The Blacksmith

"What do you mean, find another weapon?"

"Exactly what it sounds like."

"Didn't you just have me find one back in Dezhang Year Two?"

"I don't need a spear; I need a weapon that fits my hand."

"Oh—wait? Don't you have a pair of Emei Piercers? I recall those piercers were the relic of a Ning-Shen expert from the tower."

So he actually possessed a pair of Emei Piercers, yet he had never seen them once!

"Emei Piercers are short and nimble, best suited for stealth and close-quarters combat. Guo Xuchu is a Tong-Xuan expert, famous throughout the world. Under his sensory perception, it is difficult to get close undetected; one can only launch a frontal assault. A short weapon like the Emei Piercer is at too much of a disadvantage."

Chen Wu spoke with a straight face, though he knew he was spouting nonsense. Old Ma, however, seemed to accept this explanation.

"Fair enough. But you're going for the assassination the day after tomorrow—why are you only saying this today?"

"I forgot!" Chen Wu's reasoning was flimsy, but his tone was bold.

Old Ma's hand, which had been twisting his beard, gave a start, nearly snapping off a few strands. "You..."

"If you want a weapon that fits your hand within a day, there is only one place in all of Jincheng Prefecture that can do it." Old Ma stroked his beard again. "It's too late today. First thing tomorrow morning, take my Peace Token and go there; have him forge one for you as a rush order. If even he can't do it, you'll just have to find any weapon to make do for now."

Here, a thick steel bar lay in silent stillness.

Suddenly, the heavy doors swung open, and the sounds of the outside world flooded in.

"I'm counting on you."

"We're old regulars, consider it done."

A hand with thick, calloused joints reached out and retrieved it from the storage room.

"Water on, Ding-grade flow!"

The apprentice standing by the bellows hurriedly pulled the rope in his hand until the scale marked with the character 'Ding' appeared. The rope engaged the spring mechanism, opening a portion of the sluice gate. Water cascaded from a height, striking the waterwheel below.

The waterwheel creaked and groaned as it turned, driving the leather bellows to compress and expand, forcing a blast of air into the furnace nearby. The flames inside surged instantly, shifting from red to white. The steel bar was then forced into the furnace to be smelted.

The steel bar endured this purgatory for who knows how long. When it, too, became as incandescent as the flames, a pair of iron tongs reached into the furnace to rescue it.

"Water on, Yi-grade flow!"

The apprentice by the hydraulic forging hammer pulled his rope to reveal the 'Yi' mark. Another sluice gate opened, and the water struck the wheel, driving a massive hammer to rise and fall.

Before the steel bar could rejoice at escaping the volcanic hell, it was placed beneath the hammer to suffer the punishment of heavy blows. The executioner, however, was meticulous, adjusting it repeatedly until the steel bar was hammered into a slender, flat shape.

While the steel bar still retained its residual heat, that rough hand sprinkled fine steel powder over it to act as a bonding agent. He then placed two strips of soft steel, equal in length but slightly narrower, on either side of the steel bar.

The steel bar watched helplessly as it was "armored" and sent back into the furnace purgatory. The flames around it turned white-hot, forcibly smelting those two plates of armor into its own flesh until they were inseparable.

Just as the agony became unbearable, the steel bar was pulled from the furnace, only to be returned beneath the forging hammer.

"Water on, Jia-grade flow!"

The apprentice by the hammer responded, pulling the rope to reveal the 'Jia' mark. The water flow lessened, the waterwheel slowed, and the frequency of the hammer strikes decreased. The executioner now hammered with precision, adjusting the shape to make the steel bar increasingly slender and straight until a general form emerged.

After repeated cycles of heating and hammering, the steel bar felt as if it were Sun Wukong in Laozi's furnace, undergoing a rebirth. Its original flesh had been hard but brittle. Now, the softer armor on either side acted as a spine, increasing its resilience. The exposed flesh remained as hard as ever, waiting only to be honed to a sharp edge.

