Douluo Dragon King: I, Huo Linfei, the Mecha Illusionary Lin God

"Wait a moment." The girl put down the metal and turned to walk quickly toward the back office.

A few minutes later, a middle-aged man in a blacksmith's robe followed the girl out. The man was probably in his forties, with a square face, thick eyebrows, and sharp eyes.

"So you want to get certified as a blacksmith?" The man looked Huo Linfei up and down.

"Yes," Huo Linfei replied neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"What level?"

Huo Linfei thought for a moment: "Let's set it at level five for now."

The hall fell silent instantly.

Several people waiting in the rest area turned around and looked at Huo Linfei with strange expressions. A level 5 blacksmith? That's the threshold for a blacksmithing master! In the entire East Sea City, you can count the number of blacksmiths above level 5 on one hand.

This child, nine years old, says he wants to take the Level 5 exam?

The middle-aged man chuckled in exasperation: "Kid, do you even know what a level five blacksmith means?"

"I know," Huo Linfei said. "A thousand refinements are stable, and there's a chance of completing a spirit refinement..."

"A thousand refinements?" The man raised an eyebrow. "You think you can do that?"

"With me alone," Huo Linfei said, taking out his Thousand-Refined Crimson Copper Hammer from his pack. "How about we give it a try on the spot?"

The man stared at Huo Linfei for a few seconds, then glanced at the piece of thousand-refined red bronze on the counter, and finally nodded: "Alright. I'll give you a chance. But if you're just making fun of our association..."

"Do as you please," Huo Linfei replied.

"Follow me." The man turned and walked toward the inner corridor.

Huo Linfei followed. The girl also followed curiously, and several onlookers in the rest area stood up and walked together toward the testing area.

The testing area was a spacious workshop with several forging tables and complete equipment. At that moment, several people were conducting tests, and the clanging and hammering sounds filled the air.

The man led Huo Linfei to an empty forging table: "Use the materials here to forge it on-site. Requirements: 1000 forgings. Time: Two hours."

The man planned to have Huo Linfei test his Level 4 certificate first!

Huo Linfei glanced at the material on the workbench—it was a piece of dark silver, of medium quality.

"It won't take two hours," he said. "Half an hour will be enough."

These words caused another commotion. The blacksmiths who had been testing the techniques stopped and gathered around to watch the excitement.

"Who's this kid? He's got such a big mouth!"

"I don't know, they said you have to take the Level 5 Blacksmith exam at age nine."

"Nine years old? Are you kidding me!"

Huo Linfei ignored the discussion. He picked up the heavy silver, weighed it in his hand, then picked up the standard forging hammer provided at the workbench and shook his head.

"The hammer won't do." He put down the standard hammer and picked up his own thousand-forged red copper hammer. "I'll use mine."

With the bronze hammer in hand, Huo Linfei's entire demeanor changed. Just moments ago, he was a slightly arrogant young man, but now he resembled a seasoned master blacksmith, his eyes focused and his breathing steady.

He lit the forging furnace and put the smelting silver inside to heat it.

But unlike other blacksmiths, he didn't stare at the furnace fire; instead, he closed his eyes and held his left hand above the molten silver.

Flames ignited in his palm.

It wasn't a furnace fire; it was his own flame. A deep green core, crimson flames, so hot that it distorted the surrounding air.

"This is... a self-generated flame?" someone exclaimed.

"A spirit flame? But such precise control..."

Huo Linfei ignored him. He was completely focused, sensing the changes in the silver in the flames. Temperature, hardness, distribution of impurities... all the information was fed back through the flames, as clear as if he were looking at a three-dimensional blueprint.

Three minutes later, he opened his eyes.

The smelted silver was heated to the optimal forging temperature—not by the furnace fire, but by his flames.

Huo Linfei placed the silver ingot onto the anvil and raised the red copper hammer.

The first hammer blow fell.

when!

The sound was crisp and clear, with a strange resonance.

The second blow.

when!

The third strike.

Ding, ding, ding!

At first it was slow, but soon the hammering became faster and more frequent. It didn't seem like forging, but more like playing music—the hammer was the drumstick, the metal was the drumhead, and they were playing a powerful war song.

More and more people gathered to watch. People who were originally in other testing areas also came after hearing the commotion, and soon the workspace was packed with more than twenty people.

Everyone held their breath, staring at the red-haired boy.

His movements were fluid and graceful, each hammer blow landing precisely where it should. The slushy silver rapidly deformed under his hammer, impurities were squeezed out little by little, and the metal's natural texture began to appear.

Ten minutes to complete the 100-minute workout.

Twenty minutes later, the thousand-times-forging process begins.

Sweat beaded on Huo Linfei's forehead, but his gaze remained focused. With each rise and fall of the red copper hammer, the luster on the surface of the silver grew brighter and brighter, changing from silvery-white to a warm silvery-gray, and finally tinged with a faint luminescence.

That is a sign of spiritual birth.

"A thousand refinements possess a spirit..." the middle-aged man murmured, "He truly did it..."

In the 25th minute, Huo Linfei delivered his final blow.

when--!!!

It wasn't the sound of metal clashing; it was the sound of a bell.

The slushy silver burst forth with a dazzling light, and the entire piece of metal seemed to come alive. The texture on its surface flowed like water ripples, or twinkled like stars.

It is forged a thousand times, and then it is complete.

Huo Linfei put down the hammer and let out a long breath. He wiped his sweat and looked at the middle-aged man: "How was it?"

The man didn't speak. He walked to the anvil and picked up the piece of heavy silver with trembling hands.

It felt warm to the touch, and the weight was 30% lighter than before—the impurities had been completely removed. The texture was perfect, full of spirit, a top-quality piece, and the best of the best.

"What...what's your name?" the man asked, his voice dry.

"Fire Kirin Flying. Fire as in flames, Kirin as in unicorn, and Flying as in flight."

"Whom did you study under?"

"Aolai City, Mangtian."

The man took a deep breath, turned to the girl, and said, "Go and ask the president. Just say... just say a monster has come to the association."

The girl was stunned for a moment, then quickly ran out.

Huo Linfei grinned and tucked the silver into his pocket: "Then I'll take this metal; consider it my certification material."

"Of course..." The man was still in shock. "Wait, where are you going?"

"Go change your clothes." Huo Linfei pointed to his sweat-soaked shirt. "Then wait for your guild leader to come and give me a level 5 badge."

He walked out of the workshop, leaving a room full of dumbfounded blacksmiths.

After a long pause, someone murmured, "Nine years old... a thousand-times-refined, first-grade... has this world gone mad?"

Another said, "Did you see the flame he used just now? The precision of the control, the temperature... I've been forging for thirty years, and I've never seen anything like it."

"And that hammering technique, that rhythm... This isn't a nine-year-old child, this is clearly a master rejuvenated!"

The middle-aged man looked in the direction Huo Linfei had left, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

He recalled what Huo Linfei had just said: "Let's set it at level five for now."

His tone and expression were as casual as if he were saying, "Let's have noodles for lunch today."

"Level five..." the man chuckled wryly. "I think this kid might actually be a monster... a monster has arrived in Donghai City..."

In the corridor, Huo Linfei whistled, in a good mood.

P.S.: Huanlin God will be making his appearance soon, everyone! Looking forward to it!