Douluo Continent: This Soul Master is Too Bizarre and Unpredictable

Chapter 98 Prejudice of the Times

"Alright, then may I ask our Master Mu, what's so special about this thousand-refined metal you mentioned?"

She glanced at the dusty, unidentified metal on the forging table and said with a smile.

Mu Yang did not answer immediately. Instead, he released the Ice Flame Fire, melting a small piece of the newly forged Thousand-Refined Silver Ingot and shaping it into a foot-long silver-gray short sword.

Once forged metal is reshaped, its internal structure will be damaged, affecting the quality of the metal.

In order not to reduce the quality of the metal, the silver that has been forged into a short sword should not be reshaped into other shapes.

In fact, after completing the thousand-times forging process and providing him with some forging experience, the value of this piece of thousand-times forged silver in Mu Yang's eyes had already ended.

After all, he wasn't planning to sell it, and besides forging a casting hammer, he had no intention of using the thousand-refined silver to make any other tools, so he figured it was just a waste.

In the future, as he improves his skills, he will not forge too much thousand-fold metal; it's just a small amount of material, and Mu Yang doesn't care at all.

Subsequently, Mu Yang used the same method to make a hundred-forged silver ingot of the same size from the hundred-forged silver ingots piled up in the corner of the forging room.

"Aunt, both of these short swords are made of a rare metal called 'sinking silver.' However, the silver-gray one is 'thousand-refined sinking silver.' As for its specific effects, you'll know once you infuse it with your soul power."

As he spoke, Mu Yang handed the two short knives to Shui Yanyu.

"It's the same metal? What kind of 'thousand-time forging' can even change the metal's color?"

Taking the two short knives, Shui Yanyu asked curiously.

"I'm not sure either, but it's definitely Thousand-Refined Silver. Perhaps it's similar to some soul beasts whose color changes after a qualitative change in their cultivation over many years?"

Mu Yang didn't know why the original silver-white slag would turn silver-gray after being forged a thousand times, but he wasn't too surprised by it.

For example, the amulet bamboo he once hunted was green under a hundred years old, turned silver after a hundred years, turned gold after a thousand years, and turned purplish-gold after ten thousand years. The color changes are normal.

Shui Yanyu: "."

The next moment, Shui Yanyu, who had channeled her soul power into the two short swords, showed a hint of surprise on her face.

As an eight-ring Soul Douluo, Shui Yanyu was extremely familiar with the strength of her own Soul Power.

After infusing her soul power into the silver-gray thousand-forged dark silver short sword, Shui Yanyu keenly sensed that the soul power she had infused into it had increased, while the soul power she infused into the other silver-white dark silver short sword did not show any signs of increase.

However, the amplification of soul power by this thousand-forged silver short sword is negligible, and it seems to be of little use!

"Xiao Yang, your thousand-refined metal doesn't seem to be anything special. Although it can amplify soul power to a certain extent, the amplification effect is too weak. It's really a useless thing."

After trying it out, Shui Yanyu shook her head and gave her evaluation.

Upon hearing this, Mu Yang's expression turned awkward, and he said, "Auntie, do you think it's possible that your soul power level is too high?"

Just kidding. You're an eight-ring Soul Douluo. The fact that Thousand Refined Silver can bring even a slight increase in soul power is already quite remarkable, isn't it?

It's like a low-level Soul Master casting a support Soul Skill on a high-level Soul Master. Even if it's not completely ineffective, the actual effect will be greatly reduced, right?

"Is that so?"

Shui Yanyu frowned slightly.

"Uh-huh."

Mu Yang nodded.

After a moment of silence, Shui Yanyu said, "It seems to be of little use, since Soul Masters rarely rely on external objects in battle."

Shui Yanyu still didn't think there was anything praiseworthy about the thousand-refined metal, at least she hadn't seen any suitable application scenarios.

On the combat side, the strength of a Soul Master mainly lies in their own Martial Soul and Soul Skills, without needing external objects such as swords to serve as weapons.

As for the support-side Soul Masters, apart from a few exceptions like Mu Yang, they are generally weak and don't need weapons either.

Shui Yanyu could clearly sense that if it were made into armor, this thousand-refined silver might be able to provide a significant boost to the soul power of low-level soul masters, and the metal itself was also very sturdy. However, the density of the thousand-refined silver, which was at least several times that of ordinary copper and iron, was undoubtedly too heavy.

If one were to wear a thousand-fold forged silver armor, their speed would be drastically reduced, to the point that they simply couldn't afford it.

Sacrificing one's speed to enhance defense and gain a certain boost in soul power is not advisable for soul masters whose physical strength is insufficient to easily withstand the weight of armor.

"Hehe~"

Feeling slighted, Mu Yang twitched his lips but didn't utter a word of rebuttal.

Mu Yang: Prejudice! Prejudice of the times! When will we blacksmiths be able to rise up?!

To be honest, the effects of thousand-forged metal on its own are indeed very limited.

But once the forging of metals reaches a higher level, even plain metal can play a huge role.

For example, if a Spirit Forged Blue Copper were crafted into a pure metal full-body armor, its powerful defense, considerable soul power amplification, and the fact that Spirit Forged and higher-level metals can be absorbed into the soul master's body and instantly manifested would make it as effective as an armor-type external soul bone for soul masters at the fifth or sixth ring level.

Moreover, this is the property of the metal itself. After being forged by a blacksmith, the metal's greatest use is in making battle armor.

Without thousand-refined metal, the soul guidance array can only be inscribed on rare metals refined to the hundred-refined level. No matter how advanced the soul guidance array is, the resulting battle armor (pseudo) will hardly give a five-ring soul king the strength to rival a seven-ring soul saint.

Similarly, this applies not only to battle armor but also to other soul tools.

Without high-performance metals as manufacturing materials, how could later Soul Masters have created fixed Soul Tools with enough power to kill gods?

"By the way, Xiaoyang, didn't you say you wanted a soul tool a while ago? I found some for you, but the method of making soul tools has long been lost, so these soul tools are basically scrap. Even if they aren't scrap, they'll probably be gone soon."

Shui Yanyu handed a soul-guided storage wristband to Mu Yang.

"Thank you, Auntie! The broken soul tool is fine; I was just using it for reference."

Upon hearing that there was a soul tool, Mu Yang's eyes lit up, and he immediately took the soul tool storage wristband that Shui Yanyu handed over.

Whether the soul tool is destroyed or not has little impact on Mu Yang. What he wants is to be able to see the soul guidance array inscribed inside the soul tool with his own eyes.

The ability to deduce is very mysterious. As long as he provides direction and sets a goal, if it is feasible, then all things in the world can be deduced. At most, it's just a matter of how long it takes.

Accurate knowledge, observations, and experiences can all improve the efficiency of deduction.

Therefore, Mu Yang felt it was necessary to take a closer look at the soul guidance arrays inscribed inside the various soul guidance devices currently available on the mainland.

Mastering various soul-guiding arrays is what he knows; observing various soul-guiding arrays is what he sees; and his knowledge of the theories about battle armor is what he hears. Mu Yang has no intention of pursuing what he knows; he only needs to achieve what he sees based on what he hears.

As long as he has seen a soul-guiding array that can be applied to battle armor, even if it is only a small part, it can improve the efficiency of deducing the method of battle armor manufacturing.

Therefore, whether the soul tool is damaged or destroyed has little impact.

After all, as long as the exterior of the soul tool is intact, the internal soul guidance array will not be a mess; at most, it will only have some minor flaws.

Although a flawed soul guidance array can render a soul tool unusable, it can still provide Mu Yang with "vision" just like a perfect soul guidance array.

(End of this chapter)