Daoist Yunyang

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Heavy pounding rang out from the Forging Room. Lin Changqing was hammering Black Gold Iron and ordinary steel for forging weapons.

He first had to repeatedly hammer the ordinary steel.

Refining it into Hundred Refined Steel, then fuse it with Black Gold Iron and continue folding and hammering it. Every fold required a thousand temperings and a hundred refinements.

Only after repeating this a hundred times could it finally take shape.

The path of forging placed great emphasis on memory. Every step tested one's skill to the utmost.

Every single step was crucial.

Miss by a hair, and you would be off by a thousand miles.

There could not be the slightest carelessness.

Lin Changqing swung the iron hammer in his hand, continuously striking the red-hot steel.

Every blow carried exactly the same force.

His mind gradually emptied.

As though he had entered an ethereal state.

The Hundred Refined Steel fused with Black Gold Iron gradually took shape beneath his hands.

Hammering, planing, filing, quenching, polishing, and many other processes flowed like drifting clouds and running water, completed in one seamless breath.

Clang...

No one knew how much time had passed.

Accompanied by a crisp Blade Hum, the long blade in Lin Changqing's hand, gleaming with cold light, was finally complete.

"It's done!"

A sharp gleam flashed through Lin Changqing's eyes.

With a sweep of his blade, he fiercely slashed at an iron-cast square platform in one corner of the Forging Room.

It sliced through it as easily as cutting tofu, shearing off one corner of the platform.

Yet the long blade in his hand still flashed with cold radiance, without the slightest chip.

With a casual shake, the blade trembled. Amid its crisp Blade Hum was a note like a clear spring.

"Sharp enough to cut iron like mud, its hum like a clear spring—this blade should have reached the limit of Mortal Grade Nine."

His eyes glittered, and he could barely contain his delight. "An ordinary Mortal Grade Nine divine weapon is worth ten gold.

This blade is worth at least a hundred gold.

It seems I won't need to worry about living expenses for the next several years."

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, one gold was equivalent to One hundred taels of silver. A hundred gold meant Ten thousand taels.

For a family of five, a year's food and clothing expenses would at most be ten taels, perhaps even less.

Ten thousand taels of silver, if spent frugally, would be enough for a family to live happily for a lifetime.

Of course.

That only applied to ordinary people. For Martial Artists, things were different.

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

The path of Martial Cultivation was a bottomless pit that devoured money.

Lin Changqing estimated that Ten thousand taels of silver would probably not last more than a few years.

But that was fine.

With his current Heaven-Defying Comprehension, who could say what his situation would be in a few years? Perhaps by then, he would have already achieved great success in Martial Cultivation.

Once he possessed the strength to protect himself, he could forge divine weapons of even higher grades and sell them.

There would be no need to worry about money.

"Changqing..."

Just as Lin Changqing's thoughts were running wild, a rough voice came from outside the courtyard.

Outside the house.

A broad, burly youth was shouting toward Lin Changqing's home.

Lin Hu, the second son of Lin Yaozong, the village head of Green Mountain Village.

He and the former Lin Changqing had been brothers who grew up together.

Lin Changqing casually put the long blade into the chest containing the Black Gold Iron, then strode out of the Forging Room.

"Hu Zi, what is it?"

Walking out of the courtyard, Lin Changqing smiled and asked Lin Hu.

"Changqing, come on... hurry and follow me. An expert has come to the village and says he'll teach us Martial Cultivation..."

Lin Hu said excitedly.

"Martial Cultivation!"

Lin Changqing's eyes immediately lit up. He promptly followed Lin Hu.

They headed straight for the village Ancestral Hall.

At the same time, Lin Changqing furrowed his brow and asked in a deep voice, "Hu Zi, what exactly is going on? Where did this expert come from? Why would he teach us Martial Cultivation for no reason?

He isn't a swindler, is he?"

Although Martial Cultivation flourished in this world.

Cultivation Methods were exceptionally precious and were not lightly passed on to outsiders.

Now, a stranger had suddenly entered the village and wanted to teach them Martial Cultivation. Naturally, Lin Changqing was suspicious.

"Probably not."

Lin Hu shook his head. "Do you remember the Taoist the hunting party rescued three days ago when they came back from the mountains?

It's him. He wants to teach us a martial arts fist technique..."

"Him?"

Lin Changqing frowned even more deeply. Naturally, he knew of the Taoist Lin Hu mentioned.

