The Legend of the Dragon King (Web Novel)
chapter-788

That was too fast! It had only been five minutes in total!

Herself aside, as far as Mu Xi knew, even the old blacksmiths who had lingered on the realm of rank-6 for decades could not complete Spirit Refinement in such short as period!

Between Spirit Forging and Soul Refinement, there was a vast chasm. Countless blacksmiths had been stumped by that stage. If this was not the case, there would not be so few Saint Craftsmen.

However, even Mu Chen could not complete Spirit Refinement in five minutes. There was no way that he could complete it that quickly! Tang Wulin had…

Could this be the effect brought by extreme Thousand Refinement?

By then, Mu Xi had wholly forgotten her complicated feelings for Tang Wulin. She was completely engrossed by Tang Wulin’s forging.

“Buzz!” At that point, the block of Heavy Silver gave off a slight buzz. Shortly after, the Silver shook slightly. The cloud patterns on top of it seemed to have come to life as they flowed and changed. They faintly formed the shape of a dragon. The soft dragon’s roar before this instantly became noticeable.

Cheering and jubilant emotions sprung up within him!

It was a success. Spirit Refinement was completed! Seven minutes!

From Thousand Refined with Spirit to complete Spirit Refinement, Tang Wulin had only used seven minutes.

This time, even Mu Chen’s eyes bulged. He tightened his fists subconsciously. From Tang Wulin’s forging, he had acquired some understanding. For a Saint Craftsman, epiphanies such as these were vital.

Originally, Mu Chen had thought that it was already impossible for him to attain the ranks of Divine Craftsmen in his lifetime. However, in the instant just now, he suddenly felt that there seemed to be a slight chance of him succeeding. It was apparent from this just how great of an impact Tang Wulin’s forging had had on him.

Tang Wulin paused again. There was a faint smile on his face. He seemed to be listening to the joyful cheers of the Heavy Silver. It was like a little newborn life which was showing off to its own father.

In the next moment, the aura of Tang Wulin’s body changed greatly. A strong wave of blood essence burst forth. Diamond-shaped scales surfaced on his skin which made him look tough and formidable.

Only the skin on his neck and arms could be seen. The scales were densely packed on Tang Wulin’s neck all the way up to his lower jaw. His arms were already completely covered in golden scales, but the Golden Dragon Claws did not appear. Even so, the strong blood essence wave still shocked Mu Chen and Mu Xi.

The powerful pressure from his bloodline stimulated Mu Xi’s martial soul until it was unleashed. Circles of soul rings rose from under her feet.

Although Mu Chen was not affected to that extent, he was still startled by the shock.

This aura…

They had felt Tang Wulin’s blood essence wave long before this, but they had never felt it this strongly.

How could his aura be so powerful? Besides, they also saw, with astonishment, that four golden soul rings rose from under Tang Wulin’s feet.

The last time Mu Xi saw Tang Wulin’s blood essence soul ring, he had had only two.

Tang Wu extended his arms and shook slightly. The blood essence wave of his entire body immediately became denser. He was enshrouded by a golden haze, and his eyes turned golden.

The block of Heavy Silver seemed to have felt Tang Wulin’s blood essence wave as well. Its initial jubilant cheers seemed to have turned into curiosity.

At this moment, Tang Wulin’s Spirit Forged Heavy Silver Hammers moved. When he activated them this time, his Heavy Silver Hammers were already dyed golden by his blood essence power. The hammers crashed down brazenly. They were no longer light and deft as before; they were now extremely heavy.

With every strike of the hammer, even the body of the blacksmith himself shook slightly. The deep sounds of explosions sounded as if fixed soul cannonballs were firing.

The forged Spirit Refined Heavy Silver would let out a groan that sounded like a whimper every time it was struck by the hammer. It seemed to be feeling pain and joy at the same time.

Mu Xi saw, to her surprise, that the block of Heavy Silver was colored gold instantly with every strike from Tang Wulin’s hammers. Although the color faded just as fast, she had no doubts that it was gradually influenced by Tang Wulin’s Spirit Forged Heavy Silver Hammers.

The greatest difference between Spirit Forging and Soul Forging was that Spirit Forging gave life whereas Soul forging imparts the blacksmith’s own legacy onto the metal. It was like the passing down of one’s soul.

Hence, when one was still at the ranks of a one-word or two-word battle armor master, it was better to have a sub-profession as a mecha maker. This was because one would be able to craft a mecha that was most suited to oneself. After all, nobody knows one better than oneself.

However, at the ranks of a three-word battle armor master or higher, the metals forged by blacksmiths became the most important factor. This was because of Soul Refinement.

