txolops Chapter 93 The Essence of Gold
Chapter 93 The Essence of Gold
Chapter 93 The Essence of Gold
The middle-aged blacksmith listened with great confusion, "Zhan Fengxie?"
The wind is formless, how can it be cut?
He wouldn't forge such a sword, but Chu De didn't ask him to either.
I just wanted to learn how to forge iron and try it myself.
Although the middle-aged blacksmith thought Chu Xun was acting strangely, he agreed for the sake of the money.
He immediately called his son from inside the house and said, "Teach him how to start a fire first."
His son was seventeen or eighteen years old and looked about the same age as Chu Xun.
Upon learning that the boy wanted to learn blacksmithing, the burly young man was immediately delighted.
Leading Chu Xun to the stove, the young man named Cheng Congyi said, "You're so fair-skinned, you obviously haven't done any manual labor."
"Starting a fire sounds simple, and it's actually not difficult. But once you have a fire, there are tricks to knowing when to suppress it and when to add fuel."
As he spoke, he grabbed a handful of straw and stuffed it into the stove, then layered it with thin twigs before adding fine charcoal.
Use a fire tinder to ignite the straw, and once the branches are also burning, keep adding larger pieces of firewood and charcoal.
Half an hour had passed before the furnace was fully lit.
Cheng Congyi wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "I've heard that the blacksmith shops in the city never need to turn off their fires all year round, saving the time of starting a fire."
"Someday I want to open a huge blacksmith shop where the fire never needs to be turned off!"
Chu Xun watched quietly from the side, very attentively.
Cheng Shan walked over and said, "With just a few kitchen knives and hoes, what do you need such a big shop for?"
Cheng Congyi chuckled and said, "You're forging kitchen knives, but I'll be forging divine weapons in the future!"
"You're always thinking about nonsense, get out of here." Cheng Shan pushed him away, picked up the iron tongs, and put a piece of pig iron into the furnace.
Cheng Congyi said to Chu Xun, "Quickly pump the bellows, the fire needs to be bigger!"
Chu Xun did as instructed, grabbing the bellows handle in front of him and repeatedly pulling it out and pushing it back in.
The Cheng father and son were quite surprised to see him so relaxed.
Cheng Congyi ran up to Chu Xun and pinched his arm, saying, "You don't look that strong, how come you're so powerful!"
The blacksmith's bellows is not like the stove of an ordinary household; it is made very large and heavy to pull, so that more air can be sent in.
Even a child like Cheng Congyi, who had spent his childhood hanging around blacksmith shops, would find it tiring to pull him along.
Chu Xun, however, was quite relaxed; after relieving himself for a long time, he barely sweated.
Recalling Chu Xun's earlier ascent up the mountain and his subsequent request for a sword capable of slaying the evil winds, Cheng Shan immediately realized that he must have encountered some kind of master.
There's a saying in the martial arts world that there are four types of people you shouldn't offend.
Monks, Taoist priests, women, and children.
A teenager—I suppose he could be considered a child.
Cheng Shan's attitude immediately became much more serious, and he paid even more attention when teaching blacksmithing.
Cheng Shan had Cheng Congyi use pliers to hold the red-hot iron block in place, while Cheng Shan grabbed a sledgehammer and began to smash and instruct Cheng Shan.
"The art of hammering and forging cannot be achieved with brute force; it requires the coordination of the waist and stance. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect; with more practice, one will naturally gain understanding and mastery of precise strikes."
"When hammering, use a large hammer to shape the stone and a small hammer to level it. Hammer after hammer, find the rhythm as you strike."
"Finding the right rhythm saves effort and produces high quality results."
Soon, the iron billet was hammered into a flat shape.
Cheng Shan did not continue, but instead asked Chu Xun to come over and take the iron tongs to put the cooled iron billet into the furnace to reheat it.
"Starting a fire may seem simple, but controlling the heat is actually very important. If you overcook it, it will be too soft; if you don't cook it well, there will be too many impurities, which will waste time."
"You need to control the size of the fire, and then observe the color change of the iron billet. You need to know what temperature, what time, and what shape it will turn into."
Chu Xun is very smart and very patient.
