Not long after Tang Wulin left, an incredibly dense life aura, at least ten times stronger than that of a Thousand Refinements One-Grade metal, rose into the air.
At the same time, Xia Yi had completed the spirit forging of the Life Crystal.
Mu Chen immediately retrieved an instrument to measure the fusion level—100%.
Seeing this number, not just Mu Chen and Feng Wuyu, but even Zhen Hua himself was visibly shocked.
"Who taught you this forging method?" Zhen Hua asked excitedly, scrutinizing Xia Yi's spirit-forged Life Crystal over and over.
In reality, this Life Crystal was actually fusion-forged.
Although it was a single piece of metal, Xia Yi treated it as if it were two separate pieces during the forging process, allowing the left and right sides to fuse with each other, thereby achieving the effect of fusion forging.
Strictly speaking, its actual fusion level wasn't truly 100%, but because both sides were Life Crystal, and not only that, they were from the same original piece, this kind of fusion forging was like pouring two identical glasses of water together—even if they hadn't fully fused, the instrument wouldn't be able to detect the difference.
Even if the actual fusion level was just 1%, the instrument would still register it as 100%.
"Normally, spirit-forged metals can't be reforged, but sometimes we only need a single type of metal. In those cases, if we have to replace the metal every time we upgrade, it's far too wasteful. So, I came up with this method," Xia Yi explained seriously.
His forging skills had no true mentor—he was mostly self-taught. After each forging session, he would reflect and summarize his experiences.
Through constant practice over the past few days, his forging skills had improved significantly.
While reviewing his past forging experiences, he thought about the battle armor wings he had forged for Shen Yi. Since they were just standard spirit-forged metal, they couldn't be reforged.
In the future, if Shen Yi wanted to upgrade her battle armor to a Three-Word Battle Armor, she would need to replace the entire set of wings, which would be a massive financial burden.
Thus, Xia Yi conceived the idea of fusion forging a single piece of metal.
Fusion-forged metals can be reforged, eliminating unnecessary waste.
In theory, one could forge two identical pieces of metal first and then fuse them, but in that case, the fusion level wouldn't reach 100%.
Even if the metal is the same and forged by the same smith, no two pieces of metal can ever be exactly identical, making the difference detectable.
However, by fusion forging the left and right halves of a single piece of metal, current measuring instruments wouldn't be able to distinguish any difference.
"This is indeed a great idea. I'll give it a try too."
Zhen Hua had never considered fusion forging the same piece of metal or even the same type of metal.
Previously, the consensus was that fusion forging different metals was valuable because it combined their properties. Fusing the same metal only resulted in a single attribute, making its quality no different from standard spirit-forged metals.
Such a method was seen as redundant and pointless, apart from reducing material waste.
Thus, no forger had ever thought of trying it.
But Zhen Hua was now intrigued. He casually retrieved a piece of gray metal and placed it into the forging furnace for heating.
"Hun Yuan Metal!" Xia Yi's eyes widened. This was an extremely rare metal, even more valuable than Leng Yaozhu's Phoenix Jade.
This metal had no innate attributes—whatever property the forger imbued into it would become its defining trait.
Thus, anyone could use it to create battle armor.
Once the Hun Yuan Metal was heated to an incandescent glow, Zhen Hua raised both hands, releasing an immense burst of soul power. In an instant, a dark red hammer, formed purely from condensed soul power, appeared in midair.
Boom!
With a single hammer strike, he flattened the glowing Hun Yuan Metal.
Xia Yi stood there, dumbfounded.
He had never seen someone flatten a metal piece outright while forging. Wouldn't this destroy its structure?
But then, to his utter shock, he realized—no, it didn't!
As Zhen Hua retrieved his hammer, the flattened Hun Yuan Metal bounced back up, and Xia Yi could clearly sense that the left and right halves had already fused.
As a master of fusion forging, Xia Yi knew exactly what was happening.
