Apprentice Blacksmith!

Once three days had passed, Li Han did not dismiss Li Changsheng, which meant Li Changsheng could continue staying at Li's Blacksmith Shop as an apprentice.

Moreover, Li Changsheng often took the initiative to help the other apprentices with their work, and he spoke pleasantly as well. Thus, he did not draw hostility from the others and had, for the time being, gained a foothold in Li's Blacksmith Shop.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed.

Li Changsheng was still quite skinny, but he had gained muscle, and his physical fitness had improved considerably compared to a month ago. That was the result of a month of manual labor.

He had originally thought that twenty days would be enough to upgrade the Forging Dao Fruit, but he had underestimated the difficulty of upgrading it. The experience gain slowed somewhat later on.

It was not until today that the Forging Dao Fruit was truly about to level up.

[Host: Li Changsheng]

[Cultivation: None]

[Dao Fruit: Forging lv1 (0%)]

At the instant the Forging Dao Fruit leveled up, a vast amount of forging knowledge flooded into his mind.

"Ha ha ha, it worked!"

Li Changsheng knew full well that if he were asked to forge fine iron now, he could definitely produce Ten Refinements Fine Iron. But the problem was that he had no right to forge fine iron, meaning he had no chance to show off his forging skills!

Another two days passed, yet his forging experience did not continue to increase.

Clearly, after the Forging Dao Fruit's ability had risen to Level 1, observation alone could no longer raise his experience. He had to get his hands on the work himself to gain experience.

Just as Li Changsheng was agonizing over how to display his abilities, an opportunity arrived.

That day.

Li Han gathered all the apprentices and told them to stop what they were doing.

"Many of you have been apprentices for quite some time. You all want to become apprentice blacksmiths and forge fine iron, so don't say I never gave you a chance. Any apprentice who can forge Five Refinements Fine Iron may come to me. I will teach you a hammer technique. And if you can forge Ten Refinements Fine Iron within one month, you will no longer need to do hard labor. You will directly forge fine iron for the blacksmith shop, and for every piece of fine iron you forge, you will receive a certain wage," Li Han said.

The moment those words came out, some of the apprentices grew extremely excited.

One apprentice after another then wanted to give it a try, and Li Han gave them all the chance.

However, without instruction or guidance, it was almost impossible for apprentices to forge Five Refinements Fine Iron.

One apprentice after another failed, though some succeeded. There were only two of them, both veteran apprentices, and they had only barely managed to forge Five Refinements Fine Iron.

"Master Li Han, I want to give it a try."

Li Changsheng stepped forward and said.

"You?" Li Han frowned. Li Changsheng had only joined the blacksmith shop a little over a month ago, yet he wanted to forge Five Refinements Fine Iron too?

Still, he had said that everyone would have a chance. It would not look good if he refused Li Changsheng one.

"Fine, you can try."

Li Han allowed it.

Li Changsheng immediately walked to the forge table and began working on a prepared Refined Iron Blank. Forging fine iron meant using a hammer to strike it again and again, hammering out the impurities within and gradually improving the quality of the fine iron. Each tempering of the fine iron counted as one refinement. Only Ten Refinements Fine Iron was qualified to serve as material for a true graded weapon.

Li Changsheng picked up the hammer. It was a little heavy, but he could still wield it. He then took a deep breath and began forging.

The first hammer blow was somewhat awkward, but as he struck again and again, his movements grew increasingly practiced and precise.

Before long, the first refinement was complete.

He began the second refinement.

Third refinement!

Fourth refinement!

At this point, Li Changsheng concealed his strength and began to act strained. He did not need to display the ability to forge ten refinements; forging five was enough.

After a while, Li Changsheng brought down his final hammer blow. This piece of fine iron had completed five refinements.

"Five refinements? How is that possible!!!!"

All the apprentices were stunned. Li Changsheng had actually forged Five Refinements Fine Iron.

