Bab 12: Chapter 12: Learning how to forge

Xiu Ye slowly took a deep breath in and closed his eyes.

His right hand clasped tight on the leather handle of his hammer, his spirit soul. Although it was a tool, an artificial soul tool spirit, by all means of any common sense, there shouldn't be any possible way for it to gain sentience or sapience.

Yet, Xiu Ye could feel it. Its bond within him, its feelings and spirit all intertwined within his spiritual world, taking a spot with its head embedded on the sole hill of his soul, as it took him as his master and partner. He could feel the thunder hammer thrum within his fingers with barely controlled excitement, like a kid finding his favorite toy, he could feel its want to do what was on his mind.

And so, he obliged it.

Cyan-blue circuits appeared, lighting up the room with its color, and they spread from both of his arms' triceps to the entire thunder hammer.

The yellow halo around Xiu Ye spun up and down his body, mixing the bright light of yellow lighting up the room, it showed that it only glowed in color as there was no display of lighting surrounding the boy. The boy himself paid no attention to the sudden light show around him.

Instead, his eyes slowly opened to zoom focus on a lump of heated metal sitting quietly on a metal workbench right in front of him with a metal rod attach to it so it wouldn't fly out in the middle of forging.

Without any hesitation, he pounded the lump of metal.

"Ding." Was heard, then another, and another, and another, and another, until it continued to make similar sounds as Xiu Ye continues forging.

Mang Tian stood from the side, Xiu Ye's martial soul, now sheathed in a black scabbard, was held by his right hand, he watches as his adopted son worked on forging for the first time, and he has to say, he's shocked!

Xiu Ye was a six year old child with a great martial soul and yellow soul ring, a genius in the field of soul masters, but Mang Tian is certain that he shouldn't be able to do what his doing.

Xiu Ye acted calm and smart, instead of charging straight fast into hammering the metal, he had inspected it's characteristics and properties, tapping it dozens of times to make a feel of its vibrations and metal vein lines for half an hour. Furthermore, after inspecting and heating it up, he didn't started forging. Instead, he stood in place and took ten minutes to make himself at his most optimal self, thus ensuring that there wouldn't be any problems from him during forging. Do you know why Mang Tian is shocked to see this? That's because he didn't instruct him to do any of that!

He merely said to hammer a lump of iron metal and then stood by the side. He did this so that Xiu Ye would know and learn when to ask for help if he didn't know what to do, thinking that kids his age would be childish enough to not ask for help when the time comes.

Mang Tian stood waiting by the side foolishly as Xiu Ye inspecting on the metal, waiting when he'll ask, but then he started doing what a professional blacksmith normally does.

Is this really the kid's first time forging?!

Yes, yes it was.

This was truly the first time Xiu Ye has ever did forging. The only reason why he was able to calmly prepare and start forging correctly was because he had a twenty year old mind, making him more patient and smarter than other kids.

"What's more, he's forging correctly..." Mang Tian muttered out, speechless at what he's seeing.

As mentioned, Mang Tian hasn't taught Xiu Ye anything else about blacksmithing, especially how to hammer a metal. The most important part of blacksmithing. Yet here he is, hammering the metal like he had already done this before, pounding it with the right force and mitigating it properly around the entire metal.

Seriously, is this really his first time forging?!

An entire hour passes by and Xiu Ye's hands were severely red and sore, beads of sweat dropped around his entire upper body from exhaustion but he didn't stop, Mang Tian didn't tell him to stop yet, so he'll continue hammering on the metal, either he tells him to stop or he refined it to a satisfactory level. Thankfully he had already purified all the impurities away in the metal.

It was only thanks to his fit body and upper limbs' strength, due to boxing and other exercises, and his soul power reinforcing him that he was able to last this long.

Mang Tian stood by the side, his lips dry, complete disbelief plastered on his face.

"Xiu Ye... you've actually gone and done it. Hundred refinements!"

Hundred refinements wasn't as simple as pounding the metal a hundred times. Rather, the impurities within the metal had to be gotten rid of while preserving the integrity of the metal and increasing its density.

Having to hundred refined a metal, even it was ordinary iron, signifies one as a Rank 2 Blacksmith! To think, for a first timer to hundred refined a metal, isn't he a freaking genius?!

Xiu Ye struck once more on the metal, wisps of orange red flames gathered around his workbench and soon converged into the metal, heating it up once more.

Mang Tian looked down at his hand to see, yes, Xiu Ye's martial soul glowing in a orange red light.

For some odd reason, he could see a certain tall muscular blonde man behind Xiu Ye. Staring at his ward's back, the corner of his mouth twitched.

That deja vu feeling... I could clearly see it now. Yu Fei, that bitch fake nun, to think that she was 'her'! And this child is the kid of those powerhouses, who she served. What the heck should I do...?

Mang Tian snorted and shook his head. Regardless of who his parents are, if his talent is this good and his interest is blacksmithing, I would gladly take him in as my disciple! There was no doubt that Xiu Ye is a once in a century genius in blacksmithing, after all...

