Chương 44: Forging Before the Crowd — Three Beast Forces Manifest!

The reception hall had fallen into dead silence. Wang Shan's lips had gone pale, trembling faintly. His eyes were filled with despair. It was over. Everything was over. The slot he had schemed for so long was never going to fall to Yu Yi now. And that meant the second path he had painstakingly planned to earn merit and rewards had been completely severed.

"So Hall Master Sun said earlier... you can forge a Third-Grade Mortal Weapon?" Li Shanyun's interest in Su Zhe had skyrocketed. Her beautiful eyes no longer spared anyone else as she stared at him expectantly. Su Zhe nodded.

"Yes."

"And your success rate?"

"Around... sixty percent." He answered conservatively. In truth, during the past few days, Sun Tiexin had been privately giving him extra instruction. By now, Su Zhe's actual success rate in forging Third-Grade Mortal Weapons had already reached seventy to eighty percent. But to ensure Wang Shan's complete despair today, Sun Tiexin had deliberately kept it hidden. Even the disciples of the Artisan Hall still believed Su Zhe could only forge Second-Grade Mortal Weapons.

A seventy-to-eighty percent success rate for Third Grade... That was simply monstrous. To stay on the safe side, Su Zhe intentionally lowered it to sixty. Keeping a hidden card was always wise.

"Top-tier Grade-A talent... a body capable of remolding its very foundation... and now a genius of the forging path..." Li Shanyun murmured to herself, her eyes flickering. What did those three qualities combined mean? It meant— This boy was guaranteed to become an inner disciple of the Sword-Casting Manor. And perhaps... He could even compete for the position of a true inheritor.

As the official examiner for Lu County, if someone like Su Zhe emerged under her watch, the credit and rewards she would receive would be substantial.

"I'm ashamed to ask, but this matter is too important."

"May I borrow your forging workshop and ask Brother Su to forge a Third-Grade Mortal Weapon on the spot?" She looked at Su Zhe, then at the three leaders of the Blacksmith Gang. Yang Dingtian blinked, stunned. Wang Shan looked as if his soul had left his body. But Sun Tiexin burst into laughter and immediately stood up.

"Of course! Of course! I'll— cough— this old man will lead the way!" As he rose, he shot Su Zhe a vicious glare. A single look that said everything: Perform well. Don't screw this up. Su Zhe gave a slight nod. His thumb and forefinger curved together, leaving a small gap. A silent gesture. Handled.

"If I'm going down, I'll at least die understanding! I want to see whether this brat is truly this heaven-defying!" Wang Shan clenched his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead as his tower-like body rose like a ferocious tiger. He followed after Sun Tiexin. Yu Yi said nothing, trailing behind him.

"How interesting..." Yang Dingtian stroked his white beard, smiling meaningfully.

"Looks like this boy can no longer be kept here." The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The three old foxes each had their own schemes. In front of Li Shanyun, they acted humble and respectful. But in truth, each had their own chessboard. And yet— Su Zhe had dropped into all three boards like an unreasonable piece, seizing the center and overturning everything. Fate was truly unpredictable. The Artisan Hall. The thick smell of fire and molten metal filled the air.

Heavy, acrid, suffocating. Yet the hall was packed shoulder to shoulder. Inner disciples of the Blacksmith Gang had flooded in. Everyone wanted to see. Su Zhe— this monster among geniuses. Was he only a cultivation prodigy... or was he truly a legendary forging genius as well? If the latter was true— then in the entire several-hundred-year history of the Blacksmith Gang, only the founding Blacksmith Patriarch could compare.

"Senior Brothers, I'll trouble you." Su Zhe bowed toward Xiao Xunhuan and Guo Ju. To guarantee absolute success, Sun Tiexin had ordered Guo Ju to work the bellows and control the furnace temperature. Xiao Xunhuan would act as his assistant.

"Leave it to me!"

"Junior Brother, you've hidden yourself deep enough. Show us what you've got!" The two encouraged him as they got to work. A fellow disciple with such talent naturally made them proud. Though Su Zhe's arrival had also created invisible pressure, forcing them to push themselves harder. Especially Xiao Xunhuan. He had abandoned his old habits of indulgence and pleasure, throwing himself into martial and forging cultivation with full discipline, even breaking into the Third Grade Internal Force Realm.

If Su Zhe entered Sword-Casting Manor soon... they would miss him. But they would also gladly send him off. Farewell, King of Grinding.

"Two taels of pure gold. Ten taels of pure silver. Refined copper..."

"And supplemented with feathers from a Wind-element demonic beast." Su Zhe's hands moved like a spirit serpent flicking its tongue, swiftly tossing material after material into the furnace. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Guo Ju stood bare-chested, his two-meter frame packed with bulging muscles as he worked the bellows and fed the flames. The materials had all been prepared by Sun Tiexin. And every piece was of exceptional quality. There was even a feather from a demonic beast that had cultivated Wind Dao.

