Don't mess with that necromancer; his summoned creatures level up on their own!

The space on the basement level was much larger than Lu Zhixing had imagined.

He originally thought the underground area consisted of several small workshops and a basement for storing materials.

But when he stepped down the last step of the stairs, the sight before him made him pause for a moment.

The spacious underground space is at least three stories high, with rows of huge psionic lamps hanging from the ceiling.

Hundreds of forging tables are neatly arranged, each with anvils and hammers of different sizes on it.

The general manager walked ahead, introducing the company as he went, his tone filled with undisguised pride.

"Young Master Lu, this is the core area of ​​our forging plant."

More than 60% of the equipment in the entire Dachang City comes from here.

From the simplest bronze equipment to high-level epic equipment, each piece undergoes at least three processes—smelting, forging, and rune engraving.

He pointed to a machine that was operating in the distance.

"That's a newly introduced psionic forging press this year, which is nearly 40% more efficient than traditional hand forging. However,"

He smiled.

"Truly top-notch equipment still has to be hammered out by master craftsmen, one hammer blow at a time. Those who know their stuff can tell the difference between machine-made and handmade equipment at a glance."

Lu Zhixing listened and nodded, his eyes scanning his surroundings.

Lu Zhixing heard Xiao You's voice.

"Master... that thing... is over there..."

There was a rare hint of urgency in her voice.

"The light over there...the brightest place..."

Lu Zhixing looked in the direction she pointed.

At the very back of the basement, in the center of a standalone display case, there was something covered by a glass dome.

Inside was a piece of metal ore the size of a fist.

"What is that?" Lu Zhixing asked.

The general manager followed his gaze and a look of understanding appeared on his face.

"Oh, that? Every year our forging factory holds a knife forging competition, which is considered a major event in the forging industry of Dachang City."

That piece of ore was the prize for this year's runner-up.

"This is a piece of top-grade spirit iron, from a mine in the Northern Territory. Its purity and density are both very high."

Weapons forged with it can be upgraded by at least two grades.

This prize was originally meant to be awarded to the runner-up after the finals. If Young Master Lu had arrived a few days earlier…

I could try to find a way to replace it with another piece of similar quality.

But now the competition has entered the final stage, and everyone present is an expert. Changing the prizes at the last minute would not have a good impact...

The general manager paused, then added.

"However, Young Master Lu, there's an even higher quality spirit iron in the warehouse. It was left here last year by an old blacksmith, and it's much better than this one. Shall I have someone take you to see it?"

Xiao You's voice rang out again.

"Master...that piece...please, Master, you must get that piece..."

Lu Zhixing asked himself, "How do I do it? I don't know how to forge."

"It's okay... Xiaoyou is here, just leave the rest to her..."

Lu Zhixing remained silent for a moment, then turned to look at the general manager.

"Can I participate in that competition?"

The general manager was suddenly stunned, and a storm of emotions surged within him.

Is Young Master Lu just playing around on a whim?

Or is he hiding a hidden forging skill?

He hesitated for a few seconds, then could only reply with a forced smile:

"Of course! We can arrange it anytime you want! But..."

He lowered his voice and offered gentle advice.

"Now that we've reached the finals, the remaining ten are all top blacksmiths from Dachang City, each with over a decade of experience."

If you interrupt the competition halfway through and perform poorly, it will inevitably lead to gossip and damage your reputation as the young master of the Lu family.

Lu Zhixing waved his hand, his expression indifferent: "It doesn't matter."

Seeing that he was determined, the general manager could only smile bitterly to himself, already imagining the scene in his mind:

The pampered young master couldn't wield the sledgehammer properly, and his efforts were in vain, ultimately ending in a hasty and embarrassing defeat, making him the laughingstock of the entire audience.

"Okay! I'll go and talk to the organizing committee right away!"

A few minutes later, he hurriedly returned.

"It's all taken care of. We'll add you directly to the finals roster. There are still vacancies in the contestant area."

Lu Zhixing sighed inwardly, "Privilege, ah, it's truly corrupt."

He then stepped onto the field.

The competition venue is located at the deepest part of the basement, several times more spacious than the forging workshop outside.

The ground is paved with a single piece of volcanic rock, which is resistant to high temperatures and prevents iron filings from flying.

More than ten forging tables are lined up in a row, complete with hammers, chisels, quenching water tanks, and psionic furnaces.

The stands were packed, and the aisles were filled with blacksmith apprentices who had rushed over after hearing the news. Everyone was eagerly waiting for the final match to begin.

As soon as Lu Zhixing stepped into the contestant passage, all eyes were suddenly fixed on him, and a cacophony of discussions erupted.

"Who is this person? There's no such young man on the finalists' list!"

