r18novel Chapter 259 Ji Juechen Embarks on the Path of Forging?
Chapter 259 Ji Juechen Embarks on the Path of Forging?
Chapter 259 Ji Juechen Embarks on the Path of Forging?
"Me?" Jing Ziyan pointed to herself in disbelief. "Me, going into your boys' dormitory?"
Huo Yuhao didn't explain, he just nodded.
"Fine, I'll go."
Jing Ziyan finally agreed. With Ji Juechen by her side, she wasn't worried about Huo Yuhao doing anything wrong, nor was she concerned about rumors spreading.
With the forging method binding Ji Juechen, and Ji Juechen binding Jing Ziyan, Huo Yuhao chose to trust the two and took them to the undead demiplane to raise them.
Otherwise, it wouldn't be very convenient for Huo Yuhao to go to Shrek Academy on his own.
"Where is this place?"
Upon entering the Gate of the Dead, the two were astonished by their surroundings.
Putting aside the strange environment, the bizarre atmosphere brought about by the coexistence of light and the dead, and the absence of soul power in the air, makes it extremely uncomfortable for soul masters who are not of the light or the dead attributes to stay here.
"Welcome to the Demiplane of the Dead, a parallel world to the Douluo Continent that I was fortunate enough to obtain..."
After giving a brief introduction to the undead demiplane as usual, Huo Yuhao led the two to the forging room.
"Regarding how I upgraded your sword, to be precise, I reforged it. You've probably heard of 'hundred-times-forged iron,' right?"
Jing Ziyan snorted: "Isn't that obvious? Everyone knows that Hundred-Refined Iron is still one of the commonly used materials for the outer shell of low-level soul tools."
"Well, since you can understand Hundred-Refined Iron, you should be able to understand what I'm about to say even better."
"If rare metals are like ordinary iron, then through forging, the quality of rare metals can be greatly improved, just like the difference between iron that has been forged a hundred times and ordinary iron."
"And the sword in Ji Juechen's hand is meteorite iron that I have forged a thousand times."
"What is 'thousand-times forging'? 'Thousand-times forging' means forging a rare metal to its best state, which is the ultimate state that this rare metal can reach."
Ji Juechen nodded slightly.
Ji Juechen was all too aware of the changes in the meteorite iron sword in his hand.
"Speaking of which, Brother Ji really surprised me. When I was studying the forging method of meteorite iron, I found that the sword in Brother Ji's hand was already close to the level of the hundred-forged meteorite iron that I forged. Perhaps after a while, even if I don't take action, the meteorite iron sword can also reach the true level of a hundred-forged sword."
Jing Ziyan understood Huo Yuhao's subtext: if Huo Yuhao didn't intervene, Ji Juechen would have no chance of refining the sword to its highest level on his own.
"Didn't you say that a thousand refinements is the limit that rare metals can achieve?"
Suddenly, Jing Ziyan noticed the problem in Huo Yuhao's words.
How will Huo Yuhao fulfill his promise to them—to continue upgrading the Meteorite Sword?
"That's true. After being forged a thousand times, the quality of the metal not only completely surpasses that of the forged metal, but under enough circumstances, it can even develop some unique properties."
As he spoke, Huo Yuhao took out a forging hammer.
"For example, this forging hammer in my hand, made of a thousand-times-refined silver, has developed a stacked hammer effect. The so-called stacked hammer is that after a first hammer blow, the metal itself will generate a second hammer blow with 50% more force through its own resonance."
"From this, we can see that the Path of a Thousand Refinements has come to an end. There is no such thing as Ten Thousand Refinements. Further refinement will only result in unstable products such as special characteristics."
"However..."
Huo Yuhao changed the subject and continued, "I recently acquired a new batch of Ice Extreme God Crystals, which has given me new ideas about the future of forging."
As he spoke, Huo Yuhao took out a piece of Ice Extreme Divine Crystal containing Ice Spirit and a piece of ordinary Ice Extreme Divine Crystal and tossed them to Ji Juechen.
"Feel the difference between these two rare metals."
Ji Juechen took the two pieces of metal and immediately focused his attention on the rare metal with ice spirit.
"This is... the aura of life force?"
"No, that's not right, it's not just about vitality... This metal has life?"
Upon reaching this conclusion, Ji Juechen's breathing became heavier.
"You mean... the next step in forging is to give rare metals life?"
"That's right."
Huo Yuhao agreed, "I call this step Spirit Forging, which awakens the initial intelligence of rare metals and gives them life."
"life……"
Ji Juechen stroked the sword in his hand, his face filled with rapture, as if he were witnessing the sword come to life and dance with him.
