I've also recently started a new translation, please check it out and show your support! Douluo: Seven Kill Shock the World
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Three days later, at the Chu Residence.
Boom, boom, boom—
Within the forging room of the estate, rhythmic pounding echoed continuously.
After a long while, as the soul-refined Heavy Silver hammers fell once again, a brilliant golden flame rose, instantly bathing the entire forging room in a radiant golden glow.
"I wonder if the ratio of Essence Gold to Magic Silver is right this time," Gazing at the small, fist-sized piece of glowing golden metal on the forging platform, Chu Chengzhou muttered under his breath.
He didn't expect too much, lest high expectations lead to greater disappointment.
Since the forging ultimate technique, renamed Divine Hammer, had ascended to Red-Tier, he had automatically mastered soul-refinement. According to the future classification of blacksmiths in Douluo Continent, he was now considered a Saint Craftsman.
If this were the Battle Armor era of the future, Chu Chengzhou's status and identity on the continent would surpass most Titled Douluos. Even recruiting servants with strength comparable to Snake Spear Douluo She Long would be considered low-tier.
After all, any ordinary Soul Sage with a single Soul Core could wear a three-word battle armor and rival or even dominate She Long.
Of course, crafting a complete set of battle armor required collaboration between a blacksmith, a designer (responsible for designing soul-guided arrays), and a manufacturer (responsible for assembling and engraving arrays).
As the saying goes, even the cleverest housewife can't cook without rice. Though the blacksmith's work may seem rough, the value of designers and manufacturers doesn't match that of a top-tier blacksmith at the same level.
A noble Saint Craftsman like him could easily find a designer or manufacturer of the same level willing to serve as a subordinate.
Immediately after mastering the new technique, Chu Chengzhou upgraded his spirit-refined Heavy Silver hammers.
Upgrading the hammers was simple. He didn't bother with fusion alloys; with his current skill, adding some Heavy Silver and hammering away was enough to create the soul-refined Heavy Silver hammers.
However, the fusion alloy he planned to use for his new armor and bow—Spirit Gold—wasn't so easily obtained.
Spirit Gold was a rare metal alloy from the future Douluo Continent, forged by combining two rare metals: Essence Gold and Magic Silver. Its characteristic was amplifying all elemental attribute soul power.
The property of boosting all elements suited the future development of his archery ultimate technique, Sun Shooting Divine Arrow, such as multi-attribute fusion soul power arrows.
Chu Chengzhou knew the general formula for Spirit Gold, but not the exact proportions of the two metals.
After all, he was just a keyboard warrior. What did he know about forging?
Fortunately, Spirit Gold's composition was simple—it only required combining the two metals in specific proportions. With enough experimentation, he could eventually figure it out.
After three days of trials, he had successfully fused Spirit Gold many times.
Testing the results, he found that the forged Spirit Gold indeed amplified all elemental soul power. At the very least, the five elemental attributes he currently possessed—wood, light, fire, metal, and water—all received an amplification effect.
While the elemental amplification worked, the actual percentage boost was quite low. Even the best result couldn't match the amplification provided by refined Essence Gold for Metallic soul power.
Clearly, though Spirit Gold was formed, the proportions of the two metals weren't perfectly balanced.
This was like comparing steel made of iron and carbon. High-quality steel could forge legendary blades, while inferior steel could only make farming tools. The difference in value was astronomical.
Channeling water-element soul power into the newly forged Spirit Gold to cool it, Chu Chengzhou began inspecting the quality of this fist-sized ingot.
Why was it fist-sized?
It was merely a test sample. The quantity didn't need to be large—just enough. Besides, Chu Chengzhou hadn't soul-refined it, only spirit-refined it for comparison with spirit-refined Essence Gold.
Though he wasn't striving for perfect Spirit Gold, the amplification percentage for all elements couldn't fall too far behind that of refined Essence Gold for metallic soul power.
"Hmm?"
Noticing that the water-element soul power seeping into the Spirit Gold increased its intensity by 30%, Chu Chengzhou's eyes widened in surprise.
Immediately, he began cycling through different types of soul power: wood, light, fire, and metal.
"Not bad, it seems to amplify all elemental attributes by 30%!"
