Tiemang Technique

Xie Jinyou took his leave of Chen Mo and was picked up at the Wu Family's gate by a lavish carriage.

Wu Duan and Wu Zheng "saw him off" at the gate, then saw off a crowd of relatives from the family's branch lines.

The two walked up to Chen Mo, their manner more respectful than ever before.

Wu Duan thumped his chest, making it boom, and said, "Martial Master Chen, from now on, whatever concerns you concerns me, Wu Duan!"

Rather than wanting to cling to Chen Mo's leg, Wu Duan wanted to cling to the Xie Family's.

He had many doubts about Xie Jinyou's assistance to Chen Mo.

It was true that the Xie Family wasn't afraid of Black Tiger Hall or the Zhao Family, but they had no need to court a newly minted Martial Scholar as an ally.

Could it be that Xie Jinyou simply shared his interests?

But aside from how quickly he broke through, he didn't think he had any other advantages.

And the Xie Family clearly had no shortage of talented people.

He patted his head and stopped dwelling on it.

After the feast.

Chen Mo eagerly ducked into the Blacksmith Room and took out Tiemang Technique. After giving it a quick read, several lines of golden text suddenly appeared in his mind:

[Thousand Hammer Refinement, Mountain and Water Cultivation]

[Tiemang Technique successfully bound; Mountain Essence and Water Soul required for tempering: Malachite]

[Tempering this material can bring out its innate potential and improve your martial comprehension]

"Malachite?"

He furrowed his brow slightly and murmured, "To refine malachite, you need to heat it with charcoal to obtain crude copper. Then, after removing impurities such as iron and sulfur with a bellows, you get red copper. Add metals like tin and lead in certain proportions, and you ultimately get bronze."

In other words, copper smelting by fire.

The process was rather complicated, and most importantly, malachite wasn't sold in Black River Town.

"Malachite?"

Wu Zhiai considered Chen Mo's question, then replied, "You can buy malachite in the western market of the county seat. It's... expensive, but if you need it, I'll sell everything I own to get enough for you!"

Hearing this, Chen Mo scratched his head and smiled.

The following days.

Wu Zhiai provided Chen Mo with a batch of malachite each day. Together with the crude iron and refined iron, the cost for each day was enormous.

Wu Duan and Wu Zheng could only watch, their brows knitted high. They were pained by the expense, but they couldn't stop Wu Zhiai from "squandering" the money.

"I hope that kid can earn the cost back someday..."

Wu Duan clenched his fist in secret.

From the first day, Chen Mo had holed up in the Blacksmith Room. By dusk on the second day, a bronze broken sword with a dim, green gleam had come out of the forge.

He sank his divine sense into his mind.

[Tiemang Technique: Barbs shroud the body, making it like bronze and iron]

[Comprehension: 5/50 (Not yet initiated)]

He felt that the muscles along his back and arms were firmer than before, as if a veil of iron barbs covered his body.

In other words, he could take more hits.

"Thinking about it carefully now, if Xie Jinyou had used Tiemang Technique back then, I'd have lost within five moves."

"As for me now, that man's a little unfathomable. I'll have to improve to the middle or even late stage of Dark Jin as quickly as possible."

The Zhao Family and Black Tiger Hall were as fierce as wolves and tigers. His Martial Scholar status and early-stage Dark Jin strength alone were still far from enough.

The next day.

Chen Mo went to find Wu Zhiai.

After getting her approval, Chen Mo set up a blacksmith shop in an alley not far from the Wu Family, hired Master Wu and Zhang Cai to help, and began selling weapons to the public.

A blacksmith shop run by a Martial Scholar, where Chen the Martial Master, once famous throughout the county, personally stoked the furnace and forged swords—now that was a selling point.

For a time, martial artists from Black River Town and other parts of Anyang County came in droves, bringing weapon designs and materials, or buying ready-made styles outright.

First, this could cut down on the cost of buying materials and ease the strain on Wu Zhiai's purse.

Second, Chen Mo could claim thirty percent of the earnings and save up for a house.

Third, as Chen Mo forged all kinds of weapons, Mountain and Water Cultivation seemed to work better than when he shut the doors and tinkered on his own.

