Forging Swords

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and the sun had already climbed high.

Yun Ji opened his eyes from cultivation, his face stretched long, full of frustration.

He had originally thought that with his meager talent, cultivating this Wudang Xiantian Gong would surely yield twice the results with half the effort. Who would have guessed that after a full three days, he still hadn't even entered the gate!

This orthodox Daoist technique was nowhere near as simple to cultivate as he'd imagined.

No matter how thoroughly his daughter Yun He explained the Wudang Xiantian Gong, there was still a layer between them, far inferior to directly fusing that Inheritance Card for immediate clarity.

Over on the other side, Yun He and Yun Hu, brother and sister, were in a completely different situation.

Once the Inheritance Cards were fused, the techniques and martial skills they obtained moved as naturally as an arm directing a hand, all formally entering the gate. The siblings' cultivation bases even broke through their shackles together, steadily stepping into the Body Tempering Realm!

This girl Yun He's cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, actually catching up to her brother Yun Hu's pace in one go.

Seeing this, Yun Hu grinned wide with joy, not a single knot in his heart; instead, he felt genuine happiness for his sister's rapid progress.

The inheritances the two obtained—one was the Ladder Cloud Leap lightness skill, the other the Qingcheng Swordplay—both were orthodox Daoist arts. One was agile and ethereal, the other sharp and exquisite, perfectly complementing each other.

Over these three days, the siblings hadn't been idle either. They went back and forth, teaching each other—one imparting the dodging and shifting of lightness skill, the other guiding the essential changes of swordplay. The courtyard rang with shouts and cries, lively and bustling.

Yun Long, meanwhile, focused solely on his own gains. His inheritance was already balanced between offense and defense, smooth and self-contained. Splitting his attention to learn other things would only lead to grasping too much and mastering nothing, which wouldn't be good.

The Yun Clan had made a living by hunting for generations, accustomed to using bows, crossbows, and snares in daily life. A sword was of little use in mountain forest hunting, so naturally, not even a single decent iron sword could be found in the house.

Now that Yun Hu and Yun He wanted to practice swordplay, they couldn't do without swords.

Yun Ji gritted his teeth, went back to his room, rummaged through chests and cabinets, and found a small, heavy pouch of silver coins.

This money had been saved copper by copper from his years of hunting, frugal living, and scrimping. It was originally intended to take the three children to the county this year for an immortal fate test, to see if they could detect some immortal destiny, ascend in one step, and bring glory to the family.

Now, he couldn't afford to care about that anymore.

The Yun Clan already had immortal fate; from now on, they could just cultivate steadily. The inheritance made it clear: the three Xiantian techniques obtained by the Yun siblings could all break through to the Qi Refining Stage when cultivated to great completion.

They didn't need any so-called spiritual roots at all.

Moreover, mortals knew very little about the Changqing Immortal Sect. The world bustled with people all chasing profit; wherever there were people, things got complicated. Yun Ji understood that the Changqing Immortal Sect might not necessarily be a good place to go.

He tightened his grip on the money pouch, his resolve already set, and turned to leave the house. First, he had to go to the smithy and forge a few decent swords.

The Shi Family Smithy in the east of town was the best smithy in Nanshan Town. The blacksmith Shi Tie, who ran the family smithy, was also a Xiantian realm martial artist.

Nanshan Town was home to thirty to forty thousand people, with fewer than thirty Xiantian realm martial artists. As for Qi Refining Stage immortals, there were none at all.

Yun Ji had broken through to Xiantian decades ago and was an old acquaintance with the other Xiantian realm martial artists in town. The moment he stepped into the smithy, he heard Shi Tie tease, "Oh, a rare guest. Old Yun, it's hard to spot you here in the east of town."

"Forge me three good swords," Yun Ji said, slapping the silver on the table.

"Tsk, so generous. Aren't your kids going for immortal fate anymore?" Shi Tie was very surprised.

