Mang Tian laughed for a long while before gradually composing himself,
as though it were a priceless treasure,
he lifted the piece of Hundred-Refined Deep Silver Lu Chuan had forged from the metal table.
The surface of the Deep Sea Silver gleamed with a deep blue metallic luster,
like a pearl from the ocean depths.
The Hundred Forging patterns upon it were fine and clear,
a sign that this piece of Deep Sea Silver was a fine specimen even among Hundred Forging works.
So-called Hundred-Refined Deep Silver
meant that every part of the Deep Sea Silver had been hammered a hundred times.
In theory,
forging a piece of Hundred-Refined Deep Silver
required at least several thousand strikes to refine the Deep Sea Silver to Hundred Forging purity.
But theory was just theory.
Some powerful or gifted blacksmiths could rely on their talent,
experience,
Soul Power or spiritual power,
or hammer techniques like Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer,
to achieve the same refining effect in a dozen strikes or even just a few.
Lu Chuan was one of the gifted ones!
And an exceptionally gifted one at that!
From when Mang Tian first began learning blacksmithing until he first succeeded at Hundred Forging, it had taken him a full year!
But Lu Chuan had done it in just one day!
"This kid was practically born to forge!"
"He entered that profound state of insight on his very first forging, something people can only hope to encounter. Comparing people really can drive you mad!"
"I wonder what kind of luck that bastard Tang Ziran had!"
Mang Tian gazed at Lu Chuan, still immersed in enlightenment,
his eyes burning with excitement,
and wished in his heart that Lu Chuan were his adopted son!
Still,
Mang Tian wasn't greedy.
Being Lu Chuan's first teacher
was more than enough to satisfy him.
He carefully left the workshop,
and closed the door behind him,
then got back to work, too,
giving Lu Chuan a quiet space to himself.
At that moment,
Lu Chuan remained immersed in the instant he had forged the Hundred-Refined Deep Silver!
With that single strike,
he had distinctly felt himself brush against the tail of the Great Path of Creation—
the very Great Path he had dreamed of reaching!
But
before he could savor the feeling,
that elusive insight slipped from his thoughts like a shy young woman,
and vanished without a trace!
"I need to forge more!"
Stepping out of that profound state of insight,
Lu Chuan made up his mind.
He went to Mang Tian
and asked for a few more pieces of Deep Sea Silver.
Mang Tian was delighted to see Lu Chuan taking the initiative.
Blacksmithing was a trade that rewarded hard work:
the more you did,
the more you earned,
and the faster you improved.
Mang Tian was eager to see what other surprises Lu Chuan would bring him.
So,
he simply abandoned his own work
and watched Lu Chuan forge!
The clang of hammer blows soon rang throughout the workshop,
and one piece after another of Hundred-Refined Deep Silver took shape beneath Lu Chuan's hammer.
But as he worked,
Lu Chuan never again experienced the insight he'd felt during his first forging.
As his teacher,
Mang Tian could see
that Lu Chuan's mind had grown unsettled!
When you started from a high point
and couldn't produce the results you expected in a short time,
it was easy to lose focus.
That was a common failing among geniuses!
So,
after Lu Chuan finished forging one piece of Deep Sea Silver
and prepared to start on another,
Mang Tian stopped him in time.
"Xiaochuan, take a break. You've lost your rhythm!"
Lu Chuan stopped swinging the hammer, looking a little bewildered,
then turned to Mang Tian.
Mang Tian said nothing.
He simply walked over to the unremarkable pile of iron ingots and picked one up.
"Xiaochuan, your talent is a gift from heaven, like the heavens chasing after you to feed you.
But the greater your talent, the easier it is to stray from the path beneath your feet."
"But I was at fault, too.
From the very beginning, I let you experience the thrill of forging rare metals, hoping you'd fall in love with blacksmithing.
But I forgot to teach you its most essential foundation: learning to be patient!"
"So,"
Mang Tian's voice rang out, firm as a nail driven into wood,
"from this very second, forget what you just felt. Forget everything."
"I want you to start from scratch, and learn all over again like the dumbest, least talented apprentice!
"Go repeat the most grueling, tedious, and monotonous basic exercise: swinging the hammer!"
