The Power of the Mind, Forging a Divine Weapon

At the Courtyard Entrance.

Lin Changqing watched the backs of Lin Dashan and the others as they left, the divine light in his eyes growing ever brighter. He murmured, "The power of the mind truly is extraordinary.

"It is indeed filled with endless mysteries..."

The reason Lin Dashan had suddenly changed his ways was naturally not because his conscience had awakened.

It was because Lin Changqing had used the power of the mind cultivated through Visualizing the Solar Star to implant a psychological suggestion in Lin Dashan, clouding his will.

In his previous life, there had been a professional term for it.

Hypnosis.

Though it had only been his first visualization, Lin Changqing's mind had undergone a transformation, and the power of his mind was already immensely strong.

Let alone hypnotizing Lin Dashan and planting the suggestion that Lin Changqing had never borrowed money from him.

If Lin Changqing wished, he could even make Lin Dashan kill himself on the spot.

However, Lin Changqing did not wish to do that.

Lin Dashan was hateful, but his crimes did not warrant death.

When one harbored a sharp weapon, the urge to kill would reveal itself.

Lin Changqing knew very well that if he used the power of his mind to commit evil and go against his true heart, then over time, his mind would inevitably be stained with dust.

At best, his future cultivation would become impossible to advance; at worst, inner demons would arise, and he would suffer deviation.

Naturally, Lin Changqing was unwilling to lose the greater for the lesser.

He had been reborn and possessed such Heaven-Defying Comprehension.

Naturally, he did not wish to live an ordinary life.

In the future, he did not seek to suppress all the heavens or stand alone through eternity.

Seeking the Dao and immortality would be good enough.

First, he would set himself a small goal: live for ten thousand years.

"To seek the Dao and immortality, one can only achieve unity of heaven and man and transcend the mortal world by Cultivating Both Life and Nature..."

Lin Changqing murmured, "I have now comprehended the Visualization Method and strengthened the power of my mind. I cultivate Nature, but not Life.

"As they say, a lone yin cannot give birth, and a lone yang cannot grow.

"Cultivating only the power of the mind is like walking on one leg. If I wish to seek the Dao and immortality in the future, I fear it will be very difficult.

"It seems I must find a way to obtain a Martial cultivation method..."

However, he had never dabbled in the martial arts of this world. Even with Extraordinary Comprehension, he had nowhere to begin.

As the saying went, even the cleverest housewife could not cook without rice.

It was unlike this Visualization Method. In his previous life, he had studied Daoist scriptures, the Book of Changes, and ancient texts, reading widely. Though he had never put it into practice, his theoretical knowledge was abundant.

Only then had he been able to deduce a visualization method.

But martial arts were different, because he did not even possess the theoretical knowledge.

"I have heard that the martial academies in the county town teach martial arts, but the tuition is expensive—at least three taels of silver per month."

Lin Changqing muttered, "But I am penniless now. Forget going to a martial academy.

"Even food and clothing in the future will be a problem.

"Could it be that I should use the power of my mind to rob the rich and aid the poor?"

Naturally, Lin Changqing was unwilling to do such a thing.

Whether he had created the Visualization Method or would cultivate martial arts in the future, he had only one goal: seek the Dao and pursue immortality.

Fighting and killing were not the life he wanted.

A plain and peaceful life was the real thing.

Cultivating truth, cultivating truth—the cultivation was of true meaning, of authenticity.

He did not wish to act against his true heart.

"If I will not rob, then I can only earn money with my own hands. Perhaps I can try forging..."

Lin Changqing murmured.

Light immediately flashed in his eyes as his heart stirred.

Martial arts flourished in this world.

For that very reason, the Great Zhou Dynasty did not prohibit swords and sabers.

Of course, military equipment such as War Armor and crossbows was still forbidden from being privately manufactured.

Naturally, Lin Changqing would not forge War Armor and invite trouble upon himself.

Nor was he interested in ordinary weapons.

Though forging ordinary weapons was easy, the profits were correspondingly low.

