“Uncle, I want to learn forging.”
Inside the office of the president at the top of the Blacksmiths Association, Mo Fan got straight to the point.
Saint Craftsman Mu Chen, who was working, looked up upon hearing this and glanced at him with some surprise.
Why was this kid suddenly interested in forging?
“Mo Fan, Soul Power cultivation is the foundation. You are currently in the golden period for building your base; why do you suddenly want to learn forging?” Saint Craftsman Mu Chen said with a chuckle.
“Sigh, Uncle, a single penny can defeat a hero.” Mo Fan sighed, his face full of misery.
“I actually want to become a Soul Tool Master, but learning it is just too expensive. A stack of basic practice plates costs several thousand. I was thinking, if I do it myself, I’ll have everything I need. I’ll start by learning how to refine metal, so I can be self-sufficient in the future.”
Hearing that Mo Fan not only wanted to learn forging but was also planning to dual-cultivate as a Soul Tool Master, Saint Craftsman Mu Chen was left speechless.
“Fine, if you want to learn, I will naturally support you. However, I am busy with work and don’t have time to watch you hammer iron every day. I will arrange a master for you, and you can start by following him to learn the most basic Hundred Refinements.”
Saint Craftsman Mu Chen dismissed him with just a couple of sentences.
…
Half an hour later, on the second floor of the Blacksmiths Association, in a spacious and sweltering public forging room.
The air was filled with the scorching scent of metal, and the roar of flames and the sound of hammer strikes rose one after another.
A dozen or so forging benches were lined up, with someone practicing at each one.
They were of varying ages, with the youngest likely being at least ten years old.
“Mo Fan, right? The president has already spoken to me about you.”
The speaker was a burly, bronze-skinned middle-aged man, a Level 5 Forgemaster named Teacher Li Hong.
He pointed to a petite figure off to the side who was sweating profusely in front of a furnace.
“That is the president’s daughter, Mu Xi. She is a few years older than you and is also learning basic forging here. You can watch from the side for now and see how she wields the hammer; I will instruct you later.”
Mo Fan followed his gaze and saw a girl with a ponytail gritting her teeth, struggling to swing her hammer.
“Hoo…” Mu Xi wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Seeing Mo Fan looking over, she proudly lifted her chin.
Although she didn’t say anything, the force of her hammer swings clearly increased.
The stance was like a peacock fanning its feathers to attract a mate—a total show-off.
Mo Fan found it amusing to look at the little girl, whose face clearly read, “Come and worship me.”
Children’s thoughts were truly written all over their faces.
“Mu Xi, what are you doing! You’ve flattened the iron block!”
Suddenly, Teacher Li Hong’s reprimand came.
“Ah, sorry, Teacher Li Hong! I accidentally used too much force.” Mu Xi’s little face turned bright red, and she didn’t dare to look at Mo Fan again.
Oh dear, that was so embarrassing. The source of this chapter is g.com.
“Forget it. Mo Fan, come here. I will first teach you the basic stance and how to generate force when wielding the hammer.”
Teacher Li Hong couldn’t watch anymore.
He took Mo Fan to an empty furnace nearby, handed him a hammer used by ordinary apprentices, and began to explain patiently.
Forging cannot be achieved overnight.
No matter how incredible Mo Fan’s memories from his previous life were, forging was a skill that required the grind of a thousand hammer strikes.
Knowing how to imbue metal with extraordinary properties required physical muscle memory to perceive.
“Watch my movements closely. Use your waist and abdomen to generate force, and let the hammer’s inertia guide your arm. You cannot rely solely on brute strength…” Teacher Li Hong demonstrated while carefully correcting Mo Fan’s posture.
Mo Fan nodded and mimicked the stance, looking the part.
Although he was a blank slate in forging, he possessed one advantage—the Demon Constitution!
No, after merging with the All-Element System, it should be called—the Archmage Constitution!
The demonic power naturally granted him a physique comparable to a demon.
Even though he couldn’t unleash even one ten-thousandth of its power, it still significantly enhanced his physical fitness.
At six years old, his strength was already on par with an adult male.
“Clang!”
Mo Fan brought down his first hammer strike.
Because he was still adapting to the technique of generating force, the strike landed on the raw iron with a somewhat dull sound.
But it still made Teacher Li Hong’s eyelids twitch.
Such great strength!
Was he really six years old?
Suppressing the astonishment in his heart, Teacher Li Hong instructed: “Your movements are uncoordinated. Try again! Don’t be afraid of missing; focus your attention on the iron block!”
Mo Fan nodded, adjusted his posture, and swung with all his might again!
“Clang!!!”
A crisp sound rang out.
This time, Mu Xi at the neighboring furnace also turned her head.
When she saw Mo Fan’s hammer denting the iron block, her little mouth opened into an ‘O’ shape.
She was already ten years old and was usually called a “monster-strength girl” by her peers.
“Not bad! Remember that feeling of force generation—unreserved, hitting the target precisely, yet remaining effortless.” Teacher Li Hong praised him without reservation.
“For every subsequent hammer strike, you must strive for this effect—make it even better than this one!”
“Yes!” Mo Fan nodded and continued to practice.
Clang!!
Clang!!
Clang!!!
Clang!!
Hammer strike after hammer strike, each time focusing his energy and perceiving the rhythm of the force.
Teacher Li Hong offered guidance from time to time, correcting his mistakes.
The more he instructed, the more shocked he became.
Other apprentices couldn’t even mimic the movements at first, but Mo Fan never repeated a mistake after being corrected once.
His posture was gradually moving toward the standard.
“This child not only has natural divine force but also astonishing comprehension,” he thought to himself.
What he didn’t know was that, regarding body control, Mo Fan’s Archmage soul could achieve mastery instantly.
There was no such thing as being unable to draw a circle with one hand and a square with the other; his limbs were perfectly coordinated.
As time passed, Mo Fan’s hammer-wielding posture became completely fixed, the striking sound became crisper, and the landing points became increasingly precise.
Teacher Li Hong was already dumbfounded, and Mu Xi, standing nearby, had red eyes, completely devastated.
“Hmph, what’s the use of just having strength? Forging requires rhythm and metal perception!” Mu Xi gritted her teeth, secretly competing with Mo Fan.
Mo Fan didn’t care about the little girl’s competitive spirit.
He continued to hone his muscle memory like a precision machine.
By the end of the day, he had swung the hammer over a thousand times.
When he returned to his room at night, his back and waist were sore, his hands couldn’t be lifted, and he even had to use telekinesis to eat.
Taking advantage of his physical fatigue, it was the perfect time for meditation.
The two cultivation methods started running again, and in a short while, Mo Fan entered deep meditation once more.
Deep meditation, which was extremely rare for others, was a daily occurrence for him in his previous life.
Just like that, Soul Power cultivation, forging, and practicing the inscription of Soul Tool arrays made his days incredibly fulfilling.
Mo Fan even stopped attending classes, skipping small ones every three days and big ones every five.
Mo Fan had once again embarked on the path of an overachiever.