With that,
Mang Tian picked up an ordinary Forging Hammer,
set the iron ingot on the workbench, and assumed the most basic stance.
He looked back at Lu Chuan.
"Watch closely!
How to place your feet,
how to turn your waist,
how to draw strength from the ground,
through your legs, across your waist, through your arms, down to your wrist, and finally gather it at the tip of the hammer!
Your breathing must match your exertion. Inhale to gather strength, exhale to release it. One breath per strike—never lose the rhythm!"
As he spoke, Mang Tian swung the hammer.
His movements weren't fast, but every detail was crystal clear, imbued with the weighty rhythm of countless hours of practice.
The hammer fell with a dull clang. The iron ingot dented, and iron filings scattered evenly.
"Blacksmithing is, first and foremost, physical labor and skilled work!"
"Your instincts and inspiration must rest upon this solid foundation of strength and technique!"
"Without that foundation, your instincts are just a castle in the air. One touch, and it collapses!"
When Mang Tian finished forging,
he lowered the hammer
and handed it to Lu Chuan.
"Now, you do it.
Use the method I taught you to hammer this piece of iron.
I don't expect you to be fast, and I don't expect you to make fancy patterns.
I only expect your posture, exertion, and breathing to be exactly right with every strike!
Hammer it a thousand times. Let me see your endurance!"
"Yes, teacher!"
Lu Chuan took a deep breath and answered firmly.
Without the slightest hesitation,
he walked over to another iron ingot,
closed his eyes,
and took a deep breath.
Only after burying his longing for the Great Path of Creation deep in his heart
did he open his eyes again.
This time,
his eyes held only the iron ingot before him,
and the movements Mang Tian had just demonstrated!
He took his stance, feet neither square nor staggered, his back straight as a pine.
Recalling the path along which his strength should flow,
he slowly raised the Forging Hammer, inhaled, turned his waist, drove his arm forward, and snapped his wrist.
"Clang!"
The strike
sounded a little dull,
and landed slightly off-center.
The iron ingot's deformation was uneven, too.
Although the Soul Guidance Screen's counter increased,
he clearly hadn't met Mang Tian's standard.
Mang Tian said nothing.
He merely folded his arms,
his gaze sweeping over Lu Chuan's ankles, knees, waist and hips, shoulders and elbows, and wrists like a hawk's.
He wasn't watching the iron ingot now.
He was watching Lu Chuan's hammering posture!
Though his strike had been off,
Lu Chuan wasn't discouraged in the least.
He held on to the mindset of a beginner,
of someone who had yet to succeed at Hundred Forging even once.
Carefully recalling how each part of his body had felt when he exerted himself,
he adjusted his breathing
and raised the hammer again.
"Clang!"
The second hammer blow,
the sound was a touch clearer,
the strike landed more precisely,
and, beyond that,
the twist of the hips and waist that Mang Tian cared about most had finally started to look convincing!
The third blow, the fourth...
The hundredth blow,
Lu Chuan finally began to replicate, to the letter, the standard Mang Tian had taught him.
Boring, repetitive, exhausting.
But Lu Chuan's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
In these strikes, which relied purely on muscle memory and willpower,
he instead felt a kind of strength unlike anything he'd experienced before—solid and grounded!
The smooth coordination of every muscle in his body as they worked together,
the feeling of power rising from the soles of his feet, coursing through his body, and finally flowing with precision into the hammerhead.
Every attempt to correct a mistake,
every experience of coming closer to the proper form,
brought a subtle yet solid sense of progress!
Only then did Lu Chuan realize
that although he had been reincarnated as the Golden Dragon King for tens of thousands of years,
he had been sitting on a mountain of treasure without knowing it. He had likely developed less than ten percent control over his own power and body!
"Clang, clang, clang..."
The rhythmic sound of hammer strikes began to echo steadily through the workshop.
Although his pace was far slower than before,
although every blow came with careful adjustments,
the sound had lost some of its former flightiness,
and gained a weighty sense of power, rooted in the earth.
And after who knew how many more blows,
Lu Chuan found that feeling again.
This time,
he caught the tail of the Great Path of Creation!