Arcs of lightning fell from the skies, illuminating the golden moon above to an even grander radiance than it had in the past.
Ryu didn't make a move to stop them, his body sitting in an unmoved silence as the lightning crashed down upon him. He could have easily used his Dividing Tribulation to split the arcs he was experiencing right this moment, or rather, his alloy was experiencing, but he didn't.
The way Ryu viewed pill-potions and this path of blacksmithing were very different. He felt the need to protect his pill-potions and coddle them because alchemy was maybe the most hated secondary profession of the Heavens. In addition, the strength of a pill-potion didn't matter so long as it fulfilled its duty.
An alloy, though, was very different. This was because to Ryu, this wasn't a tribulation the alloy had to face and survive in order to be acknowledged. Rather, this was an actual part of the forging process! Without this lightning, he wouldn't be able to perfect the alloy to the level he wanted and expected of himself.
Ryu had succeeded in melding together several disciplines into one, but the process was far more complex than he had initially thought it would be.
The first step was the use of the incubators to get just the right environment. He needed something that was in harmony with nature, but also not willingly ready to sway to its whims. Rather, it would only bend and twist when there was sufficient pressure from the outside. And, said bending and twisting would always be toward the path of becoming stronger.
It was the kind of Feng Shui island that could maintain warm spring temperatures in the middle of a snow storm, and cool spring temperatures even in the middle of the sizzling heat of the desert.
It would always have water during a drought and always be dry during a flood. It could weather storms and withstand tsunamis, and always come out of the other side with even stronger protections than last time.
Such an environment required a very solid foundation and an ecosystem very much resistant to change, and yet still willing to flow with the tide.
In order to gain such effects, Ryu had to practically create a world. In fact, the only reason he succeeded was because of his Natural Enlightenment… Shrine Mountain.
Still, this was only a small piece of the puzzle. Once the Feng Shui island was completed, then came the Blueprint Refinement Method. This was where nature clashed with nurture.
Rather than drawing a blueprint using any of the many methods the Frost Clan had on hand, Ryu instead drew it directly into the earth using the method of Ore Veins.
Ore Veins were how deposits of metal formed in the real world. In very unique situations, they could sometimes spontaneously form into formations that allowed them to grow explosively.
Some Clans and Sects of Sacrum would take advantage of this knowledge to draw out lines in the earth that promoted this formation, turning something spontaneous into something much more controlled. Although it often failed, in Ryu's estimation, this was actually because the lines were only one aspect of what was needed, the other aspect was the perfect environment… A perfect environment that he had already created.
This method worked doubly well because these lines in the earth were also the perfect locations for Ryu to deposit the metals he wanted to fuse in an all new alloy.
And that led to the final and most crucial step, the tempering of Tribulation Lightning.
This was where the fusion of the metals completed and the impurities were hammered out one step at a time.
This was why Ryu didn't attempt to weaken the lightning. In fact, the more powerful it was, the better.
The Heavens became his hammer and his body was the guide. The lightning would strike down upon his head and he would allow it to multiply, gather, and then he would strike down himself with all the accumulated momentum.
His eyes flashed open and he struck down with a mighty punch once again. Then, he closed his eyes, allowed the lightning to accumulate, and then struck once more.
Selheira, who had already been watching this scene for nearly a month already, could only sigh. By now, although Ryu hadn't made it obvious, she was quite certain that he must have some sort of special lightning body, or even the legendary Lightning Spirit Body, even. There was simply no way anyone else could take such punishment without pause if this wasn't the case.
But what was maybe even more surprising was that his skill in Blacksmithing somehow felt to be even beyond his skill in alchemy. Somewhere deep inside, although Selheira knew that Ryu wasn't the type to lie, she still found it hard to believe that he had only been practicing alchemy for a few weeks.
However, seeing him improve step by step right before her eyes left no doubt whatsoever.
By this point, she had concluded that it had to be his Dao. There was simply no way one person could be so talented in so many fields.
She might have considered the legendary Heavenly Pupils… But Ryu was blind so it never once crossed her mind.
…
Ryu rose from his position, looking down at the completed alloy. It looked completely unremarkable from the outside, almost like a piece of unrefined mortal iron. In fact, all four pieces that Ryu had completed looked exactly like this.
However, when you picked them up, one would suddenly feel as though their mind had entered a state of absolute serenity. Shockingly enough, even compared to the ring on Ryu's finger right this moment, the ring that held Flowing Frost's corpse and helped him enter the State of Meditation… He somewhat felt that if his self-created alloys were forged by the same method, their results would be even better.
Even now, completely unrefined, they gave off a sense of oneness and serenity that brought a smile to Ryu's face.