Kneading Qi and Blood into the Material

The weight was just right, and it transmitted qi and blood with extraordinary smoothness.

It was definitely ten thousand times better than the piece of junk iron hammer downstairs that cost a hundred thousand yuan.

“Fine.”

Su Yu hefted the Mountain-Shaking Hammer in one hand and nodded.

“Then I thank you, Senior.”

“Let’s go.”

Su Yu turned around and called out to Lin Xiaoxiao, who was still standing stunned outside the door.

“To the top floor.”

“The Extreme Flame Forge.”

Zong Yan watched Su Yu carry his personal weapon as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

The corners of his eyes twitched.

This kid really wasn’t shy about taking advantage of people!

Still, for the sake of the future of a mythic-grade mecha, he would endure it!

“Move!”

Zong Yan swept out his sleeve with imposing authority.

“I’d like to see what kind of battle armor you can forge today!”

The three of them left the examination area.

They took a private VIP elevator straight to the Extreme Flame Forge on the top floor of the Celestial Works Pavilion.

Inside the elevator, Lin Xiaoxiao stood obediently behind Su Yu, not daring to make a sound.

Her mind was still filled with the words Zong Yan had just spoken: “Saint-grade blacksmith.”

As she stared at Su Yu’s back, the admiration in her eyes had transformed into the reverence one would show a god.

Zong Yan, meanwhile, stood with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, seemingly resting.

Inwardly, he was calculating which of his most profound techniques to use when inscribing the array patterns later, so that he could intimidate this ignorant, overconfident boy as thoroughly as possible.

Ding.

The elevator doors opened.

A wave of heat far more intense than anything outside surged toward them. Even the air seemed to warp.

Before them lay a vast, circular domed hall. Dozens of advanced forging chambers built from basalt were scattered throughout the area.

Most of the chambers had red lights glowing above their doors. Through the energy-gathering crystal glass, one could see the roaring furnaces within. The muffled clang of hammers and the thunderous rumble of fire-vein extraction intertwined, while the air was filled with the feverish scent of metal and sweat.

From time to time, a chamber door would open to release heat, revealing a middle-aged master smith inside, bare-chested and locked in a fierce struggle with his materials.

This was where the most elite blacksmiths in the capital gathered.

Zong Yan, however, paid no attention to the commotion around them.

With his hands clasped behind his back, he led the two of them through the hall and straight to a solitary dark-red gate at the very back. Complex, high-level restrictions flowed across its surface.

Room One of the Celestial Wing—the Extreme Flame Forge—was the exclusive domain of the Saint-grade master Zong Yan within the Celestial Works Pavilion.

Zong Yan casually dispelled the restrictions and pushed open the massive gate.

Boom!

An even purer and more violent wave of heat roared out!

The spacious forge was covered in flame-gathering array patterns. At its center stood a colossal dark-red furnace that extended directly into the underground main vein. In its chamber, the incomparably pure flames of the earth’s core churned wildly, like a primordial beast ready to devour anyone who came near.

“What pure fire-vein energy.”

Su Yu drew in a deep breath, sensing the dense fire-element spiritual energy in the air.

The environment here was even better than he had expected.

He could even clearly sense the frequency of each pulse from the earth’s core fire vein.

“Kid.”

Zong Yan walked over to the forge and skillfully activated several auxiliary array hubs.

The furnace flames instantly surged in temperature, yet remained firmly confined to the forging platform.

He turned to look at Su Yu, a hint of scrutiny in his eyes.

“I’ve had the materials delivered.”

“Tell me. What grade of battle armor are you planning to forge?”

“Battle General grade? Or Pojun grade?”

In Zong Yan’s opinion, no matter how monstrous Su Yu’s talent was, forging a battle armor for the first time and producing a Pojun-grade piece would already be the absolute limit.

“Battle General grade.”

Su Yu answered calmly.

“I need to finish it as quickly as possible.”

At that answer, Zong Yan was slightly taken aback.

Battle General grade?

He had assumed that, possessing such an heaven-defying purification technique, this kid would be arrogant enough to challenge a Pojun-grade armor—or even a Skyvault-grade one.

But then again, this should be his first time forging battle armor.

For a young man’s first attempt, avoiding reckless ambition and focusing on stability was a good thing.

Su Yu flicked his wrist.

