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"Is this your forging workshop, Class Monitor?"
Wu Siduo looked around with curiosity after entering Xu Yuan's forging room. Her gaze was naturally drawn to the towering piles of rare metals scattered throughout the space.
But these weren't things one could take in all at once.
Mountains of rare metals were everywhere, requiring her to look left and right just to see everything.
It wasn't just her—Yang Nianxia had also come along, curious about Xu Yuan's forging skills.
Now that he'd entered the workshop, he had a rough idea of the answer to his question.
"Class Monitor, did you forge all of this?"
"I forge at least once a day and set aside half a day each week for it. The efficiency isn't bad, right? These thousand-forged metals should be enough for you guys to build your mechs, right?"
Xu Yuan gestured toward a table stacked with thousand-forged metals.
Like most blacksmiths, Xu Yuan had a peculiar habit of collecting various rare metals. Before achieving 1st-Grade Thousand-Forging, he simply followed the guidance of his uncle Zhen Hua to gather materials. But after mastering 1st-Grade Thousand-Forging, he finally understood why blacksmiths had this tendency: communicating with the spirit within the metal was akin to exploring the essence of different rare metals. Studying their internal structures, understanding their life essence, and experiencing the process of imbuing them with life—it was an incredibly beautiful experience.
The unprocessed rare metals piled up like mountains because Xu Yuan didn't have time to organize them.
However, the metals he had forged were neatly arranged.
Only the finest pieces or those with special significance were stored in his storage soul-guided device as collectibles.
The rest, displayed in the forging room, were available for sale or trade.
If Wu Siduo and the others needed them, they could buy them at market price—it wouldn't be a loss.
"Darkgold!" Yang Nianxia exclaimed, rushing over to one of the piles and pulling out a piece of dark golden metal.
"Class Monitor, are you selling this Darkgold?"
Xu Yuan glanced at him and shook his head.
No.
After forging, I can give it to you at the standard 1st-Grade Thousand-Forged Darkgold price. But since I haven't forged it yet, don't even think about it.
Darkgold was a rare metal, even within Shrek's Blacksmiths Association. While it could be found, the price and conditions for obtaining it were far from simple.
Extremely rare metals like these couldn't be acquired through straightforward transactions—they usually required bartering or favors. If the rarity wasn't advantageous, one might even end up owing someone a favor.
Xu Yuan had some Darkgold, all collected with the help of his uncle Zhen Hua. It was useful for both his mech and battle armor.
If there was any surplus, selling it to Yang Nianxia wasn't out of the question.
In fact, Xu Yuan had incorporated Darkgold into his mech and battle armor designs because his Tianyuan Five Elements Spear had integrated Darkgold Terror Claw. Yang Nianxia's Darkgold Bear martial soul, which carried the bloodline of the Darkgold Terror Claw Bear, had an exceptionally high compatibility with Darkgold.
Moreover, using Darkgold to craft battle armor and fusing it with his martial soul could refine the pair of bear claws within his soul. This would aid in the evolution of his martial soul's bloodline. With additional opportunities, there was even a chance it could evolve into a true Darkgold Terror Claw Bear.
Yang Nianxia looked disappointed.
Indeed, Darkgold ranked among the rarest of rare metals.
As for Xu Yuan forging it and then trading it to him, Yang Nianxia hadn't even considered it.
Since he was a blacksmith, the rare metals used in his own battle armor had to be forged by himself!
This was the most fundamental belief of any blacksmith.
"Class Monitor, how many contribution points for these thousand-forged metals?" Wu Siduo had already selected seven pieces of thousand-forged metal.
Xu Yuan glanced at them—they were of good quality, at the peak of 2nd-Grade Thousand-Forging, just one step away from 1st-Grade. These were failures from when he first stabilized his 1st-Grade Thousand-Forging skills three years ago, shortly after Tang Wulin helped him break through.
"Just these?"
Only seven?
For a mech, based on the quantity of rare metals Xu Yuan had, at least dozens—if not hundreds—of pieces would be required.
And Wu Siduo had only picked seven.
"Class Monitor, you don't know how expensive thousand-forged metals are," Wu Siduo said wistfully.
She only planned to use thousand-forged metals for the core parts of her mech, while the rest would be made with hundred-forged metals.
Thousand-forged?
Most soul masters couldn't even afford to use thousand-forged metals for their battle armor, let alone build an entire mech out of them.
And this was supposed to be her first mech—a White-Rank one at that.
After completing the transaction, Xu Yuan saw the two off and remained in the forging workshop.
"The forging of spirit-forged alloys still feels insufficient. At my current level, I still can't produce god-forged alloys."
Looking at the pile of Heavy Silver and Magic Silver in front of him, Xu Yuan reflected on his past forging experiences.
His peak achievement in forging had been fusing two rare metals to a 93% fusion rate.
This was a number that even many Level 6 blacksmiths couldn't achieve.
"But it's still not enough. Reaching 90% is just the start. Afterward, other rare metals can be added for secondary fusion forging—but it's still not sufficient."
What made god-forged alloys so extraordinary was that they fused not only the soul master's blood essence and vitality but also allowed the two rare metals to merge at their very essence under the guidance of the blacksmith's blood essence.
Their benefits and feedback to the soul master were unparalleled.
Typically, only the blacksmiths themselves used god-forged alloys to craft battle armor.
"Today, I'll aim to increase the fusion rate by another percentage point."
One percentage point per day—after a few days, god-forged alloys would be within reach.
Xu Yuan summarized his past experiences and recalled the theoretical deductions he had made in the Dream Realm over the past two days. Slowly, he opened his eyes.
A pair of massive hammers appeared in his hands.
These were pure Darkgold 1st-Grade Thousand-Forged hammers, infused with Xu Yuan's blood essence. Perhaps influenced by the Darkgold Terror Claw, they were extraordinary when first forged. Xu Yuan had immediately performed a blood sacrifice upon their completion, shaping them into a pair of hammers. He discovered that they possessed a penetrating property, allowing each strike to delve deep into the metal and transform it from within.
Thus, Xu Yuan had decided to make this pair of hammers his primary forging tools.
The massive hammers fell.
BANG!
The sound echoed through the forging workshop.
The astonishing force struck the Heavy Silver but didn't flatten it outright. Instead, the energy transferred layer by layer, evenly penetrating every corner of the Heavy Silver. Thin threads of black impurities began seeping out from its edges.
BANG!
Another hammer blow landed on the Magic Silver.
Gray impurities began oozing out from the edges of the Magic Silver.
With both hammers swinging, Xu Yuan simultaneously forged the two rare metals.
The rhythmic BANG BANG sounds filled the air without pause.
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