Longevity by Grinding Skills

"Dad! Last time he was training, the stone lock hit the ground so hard that tabby cat went crazy and started tearing all over the courtyard! I..."

Watching the girl get pulled down from the courtyard wall by the man, Xu Yunfan silently placed the stone lock to the side, took a quick rinse, and went back to his room to lie down and sleep.

’These past few days have been too hard. I’ve mostly been using the Linn Character Technique to cultivate instead of sleeping. Today, I’ve finally reached Skin Cultivation Perfection and achieved the Golden Skin State. In the coming days, only after I’ve brought the Second Level of tendon and bone cultivation to Perfection will I consider breaking through to the Outer Three Harmonies and becoming a Grand Martial Master.’

’Once I achieve the Outer Three Harmonies, my skin, tendons, and bones will be completely set. If my Realm gets higher after that, trying to go back and retrain them would be harder than climbing to the heavens. With the Attribute Panel, I can master all three of my Martial Arts to the Perfection Realm, so of course I won’t skip a single step.’

’Getting all the achievements has always been my motto from my past life. Whenever I played games, it just felt wrong if I didn’t get 100% completion.’

’Besides, I’m cultivating Martial Arts in this life. If I don’t build a solid foundation, how will I ever see what the peak of the Martial Dao looks like?’

The next day, it was late in the morning when the calls of a waiter from Changfeng Tavern delivering food were heard outside the courtyard. Xu Yunfan answered from inside his room, then slowly got out of bed.

He strapped the Extreme Dao Relic Shell to his body like a vest, shouldered his Iron Box, and stretched. A series of pops, like beans being stir-fried, echoed from his body.

’Not bad at all.’

After eating and settling the bill for the courtyard and the meals, Xu Yunfan led out his Scale Horse. As he was about to leave the courtyard, he was surprised to see the girl from last night and her old father, who had been on the wall, organizing their luggage on a horse-drawn carriage.

When the girl saw Xu Yunfan, she glared at him with puffed cheeks, snorted, and turned her head away.

A slightly awkward smile appeared on the man’s face, and he nodded at Xu Yunfan.

Xu Yunfan nodded in return, said nothing, and leaped onto his horse before riding off.

The girl said, "Dad, look at you! Acting so timid and not showing any of your Martial Power. You’re making people think we’re easy to bully."

The man’s expression turned serious. "Si Yang, when we’re out and about in the Mortal World, we must be amicable. If you make enemies carelessly, one day someone might suddenly rise to power and crush you without a second thought. You must remember that our Celestial Craft Cave is not famous for its Martial Power, but for our skill with weapons and mechanisms. By making things convenient for others, we have stood for nearly a thousand years."

"Alright, alright! I’m so sick of hearing that speech my ears are about to fall off. Let’s just get on the road. We’ve been in the State City for days and bought enough things. I’ve had enough. When I get back, I’m going to spend a few days in peace and quiet."

"..."

Xu Yunfan quickly left the city. Amidst a cloud of dust, his date-red horse had already vanished into the distance.

The journey was uneventful. He followed the main road, and in just over an Hour, he reached the territory of Guniu Mountain. From a distance, he could see the Celestial Craft Cave; the silhouette of Guniu Mountain looked like a Thousand Mechanism Lock thrust upside down into the clouds.

It was less the Celestial Craft Cave and more a Celestial Craft City built into the mountain. Its towering walls were forged entirely from Refined Steel, and from time to time, the twang of mechanisms could be heard. The so-called Celestial Craft Cave was in fact a mechanical hub hollowed out from half the mountain.

Upon the hundred-zhang-high Refined Steel walls, three hundred and sixty Bronze Watchtowers spiraled up the mountainside. From every crenellation, the cold, gleaming muzzles of Armor-Piercing Crossbow Carriages protruded.

Even stranger, the mountain’s surface was riddled with honeycomb-like holes. Every forty-five minutes, steam would erupt from them, accompanied by the sound of turning gears.

At the main entrance, nine gates were slowly rising, revealing a network of intersecting Bronze tracks within. Mechanical Beast Vehicles, laden with Red Flame Ore, sped along the cliff faces. The shower of sparks from their iron wheels grinding against slide cables illuminated the Celestial Craft Cave like a blazing Forging Furnace.

"This..."

