webnovelvip Chapter 225 Forging
Chapter 225 Forging
Chapter 225 Thousand Forgings
Facing another slash from Ji Juechen at a tricky angle, Huo Yuhao tried to parry but lost his strength and was ultimately defeated, his right hand being knocked off balance.
Seeing that Ji Juechen's sword was about to strike him, Huo Yuhao steeled his heart, loosened his grip on the hilt, reversed his grip, and thrust the back of the blade at Ji Juechen's shoulder.
puff--
The next moment, two sprays of blood appeared, and Huo Yuhao and Ji Juechen both stopped what they were doing. The entire place fell silent.
At this moment, Huo Yuhao's left waist was slashed into flesh by Ji Juechen's sweeping slash, while Huo Yuhao's Tang Hengdao also pierced into Ji Juechen's left shoulder.
"It's hard to believe this is your first time using a knife."
Ji Juechen spoke first, drawing his extraterrestrial meteorite sword and flicking off a trail of blood.
Huo Yuhao's lips twitched. He patted and wiped his waist with his left hand, applying the high-grade hemostatic powder he had obtained from Shrek Academy to the wound. At the same time, he drew the Tang Hengdao knife that was stuck in Ji Juechen's left shoulder with his right hand.
Ordinary knives do not have a tip, so they cannot perform the thrusting action in swordsmanship.
However, the Tang Hengdao is an exception. In the Tang Dynasty of Huo Yuhao's previous life, armor craftsmanship had reached another level. In order to pursue armor-piercing efficiency, the Tang Hengdao was double-edged at the tip, so that it could be used to forcibly break through armor when necessary.
This is also why Huo Yuhao chose to forge the Tang Hengdao (a type of sword). It is a military weapon, easy to use, and has more functions than other swords.
As the wound gradually scabbed over, Huo Yuhao finally had the energy to talk to Ji Juechen:
"Your meteorite iron sword is not bad, but its potential is ultimately too low. When you reach the Soul Saint or Soul Douluo level, a fierce battle will be enough to destroy it."
Upon hearing Huo Yuhao's words, Ji Juechen calmly held the extraterrestrial meteorite iron sword in his hand, lowered his head, and remained silent.
"But I might have a way to make it keep up with you."
Ji Juechen suddenly raised his head and stared intently at Huo Yuhao.
"Haha, no rush, we can talk about it later when we have time."
Seeing that several students from the practical control department were about to gather around, Huo Yuhao slipped away, leaving Ji Juechen to silently examine his sword.
"Ji Juechen, what's wrong?"
Jing Ziyan finally managed to squeeze through the crowd and saw Ji Juechen looking distracted. She asked him with some concern.
Ji Juechen stroked the greatsword in his hand and said softly, "He said he has a way to strengthen my sword."
"this……"
Upon hearing this, Jing Ziyan's pupils contracted.
As one of the people closest to Ji Juechen, Jing Ziyan naturally knew how much Ji Juechen cared about the meteorite iron sword in his hand.
Jing Ziyan quickly asked, "Are you sure what he said is true? And what conditions did he propose?"
"Judging from our exchange just now, he wasn't lying to me. The sword in his hand felt different from ordinary titanium swords; its toughness was significantly improved."
Ji Juechen recalled the battle just now and said with certainty, "However, he didn't make any demands, saying that we could talk about it another time."
"I've never heard of our school having this kind of capability before..."
Jing Ziyan went through the information she had gathered at school in her mind and finally locked onto a particular figure.
"Black hair, blue eyes, and the ability to fight opponents far stronger than himself—wasn't that guy just now an exchange student from Shrek Academy? There does seem to be one of those exchange students named Huo Yuhao."
Jing Ziyan chuckled lightly:
"He approached you, probably because he saw your talent. Maybe he's using this as bait to try and recruit you."
Jing Ziyan believed that Ji Juechen's talent would be enough to entice him even if he met Shrek Academy.
"Shrek..."
Ji Juechen muttered three words to himself. He had indeed been paying attention to Shrek Academy for a long time. It was said that the strongest Soul Masters lived there, and he had made plans to find an opportunity to spar with Shrek Academy.