Ji Juechen took a deep breath, bowed deeply to Huo Yuhao, and said earnestly, "Please teach me the forging method."
"Brother Ji, there's no need for such a grand gesture. I brought you here to demonstrate it myself."
After feeling the temperature of the furnace, Huo Yuhao took out a piece of meteorite iron and began to heat it.
"From the very beginning, you came here to upgrade your meteorite iron sword. So, I will use this meteorite iron as an example to demonstrate the methods of hundred-fold and thousand-fold forging. Watch closely!"
Heating the meteorite iron to a reddish-brown color, Huo Yuhao picked up a forging hammer and struck the meteorite iron forcefully.
"The first step in forging is a hundred forgings."
"The process of refining metal a hundred times is like refining iron a hundred times. An important criterion for judging whether metal has completed the process of refining a hundred times is whether there are any other impurities in the metal."
According to Huo Yuhao's explanation, the size of the meteorite decreased with each strike until it approached a limit and stopped shrinking.
At this moment, Huo Yuhao stopped forging with the hammer and handed the Hundred-Refined Meteorite Iron to Ji Juechen to feel.
"The purpose of a hundred forgings is to purify and solidify the metal. When Brother Ji handed it to me, it was already solid enough. The only flaw is that the impurities were not completely removed."
Ji Juechen nodded eagerly.
No one knew better than Ji Juechen about the changes in the sword in his hand. Compared with the meteorite iron in Huo Yuhao's hand, the previous sword did have some impurities and was not perfect.
"After a hundred forgings, comes a thousand forgings."
Huo Yuhao retrieved the Hundred-Refined Meteorite Iron and threw it into the furnace again.
"After being refined a hundred times, this metal has reached the pinnacle of purity. So, how can this metal be further improved?"
"This involves the form of metal, just like the soul power that is all around us. Without guidance, it cannot do anything to us, but with the guidance of a soul master or soul tool, it can flow according to certain rules and evolve into soul skills or soul guidance arrays."
"The process of refining metal a thousand times is to give rise to its own unique texture from the chaotic and disordered metal."
"Just like the myriad wonders of soul-guiding arrays, every blacksmith's path of forging is different, and the finished products they forge are also different. Therefore, there is no unified standard for forging. The only thing to judge the degree of forging is the spirituality of the metal."
"That's right. Thousand forging can make metal nearly perfect, and even give it the rudiments of intelligence. Therefore, if you incorporate your own blood during the thousand forging process, the metal will recognize you as its master and become unusable by anyone else."
bump--
As the final hammer fell, amidst a deafening roar, a dark light suddenly erupted from the meteorite, shooting up a full ten feet into the air.
"This is the mark of a thousand forgings completed, the spiritual light. The quality of the forged metal is confirmed by the length of the spiritual light. One zhang is the first grade of a thousand forgings, which is the ultimate of a thousand forgings."
Sensing the metal that seemed to originate from the same source as the sword in his hand, Ji Juechen was momentarily filled with regret.
Ji Juechen regretted not starting to learn forging from Huo Yuhao sooner. If only he could have forged the sword in his hand himself and performed a blood sacrifice.
"Tsk, they've actually got some skills."
Jing Ziyan, forgotten in the corner, clicked her tongue softly.
Although Jing Ziyan doesn't use soul tools, she's seen it all, hasn't she? Over the years, she's seen thousands of rare metals and can easily tell that the difference between the metal before and after forging is like divine retribution.
This so-called thousand-refined meteorite iron is probably enough to make an eighth-level soul tool.
"This concludes my understanding of forging. I only have a general direction for forging now; how to proceed further will likely require further discussion and research between us."
"It's your turn to forge now."
As he spoke, Huo Yuhao gave up his seat and took out a Thousand-Refined Silver Forging Hammer without any special effects.
At the same time, Huo Yuhao took out a piece of meteorite iron and put it into the furnace to heat it up: "Since you started out to forge the sword in your hand, then start learning directly from meteorite iron."
Although meteorite iron is very rare, Huo Yuhao has taken quite a lot from Mingde Hall over the years, and he doesn't feel any pain in giving some to Ji Juechen to squander.
Ji Juechen silently approached the forging table, holding a forging hammer in one hand and stroking the sword in the other, as if performing some sacred ritual.
"Let's begin."
Huo Yuhao placed the red-hot meteorite iron on the forging table and took a step back, giving Ji Juechen room to work his magic.
"bump--!"
Ji Juechen tentatively struck the meteorite with his hammer, the immense force causing it to dent.
"Is physical strength at the Soul Saint level still too exaggerated?"
Seeing this, Huo Yuhao's lips twitched slightly.