Li Han was also immensely shocked. He had never expected Li Changsheng to truly forge Five Refinements Fine Iron.

"Have you studied forging before?" Li Han asked.

Li Changsheng hurriedly explained, "There was once a blacksmith among my ancestors. My family has a book on forging. I read it, but I had never forged anything myself. Over this past month, I have constantly watched others forge and gained some experience, which is why I was able to forge Five Refinements Fine Iron."

Li Han believed Li Changsheng's explanation, but even so, it was enough to show that Li Changsheng possessed great talent in forging and was worth nurturing.

"You three, come with me. The rest of you, continue working."

Li Han brought the three apprentices to a Forging Room behind the shop.

"You can now forge weapons with five refinements, but you are still far from being able to forge graded weapons and becoming blacksmiths."

"I will teach you a hammer technique. Though it is merely an ungraded hammer technique, it is easy for you to get started with and is the best choice for building your foundation."

"This hammer technique is called the Li Family Three Hammer Technique. It has only three movements. I will slow them down, so watch carefully!"

Li Han began demonstrating the Li Family Three Hammer Technique, his movements very slow.

Before long, Li Han had completed all three movements.

"Why don't you all give it a try?"

Li Han had the other two senior apprentices attempt the Li Family Three Hammer Technique, but their movements were clearly unstandardized, with mistakes in several places.

Yet when Li Changsheng stepped up to perform it, Li Han was immediately stunned.

Li Changsheng's movements were simply too precise. He had already mastered the Li Family Three Hammer Technique at the entry level.

"Entering the gate after one viewing—this talent..."

Li Han was immensely excited. This was practically a natural-born blacksmith!

Moreover, Li Changsheng was from Li Family Lane and shared the Li surname. Perhaps their ancestors had even been one family, so he could hardly be considered an outsider. He was worth cultivating.

Afterward, Li Han taught the other two several more times before their movements became barely standardized, but it would take them at least several more days to reach the entry level.

"Changsheng, starting tomorrow, you may use a forging station by yourself for one hour each day," Li Han said.

"Thank you, Master Li Han!"

Li Changsheng said gratefully.

With Li Han's permission, Li Changsheng spent the following days continuously honing his forging skills at Li's Blacksmith Shop. His Li Family Three Hammer Technique improved at a rapid pace as well.

Li Changsheng discovered that breakthroughs in the Li Family Three Hammer Technique added a considerable amount of experience to the Forging Dao Fruit's ability.

Three days later, the Li Family Three Hammer Technique broke through to the Minor Accomplishment Realm.

Ten days later, Li Changsheng had advanced the Li Family Three Hammer Technique to the Great Accomplishment Realm. By then, he had also displayed Ten Refinements-level forging skill, becoming a quasi-blacksmith and earning the permanent right to use a forging station.

Furthermore, for every ten pieces of Ten Refinements Fine Iron he forged in the future, he would receive a reward of one tael of silver. A tael of silver had substantial purchasing power—enough to support one person for two or three months.

And if Li Changsheng gave it his all, he could forge five or six pieces of fine iron in a single day.

From then on, he would no longer go hungry. Every day, he ate fish and meat to his fill, and his physical condition gradually improved.

Once he had money, Li Changsheng began thinking about learning martial arts.

In this world, the Martial Dao was the mainstream. Without Martial Dao cultivation, even a minor danger could cost him his life.

There were several paths to learning martial arts. The first was to enter a Martial Arts Hall for training. The second was to spend money buying martial arts manuals, though their authenticity could not be guaranteed and no one would be there to teach him. The third was to join one of the great clans as a guard, where he could also obtain martial arts techniques.

For Li Changsheng, the second option was unsuitable. If he bought a flawed martial arts manual, he would be thoroughly cheated. He had even less reason to consider the third—once he joined those great clans, he would never be able to break free for the rest of his life.

Thus, he could only choose to enter a Martial Arts Hall and learn martial arts.