Longevity by Grinding Skills

The hammer’s tip rained blows upon the sword’s blade, each strike producing a clear, resonant hum. "The Celestial Craft Forging Technique is the epitome of delicate work. You could use an embroidery needle to carve the Nine Bends of the Yellow River Pattern onto the blade. A pity..."

Before he could finish, the Heavy Hammer came crashing down on the Sword Guard.

The already solid Profound Iron suddenly fractured into a spiderweb of cracks, only to rapidly heal in the wave of heat from the magma.

"Too much focus on intricacy robs a weapon of its killing edge!"

Zhan Yan violently thrust the Iron Sword into a channel of high-temperature magma drawn from the nearby Thunder Fire Pool. The tungsten sand settled at the pool’s bottom instantly coated the blade.

A metallic shriek like a dragon’s roar echoed through the cave. Zhan Yan’s hair and beard stood on end, his eyes gleaming with a strange light.

"I developed the Celestial Craft Forging Technique over twenty years of forging in this very place. It combines the Dragon Spine Iron Forging Method from Divine Weapon Ridge with the Hundred Refinements Silk Binding Strength from the Celestial Craft Cave.

After all, the Celestial Craft Cave was originally known for its Mechanical Arts, which often involve delicate work on small components, whereas Divine Weapon Ridge is famous for forging weapons."

He pulled out the crimson-hot Iron Sword. The alternating light and dark patterns on the blade seemed to writhe like a living thing.

"’First, you must use the Thousand Jin Hammer technique to beat out the slag, then use the Celestial Craft Cave’s Silk Binding Force to permeate and unify the metal...’"

Zhan Yan picked up a cooled piece of scrap metal and rubbed the crystalline structure of its cross-section with his finger. He suddenly tossed the piece into the air, and the shockwave from his two hammers clashing together precisely shattered the impurities within.

When the piece of metal landed, it was semi-transparent. Spiral patterns flowed within the metal, faintly visible—the very Circulation Forging Pattern that fused the essences of the two sects.

Zhan Yan flicked the sword and stroked it carefully, a look of satisfaction in his eyes. The quality of this Sword Artifact was excellent. It was at least a low-grade sharp blade. If the second quenching went well, it might even be possible to raise it to Middle Grade.

Forging a sharp-bladed weapon from pure Profound Iron was a testament to Zhan Yan’s profound skill in the craft.

"A pity... The method Divine Weapon Ridge used to forge Divine Weapons has been lost. When the mountain collapsed, the entire lineage was severed. For years, I’ve been trying to combine the strengths of both schools, using the Celestial Craft Forging Technique to..."

Zhan Yan shook his head and said no more. He simply picked up a heavy Profound Iron Hammer and handed it to Xu Yunfan.

In the outside world, a single jin of Profound Iron was worth a hundred taels. But beneath Guniu Mountain, the Celestial Craft Cave sat atop a massive iron mine. Only thirty percent of it had been excavated, and it contained an immense amount of naturally occurring Profound Iron. If not for the principle of scarcity driving up value, the Melt Gold Hall would have already flooded the market with it.

The price of Profound Iron across the entire Great Zhou would likely plummet by half.

"Today, you will hammer iron billets here. I will teach you the introductory methods of the Celestial Craft Forging Technique."

The moment the iron hammer touched his hand, a jolt ran through Xu Yunfan’s palm.

A three-hundred-and-twenty-jin Profound Iron Hammer should have dislocated an ordinary Martial Artist’s wrist. But the fascia in his forearms instinctively tightened, and he used the elasticity of his tendons to negate seventy percent of the downward force.

The corner of Zhan Yan’s eye twitched imperceptibly. The boy’s grip on the hammer was clearly the opening stance of ’Lifting the Celestial River Upside Down’ from the Thirty-six Cloak Hammers.

The movement was effortless. He had intended the hammer as a test, but he never imagined Xu Yunfan could not only hold it so easily but also forcefully dissipate most of the momentum he had put behind it.

Seeing Zhan Yan’s expression, Xu Yunfan grinned.

He’d been on guard against the old man’s tricks. He’d learned his lesson the hard way when Zhan Yan had tossed him the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer.