After being pulled from the furnace once more, the steel bar was held by tongs and placed upon the anvil. The executioner set aside the mechanical hammer and picked up a hand hammer to handle this final stage. Under the blows, the spine of the steel bar took its final form, and the tail and tip were perfected.

Ignoring the intense heat, the executioner picked up the steel bar to inspect it closely. He nodded in satisfaction, yet shoved it back into the furnace to heat until it glowed with a silver-gold hue. He then quickly pulled it out with tongs and plunged it straight into a vat of cold oil prepared nearby.

Hot steel met cold oil, instantly erupting with a "hiss." At the same time, the executioner began to chant the Taishang Ganying Pian. When he reached the line, "Fortune and misfortune have no gate, only man invites them," the steel bar in the oil had faded to a blood-red. He quickly lifted it into the air, continuing to chant, though his tempo shifted abruptly.

By the time he reached, "Evil stars bring disaster, and when the count is up, one dies," the blood-red on the steel bar dimmed, revealing a hint of purple. The executioner plunged the steel bar back into the oil barrel, leaving it to cool naturally.

The executioner continued to chant the Taishang Ganying Pian, but the rhythm was completely irregular until the steel bar had cooled.

At this point, the chanting no longer served to time the quenching and tempering; it was merely a ruse to appear mysterious, leading the apprentice to believe the scripture was being recited to ensure the sword's success, thereby preventing the apprentice from learning the secrets of the quenching process.

"Is it done?" The chanting stopped, and Chen Wu immediately asked.

"Only the sharpening and polishing remain, along with fitting the hilt and scabbard. This sword used my finest piece of hundred-refined steel; I guarantee it will be invincible."

At this moment, the steel bar finally realized that all the fire and hammering it had endured were for the sake of becoming an invincible sword.

Watching Blacksmith Zhang retrieve the cooled blade, attach the hilt and guard, and hand it to the apprentice for sharpening, Chen Wu finally felt at ease and praised, "Master Zhang is truly a master craftsman; to forge such a sword in less than a day."

The blacksmith surnamed Zhang kicked the apprentice for his sloppy polishing technique before replying, "It's only because of Old Ma's favor; otherwise, I wouldn't have taken such a rush job."

"My workshop has hydraulic machinery, but it's still not as good as those steam-powered workshops in the southeast. The hammering efficiency isn't quite there, so finishing this in a day was truly exhausting."

"Thank you for your hard work, Master Zhang."

"Of all the weapons in the world, the sword is the hardest to forge. It must be both hard and flexible, light yet balanced. A common blacksmith would struggle to form it in one go. Even with mechanical aid, flaws are inevitable; one must work slowly to produce fine results." Master Zhang's eyes held a hint of pride. "In all of Jincheng Prefecture, only I can forge a sword in a day without ruining my reputation."

Chen Wu immediately offered some free flattery: "Old Ma said the same thing. The Zhang Clan's reputation is sterling."

"He knows his stuff," Master Zhang laughed. "However, the payment must be exact."

"Of course."

"One hundred silver yuan!"

So expensive!

Seeing Chen Wu's hesitation, Master Zhang explained, "The steel-sandwiching method is incredibly material-intensive; I've used up all my best hundred-refined steel on you. Besides, this sword is a one-of-a-kind piece. My workshop has been dedicated entirely to tailoring it for you, and I haven't done a lick of other work all day, just revolving around this blade. Charging you one hundred silver dollars is actually a bargain."

"Put it on Old Ma's tab." Chen Wu nodded. Old Ma had just recovered his wealth, so it was only natural for him to bleed a little now.

"Hmph, go ahead and test the feel." Master Zhang took the polished treasure sword from his apprentice and handed it to Chen Wu. "The style is retro, with a round pommel and an octagonal blade. It's three feet and six inches long, designed for one-handed use. You're tall, so I made it a bit longer."