I used to think that blacksmithing was very simple.
I thought I could just heat the iron until it was red-hot and hammer it a few times, but I never imagined there would be so many details and techniques to learn.
Perhaps because he possessed the skills of fire-making and metal-forging, Chu Xun could clearly feel that he had a more acute perception of fire and iron than ordinary people.
Once the iron ingot was heated red-hot again, Cheng Shan asked him to take it out, saying, "I'll hold the ingot for you; you can tap it a few times to get a feel for it."
Chu Xun took the sledgehammer as instructed. Cheng Congyi watched nervously and warned, "Be careful, don't hit my dad, it's no joke!"
Cheng Shan scolded, "Don't distract him!"
Feeling aggrieved after being scolded, Cheng Congyi muttered, "You weren't this patient when you were teaching me."
Chu Xun gripped the iron hammer, gazing at the iron blank that had been heated to a fiery red.
As the hammer was raised, a strange feeling welled up inside me.
Without thinking too much, he slammed the hammer down hard.
Bang! A dazzling spark burst forth from the iron ingot.
Alchemy +1
Cheng Congyi watched from the side, and surprisingly, the first hammer blow did not miss.
Hmm—it's not too surprising. This kid is strong and probably lucky too.
However, one hammer blow after another fell, each one landing steadily on the iron billet.
Although she is not yet very skilled at shaping, her accuracy alone is astonishing.
Cheng Congyi looked at the iron ingot for a while, then glanced at Chu Xun, his mouth gradually widening.
When the iron billet was no longer hot enough, it was put back into the furnace.
Watching the boy who had already taken the initiative to operate the bellows, monitor the fire, and add charcoal on his own, without causing any chaos.
Cheng Shan suddenly remembered his son's long-held dream: to open a large blacksmith shop, specializing in forging divine weapons.
Watching Chu Xun work methodically and remain calm throughout, Cheng Shan thought, "If it were him—perhaps he could really forge a divine weapon."
After a busy day, Chu De had learned the basics of blacksmithing.
However, the iron blank was not heavy enough to forge a longsword; it needed to be larger.
That night, Chu Xun stayed at the Cheng family's house.
The crows randomly chose some trees at the foot of the mountain and landed there, crowding together.
Cheng Shan's wife died in an accident while collecting firewood on the mountain years ago.
He has not remarried all these years.
Fortunately, my son grew up safely, so there's someone to carry on the family line and I don't have to worry about what will happen after I'm gone.
He did not inquire about Chu Xun's background, but Cheng Congyi did ask, and Chu Xun still replied that he was a farmer.
Cheng Congyi scoffed at the news, utterly disbelieving.
After a night had passed, before dawn, Chu Xun got up and opened the door.
Stepping outside, he faced west and, as described in the Three Caverns Pearl Pouch, knocked his teeth together seven times.
With a calm and focused mind, wisps of golden essence gradually appeared before my eyes.
Pure and gentle.
Like a light veil, or like flowing frost.
"The Eightfold Assemblies of Flying Mystery, the Eightfold Assemblies of Flying Mystery—"
With each chant, the golden essence gathered into a pillar of energy, which entered Chu Xun's mouth and nose.
Pei Luo said she had tried it, but it didn't work.
Because of its mortal form, it cannot even see the five elements, so how can it be effective?
During the Foundation Establishment stage, one can observe and absorb Qi.
But there is a limit. Soon Chu felt uncomfortable and knew that continuing would easily harm himself.
No longer insisting, he slowly walked into the blacksmith's shop and picked up a piece of iron of a suitable size.
The essence of gold was exhaled from the mouth and nose, transforming into a white ribbon that was injected into the iron ingot.
In an instant, spiritual light shone from the iron ingot, surrounded by swirling white mist.
It faintly emitted a clear and melodious sound, neither a bell nor a chime, but like the roar of a dragon.
Upon closer inspection, one can find some tiny cracks.
The iron ingot was of such poor quality that it could only hold one strand of golden essence.
Chu Xun was not too disappointed. After putting it down, he walked to the stove.
Unlike Cheng Congyi, who used straw to start a fire at the bottom, they directly put in thin branches and charcoal.
