According to the way soul masters describe it, that mont was undoubtedly a state of enlightennt. In that state, Lou Gao abandoned all external distractions and devoted himself entirely to forging.
At first, when experinting with the secret technique, Lou Gao was still mindful of controlling the amount he used, burning only a small portion of his life force. However, during his enlightennt, he completely forgot this crucial detail, recklessly pushing his potential to the limit and burning his life force without regard for the cost.
By the ti he completed his forging, Lou Gao had officially stepped into the realm of seventh-tier soul forging and had even begun to touch upon the eighth-tier fusion forging.
But when he awoke from his enlightened state, he was so drained that he couldn't even stand and collapsed to the ground unconscious. Fortunately, he didn't fall into the furnace—otherwise, that would have been the ultimate irony.
If not for his apprentice, who frequently checked in out of concern—listening for the sounds of forging, and monitoring supplies and materials—Lou Gao might have died in his forging room, lying on the ground, neither alive nor dead.
Over the past few months, although Lou Gao had made trendous breakthroughs in his ntal state, reaching an unimaginable level of spiritual awareness, his once-strong body had deteriorated significantly. Recently, he had even needed assistance just to move.
Even if Chen Ming hadn't co at this ti, Lou Gao had already been considering asking his apprentice to take him to Heaven Dou City to see Chen Ming one last ti.
Hearing Lou Gao's words, Chen Ming found himself at a loss for what to say.
For seekers of the Dao, the idea of "hearing the truth in the morning and being willing to die by evening" was all too normal. If he had been in Lou Gao's position, facing such a rare and precious opportunity, he would have made the sa choice—to burn his own life in pursuit of the ideal realm.
After recounting his recent experiences, Lou Gao retrieved a thick book from his spatial soul tool and handed it to Chen Ming.
It was a book made entirely of tal. The cover was crafted from mithril, while the pages were made of specially treated refined gold, with an unusual tallic pignt used for writing.
This book was a ter long, half a ter wide, and half a ter thick. Even though every effort had been made to reduce its weight, it still weighed several thousand jin. Calling it a book was sowhat misleading—it was more like sothing disguised as a book. The difficulty of reading it aside, just turning the pages was beyond the capability of most people.
The mont Lou Gao took out the book, his face flushed from exertion. Chen Ming had to help him place it gently on the ground.
Flipping through a few pages, Chen Ming imdiately recognized that this was a compendium on forging, compiled by Lou Gao himself, likely within the past two to three months.
The introduction described the origins of forging, its fundantal processes and principles, and the ideal state a blacksmith should strive for. The main content progressed from basic to advanced techniques, detailing the skills required at each level, insights from past master blacksmiths, and thods for overcoming challenges. It contained an enormous amount of invaluable forging knowledge.
From the simple act of hamring to the highest-level forging technique—the Disorder Splitting Wind Hamr. From crafting ordinary armor to forging lightweight armor capable of withstanding the attacks of a Soul Emperor. From basic agricultural tools to massive siege weapons used in war. From simple chanical locks to intricate and almost mystical engineering chanisms.
Midway through the book, the content shifted to detailed records of various tals, docunting their properties and thods for unlocking their potential. An appendix included a vast collection of alloy formulas accumulated by the Blacksmith Association, along with thods for creating alloys suited to specific needs.
In short, this book was the culmination of Lou Gao's entire life's knowledge. During this period, knowing he was close to death, he had gathered all his disciples and trusted blacksmiths to rush its completion. It was the distilled essence of the entire Blacksmith Association's legacy, materialized into a single to.
The sheer magnitude of this book was unprecedented in the blacksmithing world. With over ten million words, it was an unparalleled achievent—a true foundational text for the forging profession.
With this book, even a complete outsider could beco an excellent blacksmith. If soone possessed exceptional talent, they could even rise to beco a Divine Craftsman of their era. If this book appeared in a continent where forging technology was underdeveloped, it could spark a technological revolution, establishing an entire tallurgy system from scratch and accelerating the advancent of civilization.
The impact this book had on Chen Ming was no less than that of the soul-forged tal he had just seen—perhaps even greater.
This book was a complete repository of all the knowledge within the Blacksmith Association, including Lou Gao's records and detailed descriptions of the three great forging realms: Spirit Refinent, Fusion Refinent, and Soul Refinent.
With this book in his possession, Chen Ming could train a vast number of blacksmiths under his command. He could even cultivate Saint Craftsn—or perhaps even Divine Craftsn capable of performing Heaven Refinent.
Just by skimming a few pages, Chen Ming had already gained a preliminary understanding of forging techniques. Given his current level of physical control and learning ability, if he studied it in detail, he could quickly absorb its knowledge and beco a skilled blacksmith in an incredibly short ti.
"Hall Master, this book is the culmination of my life's work," Lou Gao said. "Originally, I had planned to leave it to my apprentices after my death, hoping those unworthy children would continue exploring the higher realms of blacksmithing. But since the Hall Master has helped solve my lifespan issue…"
At this point, Lou Gao gave an awkward smile.
"I'll leave this book for the Hall Master to handle."
All people have personal attachnts. While Lou Gao was willing to entrust his greatest forging masterpiece to Chen Ming without reservation, he still wanted to leave his legacy to his apprentices.
That being said, everything in this book was the knowledge that Lou Gao himself had mastered—many of the techniques within it were his original creations. In essence, Lou Gao was a living encyclopedia, possessing an even more comprehensive and detailed understanding than the book itself.
Since he no longer had to face death, this inheritance was no longer necessary.
Ever since his enlightennt a few months ago, Lou Gao had been unable to forge anything. Many of his insights remained trapped in his mind, unable to be tested or practiced. He could only simulate and refine them repeatedly in his thoughts.
He had considered having his disciples conduct experints on his behalf, but with his recent rapid advancents in technique, their once-passable forging skills now seed as crude as children swinging oversized hamrs.
Forget producing aningful results—just watching them fumble through repeated failures made Lou Gao feel as if his lifespan was slipping away even faster.
Now that he could return to forging, Lou Gao felt confident that his skills would reach even greater heights. Perhaps, in the future, he would no longer need to burn his life force to complete a soul-forging process.
Reviews
All reviews (0)