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Placing the two rare metals on the forging platform, Xu Yuan took a deep breath.
This time, he intended to test an idea he had been contemplating.
Could starlight be used as an elemental attribute to refine heavenly-forged metal?
What effects would infusing raw starlight into the heavenly forging process produce?
Activating the forging platform, Xu Yuan began his work.
With no need to demonstrate for the forging department members, his progress was swift. In just twenty-odd strikes, he completed the soul forging.
At this moment, the five elements and lightning converged in the sky above.
Xu Yuan furrowed his brow.
In this situation, he found himself unable to gather raw starlight.
Summoning elemental energy was indeed too taxing, and Xu Yuan lacked the extra strength to draw in raw starlight.
If he were within the stellar anomaly, everything could have been resolved effortlessly. However, to avoid any unforeseen accidents, he chose not to conduct the experiment there. Instead, he attempted it at the far end of the Endless Mountains, away from the spatial passage.
"Fortunately, I came prepared."
Xu Yuan released the raw starlight he had previously stored in his dream space, blending it with the six elements. He infused these elemental forces into the forging hammer, then used the hammer's penetrative properties to forcefully drive these energies into the metal before him.
The moment the energies were driven in, he finally realized the difference between raw starlight and ordinary elements.
"With my current mastery of starlight, I haven't yet reached the level where I can rely on it to transition through insights?"
This was the first time Xu Yuan had such a realization.
Though controlling starlight was more challenging, he had still progressed significantly, especially in its application, which he had never ceased practicing.
Even with his spiritual power, he could manipulate starlight freely.
Yet, it seemed this wasn't sufficient.
"Could it be that using starlight to transition through insights requires a higher standard?"
Why would it demand a higher standard?
In an instant, countless thoughts collided in Xu Yuan's mind.
The existence of the dream space and the advantage of multi-brain simultaneous thinking brought by Huan Xing allowed him to form countless collisions of thought in the shortest time.
Following one thread, Xu Yuan quickly clarified the logic.
"If there are higher requirements, then this might very well be the direction for further advancement in forging!"
"What makes starlight special compared to earthly elements? And how does this uniqueness affect forging? More precisely, how does it impact the insights engraved within the metal?"
Bang!"
The metal before him became unstable, exploding instantly. Xu Yuan unleashed his blood essence, enduring the explosion's damage with sheer force.
At this moment, he was jolted back to reality by the explosion, snapping out of his thoughts.
His skill level hadn't reached the necessary standard, so the heavenly forging process was naturally interrupted.
From the start, this forging attempt was destined to fail because Xu Yuan's knowledge was limited.
Seeing that Xu Yuan was still deep in thought, Mu Ye and the others hesitated briefly but ultimately decided not to disturb him.
"If starlight doesn't work, then what about star-attributed origin energy?"
Xu Yuan first converted the origin energy of heaven and earth, guiding it to manifest stellar attributes.
To be honest, it had been a long time since he last utilized stellar attributes this way.
After directly mastering starlight, why would he resort to adding attributes to his soul power for battle?
Everything proceeded smoothly, and he began forging again.
This time, while guiding the elements into the metal, Xu Yuan noticed another anomaly.
"Origin energy with stellar attributes can serve as a carrier, but this is ultimately an induced attribute, not a stable elemental force."
Continuing would cause the insights carried by this portion of the origin energy to dissipate into nothingness, leaving the metal blank, thereby affecting its transformation during the tribulation.
Xu Yuan stopped voluntarily.
"So, it's not an issue of attributes but rather a distinction between internal and external—between the energy within the plane and the energy of the universe?"
Xu Yuan tried again, resuming the forging.
His blood essence was abundant; even after two consecutive failures, he still had enough stamina to complete a full heavenly forging.
This was the advantage of youth and formidable strength.
This time, he put in tremendous effort.
He didn't summon the surrounding elemental forces.
Instead, he directly attempted to pierce through the barrier of the Douluo plane using his dream space, connecting with cosmic space.
In fact, he succeeded.
