Sensing Huo Yuhao's presence, Gu Yuena had already opened her eyes, the various auras around her calming down.
At his words, she tilted her head slightly, her purple eyes reflecting his figure, a smile curving at the corner of her mouth. "Mm, thanks to you. You must have made significant progress this time—I've benefited as well."
"What specific improvements have you gained?" Huo Yuhao came to her side and asked.
"Using the feedback from your advancement, I condensed a trace of true Dragon God bloodline," Gu Yuena said, releasing the bloodline's power again, faintly radiating a pressure that absolutely suppressed spirit beasts.
But to Huo Yuhao, that pressure was like a gentle breeze, having no effect.
In truth, before this, while he hadn't feared the Dragon God bloodline's pressure, encountering true Dragon God bloodline would have caused some changes—like increased activity in his own bloodline.
But during the process of forging his Chaos Dharma Body, Huo Yuhao had returned the dragon bloodline to its origin. Not only that, he had also returned and assimilated the parts of his body related to the White Tiger martial soul bloodline. One could say that the forging of his Chaos Dharma Body had cleansed all manner of bloodline imprints from within him.
Now, even the Ice Empress martial soul was aligning with him—there was likely no purer human in Douluo's history. After all, the martial souls on the Douluo Continent originated from the fallen Dragon God, Beast God, and dragon clan auras from the Divine Realm. From that perspective, Douluo's people all possessed some spirit beast bloodline.
And Huo Yuhao had stripped away all those remnants.
Under these circumstances, it would be strange for the Dragon God bloodline to affect him.
Gu Yuena continued, "I also received feedback from a portion of your bloodline. Among it were energies and law fragments derived from the laws you've comprehended—like Chaos Power, of which I received a considerable amount. This helps me comprehend the corresponding laws, especially the ones I haven't mastered yet."
"Moreover, your organization of various laws has given me inspiration, helping me condense a complete Dragon God bloodline in the future and harmonize Creation and Destruction powers."
Huo Yuhao nodded thoughtfully. "So the improvements are quite significant?"
Gu Yuena gave a soft "mm" and looked up at him. "Indeed they are. But I won't follow your path."
With the contract feedback and Huo Yuhao right before her, Gu Yuena naturally understood his situation. But she couldn't simply copy his approach.
The Chaos Dharma Body was excellent, but it was the path Huo Yuhao had designed for himself.
Perhaps she—who mastered multiple laws and the Creation Divine Persona—was the most suitable person to walk that path. But as the Silver Dragon King, she already carried a part of the Dragon God's power.
Regardless of whether she internally rejected it, the Dragon God's path was always her most fundamental and aligned direction. Abandoning her origin to chase another's path would be putting the cart before the horse.
It would only yield half the results with twice the effort.
For example, the Reincarnation Law was obscure to her. Even with Huo Yuhao's feedback and guidance to help her get started, she couldn't become powerful through it in the future. Instead, she was better off studying what she excelled at—elemental laws and Dragon God power.
Huo Yuhao smiled upon hearing this. "That's how it should be."
What suited him might not suit others. All paths lead to Rome; cultivation was never a single road. Choosing the one that suited you best was what mattered.
"Enough about me." Gu Yuena's gaze settled on him. "Yuhao, besides transforming your body into a Chaos Body, you've also forged a divine body in one go, haven't you?"
She could clearly feel that blazing blood energy.
Yuhao's current physical strength was certainly greater than mine now, Gu Yuena thought.
Of course, if she recovered her cultivation, that would be another matter.
Huo Yuhao nodded. "With Flawless Golden Body as the foundation and the Chaos Dharma Body as the base, my physical strength has already crossed the threshold of a divine body."
"If you've reached the Flawless Golden Body stage, then what about your Spirit Eyes martial soul?" Gu Yuena looked at his eyes with some confusion.
Didn't the innate secret method say that once a certain level was reached, one could perform a tertiary awakening of the Body Martial Soul?
Seeming to read her confusion, Huo Yuhao smiled. "The innate secret method is a cultivation technique. I could attempt the tertiary awakening after achieving Golden Body, but the process is under my control. I felt it wasn't the right time before, and it still isn't now. My constitution has just transformed, and the Spirit Eyes martial soul is also being nourished. I plan to wait until the Spirit Eyes' foundation has accumulated to its limit before "awakening."
At this, Huo Yuhao's attention lingered for a moment on the imprint deep within his Sea of Spirit.
Though the Eternal Domain's artifact spirits had said the imprint from the God-Imprint Throne would naturally become a divine persona upon godhood, with his current strength and cultivation, he could already evolve it into a Creation Divine Persona.
He planned to wait until the Spirit Eyes martial soul had received some nourishment from the Chaos Dharma Body, then condense the Creation Divine Persona directly and integrate it into the Spirit Eyes martial soul, simultaneously triggering its tertiary awakening.
