Beginning to Forge

Tang San nodded. Blacksmithing was undoubtedly the profession best suited to crafting hidden weapons. "Dad, you're getting old. In a few years, when I'm bigger, teach me how to forge kitchenware so I can take over your work." In the past, he had only done the work of crafting the most intricate hidden weapons. He actually did not know the simplest forging methods.

Tang Hao seemed slightly distracted as he murmured, "Being a blacksmith doesn't seem so bad." He pulled over a battered old chair and sat down directly before the chunk of pig iron. Lazily, he said, "Little San, tell me: what kind of blacksmith is the best blacksmith?"

Tang San thought for a moment. "A blacksmith who can forge a Divine Tool should be the best, right?" He had heard the villagers say that Divine Tools existed in this world, though he did not know what they really were. Still, anything bearing the word "divine" had to be impressive.

A trace of mockery flashed through Tang Hao's eyes. "You even know about Divine Tools now, Little San? Then tell me, what are Divine Tools forged from?"

Without even thinking, Tang San answered, "Of course, the finest materials."

"No. They are forged from ordinary iron." A heavenly voice sounded beside Tang Hao and Tang San. Tang San instinctively looked toward the bed and saw Lan Xue, who had just risen and used the Disguise Bracelet to change into a purple dress. His face reddened slightly.

Tang Hao noticed all of Tang San's little movements and secretly found them amusing. "That's right. If you want to become a qualified blacksmith, remember this: forging a Divine Tool from superior materials does not make you the best blacksmith. At most, it makes you an assembler. Forging a Divine Tool from ordinary iron—that is what makes a Divine Smith."

"Forging a Divine Tool from ordinary iron?" Tang San looked at Tang Hao in surprise. Tang Hao rarely spoke to him on normal days. Today, he had already said more than usual.

Tang Hao stood and pointed at a massive iron lump on the other side of the room, nearly fifty centimeters square. "If you want to become a blacksmith and learn forging from me, then hammer it ten thousand times first. Only then will you be qualified."

It was a lump of ordinary iron, filled with impurities. Compared to the piece containing Iron Essence, it was vastly inferior.

"You can still change your mind now," Tang Hao said flatly. He was already preparing to return to the inner room to sleep.

"Dad, I'm willing to give it a try." Tang San's voice was clear and calm, yet filled with determination.

"Uncle, I want to try too." Lan Xue raised her head and looked at Tang Hao.

Tang Hao looked at them in some surprise. "Fine." As he spoke, he walked over, picked up the huge iron lump, and placed it directly on the furnace beside the bellows. Once the charcoal fire was lit, it could be forged. "By the way, what's your name?" Tang Hao looked at Lan Xue. "My name is Lan Xue. You can call me Little Xue." "Little Xue?" A trace of longing appeared in Tang Hao's eyes.

After doing all that, Tang Hao returned to the inner room to sleep.

"Um, what's your name? Hm? Do you have a fever? Your head is so hot," Lan Xue asked. "Ah, no, it's nothing. My name is Tang San." "Then... can you be my big brother? I have no family." Lan Xue's face held both loneliness and anticipation, and Tang San's heart immediately ached for her. "No problem. I'll be here with you." "Really? That's wonderful!" Lan Xue threw herself at Tang San and gave him a fierce hug. "Let's start forging!" "Ah, okay." Poor Tang San had steam hissing continuously from his head.

Tang San was a man of unwavering will. Otherwise, he could not have relied on a battered blueprint to create the Wrath of the Buddha Tang Lotus, the Tang Sect's most advanced mechanical hidden weapon. It had taken him a full ten years.

There was even less need to mention Lan Xue. She had made such an outrageous wish to the Chaos God; her willpower was far beyond that of ordinary people.

They lit the charcoal, pulled the bellows, and began their work.

The bellows whooshed, and flames rose from the charcoal furnace, scorching the huge iron lump. Though Tang San did not know how to forge, he often watched Tang Hao make farm tools and knew the process. Lan Xue was clever; after watching Tang San do it, she learned as well.

