Su Ming stopped the forging hammer in his hand.
He looked at the iron block before him, which had been tempered to its limit, and fell into deep thought.
Beside him, Duan Jin stared at Su Ming as if looking at a rare treasure, then turned his gaze to the iron block Su Ming had forged.
Seeing Su Ming lost in thought, he assumed Su Ming had been in an excellent state just moments before and was now digesting his recent progress.
In reality, Su Ming was plagued by doubt.
"Just now, my state was absolutely without issue. I was following the blacksmith's forging method to knock on the metal's window,' to communicate with the metal, but the metal lacked that spirituality."
The forging principle from the Soul Land III era—"Metal has spirit"—was directly inapplicable in Soul Land I!
This was not good news.
If this speculation turned out to be true, it meant the Soul Land I Su Ming would lose the possibility of becoming a Blacksmith and mastering later-era forging techniques like Spirit Forging, Soul Forging, and even Heaven Forging ahead of time in this era.
Losing the possibility of being a Blacksmith also meant he would forfeit the qualification to continue on the path of a Battle Armor Master.
Su Ming took a deep breath to calm his heart.
"Perhaps this iron is just ordinary iron, not a rare metal, which is why it lacks spirituality."
He also made himself stop feeling discouraged. In reality, even if he couldn't walk the path of a Battle Armor Master, the impact on him wouldn't be huge. He could still be invincible among his peers in the Soul Land I era; this was the confidence his Body Soul gave him.
It's just that this would put more pressure on his other two selves. The three secondary professions wouldn't be shared equally among the three selves anymore, but between two.
After all, if Battle Armor couldn't enhance the Soul Land I Su Ming, then delving into any secondary profession would be a losing proposition. In an era most conducive to becoming a god, wasting energy on a losing deal would only result in greater intangible losses.
"I can't completely confirm that Spirit Forging is impossible in this era yet. I still need to maintain some optimism."
While Su Ming was struggling internally, Duan Jin had already picked up the refined iron he had forged and began examining it.
"Too perfect. This iron feels like it's on the verge of transformation at any moment," he murmured. "If it were made from legendary divine iron as the base, it might further transform and give birth to spirituality."
Su Ming snapped out of his thoughts, hearing Duan Jin's low muttering.
A glint of light flashed in his eyes.
Just as he was doubting Spirit Forging was possible in this era, Duan Jin gave him an answer.
So, this era already had the concept of Spirit Forging?
The fact that Duan Jin could speak of metal giving birth to spirituality clearly indicated the Blacksmith Association had records of this.
"Brother Duan, what did you mean just now about 'giving birth to spirituality'? Can metal also possess intelligence?"
Duan Jin didn't expect Su Ming, upon waking, to focus on his words.
He smiled and explained to Su Ming, "It's not that giving birth to spirituality means possessing intelligence. It just means the metal becomes more vibrant and gains the prerequisite to become true life and nurture wisdom."
He continued, "On our Douluo Continent, all things can potentially become Spirit Beasts. There are animal-type Spirit Beasts, plant-type Spirit Beasts, and many strange life forms that turn into Spirit Beasts. The Blacksmith Association has records of works by historically famous Divine Blacksmiths. Their masterpieces all gave birth to spirituality and indeed had the potential to become Spirit Beasts."
"Indeed had!"
Su Ming caught Duan Jin's wording.
That meant the Blacksmith Association had cases, verified over time, of metal that initially only had basic spirituality, eventually turning into Spirit Beasts!
"Metal... can also become a Spirit Beast..." Su Ming murmured aloud.
He didn't just think it; he said it out loud, hoping Duan Jin would elaborate further.
"Yes, metal can also possess life. And this is the lifelong pursuit of us blacksmiths. As long as you can forge metal that possesses spirituality, you can become a Divine Blacksmith!"
"Become the undisputed god of the entire blacksmithing field!"
Su Ming drew a sharp breath.
"So that's the criterion for being a Divine Blacksmith."
"Correct!" Duan Jin said. "This isn't a secret within the Blacksmith Association. To become a Divine Blacksmith, you must forge a piece that possesses spirituality."
There were three Divine Blacksmiths in the current era, meaning three people had achieved this feat.
But only three.
While excited, Su Ming also felt a weight settle on him.
He could sense that forging spiritual metal in this era absolutely had many restrictions.
"Ah, unfortunately, truly spiritual metal is nowhere near easy to create. It requires the right time, place, and people. You not only need the right special metal but also an environment that matches the metal, plus the forging techniques of a truly top-tier blacksmith."
Su Ming asked, "Is this kind of special metal very rare?"
"More than just rare," Duan Jin shook his head. "Gengxin City gathers the vast majority of the continent's precious metals. Yet, finding a special metal with the potential to give birth to a spirit even once every ten years isn't guaranteed. These special metals themselves are already considered divine iron. Their forging difficulty increases exponentially compared to ordinary iron. Take your situation: you forged this ordinary iron to the threshold of giving birth to spirituality. But with your current skill level, attempting to forge those special metals, you might not even complete Hundred Refinements."
Su Ming chatted with Duan Jin for a long time, learning about the current state of the blacksmithing industry.
Finally, remembering Duan Jin's earlier words about metal becoming Spirit Beasts, he asked, "Brother Duan, does the Blacksmith Association truly have metal that turned into a Spirit Beast?"
That should count as Heaven Forging, right?
Even if it relied on time to complete, theoretically, it had already undergone the steps of Soul Forging and Heaven Forging after Spirit Forging.
"Yes, all blacksmiths in Gengxin City know this. The masterpiece of the first Divine Blacksmith in the field a thousand years ago turned into a Spirit Beast after five hundred years."
A work from a thousand years ago?
Five hundred years to become a Spirit Beast?
That time wasn't even long—
If spiritual metal could be forged in batches, wouldn't that mean harvesting a batch of Heaven Forged metal after five hundred years? Metal that turned into a Spirit Beast was naturally assumed by Su Ming to be Heaven Forged metal.
"Over the millennia, generation after generation of Divine Blacksmiths have poured their hearts and souls into their work, yet only that one piece of metal turned into a Spirit Beast."
Alright, hearing Duan Jin's words, Su Ming felt this metal Spirit Beast was probably quite special.
"Is that Spirit Beast still with the Blacksmith Association?"
Duan Jin said regretfully, "No. That Spirit Beast was killed over a hundred years ago and became someone's Spirit Ring."
Su Ming also showed a regretful expression.
After his lament, Duan Jin remembered the main matter.
"My dad said you want a hundred-year first Spirit Ring?"
Su Ming nodded.
"No problem. But you have to come with me to Gengxin City. I'll help you find a teacher."
"Alright!"
After learning about the existence of special metals, Su Ming no longer doubted whether Spirit Forging was possible in this era.
Spirit Forging was definitely possible; it was just that the materials were scarce.
"Have you thought about what type of Spirit Ring you want?" Duan Jin inquired.
(End of Chapter)