NOVEL NEXT Chapter 30: Forging is Over
Among all the first-level soul tools, the one Su Luoheng was most familiar with was the Ice Rain Sword, as it was the first first-level soul tool he successfully crafted. Although he had recorded the details of many first-level soul tools, he felt most confident in crafting sword-type soul tools.
Thus, he chose the Ice Rain Sword for this assessment.
"Three hours should be enough," Su Luoheng murmured to himself as he mentally calculated the time.
Given his speed in inscribing the core formation and forging the components, three hours would not be a problem.
With the choice of the first-level soul tool decided, the next step was to select the appropriate materials.
Su Luoheng's eyes roved over the dozen or so materials available, finally settling on the ice-cold iron in the corner.
Ice-cold iron: sourced from the extreme northern regions.
As the name suggests, this material has some extreme cold properties.
The Ice Rain Sword he had chosen to craft also had an ice-attribute formation. Among all the materials available, ice-cold iron was the most compatible with the characteristics of the Ice Rain Sword. Therefore, it was the most suitable material to use as the core formation carrier for crafting the Ice Rain Sword.
With that in mind, Su Luoheng picked up a piece of ice-cold iron from the table.
He weighed it in his hand for a few moments, frowning slightly, then took up a carving knife and began to trim it. Before long, a blue-black sphere appeared in his palm.
"Hmm, that's better now," he said, weighing it again with a satisfied expression.
The size and weight of the material for carving a core formation are crucial, and the specifics can only be judged by the soul engineer.
He then continued to refine the material with the carving knife.
Ice-cold iron is a relatively hard material, but with soul power infused into the carving knife, it became easier to handle. The metals provided by the academy were naturally chosen to ensure the students could use them effectively.
The Ice Rain Sword required two core formations, placing it at a medium difficulty level among first-level soul tools.
As layers of iron filings were shaved away, the once spherical piece of ice-cold iron had transformed into a hexagonal metal block. The core formation inscribed on it began to emit faint gleams, with the material and formation interacting to release a subtle chill.
As Su Luoheng carved the final few lines of the formation, he gradually slowed his pace.
His nimble fingers guided the carving knife with precision over the metal block.
This stage was particularly crucial; every stroke needed to be exact. Although the success rate of crafting the Ice Rain Sword was high, one could never afford to be careless.
His mother had once told him: "Avoid arrogance and impatience."
This was an essential quality for becoming an excellent soul engineer.
Su Luoheng had always kept this advice in mind.
Time passed slowly, and before he knew it, half an hour had gone by.
Looking at the dark blue core formation of the Ice Rain Sword in his palm, Su Luoheng let out a long breath, then placed the hexagonal metal block in his left hand and gently infused it with his soul power. Instantly, the metal block emitted a distinct blue light, a soft glow radiating a chill.
"It's done," he said, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.
The core formation of the Ice Rain Sword was now complete. The next step was to forge the sword body, or the outer shell of the soul tool.
Su Luoheng selected several suitable refined iron materials from the material rack and placed them into the smelting furnace.
The smelting furnace was crucial for a soul engineer.
While some metal materials could be directly fashioned into an outer shell using soul power, for harder materials resistant to soul power, traditional forging methods were still required.
Moreover, for processes such as refining and quenching, unless one was a highly skilled veteran soul engineer, the assistance of a forge was indispensable.
The smelting furnace at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy was quite different from ordinary smelting furnaces. It could withstand much higher temperatures and was more user-friendly.
Once the materials were placed inside and manipulated with soul power, the furnace could produce the desired base shape as long as the user's soul power was sufficient.
However, the technology behind this smelting furnace was unique to the Sun Moon Empire. Soul engineers from the three Douluo kingdoms could only use traditional forging furnaces to craft their soul tool casings.
The small smelting furnace they were using now was a second-level soul tool. But don't underestimate this furnace; in its complete form, it could be as powerful as a ninth-level soul tool!
Although this was Su Luoheng's first time using it, his mother had often told him about the Sun Moon Empire's advanced soul tool technology, including the smelting furnace. He was familiar with its basic operations. It was simply a matter of controlling soul power, which he was quite capable of handling.
With more than half of his soul power remaining, Su Luoheng calculated that it would be enough to complete the forging of the sword.
He placed his palm on the smelting furnace, infusing it with soul power. Flames roared to life inside, refining the refined iron. Under the high temperature, the iron slowly melted from a solid into a liquid, gradually transforming into the shape of a sword.
While Su Luoheng was already forging the sword body, the fastest among the other new students had only inscribed half of their core formations.
Time flew by quickly.
In the blink of an eye, another hour had passed.
At this moment, the temperature inside the smelting furnace was getting higher and higher, affecting Su Luoheng outside. Previously, when crafting soul tools, his ice crystal wrist guards could shield him from the heat, but now he could only endure it on his own. Before long, fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
Fortunately, as the temperature continued to rise, the sword body of the Ice Rain Sword was about to take shape.
Finally, as all the materials fused together, a sword body went through the three critical steps of smelting, shaping, and quenching and took form!
Su Luoheng seized the moment and integrated the core formation into it.
In an instant, blue flames rose, and the core formation on the metal block began merging with the sword!
The process was not slow.
As the sword radiated a brilliant light, he stopped channeling his soul power.
With the furnace's temperature ceasing to rise, the Ice Rain Sword started to emit a faint chill.
However, the process was not completely finished.
Once the sword had mostly cooled, Su Luoheng quickly began meticulously polishing it.
He carefully smoothed out all the edges and corners. This was a habit instilled by his mother's teachings: regardless of the soul tool's level, one must always take their work seriously.
Perhaps…
Ye Lan might not have been the best soul engineer, but she was certainly the best guide for Su Luoheng.
All her teachings had greatly benefited Su Luoheng: anyone could teach the crafting of soul tools, but it was this attitude toward soul tools that was truly invaluable.
Before long, a finely crafted, elegant long sword appeared in Su Luoheng's hand.
The blade was long and as thin as a cicada's wings, exuding a sharp, icy chill. The quenching process left patterns that added a layer of dazzling frost-like radiance to the Ice Rain Sword!
Su Luoheng looked at the sword in his hand, a faint smile curving his lips.
After nearly two hours of work, Su Luoheng had finally completed the crafting of the first-level soul tool, the Ice Rain Sword!
Looking around, there was still an hour left before the assessment ended. Most of the other new students had just begun forging the outer casings of their soul tools.