After testing all five elemental attributes and confirming that each received a 30% boost, Chu Chengzhou nodded in satisfaction.
Though he currently only controlled these five elemental attributes, since the amplification percentages were consistent, other elemental soul powers he hadn't yet mastered should also receive proportional boosts.
A 30% amplification for all elements might not seem high, but this Spirit Gold was only spirit-refined. If it were soul-refined, the amplification percentage would definitely increase.
After all, soul-refined metals were used in the future to craft three-word battle armors. A Soul Sage wearing such armor could reach the level of a Titled Douluo, showcasing the immense value of soul-refined metals.
Deciding not to continue experimenting further, Chu Chengzhou felt the current Spirit Gold recipe was close enough to perfection. He immediately began crafting.
Over three hours later, a full set of armor—including a helmet—and a large bow, along with hundreds of arrows, were displayed on the forging platform.
Gazing at the freshly crafted Nine Heavens Mystic Spirit Armor, Nine Heavens Mystic Spirit Bow, and numerous Flowing Gold Armor-Piercing Arrows, Chu Chengzhou couldn't help but smile.
The Nine Heavens Mystic Spirit Armor weighed a thousand pound and was entirely forged from soul-refined Spirit Gold.
The Nine Heavens Mystic Spirit Bow measured four foot and five inches in length, weighing three hundred pounds. Its frame was made of soul-refined Spirit Gold, while its string was crafted from soul-refined Plate Crystal Gold.
The Flowing Gold Armor-Piercing Arrows were over three chi in length, featuring triangular arrowheads made of soul-refined Plate Crystal Gold and shafts crafted from soul-refined Spirit Gold.
With his current physical conditioning, the thousand-pound armor and three-hundred-pound bow had minimal impact on him.
While the weight of the armor didn't directly equate to defense, more material generally meant stronger protection. Moreover, as he continued cultivating the body-strengthening technique Unbreakable Golden Body, a mere thousand pounds of weight would soon become negligible.
Additionally, worth noting was that the amplification effect of soul-refined Spirit Gold exceeded Chu Chengzhou's expectations. At his current Soul King level, with sufficient materials, the amplification percentage could reach up to 60%.
The prerequisite of having sufficient materials existed because, when discussing anything, ignoring quantity while focusing solely on quality was impractical.
For instance, with the Nine Heavens Mystic Spirit Bow, if there were insufficient materials during crafting, firing three metallic soul power arrows at once might prevent them all from receiving the elemental amplification effect.
"Tsk, such a powerful weapon must see some bloodshed on a few targets!"
Gently stroking the Nine Heavens Mystic Spirit Bow and Flowing Gold Armor-Piercing Arrows, Chu Chengzhou thought to himself.
Back when he was a Soul Ancestor, using the spirit-refined Flowing Gold Soul-Severing Bow and titanium arrows alongside his Illusion technique, he could kill a Soul Sage with a single shot.
Now, having advanced to a Soul King, wielding the soul-refined Nine Heavens Mystic Spirit Bow and Flowing Gold Armor-Piercing Arrows, surely he could one-shot an ordinary Soul Douluo, right?
As for potential targets?
Since the end of the Soul Master Tournament, he hadn't left Tian Dou City, quietly staying home to cultivate. Perhaps aware of the slim chances of a successful assassination within Tian Dou City, he hadn't encountered any attempts on his life.
But Chu Chengzhou knew that abducting Zhu Zhuqing—even with the protection of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect—the humiliated Star Luo Imperial Family wouldn't give up easily.
Mutual destruction aside, they'd at least attempt it once.
With the enemy hidden and him exposed, Chu Chengzhou decided to fish for assassins.
Of course, to avoid biting off more than he could chew, it would be wise to have a strong backup.
Stowing away his new equipment, Chu Chengzhou resumed experimenting with alloy formulas.
His own gear was ready, but his three girls' equipment still needed attention!
Spirit Gold amplified all elemental attributes, but whether it was Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, or Zhu Zhuqing, their soul powers were non-elemental. Thus, Spirit Gold wasn't suitable for them.
However, perhaps due to practical experience or luck, within two short days, Chu Chengzhou discovered two excellent dual-alloy fusion formulas in his eyes.