He was about to thousand refined the metal!

Mang Tian's eyes turned dull, he left this unbelievable reality.

Currently, to Xiu Ye, the world around him seemed to disappear with only himself, his martial soul, spirit soul and the metal was left.

He could hear it, the metal, he could hear it sing in joy as he pounded it, till its size gradually lessen to the point it was almost flat, but its density is twice than before and the metal shone in a bright grey color.

Xiu Ye turned the metal around, with its side facing up, he pounded the side and stretched the metal out.

He has to finish this quick, he could feel his soul power currently at 10% and is still being drained by every swing of his hammer.

'I won't make it!' Xiu Ye gritted his teeth in frustration, feeling his protesting muscles starting to shut down and his soul power depleting.

'You will.' Ryūjin Jakka's voice went to his ears. Calm and confident, he continued. 'Don't give up. You faced against the most powerful shinigami in soul society at his time, and died without giving up on trying to defeat me. If you can go in a blaze of glory, then you can handle hammering some lump of metal!'

Xiu Ye's eyes blinked for a couple of times, before the corner of his mouth twitched.

No wonder he's the captain commander, he really can give a pep talk to motivate someone.

"I'm not gonna give up..." Xiu Ye mumbled, raising his hand with his spirit soul, he closes his eyes.

There was a lot of things he found out when he met Ryūjin Jakka, and one of them was finding out he had a huge abundance of spiritual power compared to his current dense rank 11 soul power, and the world he was transported into? That was his spiritual sea, a theory currently for Xiu Ye.

He remembered in the story, the Spiritual Sea is a realm located in the mind of a soul master's and spirit beast's body. It is where their spiritual power and parts of the soul is stored. When they transcend to Godhood, it evolves into a Divine Consciousness. A Spirit Core could be stored within the sea to helped them restore their spiritual power faster than normal. It is also the location a soul master's spirit souls reside. It changes size and form as one cultivates their spiritual power.

As far as Xiu Ye knows, he couldn't think of anyone in the story of the current timeline has a spiritual sea like his, unless, this wasn't his spiritual sea but something else...

But he could think of that later on. The reason why his spiritual power was brought on, was because he was going to use it; spiritual power can use to control one's own emotions and focus/observe the user's surroundings.

Xiu Ye was going to use the latter.

He closed his eyes, concentrated, and tugged the feeling inside him. Feeling the almost depleted soul power circulating throughout his entire body, like a small weak stream of water in a wide tunnel and trying to power up a dam. But he wasn't after that, no, he was after something more raw, something more–

Xiu Ye could see everything around him, even from his back without turning his head, without opening his eyes, he could his surroundings perfectly with every fine detail; especially the dead fish eyed Mang Tian standing a couple meters by the side behind him.

His 'gaze' then focused on the iron in front of him, and he could see everything down from it's surface structure to its history, and he could see that it was reaching its limits.

Without any hesitation, he let down his hammer to pound the iron into something else. Sounds of dings in certain rhythmic patterns resounded the entire room, to Xiu Ye's ears, he heard the sounds of excitement and joy.

What Xiu Ye didn't know, he had combined his spiritual power with another innate ability he had but didn't notice.

Structural Analysis, it's an ability used to gather an understanding of an object; it works like viewing a blueprint of an object through sight.

It had worked for his surroundings earlier as it was mostly objects and materials, and the iron metal he's forging was the same.

Minutes passed, and when it reached fifteen minutes, Xiu Ye stopped. Orange red flames dissipated into thin air. His right hand wielding his spirit soul went slack and simultaneously his Thunder Hammer disappeared into mots of cyan-blue light.

"Boy? Xiu Ye?" Mang Tian called out after snapping put of his stupor, seeing his foster son frozen in place, concern and fear gripped his heart.

But those emotions soon disappeared, as he saw Xiu Ye raised his left hand holding onto the metal rod which was attached to a magnificent sharp looking dagger.

The dagger was simple and ordinary looking, although it doesn't a handle yet but that didn't lower its appearance. It was sharp and deadly, the blade was twelve inches long, two sharp edged, and a long half a inch pointy tip.

Mang Tian gulped nervously as he caught sight of a momentary appearance of a half halo before it disappeared. He could sense the aura around the newly forged dagger leaking, it was one of danger and brilliance, like it was one only wielded to a master assassin.

Although different, but the appearance of the half halo around the dagger had already confirmed the most unbelievable feat his foster had did.

Thousand Refinements, Second Grade!

Mang Tian could no longer handle it, he fainted!

45 minutes later and hundreds of strikes... Xiu Ye made a second grade thousand refined iron metal.

....

(AN: I just like to state, that I am no blacksmith. I watch forge and fire but I still don't understand much of how much heat is needed to melt metal or forge a weapon. And the BS of blacksmithing in the original story, Douluo Dalu 3, doesn't frickin help much! So please forgive this ignorant author for his mistake in the last chapter, and probably future chapters as well.)