Flying Sword

Chen Mu sat at the table, his fingers lightly tapping the tabletop.

"Black Water Gang..."

After thinking for a while, Chen Mu summoned Ren Yan and gave him a few instructions.

The task of finding out the specifics of the Black Water Gang was naturally best left to Ren Yan. It was not worth Chen Mu personally running around for something like this now.

After hearing Chen Mu's orders, Ren Yan immediately acknowledged them and went downstairs.

After Ren Yan left.

Chen Mu glanced at the porcelain cup in his hand, then set it aside. He stood up, gathered the gold ingots left over from before, and, after eating breakfast, walked out of the courtyard.

Although he would sooner or later become a Fifth Rank Sorcerer and master spellcraft and divine abilities, before then, he still needed something to keep by his side.

A flying sword!

With a single thought, one could roam three thousand miles by night; with a Hundred-Pace Flying Sword, one could take a head from a hundred paces away!

Though roaming three thousand miles by night was somewhat exaggerated and completely impossible for him now, the Hundred-Pace Flying Sword was not exaggerated in the slightest. With the advantage of nightfall, it could even gain the upper hand against a Fifth Rank Martial Artist!

Chen Mu now looked forward to the might of a flying sword guided by his thoughts and Soulmind.

Soon.

Chen Mu left Xuanguo Estate and arrived at the outer street.

The flying swords used by sorcerers were not the same concept as the swords used by martial artists. In terms of manufacture, materials, size, and dimensions, they were completely different.

That did not stop Chen Mu from visiting a blacksmith's shop, however, because the core material was still metal.

Since Great Yuan valued martial prowess and did not prohibit blades and weapons, blacksmith's shops could be found everywhere. Even ordinary people often bought some weapons for self-defense, though they were usually useless when it mattered.

Chen Mu quickly found a relatively large blacksmith's shop.

Before he even entered, he could feel the wave of heat inside. Snow still lay on the street outside, but most of the blacksmiths within the shop wore only a single thin hemp garment.

The head blacksmith, who was watching the smiths forge weapons, noticed Chen Mu. A smile immediately spread across his thick-browed, large-eyed face, and he came forward to greet him.

"Welcome, welcome! What might this young master need?"

"What kinds of iron blocks do you have here?"

Chen Mu stepped into the shop and asked directly.

The head blacksmith smiled. "There are quite a few. You probably wouldn't be interested in ordinary iron blocks, young master. I also have refined iron, hundred-forged steel, blood-veined steel, Mystic Iron..."

As he spoke.

The head blacksmith led the way, bringing Chen Mu to the rear hall.

A large pile of iron ore sat on the far left. It was merely ordinary iron. Toward the middle, there was much less, and the pieces were clearly refined iron that had already been hammered into shape and could be used at any time.

Farther to the right were rows of tables bearing different pieces of iron. Some were deep in color, while others were marked with eerie patterns like threads of blood.

Chen Mu strolled over.

He said nothing. With a thought, he extended a portion of his Soulmind and touched the various pieces of iron.

For a sorcerer's flying sword, the most important quality was neither hardness nor toughness, but its compatibility with the Soulmind. The easier it was to control, the better.

Only after that did one pursue hardness, toughness, and other qualities.

In practice, though, being hard was often enough.

"What kind of iron is this?"

Chen Mu tested the pieces one by one, then stepped forward and reached out to stroke a piece covered in strange patterns that seemed to reflect specks of moonlight.

The head blacksmith smiled. "This is Moonfall Iron Ore. They say it fell from the Moon Palace. Its nature is extremely cold, and its toughness is exceptionally high. It can be forged into the thinnest and sharpest weapons."

Chen Mu nodded, then pointed toward another pitch-black piece of iron.

"What about this one?"

"This is Black Obsidian Iron Ore. It's buried extremely deep underground, and they say only very powerful martial artists can mine it. Its hardness is even slightly greater than Mystic Iron."

The head blacksmith continued his introduction.

Among all the iron ores Chen Mu's Soulmind had touched, these two felt the most comfortable. Without a doubt, they were also the easiest and smoothest to control.

Hardness and toughness... After giving it a moment's thought, Chen Mu settled on the former.

A flying sword was not a flexible sword and did not need toughness. Perhaps insufficient toughness would make it difficult to forge one extremely small, but the method of making a flying sword was also completely different from that of ordinary weapons.

"How much does the Black Obsidian Iron Ore cost?"

When the head blacksmith heard Chen Mu asking about its price, the smile on his face immediately grew wider. "I only acquired three pieces this year. Two have already been used, and this is the last one. Young master, you need only one hundred gold to take it."

"If you want to forge a weapon from this Black Obsidian Iron Ore, I can personally do it. I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

He had given Ning Shi forty gold last time, and spent thirty gold at Apricot Flower House. What remained was more than enough. Chen Mu had no interest in haggling over the price, so he directly took out five gold ingots.

Black Obsidian Iron Ore was also recorded in the books. Though one hundred gold for a piece might be somewhat high, it could not be excessively high.

When the head blacksmith saw the five gold ingots, he immediately smiled. "Good, young master, you're generous. What kind of weapon do you need? This piece of Black Obsidian Iron Ore is enough to forge a three-foot green-edged sword. If you need something heavier, you could mix in some Mystic Iron."

"No need."

"I only need this piece of Black Obsidian Iron Ore."

Chen Mu shook his head slightly and reached out to lift the piece of Black Obsidian Iron Ore.

Then he headed outside.

The head blacksmith was surprised, but did not ask any questions. He immediately followed behind to see Chen Mu out of the shop, calling after him, "Take care, young master!"

A short while later.

Chen Mu returned to his courtyard with the Black Obsidian Iron Ore.

This piece of Black Obsidian Iron Ore could forge a sharp sword for a martial artist, but a flying sword did not need to be that large. It only needed to be at most one-third the size of an ordinary sword, and even smaller would not be a problem.

Thus, this single piece of Black Obsidian Iron Ore was more than enough to forge three flying swords.

Chen Mu's plan was indeed to make three.

An ordinary Seventh Rank Sorcerer could only control one flying sword with ease, but with the current strength of his Soulmind, he could control three just as easily.

Flying swords did not need to be forged at a blacksmith's shop. In fact, a flying sword forged personally by a sorcerer was the most suitable for him and the most compatible with him.

Though no book mentioned the forging process, Chen Mu could roughly guess it.

There was no need to use a blacksmith's furnace.

A single piece of charcoal was enough.

Sorcerers could manipulate spiritual energy. They could infuse any ordinary flame with spiritual energy, transforming it into Spirit Flame. Its heat would far exceed that of a blacksmith's furnace, and it could easily melt metal and iron.

Come to think of it, it was rather like an immortal's technique.

Soon.

Chen Mu found a piece of charcoal and lit it. Then, with a movement of his mind, the entire world before his eyes suddenly transformed into a domain of spiritual energy. He activated Spirit Sight!

Under Spirit Sight, the tiny specks of light throughout heaven and earth that were invisible to the naked eye became perfectly clear to Chen Mu, and he could freely manipulate them with his thoughts.

However.

Just as Chen Mu was about to try drawing in spiritual energy and transforming it into spiritual flame, he suddenly froze. Sensing something, he turned his head slightly and looked toward the courtyard where Ning Shi lived.

After his gaze paused briefly, Chen Mu stopped what he was doing, set everything aside for the moment, and walked out.