socalfunplaces Chapter 23: Huo Yuhao's Forging Talent
Chapter 23: Huo Yuhao's Forging Talent
Huo Yuhao took a deep breath, focused his gaze on the red-glowing Heavenly Star Iron on the anvil, gripped the heavy hammer handle tightly with his right hand, and, using his waist strength, raised the hammer high, and then...
"Bang!!!"
A crisp metallic clang suddenly exploded in the forging chamber!
The hammerhead collided solidly with the scorching hot iron, sparks flying everywhere.
However, as the hammer fell, Zhenhua's bright eyes froze instantly, and his brows furrowed slightly.
In the eyes of a master craftsman like him, Huo Yuhao's hammer blow was powerful enough, but the landing point, angle, and method of exertion were completely chaotic.
It's just the most basic "smashing," without any forging techniques.
He realized he had been hoping for nothing!
With obvious doubt in his eyes, Zhenhua turned to look at Mu Ye and Han Tianyi beside him and asked directly, "He... hasn't studied forging?"
Makino was unaware of this and did not answer, but simply looked at Han Tianyi.
Han Tianyi gently shook her head and said truthfully, "I watched this child grow up. He is only six years old now and has just awakened his martial soul."
"I can confirm that he had never systematically studied any forging techniques before this."
"Never learned this?!"
Upon hearing this, Zhenhua's face instantly showed an expression as if he had seen a ghost.
A six-year-old child who had never been exposed to forging before was able to accurately grasp the best time to take out of the furnace for Tianxing Iron, a material that has strict requirements for the temperature of the furnace, on his first practical experience.
This is simply against common sense!
Was he just confused? Or was it pure luck?
When Zhenhua turned his gaze back to the forging room, the sounds of hammering, "Bang! Bang! Bang!" were already continuous.
Huo Yuhao swung his hammer repeatedly. Although his movements were somewhat immature and clumsy, his focus and power were undeniable.
Just as Zhenhua judged, Huo Yuhao's forging was completely devoid of any skill or method; it seemed that he relied entirely on brute force to smash things.
While forging certainly requires strength as a foundation, if one only possesses that ability, one is completely unqualified to become his disciple.
Zhenhua sighed inwardly, realizing that his previous precise control of the heat might have just been a stroke of luck.
He felt a pang of disappointment, but just then, his gaze suddenly sharpened!
He was as if he had been put on pause, and he froze on the spot, his pupils slightly contracting at the sight before him.
wrong!
His gaze was fixed on the piece of Tianxing iron on the anvil, which was constantly deforming under the continuous hammering.
He noticed that although Huo Yuhao's hammering technique was completely haphazard and seemed to be striking randomly, the impurities inside the Tianxing Iron were actually decreasing under the continuous blows of the heavy iron hammer!
The metal surface showed far more fine blackish-gray impurities and debris than expected during the forging process, and the color and texture of the iron block itself also changed towards a purer state!
"How is this possible?!"
Zhenhua was shocked. He held his breath and began to observe Huo Yuhao's every move more carefully.
As the observation continued, a discovery that even made the master craftsman Zhenhua feel a slight chill on his scalp gradually surfaced in his mind.
Huo Yuhao's seemingly random hammer blows landed precisely at the critical "nodes" of the impurity distribution inside the Tianxing Iron!
Once is luck, twice is coincidence...
But at this moment, almost every one of the dozens of hammer blows that Huo Yuhao swung precisely "smashed" onto that delicate "node" that could effectively vibrate out impurities!
This couldn't possibly be luck; it's a talent that's one in a million!
Under the full gaze of his Spirit Eye Martial Soul, Huo Yuhao could clearly see that the texture of the metal in front of him was gradually becoming clearer and purer.
However, no matter how talented one is, one cannot overcome the gap between experience and knowledge.
Forging is a systematic process that involves a great deal of knowledge.
It's impossible for Huo Yuhao to complete the Hundred Forging independently just by watching Zhenhua's explanation once.