"Who else could it be? A rich kid who got in through connections and back channels! There's never been a last-minute replacement in previous years!"

The crowd stared intently at his fair, delicate hands, free of calluses, and the laughter grew even louder.

"Her fingers are so delicate, she's never even touched a hammer, and she's here to join the sword-forging competition? That's ridiculous."

"He is Lu Zhixing, the only son of the city defense commander. He is just here to experience life and doesn't care about winning or losing."

On the west side of the stands, a group of veteran blacksmiths stood by with their arms crossed, their faces full of mockery.

The white-haired old man with a goatee chuckled.

"Young people don't know the hardships of forging iron. When the furnace fire burns their hands and the hammer hits their feet, they will naturally slink off the stage in shame."

An elderly gentleman wearing reading glasses next to him jokingly chimed in.

"If he could forge a complete, unbroken rough sword, I would eat this hammer right now."

There was also an undercurrent of tension on the judges' panel.

The deputy judge stared at the newly added list, his face grim, and questioned the head judge in a low voice.

"The final round schedule was already set. How do we explain adding people at the last minute to the other contestants?"

The referee sighed and waved his hand helplessly.

"Say as little as you can. We've been instructed to do as we've been told."

On the other side of the field, the burly Tang Si stared intently at Lu Zhixing, his eyes filled with anger.

He is an A-level Fiery Forger. The Tang family has been blacksmithing for generations. He has been training hard for many years, just waiting to win the championship and obtain the Haotian Hammer.

A young master who got in through connections suddenly appeared out of nowhere, ruining the final round. How could he not be furious?

Tang Si crossed his arms and sneered, his voice neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for Lu Zhixing to hear:

"A complete novice who has never even touched a steel billet can make it to the finals? This competition is going to become a joke."

Ignoring all the ridicule and criticism around him, Lu Zhixing walked straight to his own forging platform.

The stove glowed red with embers, the anvil gleamed, and the tools were neatly arranged.

The other ten contestants were already preparing the ingredients and starting the fire in an orderly manner, their movements were crisp and skillful, and everyone was racing against time.

The chief judge stood up and loudly announced the rules:

"This round's challenge: Forge a longsword within three hours. You may choose your own steel. Failure to complete the task within the time limit will result in immediate elimination. The competition begins!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire room erupted in uproar once again.

"Previous finals lasted at least five hours, but this year it's been compressed to three hours? The difficulty has doubled!"

"With such a tight schedule, even the slightest oversight could cause the steel to cool too quickly and crack!"

The contestants looked serious and dared not delay. They all picked out finished steel with few impurities and easy to forge, just to ensure a safe shape.

Lu Zhixing was about to pick up a piece of wrought iron when Xiao You's urgent voice immediately rang in his mind.

"Master...choose the hardest spirit iron."

Lu Zhixing no longer hesitated and bent down to grab the piece of high-purity spirit iron that everyone avoided.

The iron block felt heavy and dense to the touch, with a melting point far exceeding that of ordinary steel.

This caused a burst of laughter from the stands that nearly lifted the roof off.

"What was this young master thinking? He actually chose the most difficult-to-forge Northern Spirit Iron!"

"This material is ridiculously hard. It will take an hour and a half just to heat it thoroughly. There simply isn't enough time left to forge it into shape!"

The old man with the goatee shook his head repeatedly.

"Forging this kind of hard steel billet in three hours is absolutely impossible unless it's an old monster like my master. I bet he can't even forge the billet evenly."

Tang Si caught a glimpse of this scene and a mocking smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

An overconfident spoiled brat who chooses the most difficult task will only suffer a more humiliating defeat.

Lu Zhixing put the spirit iron into the furnace to bake.

Everyone held their breath, waiting to see him embarrass himself by swinging the hammer.

"Master, leave it to me."

A purple magic circle suddenly spread out on the ground, with a surge of dark blue spiritual light.

Xiao You, with her silver hair and purple eyes, slowly appeared and stood quietly in front of the forging table.

For a moment, the entire place fell silent, then erupted into an even greater commotion.

"Summoned creatures? He's actually a necromancer!"

"Let your summoned creatures forge iron for you? Unheard of!"

"Wait... didn't you guys notice how cute this summon is? It's a girl."

The judges' panel erupted in chaos, with several judges immediately arguing.

A stern-faced blacksmith judge slammed his hand on the table and spoke in a deep voice:

"The rules are clearly written in black and white: contestants must personally complete the entire forging process; using summoned creatures to do it is a violation!"

All eyes were on Lu Zhixing.

Seeing the atmosphere reach a stalemate, the general manager took a deep breath.

"Damn it! I'll risk it all!!"

