Placing the Thousand Refined Nether Iron in his palm and carefully sensing it for a moment, Dugu Bo suddenly opened his eyes.
His emerald-like pupils fixed intently on Su Ming.
"How many more pieces of Thousand Refined Nether Iron like this do you have? I want them all!"
Seeing this, Zhu Jiuyang spoke up, signaling Dugu Bo to calm down.
"Senior, we also need research materials, so it's impossible to hand over all our Nether Iron to you."
Hearing Zhu Jiuyang's words, Dugu Bo cooled down.
Primarily, the Thousand Refined Nether Iron in his hand was still just Spirit Metal, not Spirit Alloy, and couldn't integrate into a Spirit Master's body.
But even so, he could confirm that this piece of Nether Iron was sufficient to help Dugu Yan at her current stage, slowing her rate of poisoning.
If this Nether Iron could integrate into Dugu Yan's body, constantly resonating with her Martial Soul, it might even directly and continuously amplify her Martial Soul, allowing her to use her Martial Soul's ability to suppress the spread of the toxins.
Although Su Ming lacked specific data on Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan, he could roughly guess Dugu Bo's current judgment.
During the Soul Land II era, no Spirit Masters with the Emerald Phosphorus Snake Martial Soul emerged. However, by Soul Land III, successors appeared again, though no longer from the Dugu family, but from the Zheng Family, which produced a Zheng Yiran with the Emerald Phosphorus Snake Emperor Martial Soul, who managed to break through the intense competition and rank on the list of young geniuses even in the Soul Land III environment.
The reason for this transformation was naturally the forging system.
After the appearance of Spirit Alloys and Spirit Refined metal, Spirit Masters of the Emerald Phosphorus Snake lineage gradually optimized their own Martial Souls. The toxins accumulated through heredity were cleansed batch by batch, and the Martial Soul's strength also steadily increased, eventually evolving the bloodline from the Emerald Phosphorus Snake to the Emerald Phosphorus Snake Emperor, allowing for stable inheritance.
Even if the disadvantages of the Martial Soul persisted in the later stages of cultivation, they could still be addressed through Battle Armor design, resolving the drawback of the Martial Soul's toxins eroding the Spirit Master.
And Nether Iron was precisely the key for the Zheng Family to solve their Martial Soul problem. In fact, the Zheng Family even controlled a rare metal mineral vein whose main product was Nether Iron!
This was also why Su Ming recommended Nether Iron.
Dugu Bo closed his eyes, lost in thought.
Neither Iron was too rare.
Yet, the Spirit Metal forged from this rare metal was exceptionally important for their Dugu Family.
Therefore, they must find a way to obtain more Nether Iron.
Only then could the subsequent development of Spirit Alloys proceed on track.
"The Blacksmith Association must have the technology to locate and mine rare metal veins, right?"
"We have some experience."
"If this old man's understanding is correct, your current progress in mining veins is very slow. Even after cooperating with the two great empires, the search speed hasn't increased."
"Correct."
"This old man can join the Blacksmith Association, serving as an Honorary Elder. Would you dare to accelerate the search then?"
Su Ming feigned 'surprise', exchanging a glance with Zhu Jiuyang, both revealing delighted expressions.
"Are Senior's words sincere?"
"This old man has always been as good as his word. Could it be you don't trust this old man?" Dugu Bo said arrogantly, "This old man joining the Blacksmith Association carries more deterrence than any other Titled Douluo. Search the entire continent for mineral veins without fear. Should anyone dare to obstruct, this old man will inevitably pay them a personal visit."
When he said this, Dugu Bo was genuinely confident.
Su Ming and Zhu Jiuyang hurriedly nodded.
They believed him!
"Senior, your power of deterrence is such that even the Spirit Hall must be wary," Su Ming offered a flattering remark.
Dugu Bo was quite pleased.
Crossing his arms over his chest, he asked, "So, does this old man now count as an Honorary Elder of the Association?"
Su Ming and Zhu Jiuyang did not refute this.
Having a Titled Douluo, especially the Poison Douluo with his toxic deterrence, was something they certainly wouldn't refuse.
"So, what is the Association's latest level of forging achievement now?"
Dugu Bo stared directly at Su Ming.
He wasn't a fool.
What the Blacksmith Association revealed externally definitely wouldn't be their most advanced technology.
Seeing Su Ming's look of astonishment, Dugu Bo revealed a disdainful expression.
This old man was roaming the continent when you two were still playing in the mud.
"Well... there are two other types of Spirit Alloys, but they were developed by accident. Because the materials are truly limited, they cannot be mass-produced."
Su Ming took out two more types of Spirit Alloys that were useless to Dugu Bo.
After speaking, he hesitated for a moment, but still informed Dugu Bo about the existence of Spirit Refinement.
However, he didn't say that Spirit Refinement had already been successfully developed; instead, he only explained the theory behind it.
"You mean, beyond Thousand Refined with Spirit, there's not only the method of Spirit Alloys to enhance the effect, but also a further step, elevating Thousand Refined metal to Spirit Refinement?"
"Yes. And according to our deductions, Spirit Refined metal also possesses the characteristic of being able to integrate into a Spirit Master's body."
Dugu Bo laughed heartily.
"Good, good, good!"
He said 'good' three times in succession, then began thinking about how to help the two develop Spirit Refinement.
Suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind.
"This old man knows of a spiritual site that might be useful for your forging, though the specific effects are uncertain."
Upon hearing this, Su Ming's heart began to beat violently.
The Ice Fire Two Eyes!
Just hearing Dugu Bo mention a 'spiritual site', he knew the other was referring to the Ice Fire Two Eyes.
He hadn't expected that merely proposing the development of Spirit Refinement would lead Dugu Bo to reveal the Ice Fire Two Eyes.
But thinking about it, it all seemed quite reasonable.
Because in Dugu Bo's eyes, the Ice Fire Two Eyes was just a medicine garden. Its greatest use for him was suppressing toxins and cultivating rare medicinal herbs; he didn't understand the effects of those Immortal Herbs.
Su Ming was excited, but he couldn't directly show his excitement. He could only first display a complex expression mixing wariness with a desire to try.
Seeing this, Dugu Bo expressed understanding of Su Ming's complex emotions. After consideration, he forced out a strand of Ice Fire energy from within his body. Simultaneously, his Spirit Power became momentarily disordered.
"This old man has some residual power here. You can sense it and see if it can be of any help in forging."
Both Su Ming and Zhu Jiuyang were forced to step back by the Ice Fire energy.
"Such pure Ice Fire energy!"
Zhu Jiuyang stared in shock at the Ice Fire energy constrained in Dugu Bo's palm.
The purity of the fire element power within was no less than the Sacred Flame he controlled, let alone the fact that it was harmonized with the ice element power of a corresponding level, forming intertwined Ice Fire energy!
Su Ming was genuinely shocked this time.
Seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times.
Only after truly witnessing the Ice Fire energy did he realize that all his previous imaginings were still too naive.
"And this is just the Ice Fire energy accumulated within Dugu Bo's body. It's hard to imagine what the Ice Fire Two Eyes, filled with this kind of Ice Fire energy, would be like."
"So? Can this Ice Fire energy be integrated into forging?"
"It can!"
Su Ming and Zhu Jiuyang spoke in unison.
Exchanging a glance, Su Ming spoke, "I am willing to visit the spiritual site Senior mentioned to attempt Spirit Refinement."
"Good!" Dugu Bo promised, patting his chest, "This old man will ensure your safety."
(Chapter End)