Chapter 46: Replacing Soul Power with Vital Energy

Soul power continuously transferred into the ice crystal through each strike. Gu You's spiritual power surged intensely, but the ice crystal was like a bottomless pit, endlessly devouring his soul power and spiritual energy. He was giving more than he could replenish.

He had to succeed—there was no other option. He had spent three years of grueling study and practice for this moment.

All the hardships and accumulated experience of the past three years culminated in this very instant. Under the influence of his powerful will, Gu You unleashed his full potential.

At this moment, with his potential fully activated, every hammer strike and every interaction with the ice crystal was precise and seamless, causing the ice crystal to undergo fascinating transformations. These changes, guided by his continuous connection with the ice crystal, helped him refine his technique even further.

During spirit forging, the biggest fear was losing the connection with the rare metal. If the life infusion was interrupted, the rare metal would instantly lose all of its spirituality and revert to ordinary metal—no longer even considered a hundred-refined material. This was why spirit forging was so resource-intensive.

Countless blacksmiths were stuck at the threshold of spirit forging, unable to break through their entire lives. Aside from personal aptitude, a major limiting factor was money. Wealthy families had higher success rates in nurturing spirit forgers because they could afford the costly materials necessary to forcefully pave the way to success.

Gu You's movements grew faster and faster. If he had learned the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, this process would be even smoother, but unfortunately, that wasn't something he had access to.

The blue flames burning on the ice crystal intensified, and its size continued to shrink. The Life-Forging Hammers in Gu You's hands, influenced by the same flames, emitted a green glow with faint golden patterns. These golden traces were remnants from his past blood sacrifice during the spirit forging ritual.

Over the years, he had used these Life-Forging Hammers to create countless works, earning him a substantial amount of money.

Now, as they struck the ice crystal, an unusual resonance occurred—both the hammers and the ice crystal were undergoing subtle changes together.

But Gu You's soul power was depleting too rapidly. From the moment he started spirit forging, his soul power had been drained at an alarming rate. Within just ten minutes, he was nearly empty. Without soul power as a bridge, the forging process couldn't continue.

Although the earlier connection with the ice crystal had been smooth, any interruption in soul power would sever their bond, causing the forging to fail. If that happened, the ice crystal—now possessing some level of sentience—would unleash intense resentment, resulting in a backlash against the forger.

Even a four-ring Soul Ancestor would need a long time to recover from such a backlash. For Gu You, who only had three rings, it could be a devastating, permanent injury.

His soul power was nearly exhausted, yet the forging was still incomplete. The silver-heavy ice crystal had begun to display signs of life—it was like a newborn entity that still required more life energy to stabilize itself.

What should he do?

At that moment, the true value of the Soul Power Bottle was revealed.

A surge of gentle yet vast soul power continuously replenished Gu You, instantly restoring him to peak condition.

"Brilliant!"

Zhen Hua couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.

Using a Soul Power Bottle to sustain spirit forging? Why hadn't he thought of this before? Perhaps age had dulled his creativity. His eyes fell on the special gourd-shaped soul tool hanging from Gu You's waist, lost in thought.

If this method became widely known in the blacksmithing world, it would cause a revolution. Even someone with low soul power could forge higher-tier artifacts by relying on external energy sources.

Then, Gu You made a bold decision. He suddenly swapped his hammers to his left hand, continuing to strike the ice crystal, while his right hand pressed directly onto the metal.

"Ssshh—!"

White smoke rose as his hand trembled violently.

That was extreme heat! A normal person would have been incinerated instantly upon contact.

But Gu You didn't pull away. His hand was only slightly scorched before his third soul ring and purple scales emerged on his right arm, covering it completely.

He's insane!

Zhen Hua's eyes widened in shock. He was curious about the strange red soul ring, but at this moment, stopping the Soul Power Bottle's energy supply would be a grave mistake.

Despite his vast experience in blacksmithing, Zhen Hua had limited knowledge of martial souls and bloodline power. He had heard of vital energy, but had never witnessed its true potential before.

"Hah!!"

Gu You let out a thunderous roar. Sweat poured from his forehead as he suppressed the searing pain coursing through his arm.

The connection continued—but now, instead of soul power, he was using his own bloodline energy! Gu You stopped using the Soul Power Bottle entirely.

He was testing the limit of his own vitality.

Ever since his last battle, he had discovered that the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear arm bone had fully fused with his dragon claw. His right arm had evolved—it was no longer just a Dragon Claw, but a Purple Emperor Dreadclaw.

At the same time, his soul bone's abilities had become even more destructive.

As he roared, his upper garments exploded, revealing his well-defined torso. Zhen Hua could clearly see that Gu You's right arm was densely covered in purple rhombus-shaped scales extending to his shoulder and chest. These scales radiated a dazzling glow.

Purple-golden mist rose from Gu You's right arm, enveloping the ice crystal. Meanwhile, he continued circling it, striking its sides with his left-hand hammers.

Zhen Hua could feel the sheer vital energy surging through the air.

It was dragon blood.

For the first time in his life, Zhen Hua witnessed the true power of dragon blood vitality.

When Gu You replaced soul power with bloodline energy, the ice crystal's life essence almost collapsed. In that split second, his heart clenched in fear.

But the moment his right hand pressed down, his own blood seeped into the ice crystal, sealing its vitality in place.

To his shock, his own blood had stabilized the metal's emerging life force!

Gu You's vitality poured into the ice crystal. The originally brilliant blue glow took on a faint purple hue, with traces of gold swirling around it.

Using vital energy instead of soul power?!

Zhen Hua was utterly dumbfounded.

This kid is insane!

Gu You's eyes shone brightly.

It works!

His own vital energy could indeed replace soul power for spirit forging.

If he had been more familiar with this technique, he wouldn't have even burned his palm during the transition.

As his blood surged, his body's internal energy roared like a mighty river. With each pulse of vital energy, the ice crystal's transformation accelerated.

But then—something bizarre happened.

Each strike of his Life-Forging Hammers against the ice crystal now produced an unusual disintegration effect.

Every hammer blow seemed to absorb a fragment of the ice crystal, merging it into the hammers themselves!

(End of Chapter)