Once the iron lump gradually turned red-hot, Tang San and Lan Xue dragged over the iron hammer Tang Hao usually used and laid it on the ground. This long-handled hammer was even taller than Tang San. An ordinary five- or six-year-old child could never lift it, much less swing it to forge metal.

Yet Tang San still picked it up. He circulated the Mysterious Heaven Skill throughout his body. Though he had not yet broken through the first level, he possessed the strength of an adult. Lan Xue's body was exceptionally strong, so naturally, she was tremendously powerful as well.

Clang! The hammer struck the iron lump with a crisp ring. This was Tang San and Lan Xue's first blow, and it marked the beginning of their forging.

In the inner room, Tang Hao turned over on his bed. Though his eyes remained closed, his expression still held a trace of surprise as he murmured in his sleep, "He can actually lift the hammer. Was he born with divine strength?"

The sound of hammering began to echo through the blacksmith shop. Tang Hao, Tang San, and Lan Xue continued their formerly ordinary lives, but from that day onward, Tang Hao set up two additional furnaces in Tang San's room and had them forge the iron lump themselves. He did not offer Tang San or Lan Xue a single word of guidance, but from that day on, Tang Hao drank less, and there was more food in the house.

Forging was unquestionably a dull and exhausting process, but Tang San treated it as training for his body. Eleven days had already passed, and he had kept count of every strike. He could not swing the hammer using physical strength alone; he needed the support of the Mysterious Heaven Skill.

All his inner power was enough to let him swing the hammer roughly one hundred times. Whenever his power was completely exhausted, he would sit cross-legged on the floor to recover. The moment his inner strength returned, he would immediately resume hammering.

In order not to discourage Tang San, Lan Xue rested whenever he rested, carefully wiping away his sweat. Tang San then became a second-generation tomato, with steam rising from his head. The farmers outside saw that one of the blacksmith shop's chimneys gave off both hammering sounds and smoke. After around one hundred strikes, the hammering would stop, followed by a whoosh as an enormous mushroom cloud of steam burst from the chimney.

This was not merely training for his body. The repeated exhaustion and recovery were also excellent training for Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Skill and his willpower, though it did nothing for Lan Xue. Unfortunately, the bottleneck at the first level of the Mysterious Heaven Skill was like an indestructible wall. Tang San's training could not have been more diligent, and his talent was sufficient, yet he simply could not break through into the second level.

But his efforts had not been wasted. Though the Mysterious Heaven Skill had not broken through, his inner strength grew tougher as he forged the iron lump, and its recovery speed seemed to have become slightly faster than before.

After eleven days, Tang San and Lan Xue had swung the hammer more than eight thousand times. The iron lump had steadily shrunk to less than a third of its original size. With physical training and increased food, Tang San's body had grown sturdier. It was as though a power born from within was gradually flowing into him, reducing his inner power consumption as the forging continued. When he infused his blows with all his inner strength, his power had also increased greatly. Lan Xue had not changed much; she had merely become more alluring.

After they had struck it one thousand times, the iron lump had already changed noticeably. It had shrunk by an entire size, and although it glowed red in the charcoal fire, they could vaguely see that the impurities inside seemed to have diminished considerably.

The phrase "a hundred refinings make steel" appeared in Tang San and Lan Xue's minds, further strengthening their resolve to complete the ten thousand strikes. They were already very close to that goal.

Tang San and Lan Xue's persistence greatly surprised Tang Hao. In his view, even if his son and adopted daughter possessed innate divine strength, they should not have been able to endure for more than three days. The hammer handle was made so rough to prevent slipping, and the constant swinging and friction against their palms should inevitably have caused severe injuries. Yet he discovered that although Tang San and Lan Xue were genuinely forging the iron, their tender little hands showed no changes at all. They had not even developed a single blister, while Lan Xue's palms had become even more delicate.