In this way, the Spirit Eyes martial soul would perfectly bear the Creation power. And because the awakening would be rooted in the Creation Divine Persona, his Creation power would increasingly lean toward the spiritual side.
This would undoubtedly benefit his future research into Creation power's ability to evolve all things and simulate all phenomena.
Perhaps after the Spirit Eyes' tertiary awakening, related abilities would naturally manifest.
After hearing Huo Yuhao's plans, Gu Yuena nodded in understanding, then shifted the topic with a radiant smile: "Yuhao, your divine consciousness is already formed, your innate secret method is complete, and your body has reached the divine body level. You're only missing the transformation of your spirit power. Though that hurdle certainly won't stop you, before that transformation, would you like to use Battle Armor as a substitute?"
Hearing this, Huo Yuhao's expression shifted slightly.
"You've completed the Heaven Forging of the Divine Alloy?"
The only Four-Word Battle Armor that could amplify him now would have to be made from Heaven-Forged Divine Alloy.
"Exactly. I can do it now. With the technique you gave me for merging Metal Sources, I don't need extra fusion forging—it's made Heaven Forging metal much easier. Even the nine-metal Divine Alloy, I can now Heaven Forge." Gu Yuena nodded with a smile.
Over the past few years, she hadn't been idle. Between cultivation sessions, she had continuously improved her forging skills at a rate that could only be described as cheating. Soul Forging couldn't stop her—all of Huo Yuhao's Soul-Forged metals were forged by her. Heaven Forging had some difficulty, but it couldn't stop her either.
In fact, she'd mastered Heaven Forging for some time—around after they'd conquered the Demon Plane.
With her mastery of the seven elements and her Creation Divine Persona, her aptitude in this area was simply too good.
But she and Huo Yuhao were advancing too quickly. Ordinary Four-Word Battle Armor and Divine Alloy-level Three-Word Battle Armor were of little use to them. So Gu Yuena chose to do it all at once—completing the Heaven Forging of the Divine Alloy before discussing forging the Battle Armor.
She also wanted to give Huo Yuhao a surprise.
And surprised he was.
Though when he'd completed the Spirit Transmission Tower, he'd used self-directed thunder tribulations for an alternative form of Heaven Forging, that was only possible because the tower itself had a strong foundation.
The thunder tribulations for humans and the Heaven Forging tribulations for metals were ultimately different. It was like someone else basking in the tribulation lightning while the true recipient was undergoing the tribulation—the bystander clearly gained less benefit than the one actually being tempered.
The Heaven Forging tribulation was directed at the metal itself by the plane. The metal received the greatest benefit if it passed.
Only because the Spirit Transmission Tower's foundation was strong enough, lacking only that final push, had he dared to use such a shortcut to bring the tower's Soul-Forged metal to Heaven Forging level. Under normal circumstances, following the proper Heaven Forging path was safer.
So for Four-Word Battle Armor, he hadn't planned any shortcuts—he'd only intended to follow the proper Heaven Forging process.
Thus, hearing that Gu Yuena had reached the level where she could Heaven Forge Divine Alloy naturally brought him some pleasant surprise.
But then Huo Yuhao thought of something and frowned slightly.
"Before I left, you were still practicing Heaven Forging with five-metal alloys. You've become proficient at Heaven Forging Divine Alloy so quickly? You must have put in a lot of effort."
His recent cultivation for Flawless Golden Body, condensing the Dragon God bloodline, and forging the Chaos Dharma Body had indeed taken considerable time, but less than a month in total.
Gu Yuena had gone from Heaven Forging five-metal alloys to nine-metal ones—clearly requiring a great deal of practice.
More importantly, Heaven Forging Divine Alloy facing meant divine-level thunder tribulations!
"In such a short time, you've mastered Heaven Forging Divine Alloy. You've faced the Heaven-Earth Tribulation many times, haven't you? Are you alright?" Huo Yuhao asked.
Though Heaven Forging tribulations had stable power and were primarily aimed at the metal itself rather than the forger, they were unrelenting—not something you could stop at will. And forgers, needing to help the metal survive the tribulation, couldn't avoid being struck themselves.
"I'm fine."
Gu Yuena shook her head gently. "No matter how strong the seven-colored divine thunder is, its core is still the power of the seven elements. You've seen my element control—are you still worried about that? Besides, I have the Elemental Divine Thunder you helped me complete, giving me natural resistance to thunder tribulations, with the Dragon God's Heart as a backup. Mere Heaven Forging tribulations can't hurt me."
Huo Yuhao frowned, but seeing she was indeed unharmed, he sighed. "Four-Word Battle Armor made from Divine Alloy would certainly amplify me, but I'm not in urgent need. You didn't have to push yourself so quickly."
