Ding! Ding!
Gu You raised both arms in unison, and two faint green lights suddenly appeared in his hands, then crashed down with a resounding thud.
"This is the feeling! It's back, it's back!"
Feng Wuyu flicked his flashy red hair with a blissful expression on his face.
"He..." Shen Yi's lips twitched as he pointed toward Feng Wuyu.
"It's just his old habit acting up," Cai Yue'er smiled slightly.
A series of dense explosions rang out.
Both ores had extremely high densities, making the forging process extremely difficult. Moreover, it was fusion forging.
Boom!
The surface of the Dragon Beard Crystal sparkled, and the originally golden ore turned even more pure. The tiny, needle-like structures inside had completely dissolved and softened.
The surface of the Dragon Abyss Meteorite Ore began to emit black light, and its only devouring property was activated. It pulled the Dragon Beard Crystal toward it, pressing them tightly together, forming a larger ore with colorful lights flowing on its surface.
Seeing this, Gu You's face lit up with joy.
Although he wasn't very skilled at fusion forging, especially in terms of how to combine these two ores, it seemed that the properties of the Dragon Abyss Meteorite Ore allowed the process to proceed smoothly. From now on, his future forges would only need to refine the spirit forging technique.
However, this wasn't a permanent solution. Gu You understood clearly that without ores with devouring properties in the future, what would he do? Practical knowledge was still the most important. After this success, he would need to learn more about forging.
A burst of light shot out from the fused ore's surface.
The Thousand-forge Refinement process had begun, and the ore started to take shape!
Gu You's body began to spin, performing hammer strikes without any rhythm.
One swift flick, one quick stomp—he was moving rapidly.
After a series of movements, Feng Wuyu's mouth was left open in surprise. Was this hammering technique something the kid created himself?
Cai Yue'er continued to smile, showing no visible reaction.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom...
The successive booming sounds were deafening. With each strike, the rhythm, the flow, and the mental state completely immersed in the forging all showcased Gu You's forging mastery.
The fused ore kept changing shape, and the light on its surface started to change as well. It seemed to be affected by the Spirit-forged Life Hammer, which caused the fused ore to emit a faint green glow. The layer of grayness began to quietly disappear, and the size of the ore slowly shrank.
The booms continued without any pause. Gu You's hammer strikes became increasingly heavier as the glow on the fused ore grew stronger. The Life Essence Hammers in his hands began to produce a low humming sound, and even the airflow in the forge room was being stirred up.
Boom, boom, boom—
Amid the booming hammer strikes, Gu You's six soul rings rose up without him realizing. The green Life Soul Ring shone with golden light, and soul power was injected and released. Using his fourth soul ring to transmit life properties, he made the fused ore purer and more vital.
Gu You planned to make a two-character battle armor. His humanoid battle armor had already been damaged, and Gu You didn't plan to repair it. Instead, he would directly refine it, merging it with the dragon-shaped battle armor. He would re-carve the formation and use thin sheets of Life Essence Stone to make the battle armor's wings.
The main issue was that the two battle armors were too resource-intensive. Gu You didn't have enough ores. The Dragon Beard Crystal was fine, as it was a native resource from the Douluo Continent, but the Dragon Abyss Meteorite Ore was different.
It was an alien ore from the universe, and there was very little of it in the entire Federation. Making a full set of battle armor would be difficult.
Thus, he had to rely on combining other ores to make up the necessary quantity.
Boom!
The forty-eighth hammer came down, and Gu You spun 360 degrees. He could barely control his strength, but confidence still surged from deep within because he was Gu You! Suddenly, the six soul rings surrounding him vanished, replaced by two purple-blue soul rings. A surge of vitality poured out, and his power shot up several levels. With a powerful swing, he struck down!
With the final hammer strike, a loud "bang!" echoed.
The forty-ninth hammer had landed successfully, and the glow of the fused ore became even more intense. The Thousand-forge Refinement process was complete, and the first-grade work was done.
The light continued to shine for several seconds before gradually fading. The Life Essence Hammer in Gu You's hands seemed to hum with a faint dragon's roar, and the purple dragon patterns on the hammer's surface appeared intermittently.
Feng Wuyu had been standing behind him the entire time. He took a deep breath, and his dark red eyes lit up with a glow.
Bloodline attraction!
Feng Wuyu felt his martial soul instinctively drawn toward Gu You, and even his own aura was undergoing a massive change, filling him with an indescribable feeling.
The forging continued. The hammers kept striking, and the light grew brighter and brighter until... the spirit forging was complete.
It was done, it really was done!
Feng Wuyu walked up to Gu You and patted him firmly on the shoulder.
"Old madman, does this really count as an alloy?" Gu You still looked a bit confused. He wasn't sure whether this was fusion forging or if the characteristics of the ores themselves had created a new type of ore.
"Of course! How could it not? Before spirit forging, forgers simply followed the routine. You could say that it was just a skilled craft. But when you reach the spirit forging level, that's when forgers truly develop their own spirituality. And how to unleash this spirituality is the most important thing for a forger. The biggest difference between fifth- and sixth-level forgers and those below the fourth level is that the metals you forge are no longer just a single type, but alloys that you understand."
He paused for a moment before continuing, "Spirit forging gives life to metals. You've done it many times now. So let me ask you, in the process of spirit forging, especially in the part where you give life to metals, what's the most difficult part?"
Gu You thought for a moment, "It's the process of giving life. Metals gradually gain spirituality during the forging process. Once the spirituality reaches a certain level, it lays the foundation for a qualitative change. At that point, we, the forgers, can awaken its spirituality by using our own life force, giving the metal true life, and completing the spirit forging. After all, metals don't have life, and how much we can awaken their spirituality is crucial to whether the spirit forging will succeed."
"Right. You're a smart kid. I've always believed you had the potential to be a divine craftsman. Now, do you know why it's so hard to awaken life in metals? It's related to the quality of the metal itself. The better the metal, the more likely it is to be successfully spirit-forged. Creating life is a sacred task in the entire universe. The moment life is created, an energy is released that we can't fully sense. This energy is almost imperceptible to us, but to those objects that originally lacked life force, it…"
(End of Chapter)