Drumming Weng Gold Hammer

Now that he had the toughening of the Crimson Flame Copper Body Art and Cloak Hammer, the agility of Fleet Foot, and if he further refined his hunting skills—particularly his archery—he could attack when advancing, flee on his legs, and strike from afar. Added to that was the mental resistance of the Proximity Mantra.

He was a proper all-rounder.

Xu Yunfan stepped over the thin frost yet to melt on the bluestone slabs, then suddenly stopped.

When he looked back, the densely packed footprints left in the courtyard from practicing Fleet Foot looked as though they had been carved by an iron stylus. Even the shallowest mark was as smooth and rounded as the edge of an inkstone.

This was irrefutable proof of Tendon Training Great Accomplishment.

Next, he urgently needed to find a martial art within Qingzhou that specialized in bone tempering.

Once he broke through to the realm of a Third Tempering Martial Master, his tendons, bones, and skin would all reach great accomplishment.

Forget the Surging Wave Sect coming to demand answers—even if he admitted to their faces that he had slaughtered that vicious girl, so what?

For eight full days, he had not stepped beyond the courtyard gate. Even his meals had been left at the entrance by Long Wind Tavern for him to collect.

By day, he practiced the Cloak Hammer until its swings sent gusts whistling through the air without end. From morning until night, he pushed himself to utter exhaustion.

At night, he sat cross-legged, forming the Lin Word Seal with his hands as he recited the Highest Good is Like Water Heart Mantra.

The cultivation proficiency notifications for the Crimson Flame Copper Body Art and Cloak Hammer on the Attribute Panel were not frequent enough to flood the screen, but they were still exceedingly gratifying.

Then, deep into the eighth night, the Power Awareness Bodhisattva Statue on the desk split in two with a crack.

"..."

Xu Yunfan abruptly opened his eyes, nearly kicking a hole through the wooden floor.

A system notification drifted faintly across his vision.

"The ominous aura has dissipated."

He had been only one step away, yet this damned statue had given out first.

It left him stuck in an awkward spot, thoroughly frustrated.

Still, the Lin Character Secret really had something to it.

Though he had not fully mastered it, his mind was clear and his senses sharp. It was as though his five senses had been freshly polished mirrors, and even when he unleashed the killing moves of the Thirty-Six Forms of Crimson Training Cloak Hammer, everything flowed far more smoothly than before.

Now, when he looked at the moves of the Cloak Hammer, it was like reading an open ledger. He knew exactly which move required seventy percent of his strength and which stance concealed a follow-up.

Unfortunately, Li Haomiao had been right. Something seemed wrong with the times in this world. Yuan spirit had vanished, the secret power of heaven and earth no longer revealed itself, and without the Attribute Panel, he would not even have brushed the surface of the Lin Character Secret.

The snow began to fall in the latter half of the night.

Xu Yunfan slept soundly, wrapped in his blanket.

When he opened the door at dawn, fluttering snowflakes were swept into his collar. The entire courtyard was blanketed in silver, and the snow had even weighed down every branch of the lone old tree in the yard.

He lifted a hand and caught a goose-feather-sized snowflake.

As it fell into his palm, it instantly melted into a trace of water.

He had now completed the Second Tempering. His tendons and skin had both reached the limits of the human body. With only a slight stir of his blood and qi, he became as scorching as a furnace.

The snow in the courtyard was deep enough to bury his calves.

"Master Xu! The hammer you ordered is finished!"

The cracked voice of a young apprentice from Lu Tiejang's smithy rang out beyond the courtyard wall.

Xu Yunfan was naturally delighted and headed over at once.

Inside the smithy, sparks flew everywhere. The furnace beside them breathed blue flames as an apprentice strained to work the bellows.

Lu Tiejang was bent over, dragging something out from the furnace. The moment he saw Xu Yunfan enter, he hurriedly shouted, "Hero, give me a hand! This thing weighs as much as a coffin lid!"

The instant Xu Yunfan took the heavy hammer one-handed, the muscles throughout his body automatically tightened like a hard-drawn bow.

