Lin Yuhan had spent a year traveling across the Douluo Continent and returned to Meteor City with much to digest.
In reality, that was indeed the case.
Over the past nine months, she had mostly been forging, reviewing what she had seen and learned during her year on the Douluo Continent—many forging techniques she had never encountered before—and integrating them into her practice.
She was already a level-five blacksmith.
She could perform soul-forging with ease, but fusion-forging remained an insurmountable hurdle.
It wasn't due to a lack of accumulation on her part—it was simply that the Star Luo Continent's inheritance of fusion-forging techniques was inadequate.
The fusion-forging technology of the Star Luo Continent lagged behind the Federation by more than one generation. The proportion of blacksmiths stuck at level five, unable to advance to level six, far exceeded that of the Federation.
This was a deficiency in their heritage.
However, after spending a year in the Federation, Lin Yuhan had learned a great deal—not just her, but also her teacher, Changgong Yan. Both had gained new insights into fusion-forging.
With this trip, Lin Yuhan had recently succeeded in fusion-forging and quickly mastered its techniques, successfully forging three types of soul-infused alloys and completing their soul-forging.
Within the next year or two, she was confident she would master numerous soul-infused alloys and then begin aiming for the realm of level-seven soul-forging.
The forging techniques of the Star Luo Continent were flawed, particularly in fusion-forging, where the inheritance was too incomplete. As a result, many blacksmiths were stuck at level five. However, they weren't entirely stagnant—some followed orthodox cultivation methods, while others attempted to directly soul-forge using only the purest rare metals.
Unfortunately, the reason fusion-forging existed and persisted was because, at higher levels, the strength of a single rare metal could no longer withstand the blessings of heaven and earth.
Soul-forging placed exceedingly high demands on rare metals.
Of course, the Star Luo Continent was rich in rare metal resources, and there were indeed a few metals capable of barely succeeding in soul-forging. Thus, a few blacksmiths had managed to bypass level six entirely and jump straight from level five to level seven.
But alas, they couldn't progress beyond that.
Lin Yuhan hadn't taken this route, though she had experimented with it. Unable to succeed in fusion-forging, she had returned to refining her soul-forging skills.
Back then, her ability to successfully soul-forge Blue Womb Copper in one attempt in Tian Dou City spoke volumes about her skill in soul-forging. In the Federation, only level-six blacksmiths would dare attempt such a feat in a competition.
After all, forging always involved success rates and failure rates.
"By the way, have you succeeded in fusion-forging now?"
Xu Yuan changed the subject.
Looking at Lin Yuhan's expression, he knew she had likely broken through.
Still, it was something he needed to ask.
Lin Yuhan's face lit up with joy, adopting a proud expression as she tilted her head upward.
"Yeah."
"Amazing. With your accumulation, you should be able to attempt soul-forging soon, right?"
Lin Yuhan crossed her arms and said, "Of course. With soul-infused alloys, forging has become much simpler. My success rate in soul-forging has increased by over ten percentage points."
Ten percentage points—that was a significant leap.
Forging with soul-infused alloys was indeed easier because their foundation was better, allowing for a higher margin of error during the process.
"By the way, what brings you here? You didn't come to spar with me on forging techniques, did you?" Lin Yuhan didn't forget to ask about Xu Yuan's purpose.
She was well aware that Xu Yuan far surpassed her in forging.
Back in Tian Dou City, Xu Yuan had effortlessly completed the fusion-forging of Spirit Crystal and Blue Womb Copper with an extremely high fusion rate!
Even now, Lin Yuhan wasn't confident she could surpass Xu Yuan from back then.
And that was the Xu Yuan of the past—let alone the present.
"I do need your help with something. I need a batch of Transforming Silver," Xu Yuan got straight to the point, stating his request.
"Transforming Silver? How much do you need?"
"Five tons?" Xu Yuan replied.
As he spoke, he observed Lin Yuhan's expression.
Sure enough, he saw a look of shock on her face.
"What do you need so much Transforming Silver for? Even if you're practicing fusion-forging, you shouldn't need this much Transforming Silver, right?"
Although there was a vein of Transforming Silver, it was still an incredibly precious rare metal and a specialty of the Star Luo Continent. A small amount of Transforming Silver leaking out was acceptable, but the quantity Xu Yuan mentioned was already considered a strategic resource.
Requesting such a large amount at once meant that even the Lin family, despite their best efforts, would struggle to fulfill it.
The Lin family was one of the three major families in Meteor City, practically overseeing all matters big and small in the city. In recent years, thanks to Lin Yuhan's forging talent and her apprenticeship under Changgong Yan, the Lin family had also formed a good relationship with this level-eight saintly craftsman. They had already gained the upper hand over the other two families in industries related to forging within Meteor City, securing the strongest voice.
Even so, the entire Lin family mobilizing their resources wouldn't dare guarantee they could provide Xu Yuan with five tons of Transforming Silver.
It wasn't that they couldn't produce five tons of Transforming Silver—it was that they couldn't give five tons of Transforming Silver to Xu Yuan.
"Is it that difficult?" Seeing her reaction, Xu Yuan sighed inwardly.
He had no choice but to pull out his trump card.
"I can offer a premium trade."
Due to his ability to forge and unlike a certain forging prodigy who had an insatiable demand for spiritual materials, Xu Yuan often found himself with plenty of wealth to spare.
"A premium?" Lin Yuhan's eyes flickered as she looked at Xu Yuan. "What kind of premium are we talking about?"
"One-ton batches of Jade Silver, refined to the thousand-hammer, first-grade level, with fusion rates mostly in the 70–80% range. For the portions below 80%, I'll exchange them for triple the mass in Transforming Silver. For the portions above 80%, I'll exchange them for five times the mass in Transforming Silver."
Lin Yuhan's eyes widened.
She thought she had misheard.
"Do you really have that much Jade Silver?"
Based on Xu Yuan's description, he would need at least a ton of Jade Silver.
Converted into standard-sized bars, that would mean several hundred to a thousand pieces.
"Jade Silver at the thousand-refined, first-grade level can still undergo secondary forging, including soul-forging and even attempts at spirit-forging," Xu Yuan said calmly.
This batch of Jade Silver was his last stockpile.
Previously, he had used Jade Silver in multiple transactions, but those were all pieces with fusion rates exceeding 90%. These lower-grade ones, though abundant, were rarely used—he had been saving them specifically for an opportunity like this.
He had planned to participate in this exchange program early on, so he had prepared to make large-scale purchases of rare metals on the Star Luo Continent.
This batch of Jade Silver had been kept aside specifically for this purpose.
These were the fruits of his research into fusion-forging.
Lin Yuhan's gaze became unfocused.
So much Jade Silver…
Taking a deep breath, her gaze toward Xu Yuan now carried a trace of admiration.
Even without seeing the Jade Silver Xu Yuan intended to trade, she had already guessed that this batch was likely forged by Xu Yuan himself.
To repeatedly fusion-forge a single type of soul-infused alloy—regardless of the purpose or outcome—spoke volumes about his perseverance.
Lin Yuhan questioned whether she could have done the same.
"I'll see what I can do," she said, still not giving a definitive answer.
Five tons of Transforming Silver was an enormous amount.
The Lin family absolutely couldn't provide that much. She would need to consult her teacher, Changgong Yan.
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