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"What?"
Tang Wulin raised his head, looking at Xu Yuan in shock.
"Is it that hard to understand?" Xu Yuan looked at Tang Wulin and asked.
Tang Wulin lowered his head again, recalling the words Xu Yuan had just spoken.
Only those Limit Douluos whose cultivation paths matched Xu Yuan's could possibly break through using the divine-forged metal he created. Others, even if they obtained it, wouldn't be able to rely on it to ascend.
"Didn't Uncle Zhen Hua tell you?" Xu Yuan said, "Divine-forged metal embodies the blacksmith's comprehension, a level of understanding sufficient to reach godhood."
"Uncle Master did mention something similar," Tang Wulin muttered.
But Zhen Hua himself didn't fully understand the principle behind divine-forged metal, so his explanation wasn't as straightforward as Xu Yuan's.
"God level..."
Who could have so much comprehension to reach the god level?
Only beings who were already at the god level.
But how many different god-level comprehensions could they possess?
Even someone like Pavilion Master Yun Ming likely only followed one path. Though that path might branch into multiple directions leading to godhood, they all stemmed from his main practice.
Only Limit Douluos whose paths aligned with Xu Yuan's would have a chance to ascend to godhood after obtaining divine-forged metal forged with his comprehension.
From another perspective, entrusting one's entire life's comprehension into a piece of metal—how much trust would that require?
Thus, from any angle, even if Xu Yuan returned, it was practically impossible for him to fulfill the requests of those Limit Douluos.
Xu Yuan left the Forging Department in Tang Wulin's hands and sought out Xu Shengqun.
"Xiao Tian?"
Seeing Xu Tian at Xu Shengqun's place, Xu Yuan wasn't surprised.
What surprised him was Xu Tian's current cultivation level.
"Level 57?"
Xu Yuan was genuinely astonished.
This level had already surpassed his own at the same age.
Xu Tian had just turned fifteen not long ago.
When Xu Yuan was fifteen, he was only at Level 55.
Of course, strictly speaking, Xu Tian had started cultivation a year earlier, so he still fell short compared to Xu Yuan.
But among his peers, catching up to Xu Yuan's soul power level—even the post-breakthrough Xu Yuan—was quite remarkable.
"Xiao Tian was stimulated," Xu Shengqun said with a smile.
Xu Yuan curiously looked at Xu Shengqun.
What did he mean?
"Do you remember the Star Dou Battle Network?"
Xu Yuan nodded.
Xu Shengqun continued, "The Star Dou Battle Network held the All-Federation Challenge Tournament. The first one was nearing its end before you left. A year ago, the second tournament began. Xiao Tian was fourteen at the time, broke through to level fifty, and completed his one-word battle armor."
Xu Yuan nodded as he listened.
"We thought he would definitely win the championship in the youth division."
Xu Yuan was slightly surprised.
He asked, "What are the requirements for the youth division?"
"Anyone under eighteen is considered part of the youth division."
Eighteen...
Even at Shrek Academy, an eighteen-year-old becoming a Soul King and owning first-word battle armor was among the top geniuses, the kind who could be promoted to the inner court by their third year.
Moreover, most third-year students who became Soul Kings and owned first-word battle armor were around twenty years old. Even newly promoted third-years rarely reached eighteen.
Strictly speaking, starting at twelve years old with three years each in the first and second years, one would be eighteen upon entering the third year. However, there was also the case of students entering at fifteen.
Shrek Academy's enrollment occurred every three years, and admission criteria had relaxed. Students under fifteen, even if older than twelve, could enroll if they proved they met the expected level for a twelve-year-old student.
A twelve-year-old at level twenty versus a fifteen-year-old at level thirty—the latter was actually more challenging.
Of course, the sole requirement of reaching a certain level was outdated.
There were other comprehensive assessments.
"Someone managed to snatch the championship from Xiao Tian in the youth division?" Xu Yuan asked, somewhat surprised.
He remembered that even his junior brother Wang Jinyang at eighteen might not have been able to defeat Xu Tian at that time.
"We all thought so too, but out of nowhere came a little robot."
Xu Yuan was stunned.
What?
What little robot?
"A youth with the ID 'Cosmic Robot' emerged like a dark horse, decisively defeating Xiao Tian in the championship match."
Xu Yuan was still puzzled.
What could defeat Xu Tian, a first-word battle armor master?
"That 'Cosmic Robot' fights using a mech. His soul power is only at level forty-five, but he can skillfully operate the mech, rivaling seasoned mech pilots. Most importantly, his purple-grade mech was benchmarked against you back then."
