Chapter 256: Using Spirit Gold to Forge Armor—Are You Throwing Money Away?
But Jiang Chen didn't really need all that.
He was still going to become an adult sooner or later!
No reason to make things too complicated.
Xiong Jun squinted his eyes. "Ah Chen, you're incredible. Even Di Tian doesn't impress me—but you do!"
Indeed, even this rough and rugged beast already knew that his master had fallen.
Well, "rough" only in appearance. Despite his brutish look, Xiong Jun's mind was sharp and calculating.
You couldn't judge a beast by its fur.
Otherwise, how could he have challenged Di Tian multiple times, even injuring him once, fighting for the title of Lord of Soul Beasts—and still be alive today?
But this old friend Jiang Chen was a different story entirely!
As for Xue Di, there was no need to mention her—she'd been captured and tamed ten thousand years ago.
Now, in just a few short years, Di Tian's once-proud plans had repeatedly fallen apart—all because of Jiang Chen.
Impressive.
That was their master—the Dragon God!
A literal god!
Xiong Jun looked at Jiang Chen with eyes full of envy, jealousy, and despair.
Too bad his master was a dragon—never interested in bears.
"Enough about me. I want to forge some battle armor. Can you handle it?"
Jiang Chen had originally planned to find Zhen Hua, the Divine Craftsman.
But then he reconsidered. He was only making a one-word—no, a two-word—armor.
No need to bother a divine master for that.
A soul master-level craftsman would do—and Xiong Jun was one of his own.
"Of course!"
Xiong Jun gave him a quick look, immediately realizing Jiang Chen was suppressing his true soul power.
"So, how many words do you want the armor to have?"
"Two."
A two-word battle armor—for a six-ring Soul Emperor.
That would suffice.
"Alright. But since you came to me specifically, I'm guessing you didn't bring ordinary metal?"
"Of course not."
Confident that Xiong Jun's stronghold was secure, Jiang Chen pulled out both the Spirit Gold and the Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold.
"We'll use these. You handle the rest."
The moment Xiong Jun saw the Spirit Gold, he went silent.
Uh… seriously?
He remembered when he crafted Bi Ji's armor—Di Tian himself had only dared scrape off a tiny sliver of Spirit Gold.
But this—this was an entire chunk.
He recognized that aura. The same piece Di Tian had once hoarded for thousands of years.
"How about it? Can you?"
Xiong Jun coughed awkwardly, pulling himself together.
"Spirit Gold, sure. I can handle that. But this Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold…"
Now that was trouble.
He had never even seen it before, much less forged it. Every metal behaved differently, relying on precise control through years of experience.
Success wasn't something that could happen by chance. Only monsters could manage that.
And he wasn't one of those game-like "plug-ins" that succeeded every time he hit metal.
"Honestly, you're making things hard for me, brother."
"This stuff… I can feel the bloodline power inside it—about as strong as my own. Must be Phoenix Blood, right? You really want me to practice using something that rare? No way I'll get it right on the first try."
"Besides, materials like these shouldn't be wasted on a two-word armor. Even a three-word wouldn't fully use their potential. You'd be better off saving them for a Heavenly Refinement."
Indeed, using that much Spirit Gold for something so basic would be a crime.
Bi Ji's entire three-word suit had used only a fingernail's worth. Not even one ten-thousandth of what Jiang Chen had set down.
And that had been considered extravagant—Di Tian doing it purely to enhance Bi Ji's healing strength.
If Jiang Chen used it just for a two-word armor… that would make him nothing short of a prodigal fool.
When Zhen Hua became a Divine Craftsman, he nearly killed himself in the process. Every faction across the Federation queued up for him to perform Heavenly Refinements. He'd lost count of how many lightning bolts had struck him.
That was why, though not yet old, Zhen Hua's body was already failing. He only had a few successful refinements left in him.
Xiong Jun was different. As a soul beast, he had millennia of life ahead—time to study patiently, and few requests coming his way.
Not because of his skills—but because he wasn't trusted.
Even if he did become a Divine Craftsman, that stigma wouldn't vanish easily.
But he didn't mind. Less clients meant less stress.
Still, he was frustrated over one thing—he'd been stuck at the three-word level for centuries. Despite endless discussions with Zhen Hua, he couldn't break through.
And he suspected that, for him, ascending to Divine Craftsman wouldn't go smoothly at all.
When a soul beast lived past one hundred thousand years, they had to endure heavenly tribulation.
Becoming a Divine Craftsman meant another tribulation—Heavenly Refinement lightning.
And Xiong Jun's would be different.
He confessed all these thoughts to Jiang Chen.
He'd never been able to explain it to the others. Di Tian and the rest didn't understand the art of forging. They couldn't grasp what he meant.
Even getting started had cost Xiong Jun dearly long ago.
Jiang Chen rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He'd never considered that before.
So the heavens struck beasts down specifically?
Damn Dragon God's rules!
That meant he needed to hurry—get Zhen Hua to craft a divine metal while he still could.
Can't exactly tear his mecha apart later, can he?
"I'll handle it," said Xiong Jun decisively.
Having Zhen Hua conduct the refinement through him was doable—their friendship allowed for it.
And given that this was Spirit Gold, Zhen Hua would never say no. He'd probably gain from the experience rather than lose anything, bathed in such immense life energy.
Even if he'd never worked with it before, the chances of failure were almost zero.
That was how extraordinary Spirit Gold was—a universal treasure that made anything alloyed with it ten times better.
"As for the Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold…" Xiong Jun fell silent again.
That one, he couldn't guarantee at all.
Forging required mastery of a metal's every state. One mistake, and it could be lost forever.
And this was a completely unknown material.
Jiang Chen reluctantly scraped off a small shaving from the block.
"Experiment with it. No rush. Once you reach the Divine Craftsman stage, we can upgrade later."
He had realized—there was no need to rush perfection.
A simple start was enough.
Even Spirit Gold alone would yield a superb result.
A true universal masterpiece—using just a little wouldn't be wasteful even for one-word armor.
For now, focus on the Heavenly Refinement.
Otherwise, if Zhen Hua retired or Xiong Jun failed his ascension, how would he get his four-word armor later?
"Alright, I'll take you there now!" said Xiong Jun.
Without Xue Di or Di Tian around, he was in high spirits, chatting easily with Jiang Chen as they walked shoulder to shoulder.
Meanwhile, Ye Xinglan trembled in the corner, terrified.
Had she just heard too much?
Lord? Gods? Divine Craftsmen dying?
If anyone else heard this conversation, they'd all be executed on the spot!
By now, she deeply regretted coming along.
The two of them spoke openly, hiding nothing—not even their boldest ideas.
They even joked about toppling the Federation, crowning Jiang Chen as Emperor, and having soul beasts rule humanity.
If that ever got out, there wouldn't be enough bullets or spirit cannons in the Federation to kill them both!
Oh heavens…
Was this how men normally talked?
Ye Xinglan huddled into the farthest corner, afraid to breathe too loudly, trembling all over.
What had she gotten herself into?!
"Why did I even come with them!?"
(END CHAPTER)
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