He did not want to spend every day forging swords and sabers for a living like this body's father, who had spent his whole life making weapons and tools.

Every day, he had circled a blacksmith's furnace without ever making much of himself.

In the end, he had even been unlucky enough to be conscripted by the Imperial Court, and had yet to return.

No one knew whether he was alive or dead.

Lin Changqing wanted to forge in order to obtain enormous profits and prepare for cultivating martial arts in the future.

As the saying went, Poverty in scholarship, wealth in martial arts.

Cultivating martial arts was impossible without money.

Thus, he naturally had no interest in ordinary weapons.

If he was going to forge something, it would be a Divine Weapon.

Weapons in this world were also divided into ranks. Above ordinary weapons were Mortal Grade Ninth Rank weapons.

Ninth Rank was the lowest, First Rank the highest.

Yet as long as a weapon entered the ranks, it could be called a Divine Weapon.

As for whether there were further ranks above First Rank, Lin Changqing was not too sure. After all, his former self had merely been a mountain village boy.

If not for his father being a Blacksmith and his family having some inherited knowledge in the craft.

He might not have known even these things.

After all, expecting a mountain villager who had inherited his father's trade, hammered iron every day, and whose greatest wish in life was to earn enough money to build a house and marry a wife to concern himself with matters of martial arts...

That truly would have been asking too much of him.

"Even a Divine Weapon of the lowest Mortal Grade Ninth Rank is worth ten gold. With my current forging skills, forging a Mortal Grade Ninth Rank Divine Weapon should not be difficult."

Lin Changqing acted as soon as the thought arose.

After closing the courtyard gate, he headed straight for the Forging Room on the left side of the Small Courtyard.

This was his father's workshop in this life.

His father had originally made a living forging all kinds of tools and weapons for the villagers, so the Forging Room was fully stocked with tools and materials.

"A ranked Divine Weapon differs from an ordinary weapon not only in craftsmanship, but also in its materials."

Lin Changqing went straight to the innermost part of the Forging Room.

He casually opened a pitch-black iron chest and carried out a chunk of bluish-black metal the size of a watermelon.

This was Black Gold Iron.

A relatively rare forging material.

Though it was only this large, it weighed seventy or eighty jin.

Black Gold Iron was an excellent material for forging Divine Weapons.

A piece this large, if entirely used to forge a weapon, would be enough to create a Mortal Grade Eighth Rank, or even Mortal Grade Seven, Divine Weapon.

But he did not intend to do that.

He only planned to use part of the Black Gold Iron, mixed with Hundred Refined Steel, to forge a Mortal Grade Ninth Rank Divine Weapon. That would be enough.

A man is guilty because he possesses jade.

He understood that principle well enough.

Though top-grade Mortal Grade Divine Weapons were precious, they were still available for sale on the market.

They would not cause too great a stir. But a Mortal Grade Eighth Rank, or even a Mortal Grade Seven Divine Weapon...

That would be a death warrant.

According to Lin Changqing's understanding, a Mortal Grade Seven Divine Weapon was worth at least ten thousand gold, and even having the money did not necessarily mean one could buy it.

Once people learned that he possessed such a Divine Weapon.

It would absolutely bring about a fatal disaster.

In this world, the strong devoured the weak, and human lives were as cheap as grass.

Without strength, one could not keep good things.

"A Ninth Rank Divine Weapon is worth at least several dozen gold, perhaps even more. That will be enough for me to cultivate martial arts and cover a year of living expenses."

Lin Changqing murmured, but his hands did not remain idle.

He began forging.

Lin Changqing's former self had studied forging under his father in this life from childhood onward, but because of his own lack of talent, his skill had not actually been very good.

This was also one reason he had escaped disaster when the Imperial Court conscripted blacksmiths.

However, what outsiders did not know was that.

Three months ago, after he had transmigrated into this body and taken possession of it.

With his Heaven-Defying Comprehension.

His Forging Technique had advanced by leaps and bounds, long since surpassing his father. His attainments and understanding of forging had reached an exceptionally high level.

He was confident that he could forge a true ranked Divine Weapon.