Douluo Amon: I am the Heavenly Venerable of the Dragon King.

Chapter 544 Zhenhua's Expectations

At the top of the headquarters of the Blacksmith Association in Tiandou City, in the central part of Douluo Continent.

At this moment, Lufa was completely immersed in the world of forging. Sweat rolled down his forehead like rain, dripping onto the scorching metal and instantly turning into wisps of steam that rose up.

Black, black, black, red, red, red, red, orange-gold—eight spirit rings swirled around him, dancing rhythmically with Lu Fa's movements.

"Boom—" The final strike was completed, and various elemental lights began to converge in the air. The time for the elemental tribulation had come again.

This time, Lu Fa did not use "Fusheng" brand metal; he used ordinary Tianduan metal for forging.

The seven-colored halo flowed and changed in the air. When the tribulation lightning descended, Lu Fa would take a portion of it.

Through several days of continuous forging, he has gained a clearer understanding of the metal's strength, so his success rate in forging is not low.

Zhenhua stood not far away, occasionally covering his mouth with his hand and coughing lightly, but his eyes were always full of admiration.

To be honest, Zhenhua initially had reservations about Lu Fa's decision to undergo Heavenly Forging at this time, and even strongly opposed it.

In his view, the forging process is full of unknown risks and challenges, and for a young blacksmith, rashly attempting it may cause immeasurable damage to his body.

However, as time went by, after witnessing firsthand Lu Fa's terrifying blood and qi beyond human imagination, as well as his profound soul power foundation compared to other soul masters of the same level, his heart began to waver.

Only after he had Lu Fa try Heavenly Forging once, and confirmed that it wouldn't cause too much damage to his body, was he willing to let Lu Fa undergo Heavenly Forging.

Why are you so sure? Of course, it's because of Makino's existence.

Zhenhua discovered that every time Lu Fa was forging, he would deliberately absorb the elemental lightning tribulation.

This dangerous and daring move initially shocked Zhenhua. He even wanted to yell at Lu Fa and warn him that this was a suicidal act.

However, Lu Fa patiently explained to Zhen Hua that his Behemoth Martial Soul had a special ability to absorb the power of elemental lightning tribulation and transform it into his own power.

To confirm this, Lu Fa even had Makino verify it multiple times.

When Zhenhua received an affirmative answer from Mu Ye, he was so surprised that he couldn't speak. He couldn't imagine that there was such a peculiar person in the world who could make use of the elemental lightning tribulation, which had always been regarded as the greatest obstacle in the forging process and had extremely strong destructive power.

In Zhenhua's eyes, Lu Fa is undoubtedly a gifted and unique "freak," but it is precisely this uniqueness that makes his expectations for Lu Fa rise accordingly.

In the realm of forging, the most feared elemental calamity is that of the master craftsmen. Its appearance is often accompanied by immense danger and uncertainty, and many master craftsmen in the past have perished before this calamity.

However, Lufa is able to cleverly transform this into a valuable resource to aid his own growth. Given time, Lufa may indeed surpass himself and reach an unprecedented height.

Once metals reach the Heavenly Forging level, it's no longer just about forging talent. One's own abilities also play a very important role.

Lu Fa's current success rate in Heaven Forging is over 35%, but failures still occur more often. This is because there are still quite a few uncertainties in the Heaven Forging process.

However, Zhenhua's success rate in forging is only 20%.

This doesn't mean Lu Fa has surpassed Zhen Hua; in terms of skill and experience, he still lags far behind. It's precisely because he far surpasses Zhen Hua in dealing with the Elemental Calamity that this situation exists.

Simply put, if Zhenhua possessed Lu Fa's terrifying physical attributes and the power to absorb elemental lightning tribulations, the success rate of the Heavenly Forging would likely exceed sixty percent, or even higher. Unfortunately, he didn't.

Now Zhenhua understands a principle even more clearly: even if he wants to devote all his energy to forging, cultivation is still indispensable. Only truly powerful Soul Masters can become truly powerful Divine Craftsmen!

If it were just a single metal forging technique, Lu Fa would have no problem with it now, but since he started trying alloy forging, his failure rate has started to increase.

