The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 176

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Chapter 176
176.
Scritch—
Jin-woo brought the Ultra Vibration Engraving Knife to bear against the enormous claw.
‘Start with the equipment.’
Scritch. Scritch. Scritch.
Jin-woo began engraving Boros’s claw at once.
‘It’s bone-like.’
Sharp and pale white, it exuded a killing frost that kept trying to devour Jin-woo whole.
Jin-woo withdrew the engraving knife.
“Haaah.”
He drew a deep breath.
‘Colder than the Ultimate Glacial Crystal.’
And aggressive, too.
‘I won’t suppress it.’
Jin-woo had learned much since arriving in the Underworld.
The resistance in a material was better released than suppressed—far better for the craft.
‘Ordinarily, materials that thrash like this…’
are impossible to handle.
It’s standard practice to suppress such wild force; without control, crafting becomes impossible.
But Jin-woo could endure it.
‘I can let it thrash even harder.’
“Maximization Refinement.”
Jin-woo drew out the claw’s limit threshold.
In the same breath, he applied Soul Forging.
Shaaaak—
The rising spirit purified, and—
“Thrash harder.”
The claw’s power erupted into wild abandon. Through Maximization Refinement and Soul Forging together, the material’s true strength blazed outward, scattering into the air in frenzied bursts.
“!”
“M-mad!”
The two Underworld blacksmiths watching were startled by such ferocious cold.
“But it was dead……”
“It’s as good as alive!”
Despite being only a fragment of Boros, the claw unleashed relentless waves of devastating cold.
Maximization Refinement alone couldn’t do this.
“Wait. He’s using something else.”
This was the result of coupling Maximization Refinement with Soul Forging.
Shaaaaaaak—!
‘When I made the Phantom Blade, I finally understood how to wield this Maximization Refinement.’
Frost surged forth.
Cold so intense it might freeze everything around it—growing fiercer still.
As it reached its threshold, it began freezing the ground and everything nearby.
Jin-woo’s own hands froze and thawed repeatedly.
“Pushing the enhancement that far must be incredibly taxing on him.”
Ghost King’s brow furrowed.
“The power is far more intense than when you crafted my framework. Even so, it must be……”
unbearable to sustain.
But in that same instant, Jin-woo reached forward.
‘Now.’
After waiting for the material to reach its peak power—
“Harmonia Refinement.”
He deployed Harmonia Refinement.
Shaaaak—!
Harmonia Refinement was the art that brought even extreme frost and extreme flame into perfect balance.
‘Balance is stability.’
To stabilize the wild force in its thrashing state—to lock it in that very chaos.
“A contradiction.”
Stability born from instability itself.
Jin-woo brought the Ultra Vibration Engraving Knife to the work with utmost care.
‘On a knife’s edge.’
A razor-thin path.
And beyond that precariousness lies a step upward.
‘But this path—this is the one I must walk.’
Scritch—
Scritch—
In difficulty lies opportunity.
-Harmonia Refinement proficiency has increased!
-Soul Forging proficiency has increased!
Jin-woo’s craftsmanship advanced.
He was breaking new ground no one had walked before.
“No matter how much I learn, there’s always more.”
And that’s what makes it joyful.
That’s why it never grows dull.
In a new field, one becomes a beginner again.
There, you lay the cornerstone.
Piece by piece, it becomes a modest pillar.
And when those pillars gather together—
“That’s my craft.”
Scritch!
Jin-woo sank deeper into focus, engraving the claw.
Shuuuuuk—!
In a blur, the two Underworld blacksmiths held their breath, watching Jin-woo finish engraving Boros’s claw.
What they learned from Jin-woo now—compressed and effective—far surpassed what they’d grasped alone over countless ages.
Jin-woo’s knowledge flowed into them alongside his craftsmanship.
“I want to leave the Underworld and… test myself against the greatest.”
With this body from Jin-woo and knowledge kindled by him, they wanted to fight.
Aisthels nodded at Ghost King’s words.
The Underworld was vast but confining.
They had to leave.
“I need to get out.”
Scritch.
The claw’s engraving complete, Jin-woo began working on the teeth.
‘The claws, the teeth—’
it wasn’t a matter of engraving alone.
Shaaaak—
Crackle—
“Normally, this would be impossible, but—”
Jin-woo placed the teeth into the furnace.
Crackle crackle crackle—!
‘I preserved the cold in the claws,’
but he intended to infuse the teeth with flame.
‘They need a bridge.’
Shaaaak—
Boros primarily attacked with claw strikes and tail fire, yet his teeth held considerable killing power as well.
Shaaaaaaak—!
‘Make them sharp.’
Jin-woo honed the teeth to obsidian keenness.
Teeth and claws—
the Tyrant Class monster’s most devastating forces needed to be razor-edged.
Jin-woo planned to join Boros’s claws and teeth using the Bone Engraving Technique.
“The central framework from Balom’s bone.”
Crackle crackle crackle—!
This bone from Balom was heat itself.
Shaaaaaaak—!
In that instant, two opposing forces collided.
The claws and teeth—ultimate frost.
The Balom bone—saturated with sulfurous heat from Balom, the main boss of Furnace Tower. A violent clash was inevitable.
‘That’s why—’
“I put the teeth in the furnace.”
A bridge was created.
Of course, even with a bridge, handling these opposing materials was no simple task.
