Ti continued to pass as Lin Mu was hard at work and sweat began to form on his brow. At this ti, the elders, who had been deep in discussion, noticed that he had grown quiet. Their attention shifted toward him, curiosity replacing their earlier debate.
"What is he doing?" one of them asked.
They watched as Lin Mu remained completely still, his hand pressed against the husk, his aura subtly fluctuating.
Then, after nearly an hour, sothing changed.
A faint indentation appeared.
It was small and barely noticeable, yet it was real.
The elders froze.
"You can affect it?" one of them asked, his voice carrying both disbelief and excitent.
Lin Mu exhaled slowly and stepped back, studying the result of his effort.
"It is possible," he said. "This is not solid matter in the usual sense. It is condensed spatial energy. I cannot manipulate it directly as I would spatial Qi, but with enough focus and the assistance of my skills, I can influence it."
The Rune Dwarf elder's eyes lit up. "Then it can be shaped."
"Given ti," Lin Mu replied. "And with all of us working together, the process may beco viable."
The mood shifted instantly.
What had seed like an insurmountable obstacle now had a path forward.
"Then we begin imdiately," the Fireforge elder declared.
They moved without hesitation.
First, they selected the smaller leg Lin Mu had experinted on. This would serve as their test piece. If they could successfully separate it, then the thod could be applied to the larger segnts intended for the spears.
The Dao Forge manifested fully once more, its presence amplifying their abilities and stabilizing the environnt. The husk was placed upon the forge, and the process began.
They followed a similar approach to what they had used during refinent, though the intent was now different.
Heat.
Strike.
Control.
Repeat.
The Fireforge elder summoned the All lt Furnace, and intense heat flooded the area. The husk glowed faintly, though it showed no signs of softening. The Rune Dwarf elder positioned the Flawless tal Anvil, aligning the leg precisely.
Then another elder stepped forward, summoning a new Dao Embryo.
It took the form of a chisel.
Its surface shimred with a sharp, refined brilliance, and its edges seed capable of cutting through concepts themselves.
"The Essence Cleaving Steel Chisel Dao Embryo," the elder announced.
He positioned it carefully at the joint where the leg connected to the main body.
Then the hamr fell.
CLANG.
The sound echoed as the chisel vibrated violently. And then a mont later it rebounded. The elder staggered back, his grip tightening as he absorbed the backlash. They looked at the leg, there was no mark at all.
No progress.
The dwarves frowned, though they were not discouraged.
"Again," one of them said.
They repeated the process.
Heat.
Alignnt.
Strike.
Recoil.
Still nothing.
Then Lin Mu stepped forward.
"Wait," he said.
He placed his hand upon the husk once more, this ti focusing specifically on the joint. His Spatial Perception mapped the energy pathways within it, identifying where the connection between segnts was most concentrated.
Then he activated ld.
Instead of attempting to compress or reshape the energy, he introduced a new intent.
"Separate."
The concept itself was simple.
He did not try to force it, he rely guided it.
At that exact mont, the elder struck the chisel again.
CLANG.
This ti, sothing different happened.
A faint line appeared, it was shallow and almost imperceptible, but it was there. Seeing this the elders' eyes widened.
"It worked!" one of them exclaid.
"Do not stop!" another shouted.
They continued imdiately.
Each cycle followed the sa pattern. Lin Mu guided the spatial energy, encouraging it to part. The elder struck with the chisel, channeling the force precisely into the weakened point. The Dao Forge amplified their efforts, ensuring stability.
The process was slow.
Painfully slow.
Each strike produced only the slightest progress.
Yet progress existed.
Hours turned into days.
Days stretched into a relentless cycle of effort as the elders did not rest and Lin Mu did not withdraw. They pushed forward continuously, refining their coordination with each repetition. Bit by bit the line deepened. It changed from a scratch to a groove. Then from a groove to a visible separation. The husk resisted at every step, its internal energy attempting to maintain its integrity, but under their combined effort, it began to yield.
Finally, after nearly four days of uninterrupted work, the mont arrived.
The chisel was positioned one last ti.
Lin Mu focused all his attention on the joint, guiding the energy with absolute precision. The elder raised his hamr and brought it down.
CRACK.
The sound was unlike any before. The joint gave way and the leg separated. It fell away from the main body with a heavy thud, landing upon the surface of the Dao Forge. Silence followed and for a mont, no one spoke.
Then, slowly, the realization spread across their faces.
They had done it!
They had separated a piece of the husk!
The impossible had been achieved!
One of the elders let out a loud laugh, the sound echoing through the realm.
"It can be worked!" he exclaid.
"Not easily," another added, wiping sweat from his brow, "but it can be done."
Lin Mu looked at the separated leg, his expression calm yet satisfied.
The separation of the first leg marked a turning point in their work, yet none of them allowed excitent to cloud their judgnt. The dwarven elders gathered once more, their expressions returning to careful deliberation.
The success they had achieved did not guarantee ease in what followed, and if anything, it had revealed just how complex the material truly was. They now possessed a fragnt that could be worked, but the thod needed refinent before they risked shaping the primary pieces intended for the final weapons.
One of the elders spoke first, voicing what several of them had already begun to consider.
They suggested that before attempting anything with the longer legs, they should continue working on the smaller one that had been separated.
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