The cheap materials he had purchased earlier from the basic materials section downstairs—

black iron mother ore, refined red copper, the spine of a Wind Demon Wolf, and star-patterned steel ore—

all came tumbling out with a clatter, landing in the alloy tray beside the forging platform.

Zong Yan frowned slightly as he glanced at the materials.

“Kid, you’re planning to use this scrap metal?”

“I already told you. The Celestial Works Pavilion’s treasury is open to you.”

“You can choose some high-grade materials, such as deep-sea silver or ten-thousand-year cold iron.”

Zong Yan earnestly tried to persuade him.

“Even if your purification technique is as extraordinary as you claim, these low-grade materials still have physical limits. What kind of decent equipment can you produce with them?”

Su Yu shook his head.

High-grade materials were indeed superior.

But the higher the grade of the material, the denser and more formidable its internal structure.

Even with the assistance of the earth’s core fire vein in the Extreme Flame Forge, perfectly melting and reshaping such materials—and using qi and blood to inscribe array patterns deep within them—would require several times, or even more than ten times, the effort.

That was absolutely not a task that could be completed in just a few hours.

Besides, he had to reach the Dark Web auction house before six that evening and sell the demon saint-grade core for money.

That was the true main event of the day.

If he used high-grade materials, there simply wouldn’t be enough time.

“No need.”

“These will be enough.”

With that, Su Yu stopped wasting words and turned to face the Extreme Flame Furnace, where the pure flames of the earth’s core blazed.

He raised the Mountain-Shaking Hammer, which weighed tens of thousands of tons, with one hand.

Then he closed his eyes.

He took a deep breath.

Hum—

Deep within his mind, the monotonous forging years stretching across a hundred billion years fully awakened at that moment.

The Heavenly Art of Creation—Grand Perfection!

Su Yu abruptly opened his eyes. A terrifying focus flashed through his deep, crystalline gaze.

He used none of the conventional molds.

Instead, he wrapped the pile of basic materials in qi and blood and brutally hurled them straight into the Extreme Flame Furnace!

Boom!

The violent flames of the earth’s core instantly swallowed the materials, transforming them into a mass of searing molten metal.

Su Yu raised the Mountain-Shaking Hammer.

His waist sank slightly, while his spine stretched like a drawn bow.

Then he brought the hammer down!

At the instant the hammerhead was about to strike the molten metal, the thousand points of dark-gold divine blood he had deliberately suppressed within his body surged through his arm and poured without reserve into the Mountain-Shaking Hammer.

Divine Revelation of Heavenly Craft!

This heaven-defying forging technique erupted into action.

Bang!

The deep clang of metal rang throughout the forge.

Zong Yan had originally stood with his arms crossed, preparing to observe how Su Yu handled the materials’ initial fusion.

But in the next instant—

Zong Yan’s pupils contracted to their utmost limit!

He abruptly stepped forward and stared fixedly at the forging platform.

“This…”

“What kind of technique is that?!”

Zong Yan’s voice had changed pitch from sheer shock.

What had he just seen?!

As Su Yu’s hammer fell, strands of dark-gold qi and blood—disguised on the surface as ordinary qi and blood—did not merely remain on the surface of the material as they would in conventional forging.

Instead, following the hammer’s vibrations, they were forcibly driven straight into the heart of the molten metal!

Qi and blood had been fused into the material!

As a Saint-grade blacksmith, Zong Yan had witnessed countless ancient forging schools.

Yet he swore he had never seen such an unreasonable—and yet incredibly profound—method before!

Ordinary forging involved using high temperatures and external force to reshape materials and remove impurities.

But what was Su Yu doing now?

He was forcing his own qi and blood into the material’s microscopic structure!

He was merging his qi and blood with the material on the deepest possible level!

The material’s originally fragile properties were instantly and completely activated under the stimulation of his qi and blood, like dry tinder catching fire!

The impurities were directly annihilated by the qi and blood.

Meanwhile, the essence of the material underwent an inconceivable transformation as it was enveloped and nourished by the qi and blood!

This maximized the activation of the material’s hidden properties, forcibly raising its grade in the process!

“He’s insane…”

Zong Yan felt his scalp go numb. Even breathing had suddenly become extremely difficult.

The level of control over one’s qi and blood this required was simply too high!