The main reason Zhenhua admired him was that this kid was improving every day. Every time he underwent Heavenly Forging, he gave Zhenhua a feeling of transformation.

As a master craftsman, his perception of qualitative changes in his surroundings was extremely clear and acute. He was confident he couldn't be mistaken. Lu Fa had not only reached the Heavenly Forging level, but had also found what he needed most within that level.

For him, Heavenly Forging is the best way to cultivate right now.

As Lu Fa's strength and cultivation improved with each Heavenly Forging, so did the Heavenly Forging itself.

"Boom!" The seven-colored lightning crashed down, causing Lu Fa's whole body to convulse. But his hands did not stop. He suddenly raised them, guided them, and separated a much smaller seven-colored lightning bolt that landed on the metal in front of him.

In an instant, seven-colored light flowed, and the metal itself seemed to come alive, transforming into a seven-colored stream of light that rose up. A joyful, jubilant cry echoed in the air, and the thunderclouds in the sky slowly dispersed to the surroundings, filled with wondrous elemental fluctuations.

It was a piece of metal that shimmered with starlight, its surface shimmering with iridescent light. With just a thought from Lu Fa, it would naturally change shape, but it never left Lu Fa's body.

It seemed to understand that if Lu Fa hadn't borne the brunt of the seven-colored lightning tribulation, it would have perished.

Lu Fa closed his eyes, silently sensing the changes in his body after being struck by lightning, as well as the changes in the laws that occurred when the alloy completed its final path to godhood.

After so many days of forging, he has gradually come to understand the profound meaning of the final moment of Heavenly Forging. The role of the Elemental Tribulation is not only to test whether the metal itself can shoulder the great responsibility, but more importantly, to connect the metal itself with the laws of heaven and earth and to comprehend the changes in the laws of heaven and earth.

This law not only comes from this plane and this planet, but also, under the guidance of elemental power, it is mysteriously aided by a trace of cosmic power.

Moreover, even with the same Heavenly Forging technique, Lu Fa discovered that the stronger the elemental tribulation power the metal itself could withstand, the less he had to bear on its behalf, resulting in a better Heavenly Forging effect. The stronger the Law Power possessed by the Heavenly Forged metal.

Of course, this is a paradox: the more elemental damage it endures, the greater the possibility of the metal breaking and exploding.

Therefore, as a master craftsman, what he needs to do is to balance this point, so that the more extreme the metal is, the better it will be forged.

The true power of the spirit alloy was revealed during the Heavenly Forging process. The more types of metals used and the higher the degree of fusion of the spirit alloy, the stronger the elemental tribulation it could attract, and the greater its own resilience.

Lu Fa had actually noticed some clues during the Soul Forging stage, but they became even more obvious at the Heaven Forging stage.

However, it's not that the stronger the spiritual alloy's resilience, the easier it is to complete the Heavenly Forging. On the contrary, precisely because the spiritual alloy has greater resilience, the elemental tribulations it can attract when completing the Heavenly Forging are also more terrifying.

Lufa's own capacity to withstand the elemental tribulation is limited. Once the elemental tribulation exceeds his tolerance, he will be unable to help the metal resolve the elemental tribulation.

This made Lu Fa miss "Fusheng" brand metal even more.

When it was forging Big White, it would respond to Lu Fa on its own initiative. At the same time, because of the clone, he and Big White were connected by mind and could know the limits of the metal, forging it at the very edge of the limit.

"What? You did a great job this time! Why do you look so dissatisfied?" Zhenhua walked up to Lufa with a smile, looking at the piece of divine metal full of spirituality moving around his body, he really couldn't put on a serious face at all.

Lu Fa said with some distress, "Master, it's not that I'm dissatisfied with the forging this time. It's that I'm dissatisfied with myself. Tell me, am I being too greedy? My three-word battle armor already uses six kinds of metals to make a spirit alloy, and the fusion rate is over ninety percent."

For a four-word battle armor, another metal would definitely need to be added. I simply don't have the capability to complete such a heavenly forging right now. In other words, even though I've become a master craftsman, I'm unable to forge a four-word battle armor for myself.

