"What special effect is this?"
Zhen Hua was puzzled but did not speak up at this moment, instead pondering silently.
He continued observing Su Ming's forging and noticed that although Su Ming used two hammers, the frequency of his swings wasn't high because each hammer strike produced an effect that lasted a full three seconds.
The more he observed, the more confirmed he felt in his perception.
"Delay!"
"No! 'Delay' might not be accurate. Perhaps 'Prolongation'—an extension of the effective time."
"It's actually a trait related to the time domain!"
Zhen Hua was inwardly shocked; he had never heard of such a trait.
Moreover, the force applied by a hammer swing was supposed to act on the metal instantaneously.
This meant that with just one swing of his hammer, what should have been an instantaneous impact was transformed into a three-second-long impact composed of countless instantaneous forces.
Su Ming's forging continued.
It was his first time attempting to forge Star Soul Iron, but aside from the initial few tentative strikes, he became increasingly fluid and precise as he progressed.
Zhen Hua also noticed this and was inwardly amazed.
Based on his performance so far, Su Ming's skill had already won him over.
A boy not yet nine years old possessing forging of this level was truly extraordinary.
Su Ming swung his hammer a total of twenty times. The volume of the Star Soul Iron had already shrunk, its impurities expelled. The remaining metal held a deep, starry sky-like darkness within, occasionally sparkling with starlight mixed with firelight, creating a dazzlingly beautiful scene.
Hundred Refinement accomplished!
Su Ming continued.
Watching this, Zhen Hua knew he might have stumbled upon a treasure.
Achieving Hundred Refinement at nine years old was already remarkable, placing him among the top talents in the forging world. Daring to continue past Hundred Refinement, even if he hadn't mastered Thousand Refinement yet, meant he had already overcome the psychological barrier towards attempting it—a significant step forward.
Su Ming let out a loud shout, and two purple spirit rings appeared around him.
As the first spirit ring flickered, his strength instantly increased. An inexplicable sense of pressure emanated from him; his power grew greater, and even his spirit power became more potent.
Mu Ye's gaze towards Su Ming turned peculiar.
The feeling was right!
Now, finally, the feeling Su Ming gave him was correct.
Clang!
Clang!
Another twenty hammer strikes fell. The firelight passing through the Star Soul Iron no longer held a red glow but only brilliant starlight.
One could see the starlight released by the Star Soul Iron resonating with the flames ejected from the forging platform. The power of the flames grew increasingly fierce, and simultaneously, Su Ming's hammer falls became heavier.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The frequency of Su Ming's hammer strikes became extremely rapid. The time his hammers stayed in contact with the Star Soul Iron was now less than three seconds, yet the force applied to the metal continued to take effect, though the impact seemed to weaken after the hammers left.
Zhen Hua admitted that 'top-grade' was no longer sufficient to describe this special effect.
Of course, utilizing this effect well was also very difficult. A single strike could have its force act simultaneously with the force from the two previous strikes—this tested a blacksmith's ability to plan the forging process.
Swing one hammer, anticipate the next three.
What somewhat reassured Zhen Hua was that Su Ming had not yet perfectly mastered this exceptional effect of his hammers.
In this final high-frequency striking phase, the coordination wasn't flawless; he merely relied on the continuous overlay force to reduce the demand on his own strength.
In this process, Su Ming still relied on the initial impact of each hammer strike to achieve the main effect, with the subsequent delayed impacts serving as auxiliary effects.
Inevitably, this created some flaws.
However, the flaws could not obscure the virtue.
As the forging progressed, the starlight within the Star Soul Iron under Su Ming's hammer grew denser and denser,even reaching a point where it seemed ready to burst forth.
Seeing this, Zhen Hua finally reacted.
Could this kid actually succeed in Thousand Refinement?
Succeed in Thousand Refining Star Soul Iron on his first attempt?
His gaze sharpened slightly as he watched the changes in the Star Soul Iron, sensing that this wouldn't be an ordinary Thousand Refinement.
