Longevity by Grinding Skills

The split flames refused to rejoin, forming a strange vacuum between them.

"Take it."

Xu Yunfan looked at his master’s rigid back. "A gift from your disciple, for my Foundation Establishment Ceremony."

Zhan Yan’s single eye suddenly turned red.

He recognized this forging method. It was clearly his own creation, the Sevenfold Forging Technique, but it had been forcefully elevated to an unimaginable level by the True Martial Evil Qi.

It was a technique recorded in the Celestial Craft Forging Technique, one that was both time-consuming and laborious. He never expected Xu Yunfan to master its form after just a few strikes of the hammer.

Xu Yunfan smiled slightly. "Back then, to forge the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer for me, you barely left the Earth Fire Furnace, not even to eat or drink. I’ll never forget it."

Zhan Yan’s calloused fingers traced the star-like patterns on the sword’s spine, his eye reflecting the pulsating green light.

"Master, come with me to the Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm."

Xu Yunfan’s fingertips gently stroked the sword’s spine. The Tier Eight Divine Weapon hummed obediently in his palm. "With your Weapon Forging Talent, combined with the Spiritual Qi of the Upper Realm..."

"I’m not going."

Zhan Yan cut him off crisply.

Xu Yunfan’s expression faltered for a moment. "Why?"

He had expected Zhan Yan to agree readily, not to refuse just as readily.

Zhan Yan’s rough fingers traced a dent on the edge of the Forging Platform. He stared into space. "There are only three things in this life I can’t let go of: the Earth Fire of the Celestial Craft Cave, the tongs on the wall..." He suddenly snatched up his Iron Hammer and slammed it onto the anvil. "And the song a hot billet sings!"

Xu Yunfan couldn’t help but say, "If you go, you might even obtain a Longevity Dao Fruit..."

"Longevity?"

Upon hearing those three words, "Longevity Dao Fruit," the old man suddenly grinned, revealing a canine tooth that was half-broken. "You brat, do you think everyone is desperate to become an Immortal?"

He turned and plunged the Tier Eight Divine Sword into the greenstone slab beside the Forging Platform. The blade sank three inches deep with a screech of metal on metal. This Forging Platform, tempered by a thousand years of Earth Fire, was now no less than a Tier Six Treasure Artifact itself.

"See that Broken Sword over there?"

Zhan Yan pointed to a rust-spotted half-blade in the corner. "The first sword you ever forged, five years ago. You quenched it too fast and it snapped in two."

The rough pads of his fingers brushed over the cracked patterns on the blade. "But look at the way these patterns run. It was clearly a fine piece of material."

Xu Yunfan froze.

He had long forgotten about that piece of scrap metal. He never thought his master would have kept it all this time.

"Smithing and cultivation... they’re really the same thing."

The fire in Zhan Yan’s single eye burned hotter than the Earth Fire itself. "You seek Longevity in the Taihua Realm. What I seek in the Celestial Craft Cave..."

The hammerhead slammed down hard on the anvil.

CLANG!

"...is to hear the song that the iron billet sings with every strike!"

"Master..."

"Enough. Having a disciple like you in my lifetime is a blessing from the heavens. Now, I just want to protect the legacy left behind by Divine Weapon Ridge!"

Xu Yunfan fell silent, not pressing the matter further.

Zhan Yan was stubborn. Once he made up his mind, not even ten bulls could drag him back.

-----------------

「Three days later, at 7:00 AM.」

Twelve figures emerged one by one from the roiling mountain mists. At their head was an old man in a purple robe, Xuezhen. Chains rattled all over his body, and every step he took branded a scorched black footprint onto the rock.

"Daoist Master Xu."

Xuezhen’s hoarse voice was thick with suppressed excitement. "We have entrusted our legacies to our disciples. We have no more worldly ties..."

Although Xu Yunfan was a disciple of the Taoist Sect, these people knew where they stood.

Xu Yunfan suddenly looked up in the direction of the Celestial Craft Cave. His Foundation Establishment Stage Divine Sense pierced through the mountain rock, allowing him to clearly "see" the mountain of a man swinging his hammer down onto the anvil. The arc of the flying sparks was identical to when he had first taught him how to forge weapons.

TING!

The crisp, clear sound of the Iron Hammer striking the Sword Embryo drifted over on the mountain wind. To Xu Yunfan’s ears, it was more soul-stirring than the ancient bell of the Taoist Sect.