Under the extension of his dream space, this step was achieved through the medium of the stellar anomaly.
Using the dream space as a bridge, Xu Yuan directly summoned elemental forces from cosmic space.
He summoned the five elements.
Only the five elements.
These were what he was most familiar with and easiest to control.
The five elements in cosmic space were pitifully scarce—or rather, aside from spatial elements and starlight, all other elemental forces were extremely thin.
Xu Yuan gathered for a long time before finally amassing a certain amount of raw five-element energy.
He temporarily referred to it this way.
Previously, there had been no such distinction.
If his upcoming attempts could validate his hypothesis, he would differentiate it in the future.
The raw five-element energy was infused into the forging hammer, and with the hammer's descent, it was driven into the Jade Silver before Xu Yuan.
Bang!
Before any transformation occurred, the Jade Silver exploded violently, releasing bursts of spirituality mixed with large amounts of raw five-element energy.
Mu Ye watched this scene from afar, slightly frowning.
He knew that heavenly forging certainly had a success rate limit, but were Xu Yuan's previous few attempts really due to mistakes?
Though he didn't understand forging, he still had basic observational skills. Those previous attempts were definitely not issues with Xu Yuan's forging technique; it seemed he was trying something beyond the norm.
"I understand."
Xu Yuan was not disheartened by the repeated failures but instead felt excitement, his eyes gleaming with surprise.
"The plane and the universe are two different levels. The energy native to the universe and the energy 'filtered' by the plane are fundamentally different, at least in terms of forging. All raw, primordial energy cannot be used in heavenly forging. If I were to forcibly use raw energy to transition my insights, it might cause the metal to transcend the plane's boundaries, entering the cosmic level and becoming a starry lifeform?"
Heavenly forging created true living entities.
And the boundaries of lifeforms were evidently divided—were they beings nurtured by the plane or lifeforms within the universe?
Although the life granted to heavenly-forged metals ultimately came from universal laws, their affinity might depend on the metal's inherent law compatibility.
Insights transitioned using the elemental forces within the plane would be more attuned to the plane itself.
If he wanted to verify this, he could try performing heavenly forging in the demonic plane, comparing the differences between heavenly-forged metals forged there and those forged on Douluo Star, and see whether they could fuse with a soul master's martial soul.
However, Xu Yuan felt there was little need for further verification.
The previous experiments had already sufficiently proven his hypothesis.
"So, the next step in heavenly forging is to allow the metal's life to transcend the plane, becoming a starry lifeform?" Xu Yuan fell into deep thought.
If so, what would be the significance?
Would it possess a higher status?
Or would it present more opportunities?
Xu Yuan pondered: if raw elemental energy were used during heavenly forging, would the resulting metal still qualify as heavenly-forged? At this level, even if it were a lifeform in the stars, what distinctions would it have from normal heavenly-forged metals?
"The differences wouldn't be significant, as theoretically, it's just a change of identity."
The universe was infinitely vast, capable of accommodating a broader range and supporting higher limits. Within planes, especially the Douluo plane, god-level existences were forbidden.
Thus, changing identities merely opened up further possibilities, not advancement itself. Of course, this milestone was undoubtedly crucial in the process of advancement.
Xu Yuan didn't waste much time.
After clarifying everything, he resumed normal forging.
Boom!
As the heavenly forging lightning tribulation descended, the four members of the Body Sect who had been waiting eagerly couldn't help but show their excitement.
Among them, Mu Ye was the most thrilled. While Xu Yuan endured the tribulation, he diverted nearly 40% of the thunderous energy to the ground, directing it onto his own body.
Following Xu Yuan's secret technique, he directly faced the baptism of lightning, guiding the thunderous energy to circulate within his body.
Protected by his robust blood essence, he wasn't injured by the overwhelming power of the tribulation but instead continuously used it to temper his blood essence.
Beside Mu Ye, Ah Ruheng also took on nearly 10% of the tribulation's power.