"And remember, when you’re just starting to forge, you need consistency. The force of each strike must be nearly identical to the last to hammer the entire billet evenly. You can’t be too forceful, or you’ll shatter the billet’s internal structure. But you can’t be too light, either, or the force won’t penetrate deep enough to expel the impurities. For every piece of iron, the force you use..."

DING!

The sound of Xu Yunfan’s first strike on the raw iron billet carried a peculiar vibration.

The instant Xu Yunfan rotated, his waist and stance moving as one, the unique high-frequency vibrations of his Celestial Zen Force traveled down the hammer’s handle and into the iron billet.

The surface of the dark-red iron billet suddenly rippled. The shockwave forced the impurities to the edges, where they precipitated as fine black specks in the firelight.

’You try striking the iron billet with the hammer. With a single blow, you seem to grasp some of the art of forging.’

’Your skill, Forging, has reached the Beginner level.’

’Forging 0/500 (Beginner)

Effects: Initial Heat Control, Mind-Hand Coordination, Basic Shaping, Basic Forging’

Two system prompts appeared in Xu Yunfan’s field of vision.

In the next instant, Xu Yunfan felt the specialized forging hammer become an extension of his own arm. He slightly altered the angle of his swing, letting the hammer fall in a way that distributed the force evenly across the entire billet. The sound of his hammering grew more melodious. He had already mastered the basics of the Celestial Craft Forging Technique’s hammering method.

Zhan Yan’s hand, which was stroking his beard, froze.

He could clearly see the billet’s internal structure rapidly reorganizing under Xu Yunfan’s hammer. This was no beginner! He looked like a master smith who had already completed his apprenticeship at the forge!

And yet, he was certain Xu Yunfan had never held a forging hammer in his life.

"Switch to the Nine Forging Techniques of Celestial Craftsmanship, the one I just showed you."

The old man suddenly tossed him a Black Steel Ingot. "Use the third form of the Layered Hammer, followed by the seventh. It will greatly increase the toughness and strength of a Sword Artifact."

Without a moment’s hesitation, Xu Yunfan’s right trapezius muscle bulged as he switched from a two-handed grip to swinging the hammer with one arm.

With every collision between the hammerhead and the ingot, a vibrational force, amplified by thirty percent from his Celestial Zen Force, penetrated the steel.

He completed nine strikes in the space of a single breath. With the final, crisp ring, a nine-layered, wave-like pattern appeared on the ingot’s cross-section.

"Impossible..."

Questioning his very existence, Zhan Yan slid a measuring ruler from his sleeve. As its edge sliced off a piece of the metal, it sparked with an azure flame.

He hunched over, using the furnace’s glow to get a closer look at the cross-section. While it wasn’t the sign of achieving Great Success in the Celestial Craft Cave’s secret Circulation Forging Pattern, it was the Scale Armor pattern—a feat that only a veteran Craftsman from the Weapon Casting Hall could accomplish.

With those strikes, Xu Yunfan had managed to permeate the force deep into the steel ingot, leaving no part untouched.

It had taken him three full years of hammering at the Weapon Casting Furnace to reach this level of skill.

He glanced at the seemingly oblivious Xu Yunfan, a complex and uncomfortable mix of emotions swirling within him.

After a morning of explanation and half a day’s demonstration, a dozen swings of the hammer from Xu Yunfan had equaled three years of his own bitter toil.

Seeing Zhan Yan’s silence, Xu Yunfan asked anxiously, "Master, did I apply the force incorrectly?"

He glanced at the Skill Bar on his Attribute Panel. Although his Forging skill was at the Beginner level, the Celestial Craft Forging Technique was still greyed out and not yet activated. Seeing Zhan Yan’s expression, he figured there must be a flaw in his work.

Zhan Yan said nothing, simply pointing to a nearby pile of iron billets stacked up like a small mountain.

"A few days ago, after the Arsenal was opened, many sects placed weapon orders. Forge all of these according to the patterns on the Weapon Casting Platform. And remember, first hammer and refine them into Refined Iron ingots, then forge them into swords. Each sword must weigh exactly nine jin and six qian, and be three chi and two cun in length. Not the slightest deviation!"

Xu Yunfan readily agreed. He was brimming with enthusiasm, having just discovered something new. Besides, if he wanted to forge a weapon case capable of concealing a Divine Weapon, he would need to raise his Forging Skill Level as much as possible.