The core of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's evil attribute was the ability to devour. As a trait derived from the evil attribute, the effect of Bai Chen's forging hammer was naturally inseparable from the power of devouring.
When he brought the hammer down with a single strike, the metal's luster dimmed. This was not simply the destruction of the metal. Rather, the energy within the metal was absorbed into the forging hammer.
And if he wished, he could release that stored energy to improve the metal's properties.
Between devouring and releasing, some energy loss inevitably occurred. Therefore, this ability could not be used repeatedly on the same piece of metal, otherwise it would produce the opposite effect.
However, on the other hand, Bai Chen could also use other metals—devouring their energy and releasing it into the metal he actually intended to forge.
He could sense that because the forging hammer was made from Thousand-Forged metal, its storage capacity had a limit. Once it reached a certain threshold, it could no longer absorb additional energy. Forcing it to absorb more might even cause the forging hammer to be damaged.
Fortunately, since the hammer had undergone his blood sacrifice, it was similar to an external spirit bone and could gradually evolve as Bai Chen's strength increased. As the material of the hammer evolved, the maximum amount of energy it could store would certainly increase as well.
Forcefully devouring and stripping the power of other existences in order to strengthen a target—this forging hammer's trait was undeniably very much in the style of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
After Bai Chen explained all of this to Zhen Hua, Zhen Hua couldn't help but inhale sharply.
"An incredible trait…"
Domineering was the first word that came to his mind.
Destruction and sublimation were separated by only a single thought. It could be said that any metal that encountered Bai Chen's forging hammer would have its fate dramatically rewritten.
"So what about the other hammer?" Zhen Hua asked curiously.
Just like twin martial souls usually possessed similar levels of strength, since Bai Chen could awaken two different traits in his two forging hammers at the same time, the strength of those traits was likely comparable as well.
Bai Chen picked up the hammer in his right hand and lightly struck the metal before him.
Clang—
A crisp sound rang out, but the metal itself showed no change.
However, Bai Chen's expression shifted slightly. As the owner of the hammer, he seemed to already understand its ability.
He gently pressed the hammer against the metal.
Soon after, the metal's surface once again produced a crisp sound.
Clang—
This sound was identical to the previous one.
Zhen Hua and Duan Xuan even wondered if they had heard wrong.
As veterans who had dominated the forging world for decades, their sensitivity to forging sounds needed no explanation. Bai Chen had simply pressed the hammer against the metal—under normal circumstances it would be impossible for such a sound to occur.
Bai Chen lifted the hammer from the metal and said to Zhen Hua:
"Teacher, I think I understand the effect of this hammer. It inherited my time attribute."
"Time?"
Zhen Hua's eyes widened in shock.
In order to surprise him, Duan Xuan had not told him Bai Chen's detailed information beforehand.
Now that he heard Bai Chen possessed a time attribute, he felt he could already vaguely guess the power of Bai Chen's second hammer.
Bai Chen explained:
"This hammer's trait is to copy and store the striking effect within a certain period of time. Just now it copied and stored my first strike. Whenever I want, I can release that stored strike. Unfortunately, with its current material, it doesn't seem capable of storing it for very long. After about three seconds, it can't continue storing anymore and must release the stored strike first."
"That's already extremely powerful!"
Zhen Hua said immediately.
What Bai Chen had done was essentially scene recreation. In other words, the power he reproduced would be exactly the same as the original strike.
If used properly, it could reduce the difficulty of forging by half.
And not only for forging—it could also play a significant role in combat.
Zhen Hua said excitedly:
"Child, the trait of your forging hammer has never appeared before. According to the rules of the forging world, you may give it an appropriate name yourself."
Bai Chen shook his head.
"Teacher should name it. After all, you helped forge this hammer."
"Heh, alright!" Zhen Hua's eyes warmed, and he didn't refuse.
After thinking for a moment, he said:
"How about calling this trait Echo?"
When Bai Chen demonstrated earlier, the second sound had resembled the echo of the first sound. Zhen Hua felt the name suited it well.
Bai Chen nodded lightly, indicating he had no objections.
Afterward, Zhen Hua began his first lesson.
Having accepted such an extraordinarily talented disciple, and seeing that the disciple's forging hammers possessed such excellent traits, Zhen Hua's mood was extremely high. During the lecture, he spoke with animated enthusiasm.
What excited him even more was that Bai Chen's comprehension ability was astonishing. He absorbed and understood everything Zhen Hua explained with incredible speed, making Zhen Hua increasingly pleased with this new disciple.
While the two were in the middle of the lesson, Duan Xuan quietly left.
As the president of the Tianhai City Blacksmith Association, his schedule was very tight. Since arranging for Zhen Hua to accept a disciple had already been accomplished, there was no reason for him to remain in the room any longer.
The lesson lasted two full hours before it finally ended.
By the time it concluded, both Zhen Hua and Bai Chen still felt somewhat reluctant for it to end.
Zhen Hua patted Bai Chen on the shoulder and sighed with emotion:
"I thought I had already evaluated your talent highly enough, but you still exceeded my expectations."
Normally, Zhen Hua was not someone who liked to praise students so much. But ever since the lesson began, his admiration for Bai Chen had not stopped.
Excessive praise could make children arrogant.
But with the child in front of him, Zhen Hua felt he was merely stating facts.
If even the most basic facts were not acknowledged, it might instead have the opposite effect.
He then asked Bai Chen:
"By the way, child, do you have any plans to join one of the top forces?"
Seeing that Bai Chen was only six years old and might not understand, he explained:
"The top forces I'm referring to are the four strongest soul master organizations in the world today: Shrek Academy, Tang Sect, the Spirit Pagoda, and the War God Hall."
Although Zhen Hua possessed immense wealth, he was ultimately only a Divine Blacksmith, and his personal strength was not particularly powerful. It would obviously be unrealistic for him to guide Bai Chen's cultivation as a soul master.
Bai Chen was different from him.
Before being a forging genius, Bai Chen was also a genius soul master.
Zhen Hua didn't want Bai Chen's talent as a soul master to be wasted.
Therefore, Bai Chen would have to join one of these soul master factions.
In this era, that was simply unavoidable.