Mu Ye and Ah Ruheng quickly mastered Xu Yuan's thunder-quenching technique, mainly due to prior practice and firsthand experience in facing the tribulation's power.
On the other hand, Jiang Wuyue and Wang Jinyang fared much worse.
Jiang Wuyue, despite converting his Tyrant Dragon martial soul into a blood essence martial soul in the Dragon Valley and honing his mastery of blood essence under favorable conditions, still lacked sufficient strength.
However, he managed to endure about half of the tribulation's force without directly mastering the thunder-quenching technique but did manage to figure out some tricks. With another attempt, he might fully grasp it.
Wang Jinyang was the hardest case. His soul power level was too low, and his blood essence wasn't strong enough, so he could only absorb the weak residual tribulation energy that escaped from Mu Ye's side. Each time, he could only draw in a wisp, using all his strength to resist and control its circulation within his body.
After the tribulation, Mu Ye and Ah Ruheng successfully mastered the secret technique, Jiang Wuyue was close, and Wang Jinyang ended up numb from the electric shocks.
"Let's do it again!"
After resting for a while, Xu Yuan performed the heavenly forge again, helping Jiang Wuyue master the secret technique.
"Alright, Xiao Yuan, there's no need to involve us anymore. You need the power of these tribulations to boost your soul power. We are merely using the lightning to temper our bodies, which is less efficient than you. So we won't keep drawing on the power of the tribulations you bring down," Mu Ye stopped Xu Yuan.
He realized that Xu Yuan was accelerating his soul power cultivation by devouring the tribulations brought by heavenly forging and didn't plan to wait around for Xu Yuan's thunder-quenching sessions every time.
Though it was unbelievable, Xu Yuan was indeed continuously performing heavenly forging and utilizing the tribulations to train.
This mode of training was unimaginable in the past.
"What about you, Teacher?"
"Don't worry; lightning isn't something that can only be summoned through tribulations. The main point earlier was to let us adapt to your secret technique using the tribulation's power. Now, except for Jinyang, the three of us have mastered the technique. Even without you summoning the tribulation, we can find places rich in lightning or hire lightning-attribute soul masters to help attract lightning elements," Mu Ye explained.
"Then alright."
"As for Jinyang, after trying a few times today and enduring the invasion of these strands of tribulation power, his resistance to lightning elements attracted by ordinary soul masters should increase. Under this lower intensity, he can try to operate the secret technique."
Mu Ye's arrangements were reasonable, and Xu Yuan didn't insist further.
Time passed.
Soon, two months had elapsed since Xu Yuan returned to the Blood God Legion.
During these two months, at the other end of the Endless Mountains, they had almost daily experienced tribulations. The six-colored tribulations, based on lightning with the five elements rotating ceaselessly, appeared harmonious. Whenever the tribulation descended, a figure would float in the ocean of lightning, devouring everything.
"Two months have passed, and my soul power has finally broken through to Level 89."
Level 88 was easy, but Level 89 took Xu Yuan over fifty days to accumulate.
It wasn't that the energy required to increase one level had increased; rather, his soul power was nearing a solid state. At this critical juncture, the effect of forcefully compressing with massive energy was minimized by the time wasted on heavenly forging to summon the tribulation.
Fortunately, after these two months, he reached Level 89, and his entire soul power reached another critical point.
"My three-word battle armor has already been upgraded, and with the possibility of forming my second soul core soon to become a Title Douluo, my strength will double. It's not an exaggeration to say I possess limit-level combat strength."
Xu Yuan himself hadn't fought a Limit Douluo, so his estimation was somewhat conservative.
The gap between a Limit Douluo and a Super Douluo at Level 98 was enormous—so vast that even three-word battle armor couldn't bridge the gap. A Level 98 Super Douluo wearing three-word battle armor couldn't threaten a Limit Douluo who hadn't fused with battle armor.
The reason Xu Yuan was considered capable of crossing ten levels and possessing such strength was because of the spear he wielded.
It was a Divine Spear.
"From the moment the spear transformed, I no longer needed to hide."