However, he did not want to make any promises to the other party. Ji Juechen came to the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy only to fight against strong opponents. Once there were no more strong opponents who could interest Ji Juechen, he would leave. The same would be true when he went to Shrek Academy in the future.
If Huo Yuhao wanted to recruit him with the sword as a condition, Ji Juechen was at a loss for what to do.
"In that case, why don't we just pay the payment first?"
After hearing Ji Juechen's concerns, Jing Ziyan made a startling statement.
"If we pay in advance, he won't be able to bring it up again, even if he wants to use it to win you over, right? Whether you go to Shrek Academy or not then depends on our mood, right?"
"However, the compensation we offer must be substantial enough; otherwise, it's difficult to negotiate on this basis..."
"What if I help him understand the meaning?"
Ji Juechen suddenly said in a deep voice.
Jing Ziyan asked in surprise, "What did you say?"
"During our sparring session just now, I felt that he already had the foundation to grasp the essence, but he still lacked a catalyst."
Ji Juechen said, "To be precise, he doesn't understand his own abilities enough, or he lacks confidence, and he can't fully integrate his essence, energy, and spirit."
Unaware of Ji Juechen's schemes, Huo Yuhao was lying idly in bed.
"From starting classes to entering Mingde Hall, to the previous attack by the Body Sect, and the two days I was confined to my dormitory because of the attack, it seems like only about twenty days have passed..."
For a moment, Huo Yuhao didn't know what to do.
As for continuing to learn about soul tools... ordinary soul tools offer limited enhancement to one's combat power. The only soul tool that is truly effective for me is...
Mechs, and battle armor.
To create these things, and also to use them to lure Ji Juechen away, perhaps this period of time can be used to improve my forging skills.
Back in his dormitory, Huo Yuhao took out his handwritten notes summarizing the forging course (forging the outer shell of a soul tool requires forging ability) and silently pondered how to complete the forging technique that Dou Sancai had introduced.
In fact, the so-called hundred-fold forging or even thousand-fold forging already has a certain foundation and is widely used in the manufacturing of Soul Master shells.
After all, the principle is still just to remove impurities from the metal through forging. The prerequisite for thousand forging—removing all the impurities from the metal and increasing its density—can be done by advanced soul masters. However, the key step of thousand forging is the reason why it has not yet been fully formed.
The so-called "thousand-times forging" is not as simple as hammering a thousand times. The greatest effect of a thousand-times forging is sublimation. Only when the metal is sublimated during the forging process can it be considered a true thousand-times forging.
Moreover, there are no techniques that can be taught in the Thousand Forging process; there is only one direction—to treat the metal as a living being and to try every possible way to communicate with it during the forging process.
Only through perfect communication can metal truly accept you, revealing its secrets and textures. This process of forging is also known as mental forging.
I recalled the description of the thousand-times-forged technique from Dou Sanli.
So...
Huo Yuhao brandished his forging hammer, selected a small piece of dark silver, activated his mental detection at full power, and began his frenzied dance.
Full-power mental detection sacrifices detection range and shareable effects, instead focusing on increasing detection penetration to delve deep into the internal textures of metal.
Although it hasn't reached the molecular level yet, it's enough for Huo Yuhao to observe the changes that each hammer blow brings to the rare metal.
"What's that kid up to now?"
Huo Yuhao mobilized a large amount of mental energy, even waking Tianmeng, who was actually sleeping, due to the turbulent mental sea.
Tianmeng probed out of her consciousness to check on Huo Yuhao's condition and noticed that Huo Yuhao was frantically hammering at a piece of metal as if he had gone mad. With each hammer blow, the metal changed shape under the immense force.
"Well……"
Tianmeng had watched Huo Yuhao create soul tools quite a bit, and knew that Huo Yuhao had once again fallen into a state of giving up thinking.
To put it simply, the cost of trying is low. When Huo Yuhao had no clue, he kept trying and making mistakes until he came up with an effective solution. Then, he used his superb memory to analyze the entire process of success and replicated it.
What should have been a clumsy attempt turned into a brute-force approach that Huo Yuhao often used when encountering problems, thanks to his extraordinary drive and ability to analyze afterward.