Since none of it was his own, Su Zhe felt no pain using them. Before long, the materials melted down into an irregular lump of metal. Su Zhe slammed his palm against the anvil. The force launched the molten metal upward before it landed squarely on the forging table.

"Forge!" He gripped the smithing hammer, his eyes calm. He raised it. Power surged from his feet, through his waist, back, shoulders, and arms. Then— it descended. BOOM! The entire Artisan Hall trembled. Veins bulged across Su Zhe's arms as his immense blood energy roared through his body. The strength of one flood dragon, two tigers, and four bulls! Enough to move mountains and fill seas. That single hammer strike carried the force of clashing armies.

His blood surged violently, white steam spilling from his nose and mouth. His skin turned crimson. His body swelled with the aura of a raging bull. It was the final killing move of the Savage Bull Art — Body Becomes the Savage Bull! His blood energy actually began to condense into the faint outline of a bull. Every hammer strike felt like a savage bull stomping the earth. Unstoppable.

"Incredible... a Beast Force Phantom?"

"But he hasn't even reached Third Grade yet!"

"That's not a true Beast Force Phantom... but it's already taking shape!"

"At the Third Grade Internal Force Realm, if you cultivate one of the gang's three martial arts to Great Perfection, you can manifest a Beast Force Phantom."

"But Su Zhe is only at Second Grade! How can he already show Third Grade phenomena?!" The crowd erupted. Not even Third Grade, yet already manifesting the unique phenomenon of that realm. It was shocking enough. And merely reaching Third Grade wasn't enough. One had to cultivate a mortal martial art to Great Perfection to awaken a Beast Force Phantom. How long had Su Zhe been in the sect? Less than three months. Three months— and he had already pushed the Savage Bull Art to Great Perfection?

What kind of comprehension was that? Even Yu Yi, a recognized genius, had only just reached Major Mastery in the Tiger Fiend Blade. Many disciples in the Blacksmith Gang had trained for over a decade and still couldn't break into Great Perfection.

"That's because Brother Su's raw strength has already surpassed the Second Grade and is comparable to the Third."

"The greater his strength, the richer his blood energy. That's why he can force out the embryonic form of a Beast Force Phantom." Li Shanyun spoke, instantly seeing through the mystery. Though only a prototype— its power was not to be underestimated. Everyone fell silent. They had been shocked too many times today. At this point... they were getting used to it. Su Zhe— a monster among monsters. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Su Zhe used the Thousandfold Forging Method, his hammer falling like a torrential storm. Metal rang endlessly like heavenly music. After dozens of strikes— his eyes sharpened. The warm-up was over. Blood energy exploded outward, forming a faint red mist around his body. Three-Spirit Unity Hammer! He shouted inwardly. The Thousandfold Forging Method, originally driven by the Savage Bull Hammer style, suddenly transformed. The hammer's trajectory shifted.

Its swings now carried a fierce killing intent— swift, decisive. Like a supreme tiger tearing through the void. As though a single strike could shatter the heavens. The tiger's roar shook the mountains, striking fear into all who witnessed it. Then the hammer changed again. Its path became elusive and serpentine. Twisting unpredictably. Curving, darting, striking without warning. The bull represented strength— endless force, layering countless forging marks.

The tiger represented slaughter— boundless killing intent, tempering the weapon with fiendish energy. The snake represented precision— fluid, cunning, every strike landing perfectly on flaws within the weapon core. Three forces. Three martial paths. The Savage Bull Shattering Hammer. The Fiend Tiger Soul-Slaying Blade. The Spirit Serpent Wind-Piercing Sword. The more Su Zhe wielded them, the smoother they became. The three arts complemented one another, deepening his understanding. The Three-Spirit Unity Hammer...

Combining the bull's strength, the tiger's ferocity, and the serpent's agility... Three mortal arts fused into one. Its power rivals treasure arts. The Blacksmith Patriarch... what a peerless genius. A flash of enlightenment struck him. The Savage Bull Art was his earliest and deepest foundation. Next came the Tiger Fiend Blade. As for the Spirit Serpent Sword, it was his weakest.

But its principles aligned closely with his Flood Dragon Sea-Entering Method, allowing him to verify one through the other and gain tremendous insight. BOOM! The bull's might. The tiger's dominance. The serpent's cunning. Three beast phantoms emerged at once. Bull. Tiger. Snake. And for the first time— they merged into balance. Su Zhe exhaled deeply. His blood surged like a raging sea. Around him, the embryonic Beast Force Phantoms of the bull, tiger, and serpent fully took shape.