Xu Yunfan stared in utter shock at the distant Mechanical City. He truly never imagined that with ancient levels of productivity, such a city could be brought into existence. ’How much iron must it have taken to forge this?’

As he drew closer, a voice suddenly boomed from a trumpet-like loudspeaker on the city wall.

"Halt! State your purpose."

He looked up at the seventy-two Bronze viewing tubes extending from the city gate, which resembled the eyes of a fly. The mirrored surfaces, carved with Taotie Patterns, were adjusting their angles with the turning of gears, refracting the harsh sunlight into a blinding web of light.

A Nine-Linked Rings bronze speaking tube, the source of the voice, suddenly popped out from a hidden compartment in the wall.

Xu Yunfan said, "I have a broken weapon that needs reforging. Please grant me passage."

"You seem to have accumulated a great deal of Evil Qi recently. I fear you’ve been through many battles on your journey. And your coin purse is quite full, it seems..."

The voice stopped abruptly. Xu Yunfan had flicked a Silver Ingot from his fingers, embedding it precisely into a hidden slot that extended from below the speaking tube.

"Ahem! However, one look at your righteous face tells me you must be a great hero who vanquishes evil for the people. We naturally have a special VIP channel for esteemed Knights such as yourself. Please step onto the slide platform. We will take care of your horse."

The sound of gears whirred as cheerfully as a spinning wheel, and bronze prongs curled around the Silver Ingot, retracting it into the hidden compartment.

A three-chi-square hidden door suddenly appeared at the base of the wall. Amidst a plume of sulfur-scented steam, a Bronze slide platform rose up. Its surface was engraved with an elegant, powerful script—a fragment from the Thousand Mechanism Atlas.

Not that he could read it.

The moment Xu Yunfan stepped onto the platform, seventy-two Iron Chains burst forth from the mountainside.

The platform sped along a hidden track carved into the cliff. As it passed, the honeycomb holes spewed scorching steam. To the right, in a deep chasm, a thousand-toothed forging hammer driven by a waterfall was relentlessly pounding Profound Steel, sending sparks flying everywhere.

At the end of the slideway, an entrance boomed open. Xu Yunfan squinted against a wave of heat that rushed to meet him, and then he was inside Celestial Craft City.

He saw three hundred and sixty Floating Forging Platforms suspended from the dome by thick chains. Atop each platform stood a Nine-Orifice Wind-Burning Furnace. Curly-bearded Craftsmen stood on gear-driven Cloud Ladders, holding viewing tubes inlaid with Ice Soul as they adjusted the molten steel waterfalls within the furnaces.

’Beneath Guniu Mountain,’ he thought, ’there must be an iron deposit of absolutely astonishing size.’

After stepping off the slide platform, Xu Yunfan looked up and saw a stretch of brick-and-tile buildings ahead, with many pedestrians coming and going. What made the corner of his eye twitch, however, was that at a gate on the other side, there was an endless stream of people—merchants and tourists alike.

To his left, in the market, a peddler carrying a rack of candied haws was haggling with a camel caravan. To his right, in a tavern, a drunk was clumsily strumming a gear-driven pipa. Meanwhile, at the "VIP channel" gate he had just come through, not a single person had appeared for a long time.

’I got ripped off!’

"This way, little brother. What kind of weapon are you looking to have forged?"

A powerfully built man walked up to him. The gnarled muscles on his right arm twitched like live mice, but the Iron Hammer he carried was as steady as a mountain.

’A First-Level Martial Artist,’ Xu Yunfan noted. ’A Craftsman who has reached Great Mastery of Skin Cultivation.’

Xu Yunfan was a little surprised.

"Can people enter and exit through that place too?"

The Craftsman replied, "The Celestial Craft Cave doesn’t close its gates. This place is also called Celestial Craft Town—a name bestowed by the State Governor himself. Naturally, many people come and go."

Xu Yunfan glanced up at the mechanical plaque above, which read "Celestial Craft City," and remained silent.

Seeing Xu Yunfan’s sour mood, the Craftsman chuckled and said, "Don’t think you’ve been ripped off. Here at Celestial Craft Cave, we treat everyone fairly, young and old. Since you paid the silver, you’ll naturally receive better service. What weapon do you want forged? Let me see it."

"A broken Jar Gold Hammer."

Xu Yunfan unhooked the hammerhead and the broken Refined Steel handle from his waist.