The iron ingot on the forging counter was dark, but it had a special texture, with faint dark red light flowing inside it. There seemed to be a faint golden dragon pattern looming.
The shrunken iron ingot was only the size of a fist, but could it still be considered the same as the original piece of iron? It was totally different now !
Lan Xuanyu watched this scene blankly, it was really too incredible. This was a miracle created by Uncle Le!
Mr. Le also looked at this piece of metal silently. He distinctly felt that this was not yet the best he could achieve. After all, this was after all only a piece of ordinary iron, but even under such circumstances, it seemed that in his hands, the chunk of metal had entered into a peculiar state.
To him, the forging hammer was nothing more than a medium. His forging was the result of the fusion of his own strength, Divine Sense, and will. It looked like it lasted only for a moment, but at that instant, the iron ingot had gained sentience and was bestowed with life in the truest sense.
The golden light retracted from Lan Xuanyu’s body. He looked at the iron ingot, and then at Tang Le, “Uncle Le, you are amazing!”
Although he still didn’t understand the meaning of what Tang Le had just forged, it sure didn’t look like an ordinary purified chunk of metal! Moreover, in Lan Xuanyu’s heart, there was somewhat of a blind worship towards Tang Le. He could destroy warships with bare hands in the middle of space. His combat strength was so strong, and it wouldn’t have been strange for him to be equally strong in other aspects.
Tang Le smiled slightly, “I think I have remembered some stuff. Since coming to Shrek Academy, my memory has shown some signs of recovery. It seems that everything here is familiar to me, and feels also very intimate. Forging, I seem to be able to, it should be okay.”
“Uncle Le, can you teach me then? I want to learn forging.” Lan Xuanyu looked eager to try.
There was no doubt that senior Yang Yingming was inferior to Uncle Le by all means, if Uncle Le was willing to teach him, that would be so great.
Mr. Le smiled and nodded, and said: “Alright ! Then I will come teach you every day. When you arrive here, I will naturally come to you.” He naturally agreed.
“Thank you Uncle, that’s so great!” Lan Xuanyu jumped up excitedly and took Tang Le’s hand with a happy smile on his face. Even he himself didn’t know whether he was so happy because he could learn forging, or because he could be with Tang Le.
Tang Le said: “Then let’s start now. The process of my forging just now is something you still can’t learn. Let’s start from the basics. In order to forge well, at least you must first be familiar with your forging hammer, and at the same time you must hone your basics well. Hammer technique is also very important. Uncle will teach you a technique first. This is good for bringing out your strength.”
While talking, Tang Le casually waved his hand and pulled over another iron ingot, and it fell on the forging counter in front of Lan Xuanyu.
“You don’t need to calcine it, just use it as a target for first practicing your hammer technique. When using a forging hammer, the first thing to pay attention to is how to use your force. Everyone has a limit, but it refers to the whole body. When forging, you’re also practicing at the same time your control of strength. If you want to exert your full strength, then you need to mobilize not only your arm’s strength, you should start from the soles of the feet, calves, and then to your waist, back, shoulders, arms, and finally your wrist and forging hammer. This process of exerting force is very important. Uncle will let you experience it, observe carefully.”
While talking, Tang Le held a forging hammer, half-turned his body, and lifted it with one hammer.
In an instant, a soft will flooded into Lan Xuanyu’s mind, and he clearly felt the process of Tang Le’s physical strength coming from his calf.
Directly feeling and observing like this felt so clear, he could remember the whole process of Tang Le exerting his strength without having to watch it a second time.
“Try it.” Tang Le handed the forging hammer to Lan Xuanyu.
Lan Xuanyu imitated his posture, half-turned, using his left leg as a support, he stomped the ground with his right leg, and swung out the forging hammer.
A faint warmth began to spread from his calf upwards. When the trajectory of his power circulation deviated, this warmth would naturally help him to pull the power back, perfectly executing the strike.
A “dang” sound roared. The forging hammer fell on the iron ingot with a loud noise and then bounced back high.
Lan Xuanyu’s body was already quite strong compared to his peers, but even so, the recoil force still made his hand feel slightly numb.
Just now, the impact felt so great! Was this the benefit of mobilizing the strength of his whole body?
Moreover, wherever the warmth had flowed, his memory felt very clear. Undoubtedly, this was the path through which Uncle Le guided the circulation of his strength. This kind of guidance was simply too amazing, he didn’t need to do anything by himself and could directly find the most correct way of exerting strength.
“Again.” Tang Le nodded to him.
“Okay.” Lan Xuanyu took a deep breath, adjusted his state of mind, and swung the hammer again.
In the next period of time, he just simply practiced hammer swinging. Whenever his use of power deviated, Tang Le’s assistance would appear, which always helped him to adjust and let him feel how to correctly use strength.
As a result, Lan Xuanyu made rapid progress and became more and more familiar with the feeling of the forging hammer. He could even feel that this kind of learning how to use his strength was not only beneficial for forging, but also for his usage of soul power.
Tang Le was by his side, guiding him very patiently, and telling him that the basics was the most important thing. Whether it was soul power cultivation or forging, a good foundation was the most important for growing in the future. It was impossible to reach a higher level without a solid foundation.
A whole afternoon went by swinging his hammer, but Lan Xuanyu didn’t feel tired at all. Despite the numbness and pain coming from his hand, in just a single afternoon, he clearly felt that he was using his strength much more efficiently than before. Towards the end, Tang Le’s assistance was no longer needed, and he could swing on his own his most powerful strike.
Tang Le began to raise his requirements, asking him to accurately control how much strength he used. For example, only half, one-third, one-quarter, and so on. This was an application of strength control.
“Uncle Le, why do you want to practice this! Isn’t it best to use all of my strength?” Lan Xuanyu asked in confusion.
Tang Le shook his head and said, “In many cases, the best results are not achieved with full force. Sometimes, if the exerted strength is controlled, the effect will be even greater. For example, when pulling out an immortal herb, if you use too much force then it is very likely to destroy the immortal herb. In that case proper use of strength is very important. Once you control your strength well, you can swing your hammer according to your perception of metal during the forging process, instead of blindly hammering it. Every metal has its characteristics. I just read your book. There are a lot of records about the characteristics of basic metals. Actually, you don’t need to remember these. What is needed is not recitation, but using your own body and mind to sense the metal.”
“Are those data wrong?” Lan Xuanyu asked curiously.
Tang Le sternly said: “You have to remember that in this world, there are no two things exactly identical. The so-called data are the greatest common divisors to a certain extent, not exactly accurate. It’s okay to follow those judgments but you will never be able to do it meticulously. For the same kind of metal, each piece is different. Because they were born under different conditions, their experience is also different. Some metals have experienced high temperatures, and some have been frozen, some bumped, and some worn out. Although their internal composition is similar, how can they be exactly the same?”
