Inside the Blacksmith Shop

Find the problem, solve the problem, and avoid similar problems in the future.

Humanity slowly grew through steps like these, until it became the brightest kid in all of nature.

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Ling Yi's problem was not that serious. It was simply because, over at Master Jiang's place, the man's own learning had been lacking, which had led to crooked beams above and crooked beams below.

If this kind of problem had been placed on an ordinary apprentice, it might have taken quite a bit of effort to correct each bad habitual movement one by one.

After all, in something like forging, muscle memory held no small position.

According to certain sayings from Ling Yi's previous life, it took twenty-one days to form a habit and ninety days to consolidate it, but if one wanted to get rid of a bad habit, it might take even longer.

As for Ling Yi, he only needed one try.

Yes, not a month, not even a week or a day—just one single try!

After Fifth Brother Wang Meng demonstrated, move by move, the most standard forging motions that Old Master Jin had taught to their fellow disciples—motions passed down and summarized by generation after generation of blacksmiths over countless years at the Blacksmith Association Headquarters in Gengxin City, the Metal City of Douluo Continent—Ling Yi first copied them rather awkwardly, and then...

Every single movement he made when he swung that small forging hammer again was the most standard possible!

This scene could be called the Soul Master world's "Kakashi using the Sharingan to copy Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique," "Zhang Wuji mastering the Nine Yang Divine Skill plus Great Universe Shift and learning Dragon Claw Hand on the spot," "Goku instantly learning Kamehameha at a glance"...

Wang Meng was shocked by Ling Yi's learning speed. Only after taking a deep breath did he continue:

"Xiao Yi, what I just demonstrated for you were the standard movements I've reviewed and picked back up from Master over these past two days.

"But because everyone's body is different in height, build, arm span, and hand length, you need to adapt these standard movements one by one according to your own situation, turning them into the form that feels most comfortable for you.

"Jiang Kai, who taught you the basics of forging, learned this way back then as well. The same goes for us disciples. It's just that everyone's situation is different. If you can't understand the core principles behind certain movements and change them on your own in a rush for quick results, you'll end up going in the opposite direction..."

"Many of Master's students only learned how to forge, but they never systematically learned how to pass forging techniques on to their own apprentices—"

"Even the twelve of us only started learning how to teach apprentices after becoming Advanced Blacksmiths, because we'd fallen into a bottleneck in improving our skills. Teacher had us learn how to teach others, using instruction to review the old and learn the new, to draw parallels, all in hopes of producing new insights..."

Word by word, sentence by sentence, Wang Meng showed Ling Yi the foundation that came from the Blacksmith Association Headquarters in Gengxin City, the Metal City, giving Ling Yi a new understanding and new thoughts about the profession of blacksmithing.

It had to be said that, at the very beginning, the identity of a blacksmith had been nothing more than a tool in Ling Yi's eyes.

So what if one became a Divine Craftsman?

In the original Timeline, Lou Gao, one of the "Three Great Divine Craftsmen," was the president of the Blacksmith Association Headquarters and a Soul Saint himself, yet he still often suffered setbacks in front of various people and forces.

And what about the other two Divine Craftsmen?

One was the Clan Leader of the Strength Clan, the Soul Douluo Tai Tan; the other was the Young Master of the Clear Sky Clan, the heaven's pride Tang Hao, who had hopes of inheriting the title of "Clear Sky Douluo."

Which of these two was famous throughout the world for the words "Divine Craftsman"?

Divine Craftsman was merely an embellishing label among the many identities these two possessed.

But now, through Wang Meng's introduction, Ling Yi suddenly discovered that the blacksmith inheritance... or more precisely, the blacksmith inheritance from Gengxin City, the Metal City, had such a deep and solid foundation that it drew attention, and was completely no weaker than a martial arts sect with an orderly inheritance and clear hierarchy.

Clang—!

A low, muffled sound rang out. Wang Meng held his own exclusive large forging hammer and struck a dark iron ingot the size of a human head, explaining as he did:

"Xiao Yi, this is the content of your next practice. Hammer it down until it's one-third of its current size..."

"One-third?" Ling Yi said when he heard this, nodding to Wang Meng to show he understood.

