CHAPTER 136 — The Language of Steel and Stars
The failure of Lin's first hammer compression lingered in his mind far longer than the success that followed.
That crack—
That moment where power overwhelmed control—
It echoed endlessly.
And Elder Rowan, as if knowing exactly what flaw Lin needed to confront next, did not bring him back to the anvil the following morning.
Instead, he brought him to the Refinement Galleries.
---
1. The Refinement Galleries
The galleries were carved into the inner ribs of the mountain itself—layer upon layer of circular chambers spiraling downward. Each level pulsed with different wavelengths of heat, pressure, and resonance.
At the entrance stood towering stone steles carved with countless runic formulae.
Rowan stopped before the first chamber.
"Forging without understanding refinement," he said flatly, "is like swinging a blade without knowing its edge."
He gestured inward.
"This is where you learn how metal is born."
---
2. Hundred-Refined Steel
Inside the first chamber, disciples surrounded small furnace-craters.
Each held common astral iron—unrefined, law-chaotic, unstable.
Rowan picked up a sample and tossed it to Lin.
It felt rough, turbulent.
"This," Rowan said, "is raw star-iron. Useless beyond training. Now watch."
Rowan placed the iron into a precision furnace. Controlled flame wrapped around it in a perfect spiral. With every rotation, slag and impurity bled outward.
"One refinement removes surface corruption," Rowan said.
"Ten refinements stabilize molecular resistance."
"Fifty align internal gravity."
"One hundred refinements creates Hundred-Refined Steel—the minimum standard for all Astral Forge tools."
The metal emerged smooth, radiant, and terrifyingly dense.
Lin reached out.
His fingers trembled.
This single ingot held more structural perfection than an entire mountain of lower-realm divine metal.
Aurora whispered with rare appreciation:
> "At this level, even trash is exquisite."
---
3. Thousand-Refined Steel
Rowan then led Lin deeper.
Gravity increased.
Flames burned white instead of blue.
Here, rows of disciples moved with terrifying precision.
Rowan lowered his voice.
"Thousand-refined steel is where forging begins to bend laws rather than follow them."
He placed a sample into Lin's palm.
The steel felt… alive.
"You refine the same material one thousand times," Rowan continued.
"Each refinement strips weakness. By the thousandth, what remains is no longer normal matter."
Lin focused.
He saw it.
The steel's atomic lattice no longer followed basic physical structure.
It followed law-patterns.
Saint Shengyuan murmured:
> "At this stage, even void cultivators would struggle to damage it."
---
4. Alloys — The Art of Controlled Contradiction
Rowan stopped before a massive circular table layered with dozens of materials.
"Astral forging is not only refinement," he said.
"It is contradiction."
He gestured.
"Fire iron. Void crystal. Gravity silver. Star marrow. These materials reject each other by nature."
Lin frowned. "Then how are they fused?"
Rowan's mouth curved.
"By forging technique."
He demonstrated.
Fire iron pulsed violently.
Void crystal devoured heat.
Gravity silver crushed everything inward.
Then Rowan struck.
Not with brute force—
But with patterned resonance.
Each strike imposed rhythm.
Each rhythm aligned rejection cycles.
And suddenly—
The materials merged.
A shimmering alloy formed, radiating layered laws.
Lin felt his breath catch.
"That's…" he whispered.
Rowan nodded.
"That is how you forge weapons that kill beings who regenerate from concepts."
Aurora went silent.
For the first time since arriving in the Titan Realm, she was truly focused.
---
5. Forging Techniques
Rowan finally turned to Lin.
"You rely on instinct," he said. "That will get you killed here."
He placed a jade slip against Lin's forehead.
Information flooded in.
Basic Astral Forging Techniques:
Nine-Phase Hammer Method
Star Spiral Compression
Void-Echo Cooling
Gravity Pulse Tempering
Heaven-Step Striking Rhythm
Lin staggered as the knowledge settled.
Each technique wasn't just physical movement—
they were law imposition patterns.
Saint Shengyuan spoke softly:
> "These are true forging arts… not just skills."
---
6. Lin's First True Refinement Attempt
Rowan placed a raw star-iron billet before Lin.
"One hundred refinements," he said.
Lin nodded.
No hammer.
No brute force.
Only flame control.
The Astral flame wrapped around the metal under Lin's guidance.
It screamed.
Impurities bled out.
Gravity stabilized.
Again.
And again.
And again.
By the twelfth refinement, Lin was drenched in sweat.
By the thirtieth, his meridians ached.
By the sixtieth, his vision blurred.
But he did not stop.
By the hundredth refinement—
The metal stabilized into true Hundred-Refined Steel.
Rowan stared.
"…You didn't fail once."
Lin exhaled shakily.
He hadn't realized it before, but—
He hadn't used brute force at all this time.
He had been listening to the metal.
Aurora whispered:
> "Your control is evolving faster than your power ever did."
---
7. Thousands Refined Will Not Come Easily
Rowan didn't praise him.
Instead, he crushed the hundred-refined ingot in his palm.
"Do not confuse success with readiness."
Lin stiffened.
"Thousands-refined steel requires something you do not yet possess."
"What?" Lin asked.
Rowan's gaze sharpened.
"Authority."
---
8. The Truth of Forging Authority
Rowan looked toward the inner mountains.
"You can refine matter by following laws.
You can forge weapons by imitating the heavens.
But thousand-refinement and beyond require…"
He paused.
"…the right to command."
Lin felt a strange chill.
Saint Shengyuan spoke gravely:
> "Authority is born from true sovereignty… not strength alone."
Aurora's tone was quiet.
> "Something you are only beginning to understand."
---
9. The Titan Disciple Watches Again
As Lin left the refinement chamber, he felt it again—
That crushing gaze.
High above, on the upper forges, the Titan disciple from before stood watching.
One massive hand rested on a hammer the size of a city gate.
Their eyes met.
This time, neither looked away.
A challenge unspoken—but undeniably forming.
---
10. The Hammer Core Awaits
That night, Lin returned to his quarters and summoned the hammer core he forged the previous day.
It floated silently before him.
Unrefined.
Incomplete.
Waiting.
> "You're not ready," Aurora said quietly.
Lin stared at it.
"…Not yet."
But soon.
---