"Before, I only tried smelting. This time, I'll try high-temperature hammering." Li Qing frowned slightly as he weighed the piece of Ink Gold in his hand.
His master, Master Gu, also cultivated the Ancient Profound Hammer Technique. He had successfully forged weapons from Ink Gold before, and had even recommended that Li Qing forge a weapon from Ink Gold for Qian Hong, the Thousand Commander.
In other words, Master Gu believed he had the ability to forge Ink Gold into a weapon!
"The only thing Master and I have in common is probably that we both practice the Ancient Profound Hammer Technique. The key likely lies there."
Saying this, Li Qing placed the Ink Gold on the forge's platform. The heat below continuously traveled upward, forming waves of heat.
Li Qing immediately removed the bulky cotton coat draped over him. He picked up the iron hammer and assumed the horse stance of the Ancient Profound Hammer Technique.
"Whew!"
He took a deep breath, then smashed down fiercely.
Bang!
The iron hammer struck the Ink Gold with a dull sound, making even the entire forge tremble slightly.
Right after that, Li Qing began following the moves of the Ancient Profound Hammer Technique, hammering the Ink Gold again and again.
Once he entered the state of forging iron, Li Qing became incomparably focused, even forgetting the passage of time outside.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Under the night moon, the rhythmic sounds of hammering iron rang out continuously, enduring without end.
He did not know how much time had passed, nor had Li Qing counted how many times he had swung his hammer.
Then he suddenly discovered that the Ink Gold had finally begun to change.
Its originally hard texture was gradually becoming soft and malleable.
Noticing this change, Li Qing continued to strike while the iron was hot, tirelessly swinging his hammer against the Ink Gold.
"What miraculous metal. Only with every hammer blow does this Ink Gold absorb a little heat from the furnace."
"It's no wonder ordinary blacksmiths can't forge Ink Gold. It requires such tremendous strength. If one doesn't practice martial arts, an ordinary blacksmith truly can do nothing with this kind of Ink Gold!"
Li Qing marveled inwardly, while also beginning to anticipate just how formidable a hammer forged from this Ink Gold would be.
That Thousand Commander Qian Hong actually wanted to forge a Green Rainbow Sword made entirely from Ink Gold!
At the thought, Li Qing could not help but sigh. This was absolutely an enormous undertaking, no less than building a palace.
Even with his current strength, along with the iron-forging techniques specifically designed for the Ancient Profound Hammer Technique, forging a fist-sized piece of Ink Gold was already so difficult.
If an entire sword were made from Ink Gold, even several blacksmiths might work themselves to death without necessarily finishing it!
Several thoughts flashed and disappeared as Li Qing once again immersed all his attention in the process of forging the hammer.
As the fist-sized Ink Gold gradually became malleable, Li Qing hurriedly tossed the other iron ingots into the forge.
He planned to forge this Ink Gold into the hammerhead's striking face, using iron for the rest of the hammer.
Time slipped by soundlessly. Li Qing, engrossed in forging, had almost lost all sense of time. In the world before his eyes, only the hammer remained.
Bang!
The Ink Gold was successfully smelted into the hammer's striking face. What should have been a matte black surface now possessed a polished texture after the Ink Gold was added.
At this moment, the entire hammer was still dark red from the intense heat.
Li Qing did not stop. He fetched cold water and carefully sprinkled it over the great hammer that was about to take shape.
Sizzle~
The high-temperature iron instantly evaporated the cold water into vapor, and a wisp of white steam rose from the courtyard.
"Not bad. I'll call this hammer the Peerless Hammer!" Li Qing muttered joyfully. He felt that this hammer infused with Ink Gold was absolutely peerless beneath the heavens.
Since it was a hammer, unlike other weapons that demanded an exceptionally sharp edge, it did not need quenching or sharpening.
After the cold water had completely cooled the hammer, the Peerless Hammer was finally finished.
Successfully forged Fine Mortal Artifact: Peerless Hammer. Lifespan reward: three years!
Three years!
Seeing the prompt appear before him, Li Qing's eyes lit up.
Previously, when he forged ordinary weapons, the highest lifespan reward had only been one year. Later, as he forged more and more weapons, the lifespan rewards gradually decreased. By the final refined-iron halberd, he had received only five months of life.
He had never expected that this hammer infused with Ink Gold would be a Fine Mortal Artifact. Upon successfully forging it, his lifespan had directly increased by three years!
Right after that, Li Qing glanced at the number representing his remaining lifespan—145!
He could live for nearly another hundred and fifty years. He was already almost seventeen years old.
What an outrageous number. So long as he remained free of illness and disaster in this life, he could live past one hundred and sixty. And as he continued forging weapons, that number would keep growing!
"Now I truly have the same lifespan as heaven and earth!" Li Qing could not conceal the excitement in his heart. He placed his hands on the Peerless Hammer, then slowly lifted it.
This was a very large hammer. Its handle was as long as both of Li Qing's arms, nearly as tall as an ordinary person.
The hammerhead was not small either. Its dark, somber black gave the hammer an air of weight and solidity.
Two hundred and thirty jin!
It was heavy—the heaviest hammer Li Qing had ever used. Yet when he held it in his hands, he did not feel much burden at all.
"Wait. My strength?!"
Having finished forging the Peerless Hammer, Li Qing discovered that his strength had increased again. The Peerless Hammer felt like an extension of his arm in his grasp, extraordinarily handy.
"I've cultivated Outer Strength?!"
Li Qing joyfully realized that he had likely stepped into the ranks of Outer Strength experts.
After completing the Peerless Hammer, Li Qing's body felt somewhat tired, yet he also felt as though he possessed inexhaustible strength. Even if he forged another Peerless Hammer, it would not be a problem!
"When strength arises of itself and blood and qi surge like a tide, that is Outer Strength!"
This was the distinctive trait of Outer Strength experts recorded in the Ancient Profound Hammer Technique. Li Qing now felt that he matched these traits perfectly.
"Who would have thought it, who would have thought it? Today truly brings double joy—no, triple joy at the door!"
He had smelted Ink Gold and successfully forged the Fine Mortal Artifact, the Peerless Hammer!
Then he had received three years of lifespan as a reward, making Li Qing feel even more secure inside.
Finally came what he felt was the greatest gain: cultivating Outer Strength!
Ever since entering the military camp, this was the Outer Strength realm of martial arts he had constantly longed for!
"Now that I've returned to the Wu Li Army, perhaps I could even snag a Centurion's post." Li Qing said with an expression of delight.
In the Wu Li Army, Centurions were all Outer Strength experts, while Thousand Commanders were great experts at the Internal Energy level!
As for Transforming Energy Grandmasters, only a few such figures could be found in the entire Feng Kingdom.
It was said that the general of the Wu Li Army was a Transforming Energy Grandmaster, though that was merely rumor and had not been confirmed.
Of course, having already left the Wu Li Army, Li Qing naturally had no intention of going back now.
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