Chen Wu gripped the hilt, which was wrapped in crisscrossing black cord that ensured there was no risk of slipping, contrasting beautifully with the circular copper pommel. He looked up to see the copper guard and the gleaming blade; the guard was engraved with cloud-and-thunder patterns, and the blade was polished as smooth as a mirror, its edge sharp and exuding a chilling aura.

With a surge of true qi from his dantian, Chen Wu flicked his wrist, and a flurry of cold sword shadows cut through the workshop, emitting a buzzing sound as they sliced through the air.

"Sword hum!" the apprentice polishing the blades blurted out.

This was a phenomenon that only occurred with top-tier treasure swords. It required the blade's structure to be perfectly unified, balancing hardness and softness, forged to such precision that it vibrated at a resonant frequency in the air—a feat known as the sword hum.

Chen Wu realized this sword was extraordinary; spending only one hundred silver dollars was a massive steal, especially since it was on Old Ma's tab.

"You've got good luck! Even for me, whether I can forge a blade that hums depends on the will of heaven." Master Zhang looked at the sword in Chen Wu's hand with a satisfied expression.

"Now that you have this sword, be sure to nourish it with your true qi. Over time, it will grow stronger. If you reach the Condensed Spirit realm, using your spirit to nourish it will be even better. As far as I know, weapons nourished by the spirits of experts often develop miraculous properties depending on their martial arts."

There was such a thing? He would have to ask Old Ma when he got back.

"Truly a fine sword!"

Old Ma gripped the treasure sword and praised it endlessly.

"Master Zhang told me that nourishing this sword with true qi will make it stronger, and using Condensed Spirit is even better. Is that really a thing?"

"It is indeed, though very few people actually do it," Old Ma said.

"The method of true qi nourishment isn't difficult. Any practitioner who reaches the Meridian Opening realm can project true qi outside the body. As long as you spend enough time every day circulating your true qi throughout the weapon, it will slowly grow stronger over the years."

"For you, it should be a breeze." Old Ma handed the sword back to Chen Wu. "Want to try?"

Chen Wu took the sword, stirred the true qi in his dantian, and prepared to coat the blade with it.

Hm?

Try again!!

What the hell? His own true qi couldn't leave his body!!!

Chen Wu was speechless.

Even those in the Meridian Opening realm could project true qi, yet he, a "Condensed Spirit expert," couldn't even manage that—he was worse off than Old Ma, a slacker whose cultivation had regressed.

"If it's such a good thing, why do so few people do it?" Chen Wu kept his composure and changed the subject.

"You really don't know the hunger of the starving. True qi is the treasure of one's essence, energy, and spirit; how could one waste it so casually?"

"Before reaching the sixth-stage Heavenly Cycle, true qi must be accumulated through daily, arduous practice. If you spent every day nourishing a weapon, how would you ever accumulate enough to break through to the next realm? Even after reaching the sixth stage, unless you give up on breaking through to Condensed Spirit, you can't just dissipate your true qi at will."

"By that logic, no one would ever nourish their weapons."

"No one uses true qi to nourish them!" Old Ma stroked his beard. "But if you reach the Condensed Spirit realm, you can use your spirit to nourish the weapon."

"Nourishing with Condensed Spirit doesn't deplete your spirit, and the effect is far superior to true qi. Experts from the School of Heavenly Principle even use weapon nourishment to temper their own spirits. Even if they don't use weapons, those in their school will find some small object to nourish once they reach the Condensed Spirit realm."

"Experts from the Investigation of Things School and the Dashun Academy of Sciences have jointly researched Condensed Spirit nourishment and discovered that it can slowly alter the internal structure of a weapon, making it more stable and pure."

"I see. Then that pair of Emei piercers..." Chen Wu suddenly remembered the Emei piercers Old Ma had mentioned yesterday.

"They are exactly the relics left behind by a previous Condensed Spirit expert. Not bad, right? I gave them to you—you got a huge bargain."

"Not bad at all."

Chen Wu held the treasure sword in his hand, commenting on the Emei piercers he had never seen, while his mind drifted to tomorrow's assassination.

I just hope this sword doesn't become a relic too!