With a thought, fire instantly burst forth from the tree branch.
Fire-starting skill +1
But soon, Chu Xun discovered that he didn't even need tree branches.
As long as there is enough spiritual energy, the flame can persist indefinitely, enough to ignite the charcoal.
This is just the most basic fire-making technique. If one truly reaches the perfection of the Five Elements, it might become the Six Ding Divine Fire, capable of burning a hole in the sky.
"If you casually toss a ball of fire one day, could it really create a volcano?"
Chu Xun chuckled and simply added in large chunks of charcoal as well.
Fire-starting skill +1
Fire-starting skill +1
When Cheng Shan came out after hearing the commotion, he saw Chu Xun working hard to pull the bellows.
Huhu—
The bellows emitted a heavy whistling sound, sending in a large amount of air and making the fire burn even more rapidly.
The iron ingot, which had been heated for a long time, turned a bright red color like cherries.
Chu Xun sensed something and was about to take out the iron ingot.
Cheng Shan had already arrived. The middle-aged blacksmith reached out and grabbed the iron tongs, took out the red-hot iron blank and placed it on the anvil, solemnly saying, "I'll hold the blank for you."
Chu Xun didn't say much. He picked up the sledgehammer next to him and, after Cheng Shan had steadied himself, smashed it hard against the iron blank.
bang bang —
The continuous heavy blows caused the iron billet to deform at an extremely fast speed.
A large amount of impurities were smashed out, and Cheng Shan felt his arms tremble violently, which made him feel horrified.
Only then did I realize that the boy hadn't used his full strength yesterday because he wasn't very familiar with the hammer-dropping technique.
Now that I'm more skilled, adding a little more force makes it almost unbearable for me.
A moment later, the iron ingot was returned to the furnace and heated up. Chu Xun, while operating the bellows, turned around and asked, "Is it alright?"
Cheng Shan rubbed his sore arms and gritted his teeth, saying, "Not bad!"
Not long after, Cheng Congyi also came out.
The two men, one holding a blank and the other wielding a hammer, had already smashed the iron blank flat.
Upon closer inspection, the boy wielding the hammer showed no signs of panting, while his father, holding the embryo, was covered in sweat.
Cheng Congyi was surprised and quickly ran over, saying, "Father, let me hold the embryo."
"No, you can't handle it!" Cheng Shan refused decisively.
Cheng Shan didn't come down until Chu Xun finished shaping the object with a sledgehammer and started leveling it with a small hammer.
Looking down, I saw that my arms were trembling and my legs were weak.
During that beating, he had no time to think about anything else; he only felt that each blow was as heavy as a thousand pounds.
Looking at the boy who was still hammering away with his small hammer and hadn't shown much sweat, Cheng Shan's eyes filled with even more surprise and admiration.
After a full day, the sword blank has taken shape.
However, there are still processes such as shaping, quenching, and sharpening afterward.
Chu Xun stayed at the Cheng family's house for a few more days, taking the opportunity to learn other blacksmithing skills.
Three days later, under Cheng Shan's guidance, Chu De completed the sharpening of the blade.
The sword has a flat blade, is four feet long, and has a smooth and sharp edge.
Using a wooden stake as a test, a casual chop easily cut through a piece of wood about a foot thick.
Cheng Congyi clicked his tongue in amazement: "So sharp!"
Holding the sword in one hand, Chu Xun cupped his hands to Cheng Shan and said, "The sword is ready. I'm going up the mountain now."
Cheng Shan seemed to understand what he was going to do and said, "My iron ingot is of low quality. If you can get a piece of divine iron in the future, you can forge a divine weapon, which will be more useful."
Chu Xun's heart stirred upon hearing this, and he nodded, saying, "Thank you for your guidance."
After Cheng Congyi bowed, Chu Xun took his sword and went up the mountain.
Cheng Congyi, puzzled, asked, "Father, what is he going up the mountain for?"
Cheng Shan hesitated for a moment, only to see the boy's figure disappear without a trace in the time it took to say two or three words.
The sound of flapping wings came from the forest, and dozens of crows took flight.
Cheng Shan looked up and then answered his son's question.
"Eliminate the pest!"