Half a month later, summer had arrived in full, and cicadas sang across the mountains.

One day.

A saber-wielding swordsman in blue, with a bamboo hat on his head, walked into the blacksmith shop.

Smack!

He slapped a roll of cowhide onto the wooden table.

"How long will it take to forge this sword?"

Chen Mo looked up.

The man wore a bright silver, narrow-bladed saber at his waist, and a hint of heroic spirit showed between his brows.

His strength surpassed Chen Mo's.

"Another expert from who knows where..."

Chen Mo thought to himself. Since opening the shop, they'd had no shortage of martial artists from Anyang County and other places coming by.

Just then, Master Wu walked over, picked up the cowhide, and examined it closely for a moment. He sighed. "What a fine sword! Five days. Come back for it in five days."

The swordsman considered this briefly, then nodded in satisfaction. He took out three silver ingots and set them on the table. "This is the deposit. I'll pay another seven ingots when the sword is finished."

He spoke in a tone that brooked no argument.

Master Wu pursed his lips, wanting to charge less, but seeing how firm the man was, he didn't say a word.

Master Wu nodded. "All right. Please leave your name so we can keep our accounts straight."

"Shen Qi."

After giving his name, the man turned and left.

Chen Mo walked over and studied the design on the cowhide. He, too, thought the sword was exceptionally exquisite. The dragon carvings alone on its hilt would take more than half a day's painstaking work.

"Master Wu, I'll heat and temper the iron. You shape and carve it."

"Good."

Working together like this, the two finished the sword. Shen Qi showed up right on time at the shop at the hour of the Dragon five days later, paid the remaining seven taels in silver ingots, and left with a flourish.

The sword required crude iron, refined iron, and malachite, and its forging process was complicated and demanded a high level of skill.

Over those five days, Chen Mo's comprehension of Dragon-Capturing Jin and several martial techniques improved visibly.

He walked to a corner of the blacksmith shop and called up the golden text:

[Thousand Hammer Refinement, Mountain and Water Cultivation]

[Dragon-Capturing Jin: Basic stance work; trains the legs below and fist power above]

[Comprehension: 34/200 (Great Accomplishment)]

[Fuhu Fist: Fists hold a tiger's roar, containing an inner might]

[Comprehension: 28/200 (Great Accomplishment)]

[Luo Smoke Steps: Steps stir smoke; one's shadow leaves no trace]

[Comprehension: 56/100 (Minor Accomplishment)]

[Tiemang Technique: Barbs shroud the body, making it like bronze and iron]

[Comprehension: 22/50 (Initiated)]

More than twenty days had passed since the Martial Examination. After letting things settle, Chen Mo felt that he was quietly nearing the middle stage of Dark Jin, only a hair's breadth away.

"It's been a long time since I visited Tianqing Martial Hall. I wonder how they're doing. I'll go check today."

Having made up his mind, he practiced Dragon-Capturing Jin and his various martial techniques a few more times, then headed out.

Before long, he arrived at Tianqing Martial Hall. As he walked into the inner hall, he felt that the atmosphere of martial training was even more intense than usual.

When Ji Chang saw Chen Mo arrive, he hurried over to greet him.

Seeing that Chen Mo's arms had grown even thicker, Ji Chang couldn't help feeling ashamed. "Looks like you've improved again. We senior brothers can't even see your dust anymore."

Chen Mo shook his head with a wry smile and asked, "How's the martial hall been lately? Has anyone from the Zhao Family come to cause trouble?"

Ji Chang neither nodded nor shook his head. "No one's come, but..."

A helpless look crossed his face. "When Li Xuan and another junior brother went out, they were beaten by Luo Hou of the Zhao Family. Their hands and feet were broken. After that, Master strictly forbade us from going out without a good reason. We've been cooped up in the martial hall for days, and it's driving us crazy!"

Chen Mo remained calm at this.

It seemed the Zhao Family hadn't gone so far as to fight them to the death.

Even if it came to that, it would be Tianqing Martial Hall that died.

While he was pondering this, Ji Chang spoke again. "There's more news. County Magistrate Lin Chong is going to hold an Anyang Martial Arts Tournament. Every faction will take part."