Green Mountain Village stood against the Hundred Thousand Mountains. As the saying went, those who live by the mountains live off the mountains. Most of the village's income came from hunting.

For that reason, Green Mountain Village had its own hunting party.

They selected the strongest and most capable people in the village, forming teams to enter the mountains and hunt.

Three days ago.

When the hunting party returned from hunting, they brought back a Taoist covered in blood. He was said to have been rescued in the mountains.

Lin Changqing knew about this, and had even seen the Taoist a few times.

But at the time, he had merely assumed the man was an ordinary Taoist and paid him no mind.

Who would have thought that the one teaching Martial Cultivation would be this Taoist?

Could this Taoist be a Martial Cultivation expert?

Then why had he been injured?

Countless thoughts flashed through Lin Changqing's mind, but his feet did not slow. After crossing half the village with Lin Hu, they finally arrived at Green Mountain Village's Ancestral Hall.

By then, quite a few people had gathered in the open space outside the Ancestral Hall.

Men, women, young, and old were all there.

But most had merely come to watch the excitement.

After all, someone was teaching Martial Cultivation.

Who would not want to witness a true Martial Skill?

"All right, everyone, quiet down."

At that moment, Clan Chief Lin Yuntang, standing at the entrance to the Ancestral Hall, spoke.

The previously noisy crowd immediately fell silent and looked together toward the hall entrance.

Besides Clan Chief Lin Yuntang, another person stood beside him.

More precisely, a Taoist who appeared to possess the bearing of an immortal.

"This is Daoist Yunyang."

After seeing that everyone had quieted down, Lin Yuntang continued, "To thank Green Mountain Village.

Daoist Yunyang has decided to teach everyone a fist technique Martial Skill.

This is a fortuitous opportunity for Green Mountain Village. As for whether you can seize it, that depends on your own fate."

As he spoke, Lin Yuntang smiled faintly at Daoist Yunyang beside him. "Daoist, I'll have to trouble you next."

"You are too polite, Layman Lin."

After clasping his hands in salute to Lin Yuntang, Daoist Yunyang smiled at everyone in the open space and said in a deep voice, "Fellow villagers, the fist technique I will teach you is a Health Fist that this old Taoist cultivates himself.

It is called the Five Elements Health Cultivation Fist..."

"Damn, it's actually a Health Fist. What the hell is that good for?"

"I knew it. Why would anyone teach us Martial Skills for nothing? What kind of Martial Skill is a Health Fist?"

"This old Taoist is not being straight with us! If I'd known it was a Health Fist, I wouldn't have come."

"That's right. A Health Fist has no real power. Even if you trained it for a lifetime, it would probably amount to nothing."

The instant Daoist Yunyang said those words, the scene erupted into commotion.

Some people even waved a hand and turned to leave on the spot.

Although Health Fists were also martial arts methods, many people did not acknowledge them and even looked down on them.

That was because Health Fists focused on nurturing health and were extremely weak in terms of lethality.

They might not even be as useful as the village's Farmers' Moves.

Almost no one valued them.

In the blink of an eye.

More than half the people had left.

"Changqing, I didn't expect the fist technique this Taoist is teaching us to be a Health Fist. This thing is completely useless. Why don't we leave too?

No point wasting our time."

Lin Hu spoke to Lin Changqing.

His face was full of disappointment.

He had come with great expectations, believing it was a tremendous opportunity that would let him learn a true Martial cultivation method.

Who would have thought it would be a Health Fist?

He had fallen from the ninth heaven into the abyss. How could he possibly be in a good mood?

"No rush. Let's watch first."

Yet Lin Changqing merely shook his head slightly. A sharp gleam flickered in his eyes as he looked toward Daoist Yunyang at the entrance of the Ancestral Hall.

When the others heard that it was a Health Fist, they were bitterly disappointed and turned away.

But he had noticed something different.

Daoist Yunyang's voice had clearly not been loud when he spoke just now, yet it had reached the ears of several hundred people present with perfect clarity.

That was far from simple.

An ordinary person could never accomplish it.

Lin Changqing was certain that Daoist Yunyang was a genuine Martial Cultivation practitioner.

And his strength was not low.

Of course, that was not the key point.

The true reason was that Lin Changqing had sensed the Qi and Blood within Daoist Yunyang, blazing like a furnace.