One was Blue Gold, forged by combining refined Essence Gold and Blue Coppertite. Like Blue Coppertite, it amplified soul power but maintained structural integrity comparable to refined Essence Gold.
However, Blue Gold's soul power amplification was weaker than that of Spirit Gold. At the soul-refined level, it could amplify Chu Chengzhou's Soul King soul power by 50%.
The other was Soul Silver, forged by combining Magic Silver and soul iron. Its effect was amplifying spiritual power.
After advancing to a Soul King, Chu Chengzhou's spiritual power had significantly increased, and with recent cultivation, he estimated his spiritual power rivaled that of a typical Soul Saint.
Soul-forged Soul Silver could amplify his spiritual power by roughly 30%.
Upon discovering Soul Silver's spiritual amplification properties, Chu Chengzhou immediately modified his Nine Heavens Mystic Spirit Armor, replacing the helmet's material with soul-refined Soul Silver.
A 30% spiritual amplification effect was impossible to ignore, as the effectiveness of his illusion technique, Void Realm Illusion, was directly proportional to his spiritual power.
"Rongrong, write a letter to your father, asking him to visit."
The next morning, after breakfast, Chu Chengzhou said to Ning Rongrong.
The fishing operation could commence.
He didn't know the level of assassins sent by the Star Luo Empire lurking in the shadows or how many there were.
To be cautious, Chu Chengzhou didn't plan to call on 'neighbor' Dugu Bo but instead intended to summon Chen Xin or Gu Rong.
Though Dugu Bo was a Titled Douluo, his solo combat strength wasn't particularly strong. If the assassins were stronger than expected—or even members of the Star Luo Imperial Family's Elder Council who wielded the Spirit Fusion Technique Netherworld White Tiger—Dugu Bo might end up in trouble.
Moreover, he had just developed soul-refined Blue Gold and planned to outfit his father-in-law and Sword and Bone Douluo with sets of soul-refined Blue Gold armor.
Although the soul power amplification effect of soul-refined Blue Gold would be significantly reduced for Titled Douluos, it would still provide some benefit.
Besides amplifying soul power, soul-refined armor inherently possessed robust defensive capabilities, akin to external soul bones in the form of fixed-year armor without soul bone techniques to enhance physical attributes.
"I noticed you've been holed up in the forging room these past few days. Are you preparing a set of soul-refined armor for my father?"
Blinking, Ning Rongrong guessed.
"Mm, it won't take much effort. I'll make sets for your father and both grandfathers too."
Chu Chengzhou nodded.
"Really? Playboy, why are you being so generous today?"
Ning Rongrong eyed him suspiciously.
"What do you mean? Have I ever been stingy?"
Chu Chengzhou rolled his eyes.
"If I recall correctly, someone once said that a set of spirit-refined armor cost five million gold soul coins, no discounts!"
Ning Rongrong extended her right hand, spreading her fingers wide.
Chu Chengzhou shook his head: "That was then, this is now. He's my father-in-law now; we can't compare the two! But..."
As he spoke, Chu Chengzhou gave Ning Rongrong a meaningful look.
"But what?"
"You know~"
Licking the corner of his mouth, Chu Chengzhou winked at her.
Ning Rongrong glared at him playfully.
The atmosphere was a bit strange, but the little devil girl didn't resist it too much.
"Zhuqing, go call Uncle Dugu from next door and ask him to come over."
Chu Chengzhou turned to Zhu Zhuqing.
He hadn't forgotten the kindness of the Immortal Herb Elder. Anything that didn't affect his fundamentals, he wouldn't hesitate to share.
Coincidentally, he sensed that Dugu Bo was at home and decided to craft a set of soul-refined Blue Gold armor for him too.
Though there were servants in the mansion, it was polite to have Zhu Zhuqing, one of the mistresses, deliver the message.
"Okay," Zhu Zhuqing nodded.
"Come, Xiao Wu, let's start taking measurements."
Once the two girls left, Chu Chengzhou immediately began measuring Xiao Wu's body. What if the soul-refined armor came out ill-fitting?
Inside the forging room.
