At the same time, Zhen Hua let loose a loud roar, and his soul power was injected into the giant hammer in a frenzy. Simultaneously, many types of elements in the air were also rapidly injecting themselves into the giant hammer.
These were four types of elements consisting of water, fire, earth, and wind.
On top of that, Tang Wulin could clearly sense that there was a different amount of each element with fire elements taking up the largest ratio, followed by earth, water, and wind in that order.
These elements enveloped the hammer and integrated with one another, then converged into the hammer in a frenzy under the effect of the heavenly platform.
"Go!" Zhen Hua roared as the giant hammer came cras.h.i.+ng down again.
"Rumble!"
The entire heavenly platform tremored violently, and on this occasion, the giant hammer didn"t spring back up. In the instant that it struck the piece of metal, it was as if it had become nailed to the forging bench, and the entire bench was illuminated by four-colored light.
Powerful energy fluctuations also erupted in this instant as elements of all attributes surged rapidly through the air.
In the next instant, the giant hammer abruptly sprang up, and a layer of peculiar patterns began to spread over the forging bench. What was even more remarkable was that the flattened piece of metal had suddenly transformed into a sphere and sprung up from the forging bench. It had become completely transparent, and there was four-colored light revolving within it; these were none other than the four elements from before.
As soon as it sprang up from the forging bench, it released a sense of elation.
This was soul refinement! That"s right, soul refinement had also been completed with just a single hammer blow!
Thus, far, only three hammer blows had been struck, and the process had appeared to be extremely simple.
The three blows had been dealt in less than two minutes, and soul refinement was complete.
Not only that, but as a Saint Blacksmith, Tang Wulin could see the intricacies present within this type of forging.
This piece of metal now possessed more than just the characteristics of the initial two pieces of metal. Following the injection of the four types of elements, it was as if had been refined using six different types of elements, and that was what was truly incredible about Zhen Hua"s forging.
Tang Wulin could also complete soul refinement, albeit at a slower rate, but he was unable to replicate what Zhen Hua was doing here, which was to forcibly improve the quality of a piece of metal to an extremely great extent through his forging.
Tang Wulin was very confident in his own forging skills, but only now did he realize just how ma.s.sive a gap there was between himself and Zhen Hua.
This was true forging! It was no longer just art; it was an accelerated creation of life!
Unbeknownst to him, even Zhen Hua himself wouldn"t normally forge like this as it simply expended a huge amount of spiritual power for no practical advantage.
He was only putting on such a display to intimidate Tang Wulin so he would be even more willing to learn heavenly refinement under his guidance. It could be said that Zhen Hua was pulling out all the stops to win over this prized disciple of his.
The piece of soul refined metal was bouncing around on the forging bench while releasing emotions of elations and intimacy toward Zhen Hua, and right at this moment, the giant hammer manifested by Zhen Hua"s soul power suddenly disintegrated.
He closed his eyes again, and in that instant, Tang Wulin felt as if he could hear a buzzing sound when there clearly wasn"t.
This buzzing wasn"t coming from Zhen Hua or the piece of metal; it was coming from all directions.
This was elemental resonance!
Tang Wulin immediately identified this feeling.
In the instant that Zhen Hua had closed his eyes, all of the surrounding elements had begun to resonate with him.
He wasn"t at the Spirit Domain realm, yet he was able to control his spiritual power to such an extraordinary degree and establish such a high level of affinity with the elements. There was only one possible explanation: he had already reached an extremely in-depth level of understanding of the laws of heaven and earth.
The same four types of elements began to converge once again, but on this occasion, they were revolving around Zhen Hua, and the entire dome had taken on four different colors.
The elemental fluctuations in the air began to take on a viscous feel, and a four-colored funnel appeared above Zhen Hua"s head, drawing more and more elements toward him. These elements revolved around the vortex before slowly fusing into it, and even though Zhen Hua"s eyes were still closed, light was beginning to radiate from his body.
The piece of soul refined metal seemed to have sensed something, and it suddenly fell completely still.
Tang Wulin could clearly see that the piece of metal was changing shape, even though Zhen Hua clearly wasn"t doing anything to it. After just a short while, it had taken on the form of a human, and its facial features gradually began to appear.
To Tang Wulin"s surprise, its facial features were completely identical to those of Zhen Hua, as if it were a miniature Zhen Hua statue.
This definitely wasn"t soul refinement; could it be that this was heavenly refinement? But Tang Wulin could clearly sense that Zhen Hua wasn"t doing anything!
"This is heart refinement; use your heart to communicate with the metal you"re forging to bestow upon it intelligence and soul. You have to be willing to protect it with everything you have, as if it were your child."
Heart refinement? This was the first time that Tang Wulin had heard of such a term.
Zhen Hua"s eyes were still closed as he pointed up at the sky with one hand and down at the earth with his other hand. The four-colored funnel up above slowly s.h.i.+fted over from above him to above the piece of metal, then injected four-colored light directly into it.
The piece of metal immediately began to glow with four-colored light and was filled with powerful energy fluctuations.
Zhen Hua"s face paled slightly, clearly indicating that this process was quite taxing on his body.
All of a sudden, a loud thunderclap rang out, giving Tang Wulin quite a fright.
A bolt of four-colored lightning suddenly appeared at the center of the vortex, then crashed directly down upon the piece of four-colored metal.
Dazzling light erupted from the piece of metal, and it shuddered slightly before releasing a faint four-colored light barrier, as if it were trying to protect itself.
Another thunderclap rang out, and a bolt of even thicker four-colored lightning crashed down upon it.
A sharp screech erupted from the four-colored metal, and it forcibly absorbed the power of the lightning.
Immediately thereafter, Zhen Hua stepped forward, and white soul power erupted forth before quickly injecting itself into the piece of four-colored metal. At the same time, he raised his right hand and pointed his right index finger forward.
The piece of humanoid metal also did the same thing, and their right index fingertips came into contact with one another!
A third bolt of lightning fell from the sky amid another rumbling thunderclap, and Zhen Hua"s entire body shuddered as his face paled even further.
There were wisps of electricity roaming all over his body while a layer of golden light appeared over the piece of four-colored metal. As it was absorbing the lightning, the piercing screech of metal grating on metal rang out, indicating that it was also withstanding immense pressure.
Right at this moment, Zhen Hua heaved a faint sigh before waving his right hand upward, and the four-colored light on the dome up above suddenly faded. The elements that had been gathered also dispersed, and he grabbed onto the piece of metal on the forging bench before quickly shooting back in retreat.
"Boom!" A fourth bolt of lightning crashed down upon the forging bench, sending a layer of six-colored light rippling over its surface. The lightning was quickly dispersed and dispelled, and following that fourth lightning strike, the clouds up above slowly dissipated as well.
Zhen Hua"s body swayed slightly in a feeble manner, and Tang Wulin hurriedly rushed forward to lend Zhen Hua his support.