Chapter 103: Eight Extremes Collapse? Forging Barehanded!
What is a Profound-grade artifact?
Hu Lei's understanding was: something born perfectly complete!
And the meridians of the human body are, by nature, perfectly complete! As extensions of the human body, Dou Weapons must be in complete harmony with the user in order to truly reach that seamless state of perfection!
In general, once someone realizes this principle and learns soul forging, they are not far from becoming a Profound-grade Blacksmith.
"Tier-3 Ocean Crystal Sand, Scarlet Flame Crystal, Sea-patterned Heavy Iron... All treasures you can't dig out of the Magical Beast Mountains. The Blacksmith Guild really is loaded," Jiang Lin murmured to himself inside the Heaven-class forging field. Thanks to the Crimson Dragon Cauldron, he was able to adopt an alchemy-like approach—tossing various forging materials directly into the cauldron, using his soul force to control the flame and rotate it to burn away impurities.
Inside the cauldron, Jiang Lin manipulated the dragon flame to lift the dreamy blue Ocean Crystal Sand. It took him an hour to slowly refine it into liquid, then under the amplified power of his soul force, the liquid began to take shape midair.
"This cauldron can even amplify soul force! No, not amplify—it has an internal energy that soul force can borrow, enabling shaping in a sealed space... This thing must be a Profound-grade artifact!" As Jiang Lin explored this new forging method, he was secretly amazed.
But even more astonished was Hu Lei, silently watching from the corridor outside the open-air forging ground.
"That's at least mid-tier Mortal Realm soul strength, close to the Profound level. Who is this kid?" Hu Lei was stunned watching Jiang Lin experiment with the Crimson Dragon Cauldron's features.
Normally, to properly control a forging cauldron, a blacksmith needed at least mid-tier Mortal Realm soul strength—otherwise, the cauldron would only serve as a passive tool.
Hu Lei's Crimson Dragon Cauldron, a Tier-6 Profound Artifact, contained multiple restrictions he had learned from the Heavenly Craft Pavilion. It was placed over a geothermal node and shared as guild property, making it easier for qualified blacksmiths to get a taste of high-level forging.
Bang!
Just as Hu Lei was quietly shocked, Jiang Lin suddenly slapped the cauldron's belly, causing a powerful resonant hum. The lid popped slightly ajar, and hundreds of translucent scales shot out like fish or dragons, landing in a basin of pale blue meridian-infused fluid that Jiang Lin had prepared. The scalding scales instantly condensed into crystalline shards, which he set aside.
Next, he began burning the Sea-patterned Heavy Iron and Scarlet Flame Crystal!
Bang!
Another solid slap on the cauldron resealed the heavy lid.
"Hey, Hu Lei, where'd you find this kid? Just from his use of the Crimson Dragon Cauldron alone, I can tell he's sharp, sturdy, and strong in spirit. Talents like this are rare!" Cold-voiced Han Yu and Yuan Bao appeared behind Hu Lei. Yuan Bao wore his usual ingratiating smile, but Han Yu ignored him, staring intently at the handsome youth inside the field, clad in crimson-gold gauze, both hands pressing down on the cauldron.
"Old Han... Guildmaster, this is the newcomer I mentioned who's taking the Tier-3 Blacksmith exam," Yuan Bao explained from behind.
"Hmph!" Han Yu glared at him and pointed at Jiang Lin. "You call someone like that a 'newcomer'?"
Yuan Bao shrugged helplessly. "He really is a newcomer..."
"Enough, Old Han, just watch. The kid's technique is a bit unorthodox—look." Hu Lei stopped the bickering and gestured toward the scene.
Just then, they saw Jiang Lin letting go of his right hand and rolling his wrist.
"What now? Got his forging hand all numb?" Yuan Bao asked curiously.
Thud!
Just as Yuan Bao spoke, Jiang Lin slammed his right fist into the cauldron with a dull, heavy thump. Even though the others couldn't hear the actual sound due to the barrier, they saw the flames on the cauldron flicker slightly, feeling the power of his strike.
"Fourfold... fourfold inner force," Hu Lei noted with appreciation, lightly tapping a spot on the barrier's frame. This made the barrier slightly more transparent.
"A wild forging method. Listen closely—the hum of metal is rare music."
At that moment, Jiang Lin closed his eyes. His left hand remained on the cauldron, sensing and guiding the dragon flame and molten materials inside. His tingling right hand rotated, and when the molten Sea-patterned Heavy Iron and Scarlet Flame Crystal reached their designated positions—
Thud!
High-tier Profound Dou Technique—Eight Extremes Collapse!
The force traveled directly through the cauldron, smashing into the molten materials like a hammer, blending them more uniformly!
"Only five layers? No wonder it's a high-tier Profound Dou Technique. I've been learning it for days and still haven't mastered it," Jiang Lin muttered, shaking his numb right hand. Honestly, the Crimson Dragon Cauldron was tough—its durability gave him the idea to try using Eight Extremes Collapse as a forging technique.
Once he confirmed he couldn't break it with his strength, he dared to experiment.
"Not bad—it saves me from having to reheat everything. This'll save a lot of time," Jiang Lin nodded to himself. He decided to go all out and finish crafting the Intent-Focused Gauntlets in a single day. With all the materials and setup ready, if it took him fifteen days, he'd feel like a failure. Back in the Forging Valley, he had to do everything by himself, which made each Dou Weapon take forever.
But Jiang Lin always spent the most time researching the first piece. If he had materials left over, he could handcraft the second one in just a few hours—assuming no further enhancements were needed.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
After confirming the results, Jiang Lin began a series of spaced-out hammering motions. From time to time, a pleasant, low hum echoed through the Heaven-class forging ground.
"You sure this kid has nothing to do with you?" Han Yu asked, watching Jiang Lin barehandedly forging molten materials, staring in disbelief at Hu Lei.
"His barehanded forging technique looks just like yours!"
As the Guildmaster of the Blacksmith Guild and the only advanced student in the Jia Ma Empire, Hu Lei was known for his unique blacksmithing technique:
Thunderfire Forging.
(END CHAPTER)
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