He had always prided himself on his fusion forging skills, believing that with his Fox Thought Technique and Creation Hammer, even most Sixth-Rank Blacksmiths couldn't match him in fusing two different metals.
But after seeing Zhen Hua's technique, he realized he still had a long way to go.
Even with the aid of his Fox Thought Technique, he could never achieve what Zhen Hua just did—fusion forging with a single hammer strike!
Yes—just one hammer, and the metal was fully fusion forged.
What's more, a pillar of light over three meters tall shot up into the air.
Thousand Refinements with Spirit!
Thousand Refinements One-Grade!
Peak Quality!
With just one hammer, he had achieved both Thousand Refinements One-Grade and Fusion Forging simultaneously.
This was no longer mere forging—this was a state of absolute unity between mind and craft.
Xia Yi wasn't just shocked—he felt his blood boil with excitement.
"Perhaps this is the pinnacle of forging… I wonder how long it will take for me to reach this level."
Zhen Hua lifted his hammer again.
Boom!
This time, the impact was even stronger, and an aura of life emerged from the very hammer strike itself.
Xia Yi focused even more intently.
He noticed that during this hammer's descent, various elemental energies in the forging room surged toward it, as if a funnel had formed above the hammer, drawing in all energies.
The immense power poured into the previously fusion-forged Hun Yuan Metal, melding into it completely.
"Buzz!"
The metal hummed, its surface rippling with waves of light.
One-Hammer Spirit Forging!
Xia Yi was at a loss for words.
Countless forgers were stuck at the Fourth Rank, unable to ever touch the threshold of spirit forging.
Yet Zhen Hua—a Divine Blacksmith—had just completed Spirit Forging with a single strike.
If the Forging Association saw this, they would go insane.
Zhen Hua, however, seemed completely unfazed. Picking up the spirit-forged Hun Yuan Metal, he frowned slightly, looking somewhat dissatisfied.
"What do you think?" Zhen Hua asked as he handed the metal to Xia Yi.
"I feel like my fusion forging and spirit forging are worthless," Xia Yi said with a wry smile, summoning his Creation Hammer again. "It seems my greatest strength is also my greatest weakness."
"The Creation Hammer… good name. And it deserves that name," Zhen Hua nodded approvingly.
Seeing Xia Yi's hammer, Zhen Hua had already noticed its special properties, as well as the trace amounts of Spirit Gold incorporated into it.
"You don't need to belittle yourself. In fact, you've pioneered a technique that could revolutionize the forging world."
"Why not name it?" Zhen Hua asked.
Xia Yi thought for a moment.
"Then let's call it Celestial Fox Fusion Forging."
"Good name," Zhen Hua nodded.
"And now, you can either give an interview or write a speech—which one do you prefer?"
"This is such a hassle. How about you find someone to write it for me, senior?" Xia Yi's face turned completely dark.
"That works too." Zhen Hua didn't make things difficult for Xia Yi on this point. Suddenly, his tone changed, and he asked in a serious voice, "The spirit-forged Starfall Iron that Heavenly Phoenix Douluo has—did you give it to her?"
Before entering seclusion, Leng Yaozhu had taken a piece of spirit-forged Starfall Iron and exchanged it within the Federation for a method of refining Starfall Iron.
Zhen Hua hadn't had the chance to look into it yet when Leng Yaozhu went into seclusion.
He had originally planned to discuss this matter with her at her wedding with Yun Ming.
But then, he saw Tang Wulin's spirit-forged Starfall Iron—and it was an alloy.
He had come to find Feng Wuyu precisely because of this matter.
At first, he had assumed that Shrek Academy had developed a special method to spirit-forge Starfall Iron.
But he hadn't expected it to be due to Xia Yi's Creation Hammer.
The Creation Hammer was one of a kind.
This method couldn't be promoted like the Celestial Fox Fusion Forging Technique.
This left Zhen Hua somewhat disappointed.
(End of Chapter)