If a person was himself a Saint Craftsman, then the metals forged would already be equipped with his own soul power, possess his martial soul and even the special characteristics of his life. Naturally, it had the highest compatibility with the person. This factor was even more important than the core circuit.

Sadly, the sub-profession of blacksmith was the most difficult to cultivate among all sub-professions. There were only a dozen or so Saint Craftsmen on the entire Douluo Continent. As for Divine Craftsmen, there was only Zhen Hua.

It was apparent just how difficult it was to cultivate in this sub-profession.

Currently, Tang Wulin had undoubtedly started the process of progressing into Soul Refinement from Spirit Forging. He was infusing his bloodline aura into the block of Heavy Silver with all his might. At the same time, he also infused it with his own soul and his own aura.

Soul Refinement was not only forging the metal from the outside. It was also forging the metal from the inside out. The blacksmith would infuse his own aura, soul power, and spiritual power into the metal’s interior. Through the connection between the blacksmith and the metal itself, the blacksmith would forge the metal from the inside up to a certain extent. The combination of forging from the outside and inside resulted in the special properties of the metal being completely brought out. Then, it would be soaked with one’s own spiritual energy.

There was a saying which stated that Soul Refined metals were the split bodies of the Saint Craftsman.

Although this saying was slightly exaggerated, it still had some truth in it. Spirit Forging could equip the metal with a unique intelligence which would give rise to some special effects that could never be expressed by ordinary metals. For example, self-mending properties or the enhancement of other special capabilities. However, Soul Refinement was different. A Soul Refined metal would make the Soul Master feel as though he had another companion.

Battle armor crafted out of Soul Refined metals was, in itself, akin to a soul master’s second life. It could even carry out some orders by itself.

Of course, if one was not a blacksmith, at the stage of three-word battle armor, the first thing that the person had to do was to communicate with his own battle armor metals. However, because they came from his two-word battle armor, they already had an intimacy with the person. Although this process was long and arduous, it was still feasible. Blacksmiths, however, could save themselves the trouble of this process.

After the Soul Refining process had started, Tang Wulin obviously behaved more cautiously. Every strike of the hammer was heavy, and his strong bloodline wave was infused into the metal without reservation. He did not show any sign of weakening his strikes.

As time went on, golden color imbued by the hammer strikes on the block of Heavy Silver took longer and longer to fade. It reached a point where the golden color had not completely faded from the previous strike before Tang Wulin’s second hammer strike had already landed.

Gradually, the Heavy Silver maintained its golden hue. Tang Wulin swung his hammers mechanically, and the speed at which he struck started slowing down.

“Clang! Ding!”

Suddenly, when Tang Wulin struck the Heavy Silver, a crisp resonating sound came from its interior.

When he heard this sound, Mu Chen’s body shook abruptly.

Resonance! This seemed like an ordinary thing. The other six Shrek Seven Monsters, who were not blacksmiths, they did not even pay the sound much attention. However, to his ears, it was as if he had heard the most wonderful sound in the world.

He knew all too well what this meant.

How difficult was Soul Refining? Resonance signified a progressive success of the Soul Refinement! This signified that the various energies he had infused into the metal’s interior had been combined and could support the refining from the inside.

The help this brought was immense!

Many rank-6 blacksmiths could never reach this stage at any point in their lives. This was also the most difficult part of Soul Refinement! Soul Refinement Resonance also signified the understanding the blacksmith had regarding the rare metal. It showed that all the preparatory works before this were not in vain.

Tang Wulin’s expression remained unchanged as he continued with his forging. As expected, every strike of the metal rang out in resonation, and the resonance grew in clarity.

Mu Xi’s eyes widened.

‘He-he can’t have already been able to…’

She had thought that she had already gotten close to him. However, if he had taken that step, then he would no longer be someone that she could compare herself to.

Mu Chen had told Mu Xi before, if Mu Xi continued to work hard and kept her quick rate of progress, she could attempt to break through to the rank of a Saint Craftsman by the time she was thirty.

However, what about Tang Wulin? He was only nineteen years old now! He could already achieve Spirit Refinement Resonance. She, on the other hand, had not even touched the door of Soul Refinement Resonance.

It was impossible for everyone’s blood essence and soul power to be exactly the same. This was also the case for spiritual power. That was why it was only possible to teach another person the feeling of a Soul Refinement Resonance. There were no techniques to be taught. It had to be experienced and understood by the blacksmith himself.

Mu Xi was currently in this process. However, she had never expected that Tang Wulin was already this far ahead of her. He was already able to master the most difficult part.