Currently, inside the blacksmith shop.
Tang San's eyes were bloodshot, and his entire body was drenched in blood. Fissures had split open across his skin; even the Forging Hammer Martial Soul in his hands was covered in cracks, on the verge of shattering.
Infinite soul power was being supplied to compensate for its consumption, and infinite life force was supplied to replace his physical stamina. However, this did not mean Tang San's body, mind, and Martial Soul could withstand such repeated, grueling depletion.
By now, Tang San's mind was completely numb. His body functioned on instinct, repeating the forging process over and over. If not for the Divine Consciousness within him instinctively protecting his mind, his consciousness would likely have dissipated long ago, leaving him in a vegetative state.
Condensing his form through mental power, Huo Yuhao appeared inside the shop.
Ignoring Tang San's near-death appearance, the phantom of the Eye of Destiny manifested at Huo Yuhao's brow. He cast his gaze toward the block of metal being struck repeatedly by Tang San's Martial Soul.
Countless threads representing the essence of all things became visible, exposing every characteristic of the metal to Huo Yuhao's eyes.
"Hardness, ductility, and strength have all increased. Notably, it contains a trace of soul power, and its ability to conduct soul power has been greatly enhanced..."
Huo Yuhao observed meticulously.
Meanwhile, back at the Spirit Transmission Pagoda, the Huo Yuhao sitting on the bed with a beautiful green-haired girl in his arms suddenly summoned his soul ring.
The abrupt change startled the Ice Emperor, but Huo Yuhao didn't explain immediately. Instead, he reached out and retrieved a small piece of metal from his soul ring.
This was metal that Huo Yuhao had been nurturing with his own soul power, attempting to evolve it into "Acquired Spiritual Metal."
The phantom of the Eye of Destiny manifested from his main body, beginning a remote comparison between the two pieces of metal.
A moment later, Huo Yuhao had his answer.
"The soul power in the metal I nurtured carries the aura of my own Ultimate Ice. Even if it's made into a soul tool, I'm afraid only I could use it.
"But this semi-finished product Tang San forged... the soul power within it is sparse but very pure. It doesn't carry Tang San's own aura. If made into a soul tool, there would be no restrictions on who uses it.
"Furthermore, compared to my pure nurturing, this forged metal has significantly greater hardness, ductility, and overall strength...
"In the forging process, not only were the metal's impurities removed to make it tougher, but the impurities in the soul power were also purged, making the soul power 'non-attributed'?"
Huo Yuhao theorized.
From what he could see, forging Spiritual Metal was entirely feasible, and metal obtained this way was far tougher than metal simply "nurtured" with soul power.
Unfortunately, Tang San was reaching his limit. Despite the assistance of Huo Yuhao's soul power and life force, his forging level could only barely hammer his own soul power into the metal.
This stage was already Tang San's maximum; he couldn't take the next step to fully awaken the metal and transform it into true Spiritual Metal.
"When the 'soul' of ordinary metal is tempered through a thousand strikes, its strength and ductility are greatly enhanced. Such metal can be called 'Hundred-Forging.'
"The metal Tang San is forging now contains soul power and has birthed a trace of 'spirituality,' but it's incomplete. Calling it 'Semi-Spirit-Forging'? That doesn't sound right. Let's just call it 'Thousand-Forging.'
"As for metal that is successfully forged and transforms into true Spiritual Metal, let's call that 'Spirit-Forging.'"
Huo Yuhao simply categorized and named the levels of metal before turning his gaze back to Tang San, who had been forging frantically for over a month.
He reached out, preparing to stop him. If he actually played Tang San to death, there would be no more fun to be had, and that would be quite boring.
However, just as he reached out, Huo Yuhao paused, his eyes landing on the Forging Hammer Martial Soul in Tang San's hands.
Under the repeated impacts, the metal beneath the hammer—which met the criteria for "Thousand-Forging"—splattered tiny metallic shards. These shards then followed the cracks on the forging hammer and slowly merged into Tang San's Martial Soul!
Huo Yuhao slowly withdrew his hand, a strange look in his eyes.
He found that Tang San really was quite good at providing surprises.
This "Thousand-Forging" metal, which Huo Yuhao considered a semi-finished product of "Spirit-Forging," had undergone some change under Tang San's forging, to the point where the two were actually beginning to fuse!
What was this? A "Soul Tool Soul-Fusion Method"? No... this was just a piece of metal, not a soul tool. This should be called... "Refining Metal into the Soul"?
Huo Yuhao observed silently. The process Tang San's Forging Hammer was undergoing was similar to how a Class 9 Soul Tool Engineer from the Sun Moon Empire used the "Soul Tool Soul-Fusion Method" to fuse a soul tool with their Martial Soul.
But it was only similar.
The fusion in the "Soul Tool Soul-Fusion Method" is mutual; the soul tool buffs the Martial Soul, and the Martial Soul buffs the soul tool in a cooperative relationship.
The process of this Thousand-Forging metal merging into the Forging Hammer Martial Soul, however... looked more like a form of Martial Soul evolution.
But why?
Because the Martial Soul was a forging hammer, did the combination of hammering metal and soul power fusion produce some special effect?
No... it shouldn't be that simple.
Although Huo Yuhao had hypothesized that a tool Martial Soul fusing with the same type of material might cause evolution, this Thousand-Forging metal shouldn't be enough to complete it!
It would require at least Spirit-Forging, or even higher-level metal!
Something... had triggered and accelerated this process.
The forging continued, and Huo Yuhao entered observation mode. With Spiritual Detection and the Eye of Destiny stacked, he could easily see through everything.
The flow of soul power, the application of force, the landing point of the hammer... Huo Yuhao didn't miss a single detail. Suddenly, he found it.
Tang San's body, completely overextended by the long-duration forging, was tearing apart. His left hand, holding the hammer, was almost entirely covered in cracks, only to be repeatedly repaired by life energy.
A large amount of blood followed the path of those repeated tears and repairs, flowing onto the forging hammer and then onto the metal itself.
Is it the blood?
Huo Yuhao thought he had caught the key point, but he quickly dismissed the idea.
No... it's not the blood. It's the life force within the blood! No, not just the life force—it's the "blood essence" being stimulated within the blood and muscles as the body is repeatedly repaired by life energy!
The stimulated blood essence followed the blood into the Martial Soul, and was then hammered into the metal along with the blood and soul power!
Though the blood essence being generated was incredibly weak—so much so that without the Eye of Destiny, even Huo Yuhao might not have noticed—it truly allowed the two to fuse!
PS: The metal forging system discovered by the protagonist will be similar to the system in the third Soul Land novel, but with some differences. It can be used as a reference, but please do not copy it entirely (the author hasn't finished reading the third novel, and the metal characteristics found online were vague, so the author is simply improvising!)