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Yue Ruxue's face was filled with question marks.
Wait, you're even eyeing the secret techniques of my Moonlight Sect?
Yue Ruxue only paused for a moment before quickly realizing what Xu Yuan was asking.
She revealed a sly smile.
"Brother Yuan, it's not impossible for you to cultivate them, but our Moonlight Sect has only ever accepted female disciples throughout its history. The secret techniques passed down are all related to women. The more one cultivates, the more their energy leans toward yin and softness. For women, this isn't much of an issue—it just makes them more attuned to moonlight. But if a man were to cultivate them..."
Xu Yuan's expression froze.
Then I apologize—these secret techniques aren't suitable for me.
No thanks.
"Is Brother Yuan planning to leave now?"
Xu Yuan nodded.
"I still need to head to Tiandou City."
Yue Ruxue gave him a resentful look.
You ungrateful man, so you only came to the Moonlight Sect for a moonlight baptism?
And after the baptism, you're just leaving like nothing happened?
"Alright then, Brother Yuan. I won't hold you back. If you have time in the future, feel free to visit the Moonlight Sect. Your spiritual power is incredibly strong—you might have a good chance of reaching the Lingyu Realm someday. But you'll definitely hit a bottleneck at some point. If you find yourself stuck and struggling, you can come to the Moonlight Sect, and I might be able to help you," Yue Ruxue said softly.
After all, she had sensed an entirely new 'moon' through Xu Yuan's feedback, giving her the opportunity to break through her own limits.
Similarly, she naturally owed him a favor in return.
Of course, whether he acknowledged it or not didn't matter much.
This cycle of owing and repaying favors was mainly about strengthening their relationship.
The talent Xu Yuan displayed was worth Yue Ruxue cultivating a connection with.
In the coming decades, perhaps it would be this young Brother Yuan standing at the pinnacle of the continent.
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Xu Yuan, completely oblivious to sentimentality, left the Moonlight Sect after only a day of cultivation. He departed from Yuehua City and headed straight for Tiandou City.
A few hours later, Tiandou City.
Due to the incident with the Three Ghosts of the Huang family, he arrived about three days later than originally planned, though the delay wasn't too severe.
"Uncle Zhen."
Zhen Hua looked at Xu Yuan with surprise, sensing that something about him was different.
"Little Yuan, your aura feels smoother."
"Smoother?"
Xu Yuan was puzzled.
Zhen Hua explained, "It feels more natural, more harmonious—a vague kind of feeling."
It was just a feeling, not any specific tangible change.
With this explanation, Xu Yuan didn't pay it much mind.
"In this state of yours, you're very well-suited to attempt forging a perfect alloy with a fusion rate of ninety-nine percent," Zhen Hua said.
Xu Yuan must have reached some kind of enlightenment. He seemed clear-minded, and he wasn't particularly fixated on pursuing this enlightenment or state with ulterior motives.
This was what Zhen Hua meant by feeling more natural.
Without any selfish desires, there was less subjective misguidance, allowing him to better follow the guidance of the metal in completing the forging process.
Zhen Hua didn't delve into these complicated details, lest Xu Yuan start overthinking things.
"Come on, we'll still be forging Jade Silver. For a blacksmith, mastering just one type of metal is impossible, but excelling in one allows you to quickly apply those skills to other metals. Especially when it comes to perfect alloys—once you achieve this step with Jade Silver, your techniques for forging other spirit-infused alloys will also improve, making future progress with other spirit-infused alloys much easier."
Zhen Hua led Xu Yuan to the forge room and gestured toward the workbench, signaling for Xu Yuan to demonstrate his recent progress.
"To prepare for your push today, I've stockpiled ten tons each of Heavy Silver and Magic Silver for you."
"Uncle Zhen, I already have Heavy Silver and Magic Silver." Xu Yuan frowned.
Le Zhengyu had provided him with no small amount of these rare metals—more than enough to use.
Zhen Hua waved his hand dismissively.
"This time, you're aiming for a perfect alloy. The Heavy Silver and Magic Silver I've prepared for you have already undergone physical purification—they're the essence extracted from the ore veins, with extremely high purity. Achieving a first-grade thousand-forging will be easy. You can almost begin the fusion-forging process directly."
It wasn't just about their high purity; these metals also contained higher levels of spirituality, with their properties being more pronounced.
This didn't necessarily mean that the results of forging these metals would surpass those of ordinary purity—it was just that their inherent qualities were more prominent. Once refined, the final outcome would align with the standard.
Having a vague answer to guide the process from the start made achieving the goal much easier.
Xu Yuan took a deep breath, understanding his uncle's intentions.
Collecting such a large quantity of Heavy Silver and Magic Silver—ten tons—would have taken considerable time.
Even for a divine craftsman like Zhen Hua, gathering such high-purity metals conducive to advancing to higher levels of forging would take time. He likely had to accumulate them in batches of dozens of kilograms at a time.
Xu Yuan estimated that these ten tons might have been prepared since the day Zhen Hua had set this plan for him.
Approaching the materials, Xu Yuan picked up a piece of Heavy Silver and Magic Silver . Infusing his spiritual power into them, he sensed the state of the metals and took a deep breath.
They were nearly at the level of a hundred-forging naturally, and they were already close to a thousand-forging. With superior blacksmithing techniques, there was a chance to achieve a first-grade thousand-forging.
Xu Yuan estimated that even two thousand years ago, using the advanced techniques of blacksmiths from that era, they could have achieved a first-grade thousand-forging, awakening the metal's spirituality.
Of course, the concept of blacksmithing back then wasn't as clearly defined as it is today. Even the definition of a metal's spirituality was vague. Blacksmiths simply believed that their resonance with the metal stemmed from their own feelings, treating the metal as a living entity in their hearts rather than objectively acknowledging it as such.
This distinction was fundamental.
In the development of blacksmithing, this realization became a key turning point—the root factor behind the rise of forging masters.
Placing the two pieces of metal on the workbench, Xu Yuan raised his right hand, invoking spiritual power to draw upon ambient energy. Fierce flames engulfed the two metals.
Rather than relying on the forge's flames, he preferred using his own flames to burn the metals. This allowed him to better sense the state of the metals, aiding in the subsequent hammering process.
In no time, the two metals turned bright red and began to soften slightly. Two forging hammers appeared in Xu Yuan's hands, striking simultaneously on the two pieces of metal.
Large amounts of dark red impurities were expelled from the metals. At the same moment, the metals became crystal-clear, resembling translucent crimson crystals.
Three more strikes landed.
The crimson crystals seemed to undergo a transformation. The already translucent glow within them now radiated even more vitality.
This was the emergence of spirituality.
First-grade thousand-forging.
Eight-foot-tall beams of spiritual light erupted from the two metals, shooting straight up to the ceiling.
Zhen Hua watched the scene with an appreciative expression.
Truly outstanding.
Even with such high-purity Heavy Silver and Magic Silver, achieving eight feet of spiritual light with just four strikes was already at the level of many master craftsmen—and not under normal conditions, but only when they were in peak form.
Zhen Hua knew that Xu Yuan's success here was partly due to his forging skills, but his mastery of flame forging also contributed significantly.
This was technically part of the forging arts. Some blacksmiths had flame-type martial souls, giving them an advantage in strength. Their forging techniques emphasized the coordination of hammering and flame-burning.
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