Thousand Refinement, Grade One?
The Star Soul Iron erupted with dazzling starlight, as if it were about to burst forth in the next moment, forming a pillar of light to complete its metamorphosis into Thousand Refined metal. Yet, Su Ming hammered it back again and again, forcing it to delay its transformation, hinting at an even greater possibility.
Su Ming himself was growing excited.
He had never achieved Thousand Refined Grade One before. His technique was sufficient, but his strength couldn't sustain him through the process. The Thousand Refined Grade One often required the rank of Spirit Elder to attempt.
Tang Wulin, leveraging his Golden Dragon King bloodline, had approached Thousand Refined Grade One at one spirit ring but couldn't break through, only supplementing his spirit power shortcomings after obtaining his second ring.
In Su Ming's case, although he could borrow strength to solve the physical fitness issue and had reached two rings, his raw power was still insufficient. Each time he reached this point, he would exhaust his strength.
This time, he saw an opportunity.
Although his spirit power was still lacking and his strength began to fail, the Star Soul Iron started to resonate with him.
Even though the forging wasn't complete, this piece of Star Soul Iron had already achieved resonance with him, amplifying his spiritual power. Even the starlight nurtured within the Star Soul Iron flowed along the forging hammers into his body, feeding his spirit power!
"Is this... a trait being nurtured in advance?" Zhen Hua exclaimed in surprise.
The transformation wasn't complete, yet it had in advance nurtured sentience.
This was a result only achievable under a state of high resonance between the blacksmith and the metal.
Moreover, the trait of this Star Soul Iron was actually feedback—it could feed back spirit power!
Su Ming's expression grew even more excited.
His first spirit ring shone even brighter.
Su Ming from Soul Land I, Su Ming from Soul Land II, lend me your strength!!!
He fully integrated the martial soul power of his two past selves into his own martial soul, manifesting the perfect form of the Trinity Martial Soul Fusion Skill. Relying on the spirit power fed back by the Star Soul Iron, he swung his final hammer.
Clang!
The hammer fell, and starlight erupted.
A dazzling pillar of light broke through its restraints, rising over a foot high.
Thousand Refined Grade One!
The forging hammers in Su Ming's hands vanished.
On the forging platform, the Star Soul Iron seemed to be cheering,Jump for joy, its lively sentience resembling a brand new life.
Mu Ye stepped forward immediately to support Su Ming, smiling as he handed him a lotus seed.
"A seed from a Hundred-Year Heavenly Heart Lotus. Eat it. It helps consolidate your foundation and nourish your origin."
While supporting Su Ming, he also sensed the boy's physical condition, a flicker of confusion passing through his eyes.
Strange, why does the feeling seem off again?
He had clearly sensed the aura of a Body Martial Soul earlier.
"Excellent! Truly excellent!"
Zhen Hua was now even more excited, pacing around in circles.
"You should go pay your respects to your master now," Mu Ye said, noticing Su Ming had recovered somewhat, and gestured towards Zhen Hua's state.
Su Ming stepped forward and performed a respectful bow of apprenticeship, saying, "I pay my respects to Master."
Zhen Hua helped Su Ming up, beaming with joy.
Zhang Tianyang watched this scene. Although he had expected it, he still breathed a sigh of relief.
Strength could break all constraints.
Su Ming's talent in forging was indeed heaven-defying. Achieving Thousand Refinement before turning nine, and this time even breaking through on the spot to accomplish Thousand Refined Grade One!
Of course, his talent wasn't limited to forging; his other secondary professions advanced equally. He had reached Level Three in both Mecha Design and Mecha Manufacturing, and naturally, Mecha Repair was also Level Three.
After the Apprenticeship Ceremony, Mu Ye, who had been puzzled for a long time, spoke up directly.
"Su Ming, do you have a Body Martial Soul?"
...
Read 50 advance at patreon.com/CNBLUE
(End of Chapter)