I didn't have this kind of brute force when I first learned forging.
As if surprised by his own strength, Ji Juechen picked up the pliers, bent the meteorite iron together, and then slammed it down again after controlling his strength.
As Ji Juechen adapted to the force of forging, the forging process gradually got on track.
"Hello,"
Huo Yuhao felt a poke in his back. He turned around and saw that it was Jing Ziyan who had walked over and was carefully observing Ji Juechen's movements.
"What's wrong?"
"How's Ji Juechen doing?"
Jing Ziyan spoke very softly, as if afraid of disturbing Ji Juechen, who was engrossed in his performance.
"Very good. I didn't perform as well as him the first time I forged. It seems that forging a hundred times won't be a challenge for him."
Upon hearing this, Jing Ziyan also showed an expression of pride, as if Huo Yuhao was praising her.
Huo Yuhao was telling the truth. His first attempt at the Hundred Forging Techniques was quite ugly. He relied on mental detection to check for impurities in the metal bit by bit, and then used brute force to knock the metal out little by little. It didn't feel like forging at all.
As they forged more and more, through repeated forging, they learned how to more effectively remove impurities from metal.
Ji Juechen had already brought the meteorite iron close to a hundred refinements through his own will and soul power. For Ji Juechen, now he was just learning how to use the forging hammer to complete the previous steps.
Furthermore, Ji Juechen is already a Soul Emperor, almost a Soul Saint, so his control over his body is much higher, and the force he unleashes is very accurate with little waste, so he can learn very quickly.
Less than half an hour later, Ji Juechen stopped forging and looked at Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao nodded slightly and said, "Not bad. On your first attempt at forging, you completed a hundred forgings in just half an hour. I estimate that no one will surpass your record anytime soon."
After confirming that there were no problems, Ji Juechen took the initiative to put the hundred-refined meteorite iron into the furnace.
This requires a thousand forgings.
Huo Yuhao checked the time; it was only midnight, six hours before dawn, so he let Ji Juechen try.
There are no tricks to forging a thousand times; you can only practice more. Unlike forging a hundred times, there are no patterns to follow, and all the finished products look the same.
Huo Yuhao himself didn't know how he completed his first Thousand Refinement. He only knew that after getting carried away, he relied on the life force provided by the living metal and locked himself in the undead demiplane without eating or drinking, hammering for several months. He went completely mad. Perhaps it was luck that he finally managed to hammer out a Thousand Refinement piece before he was exhausted.
By sheer coincidence, the blood he vomited ended up landing right on that piece of forged metal.
Thinking of this, Huo Yuhao still felt it would be better to mention it, so he told Ji Juechen the original words of the level 50 blacksmithing teacher in the Legend of the Dragon King:
"There are no techniques I can teach you about forging. All I can tell you is that when you are forging, you must treat the metal as a living being and try every possible way to communicate with it during the forging process. Only through perfect communication can it truly recognize you, discover its secrets, and find its texture. For you, it is best to treat this metal as your sword, forging it with your heart and experiencing its essence."
"Are you using metal as a sword?"
Ji Juechen murmured softly, closing his eyes to adjust his state.
Half an hour later, Ji Juechen opened his eyes again and looked at the meteorite iron in front of him. It seemed not to be a piece of metal, but rather...
sword.
That's right, what Ji Juechen wanted to forge was not anything else, but a sword!
The next moment, Ji Juechen moved, slamming into the forging table in a perfect arc, carrying the full force of his body.
boom!
A tremendous roar resounded, causing Huo Yuhao, who was watching the show, to straighten up.
Could it be that Ji Juechen is going to ruin this forging platform that he painstakingly built?
No, no, this is a forging platform made of thousand-refined titanium, which is the hardest material that can be found in the Douluo Continent. It can't be damaged no matter what.
Huo Yuhao comforted himself in his heart.
On the other side, Ji Juechen was still desperately bombarding the metal on the forging table.
Ji Juechen's sword.
It is the most resilient sword, forged amidst countless taunts and sarcastic remarks.
It is the strongest sword, forged in countless clashes with powerful enemies.
What Ji Juechen wants is a sword that remains strong despite countless trials and tribulations, unaffected by any winds from east, west, north, or south!
With each strike, the scorching metal became increasingly tough.
With each strike, the deformation of the metal decreases.
Until it remained unmoved.
As Ji Juechen's final hammer blow landed.
"boom--!"
A dazzling silver light shot up.
Huo Yuhao's pupils contracted.
A spiritual light that shines for ten feet, refined a thousand times to reach the highest grade.
Ji Juechen, that guy, achieved the first rank on his first thousand-times-forging attempt!
(End of this chapter)