Gong Changyan, the Vice President of the Blacksmith Association, stared wide-eyed as Arthur cradled a large chunk of starfall gold in his arms, two pieces of Deep Sea Sunken Silver tucked under his armpits, and a string of scrap Flowing Fire Secret Copper hooked onto his finger. In his mouth, he held a densely packed list of Materials that Gu Yue had just drawn up.
"Arthur... Arthur..." He stepped forward tremulously, his beard shaking with heartache. "This... this piece of Dragon Blood Red Gold is our association's greatest treasure. We haven't been able to bring ourselves to use it for over ten years, and you..."
"Hmm? Is that so?" Arthur spat the list into his hand and glanced at it. "Oh, this? Grandmaster Gu Yue said this is a must-have, otherwise the core strength of the energy circuit won't be enough. Don't worry, if there's any left over after I'm done... I'll return it."
The man's vision went dark: "But... but the list says it needs to be smelted to extract the core essence..."
"Then consider it a contribution to the safety of the Star Luo Empire." Arthur patted his shoulder, speaking with deep sincerity. "You said yourself that you'd cover all my forging needs while I'm here. Besides, I helped your country eliminate the Green Skeleton, that major hidden threat. Consider these a reward."
"Once this set of battle armor is finished, if any Blue Skeletons or Red Skeletons pop up in the future, I'll definitely wear it and come help. Rounding it off, you're basically investing in continental peace!"
Gong Changyan was left speechless by this set of crooked logic, forced to watch helplessly as Arthur stuffed the treasure into a large bag nearby.
Gu Yue leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed, watching Arthur's self-righteous plundering. The corner of her mouth couldn't help but twitch.
Na'er, on the other hand, was very excited. She followed behind Arthur, occasionally pointing at a piece of shiny metal and asking, "Brother Arthur, this one looks good, take this!"
"That's Rainbow Crystal, it's for decoration. It's not hard enough," Gu Yue said flatly.
"Oh." Na'er was a bit disappointed, but her attention was quickly drawn to another piece of metal glowing with purple light.
"That should be enough, right?" Arthur walked over dragging the bulging Soul Power bag and looked at Gu Yue. "Is it enough for you to work with, Grandmaster?"
Gu Yue scanned the Materials in the bag with her Spiritual Power and nodded slightly. "The core Materials are all here, but we're still missing a few auxiliary Materials." She glanced at the surrounding Blacksmiths, who looked like they were about to cry. "Let's start first. For the missing scraps, we can use that 'Holy Light' characteristic of yours to simulate and replace some of them. The effect might even be better."
"Understood!" Arthur grinned and dragged the bag outside. "Let's go, let's go to the Tang Sect. My teacher is there too. We'll do the design, forging, and production all in one go."
Only the forlorn Gong Changyan remained, his heart aching so much he could barely breathe.
In the Star Luo branch of the Tang Sect, Mu Ye was looking at the Formation blueprints handed over by Gu Yue. The more he looked, the more amazed he became, and his originally calm expression began to change.
He stepped closer, his gaze locked onto several key structures of the design, unconsciously muttering under his breath, "The energy circuit abandons redundant stability to pursue extreme instantaneous flux."
"The core conversion structure is actually like this—brilliant! But it's too risky! The requirements for material Fusion and forging precision at these connections are simply..."
He suddenly looked up at Gu Yue, all trace of dismissiveness gone from his eyes, replaced only by pure shock and excitement in the face of top-tier skill. "Did you really complete this blueprint independently?"
"Yes," Gu Yue nodded calmly.
"A Genius! No, a freak of nature!" Zhen Hua praised without restraint. "This completely subverts traditional battle armor design. This perspective is so marvelous it doesn't seem like something a human could come up with."
"Stop rambling and get ready to work." Arthur dropped the bag on the floor with a powerful metallic clang. "Gu Yue is in charge of design, I'll do the forging and shaping, and you focus on the soul tool core and assembly. Let's finish this quickly!"
Gu Yue had already sat down at a stone table. Silver patterns flickered as she took the blueprints back from Mu Ye.
A battle armor blueprint, precise to the millimeter, instantly materialized in the air.
The pauldrons were streamlined like dragon wings, fitting the distribution of the dragon bones and Spirit Bones within Arthur's body.
The breastplate was engraved with sacred dragon patterns, with a reserved energy interface for the sacred mark on his hand.
The greaves and gauntlets featured a hollowed-out design, reducing weight without compromising defense. The starfall gold energy circuits spread across the body like a spiderweb, and the Fusion nodes for the Deep Sea Sunken Silver and Dragon Blood Red Gold were clearly marked.
"The core will use Dragon Blood Red Gold fused with Holy Light, Deep Sea Sunken Silver for the outer defense, and starfall gold to build the Soul Power circuits. The soul tool core will be embedded in the chest, compatible with the power of your four Spirit Bones."
Gu Yue looked up at Arthur and said decisively, "During the forging process, you must maintain focus throughout to eliminate metal Impurities. Senior Mu Ye, the energy conversion rate of the soul tool core must reach over ninety percent. I will help draw the auxiliary Formations."
Arthur rolled up his sleeves and stood at the forging table. A forging hammer appeared in his palm as he took the lead in tossing the Dragon Blood Red Gold into the furnace.
The flames surged, and the crimson metal quickly melted into magma. The violent energy was enveloped by the flames, and Impurities dissipated as wisps of black smoke.
Lifting the heavy forging hammer, he slammed it down onto the magma with a loud 'bang.' Sparks flew as the magma began to take shape under the hammer.
"Press down another three points on the left! Match the curve of the shoulder bone!" Gu Yue sat to the side giving directions, her silver eyes fixed on the forging table. "Don't just rely on brute force; the injected power must be even, otherwise cracks will easily appear!"
"Simple!" Arthur adjusted his strength. Holy Light flowed through the hammer handle into the magma, and the slightly rough outline of the pauldrons instantly became refined.
His forging became smoother and smoother, the hammer rising and falling with a rhythm. The breastplate, greaves, and gauntlets gradually took shape, each part precisely matching the blueprint, surrounded by Holy Light and shimmering with a faint golden-white flow.
Na'er crouched by the forging table, watching with great interest. She occasionally picked up metal scraps from the floor to play with, chanting, "Go, Brother Arthur!"
Mu Ye was busy to the side, assembling the soul tool core according to Gu Yue's design.
His fingers flew as he embedded small parts made of Flowing Fire Secret Copper one by one. Then, using Spiritual Power to activate the Formation, the core instantly lit up with a pale purple light, resonating with the battle armor components Arthur was forging.
Three hours later, Arthur's final hammer strike fell. The fire on the forging table receded, and a set of battle armor components shimmering with golden-white Holy Light lay quietly on the table.
Gu Yue stepped forward, and after confirming there were no flaws, she nodded. "It's ready for assembly."
Mu Ye stepped up, embedded the soul tool core into the breastplate's slot, and then joined the various components together.
As the final heart-protecting mirror clicked into place, the battle armor instantly lit up with a dazzling light. Holy Light and soul tool energy fused together. The crimson of the Dragon Blood Red Gold, the silver-white of the Deep Sea Sunken Silver, and the golden-yellow of the starfall gold intertwined, radiant and imposing.
"Whoa..." Arthur stepped forward. With a light tug of Soul Power, the entire set of battle armor turned into a stream of light that wrapped around his body without the slightest bit of friction.
He raised his hand and clenched his fist. The golden-white Holy Light flowed along the battle armor's patterns. The wind from his punch carried a sharp whistling sound, and a sacred Aura rushed toward him.
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