Chapter 92: Qi of Metal Essence |
The middle-aged blacksmith was extremely puzzled upon hearing this. Slay wind and evil?
Wind is formless, how can it be slain?
He didn't know how to forge such a sword, but Chu Xun didn't ask him to forge it either.
He just wanted to learn how to forge iron and try it himself.
Although the middle-aged blacksmith felt Chu Xun was acting mysteriously, for the sake of the silver, he still agreed.
He immediately called his son from the house and said, "You teach him how to start a fire first."
His son was seventeen or eighteen years old, looking about the same age as Chu Xun.
Learning that this youth wanted to learn blacksmithing, the sturdy young man was instantly amused.
Leading Chu Xun to the furnace, the young man named Cheng Congyi said, "You're so fair and clean, one look and I can tell you've never done any hard work."
As he spoke, he grabbed a few handfuls of straw and stuffed them into the furnace, used small branches to overlap and form a layer on top, and then placed fine pieces of charcoal.
He used a fire folder to ignite the straw. Once the branches also started burning, he continuously added larger pieces of firewood and charcoal inside.
By the time the furnace was fully burning, half an hour had already passed.
Cheng Congyi wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "I heard that the blacksmith shops in the city don't need to put out their fires all year round, saving the time of starting a fire."
"In the future, I also want to open a big blacksmith shop that doesn't need to put out its fire!"
Chu Xun watched quietly from the side, very earnestly.
Cheng Shan walked over and said, "Just forging these few kitchen knives and hoes, what do you need such a big shop for."
Cheng Congyi chuckled and said, "You forge kitchen knives, but in the future, I will forge divine weapons and sharp blades!"
"Thinking about unrealistic things all day, step aside." Cheng Shan pushed him away, picked up the iron tongs, clamped a piece of raw iron billet, and put it into the furnace.
Cheng Congyi said to Chu Xun, "Quickly pull the bellows, the fire needs to be big!"
Chu Xun grabbed the handle of the bellows in front of him as told, continuously pulling it out and pushing it back.
The Cheng father and son were both very surprised to see him doing it so effortlessly.
Cheng Congyi even ran in front of Chu Xun, reached out, and squeezed his arm, "You kid don't look very sturdy, how do you have so much strength!"
A blacksmith's bellows was not like an ordinary household's stove; it was made very large, and pulling it was heavy and strenuous, so that more air could be sent in.
Even a child like Cheng Congyi, who had hung around the blacksmith shop since childhood, would feel tired pulling it.
But Chu Xun was very relaxed. After pulling for a long time, he barely broke a sweat.
Associating this with Chu Xun going up the mountain just now, and asking for a sword that could slay wind and evil after coming down, Cheng Shan instantly understood that he must have met some expert.
In the jianghu, it was said that there were four types of people you couldn't offend.
Monks, Daoist priests, women, and children.
A youth... should also be considered a child, right.
Cheng Shan's attitude immediately became much more solemn, and he was more attentive when teaching blacksmithing.
He had Cheng Congyi use the iron tongs to fix the red-hot iron block. Cheng Shan swung the sledgehammer, giving pointers while striking.
"Tempering skills cannot rely on brute force; you need to unite your waist and stance. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. Practice the accuracy of your strikes more, and you will naturally comprehend it."
"When striking, the sledgehammer shapes, and the small hammer levels. One hammer after another, find the rhythm while striking."
"Once you find the right rhythm, it saves effort and the quality is high."
Soon, this iron billet was hammered into a flat shape.
Cheng Shan didn't continue, but asked Chu Xun to come over, hold the iron tongs, and put the cooled iron billet back into the furnace to reheat.
"Tending the fire only seems simple, but in reality, heat control is very important. If burned too fiercely, it's too soft; if not burned well, there are too many impurities, wasting time."
"You must control the size of the fire well, and then observe the color changes of the iron billet. What heat, what time, and what it can be burned into, you must have a clear idea in your heart."
Chu Xun was very smart and also very patient.
He used to think that blacksmithing was very simple.
Just heat the iron until it's red and hammer it a bunch of times. He didn't expect there to be so many details and techniques to learn.
Perhaps because he possessed the Fire Starting Spell and the Metal Forging Spell, Chu Xun could clearly feel that he had a sharper perception of fire and iron than ordinary people.
