacksmiths."

Neither of these outcomes is what we want.

"Until one day, we saw a record of it in an ancient book—'By Frenzied Flame in the fiery energy, one can greatly enhance the power of flames and melt metal with a single breath.'"

He took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "So, that's what we did."