Benchmarked against me back then?
Xu Yuan understood why Xu Tian lost.
Level forty-five, controlling a purple-grade mech—if the mech was powerful enough, it indeed had a chance to defeat a first-word battle armor master.
"All spirit-forged?"
Xu Shengqun helplessly nodded.
"Though it couldn't compare to your full god alloy spirit forging back then, it far exceeded the typical purple-grade mech."
For a championship title, who knows how many people and resources were poured into that Cosmic Robot.
After all, the spirit-forged metal used to make one purple-grade mech could produce at least five sets of second-word battle armor.
Second-word battle armor—across the entire Federation, the number of second-word battle armor masters was countable on one hand.
"Did he have a Saint Craftsman supporting him?" Xu Yuan muttered.
Xu Shengqun explained further.
"It's understandable. Although second-word battle armor masters are still powerful and hold prestigious positions, their status has diminished significantly compared to ten years ago." He said, "Here, the mass production of celestial forging metals reduced the monopoly of Limit Douluos and Super Douluos over soul-forged metals, leading to some soul-forged metals leaking out. This allowed many second-word battle armor masters to advance to third-word and pursue soul-forged metals, causing the price of spirit-forged metals to drop significantly."
"This includes the large quantities of spirit-forged and soul-forged metals exchanged by the Blood God Legion's Forging Department."
In the past, such metals were rare and highly sought after.
Forget soul forging—even spirit-forged metals would spark bidding wars at auctions.
Any soul master aspiring to become a second-word battle armor master, unless they had a close friend who was a forging grandmaster, had to grovel and beg for a grandmaster's attention.
Even if they managed to persuade one, they still had to wait in line.
Now?
Now, if students in the military legion had sufficient merit, they could exchange it for corresponding metals.
This was something aspiring battle armor masters in the past couldn't even dream of.
"So, the amount of spirit-forged metal has greatly increased. Gathering the materials to make one mech now costs much less than before."
"The difficulty has decreased by at least seventy percent, and prices have been slashed by at least half."
Xu Yuan silently mourned for Xu Tian.
What could he do against someone throwing money around?
Moreover, the opponent reaching level forty-five at eighteen was already commendable. In the past, even in Shrek, he'd be considered a genius with hope of becoming a first-word battle armor master before twenty.
"He didn't lose unjustly. Mechs and battle armor are tools soul masters use to pursue greater strength. You chose battle armor but didn't reach the pinnacle of first-word battle armor. He, at least in the early stages, chose mechs and pushed them to their limit."
Xu Tian lowered his head, accepting Xu Yuan's teachings.
"The theoretical limit of mechs is indeed higher, but I know very well the effort and hardship required to reach that limit. You just need to continue on the path of a battle armor master."
Xu Yuan didn't try to persuade Xu Tian to pursue mechs.
Xu Tian had no interest in mechs, and Xu Yuan wouldn't force him to learn them.
Besides, Xu Yuan was right.
Reaching the theoretical limit of mechs was extremely resource-intensive.
Xu Yuan dared to use spirit-forged god alloys on purple-grade mechs, full soul-forged metals on black-grade mechs, and planned to use full god-forged metals on the upcoming god-level mech upgrade because he was a blacksmith with decent talent.
Yes, full god forging.
Xu Yuan's current battle armor and mech provided almost imperceptible enhancements to him.
This was another direction where he could rapidly improve.
Reaching Main God level before grasping core laws was impossible, but god-level battle armor and god-level mechs were still achievable.
Xu Yuan thought for a moment and sketched a rune.
"You're sensitive to space, so you can contemplate this rune of mine."
The rune Xu Yuan condensed was indeed a space rune.
He separated the spatiotemporal rune and formed a standalone space-side understanding into a rune.
Xu Tian integrated the rune into his spiritual sea for future contemplation.
"Uncle, when will you break through?"
Xu Yuan looked at Xu Shengqun.
Xu Shengqun thought for a moment and held up three fingers.
"Three months?"
"Three years."
Xu Yuan was speechless.
Why so long?
Didn't he say he was about to break through?
"Do you think everyone is like you?" Xu Shengqun rolled his eyes.
"If I guarantee anything, I can only say that I'll likely break through within three years. Maybe I'll feel the opportunity a month from now, but saying I'll break through within three months is unlikely—it's just possible."
"At least you can contemplate this."
Xu Yuan drew forth a wisp of destructive power from his scroll world.