Lu Fa would not tell anyone about the fact that the "Fusheng" brand metal was 100% melted and forged; it was a secret exclusive to his clones.

Zhenhua chuckled, "No, what are we blacksmiths for? We pursue perfection. If I had the conditions and ability, I would pursue it too. Just because you can't now doesn't mean you can't in the future. Your four-word battle armor may be delayed, but I believe you definitely have the ability to complete it."

Lu Fa looked at Zhen Hua and said with a wry smile, "Is it really possible? I've tried, and the best I can do right now is the Heavenly Forging of three kinds of metals. Even with continuous practice, I've already reached a bottleneck."

The attempt to create a spirit alloy of four metals has never succeeded. And if it fails, even I myself will be affected. My own battle armor requires seven metals, and with an even higher degree of fusion—this is truly a headache!

Zhenhua said, "Lufa, you need to know that you and I are different." When he said this, there was a hint of earnestness in his voice.

Lu Fa paused for a moment, then heard Zhen Hua continue, "You are different from me because you can go further than me. Divine Craftsman is not the end for us blacksmiths! Just like there are different levels of Limit Douluo, there are also different levels for us Divine Craftsmen."

"In all these years of being a master craftsman, to be honest, with my current abilities, even if I go all out and spare no expense, I can only complete the Heavenly Forging of four kinds of spiritual alloys at most."

"This is the limit. At my age, even after undergoing a Heavenly Forging like this, I would probably need to rest for more than a year. But how old are you? You're only twenty this year. More importantly, we are both Divine Craftsmen, but our foundations are different."

"You're only a Soul Douluo right now, and your cultivation has the potential to advance even further. You even possess the spiritual cultivation of the Spirit Realm. At least in my memory, in our world of blacksmiths, there has never been a master craftsman with the spiritual cultivation of the Spirit Realm."

"What's more, you also have the ability to absorb a certain amount of elemental lightning tribulation. Your current success rate in Heavenly Forging is gradually approaching forty percent. Do you know that if our forging predecessors knew that you were dissatisfied with yourself, they would probably be so angry that they would crawl out of their coffins?"

At this point, Zhenhua's face flushed with excitement. "What is Heavenly Forging? It's true creation, a power possessed only by the Creator God. Although what we create is still very small, merely slightly guiding the laws of heaven and earth, it is still unique. At least, no other profession besides us can do this."

"Although I knew all along that you were using various spirit alloys, and even successfully forged them into Heavenly Forging techniques, do you know why I didn't stop you? Even knowing how difficult Heavenly Forging with these spirit alloys would be, I still didn't stop you. Do you know why?"

Lu Fa shook his head, somewhat bewildered.

Zhenhua held up two fingers. "Two reasons. The first reason is that I never thought you could become a master craftsman."

"Huh?" Lu Fa stared at Zhen Hua in disbelief.

Zhenhua smiled slightly. "Surprised? In fact, there's a legend circulating in our world of blacksmiths: it's impossible to have two master blacksmiths at the same time. So, do you know how surprised I was on the day you succeeded?"

"Why is that?" Lu Fa looked at Zhen Hua with some confusion. Although he had learned some of this information through Nan Fusheng's memories, he did not know the reason behind it.

"Because of the balance of the laws of heaven and earth. Although we can only possess a slight trace of the power of the creator god, it is still the power of creation! How much of this power do you think our plane can allow?"

"If too many of them appear, wouldn't that throw the whole world out of balance? In fact, the appearance of the four-word battle armor is one of the main culprits that led to the extinction of soul beasts. Without the four-word battle armor, those top soul beasts would not have been completely suppressed by us and would not have ultimately perished. This is the strength of our Divine Craftsmen."

"The second reason I won't stop you from using various spirit alloys is because I know your potential. When I lose my Heavenly Forging ability, I believe you will definitely be able to inherit my skills and become the next generation of master craftsmen."

"At that time, you will have accumulated countless years of experience, and once you break through, it will be earth-shattering. At that time, you will also need a brand new goal to pursue. In history, no blacksmith has ever been able to complete the Heavenly Forging of more than seven metals. The highest record is six. With your talent, why can't you make history?"

(End of this chapter)