"Your strength is advancing too fast—ordinary Battle Armor has no amplification effect for you. And my forging skills couldn't keep up with your progress. That made me feel frustrated too."
Gu Yuena paused, her gaze resting on Huo Yuhao, and said softly, "Now that I've finally caught up, if I don't complete the Heaven Forging of the Divine Alloy soon, you might become a deity first, and then the Battle Armor might become irrelevant again."
"How could that be?"
Huo Yuhao smiled freely. "Battle Armor made from Heaven-Forged Divine Alloy is definitely a divine artifact, with great potential to grow alongside us. It won't truly become outdated."
"But I still want it to have the greatest possible effect," Gu Yuena murmured.
Still, she understood that Huo Yuhao was concerned about her. So she shifted the topic, "I've completed the Heaven Forging of the Divine Alloy, but there's a problem—the Heaven-Forged metals can probably only be used by the two of us now."
Seeing Huo Yuhao's questioning look, Gu Yuena simply stood up. "Though I have finished pieces, just looking at them might not reveal the issue. If you observe a Heaven Forging process once, you'll understand. Come with me."
"That works." Huo Yuhao nodded and rose with her, heading toward the mountain range where he usually tempered his body with thunder tribulations.
Gu Yuena also practiced her Heaven Forging nearby.
She hadn't built a specialized forging platform like Zhen Hua's Heaven Ascension Platform in Mingdu to improve Heaven Forging success rates.
She didn't need that extra success rate.
Besides, her target was Divine Alloy Heaven Forging, facing divine-level thunder tribulations—what material could stand that?
Spending the cost of making Four-Word Battle Armor on a forging platform was a waste in her view. The moment a divine-level tribulation descended, the platform would be destroyed. It was better to rough it in the wilderness.
The two arrived at an open area in the mountains.
Gu Yuena stood still, raised her hand, and traced a line in the void. Several prepared Divine Alloy pieces flew from her storage device.
The Creation Divine Persona within her trembled faintly. The power of the seven elements, like awakened dragons, surged from her hands, precisely enveloping the metal.
At the same time, vast amounts of world power were drawn in by her, acting like an invisible hammer, repeatedly forging and tempering the Divine Alloy.
World power—this was a high-level force only at the Heaven Forging stage—but Gu Yuena applied it throughout the entire forging process. Hundred Forging, Thousand Forging, Spirit Forging, Soul Forging—all completed with world power.
What ordinary forgers accumulated hammer blow by hammer blow was compressed by her into mere breaths.
Gu Yuena directly intervened in the material's evolution at the level of heaven and earth's laws, simultaneously purifying, shaping, and endowing the metal with spirit.
This saved not only time but also eliminated all possible deviations and imperfections in the process.
Having received the blessing of world power from the very beginning, the metal's potential and strength naturally exceeded Soul-Forged metal produced through conventional methods.
The current Soul-Forged Divine Alloy's strength was already comparable to ordinary Heaven-Forged metal.
But this was only the beginning.
As more world power was inspired by Gu Yuena, the sky was covered by a seven-colored vortex—tribulation clouds appeared.
BOOM!
The next moment, the people of Mingdu heard the boom and saw the familiar seven-colored lightning in the distance.
"What's that?" A newcomer to Mingdu was started.
"Oh, it's thunder tribulation," a nearby Mingdu resident said with utter nonchalance. "Pay it no mind—just go about your business."
Because Huo Yuhao had frequently practiced tempering his body with thunder tribulations and mastering Elemental Divine Thunder, the people of Mingdu had long grown accustomed to elemental tribulations.
Later, when Gu Yuena practiced Heaven Forging and Elemental Divine Thunder, no one found it strange.
This also meant that the Mingdu populace hadn't realized Gu Yuena had quietly become a new Divine Craftsman.
Otherwise, the recent news hot spots would definitely have included more than just the Xingluo battlefield.
On Gu Yuena's side, she mobilized the Dragon God's Heart to temporarily restore her strength to the divine level and began the final steps—using third-class divine origin realm power to channel the tribulation lightning to temper the metal.
As time passed, after three divine-level thunder tribulations, the piece of metal suddenly transformed into a small figure resembling Gu Yuena, shaking its head toward her.
Then, it reached out—and Gu Yuena's Silver Dragon Spear fell into its hands, its body radiating the power of all seven elements. It then directly controlled the seven elemental powers to clash with the heavenly tribulation.
Gu Yuena seemed to have expected this. She smiled helplessly and stepped back, leaving the task of facing the divine-level tribulation to the metal itself.
But Huo Yuhao could sense that the two's auras were now one—the metal was still borrowing Gu Yuena's power to resist the tribulation.
Otherwise, a piece of metal couldn't possibly withstand a divine-level tribulation alone.
"I see—it's completely become a sentient being. That really does make it impossible for anyone else to use."
***
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