Taking in a deep breath, Gu You gripped the pair of thousand-refined life essence hammers tightly as he absorbed the knowledge he had just read about ice crystal ore.
After only a few minutes of heating, the ice crystal ore reached a malleable state. Its surface softened, resembling softened iron — yet unlike molten metal, it held its shape as a unified block.
Ice crystal ore could technically be forged without heating, but only a master craftsman at the Grandmaster or Saint Craftsman level would dare to attempt that.
Gu You carefully lifted the heated ice crystal from the forge, securing it firmly in place. His eyes grew sharp and focused as he raised one of the hammers and gave a light tap on the metal's surface. A crisp, bell-like ring echoed through the air.
This was the "test strike." Every forger would start this way — using a light tap to test the toughness, elasticity, and internal purity of the ore or metal, forming an initial understanding of the impurities within.
Watching Gu You's serious, focused manner, Feng Wuyu secretly nodded in approval. He hadn't taught the boy about the test strike — Gu You had figured it out just by reading through the forge manuals on the side. That level of perception and concentration was incredibly rare.
For Feng Wuyu, this session wasn't just a teaching moment — it was a test to see how high the boy's forging talent might reach. The fact that Gu You had stumbled into producing a thousand-refined piece the day before was already shocking. Feng Wuyu knew deep down: if properly cultivated, this child could one day reach heights even he himself could never achieve.
But that realization brought a tinge of sorrow. Feng Wuyu couldn't truly pass down his own core techniques to Gu You — the boy's future lay beyond him. After all, he himself hadn't grasped Heavenly Refinement. Even if Feng Wuyu wanted to take Gu You as a formal disciple, Yun Ming would never approve. The only one qualified to guide Gu You fully… was that legendary figure.
Still, getting Gu You to at least call him "Master" as a token, even if just as a nominal disciple, was something to be proud of.
Currently, the youngest record-holder for achieving true thousand-refinement was a Saint Craftsman who'd accomplished it at ten years, six months, and four days old. If Gu You succeeded today, at just six years old, it would shatter that myth entirely.
Of course, Gu You had no idea Feng Wuyu was thinking about such heavy matters. He was fully immersed in his task, channeling every ounce of his mental focus into the glowing block of ice crystal before him.
Raising both hammers, he struck down. With a muffled thud, the ore squashed like sticky dough. Before the material could bounce back, he immediately struck again, and again — seemingly with no fixed rhythm, but every strike perfectly timed.
His unique understanding was shining through: if the material was unstable, then hammer it into stability; if it resisted, then apply constant pressure until no impurities remained.
Although he'd never officially learned thousand-refinement, Gu You was piecing together all the knowledge he had absorbed over the past two days — his limited hands-on experience, the processes he'd observed, and the accidental success from before — and blending it into a method that felt uniquely his.
He remembered how the life essence hammers had infused their energy into the metal yesterday. That gave him inspiration: if he could infuse life force ahead of time, the process would smooth out naturally, and he could execute it all in one seamless flow.
Sure, he'd never tried forging ice crystal ore before, but his instincts told him that if it worked on other metals, it should work here too.
Again and again, he struck. Then he reheated. Again and again, he hammered, drawing on every ounce of strength.
Despite the process being called "hundred-refinement," Gu You had already struck far beyond one hundred times. For ice crystal ore, which was notoriously elastic, one hammer strike might briefly deform the surface — but without continuous force, it would simply rebound.
With his martial soul enhancing his body, Gu You estimated each strike carried over 200 jin of force.
Hundred-refinement was just the foundation; only after completing it could one proceed to thousand-refinement and beyond.
As the hammering continued, Gu You's face flushed red, his breath growing ragged. Not just from the high temperatures surrounding the forge, but from the sheer physical exhaustion of applying maximum force with every swing.
And this time, unlike yesterday's practice, the life essence from the hammers wasn't flowing into him to aid recovery — instead, he was channeling that energy directly into the ice crystal, enhancing the chances of a successful thousand-refinement.
In the middle phase of the forging, Gu You began to deliberately ease his strength. Not just to conserve energy, but because the impurities within the ore had already been mostly expelled. Typically, even after a hundred-refinement, most metals still contained residual impurities — but ice crystal ore was unique. Its formation under the extreme conditions of the Far North left it naturally pure, requiring fewer strikes to reach the sublimation point.
What Gu You didn't realize was that his powerful spiritual force was also playing a crucial role. After enduring the intense forging process, his spirit power had subtly increased, allowing him to sustain focus for longer periods.
When Dragon Yali had tested his spirit power in the Spirit Transmission Tower, he had scored 74 points — already a level that surpassed most Soul Elders. But now, Gu You's spirit power was likely nearing 100, an exceptional threshold.
One hour passed. The ice crystal began to solidify into a stable mass, its icy blue surface shimmering faintly with golden light.
Three hours passed. The ore had shrunk by two-thirds, transformed into a flawless cube resembling a sapphire, its surface glowing with both frosty white and streaks of pale gold.
Gu You's clothes were drenched with sweat, clinging to his skin. Each time he raised the hammer now, he had to pause briefly just to catch his breath and gather the strength to continue.
Despite the grueling pace, the three hours of intimate, concentrated work had allowed Gu You to fully "communicate" with the ore.
If one looked closely, they would see tiny indentations at each corner of the cube, all perfectly uniform, evidence of countless precise hammer strikes.
Each subtle vibration, every delicate shift in sound, every ripple of resonance — they had all spoken to Gu You, revealing the material's nature.
Drawing in a deep breath, Gu You readied himself for the final push.
He had felt the soul of this metal. He knew its pattern, its temperament. Now it was time for the final act: the thousand-refinement sublimation.
The forge roared, its orange flames surging higher as Gu You pressed the heat controls to maximum. Jets of fire encircled the ice crystal block, searing its surface.
His arms ached, his muscles screamed, but every time the pain became unbearable, a strange warmth pulsed from his spine, flowing through his limbs and dissolving the agony. His martial soul's power reinforced his body, while he kept soul energy cycling through his arms, maintaining his striking strength.
'Perfect purification,' Feng Wuyu realized, eyes wide in disbelief.
This meant that as long as Gu You maintained his strikes and kept feeling the metal's rhythm, success was inevitable. And the sublimation? That had been established from the very start — the life energy from the hammers had been soaking into the ore all along, embedding a unique sublimation effect that no other enhancement could replicate.
Even though he had suspected as much, watching this six-year-old forging prodigy unfold before his very eyes, Feng Wuyu couldn't help but feel awestruck.
(End of Chapter)
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