Of course, although most of these rare metals had inventories under one ton, and only a dozen or so exceeded one ton, these were rare metals—their value far surpassed ordinary copper and iron, and many were worth more than their weight in golden soul coins.
In this, Chu Chengzhou had taken considerable advantage of his future father-in-law.
But it didn't matter. His future father-in-law was the largest mine owner on the continent—he had no shortage of such materials.
Looking at the vast piles of rare metals stacked in the warehouse, Chu Chengzhou's gaze settled on the ingots of Heavy Silver, of which there was a substantial quantity.
A craftsman must first sharpen his tools before he can do his work well. As a Divine Craftsman, his first Heavenly Refining would naturally begin with upgrading his forging hammer.
He raised his hand, and with soul force guiding them, forty square ingots of Heavy Silver—each weighing fifty catties—rose into the air above the courtyard outside the warehouse.
Without access to advanced alloy formulas, Chu Chengzhou still relied on Heavy Silver for upgrading his hammer.
All metals have a certain tolerance limit, and rare metals are no exception. Many rare metals lack the necessary inherent properties to undergo high-level forging on their own, let alone survive the elemental lightning tribulation of Heavenly Refining.
But Heavy Silver possessed excellent metallic properties. Even without fusion forging, as long as the smith's skill was sufficient, it could be subjected to Heavenly Refining.
Just as he was about to begin, Chu Chengzhou suddenly sensed four strong soul force signatures approaching from afar—three of which were familiar.
He turned his head and saw four figures flying through the air toward him.
It was Ning Fengzhi, Chen Xin, Gu Rong, and an unfamiliar elderly man—dark-skinned, broad-shouldered, and powerfully built.
Soon, Chen Xin landed with Ning Fengzhi, and Gu Rong landed with the burly elder.
"Uncle Ning, Master Chen, Master Gu—and this is?"
Chu Chengzhou stepped forward to greet them, his eyes turning to the stranger.
"Haha~ Master Chu, good to meet you. I am Fang Quan, Fourth Elder of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect. Call me Old Fang or Elder Fang."
Fang Quan smiled warmly.
"Oh? Elder Fang, nice to meet you."
Chu Chengzhou smiled politely in return.
The old man looked over seventy, and judging by his presence, he'd likely raised Ning Rongrong since childhood. Addressing him as "Elder Fang" was perfectly appropriate.
"Hah, you're too courteous, young man."
Fang Quan waved his hand.
"You've taken so much rare metal from me—are you sure your forging skills have broken through again?"
Ning Fengzhi asked curiously.
"A bit of a breakthrough," Chu Chengzhou replied, nodding. He gestured with his fingers as if sketching a universe, then added, "By the way, Uncle Ning, you've come at just the right time—I need to ask a favor."
Ning Fengzhi raised an eyebrow. "Are the rare metals from the Tian Dou City Seven Treasures Chamber not enough?"
Without needing to think deeply, Ning Fengzhi immediately assumed Chu Chengzhou was referring to rare metals.
"It's not a matter of quantity," Chu Chengzhou said. "Alloys generally outperform single metals in performance. I'd like to ask you to send me some of every rare metal your mines have extracted. I want to experiment with different alloy formulas and see if I can create alloys with even greater properties."
"No problem," Ning Fengzhi replied without hesitation. "I'll have someone deliver them to you right away."
After all, a mine owner never lacked for ore.
"Boy, show us what you've got?" Chen Xin glanced at the floating Heavy Silver ingots, his tone curious.
He wanted to see what level of metal Chu Chengzhou—now with another breakthrough in forging—could produce.
"Certainly. After Hundred-Refining purification, Thousand-Refining for essence, Spirit-Refining for creation, and Soul-Refining for infusion of wisdom, I have named the next forging realm 'Heavenly Refining.' Heavenly Refined metal differs fundamentally from all previous forging levels."
Here, Chu Chengzhou shook his head slightly, a trace of regret in his expression.
If all went as expected, given the current world tier of the Douluo Star, only one Divine Craftsman could exist per generation.
With him holding the sole position, the pinnacle for all other smiths would remain Soul-Refining mastery.
Unless the world tier of the Douluo Star increased to allow multiple Divine Craftsmans—or unless he ascended to the Divine Realm, vacating the single slot.
"You're regretting what? What's so different about this 'Heavenly Refining'?" Gu Rong asked, unable to hold back.
Chu Chengzhou glanced at him, then his expression turned solemn.
"Hundred-Refined is beginner level. Thousand-Refined makes you a master. Spirit-Refined makes you a Grandmaster. Soul-Refined infused with wisdom makes you a Saint Craftsman. But the one who can Heavenly Forge metal? He is the undisputed Divine Craftsman of the age—the only one who can grant true abilities to metal."
He paused, then added slowly:
"And unless the world undergoes a great transformation, no matter how many Saint Craftsmans there are—even thousands—there will still be only one Divine Craftsman in the entire age."
His demeanor resembled that of a sage seeking to open a path for all beings.
Chu Chengzhou: I am that Craftsman. Pay me!
Ning Fengzhi and the other three: "..."
"You're just showing off because you're the only Divine Craftsman alive?" Ning Fengzhi said dryly.
"Am I? I didn't mean to show off."
Chu Chengzhou shook his head, dropping the solemn expression.
But his smug grin gave him away.
He absolutely was showing off.
It was like a fisherman who'd caught the legendary fish king—of course he'd walk around the neighborhood three times without going home, carrying the fish king on his shoulder.
The fisherman: Huh? How do you know I caught the fish king?
This wasn't some watered-down "Divine Craftsman" like Tang Hao—whose entire existence was just watered down.
This was a real Divine Craftsman.
Too bad the era was wrong. Had this been the later "Armor Hero" age, every birth and death of a Divine Craftsman would shape the rise and fall of the soul master world.
In status, a Divine Craftsman ranked higher than even the mightiest Limit Douluo—or even demigods.
Just by revealing his title as a Divine Craftsman, countless nine-ring Super Douluo would gladly serve as his vassals.
"Enough," Ning Fengzhi waved his hand. "Get on with it. Show us what this 'Heavenly Refining' looks like."
"Then watch closely!"
With that, Chu Chengzhou drew the floating Heavy Silver ingots together into a single cluster. He then poured fiery soul power into them, heating the metal.
As the torrent of heat surged into the ingots, the normally silvery-white "Heavy Silver sphere" rapidly rose in temperature.
Gradually, the solid metal melted into a glowing, white-hot liquid.
Then, with a flick of his wrists, a flash of silver light appeared—his Soul-Refined Heavy Silver Hammers materialized—and he cast them into the molten pool above.
Soon, as his spiritual sense confirmed that the hammers had fully dissolved into the molten silver and merged with it, Chu Chengzhou shifted his soul force attribute. He gently introduced water-type soul force to cool the molten mass—and subtly reshape it.
Within moments, under his precise soul force control, the white-hot liquid transformed into a massive, glowing crimson ingot of Heavy Silver.
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