Jin-woo gripped the engraving knife firmly.
“I’ve already faced it all.”
He’d used the collision of heat and cold countless times before.
“Though the grade of cold and heat is different now.”
Jin-woo drew upon the subtlety of the Bone Engraving Technique and the Flawless Seamstress Art.
‘Everything I’ve learned isn’t confined to one field alone.’
It applies to all crafting broadly.
Shaaaaaaak—
To balance opposing materials, Harmonia Refinement alone wasn’t enough.
Not a single mistake.
Perfect.
“Flawless.”
Slip—Shaak—
Click—!
The two opposing materials fused seamlessly. This joining leveraged the key feature of the Bone Engraving Technique he’d just mastered.
“!”
The two watching blacksmiths gasped at his audacity.
The material he’d just obtained was USSR Grade.
Aisthels had worked with the Ultimate Glacial Crystal, so he understood.
USSR Grade materials would shatter or become useless if handled so recklessly.
He still had one final opponent ahead.
To face that enemy, he absolutely needed this material.
“Master!”
Ghost King was shaken too—he understood.
Jin-woo was attempting to join USSR Grade materials together.
While the Bone Engraving Technique was excellent, USSR Grade had a hard limit: three pieces maximum.
With lower grades, he could definitely manage three or more. But USSR Grade was different.
Three pieces. That was it.
Ghost King had never succeeded beyond that limit.
He’d wanted a body to break through that ceiling.
To collide again and again, ascending to greater heights.
Ghost King’s hands trembled.
But this was too soon. Not just USSR Grade—these are byproducts of Boros, a Tyrant Class monster. This material, spewing cold so frantically, was difficult enough to handle as-is.
“Materials colder than the Ultimate Glacial Crystal, handled like that.”
“And they’re two opposing forces at that——!”
An audacious approach.
To reach higher, one must take risks.
“He’s showing us deliberately……”
“For our sake……”
Of course, it wasn’t shown for their benefit. Yet their eyes on Jin-woo burned with greater intensity.
Now they believed in him—completely.
Click—!
Crack—!
Boros’s teeth and claws—
and Balom’s bone.
A wholly new weapon was born at Jin-woo’s fingertips.
-Equipment has been crafted!
-USSR Grade Equipment has been crafted!
Once again.
Jin-woo ascended to USSR Grade—the tier he’d reached in his final clash with Boros.
Shaaaaaaak—
-Frost Bone Crescent Blade has been crafted!
-Level has increased!
-Harmonia Refinement proficiency has increased!
-Soul Forging proficiency has increased!
[Frost Bone Crescent Blade]
-Attack Power: 34,500
-Grade: USSR
-Durability 350,000 / 350,000
<>
* Special Skill [Crescent Slash: Unleashes a frigid arc. Freezes all nearby targets.]
* Special Option [Bone Engraving: Deals additional damage to frozen enemies. Deals additional damage to enemies in a burning state.]
* Special Option [Maximization Refinement: Attack power has been maximized. Attack power increases by 10,000.]
* Special Option [Ultimate Attack Power: Attack power increases by 8,500.]
* Special Option [Abyss Bone: Attacks are imbued with the Shadow attribute.]
* Special Option [Curse Infusion – Arcshak LV3: Attack power increases by 6,500.]
* Special Option [Life Drain: Absorbs 15% of damage dealt as your own life force!]
* Special Option [Shadow Slash: Increases attack power by 11%.]
* Special Option [Ambush: Imbued with the power of the Necro Master. The first attack is guaranteed to be a Fatal Blow.]
* Special Option [Soul Forging: Draws forth the might of the spirit. Attack speed increases by 25%.]
What was crafted was a crescent blade.
A long handle and a curved blade like a waxing moon.
The soft, supple grip allowed for flowing, whip-like motions—a weapon capable of strikes difficult to predict.
“It was wise to inscribe the Curse Infusion along the blade.”
Like rune script, the Curse Infusion glowed across the blade’s edge, carrying an austere beauty.
Jin-woo grasped the crescent blade and tested its weight.
A solid, satisfying heft.
And both heat and cold pulsed through it simultaneously.
‘Excellent.’
Though he’d made it himself, the grip felt sublime.
“Pur.”
Jin-woo handed the Frost Bone Crescent Blade to Pur.
“This equipment is yours.”
A USSR Grade crescent blade.
Frost Moonlight had been completed.
The blade was forged from Boros’s teeth and claws, the lengthy grip from Balom’s bone.
Crackle—
Cold and heat.
A weapon capable of wielding both forces at once.
Pur accepted the crescent blade with both hands, standing tall.
“I swear I won’t lose again. I won’t let it break again!”
“You can lose. You can break.”
Jin-woo looked at Pur.
“As long as you don’t stop moving forward.”
“……Uuuhg.”
Tears of emotion streamed down Pur’s face.
“Can undead cry?”
“Apparently.”
Pur glanced sideways at the two blacksmiths.
“Would it be all right if I tried it now?”
At Pur’s words, Jin-woo smiled broadly.
“Want to give it a shot?”
The two blacksmiths scrambled backward in a panic.
Jin-woo then offered Pur one more gift.
“You’ve received an attribute weapon. Now you need to master that attribute properly.”
“!”
Suddenly, an enormous cold burst forth from Pur’s body.