The next moment, Chu Chengzhou raised a finger. Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind soul powers surged around him. In midair, six massive four-colored hammers materialized at once.
"Hiss… You don't use physical hammers for metal forging?"
Fang Quan beside him couldn't help but gasp.
He'd already been stunned by Chu Chengzhou heating the metal directly with soul power—but now? He was preparing to forge the metal using nothing but soul power hammers?
Good heavens—no wonder he's called the pioneer of forging. Far beyond a mere beginner like him, barely scraping into Thousand-Refinement.
Chu Chengzhou cast a subtle glance at Fang Quan, a faint smirk touching his lips.
Not bad. This old man actually knows his stuff. And he's got real potential as a proper audience.
BOOM—
With a flick of his will, one of the four-colored hammers above the massive Heavy Silver ingot came crashing down.
A thunderous crash echoed—and instantly, the towering cube of silver was flattened into a long rectangular block, its height reduced by nearly half. At the same time, brilliant silver light, over a foot tall, erupted from its surface.
One hammer strike.
A Divine Craftsman had completed the Thousand-Refinement refinement of Heavy Silver—and not just any Thousand-Refinement. This was its peak.
"Spiritual Radiance Externally Manifest! One Hammer, Thousand-Refinement?!"
Fang Quan's eyes bulged. He could hardly believe what he was seeing.
This was Heavy Silver—a rare metal notoriously difficult to forge. Even he, with hours of effort, could manage Thousand-Refinement… but to do it in one strike? Impossible!
A true master reveals his skill with a single move.
No wonder this young man bore the title of the only Divine Craftsman of the age.
After the first strike, the two hammers on either side descended.
The Heavy Silver ingot became the filling in a soul-force sandwich.
BOOM—BOOM—
Two more thunderous impacts.
And suddenly, a faint aura of life emanated from the ingot.
Simultaneously, its size shrank again. In barely three strikes, the original cube had transformed into a rectangular block—same length front to back, height reduced by one-third, and width halved.
Huuuum—
A sudden hum resonated from the now-dramatically-shrunken ingot. Silver halos rippled across its surface.
"Life energy? This is… Spirit-Refinement?!"
Fang Quan's cry rose again—this time louder, more awestruck.
After witnessing the One-Hammer Thousand-Refinement, this old man—new to forging—was now seeing Soul-Refinement with his own eyes. And not just once—he'd seen it twice.
Truly, his horizons had expanded.
Hearing Fang Quan's exclamation, Chu Chengzhou's smirk widened further.
A perfect audience.
'Fengzhi, you really shouldn't have brought Old Fang.'
Chen Xin silently transmitted to Ning Fengzhi, noticing the subtle shift in Chu Chengzhou's expression.
Ning Fengzhi glanced at Fang Quan, his lip twitching slightly—but he said nothing.
This Fourth Elder usually seemed so composed… why was he acting like a startled chicken now?
Thankfully, Chu Chengzhou wasn't an outsider—or this would've been a full-blown embarrassment.
The next instant, Chu Chengzhou gestured with a finger.
Three of the four-colored hammers—front, back, and below—struck the ingot in unison.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!
Three explosive impacts erupted. A terrifying wave of energy burst outward. As brilliant silver light swirled, an unmistakable sense of joy and vitality radiated from the ingot.
Three strikes.
Soul-Refinement—achieved.
"My god—this is Soul-Refinement granting wisdom?!"
The same shocked cry rang out again.
Hardly had Fang Quan spoken when Ning Fengzhi, Chen Xin, and Gu Rong all raised their hands to their foreheads.
'Uncle Sword, you were right. I was reckless.'
Ning Fengzhi silently replied to Chen Xin.
But Chu Chengzhou was no longer paying attention to Fang Quan.
Soul-Refinement was complete.
Now came the real challenge: channeling elemental energy, imprinting the Laws, enduring the Elemental Lightning Tribulation, and granting the metal true ability.
He had endless theoretical knowledge—but zero practical experience.
He had to focus. Completely.
"Draw!"
Chu Chengzhou roared.
The earth, water, fire, and wind elemental energies of the surrounding world surged toward him at once. The entire courtyard glowed with swirling hues of yellow, blue, crimson, and cyan.
Though the quality of his "Creation Hammer" technique had risen to Gold-tier, granting him some understanding of all elemental Laws, this was his first attempt at Heavenly Refinement.
He dared not attempt full-spectrum Heavenly Refinement.
Too risky.
He chose the most basic: Four-Element Heavenly Refinement.
The more elemental types involved, the stronger the Elemental Lightning Tribulation. Eleven-element Heavenly Refinement meant eleven layers of tribulation.
He was barely a Soul Douluo.
He had no illusion he could survive eleven layers.
He was already overstepping his boundaries by using his deep reserves to force Heavenly Refinement.
If he pushed further, even his Soul Bone Technique—Crystal Body—might not save him.
After all, Crystal Body's defense only worked against divine-level threats below godhood.
Eleven-element tribulation? Its power might already have crossed into divine range.
Besides—he didn't even know if the world's rules permitted Eleven-Element Heavenly Refinement.
Even if they did, he wouldn't dare attempt it anytime soon.
It wasn't just about his strength.
It was about the metal itself.
The Elemental Lightning Tribulation didn't just test the smith.
It tested the metal.
Only metal that could endure the tribulation's cleansing could become Heavenly-Refined.
Most single rare metals? Too weak.
They couldn't survive even one elemental tribulation, let alone multiple.
To perform multi-element Heavenly Refinement, you needed a powerful alloy—forged from multiple rare metals.
But alloy forging? Like material science in his past life—it was a painstaking process.
It wasn't about skill. It was about luck.
Who knew when he'd stumble upon a viable fusion formula?
At this moment, in midair, as the four elemental energies poured into the hammers, the already large four-colored hammers swelled again—growing denser, heavier, brimming with raw elemental power.
Then, all six hammers rained down upon the central Heavy Silver ingot like a storm.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—
Each strike delivered a portion of the four elemental energies into the ingot.
As the forging continued, the previously red-hot, molten Heavy Silver began to grow translucent.
Inside its core, swirling halos of yellow, blue, crimson, and cyan began to dance in harmony.
Seeing this, Chu Chengzhou dismissed the six hammers.
He drew the now-floating ingot before him, spread his arms wide, closed his eyes, and poured every ounce of his soul power into guiding the converging elemental energies.
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