While it might be called a reckless method, it's actually the most normal approach. However, Huo Yuhao's abilities combined with this method are too abnormal. He doesn't even need to control variables. As long as he succeeds, he can perfectly replicate it next time. This is an ability that researchers dream of.
"Sigh, aren't they afraid of attracting attention by doing this..."
Tianmeng sighed, her mental energy covering the room to suppress all the sounds and vibrations generated by the forging process.
-
"Master, this is Huo Yuhao's whereabouts during this period."
Lin Jiayi carefully entered Jing Hongchen's office and handed the note that the spy had given him to Jing Hongchen.
As one of the suspects in the theft of the first experimental subject in this incident, Huo Yuhao would not be able to get away with it with just a body search; it would be normal for him to be under surveillance.
Huo Yuhao didn't do much either. He didn't have a chance to go to Mingde Hall. He usually stayed in his dormitory tinkering with soul tools. He was bored and thought of the supporting characters in the original work, so he made a special trip to Mingde Hall.
The scouts' reports naturally focused on the chance encounter and sparring between Huo Yuhao and Ji Juechen.
"So, Huo Yuhao, relying solely on a longsword that was probably a level four soul tool, managed to fight Ji Juechen, a Soul Emperor specializing in physical control, to a standstill?"
Although Jing Hongchen didn't know who Ji Juechen was, how could a spy overlook this? Naturally, information about Ji Juechen at the academy was also included.
According to the scouts, Ji Juechen's combat strength has been among the top tier in the academy for the past two years. Even so, he didn't gain the upper hand when fighting Huo Yuhao in his area of expertise.
Lin Jiayi tried to salvage the academy's reputation, saying, "Master, the two were exchanging skills more during their fight. According to the physical test information, Ji Juechen's physical fitness is only around level sixty, which is inferior to Huo Yuhao's, which is why they fought to a draw. If Ji Juechen had used his soul power and sword intent, Huo Yuhao would definitely not have been able to handle it."
This means that Huo Yuhao's physical strength surpassed Ji Juechen's, but that doesn't count.
"Then Huo Yuhao's swordsmanship can be combined with that strange invisibility and transformation ability."
Jing Hongchen said with dissatisfaction, "It seems we need to really strengthen the practical combat abilities of the academy's students. Ji Juechen, as a Soul Emperor of the Control type, is not only inferior to Huo Yuhao, whose cultivation is much weaker, in terms of physical strength, but he also loses in combat skills. You must know that Huo Yuhao is a Support type!"
Although Huo Yuhao applied for the Control type in Shrek, the Soul Master Competition did not require him to specify his type. In addition, Huo Yuhao frequently appeared as a support in the team battles of the Soul Master Competition, which led Jing Hongchen to misunderstand.
Lin Jiayi bowed and said, "Yes, Master, I will make the arrangements immediately and will definitely invite military combat experts to guide the trainees."
"etc!"
Jing Hongchen suddenly said, "Since Huo Yuhao's combat ability is so strong, let him serve as a warning to the students. It will also help them to share their attention and not always focus on Mingde Hall."
Lin Jiayi bowed and said, "Yes, Master."
-
In the dormitory, Huo Yuhao kept swinging his forging hammer, striking the piece of heavy silver on the table.
With continuous tapping, the silver became increasingly solid, its volume gradually shrinking by five percent, ten percent, and eventually fifteen percent. At this point, its density seemed to have reached its limit, and it would no longer shrink inwards.
The subsequent tapping involves continuously altering the patterns inside the compressed silver to achieve the best possible state.
Although Huo Yuhao knew all the properties of metals by heart, the specific patterns were not part of the curriculum and he had to figure them out on his own.
But it doesn't matter, Huo Yuhao has plenty of time and energy. If once isn't enough, he'll try a hundred times, and if a hundred times isn't enough, he'll try ten thousand times. He'll eventually be able to mold the patterns to the most suitable state.
Huo Yuhao didn't know how many times he had punched the fist. Gradually, the booming sound from the punching disappeared, and even Tianmeng curiously looked outside.
Before Tianmeng's eyes, the metal seemed to be emitting a faint light. With each strike Huo Yuhao made, the metal seemed to flash once, echoing Huo Yuhao's breathing.
