CHAPTER 135 — First Strike of the Astral Hammer
The Outer Forge Yard burned with restrained fury.
Rivers of molten metal crawled through engraved channels. Star-iron billets glowed faintly on their stands. The air itself shimmered with condensed heat and pressure, every breath thick with the weight of laws.
Today—
Lin would forge for the first time.
Not practice lifting.
Not endurance under flame.
Not circulation drills.
True forging.
Elder Rowan stood beside the central anvil, arms folded, eyes sharp.
"You will forge a simple object," he said. "No weapons. No techniques. No arrogance."
Lin inclined his head. "What should I forge?"
Rowan flicked his fingers.
A chunk of star-iron floated toward Lin.
"A hammer core. If you cannot forge the tool of a forgemaster, you have no right to forge a weapon."
Aurora scoffed inside Lin's soul.
> "How poetic. The hammer before the sword."
Saint Shengyuan remained silent, observing.
---
The First Astral Flame Awakens
Rowan waved his hand.
The Astral Furnace roared to full life.
Blue-white flame surged upward like a living star. Space twisted near the mouth of the forge. Even Lin's reinforced body screamed in response to the sudden law-pressure.
Rowan pointed into the furnace.
"Insert the iron. Do not use cultivation to harden it. Let the flame do its work."
Lin braced himself and pushed the star-iron billet forward.
The instant it touched the Astral Flame—
BOOOOM.
A shockwave blasted outward.
The metal didn't melt.
It screamed.
Sound itself folded as the gravity-bound atoms of star-iron resisted annihilation. Lin staggered backward, barely stabilizing himself with triple-helix circulation.
Jiya and Kade watched from behind a safety formation, eyes wide.
"That metal just roared…" Jiya whispered.
Rowan nodded approvingly.
"Good. It still has pride."
---
Shaping Under Impossible Pressure
Rowan gestured to the massive astral anvil.
"Now. Shape it."
Lin approached the anvil.
Each step felt like walking through liquid gravity.
The glowing billet floated from the furnace and slammed onto the anvil with a sonic boom.
Rowan passed Lin a forging hammer.
The hammer alone weighed enough to flatten city walls.
Lin nearly dropped it.
His arms trembled violently as he lifted it overhead.
Aurora's voice sharpened.
> "Do NOT reinforce with law-energy. You must learn to feel the resistance."
Saint Shengyuan added quietly:
> "Strike when the flame's vibration aligns with your body's pulse."
Lin exhaled.
He felt the rhythm.
The pulse of the furnace.
The tremor of the metal.
The beat of his own heart.
Then—
CLANG!
The hammer struck.
Lin's arms detonated with pain. His bones rang like temple bells. The star-iron barely dented.
Rowan's voice was calm.
"Again."
CLANG.
The second strike drove the metal inward a fraction.
Lin's vision darkened.
CLANG.
Blood crept from the corner of his mouth.
CLANG.
The billet finally began to compress.
Around them, invisible pressure built with every strike as gravity laws folded inward toward the forming tool.
---
Titan Interference
From the inner forge terrace above, a shadow loomed.
A true Titan disciple stepped forward—skin carved with rune-patterns, eyes glowing dull gold.
He watched Lin strike again and again.
Finally, he spoke.
"Outer insects aren't permitted to touch astral billet cores directly."
Rowan didn't turn around.
"They are when I permit it."
The Titan's gaze flicked to Lin.
"Then he'll shatter."
Aurora bristled.
> "If he interferes, I'll melt his kneecaps."
Lin ignored both voices.
He lifted the hammer again.
CLANG.
The metal trembled violently.
CLANG.
The forming hammer core finally stabilized.
Runic heat rippled across its surface as it reached initial astral cohesion.
Rowan smiled faintly.
"Good. You've crossed the first death line."
The Titan's eyes darkened.
---
Failure—and Revelation
Rowan gestured again.
"Now compress the core."
Lin adjusted his grip.
He raised the hammer.
And struck.
The instant the hammer connected—
CRACK.
A fault line ripped across the core.
Astral flame surged violently.
Lin barely managed to leap backward as the half-formed hammer exploded into molten fragments that slammed into the protective formation.
Smoke filled the yard.
Silence followed.
Lin stood frozen.
He had failed.
Rowan studied the wreckage.
Then he said calmly:
"Your strength exceeded your control."
Lin lowered his head. "I rushed."
"No," Rowan replied. "You listened to power instead of resistance."
He tapped the anvil.
"Astral forging is the art of negotiating with impossibility."
Aurora whispered:
> "That sentence was profoundly irritating."
Saint Shengyuan's voice was thoughtful.
> "Yet accurate."
---
The Second Attempt
Rowan waved his hand.
Another billet floated from the supply rack.
"This one will be your last today."
Lin closed his eyes.
This time—
He slowed his breathing.
Steadying his inner world.
Dimming his solar pull.
Suppressing resonance.
He lifted the hammer again.
The first strike landed softer.
CLANG.
The metal responded cleanly.
CLANG.
No cracks.
CLANG.
No runaway flame.
CLANG.
The hammer core slowly took form, its density compacting harmoniously under measured pressure.
Sweat poured from Lin's body.
CLANG.
The metal pulsed.
CLANG.
The gravity surrounding the anvil twisted inward.
And then—
The billet stabilized.
A true hammer core hovered above the anvil, faintly glowing with contained star-fire.
Silence overtook the yard.
Jiya stared.
Kade exhaled shakily.
Even the Titan disciple's eyes narrowed.
Rowan nodded once.
"You forged your first astral object."
Lin's arms finally gave out.
He collapsed to one knee, chest heaving.
---
Unspoken Reactions
Rowan turned away.
"Recover. Tomorrow, we refine."
The Titan disciple vanished from the terrace without another word.
But his lingering aura told Lin everything:
He had been noticed.
Marked.
Aurora chuckled softly.
> "Your first hammer forged and you already caught the attention of predators. How efficient."
Saint Shengyuan's voice was steady.
> "Your foundation grows faster than expected."
Lin gazed at the hovering hammer core.
So this is what forging in a higher realm truly means.
Not crafting tools.
But wrestling with the laws of existence itself.
And winning.
---