Douluo, my clone Groudon

Chapter 187 Forging Finals

Zhenhua loves mentoring younger generations, so he certainly wouldn't refuse a question from one of them.

His keen senses, unique to a master blacksmith, allowed him to detect the surging blood and qi fluctuations within Gula and Tang Wulin.

As a master craftsman of his time, he could assert that both of them possessed a talent for forging that was at least as close to his own.

"That's normal, after all, they are disciples of the deputy tower master of the Spirit Transmission Tower and the elder of the Sea God Pavilion, respectively."

Zhenhua watched the bewildered boy with great interest. When Tang Wulin stammered out the key to refining spirit-forged metal, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

"The most important aspects of spirit forging, and even soul forging and celestial forging, are all about awakening the spirit of the metal. Metals are not born with spirit, but blacksmiths can endow them with it. Achieving communication with the metal is the most difficult step to comprehend..."

The night was deep, and the conversation didn't last long before everyone went home.

The competition continued the next day, and Gula successfully entered the top sixteen. The plant spirit beasts that he cultivated were the same spirit beasts he had controlled on the Spirit Ascension Platform: the Two-Headed Man-Eating Flower, the Killer Willow, the Ghost Vine, and the Emerald Banyan Tree.

With the amplification of Celebi Domain and Authority, plant-type soul beasts can unleash the combat power of thousand-year-old soul beasts and are not afraid of getting injured. They did not personally take action when they encountered a Soul Master.

in the afternoon.

Blacksmiths Guild.

The soul-guided chandelier hanging high in the dome of the Blacksmith Association illuminated the hall as if it were daytime. As Gula followed Tang Wulin through the crowd, he could clearly feel the probing gazes cast from all around.

After all, they were too young, yet they both wore Level 3 Blacksmith badges. These young contestants were like two green leaves that had strayed into a sea of ​​metal.

In fact, Gula didn't take the blacksmith rating test to keep a low profile, but he was already a level 5 blacksmith, and the level 3 badge was obtained through a temporary test before he came.

Tang Wulin's cultivation level is too low. He can stabilize at the thousand-fold forging level with the blood and qi of the Golden Dragon King. He only needs to increase his soul power to get to the spirit forging level. He can be said to be a half-step level five blacksmith.

The blacksmiths are all wealthy Soul Masters, and the Blacksmith Association is very grand. Today's blacksmithing competition has attracted most of its members to watch the competition.

The news that the master craftsman Zhenhua would mentor the top three contestants made every participant want to give it their all. If registration hadn't already closed, there would definitely have been even more people signing up.

Are you sure you want to hide your strength?

Tang Wulin lowered his voice and caught a glimpse of Gula fiddling with a piece of metal again out of the corner of his eye. He had been seeing this scene frequently lately.

"of course."

Gula's fingertips brushed across the turquoise patterns on the surface of the metal sphere: "You've researched a little bit of body-forging medicine, and you've already had evil soul masters send Soul Douluos to kidnap me. If they knew I could forge spirits at the third ring, they would have sent out a Title Douluo."

"I cherish my life, there's no need to make a fuss about it."

"Besides..." He looked at Zhenhua, who was sitting on the judging panel. The master craftsman's silver-gray robe gleamed with a cold metallic light under the lamp. "The master craftsman has exceptional eyesight. There's no need to worry that he won't be able to see my abilities."

Tang Wulin felt a little relieved. Although he wanted to receive guidance from the master craftsman, he wouldn't feel comfortable if he could only win because Gula held back.

Zhenhua's adjustment of the spirit-measuring instrument suddenly stopped. In his mental perception, the magnetic fields of two young lives shone as brightly as stars: Tang Wulin's body was filled with the violent aura of some ancient ferocious beast, while Gula's body was wrapped in a vibrant energy network, and its heavy, fiery aura subtly resonated with the spirit-forged metals displayed in the showcase.

“Start drawing lots!”

The deep voice of Duan Xuan, president of the Tianhai branch, made the glass display case vibrate.

This eighth-level master craftsman, resembling a lion king surveying his territory, possessed an imposing presence despite his lack of anger, and spoke in a booming voice:
"Today is the final of the forging competition. We are honored to have the master craftsman Zhenhua here. Please give it your all and forge the highest level of metal!" "Please welcome the master craftsman Zhenhua to speak."

The blacksmiths below the stage burst into applause. Among the blacksmiths, the status of a master craftsman was indeed higher than that of a Limit Douluo. Many blacksmiths were so excited that their hands turned red from clapping.

Zhenhua gestured for the applause to stop immediately.

"I am delighted that so many talented people have emerged from the forging industry. Some people may think of us as blacksmiths, but we all know that forging is the art of listening to the life echo of metal."

"I sincerely hope that more blacksmith talents will emerge in the Soul Master world. After the competition, I will teach at the association for a day, and I hope everyone will gain something from it."

The blacksmiths who were stuck at the bottleneck were overjoyed and raised their arms: "Long live the master craftsman!"

The others chimed in, "Long live the master craftsman! Long live the blacksmith!"

Zhenhua sat down with a smile. He was very happy to see the younger blacksmiths so energetic.

"Start the match"

"First round of challenges: Refined Silver!"

Before Duan Xuan finished speaking, protective barriers rose simultaneously on all sixteen forging platforms.

Groudon touched the cold surface of the forging table, activated his Groudon Spirit, and dark red patterns spread across the bottom of the furnace—he preferred his own ultimate fire to the furnace fire.

Gula ran his fingertips along the cloud patterns on the surface of the silver ingot, and suddenly Zhenhua's words from yesterday echoed in his ears: "Awakening spirituality is not about instilling, but about resonating."

He closed his eyes and concentrated, abandoning his usual rough style. He injected the "veins" within the soul metal into the metal, and surprisingly, he could "see" countless curled silver light spots inside the silver ingot.

“Spirituality? The life force of metal is different from that of living organisms, carrying a cold and solid nature.”

"Ding--"

When Gula swung his hammer for the first time, Zhenhua on the judging panel suddenly opened his eyes. What was a crisp sound to the ears of an ordinary person was, to him, hundreds and thousands of overlapping vibrations.

Gula applied the hammer's intent to forging, and those tiny vibrations, invisible to the naked eye, precisely penetrated the metal lattice, shaking impurities into nano-sized dust that seeped out from the atomic gaps.

He could forge a hundred times with a single hammer blow; if it weren't for the limitations of his soul power, he could even forge a thousand times with a single hammer blow!
"Such profound spirituality!"

Duan Xuan crumpled the score sheet in his hand. He stared intently at the data jumping on the monitoring screen: Chen Yin's spiritual fluctuations were increasing exponentially, while Gula's soul power output remained at the level of a third-level blacksmith.

The distance was a bit far, and the machine's test data was inaccurate, but as a master craftsman, Duan Xuan trusted his own eyesight.

"A blacksmith genius!"

On the other side, Tang Wulin's forging table suddenly erupted with a dragon-like hum, causing the surrounding blacksmiths to become dizzy for a moment and almost fail in their forging. Fortunately, it was not intentional, and the protective shield blocked the dragon's might, so they were not seriously injured.

The Golden Dragon King's blood and qi transformed into a pale golden mist that swirled around the surface of the silver, and each hammer blow branded fine dragon scales onto the metal.

This is a unique advantage of Tang Wulin's metal forging ability; he can use the blood and qi of a god-king level to imbue the metal, making it much easier to awaken the metal's spirituality.

When the silver ingot shrinks to two-thirds of its original size, a spiderweb-like pale gold pattern suddenly appears on its surface.

(End of this chapter)