The hammerhead was as large as a washbasin. Thirty-six wolf-fang studs glinted coldly from its dark refined-steel surface. The mouth of its Suanni beast head clenched nine copper rings, while its six-foot-three-inch handle was wrapped in Gold Thread Python Tendon and ended in a three-inch Armor Piercing Awl.

"I mixed in the Mystic Iron Sand I'd been saving at the bottom of my chest before I managed to forge this Drumming Weng Gold Hammer."

Lu Tiejang wiped his soot-blackened face.

"Twenty years ago, I could've forged it into a Precious Artifact that sliced through iron like mud."

The old man suddenly choked up, as though he had recalled some extraordinary past. He stared blankly at Xu Yunfan, who was continuously adapting to the Drumming Weng Gold Hammer.

Xu Yunfan said nothing. He casually gave the hammer a light shake.

The nine linked rings clanged loudly, shaking dust from the rafters.

The hammer stirred, and a fierce wind rose. The icicles beneath the eaves shattered in response.

Xu Yunfan's hands itched with anticipation. If not for the lack of room in the smithy, he would have dearly liked to practice the Crimson Training Cloak Hammer with this heavy weapon.

Lu Tiejang's eyes were full of nostalgia, furnace flames flickering in his sunken eye sockets.

"When I was an apprentice at Divine Weapon Ridge... I saw Master Ouyezi's True Inheritance Disciple forge a blade from Meteor Iron. When the blade was completed, a hundred-zhang waterfall flowed backward.

"Alas, my talent was limited. In all my life, I never forged a weapon of blade quality. Even with the Mystic Iron Sand mixed into yours, it is merely at the peak of Mortal Tools."

Lu Tiejang, nearly sixty years old, swallowed the words that remained with a roll of his throat.

"Fine weapon!"

Xu Yunfan was filled with emotion as he turned to thank him.

"It's already excellent. In North Ye City, I'm afraid you're the only one capable of forging such a heavy weapon, Lu Tiejang."

Lu Tiejang gave a slight shake of his head, his face full of melancholy.

"You don't understand. In the trade of smithing and weapon forging, I haven't even touched the threshold."

"How much?"

Hearing the main matter had arrived, Lu Tiejang immediately perked up.

"One thousand six hundred taels of silver."

"Fine!"

Xu Yunfan agreed without the slightest hesitation. This Drumming Weng Gold Hammer would improve his strength far more than he had imagined.

One thousand six hundred taels of silver for a heavy weapon that suited his hand—it was an absolute bargain.

With the payment made and the goods delivered, he was about to leave when Lu Tiejang suddenly lowered his voice.

"Young brother, the martial art you cultivate... is the Crimson Training Cloak Hammer, isn't it?"

A subtle change came over Xu Yunfan's expression.

Gripping the Drumming Weng Gold Hammer, he abruptly turned around. His towering, iron-tower-like frame seemed to root itself into the ground.

Even the apprentice working the bellows trembled at the sight and froze, not daring to move.

Seeing this, Lu Tiejang barked, "Keep the fire going! If the temperature drops, I'll toss you in there myself!"

The apprentice fell silent with terror. Not daring to hesitate, he flexed his muscles and worked the bellows with all his strength.

Seeing this, Xu Yunfan narrowed his eyes. He naturally understood that Lu Tiejang was showing goodwill and indicating that he had no other intentions.

"How did you know, sir?" Xu Yunfan asked calmly.

Lu Tiejang, who had merely reached minor accomplishment in Skin Training, seemed to have no simple background.

That made sense. If he had been an ordinary blacksmith, how could he possess martial skill and deal in weapons for martial artists?

When Xu Yunfan had first cultivated the Crimson Flame Copper Body Art and Cloak Hammer, Li Haomiao had not told him where the martial art came from. He had merely said it had been found in the Great Zhou Martial Repository.

It seemed there was more to the matter.

Lu Tiejang chuckled.

"If you had gone to any other smithy in North Ye City to forge this Weng Gold Hammer, it would have been good enough if they could make one that merely looked the part. You happened to meet me—otherwise, you would've had to wait a long time for this weapon."

Though he had just mocked himself for not reaching the true threshold of weapon forging, his craftsmanship was naturally unmatched compared with the other smithies in the city.

(Happy New Year, everyone! May the Year of the Snake bring you all that you wish for! Happy New Year!)