Cultivation Through Artifacts

"So let me get this straight. You want to create that piece of Scorching Sun Steel's Spirit Essence, that is capable of melting cities into boiling mass, here, in my smithery, and this Academy. Am I correct?" Bazz asked Khal to make sure he just didn't hear things.

However, Khal still nodded his head firmly before saying, "Yes, I want."

"Then I refuse." Bazz then waved his hand, immediately rejecting Khal's idea.

"Huh?"

"What, 'huh'? You heard me loud and clear! I said, you won't forge that piece of metal, not here in this city much less in this smithery!" said Bazz, even slightly raising his voice to show Khal he was dead serious, and felt kind of irritated at the moment.

"Then where can I?" Khal asked, but his question made Bazz's face turn even uglier than before.

"Where can you? Did you really lost a few screws or do you simply try to pull my leg?" Bazz asked Khal, now his eyes narrowed as he stared daggers at him.

However, when he saw Khal's persisting determination and thinking about the previous feats he achieved, he glanced at the hammer in his hand and asked, "How sure are you that you can create its Spirit Essence?"

"100%"

'...' Bazz now really didn't know what to say, even feeling the desire to slap Khal powerfully in the neck, but resisted the urge to do such a violent act.

Instead, he took a deep breath before saying, "So you say you are extremely confident in yourself that you can forge, refine, and temper the Scorching Sun Steel with Spirit Refining and Spirit Tempering technique that not even I, someone who forged years, is capable of using perfectly?"

"Maybe it will sound shameless and arrogant, but yes, I can," Khal replied with a firm nod.

Bazz stayed silent and after pondering for five minutes straight in deep silence he nodded and said, "Then follow me."

Khal looked confused, but still followed Bazz outside the smithery without any question, and watched as he was led through several rooms before arriving before five, huge silver doors.

Bazz didn't hesitate at all and walked before the door on the very left and pushed it open, revealing a smithery quite similar to the one where Khal always practiced. The only difference was the walls, which had several tiny gaps on their surface, while numerous carvings could be seen drawn around them.

"What is this place?" Khal asked with a slightly raised brow as he walked inside and looked around.

"This is a safety chamber. Anyone that tries or wishes to forge dangerous material such as the one you are currently holding, must come inside here." explained Bazz and then continued, "You can see those carvings on the walls, right?"

"Yes." Khal nodded, but soon frowned, "But I have never seen them before. What are those?"

"Well, it would be surprising if you did as they are Arrays, special formations to protect this place from any unwanted incident."

When Khal heard this, he raised a brow and asked, "And how are they working?"

Bazz smiled and began to explain, "These Arrays are extremely powerful and had been created in a way to detect and nullify anything that could be destructive not only for this room but the whole city."

"I see." said Khal as got the gist of these arrays and placed the Scorching Sun Steel onto the anvil before he said, "Then I will start right away."

Bazz nodded, but before turning around to leave he said, "I will wait outside, but if you feel you will fail, run outside without a second thought. Even though the Arrays can stop and erase the Scorching Sun Steel's power once it goes out of control, it still takes a bit of time. Thus, you need to leave as fast as possible or you will die without knowing what happened."

"I understood, thank you," Khal said with a serious expression, but deep inside he was calm as ever.

He knew clearly that once he activates his Spirit Creation Mode, no matter how dangerous a metal was to forge, there won't be an issue.

Bazz obviously somewhat noticed Khal's inner thoughts, but still couldn't help but feel anxious. However, now that he brought Khal here, he could do nothing but sigh deeply and close the doors after leaving the room.

And once Khal was alone, he grinned and said, "Activate the Spirit Creation Mode!"

[Understood!]

[Activating Spirit Creation Mode!]

Whoosh!

In a blink, several holograms emerged before Khal, each showing what he should do, while his body was slowly enveloped with a familiar yet different power.

"Let's get started!" mumbled Khal and told Rubie to go into the furthest point of the room to make her safe from the upcoming scorching heat.

Once she did, Khal grabbed the piece of metal and brought it before the fireplace. After heating it for a bit, exactly one minute straight, he picked it up and put it back onto the anvil before grabbing his hammer from the side and starting his forging process.

CLANG!

On the very first strike, together with a sharp and metallic pitch, Khal watched as a powerful ripple exploded from the steel, pushing several items on the side away.

'...'

Khal however didn't care about it at all, and continued to swing his hammer, causing the metal to brighten up with an orangish-red hue, while also emitting heat that made the surrounding temperature skyrocket in a flash!

After thirty minutes later, the heat was so unbearable that even the anvil started to turn red, while Khal felt his skin getting burnt slightly every time he hit the metal!

After another thirty minutes, the heat reached heights that Khal could no longer ignore and activate his Diamond Skin to protect his skin and body, which luckily seemed to work.

Once the rigid black, crystal-like crust enveloped his body, Khal could still feel the immense heat around him, but now it got reduced quite a lot.

And now that his body was no longer burnt every time he swung his arm, Khal was able to concentrate fully and let the power inside him take full control while also quickening his movements!

CLANG!