Therefore, after swinging the hammer a dozen more times, he felt soreness and numbness in his right arm and his breathing became heavy.
Huo Yuhao put down the forging hammer, which weighed several hundred kilograms, with a slight tremor in his right hand. He exhaled a long breath of hot, stale air, ending his "demonstration".
Meanwhile, outside the forging workshop.
Zhenhua, who had been watching Huo Yuhao's every move intently, was suddenly propelled forward as if launched the moment Huo Yuhao stopped hammering!
He moved so fast that he left an afterimage in his place, and in the blink of an eye, he entered the forging room and stood directly in front of Huo Yuhao.
His eyes were burning with shock, ecstasy, disbelief... a torrent of emotions swirling within them.
He asked again, "You...you really haven't studied forging?"
Ten thousand years ago, Huo Yuhao did indeed work at Wu's Blacksmith Shop for a month, learning the basics of blacksmithing from Master Wu Ming. However, that was just the most basic blacksmithing; it couldn't be considered forging.
Therefore, Huo Yuhao shook his head.
Upon receiving this answer, Zhenhua's breathing became somewhat rapid.
He took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart, and lowered his gaze, focusing on the rectangular piece of Tianxing Iron that had been hammered onto the forging table.
Although the shape is somewhat ugly, judging from the efficiency and uniformity of the purification, the quality of this metal is already very close to the threshold of being refined to a hundred times!
How could a six-year-old child who had never learned forging purify a piece of Tianxing Iron to such an extent?!
Zhenhua suddenly raised his head, his voice trembling almost imperceptibly: "Every time you drop the hammer... is it calculated?"
A look of confusion flashed across Huo Yuhao's eyes; he didn't quite understand what "calculation" meant.
He thought for a moment, then answered in a tone that sounded so natural yet made Zhenhua's heart pound again: "There's no calculation involved, it's just... I have a feeling it should land there."
With his Spirit Eye Martial Soul, it was naturally not difficult for him to see where the impurities in the metal were concentrated.
"A feeling! Just a feeling!!"
Upon hearing this, Zhenhua froze for a moment as if petrified, then murmured and repeatedly chewed over the two words.
The next moment, an indescribable excitement and ecstasy erupted from his chest like a volcano!
"Hahaha! Great! What a wonderful feeling!"
Zhenhua suddenly threw his head back and burst into loud laughter. His laughter was loud and clear, full of joy and undisguised excitement, so loud that it made the air in the forging room buzz.
At this moment, Mu Ye and Han Tianyi also came over and stood at the entrance of the forging room.
Seeing Zhenhua laughing heartily and unable to contain his excitement, how could he not understand that Huo Yuhao had truly and completely "conquered" this arrogant master craftsman!
The two exchanged a glance, their eyes both revealing undisguised shock.
They hadn't expected that Huo Yuhao would display such extraordinary talent on the path of forging, causing even Zhenhua, who was used to seeing geniuses, to lose his composure like this.
Zhenhua turned around, his face still flushed with excitement. He looked at his good brother Muye, his voice still carrying the lingering excitement.
"Old Mu! You've not just sent me a disciple, you've sent the continent a future master craftsman!"
Upon hearing this, Mu Ye and Han Tianyi were both shocked. They had not expected Zhen Hua's evaluation to be so high!
Zhenhua took a deep breath, trying to calm his turbulent emotions.
He turned to Huo Yuhao again and asked solemnly, "Little Yuhao, would you be willing to become my apprentice and learn forging from me?"
Huo Yuhao's heart pounded; this was the moment he had been waiting for.
Without the slightest hesitation, he steadily stepped down from the small stool and stood in front of Zhenhua.
Then, bowing deeply to the foremost master craftsman on the continent, he said, "Disciple Huo Yuhao greets Master!"
A smile of relief and anticipation appeared on Zhenhua's face as he reached out and steadily helped Huo Yuhao up.
"Good! Good! Good apprentice!"
He said "good" three times, patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder, and said, "From this day forward, you will be the last disciple of Zhenhua! I will impart all the knowledge I have acquired in my life to you!"