They were all old-timers in town; everyone knew everyone. One look at the silver on the table, and Shi Tie knew Yun Ji had dug out his life savings.

Everyone had seen Yun Ji scrimping and saving over the years. Many of the fine herbs Yun Ji gathered from the mountains had all been sold.

If he had used them all on himself, Yun Ji might have broken through to the late Xiantian realm long ago.

For the sake of his children, Yun Ji wasn't in a hurry to break through. Mid-Xiantian realm strength was enough for hunting.

"Those worthless kids of mine said they wouldn't go for the immortal fate test no matter what. Especially that boy Yun Hu—he dug out the sword technique inheritance our old Yun family had stashed away."

As he spoke, Yun Ji let out a sigh.

"He even dragged Yun He into it. The two of them are shouting about practicing swordsmanship, inheriting our old Yun family's ultimate arts, and not wanting to follow me hunting anymore."

Shi Tie's eyes flickered with a hint of speculation. Whether or not the old Yun family had a hidden sword technique inheritance before, they certainly did now.

But he wondered how this sword technique compared to the inheritances of the two martial arts schools in Nanshan Town.

As for immortal fate, that thought never even crossed Shi Tie's mind. There were certainly plenty of things related to immortality in the mortal world, but one had to be qualified to use them.

Nanshan Town had been around for years. Many people had participated in immortal fate tests, but to this day, not a single immortal had appeared.

Only those with some strength would send their children for testing.

Shi Tie felt that the Yun children's refusal to go for the immortal fate test was a sign of filial piety. Not like his own kids, who clamored every day about having immortal fate.

Thinking of this, Shi Tie glanced at his youngest son, Shi Chen, beside him. The more he looked, the more displeased he became, and he directly smacked him on the head.

"Slap—"

That hit was no light one. Shi Tie's youngest son, Shi Chen, immediately looked aggrieved, but dared not talk back under his father's authority.

Yun Ji carefully explained the requirements for forging the swords twice. The more Shi Tie listened, the more shocked he became. Just from the demands for these swords, the Yun family's sword technique inheritance was no simple thing.

"Alright, leave it to me. You can come pick up the swords in three days," Shi Tie promised.

Having settled things with Shi Tie, Yun Ji then headed to the Lingyue Martial Arts School.

The school's master, Li Pinghu, was at the Xiantian realm perfection, one of the two top experts in Nanshan Town. Besides his high cultivation, he was also a master of medicine. The front of the Lingyue Martial Arts School housed a clinic and pharmacy, while the backyard was the training grounds.

As soon as he entered, Yun Ji saw Li Pinghu lying in a chair drinking wine, while his daughter Li Lingyue bustled about.

Yun Ji handed a slip of paper to Li Lingyue, which listed all the medicinal herbs Yun He had requested.

"You old bastard, here to waste my medicine again. I've seen your wound salves—all a waste," Li Pinghu said without even opening his eyes, directly spitting out the words.

"That's what Yun He wants. If you're not satisfied, then don't drink the medicinal wine Yun He brews from now on." The two were old friends. Yun Ji walked over to Li Pinghu's side and poured himself a bowl of wine without ceremony.

Li Pinghu had a vice—he was utterly addicted to alcohol. It was only because Yun He knew how to brew that he gave the Yun Clan a twenty percent discount.

"Has that girl cooked up some special new recipe again?" Li Pinghu sniffed the air, immediately realizing the herbs requested this time were different from before.

This girl really is something. Li Pinghu marveled inwardly.

He knew a bit of medicine, but not much. With his own true qi to assist, ordinary ailments were no trouble for him. His strength lay in identifying herbs, but he was weak on pharmacology.

"How would I know? I don't understand any of it."

Yun Ji said this with utter confidence, downing the rest of the wine in his bowl. Seeing Li Pinghu put away the other jars, he took the medicine bundle from Li Lingyue's hands and turned to leave.

"Wait, wait, don't rush. There's still something." Li Pinghu called Yun Ji back.