Chapter 187: Forging Divison
Chapter 187: Chapter 187: Forging Divison
Chapter 187: Forging Divison
With the commercial foundation firmly established and operating autonomously, Rhain’s mind shifted entirely to his next priority.
The Inner Palace Tournament was now less than a month away.
The tournament itself held no suspense for him, he could crush the entire top thirty with his eyes closed.
But the true objective lay beyond the contest—Heavenly Ascendent Tower.
A mysterious structure that had stood at the Stormveil Academy for more than a thousand years.
A trial designed by the legendary founder of the Academy.
And yet, in all those centuries, not a single Core Palace genius had ever managed to successfully climb to its peak.
Rhain was supremely confident in his own strength, but he was not a fool.
To underestimate a millennium-old trial that had utterly defeated countless peerless prodigies would be the height of arrogance.
If it was a test of raw combat, someone would have undoubtedly cleared it by now.
The fact that it remained unconquered meant the tower tested something far more profound.
He did not dare to be careless about it.
If he failed or miscalculated, the rigid rules of the Academy would keep him separated from Seris. And that was an outcome he fundamentally refused to accept.
Speaking of Seris, Rhain had visited the Core Palace’s frozen domain a few times over the past fifteen days.
However, his beautiful wife was still deep in closed-door seclusion.
According to Vice Dean Myrielle, Seris was at a critical juncture in her foundational refinement, but she would be breaking through and emerging from her seclusion very soon.
Knowing she was safe and progressing rapidly, Rhain had poured his own focus entirely into his martial cultivation.
During the past fifteen days, while the Celestial Elixir Pavilion was turning Stormveil City’s market upside down, Rhain had not slacked for a single second.
Hidden within the impenetrable arrays of Combat Chamber Number 7, he had meticulously digested and perfected the remaining Epic-Grade martial arts he had memorized from the Grand Library.
Now, he needed to focus on a completely different dimension of combat to further elevate his overall power.
Soul Power.
In the Solathane Dynasty, the vast majority of cultivators treated Soul Power as nothing more than a sensory tool.
They used their Spiritual Sense to scan their surroundings, detect ambushes, or, at best, exert crude mental pressure upon weaker opponents.
But Rhain knew better.
Soul Power could be weaponized.
Not just for mental illusions or spiritual suppression, but to inflict devastating, tangible physical damage.
However, to achieve that, one required a very specific kind of medium.
A weapon forged uniquely to be controlled entirely by Soul Power.
The advantages of such a weapon were dangerous.
Unlike conventional martial arts or controlling a flying sword with ordinary essence, a soul-controlled weapon did not require a single drop of essence.
Because it relied entirely on the soul power, there were no energy fluctuations, and no warning signs before a strike.
It was completely silent and virtually undetectable to anyone who did not possess a Spiritual Sense stronger than his own.
Furthermore, even in a worst-case scenario where his dantian was entirely drained of essence, his soul power would remain a deadly arsenal.
It was the ultimate trump card for surprise attacks.
Because of the Mystic-Grade Spirit-Ascension Star Lily, Rhain possessed an ocean of Soul Power that infinitely approached the Domain Master Realm.
It would be a massive waste of his potential not to weaponize it.
Rhain already possessed several formidable Soul Attack type Martial Arts from the library.
What he lacked was the physical medium—the specialized weapons required to practice and execute them.
And to get them, he had to go to the Forging Divison.
He had not yet visited the Forging Division or the Array Division since his arrival at the Academy.
This was the perfect opportunity to fulfill that pending task and acquire exactly what he needed.
_____________
Forging Division occupied the entire western wing of the Inner Palace grounds.
Unlike serene, towering pagoda of Alchemy Division, Forging Division was an industrial fortress.
The moment Rhain crossed the threshold, a wave of scorching heat slammed into his face.
The interior was a vast, open-plan workshop stretching hundreds of feet in every direction.
Rows upon rows of massive anvils were bolted into the floor, each one positioned before a roaring furnace that belched columns of orange and red flames toward the vaulted ceiling.
The continuous, thunderous clanging of hammers against metal could be every second.
Dozens of disciples with their faces slick with sweat and streaked with dark soot pounded glowing ingots into shape.
Showers of orange sparks erupted with every strike, scattering across like miniature fireworks before dying out.
Rhain walked deeper into the workshop, his dark grey eyes sweeping across the environment.
Unlike the Alchemy Division, where theoretical knowledge and delicate flame control were paramount, Forging Division was a domain of brute physicality.
Disciples here stood for hours on end, their arms repeatedly hammering raw ore into weapons and artifacts.
Rhain’s gaze drifted across the various workstations, cataloguing the quality of the materials being worked, the techniques being employed, and the general skill level of the disciples present.
Most of them were Bronze Badge disciples working on Common and Uncommon-Grade pieces — serviceable enough for standard use, but nothing that would catch the eye of anyone with genuine discernment.
A few Silver Badge disciples occupied the more advanced stations near the back of the workshop. These older disciples were mostly forging rare grade weapons, and artficats.
But as Rhain’s sweeping gaze reached the far corner of the workshop, where a cluster of intermediate forging stations sat beneath a series of heavy ventilation ducts, his footsteps slowed.
A familiar figure stood among a small group of young disciples.
She was dressed in the same soot-stained work clothes as everyone else in the division — heavy leather apron cinched tight over a simple dark tunic, sleeves rolled up past her elbows, and thick gloves protecting her hands.
Her silver hair, which usually cascaded elegantly over her shoulders, was pulled back into a practical, messy bun held in place by a simple leather cord.
Liana.
She stood before one of the intermediate anvils, wielding a forging hammer that looked almost comically oversized in her delicate hands.
Her face was flushed from the heat, a streak of black soot smeared across her left cheek, and beads of sweat ran freely down her temples.
Despite her exhaustion, her strikes were remarkably consistent. She brought the hammer down onto a piece of glowing, white metal with all her strength that was entirely different from the elegant swordswoman Rhain remembered from the Silvercrest estate.
Standing beside her and observing with varying degrees of attention were Sylvan and three other young men, all of whom wore the plain black robes of Outer Palace disciples.
They too were covered in soot and sweat, clearly having spent the better part of the day at their own forging stations.
One of the young men — a lanky disciple with sharp cheekbones and an eager expression — leaned against a support beam, watching Liana’s hammer work with open admiration.
"Lady Liana, your essence infusion is getting noticeably smoother," the lanky disciple said, nodding approvingly. "Honestly, at the rate you are improving, I wouldn’t be surprised if you achieve the Expert Rank Blacksmith certification within the next two or three years. That would be an extraordinary accomplishment!"
"He’s right," another disciple said, wiping his brow with a grimy cloth. "Most people take at least twenty to thirty years of dedicated practice to reach Expert Rank. Your talent for this is genuinely impressive, Lady Liana."
Liana paused mid-strike, lowering her hammer slightly.
A tired but genuine smile crossed her soot-streaked face. "Thank you. But I still have a long way to go. My essence control during the final tempering phase keeps destabilizing. I need to—"
Her words cut off abruptly.
Something at the edge of her peripheral vision had snagged her attention.
She turned her head, and her silver eyes widened.
Standing at the end of the row of workstations was a familiar figure in dark robes that she had been wishing to see again.
"Rhain?" Liana blurted out, "Why...why are you here?"