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

Mang Tian saw Tang Ziran to the door, then turned to look at the two teenagers inside, not really holding out much hope.

Learning forging at six years old? What a joke.

The youngest apprentice he trained was twelve years old, a family tradition he inherited from a young age. Most children that age couldn't even hold a hammer properly.

"you."

Mang Tian pointed at Tang Wulin, picked up the smallest forging hammer from the corner of the wall—it still weighed fifteen pounds—and said, "Take this, go to that open space over there, lift it up, and bring it down, and strike it a thousand times."

Tang Wulin took the hammer with both hands, and its weight made his small body sway.

"A thousand times?" Huo Linfei frowned. "Uncle Mang, isn't that too much?"

"More?" Mang Tian glanced at him. "Do you think more can leave now? The path of forging is full of people who give up halfway."

Huo Linfei fell silent.

Mang Tian picked up another hammer, heavier than Tang Wulin's, weighing about twenty pounds, and handed it to Huo Linfei:

"You too. A thousand times, not a single time less. The movements must be standard, the waist must be straight, and the power must originate from the heels, travel to the waist, and then to the arms."

He demonstrated the move—the hammer was raised, tracing a perfect arc, and fell with a whooshing sound. Even though it was just a swing in the air, it conveyed a sense of weight and power, like splitting mountains and shattering rocks.

"Did you see that clearly?"

"We see clearly." The two children nodded.

"Let's begin." Mang Tian waved his hand, turned and walked towards his forging table. "You're not allowed to stop unless I tell you to."

Tang Wulin gritted his teeth, gripped the hammer handle tightly with both hands, and raised the hammer in the same way as Mang Tian.

The first time, the hammer fell erratically, almost hitting his own foot. His face paled, and he quickly adjusted his posture.

Huo Linfei, on the other hand, was much more relaxed. The twenty-pound hammer felt like nothing in his hands. Was he kidding? Did he think the physical prowess of a Super Beast Warrior was something to be trifled with?

Although he is only six years old, he still has the foundation brought from a parallel universe.

He gripped the hammer handle, straightened his back, and steadily raised and lowered the hammer.

thump.

The voice was crisp and clear.

Mang Tian's ears twitched, and he glanced back, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. But he didn't say anything and continued with his work.

Soon, only two sounds remained in the studio: the regular and heavy forging sounds from Mang Tian's side, and the slightly immature but gradually steady tapping sounds from the two children's side.

Tang Wulin was very serious. He put all his strength into every lift of the hammer, and tried his best to imitate Mang Tian's movements every time he dropped it.

Ten times, twenty times, fifty times... His face began to turn red, his arms began to tremble, and sweat slid down his forehead.

Huo Linfei, on the other hand, easily completed a thousand tasks, then glanced to the side.

Several pieces of metal were placed on the workbench, one of which was a dark black color, probably black iron.

There was also a piece gleaming with silver, possibly smelting silver. What attracted Huo Linfei the most was the piece of crimson metal in the corner, copper. Mang Tian had mentioned it yesterday, saying that this metal was sensitive to flames and required special attention to the heat during forging.

He glanced at Mang Tian. Mang Tian had his back to them, intently processing a piece of metal, sparks flying everywhere.

Huo Linfei blinked and made a decision.

He put down the hammer, tiptoed to the workbench, and picked up the piece of red copper.

The metal feels warm to the touch, with a rough surface, but you can faintly sense the fire element energy contained within.

"Heating...how was it heated again?" Huo Linfei recalled how Mang Tian had just been forged, "It seems like you put it on a forging table and use a soul-guiding furnace..."

But he doesn't know how to operate that complicated soul-guided furnace.

Huo Linfei stared at the red copper in his hand, then looked at his own hand. The power lock on his wrist was slightly warm, as if it could sense the fire element within the metal.

A bold idea popped into my head.

He held the bronze in his left hand, his right hand hovering above. He closed his eyes, sensing the power within the power lock—his own fire-elemental energy from the Super Beast Universe.

"call……"

A cluster of flames suddenly ignited in the palm of his hand.

It wasn't a flame powered by soul power, nor was it a flame attached to a martial soul. The flame was pure red, with a hint of emerald green at its core, and its temperature was so high that it distorted the air.

As the copper melts in the flame, its surface begins to shimmer with a flowing metallic sheen.

Huo Linfei's eyes lit up. It's useful!

He kept the flame burning with his right hand, placed the copper on the anvil with his left, then picked up the twenty-pound hammer and smashed it down.

when!

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

Huo Linfei was taken aback. This sound... seems a little different from the one Mang Tian made?

He struck the hammer again.

when!

It was still that crisp sound, but this time he felt the metal responding to him.

It wasn't a physical response, but... how should I put it, it was like a heartbeat, one beat, two beats, resonating with the rhythm of his tapping.

It's fun.

Huo Linfei became interested. He continued to control the flames to envelop the red copper with his left hand, while swinging his hammer with his right hand and beginning to strike rhythmically.

Ding, ding, ding.

At first, he was a little awkward, but soon he found his rhythm. The temperature of the flames, the force of the hammer, the landing point, the rhythm—these things automatically integrated in his mind, becoming an instinctive cadence.

He tapped faster and faster.

The copper in the flames began to deform, gradually transforming from a rough, ore-like form into a regular cuboid. Surface impurities were gradually stripped away under the high temperature and hammering, making the metal itself increasingly pure and lustrous.

Ding, ding, ding, ding.

Huo Linfei was completely absorbed. He recalled how the intricate mechanical structures of the Super Beast Armed Forces were assembled, and every joint and transmission mechanism of the Illusionary Scale God.

Although it's technology from another world, the principles are the same: metals need to be shaped, purified, and given "life."

Wait, life?

Huo Linfei paused.

He stared at the reddish-brown copper on the anvil. The metal was now entirely red, radiating a warm glow, its surface texture fine and even, as if... it were breathing.

This is……

"Hundredfold Refinement?!" A surprised exclamation suddenly came from behind.

Huo Linfei was so startled that his hand trembled, and the flames almost went out of control. He turned around and saw that Mang Tian was standing behind him at some point, his eyes wide open, staring intently at the piece of red copper.

"Uncle Mang..." Huo Linfei nervously put down the hammer. "I...I was just trying it out..."

Mang Tian ignored him, took a step forward, and grabbed the piece of red copper.

The metal was still hot, but he was thick-skinned and didn't care at all. He examined it from all angles, running his fingers over the surface, feeling the even texture and pure feel of it.

"A hundred times refined... truly a hundred times refined..." Mang Tian murmured to himself, then suddenly looked up.

"Is this your first time forging?"

Huo Linfei nodded.

"Never touched a hammer before?"

"no."

Mang Tian placed the bronze back on the anvil and took a deep breath: "You said something felt off?"

Huo Linfei scratched his head: "Well... towards the end, it felt like the metal 'came alive,' but it seemed like it wanted to become more... more 'complete.' But I didn't know how to continue."

Mang Tian's heart skipped a beat.

The metal "comes alive"—this is the "spiritual connection" that blacksmiths dream of, and it's a prerequisite for countless forgings.

Many blacksmiths practice for ten or twenty years and still can't reach this level, but this child sensed it on his very first forging.

"That's because Hundred Refinements is just purification." Mang Tian's voice was a little hoarse.

"The purpose of refining metal a thousand times is to imbue it with 'spirit.' To make it not just metal, but a living, breathing thing."