Lin Feng reached out a finger and gently flicked the shimmering longsword. The sword actually keened at his touch.
As the blade shuddered, ripples of light flashed through the smithy.
At the same time, Lin Feng, Andera, and even Brent who just stepped into the room all felt their consciousnesses lifting, as though their minds had suddenly cleared up considerably.
"This is the effect of the Grade-3 material, the Awakening Stone! It's just as you said, Master Lin Feng, the traits of the material did integrate into the sword after three hundred strikes!"
Andera's curly hair trembled slightly. He rubbed his chin, finally saying with a sigh,
"If I had your help before, I probably could have become a Grade-4 blacksmith a few years ago!"
Lin Feng tsk-tsked, gently caressing the gleaming Magical Sword for a long time before eventually returning it to Andera with some reluctance.
"Master Andera, don't forget. Grade isn't everything. The sheer amount of focus the two of us put into the forging process is just as important.
Andera nodded solemnly.
"Oh, right…"
Just then, Andera suddenly looked up at Lin Feng, asking confusedly,
"What grade are you, though? Grade-4? No… Grade-3? That's not right, either…"
As Andera began musing to himself, Lin Feng hurriedly stopped with a wave.
He then smiled wryly.
"I don't actually have an official grade."
Lin Feng knew about the blacksmith grading system, of course. After all, he had been doing this for most of his life now.
Before he gained the system, though, all he could make were Grade-1 weapons just slightly better than the ones on the market. That was why he never went to any organization to increase his blacksmith grade.
"Tch, Master Lin Feng, I know that you're not interested in these mundane things, but if you could go past Three-Star recognition and become a Four-Star blacksmith, and if you can get recognition from the Smiths' Association, you'll be able to reap significant benefits, you know."
As Andera explained, Lin Feng slowly began to understand some things he did not know before.
It seemed that upon surpassing Three-Star standards and gaining recognition from the Smiths' Association, blacksmiths would receive a certain stipend of materials and money every month according to their level.
That was not all, either.
The most important thing to blacksmiths was a steady supply of orders, their main source of income.
Receiving orders from the Smiths' Association was not quite the same as constantly supplying weapons to the city defense corp and regional guard.
The main difference lay in the remunerations.
"If we receive orders for high-quality weapons or armor, the rewards could be extremely rare minerals and crystals. To blacksmiths like us, money is expendable, but these high-quality ores are indispensable!"
Andera licked his dry lips and grabbed the water jug from the table next to him, gulping down the water.
Two consecutive days of forging have left him slightly drained.
"Master Lin Feng! Thank you again for your kind help and advice! I'll take this Magical Sword to the Smiths' Association now! Let's meet again when we have the time!"
Andera drained the entire jug and then ran out of the door in one breath. Once he was gone, the master and disciple left inside just stared at each other without a word.
After a long time, Brent finally tugged Lin Feng's shirt and said,
"Master, is he mad? He was never all there to start with. If he truly went insane, will the regional guard blame us?"
The corners of Lin Feng's mouth twitched, and he patted Brent's back, saying,
"Nonsense. Andera can use that Magical Sword to rise to the rank of Four-Star blacksmith. It's no wonder he's so excited…"
With that, Andera shook his head and waved the empty jug in his hand, sighing helplessly. Brent quickly took the jug and ran out of the smithy, but when he returned, he saw that Lin Feng had actually started forging again.
An excellent blacksmith could regain his focus at a moment's notice.
Right now, Lin Feng was shoveling more coal into the forge.
He had already put all the ore he wanted to use with the blue crystal into the forge.
As the temperature of the flames rose, the scarlet embers gradually turned pure white.
That was the Holy Flame in action!
After Andera left, Lin Feng could finally use those rare flames without a care.
The ore that he would usually take three hours or more to melt was distilled and refined within a few minutes.
Lin Feng then picked up his forging hammer from the side and hammered the external wall of the forge.
He opened the door to the forge and let the ore flow out. Next to him, Brent felt that wave of heat in his face and rapidly retreated out of the smithy, closing the door behind him. The boy was too afraid of disturbing Lin Feng.
Of course, Lin Feng was planning to strike while the iron was hot.
He had just helped Andera craft a Grade-4 weapon, so he could begin his work on a Grade-3 weapon with ease.
Following the simulations he performed with God-level Forgery, and using his experience having previously forged a Grade-3 weapon himself, Lin Feng managed to filter the impurities out of all his materials within merely four hours.
Holding his iron hammer, he carefully tempered the metal he had removed from its mold.
It took him more than an hour of hammering before he was done.
When Lin Feng saw the blue crystal and the Grade-3 cat demon claw perfectly merged into the sword-shaped mold, even he could not help a comforted smile.
He doused the metal with liquid to cool it down, and the longsword shining with a blue glow began to twinkle in the smithy.
"What a shame…"
However, Lin Feng was not quite happy with the sword he had forged.
He sat in his chair and shook his head.
There was one drawback to God-level Forgery.
With it, every weapon he made would reach the perfect form possible for its grade.
As such, all he could do now was create a peak Grade-3 weapon. He still could not cross the line into making a Grade-4 weapon.
He tried swinging the sword he was holding, and the next second there was a ripple of blue leaping through the air.
A dense aura of magical energy filled the smithy. Right now, Lin Feng could actually feel the Holy Flame in his body grow slightly stronger.
[Ding! Congratulations, the host has successfully forged a peak Grade-3 Weapon, the Blue Crystal Sword!]
[Obtained 100 Flame Energy points!]
[The host's Flame Energy has reached its limit. The Holy Flame has automatically leveled up to Grade-2!]