The general manager strode to the front of the stage, pointed at the referee, and shouted:

"The rules only stipulate that the finished product must be completed by the player himself, and there is no explicit prohibition against mental linking to control summoned creatures!"

Lu Zhixing meticulously controlled every step of the process with his mental focus, as if he were operating it himself.

"That's sophistry! Forging relies on the body's perception of temperature and touch, and is done through summoned creatures; it doesn't count as hand-forging at all!"

"A Summoner's precise control is a professional skill, so why shouldn't it be recognized?"

The judges and the general manager each held their own opinions and argued fiercely.

The referee was also unable to make a decision immediately and could only temporarily suspend the dispute:

"Let's continue the competition first, and then we'll vote collectively to determine whether the results are valid once the final product is ready."

The discussions inside and outside the arena grew increasingly heated, and Tang Si immediately echoed them loudly:

"The referee is right! Forging requires hands-on experience; relying on summoned creatures to take shortcuts doesn't count as real skill!"

The blacksmiths all shook their heads, convinced that Lu Zhixing had completely given up and was throwing caution to the wind.

Tang Si withdrew his gaze, no longer regarding Lu Zhixing as an opponent, and focused on forging his own sword blank.

Flames enveloped the steel, each hammer blow infused with fiery spiritual power, propelling progress at an unparalleled pace.

Lu Zhixing retreated to the outside of the forging platform, put his hands in his pockets, and focused solely on maintaining the mental connection throughout the process.

Xiao You raised her hand and gripped the heavy forging hammer tightly.

"clang--!"

The first hammer blow landed precisely where it was aimed, with just the right amount of force.

Without panic or hesitation, the entire process of heating, forging, and folding the steel was executed smoothly and effortlessly.

With a single hammer blow, sparks fly; the steel is repeatedly folded and folded to remove impurities from its interior.

Her long, silvery-white hair swayed gently in the firelight, and her movements were as steady as a precision instrument, with the hammer falling at the perfect angle.

The noisy stands gradually quieted down, and everyone was stunned.

The old master craftsman, who had just been making sarcastic remarks, widened his eyes, the words stuck in his throat.

The general manager leaned on the second-floor railing, speechless.

Holy crap!

"How can you control the forging hammer to this level of precision through a layer of mental remote control?"

"This summoner's micro-management is terrifyingly good?"

Even the judges who were initially adamant about cheating on the game stopped and stared intently at every move on the forging platform.

Tang Si looked surprised and muttered to himself.

"Looking good is useless. The internal stress of the spirit iron is extremely high, and the quenching process will inevitably fail."

Just then, a sudden change occurred.

The spirit iron was repeatedly folded and forged, accumulating a large amount of internal stress, and a thin crack suddenly appeared in the middle of the sword blank!

"It's cracked! There was definitely a problem!"

"Even the best forging techniques cannot overcome the inherent risks of the steel itself!"

A low cheer came from the players' stands, and Tang Si smiled.

As expected, Lu Zhixing's endeavor was about to be abandoned halfway.

The judges who insisted on ruling against the rules were overjoyed, convinced that the sword blank was completely ruined.

Sighs of regret and laughter rose and fell from the stands; everyone felt that the outcome was already decided.

Xiao You was the only one who didn't panic.

She immediately adjusted the furnace temperature, only performing localized high-temperature tempering on the area around the crack.

It locks in the cracks to prevent them from spreading, while also reducing the hardness of the blade and balancing the toughness of the steel.

She moved calmly and methodically, using the remaining time to quickly refine the sword blank, managing to save the material from near ruin.

This ancient method of stress repair left the group of veteran blacksmiths in the audience speechless.

Even the judges who had just upheld their ruling fell silent.

The situation was thus reversed.

With forty minutes remaining until the deadline, a series of bad news broke out at the stadium.

In order to meet the deadline, the other contestants simplified the forging process, and fine cracks appeared on the blades one after another.

Someone tried to forcibly repair the crack with runes, but as soon as spiritual power was poured in, the sword broke open and chipped.

One by one, contestants reluctantly raised their hands and left the field, forfeiting their chances.

The final round, which originally had ten participants, was reduced to just Tang Si and Lu Zhixing in the blink of an eye.

Tang Si was extremely anxious and tried his best to speed up the forging process, but a hair-thin crack still appeared on his sword blade.

He gritted his teeth and prepared to force the quenching process, wanting to gamble on the quality of the finished product.

On the other hand, let's look at the other side.

Xiao You remained focused throughout, her hammer strikes steady and monotonous, undisturbed by any off-stage noise or debates with the judges.

The firelight flickered as the silver-haired girl wielded her hammer to forge iron, while Lu Zhixing stood calmly to the side, seemingly unperturbed.

All eyes in the room were fixed on this forging platform.