The sound of forging from the Weapon Casting Hall fluctuated between rapid and slow. Xu Yunfan understood. This was his master’s unique way of seeing him off, just like how the old man would always deliberately hammer the iron with extra force whenever he left the mountain for training.

The Black Tortoise Cloud Pattern swirled beneath his feet, yet Xu Yunfan delayed, not forming the seal to depart.

He suddenly lifted the hem of his Daoist robe and performed a standard disciple’s bow in the direction of the Weapon Casting Hall.

This action made the twelve old monsters behind him exchange a glance.

’A man who shows such respect for his master can’t be all that bad.’

Beside them, Bi Yuan stroked his beard and sighed with emotion.

’Zhan Yan really took in a good disciple.’

Then a proud smile spread across his face.

’My judgment isn’t half bad, either.’

When he rose, the star-like patterns in Xu Yunfan’s eyes swirled as he suppressed all emotion deep within. He raised a hand and flicked his wrist. The moment the Boundary-Breaking Talisman left his grasp, it burst into brilliant light.

"Break the Boundary!"

Before the twelve old monsters could react, they felt the world turn upside down. When they opened their eyes again, they were floating above a sea of clouds.

This was still the location of the Boundary Gate, a place they shouldn’t linger. With a flick of his sleeve, Xu Yunfan’s True Martial Magical Power surged out like a tide, coalescing into the Black Tortoise Cloud Pattern around each of the twelve old monsters.

The residual Spiritual Light of the Boundary-Breaking Talisman had yet to fade, but the group was already streaking across the firmament of the Taihua Realm like shooting stars.

"Brace yourselves."

Following Xu Yunfan’s soft command, the group felt solid ground beneath their feet.

Bi Yuan staggered back half a step, his Profound Daoist Robe whipping violently in the face of the oncoming Spiritual Qi.

’This isn’t air!’

’It’s clearly liquefied Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi!’

Every breath felt like swallowing an entire Spirit Vein, and his meridians, which had been withered for three hundred years, moaned in desperate hunger.

"Master."

As Xu Yunfan cupped his hands in salute, the Hidden Star Concealing Moon Array of True Martial Peak began to operate silently.

"This is True Martial Peak."

Bi Yuan’s reply caught in his throat.

The Daoist Sect Leader was like an apprentice entering a martial arts training ground for the first time, every pore on his body frantically devouring the Spiritual Qi.

His Profound Skill began to circulate on its own, so rapidly that it formed tiny cyclones on the surface of his skin.

Nourished by the Spiritual Qi, the hidden injuries that had accumulated over centuries were healing at a visible rate!

"Good... So good..."

The old Daoist’s voice was airy, and beads of Spirit Dew had already condensed on his beard.

He tried to take a step, but verdant Spirit Vines sprouted from the ground, clinging to the soles of his boots—an Anomaly caused by the sheer density of the Wu Earth Essence.

A dull THUD sounded from behind. The old man covered in a shell of mud had fallen directly to his knees and was now frantically clawing at the top layer of spirit soil, burying his face in it like a starving ghost.

Xu Yunfan made a light swipe with a Sword Pointing gesture, and twelve streams of cyan light shot into the foreheads of the group. "The restrictive wards on the peak have been temporarily opened for you."

His gaze swept over Xuezhen, who was in the middle of shedding his skin. "But do not step beyond the bounds of this peak... After all, this is the territory of the Primordial Demon Sect. You are all still effectively mortals. If someone were to capture you and refine you as ingredients, all I could do is kill them to vent my anger..."

He suddenly grabbed the Incense Shadow, who was about to lunge into the clouds and mist. "Especially you, Grandmaster."

"This... This is..."

Xuezhen’s Adam’s apple bobbed. Beneath his purple robe, his Blood Pill began to tremble violently.

The Withered and Flourishing Skill he had cultivated for two hundred years activated on its own. A massive amount of pure Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi surged into his shriveled skin, and his entire body began to fill out at a visible rate.

Even more frightening, the Profound Iron Chains piercing the major acupoints of his body were now being slowly pushed out by some invisible force!

These chains, which had locked away his Vitality, were no longer needed.

The Cyan Nether Old Lady suddenly let out a shriek that sounded like the ringing of a sword.

The giant Bronze sword on her back shattered inch by inch, revealing a jade-like Sword Bone within. The Sword Bone moved like a snake, burrowing into her spine and merging with it as one. The sight made Xu Yunfan’s brow twitch.

’Some of these Demon Dao methods...’

(’So hot, so hot, so hot!!!’)