"What is this?"
Xu Shengqun trapped the destructive power Xu Yuan released in his palm, feeling its fluctuations.
"Destructive power; it should be able to integrate into your spear technique."
"I can sense it; it indeed gives me inspiration." Xu Shengqun nodded.
"Then go into my scroll world to contemplate it."
With that, Xu Yuan pulled Xu Shengqun into the scroll world.
Inside the scroll world, Xu Shengqun saw the little phoenix sleeping atop two essences and fell into deep thought.
Should he sneak to her bedside to contemplate?
Noticing this situation, Xu Yuan woke up the little phoenix.
The little phoenix glanced at Xu Shengqun, seemingly remembering who he was.
"Your spear leans towards destruction, which is slightly off. You should focus on breaking."
Destruction leaned towards annihilation, while Xu Shengqun's spear leaned towards destruction and ruin.
The little phoenix knew resources were limited now, grumbled, and then beckoned Xu Shengqun.
"Though it's slightly off, it's enough to help you ascend to godhood. But remember, don't lean too much towards destruction, or you won't be able to come back."
After saying a few sentences, the little phoenix walked to the other side of the two essences, leaned against them, and continued sleeping.
Xu Shengqun found the little phoenix's nonsensical words puzzling but still remembered them.
Just being near these two essences made him feel pressure. This little phoenix could lie directly on them and sleep, clearly indicating she was extraordinary.
After greeting familiar people one by one, Xu Yuan had Yun Ming find him a valley.
From then on, thunder never ceased in the valley.
Repeated divine forging went from succeeding once every ten attempts to once every three.
Ultimately, Xu Yuan could succeed with two forgings per divine-forged metal.
This forging reminded him of when he fused Jade Silver back then. With Jade Silver as his stepping stone, he opened the door to perfect alloys.
Now, his divine forging was strikingly similar.
The exact same formula.
Uninterrupted repetition.
Continuous improvements and reflections.
All aimed at increasing the success rate of divine forging.
However, Xu Yuan's divine forging could only follow this path. Back then, during fusion forging, there were many spirit alloys to choose from, but Xu Yuan could only select one.
The divine-forged metal Xu Yuan currently forged was primarily a nine-in-one spirit alloy, theoretically the most perfect spirit alloy.
The nine metals corresponded to the forces Xu Yuan mastered. Three of them were new rare metals he collected in the Holy Heart Plane. These nine metals, after his calculations, combined into the sole spirit alloy.
And the forging method integrated all his paths.
This was Xu Yuan's sole direction in divine forging now.
His unique expertise.
After Xu Yuan secluded himself for a month, he felt the entire Underworld shake.
It was a sign that the nurturing of the core law was beginning to manifest.
From that point on, the Abyss launched fierce attacks.
Another month passed, and the Abyssal Sage King, along with Yan Long, formally took action, beginning to compete for the core law.
Through the perspective of the law, the Abyssal Sage King saw it—the spear currently being nurtured!
Super Divine artifact!
Absolutely a Super Divine artifact!
The Abyssal Sage King never expected that both celestial phenomena he encountered in his lifetime would nurture Super Divine artifacts. One was absorbed into the Abyss, giving birth to the Heavenly Sacred Splitting Abyss Halberd.
The current celestial phenomenon was nurturing a spear-type Super Divine artifact!
Confirming this, the Abyssal Sage King and Yan Long temporarily resolved their conflicts of interest.
The Abyssal Sage King finally dared to reveal that he possessed a Super Divine artifact, the Heavenly Sacred Splitting Abyss Halberd. He promised Yan Long full support in seizing this new Super Divine artifact, handing it over to Yan Long once obtained.
With their combined forces, Yun Ming couldn't withstand them.
After all, they didn't enter the Underworld to fight but attacked Yun Ming from outside the Underworld.
Yan Long was at the Main God level, able to unleash his full power in the universe. Moreover, he seemed experienced in attacking planes, launching devastating attacks on Douluo Star multiple times, effectively holding Yun Ming back.
Xu Yuan was preparing for the next divine forging when he suddenly frowned and looked up at the sky.
"Teacher couldn't hold on."
He sighed, put away his forging hammer, and left the forge and the metal on it in the valley.
"Abyssal Sage King, your opponent is me!"
Xu Yuan stepped out of space, walking leisurely as if on the ground.
His presence erupted.
The Super God-level spiritual power, divine soul power, and blood essence power burst forth, shaking the entire world.
Every battlefield in the Underworld saw that tri-colored sun.
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