Walker Of The Worlds

Chapter 3699: Breaking The Defenses Of The Husk

Lin Mu could sense it.

The chaotic spatial energy they had been stripping away was only a surface layer. Beneath it lay something far more refined, a core that did not resist through violence but through absolute cohesion.

They were close.

Yet progress had slowed.

Each layer took longer to break. Each cycle demanded more precision. The husk adapted, reinforcing itself in ways that forced them to exert greater effort for smaller gains.

It was at this point that Lin Mu decided to change their approach.

As the next cycle began, he spoke.

”We need to move faster,” he said, his voice steady yet firm. ”I am going to try something different.”

The elders did not question him.

One of them laughed, a deep and confident sound. ”At this point, we trust you enough to hand over our souls if needed.”

Lin Mu gave a faint nod.

The next cycle began.

The husk was placed within the forge once more.

Refine.

The All Melt Furnace surged, flames intensifying as Dao traces poured into the material. The heat penetrated deeper than before, reaching layers they had only begun to affect previously.

Cracks formed, energy stirred, the husk reacted, and the moment came.

SHA SHA SHA

Spatial energy erupted outward in sharp, jagged shards, cutting through the surrounding space with violent precision. This was the moment Lin Mu had been waiting for.

He moved and the Earthen Armament Aspect activated, forming multiple hammers around him. Each hammer was constructed with care, its structure reinforced immediately through the Dao skill of Reinforce. Hone followed, sharpening not edges, but the very impact potential of each construct.

Then Lin Mu added something new.

He invoked Meld.

Instead of shaping space broadly, he condensed it into an extremely thin layer. This layer wrapped around the heads of each hammer, binding spatial properties directly into their structure. Once formed, he applied Reinforce and Hone to these layers as well, stabilizing and refining them simultaneously.

He had learned this from the abilities of the Eternal Bastion Plate Dao Embryo and its ability to absorb and reflect attacks. The result was subtle in appearance, yet profound in effect.

Each hammer now carried not only physical force and Dao amplification, but also a controlled spatial interface.

The shards struck.

Lin Mu met them.

The hammers moved in perfect coordination, intercepting each shard at precise angles. But this time, he did not destroy them.

He redirected them.

The moment each shard made contact, the layered spatial interface on the hammer heads altered its trajectory. Instead of shattering, the shards were guided, their momentum preserved and redirected.

They turned back toward the husk!

Lin Mu’s eyes sharpened.

”Now!” he roared.

The elders did not hesitate.

The Mountain Dwarf elder brought his hammer down with full force, amplified by the Aspect of Heaviness. The Rune Dwarf elder stabilized the anvil, ensuring the husk could not shift under the combined pressure. The Fireforge elder intensified the heat at the exact moment of impact, weakening the targeted layer just enough.

The reflected shards struck simultaneously.

The hammer followed.

The combined force was immense.

The redirected spatial energy, already carrying destructive potential, was now compounded by the impact of the hammer and the destabilizing heat from the forge. The interaction between these forces created a resonance that amplified their effect beyond simple addition.

For a brief moment, the husk reacted.

But not as it had before.

A sound emerged.

It was not metallic.

It was not physical.

It was something else.

A cry.

GREEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Deep, strained, and almost alive.

The entire structure trembled.

Lin Mu’s eyes widened slightly as he perceived the internal shift.

The layer they had been working toward began to fail.

A fracture spread across the surface.

Thin and barely visible.

And then, slowly, a piece of the husk’s actual surface broke away.

It did not shatter violently.

It separated.

Like a fragment of something ancient finally yielding after resisting for far too long.

Silence followed.

For a single heartbeat, no one moved.

Then the elders reacted.

Their expressions shifted from concentration to astonishment.

”We did it,” one of them said quietly.

”No,” another corrected, his gaze fixed on Lin Mu. ”He did.”

Lin Mu did not respond immediately.

His attention remained on the husk.

He could feel the difference. This was not another layer of chaotic spatial energy being removed. This was the first breach into the true structure of the material. And the real forging had just begun.

For the first time since they had begun working on the husk, the elders stood in genuine shock.

The fragment that had separated from the surface was still drifting slowly in the air, faint traces of spatial energy leaking from it before dispersing into nothingness. All of them had seen countless materials refined, shaped, and broken down over their long lives, yet none of them had ever witnessed something like this.

They had expected resistance.

They had expected difficulty.

They had expected years of gradual progress.

But to see the husk yield physically, to actually shed part of its true structure, was something that exceeded even their most optimistic expectations.

”Continue!” Lin Mu’s voice cut through the moment like a blade.

The elders snapped out of their daze instantly.

There was no hesitation.

No discussion.

No time to marvel.

They moved.

The husk was returned to the forge.

Refine!

The All Melt Furnace surged again, its flames now far more controlled than before. Instead of overwhelming the material, they penetrated it with precision, targeting the weakened regions exposed by the previous strike.

Place!

The husk settled onto the anvil, its surface shimmering faintly, no longer reacting with violent resistance but still holding its structure with stubborn tenacity.

Strike!

The hammer descended, guided by the Mountain Dwarf elder and reinforced through Lin Mu’s control of the True Earth Heart. The Aspect of Heaviness anchored the husk firmly, preventing even the slightest displacement.

And then Lin Mu acted.

The moment the spatial energy surged again, he deployed his refined method.