Gu You's forging had already passed the first quarter-hour and was steadily approaching the second.
Judging by the current size of the titanium crystal, it was clear his opponent had the upper hand. The titanium crystal on the other side had already shrunk by a tenth, and there was no sign of any fractures. That was already a fairly high level of forging skill.
In comparison, the titanium crystal in front of Gu You was still glowing orange-red, and its size hadn't shrunk in the slightest. It looked like it hadn't changed at all. Indeed, how could such light hammer strikes reduce something as hard as titanium crystal?
But Gu You remained unaffected. He was completely immersed in his world of forging. His eyes were half-closed, and every time he swung the forging hammers, they landed lightly and precisely, neither hurried nor sluggish.
Suddenly, his opponent's twin hammers slammed down heavily. A radiant golden light erupted from the titanium crystal.
Brilliant light flared up a full foot in height. Thousand-refinement, first-grade. The titanium crystal had awakened.
Exclamations burst out from the stands. A metal's awakening signaled a successful thousand-refinement, and rising over a foot in light height clearly marked it as first-grade.
Forging titanium crystal to a first-grade thousand-refinement level was several times harder than doing so with any regular rare metal.
The boy put his hammers away and stepped back, breathing slightly labored. The light from the titanium crystal remained stable for over ten seconds before gradually fading. The reddish glow receded from the metal surface, revealing flattened gold sheets where there had once been a chaotic tangle of gold threads. The entire piece had shrunk by about twenty percent, and golden reflections danced across its surface. It was a fairly high-quality first-grade product.
He had finished late, but his completion of a first-grade titanium refinement came first. The boy didn't continue forging, showing his confidence in the result.
As the time approached the final moments of the round, Gu You was still forging. His titanium crystal hadn't shrunk at all. Covered in its orange-red glow, its interior was completely hidden.
Time ticked on. Gu You's dual life-hammers rang out more and more rapidly.
"Final ten seconds. Countdown begins!" the referee announced in a loud, clear voice, maintaining fairness and order in the match.
"Ten... six... three..."
At the instant of the final three seconds, Gu You's hammers suddenly pulled upward. His entire body seemed to expand slightly. A low dragon's roar suddenly echoed from within him as a surging purple-gold radiance burst forth, flooding into the titanium crystal.
The orange-red glow of the titanium crystal trembled. In the next moment, its color changed entirely. The orange-red shell peeled away like citrus skin, revealing a dazzling purple-gold core. The radiant light shot skyward.
At the same time, a halo lit up around Gu You himself. The dragon's roar rose in pitch, and a dragon's head could vaguely be seen howling to the heavens above him.
Brilliant gold light blazed. The titanium crystal awakened.
The purple-gold light surged five feet high—several times taller than his opponent's.
Only then could the spectators see what Gu You had created. His titanium crystal had become a perfectly round sphere. The chaotic internal threads were gone, replaced by a golden orb with fine, even patterns, as if woven meticulously from gold wire.
And that wasn't even the most shocking part. As the light flared, the titanium crystal's outer layer began to shrink slowly. In a matter of seconds, it had shrunk by a third.
'What even is this? How can forging be like this? This is godlike!'
Just then, a figure dropped from the sky and smacked Gu You hard on the back of the head.
"Quit showing off and keep going. A living form has taken shape. You'll definitely get spirit forging if you follow through. Do I have to spell it out for you? If it becomes a top-tier spirit-forged piece, its value triples at minimum."
"Ow, that hurt, you old fart!" Gu You rubbed the back of his head.
"You little punk! Try calling me that again." Feng Wuyu's face darkened.
"Old fart. Old geezer. Old fart," Gu You fired back three times in a row.
"Forget it. I'm magnanimous. Just keep forging." Feng Wuyu waved it off with a snort.
Gu You also dropped the sass and focused his attention entirely on the titanium crystal before him.
His strikes changed. Gone was the light touch, replaced by thunderous pounding.
Meanwhile, his opponent was starting to lose composure. He had joined the Shrek Blacksmith Association, so of course he recognized the man who had just slapped Gu You's head.
'How... how could it be him?'
A flicker of bitterness crossed the boy's eyes. 'Fine, the guy's stronger than me. I'll live with that. Even more talented in forging? Fine. I'll take it. But does he have to be better-looking too?'
Another teenage boy's fragile self-esteem shattered.
Gu You's soul power surged and roared within his body. He wasn't holding anything back. Compared to his first time attempting spirit forging, he was far more confident now.
'Even if worst comes to worst and I run out of soul power, don't I still have blood essence?'
Strike after strike landed. Faint green light emanated from his hammers and merged into the titanium crystal.
Inside, the golden sphere began to stretch and glow more brilliantly. The titanium crystal's outer shell shrank, while the golden core grew. It was a bizarre sight.
Everyone knew that once titanium crystal was refined into pure titanium essence, spirit forging was complete. At that point, the metal had life. Even Title Douluo would be tempted by such a piece—so long as they hadn't reached the four-word battle armor tier—because spirit-forged titanium could be merged into any other sentient alloy.
Titanium crystal was rare. Titanium essence, even more so. A perfect piece of titanium essence once fetched nearly eighty million federal coins at auction.
Life energy from the life hammers poured into the titanium crystal, tiny green threads embedding themselves in the growing metal. The process of imbuing life was already guaranteed.
Now, it was only a matter of time.
Boom—
The final hammer strike landed, a sound like cracking eggshells ringing out.
A faint fracture line spread across the surface of the titanium crystal.
'Did it fail? Did it crack? Was this a failure?'
The entire crowd held their breath.
But in the next instant, every eye widened.
The crack spiderwebbed across the entire golden sphere. Then, it burst apart. Gentle light spilled out from within...
(End of Chapter)
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