When the iron billet was reheated to red, Cheng Shan asked him to take it out and said, "I'll hold the billet for you, you strike a few times first to get a feel for it."
Chu Xun took the sledgehammer as told. Cheng Congyi watched somewhat nervously and reminded, "Be careful, don't hit my dad, this is no joke!"
Cheng Shan scolded, "Don't distract him!"
Cheng Congyi felt wronged by the scolding and muttered, "You weren't this patient when teaching me."
Chu Xun held the iron hammer, looking at the iron billet burned to a fiery red.
When the hammer was raised, a strange sensation arose in his heart.
Without thinking too much, he smashed the hammer down fiercely.
Bang—
Dazzling sparks burst from the iron billet.
Metal Forging Spell +1
Cheng Congyi watched from the side. The first hammer strike actually didn't miss.
Hmm... it wasn't too surprising. This kid had great strength, and his luck might also be very good.
However, as one hammer strike followed another, every strike landed steadily on the iron billet.
Although his mastery of shaping wasn't considered very proficient yet, just this accuracy alone was very astonishing.
Cheng Congyi looked at the iron billet for a while, then at Chu Xun, his mouth gradually opening wide.
Until the iron billet's temperature was insufficient and it was stuffed back into the furnace.
Looking at the youth who had already consciously gone to pull the bellows, paid attention to the fire, added charcoal on his own, and didn't seem flustered in the slightest.
Cheng Shan suddenly remembered his son's long-standing dream, to open a very large blacksmith shop dedicated to forging divine weapons and sharp blades.
Looking at Chu Xun, who worked methodically and whose expression remained calm throughout, Cheng Shan thought, "If it's him... perhaps he really can forge divine weapons and sharp blades."
After working busily like this for a whole day, Chu Xun initially learned how to forge iron.
However, the weight of that iron billet was not enough to forge a long sword; it needed to be larger.
That night, Chu Xun stayed at the Cheng family's house.
The crows randomly found some trees at the foot of the mountain to land on, huddling together.
Cheng Shan's wife had accidentally fallen to her death while gathering firewood on the mountain in her early years.
For so many years, he hadn't remarried.
Fortunately, his son grew up safely, and he had a successor, so he didn't have to worry about matters after his death.
He didn't ask about Chu Xun's background. Cheng Congyi did ask, and Chu Xun still answered that he came from a farming background.
Cheng Congyi curled his lips upon hearing this, not believing it at all.
After passing the night like this, before dawn, Chu Xun got up and opened the door.
Walking out of the room, he faced west and, as stated in the Pearl Satchel of the Three Caverns, clicked his teeth seven times.
Calming his mind and concentrating, wisps of Qi of Metal Essence gradually appeared before his eyes.
Pure and gentle.
Like light gauze, and like flowing frost.
"Flying mystery and eight convergences, flying mystery and eight convergences..."
With each chant, the Qi of Metal Essence converged into a pillar of qi and drilled into Chu Xun's mouth and nose.
Pei Luo said he had tried it and it was useless.
Only because with his mortal body, he couldn't even see the qi of the five elements, so how could it take effect.
At the Foundation Establishment stage, one could observe qi and also gather qi.
But there was ultimately a limit. Soon Chu Xun felt uncomfortable, knowing that continuing further would easily cause self-harm.
He no longer forced himself to persist, slowly walked to the blacksmith shop, and picked up an appropriately sized iron billet.
The Qi of Metal Essence was exhaled from his mouth and nose, turning into a white streak that struck into the iron billet.
In an instant, spiritual light shot out from the iron billet, and white qi wreathed around it.
It faintly emitted a clear and resonant sound, neither like a bell nor a chime, but like a dragon's roar.
It was just that upon closer inspection, one would find some tiny cracks.
The quality of the iron billet was too poor; it could only accommodate one streak of Qi of Metal Essence.
Chu Xun wasn't too disappointed. After putting it down, he walked to the furnace.
He didn't use straw to start the fire at the bottom like Cheng Congyi did, but directly put in small branches and charcoal.
With a thought, fire directly sprouted on the branches.
Fire Starting Spell +1
But soon, Chu Xun discovered that even branches weren't needed.
