Buzzz…
As Chu Chengzhou closed his eyes, no sound should have been audible.
Yet in that instant, Ning Fengzhi and the other three beside him all heard it—a deep, resonant hum.
Not from Chu Chengzhou.
Not from the Heavy Silver ingot glowing with yellow, blue, crimson, and cyan.
But from the very heavens and earth around them.
"Elemental Resonance of Heaven and Earth?!"
Chen Xin's eyes widened. He couldn't help but cry out.
Elemental Resonance—also called Elemental Synergy.
In the moment Chu Chengzhou shut his eyes, Chen Xin had felt it clearly: every elemental force in the surrounding world had synchronized with him.
At that instant, Chu Chengzhou was the world.
No sooner had Chen Xin spoken than more Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind energies surged toward them.
But this time—they circled Chu Chengzhou.
The courtyard was instantly drenched in the four colors. As the elemental energies gathered, a swirling vortex of yellow, blue, crimson, and cyan began to form above his head.
The next moment, the vortex moved.
It drifted from above Chu Chengzhou's head to hover just before the four-colored Heavy Silver ingot.
Then, a torrent of dense, radiant four-colored light poured down.
Instantly, the ingot shimmered violently, saturated with overwhelming elemental energy.
Within moments, it reached saturation.
The vortex above crackled with violent intent. Faint arcs of electricity flickered at its core.
"Danger—fall back!"
Chen Xin reacted first. He grabbed Ning Fengzhi and leapt back over twenty meters.
Gu Rong didn't hesitate—he hauled Fang Quan beside them.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!
A single four-colored lightning bolt erupted from the center of the vortex.
With a deafening roar, it struck from the heavens.
"Between Heaven and Earth, I Alone Am Supreme—Lightning, Come!"
Chu Chengzhou's eyes snapped open.
He roared, one finger pointing to the sky, the other to the ground.
Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind—his fused Four Symbols soul power surged around him.
Above his head, his soul power flower manifested.
A single four-colored petal drifted down.
A faint, shimmering four-colored aura enveloped his entire body.
In an instant, the elementally charged lightning—originally aimed at the ingot—was redirected by Chu Chengzhou's will.
It slammed directly into his own defensive technique: Instant Bloom.
Elemental Tribulation: You wanna show off? Then take this!
The four-colored lightning engulfed him completely.
His body glowed with swirling hues of yellow, blue, crimson, and cyan.
"WHAT THE—?!"
The four onlookers all gasped, nearly dropping their jaws.
Even the calmest among them, Ning Fengzhi, clenched his fist in disbelief.
They'd seen plenty of show-offs in their lives.
But a man who finished showing off… and then got struck by divine lightning?
They'd never seen anything like it.
The first elemental tribulation struck.
Chu Chengzhou exhaled inwardly.
Why was Heavenly Refinement so rarely successful?
It wasn't because the Craftsman's skill was lacking.
It was because the metal itself was too fragile.
Even powerful alloys struggled to endure the Elemental Tribulation.
How could a single piece of Heavy Silver possibly survive?
Without having read Douluo III, Chu Chengzhou had devised his own solution:
He would become the converter.
With his supreme control over soul power, he would absorb the wild, destructive energy of the tribulation—and gently redirect it as refined elemental energy into the metal.
In this way, if he could withstand the lightning and properly channel the energy—
Then Heavenly Refinement success rate would reach 100%.
Of course, the Gold-Tier "Creation Hammer" technique knowledge indicated that true, supreme Heavenly Refined metals still required the tribulation to strike the metal directly.
The destructive force of the elemental storm had a purifying effect—something no artificial channeling could fully replicate.
But that was not his goal now.
This was only the Four-Element Heavenly Refinement.
Even if he did it perfectly, he could never produce a supreme-tier metal.
The proof? His method was working.
The first tribulation's power was far below the defensive limit of his Instant Bloom technique.
The next three? They would be stronger—one after another.
But he had no doubt he could withstand them.
After all—he was a Soul Douluo.
But his foundation? Stronger than most Titled Douluo.
And his current defense? Not powered by a single soul power element.
It was fueled by the fused Four Symbols soul power.
Its resilience was incomparably greater than any single-element shield.
Enough said: unless a high level offensive Titled Douluo—or someone with a technique that ignored defense—attacked him directly, no one could break through his technique.
Bathed in the swirling four-colored lightning, Chu Chengzhou moved swiftly.
Before the energy from the first strike dissipated, he activated his Absolute Control technique.
He transformed the wild, violent elemental force into gentle, flowing four-colored light.
And guided it—smoothly, precisely—into the floating Heavy Silver ingot before him.
Immediately, a metallic clang rang out, accompanied by a resonant hum.
Every person present felt it: a clear, joyful pulse radiating from the ingot.
As the soft four-colored light flowed into the metal, brilliant radiance exploded outward.
The internal structure of the Heavy Silver underwent a profound transformation.
Even more strangely—
No hammer struck it.
No shaping was performed.
Yet the ingot split cleanly in two.
It reshaped itself into two massive hammers—each refining, each becoming more intricate, more perfect.
BOOM—
BOOM—
Two more devastating four-colored lightning bolts struck.
They engulfed him completely.
"Uncle Chen, Uncle Gu—do you think he'll be alright?"
Ning Fengzhi watched, uneasy, as Chu Chengzhou vanished beneath the storm of light.
He knew his son-in-law was strong.
But this… this was divine wrath.
Chen Xin waved a hand.
"He'll be fine."
He could feel it clearly.
Though the four-colored lightning swallowed Chu Chengzhou whole, every ounce of its power was absorbed and neutralized by the four-colored aura surrounding his body.
And despite the terrifying spectacle—
The actual force? Far less than it appeared.
The first two strikes? Minor.
Even the strongest third strike? Not enough to threaten a skilled Titled Douluo.
For a monster like Chu Chengzhou?
It was barely a warm-up.
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