The eyes of Huo Yuhao moved slightly. Facing the sharp stare of Mu Chen, he did not panic at all but answered with the truth. My teacher in Forging is indeed Zhen Hua.
As soon as he said those words, Tang Wulin, standing nearby, felt his heart shake!
As a blacksmith, the name of Divine Craftsman Zhen Hua was like a roar of thunder to his ears.
After all, that was a person standing at the very top of the forging world on the whole continent. The legendary Rank 9 Divine Craftsman was a goal that all blacksmiths looked up to and wanted to reach!
He never thought that the teacher of Huo Yuhao would actually be that man.
Hearing this, some mixed feelings seemed to rise deep in the eyes of Mu Chen, but they quickly went back to being calm.
He put the badge back into the open hand of Huo Yuhao.
He then looked at Huo Yuhao and said in a light tone, A badge does not mean very much.
He looked right at Huo Yuhao, his voice turning cold. If you want to join my Eastsea Blacksmith Association, it still depends on your real skill.
In the heart of Huo Yuhao, this association president was now clearly seen as a rival of his teacher, Zhen Hua.
The man's mood clearly had a hint of testing or even trying to make things hard for him.
As a student, he stood for more than just himself at this moment; it also touched the pride and name of his teacher, Zhen Hua.
The face of Huo Yuhao also became completely serious. He put away the badge, met the eyes of Mu Chen with a firm look, and answered strongly, In that case, I will ask the President... to get a forging room ready for me.
Mu Chen gave him a long look and said nothing else, only saying three words: Follow me.
After speaking, he turned and led the way out of the office.
Huo Yuhao and Tang Wulin looked at each other, then stepped forward without stopping, following right behind him.
After leaving the office, Mu Chen turned right and walked only a few steps along a hallway with a thick rug before stopping at a plain door.
He reached out and pushed the door open, telling the two to go inside.
Behind the door was no normal room. It was not big, but the setup was very fine. The walls around them were almost filled with clear glass boxes set into the wall.
Inside the boxes were not papers or books, but different pieces of metal in many shapes and colors, all put in order.
Heavy Silver, star silver, Magic Silver, Thousand-refined Tungsten Steel, Jade Silver... these rare metals shone with a nice glow under the soft light.
On both the left and right sides of the room, there were two separate areas divided by thick clear glass walls, each with its own forging table.
The eyes of Huo Yuhao moved over the room. Without being shy or waiting, he walked right toward the forging table on the inner right side.
First, he looked at a piece of rare metal already sitting on the table.
It was a piece of star silver about the size of a fist, with small silver star marks on its surface.
Then, Huo Yuhao turned on the energy core on the side of the table and started the fire in the furnace.
A deep blue flame rose up quietly. He did not rush to start but just stood still by the table, watching the fire with a quiet look, as if feeling the heat and the beat of the flame.
To the side, the eyes of Mu Chen moved a bit, showing a small bit of surprise that was hard to see.
The boy in front of him clearly only had the body of a ten-year-old child, but when he stood at the forging table, he naturally gave off a focused and steady mood.
This deep and quiet mood was something many forging masters did not have.
When the color and heat of the flame reached the right point, Huo Yuhao moved.
With a turn of his wrist, he used a special metal tool to put the piece of star silver into the middle of the fire and began to heat it all over.
At the same time, a black light flashed on his hands, and a pair of dark, old-looking forging hammers appeared in his palms.
The hammer heads were not plain; they had complex and secret dark-gold marks on them, with spirit power moving through them, giving off a heavy but quick feeling.
The eyes of Mu Chen were pulled right to this pair of hammers.
With just one look, he could tell that this was a pair of real Spirit Forging-rank hammers!
Their main metal should be the very rare Myriad Soul Iron, which was great for carrying and growing mental force and spirit power!
A blacksmith's hammers are mostly made by themselves; only then can they work perfectly with their own spirit power and way of moving, giving the best result.
The look of these Spirit Forging hammers, and the great harmony that showed between them and Huo Yuhao, had quietly proven one thing to Mu Chen... that the boy in front of him was truly a... Rank 5 blacksmith who had learned Spirit Refining!
A soft light suddenly flashed in the eyes of Huo Yuhao as his Spirit Eyes soul power quietly started.
At the same time, his Mental Detection power moved out like quiet waves, bringing the star silver on the table, the hammers in his hands, and even the small changes in the fire under his total control.
In his mind, the inside of the metal, the heat levels, the spots of junk, and even how the metal changed under high heat became clearer than ever before.
When he saw the star silver reached its most active point and the best softness where junk was easiest to remove, a sharp light flashed in the eyes of Huo Yuhao, and he did not wait!
His left hand moved as fast as a flash, using the tool to grab the red-hot metal and set it firmly on the special block of the forging table.
At almost the same time the metal touched, his right hand, which was ready with the hammers, brought down a heavy black light in a simple but strong path, hitting hard!
Bang!!!
It was not a loud pop, but a deep and heavy sound!
Sparks flew everywhere, and a small wave of air moved.
The eyes of Mu Chen suddenly pulled tight the moment this hammer hit!
With his skill, he could see that under that strong strike, the red-hot star silver had not been flattened or messed up; instead, its inside seemed to have changed in a perfect way at the moment the hammer hit!
With just this one hit, more than forty percent of the small junk and weak spots in the metal were actually shaken out, gathering in the outer layer that was about to fall off!
the whole height of the star silver also shrank by nearly half, clear to see, yet it looked even more solid and clean!
Eh?!
Even with all the things Mu Chen had seen, he could not stop a sound of shock from coming from deep in his throat!
He knew well what kind of amazing sight, control, and knowledge of metal were hidden behind this simple hit!
Even many Rank 6 forging masters who had worked for many years might not be able to finish this one-hit cleaning so perfectly and fast!
For Huo Yuhao to do this, his forging skill was the base, but the real reason was the special hammers in his hands and his own soul power.
This pair of hammers, which he had worked so hard to finish, had a special power that even Zhen Hua had not seen coming.
Huo Yuhao called it—Ruyi.
The main point of the Ruyi effect was simple: every bit of force Huo Yuhao sent through the hammers could be perfectly felt and controlled by him!
This control not only worked on the hammer itself but could go deep into the inside of the metal he was working on!
The shake of the hit, the speed of the wave, the way the power spread out... all could be changed by his will, like a part of his own body.
And his Spirit Eyes and Mental Detection gave him a view that no one else had.
Every bit of junk, every weak spot, and every path for the force inside the metal was as clear as a light in the dark to him, with no secrets at all.
The mix of the Ruyi effect and Spirit Eyes was like a forging skill made just for Huo Yuhao.
He could see where the junk was and could send the force of the hammer hit to every spot that needed it, cleaning and fixing the metal with the least amount of work.
That big hit just now was the perfect mix of his eye, his force, and his mind.
It was a wonder made of skill, soul power, and special tools, far past what a simple forging rank could show.
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You can read advanced chapters here: patreon.com/GregariousLion