As long as there was enough spiritual energy, the flame could exist continuously, enough to ignite the charcoal.
And this was only the most basic Fire Starting Spell. If he truly reached the perfection of the five elements, perhaps it would be the Six Ding Divine Fire that could burn a hole in the sky.
"One day, casually tossing down a ball of flame, could I really create a Flaming Mountain?"
Chu Xun chuckled and simply added the large pieces of charcoal as well.
Fire Starting Spell +1
Fire Starting Spell +1
...
When Cheng Shan heard the noise and came out, he saw Chu Xun pulling the bellows with all his might.
Whoosh whoosh—
The bellows let out a heavy howling sound, sending a large amount of air inside, making the fire even more fierce.
The iron billet, which had been burning for a long time, burned to a cherry-like bright red.
Chu Xun felt something in his heart and was just about to take the iron billet out.
Cheng Shan had already arrived in front of him. This middle-aged blacksmith reached out, grabbed the iron tongs, took out the fiery red iron billet, placed it on the anvil, and said solemnly,
"I will hold the billet for you."
Chu Xun didn't say much. He picked up the sledgehammer nearby, waited for Cheng Shan to stand firm, and then smashed it forcefully towards the iron billet.
Bang—
Bang—
The continuous heavy strikes caused the iron billet to deform at an extremely fast speed.
A large amount of impurities were smashed out. Cheng Shan only felt his arms trembling violently, and couldn't help but feel horrified in his heart.
Only then did he understand that yesterday, because this youth was not too familiar with dropping the hammer, he hadn't used his full strength.
Now that he was proficient and added a bit more strength, it actually made him somewhat unable to bear it.
In a moment, the iron billet was returned to the furnace to reheat. Chu Xun pulled the bellows while turning his head to ask, "Still okay?"
Cheng Shan rubbed his sore arms and gritted his teeth, "Still okay!"
Not long after, Cheng Congyi also came out.
Seeing the two of them, one holding the billet and one swinging the hammer, the iron billet had already been smashed flat.
Looking closely again, the youth swinging the hammer wasn't panting, while his old dad holding the billet was sweating profusely.
Cheng Congyi couldn't help but feel astonished in his heart, hurriedly ran over, and said, "Dad, let me hold the billet."
"No, you can't hold it!" Cheng Shan decisively refused.
It wasn't until Chu Xun finished shaping with the sledgehammer and started leveling with the small hammer that Cheng Shan withdrew.
Looking down, both his arms were trembling, and his calves were also weak.
During that bout of hammering just now, he had no mind to think about anything else, only feeling that every hammer strike that fell was as heavy as a thousand jun.
Looking at the youth who was still striking with the small hammer and didn't seem to have much sweat, the look of wonder and admiration in Cheng Shan's eyes grew even stronger.
It took a whole day, and the sword billet already had a rudimentary form.
But after that, there were still processes like refining the shape, quenching, and sharpening the edge.
Chu Xun stayed at the Cheng family's house for a few more days, learning other blacksmithing techniques in passing.
Three days later, under Cheng Shan's guidance, Chu Xun finished sharpening the edge.
The sword body was flat, four feet long, and the edge was smooth and sharp.
Testing it on a wooden stake, a casual slash cut through a piece of wood about a foot thick.
Cheng Congyi clicked his tongue as he watched, "So sharp!"
Chu Xun held the sword in one hand, cupped his hands to Cheng Shan, and said, "The sword is forged, I'm going up the mountain."
Cheng Shan seemed to understand what he was going to do and said, "The quality of my iron billets is not high. In the future, if you can obtain a piece of divine iron, you can forge a divine weapon, which will be better to use."
Chu Xun's heart stirred upon hearing this, and he nodded, "Thank you for the guidance."
After similarly cupping his hands to Cheng Congyi, Chu Xun carried the sword up the mountain.
Cheng Congyi watched in puzzlement and asked, "Dad, what is he going up the mountain for?"
Cheng Shan hesitated for a moment, only to see that the youth's figure had already disappeared without a trace in the time it took to say two or three sentences.
The sound of flapping wings came from the forest, and dozens of crows took flight.
Caw—
Cheng Shan looked up, and only then answered his son's question.
"To eliminate a pest!"
[End of Chapter]
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