Clang clang—
After several hours of intense hammering, even the forging hammer and forging table, which are made of titanium, began to succumb and showed some deformation (don't ask, they were borrowed from Mingdetang).
Needless to say, the dormitory floor was cracked due to the strong impact, and it might collapse at any time due to Huo Yuhao's crazy forging.
Suddenly, the piece of silver trembled slightly as Huo Yuhao forged it. Then, a bright silver light broke through the fire's seal, illuminating the entire forging room in a silvery white.
"Bang—"
The immense recoil force sent the forging hammer flying from Huo Yuhao's hand. Huo Yuhao's hand trembled slightly, and a drop of blood dripped down his fingers. However, Huo Yuhao seemed completely oblivious, staring intently at the metal before him.
Seemingly remembering something, Huo Yuhao suddenly flicked his right hand, and the blood flowing from his tiger's mouth dripped onto the metal in front of him.
The blood fell into the silver light, making a series of hissing sounds, and wisps of blue smoke rose up. The flames died down, revealing the metal itself.
It had shrunk even more irrationally than when it was fully compressed before, and the fiery red color on the silver faded at an astonishing speed, along with the shimmering silver light.
The dazzling silver color that existed before forging has disappeared, leaving it looking dull and unremarkable. However, a layer of fine, dense patterns, resembling ocean waves, has appeared on its surface. These patterns seem to be engraved on the surface, yet they are extremely smooth, exuding a very peculiar texture.
"It's a success..."
Huo Yuhao murmured something to himself, took out a water bottle from his storage soul tool and drank deeply. The wound on his tiger's mouth had already healed under the immense life force of the Life Gold.
"Yuhao, what are you doing?"
Seeing that Huo Yuhao had finally come to his senses, Tianmeng finally had a chance to ask about her doubts.
"This is called 'thousand-time forging,' a forging technique."
Huo Yuhao looked up and took another sip of water before continuing, "Metal that has been forged a thousand times will be endowed with properties similar to soul skills. Using it to make weapons can have unexpected effects. In addition, it can also be used to make a type of armor that can give a Soul King the combat power of a Soul Saint."
After saying that, he started drinking water again with thumping sounds.
Whether it's appropriate to drink a lot of water after strenuous exercise depends on the individual. With Huo Yuhao's physical condition, a whole kettle of water is hardly a large amount.
"What?"
Tianmeng's incredible voice rang out.
With that armor made of thousand-refined metal, a Soul King can defeat a Soul Saint? What a joke!
It's important to know that a Soul Saint possesses a Martial Soul True Body. Once activated, they can fight on equal terms with Soul Beasts that are over 50,000 years old. In contrast, a Soul King who can defeat a 10,000-year-old Soul Beast is considered an outstanding individual. The difference between them is like an insurmountable chasm.
"Knock knock knock—"
A knock sounded at the door. Huo Yuhao quickly put away the Thousand Refined Silver, the forging table, and the forging hammer, but instead tossed a fire-attribute core magic array onto the table before opening the door.
"Teacher Lin,"
Huo Yuhao was somewhat surprised to see who it was. "Why is Lin Jiayi looking for me at this time?"
"Mr. Huo, is it convenient for us to chat?"
As Lin Jiayi spoke, he glanced into the dormitory.
"It's convenient, of course, but the dorm is a bit messy..."
Lin Jiayi said, "It's alright, it's alright. Since that's the case, let's talk in your dorm."
As he spoke, before Huo Yuhao could agree, Lin Jiayi strode into the dormitory. After scanning the room and finding nothing unusual, he continued:
"I am here on the orders of the hall master."
"Your Shrek Academy is the number one academy on the continent, or more accurately, the number one soul master academy on the continent. And our Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy can also rightfully be called the number one soul master academy on the continent."
"Your ability to represent Shrek Academy in Soul Master combat already proves your strength. Therefore, I'd like to organize a sparring match between Soul Masters and Soul Master Instructors, with you as the lead. This will also allow our Soul Master Instructor students to witness the combat style of Soul Masters. Don't worry, I will select students of similar age to you. Their strength will not exceed that of a Level 5 Soul Master. What do you think?"
(End of this chapter)