Back then, though he didn't have the ability to fight head-on with a Limit Douluo, he had the qualifications to tangle. Coupled with the presence of the Dragon Soul imprint, he had already developed initial capabilities to handle most dangers in this world.
Now, with his three-word battle armor complete and the impending formation of his second soul core, his confidence grew stronger.
"There are two more months until my 20th birthday. Within these two months, I'll attempt to form the second soul core. Though the chances aren't high, I still need to try."
Xu Yuan put away the forging platform and scanned the surroundings, looking at the ground permeated with lightning. After some thought, he used the Seven Forbidden Techniques to influence the surrounding environment, locking the thunderous energy firmly in the permafrost at the peak of the other end of the Endless Mountains.
Perhaps, thousands of years later, unique rare metals might form here?
Xu Yuan had already sensed changes in the soil there, with a small metallic ore vein beneath.
The tribulation was meant for heavenly-forged metal, but the residual tribulation aura was locked down by him.
Blood God Legion.
"Condensing a soul core requires tranquility. Take this time to focus on seclusion," Mu Ye said, surprised upon learning that Xu Yuan planned to condense his second soul core.
Keep in mind, Xu Yuan was not yet twenty.
"Are you going to condense a yin-yang complementary soul core or a resonance soul core?"
Although they had discussed it before, Mu Ye asked again.
Xu Yuan's thoughts hadn't changed.
"Resonance."
A temporary lag doesn't mean a lifetime of lag. As long as he condensed the third soul core and completed a triple resonance, adjusting the resonance frequencies of the three cores to align, the resulting amplification would rival the dual-complementary resonance structure of three soul cores. Moreover, it would facilitate the fusion of essence, energy, and spirit.
The fusion of essence, energy, and spirit, bringing everything to unity, would unleash unprecedented power.
Additionally, the condensation of a resonance soul core was more convenient, easier, and safer.
Upon learning that Xu Yuan would enter seclusion, Zhang Huanyun specially built a cultivation room for him, supplying stellar energy around the clock.
This was what Xu Yuan earned. In just these two months, he provided the legion with more than ten pieces of heavenly-forged metal. If given to a single soul master, it would be enough for a full set of four-word battle armor.
Unfortunately, these heavenly-forged metals weren't suitable as parts for a complete set of battle armor and were exchanged by different powerful individuals in the legion after queuing up.
Even though Xu Yuan gained merits, it still wasn't enough to compensate for his contributions.
A Divine Craftsman was profoundly significant to soul masters, and even after fair transactions, various benefits were still needed to further strengthen the relationship.
Within factions, it was even more necessary to provide multiple conveniences beyond standard procedures.
"Resonance."
In the dream space, Xu Yuan looked at the human body structure before him, continuously manipulating his soul power to form vortices within his body.
In his lower dantian, a fixed vortex existed—it was his existing soul core.
The human body has three positions for condensing soul cores: upper, middle, and lower dantians.
Previously, Xu Yuan had been concerned about what attributes each position should hold for the soul cores. It wasn't until he condensed his first soul core that he realized he didn't need to pre-sort the structure of the soul cores.
Before having all three soul cores, separating his three most proficient systems distinctly would actually hinder subsequent cultivation.
Thus, he didn't choose a specific position for his first soul core and simply condensed it in the lower dantian.
Now, as the second soul core was about to condense, Xu Yuan was considering whether to condense it in the upper or middle dantian.
Logically, the middle dantian was suitable, reducing the obstacles for condensing the third soul core.
However, the upper dantian had its advantages—it could promote the breakthrough of Xu Yuan's spiritual power.
His spiritual power had been stuck at the peak of Spirit Abyss Realm for nearly two years. If he could condense the second soul core in the upper dantian, also known as the sea of spirit, he might have the chance to promote the formation of a spiritual domain and break through to Spirit Domain Realm sooner.
However, doing so would make it harder to condense the third soul core in the middle dantian.
This undoubtedly added artificial difficulty to the process of condensing the soul core.
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