Chapter 28 – Thousand Refined Heavy Silver
The higher the temperature, the more ductile the Heavy Silver became.
Two hours of patient forging passed. The metal suddenly erupted, but Tang Wulin continued his relentless forging. With each powerful strike, the Heavy Silver gave off sparks as it began to deform.
Whenever his arms began to ache, another wave of heat would circulate out from his vertebrate. It dissolved all of his aches the moment it flowed into the hundred bones of his four limbs. Tang Wulin also automatically transferred soul power into his arms in order to maintain his strength.
Gradually, the chunk of Heavy Silver grew smaller and smaller as it became progressively more pure.
It must be said that Heavy Silver’s strength was that it already had very high and incredibly dense characteristics. If one wanted to purify and shrink it, it would be exceedingly difficult, especially if one wanted to avoid destroying its veins.
As Tang Wulin’s hands purified the metal, however, this chunk of Heavy Silver’s value would increase by at least two or three-fold.
Tang Wulin wasn’t even aware of how many times he had struck the chunk of metal. Gradually, the sounds of pounding died down. In front of him was a chunk of Heavy SIlver that was releasing a faintly discernable radiance. Everytime he struck, it appeared as if it would breathe in unison with him. Tang Wulin’s vertebrae was already scorching hot and, hidden under his clothes, a dim golden-veined pattern appeared.
Off to the side, Mang Tian’s attention was completely focused upon the chunk of Heavy Silver and he hadn’t noticed the change in his disciple’s body at all.
A golden spark appeared within the deepest depths of Tang Wulin’s eyes as his hammer became one with his body. With every strike, the Heavy Silver would sing out a comforting note.
Tang Wulin’s eyes shone brighter and brighter as his hammering also sped up. All of his strength was condensed into the pair of Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers he held in his hands.
The Heavy Silver was beginning to reveal its purest state. It shrunk more and more. Shrinking by five percent, ten percent, fifteen percent. After reaching this degree of shrinking, its density had also reached its limit. It couldn’t possibly shrink inwards anymore. Tang Wulin still continued to hammer it. With every strike, the Heavy Silver’s vein lines would improve a little. Its vein lines were becoming more and more fair.
The light of the forging flames had long since illuminated the blacksmiths within the room, turning them into a deep red. Tang Wulin’s clothes were soaked in sweat. Even Mang Tian, who was watching from the sidelines, had his forehead covered with sweat.
Thousand Refinings. This was the feeling of the Thousand Refinings.
As a Grandmaster Blacksmith, Mang Tian had an outstandingly acute perception and knew that Tang Wulin and the Heavy Silver had come to an agreement.
This was a type of indescribable feeling that one could only understand after completing the Thousand Refinements.
Mang Tian had originally wanted Tang Wulin to just gain an understanding of Heavy Silver, and then he could finish his first Thousand Refinements any time before he went off to attend the intermediate academy. He absolutely didn’t expect that Tang Wulin would be able to begin his Thousand Refinements the very first day he touched the Heavy Silver. Moreover, he had already entered this special state.
This could be attributed to not just Tang Wulin’s strength, but also his perception! A child like this was definitely destined to become a great master!
Throughout his life, Mang Tian’s greatest regret was his inability to become a Saint Craftsman level blacksmith. As he watched Tang Wulin however, he could see the boy fulfil his dreams in his place.
Three hours had passed. Tang Wulin had never forged continuously for such a long period of time, especially with such intensity.
Soon, three and a half hours went by and it was four hours!
Unaware of what was happening, Tang Ziran stood outside of the forging room’s doorway and waited. His son hadn’t returned after so long, so he had come looking for him, just in time to see his son dripping with sweat.
That fantastic tempo was like a symphony of hammering played under the focused gaze of his son.
This was the first time he had seen his son forging. Clearly, this was a higher level of forging than he had expected! Tang Wulin was only nine years old too! In these three short years, he had unexpectedly already reached such a level in forging. Tang Ziran had met his fair share of master blacksmiths before, and now he could discern the aura of a master blacksmith coming from Tang Wulin!
Tang Ziran didn’t dare disturb him. Tang Wulin was clearly focused on his forging and gave it his heart and soul. Furthermore, Mang Tian was still observing from the side, clearly indicating that Tang Wulin was making a breakthrough in his forging right now.
Four and a half hours later, Tang Wulin’s expression had turned pale. The golden pattern on Tang Wulin’s body had even disappeared long before Tang Ziran’s arrival.
The swollen ache that he felt in his first year of forging emerged once more at this time. His arms began feeling heavier and heavier. Evidently, he was overdrafting his strength, but still he didn’t stop. He persistently continued using the majority of his strength, each strike having an equal amount of power as the one before. His body was being supported through sheer willpower as he continued on forging.
‘Almost done. I’m almost done. I can’t stop now. Not now. I’ll have wastes all of my efforts if I stop now.’
Due to a sort of profound connection between him and that piece of Heavy Silver, Tang Wulin was able to grit his teeth and bear the pain as he continued forging.
Mang Tian subconsciously clenched his fists as he watched worriedly. In fact, he was even more anxious than Tang Wulin!
If this child was able to succeed on his first attempt at the Thousand Refinements, then without a doubt, he would gain a lot of confidence. With that confidence, it would greatly benefit in any attempts at the Thousand Refinings he does in the future. His success rate would be much higher than other blacksmiths!
However, would he be able to hold on until the end? It had nearly been five hours now. Even for Mang Tian, he would have to spare no effort and use his soul power in order to continuously forge for five hours straight.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang… The Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers continued hammering the metal as it baked in the fires of the furnace and stayed a bright red. If the hammers hadn’t been Thousand Refined already, then they likely would have broken down long ago.
Suddenly, that chunk of Heavy Silver trembled a bit under Tang Wulin’s hammer blow and released a silver radiance, basking the whole room in a silver light.
Tang Wulin lifted that hammer and then heavily smashed downwards with both hammers at once. In response, the silver light grew even more wild.
Fast as lightning, Mang Tian reached Tang Wulin’s side. A knife had suddenly appeared in his hands as his quickly slashed the tired boy’s wrist.
Once the blood sprinkled out, it landed on top of the twinkling Heavy Silver.
Tang Ziran cried out in alarm but in the next moment, Mang Tian already covered up the wound on Tang Wulin’s wrist. He was intensely staring at the twinkling chunk of Heavy Silver as he simultaneously closed the furnace.
The blood drops on the Heavy Silver made a series of ‘chi chi’ sounds as they evaporated into smoke. The fires were extinguished, revealing the metal.
The chunk of Heavy Silver was now a whole circle smaller than it was before. Its fiery red color quickly faded away and along with it, the twinkling silver light also dimmed.
Before it had been forged, its dazzling silver color was already worn away and looked closer to a humble gray. There had been an additional layer of detailed lines on its exterior, just like the great waves of the sea. These veined patterns seemed as if they were carved on its body, yet it actually felt exceedingly smooth.
The grey Heavy Silver had given off a profound feeling. It truly had fantastic qualities.
It was the same for the Thousand Refinements version. Different metals would have varying difficulties for being Thousand Refined. If the difficulty of forging his Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers was said to be a level of one, then the difficulty of the Heavy Silver could said to be level five, maybe even level eight!
When Mang Tian had Tang Wulin try the Thousand Refinements with this chunk of Heavy Silver, he had never expected Tang Wulin to actually succeed. Rather, he wanted to use this sturdy metal to temper Tang Wulin and let him gain a feeling for the Thousand Refinings.
However, five hours later, a whole five hours, he had succeeded!
That Heavy Silver had been Thousand Refined!