"Whoosh—"

Ling Yi stepped onto the lever pedal of the bellows beside his foot, and raging flames surged upward, raising the temperature inside the furnace even higher. Seeing the bottom of the iron ingot turn faintly red, he immediately gripped it with long-handled iron tongs and turned it over, allowing it to heat thoroughly and soften.

At a certain moment, Ling Yi clamped the red-hot iron ingot onto the anvil, raised the small forging hammer in his hand, and began to hammer it.

Clang—! Clang—! Clang—! Clang—! Clang—! Clang—! ...

Inside the spacious blacksmith shop, the sounds of metal striking metal rose and fell one after another, spreading toward the street outside.

By now, the sky was bright, and more pedestrians gradually appeared on the street. Hearing those repeated strikes, some people turned their heads curiously to look, while others were long used to it, all the varied faces of life on display.

More than half an hour later, along with a clang that carried a slight jarring noise, Ling Yi somewhat weakly lowered the forging hammer in his hand. His whole body was drenched in sweat, and his breathing had grown slightly heavier.

In the end, it was only the body of a seven-year-old child. Even with Soul Power nourishing his body, a mere level three or so of Soul Power clearly could not take care of his entire body from head to toe.

During the forging process, it was not merely the arms that exerted force. Under the careful instruction of Master Jiang and Fifth Brother Wang Meng, Ling Yi's movements began with the soles of his feet stepping into the ground, then the calves exerting force, moving to the waist, back muscles, and arms, before finally releasing that force through the forging hammer in his hand.

At the same time, he also had to endure the reaction force from the iron ingot when it was hammered. All of this was extremely physically draining.

After half an hour of continuous hammering, not only was Ling Yi exhausted, even Wang Yao, this thirteen-year-old youth, could not keep going.

The two looked at each other and smiled. After glancing at the three older brothers, including Wang Xin, who were still working hard with their heads down, Wang Yao brought Ling Yi to the rest area in the corner and, with trembling hands, poured a cup of warm light salt water for both Ling Yi and himself.

"Customer, for this batch of fifty-forged long sabers you need made, I suggest you go to Gao's Blacksmith Shop at the end of the street to place the order..."

Just then, Wang Meng's voice came over, drawing the attention of Ling Yi and Wang Yao.

Hearing Wang Meng's words, a rather wealthy-looking middle-aged man near the entrance of the blacksmith shop frowned, somewhat displeased. "Master Wang, since I came here to order from you, that means I trust your craftsmanship. Who pushes customers and business that have come to their door outside—!"

"Customer~" A helpless look appeared on Wang Meng's face as he explained in a gentle voice, "It's not that I'm pushing you outside. It's just that the shop's orders are already lined up until next month, and you just said this batch of long sabers is urgent and needs to be ready by the end of the month..."

"I can pay more!" the wealthy middle-aged man said with a wave of his hand, cutting him off.

Seeing this, the helplessness on Wang Meng's face deepened. "Customer, this isn't about money. It's that there's no need~"

The wealthy middle-aged man said, "I..."

Before the plump middle-aged man could make another offer, Wang Meng hurriedly went on, "Sir, that fifty-fold-forged long saber you want would be absolutely no problem with Boss Gao Qiang's skill at Gao's Blacksmith Shop!"

"Boss Gao Qiang also learned the craft under my master. He became an Intermediate Blacksmith seven or eight years ago. Last time I met and chatted with him, he was only a tiny bit away from becoming an Advanced Blacksmith now..."

"A tiny bit away is still away—!" the plump middle-aged man muttered, still somewhat dissatisfied.

Wang Meng smiled, pointed at his three eldest sons, who were still swinging their hammers despite sweating buckets, and said, "Sir, to be honest with you, even if my little shop accepted your order, a fifty-fold-forged tool would still be made by my sons..."

"Them?" The plump middle-aged man frowned.

"That's right!" Wang Meng nodded, pride showing in his expression. "Aside from the third, who still needs a bit more seasoning, the eldest and the second are already Intermediate Blacksmiths. Most orders in the shop below eighty-fold forging are handed over to them..."

After watching the plump middle-aged man leave and head toward the end of the street, Wang Meng turned back to look at Ling Yi and his fourth son, Wang Yao, in the rest area. He strode over, his voice arriving before he did. "Little Yi, Ah Yao, during the forging just now, did any of the movements feel awkward to you—?"

No afternoon nap today. I'll keep writing and make sure to continue tomorrow.