Whoosh—
Intense phoenix flames erupted from the small, three foot long Fire Phoenix Xiao Hong, pouring into a massive heat-resistant crucible.
Soon, the ingots of Blue Coppertite and refined Essence Gold melted into a glowing orange-gold liquid.
Using the Absolute Control ultimate technique, Chu Chengzhou mixed and shaped the liquid, cooling it into a dark red, three-hundred-plus pounds alloy ingot.
Next, using crucible tongs to place the alloy ingot onto the forging platform, Chu Chengzhou summoned his soul-refined Heavy Silver hammers and employed the Chu-style "Miracle Through Brute Force" hammering technique.
Boom, boom, boom—
For a while, rhythmic pounding echoed throughout the forging room.
Over an hour later, as the final hammer blow landed, a dazzling azure-gold flame erupted from the Blue Gold ingot on the forging platform.
Without prompting, a streak of blood shot from Dugu Bo's wrist, landing on the Blue Gold ingot.
Another fifteen minutes later, after shaping and cooling, the ingot transformed into a full set of azure-gold armor.
Retrieving the blood-bonded soul-refined Blue Gold armor, Dugu Bo flashed an azure-gold light, and a magnificent full-body Blue Gold armor materialized on him.
"Elder, how does it feel?"
After Dugu Bo familiarized himself with it, Chu Chengzhou asked.
"Incredible! It's much better than my old armor! Not only is the defense stronger, but it also amplifies my soul power by 15%!"
Comparing it to his previous spirit-refined Cloud Titanium armor, Dugu Bo exclaimed in amazement.
"15%?"
Hearing this, Chu Chengzhou raised an eyebrow.
At his Soul King level, soul-refined Blue Gold could amplify his soul power by 50%. To think that for Dugu Bo, it was only 15%.
This was likely due to the lack of compatible soul-guided arrays; pure soul-refined metal armor was far inferior to the three-word battle armors of the future.
Still, a 15% amplification wasn't insignificant. Moreover, this amplification wouldn't conflict with auxiliary soul skills. In fact, due to differing amplification principles, they could even multiply effects.
Chu Chengzhou had already tested this with Ning Rongrong.
If the attack power of his metallic soul power arrow was quantified as 100, and four-ring Ning Rongrong boosted his soul power with an amplification soul skill, the arrow's power would be 100 * (1 + 50%) = 150. Adding the 60% elemental amplification of the Nine Heavens Mystic Spirit Bow, the arrow's power wouldn't be 100 * (1 + 50% + 60%) = 210, but rather 100 * (1 + 50%) * (1 + 60%) = 240!
The soul-refined armor amplifying Dugu Bo's soul power by 15%, coupled with its robust defense, could elevate his strength by at least one rank. After all, the gap between ranks below level 95 wasn't too significant.
With the soul-refined armor in hand, seeing Chu Chengzhou prepare to craft armor for his three girlfriends, Dugu Bo didn't linger.
However, before leaving, Dugu Bo repeatedly patted Chu Chengzhou's shoulder, repeatedly saying, "Feel free to call on me anytime in the future."
In Dugu Bo's eyes, unaware of the value of immortal herbs, Chu Chengzhou was an exceptional young man—talented, strong, capable of detoxifying his grandson and granddaughter, and very generous.
Take this Blue Gold armor, for example. It was undoubtedly a treasure comparable to soul bones.
Comparison highlights differences. Originally, Dugu Bo thought Yu Tianheng was passable, but after meeting Chu Chengzhou, he increasingly found Yu Tianheng displeasing.
Yu Tianheng: "."
As the eldest of the three sisters, Xiao Wu generously allowed Chu Chengzhou to first craft armor for her younger sisters, leaving hers for last.
However, upon receiving her soul-refined Blue Gold armor, Xiao Wu immediately showed it off proudly, then turned to ask Chu Chengzhou: "Brother, what should we name our armor?"
"How about... calling it Blue Gold Cloud Armor?"
Gazing at his three goddess-like sisters, Chu Chengzhou suggested.
"Blue Gold Cloud Armor?"
Xiao Wu pondered carefully.
The soul-refined Blue Gold armor was predominantly azure-gold, adorned with cloud-like patterns. Paired with this name, it seemed fitting.
