Chapter 5 Incredible Forging.
In a small grove of trees by the sea in Donghai City, a small, purple figure carrying a large pile of metal scraps arrived at his temporary secret base.
It was Yao Lan's first avatar, Black Tower, known as a "genius."
"Finally caught up."
Black Tower glanced casually behind him, a smile gradually spreading across his face. It seemed his preparations these past few days hadn't been in vain!
While gathering intelligence, he'd heard that a forging exchange competition would be held nearby, and a master craftsman would be participating.
Black Tower had originally planned to infiltrate the participating teams and demonstrate excellent forging skills to attract the master craftsman's attention. But who knew he'd reel in such an unexpected big fish?
Mu Chen!
He hadn't expected to see this eight-star saint craftsman in such a small competition?
This instantly made Black Tower abandon all his previous plans. Rather than making a small splash in the eyes of ordinary people with an excellent forging demonstration, he'd rather steal the spotlight from this saint craftsman and deliver a perfect forging!
Not only could she avoid the consequences of being too famous and ensure her safety, but she could also elevate her status in Mu Chen's eyes—a win-win situation.
To achieve this, Black Tower only needed one thing:
Spirit Forging!
Before today, Black Tower was a complete Soul Master who knew nothing about forging, but now she could directly perform Spirit Forging, a skill usually reserved for Level 5 Grandmasters. The reason behind this was heartwarming.
Thanks to the students in the forging exchange competition, Black Tower gained a clear understanding of forging, and the Grandmaster who appeared at the end further enhanced her understanding!
From complete novice to Grandmaster, Black Tower achieved this in just one three-hour forging exchange competition—a terrifyingly brilliant talent in this world!
However, both Yao Lan and Black Tower were extremely dissatisfied, because this wasn't Black Tower's limit. It seemed as if a subtle limitation was binding her, preventing Yao Lan from reaching the level of Black Tower in the original work…
And this limitation was Yao Lan herself!
Ultimately, Yao Lan's clone wasn't created out of thin air; it was truly separated from him. Therefore, both its cognition and talent were influenced by Yao Lan himself.
This clone was simply Yao Lan wearing a Black Tower skin. While it made his mind clearer and more intelligent, achieving what the Black Tower Lady (Genius Club #83) could do in the original storyline seemed like a pipe dream.
But don't forget, Yao Lan's abilities weren't limited to clones!
The current Black Tower clone was indeed vastly different from the original Black Tower, but this difference wasn't insurmountable. After all, the original Black Tower didn't have the ability of Star God Substitute.
The phantom of the Learned One flashed across the Black Tower, and then a giant hammer, longer than himself, appeared in the Black Tower's hand—the very weapon held by the Black Tower character in the game.
However, after taking the hammer, the Black Tower didn't immediately begin to act. He slowly closed his eyes, carefully sensing the pile of metal materials before him.
"Simulation, begin."
As the mechanical voice spoke, figures began to appear in Black Tower's mind—figures of young men. A closer look revealed these figures to be identical to the students who had participated in the previous forging exchange competition!
"Hundred forgings… Thousand forgings…"
"Corrections… Improvements…"
With the blessing of the Learned Venerable, Black Tower, through the skills of a group of first and second-level forgers, managed to elevate herself to the level of a fourth-level forger.
But this wasn't the end!
When the figure of a middle-aged man appeared in her mind, Black Tower experienced a comprehensive upgrade—the effect of the fifth-level master craftsman.
Although it was only a substandard spirit forging, for Black Tower, it was enough to allow her to advance further!
Neither Yao Lan nor Hei Ta had systematically studied any forging techniques. However, under the simulation of Bo Shi Zun, Hei Ta managed to create her own forging method in just a few minutes by observing forging techniques from her memory, and even advanced to the level of a fifth-grade master craftsman.
However, this was Hei Ta's current limit.
The quality of the materials in front of her was ultimately limited, after all, they were leftovers from the competition. In addition, Hei Ta herself had never seen a higher-level forging method, so spirit forging was the limit she could reach.
"Then, let this spying master craftsman take a good look at my spirit forging!"
On the other side, Mu Chen, who was spying, peeked out. Ever since he followed this brown-haired little girl, he had felt something was wrong. What was this little girl planning to do?
Mu Chen recognized the metal she was holding earlier; wasn't it just leftovers from the competition? What could be forged from that garbage?
As a master craftsman, Mu Chen knew the importance of materials. To forge excellent metal, high-grade materials were necessary.
Although there were a few high-quality pieces among the leftover materials, no matter how they were forged, they could never exceed a thousand forgings. This was because the types of metals were too numerous and complex, making it even more difficult to forge them into high-grade metals.
Even Mu Chen himself could only forge them into a hundred-forging high-quality piece at most; anything higher was impossible due to the significant influence of the materials.
So, what would this girl do?
"Is this a hammer made with soul skills? How can this be forged?"
Most blacksmiths would choose a forging hammer suitable for their abilities, requiring both strength and speed, as impurities in the metal must be removed at extremely high speeds during forging. This hammer, taller than the girl herself, clearly did not meet the "speed" requirement.
To be honest, Mu Chen was already somewhat disappointed. He had initially thought this girl had some skill, being able to see the previous piece of spirit forging was substandard, but now…
"This girl is probably a beginner, just trying out some materials; otherwise, she wouldn't be able to see how useless this pile of materials really is."
However, just as Mu Chen shook his head and was about to leave, the girl's forging… began!
Clang clang clang clang clang—!
The rapid, rhythmic hammering sounds rang out. The hammer, longer than the girl herself, was wielded with incredible ease by her petite figure, even faster than some level three or four blacksmiths.
This unbelievable sight caused Mu Chen, an eight-star Saint Craftsman, to widen his eyes in disbelief. The scrap iron he had almost concluded couldn't possibly exceed a thousand forgings had, in the blink of an eye, surpassed a thousand forgings… How was this possible? Moreover, a trace of sentience seemed to emerge from the metal.
A thousand forgings possessing sentience? A level four blacksmith?
"How is this possible? How old is she?"
However, this wasn't the end. Just as Mu Chen was reeling from the Black Tower's level four blacksmith identity, the hammering became even more rapid.
"She actually intends to continue?"
But the next stage… is Spirit Forging!
Countless people have been stuck at the level before Spirit Forging for years, some even spending their entire lives without breaking through. But this girl…
She actually intends to use such messy scrap iron to forge Spirit Forging, the very thing that has trapped countless people for their entire lives?
(End of Chapter)