"Alright, let's call it Blue Gold Cloud Armor!"
Unable to think of a better name, Xiao Wu accepted it after whispering with her two younger sisters.
Though the three sets of Blue Gold Cloud Armor primarily used soul-refined Blue Gold and weighed around four to five hundred pounds each, the details weren't identical.
Xiao Wu's set featured a rabbit pattern on the chest, Ning Rongrong's had a nine-layered pagoda design, and Zhu Zhuqing's displayed a Netherworld Spirit Cat motif.
Using Ning Rongrong's Blue Gold Cloud Armor as a template, Xiao Wu's helmet was crafted from soul-refined Magic Silver to amplify the effect of her second soul skill, Charm.
Zhu Zhuqing's set remained unchanged, but Chu Chengzhou specially crafted a pair of soul-refined Plate Crystal Gold claws to fit over her gauntlets.
Plate Crystal Gold's characteristic was becoming exceptionally sharp when infused with soul power, let alone soul-refined Plate Crystal Gold.
As an agility-focused attacker, Zhu Zhuqing normally fought with her cat claws. With her current Soul Ancestor strength, the sharpness of her martial soul claws paled in comparison to soul-refined Plate Crystal Gold infused with soul power.
If not for her weak foundations, even ordinary defensive Titled Douluos would struggle to withstand Zhu Zhuqing's attacks with her soul-refined Plate Crystal Gold claws.
Of course, for Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing, four to five hundred pound of armor was still somewhat heavy, affecting combat slightly.
But this wasn't a major issue. With daily cultivation of Unbreakable Golden Body, their physical conditioning improved rapidly, and they'd soon handle the weight effortlessly.
Subsequently, after thorough testing, they found that without infusing soul power, ordinary soul masters below Level 70 couldn't break the Blue Gold Cloud Armor's defense, let alone Chu Chengzhou's thousand-pound Nine Heavens Mystic Spirit Armor.
As for post-soul-infusion durability... well, none of the four could test it fully. Even Xiao Wu, with the highest soul power level among them, couldn't detect any change in the Blue Gold Cloud Armor's defense when she infused soul power. Likely, her soul power level was too low—like a small horse trying to pull a large cart.
In the afternoon, Ning Fengzhi arrived after receiving a letter from his precious daughter.
Accompanying him was one of Ning Fengzhi's ever-present Sword Bone Douluos, Gu Rong.
"Daddy, Grandpa Bone!"
Seeing her father and grandfather arrive, Ning Rongrong rushed forward to greet them.
"Girl, has that boy been bullying you?"
Affectionately patting his precious daughter's head and glancing at Chu Chengzhou, Ning Fengzhi smiled and asked.
"Look at what you're saying, Father-in-law! I treasure her too much to dare to bully Rongrong!"
Chu Chengzhou immediately responded.
I, Chu Chengzhou, swear to the heavens—I haven't bullied Ning Rongrong, except maybe a little playful teasing.
"Hmph, I'd like to see him dare!"
Ning Fengzhi snorted lightly, not doubting the truth of Chu Chengzhou's words.
Subsequently, Chu Chengzhou welcomed the two into his courtyard.
After some casual conversation, Ning Fengzhi brought up the main topic.
"That forging secret method you gave me earlier—did you hold back? It's been over two months, and none of the blacksmiths under my sect have managed to forge that thousand-refinement metal."
Ning Fengzhi eyed Chu Chengzhou suspiciously, highly suspecting he had withheld something.
"You can't blame me for this. I've always said that forging requires insight no less than soul cultivation demands innate soul power. Some people quickly break through to thousand-refinement, while others never succeed in their lifetime."
This wasn't nonsense. Even in the future, with master-level (thousand-refinement) blacksmiths teaching students hand-in-hand, many students never reached the thousand-refinement level.
Just as cultivation had bottlenecks, so did forging. Moreover, the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect's blacksmiths only had the secret method—they lacked professional guidance. Failing to reach thousand-refinement was normal.
As for having him, a Saint Craftsman, personally guide them?
Forget it. Teaching rough men to forge was nowhere near as enjoyable as spending time with his beloved girls.
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