Employment and Promotion

A massive furnace stood in the center of the courtyard.

Some people shoveled coal into it, the burning fuel generating intense heat, while others fed iron ore into the furnace, only for it to emerge as molten, glowing-red iron.

The molten iron was then sent in batches to the dozen or so blade-smiths hammering away in the courtyard, where it was cast into raw blade blanks.

The manservant first told Shen Chu to wait where he was, then found a master smith and spoke with him for a moment before beckoning Shen Chu over.

"From today on, you will follow Master Sun. You are to do whatever he tells you."

After giving his instructions, the manservant hurried away.

Shen Chu wiped the sweat from his forehead and offered Master Sun a friendly smile.

Master Sun was an elderly man with a goatee. He was short and lacked muscular definition in his arms, yet he held his iron tongs and hammer with remarkable steadiness.

Hammer blow after hammer blow landed on the glowing sword blank.

"New here?" he asked without looking up.

Just as Shen Chu was about to nod, the old man continued, "Newcomers still have to work. The water vat is running low; go fetch me a few buckets."

Shen Chu didn't say a word. He picked up the two half-meter-tall buckets on the ground and headed toward the large water vat in the corner of the courtyard.

He saw that everyone else went there to fetch water.

At the vat, Shen Chu plunged the buckets in, and once they were full, he lifted them with great effort.

His tattered clothes were already soaked with sweat, and his stomach was growling like a drum, yet Shen Chu persisted.

He had finally secured this opportunity; if he did anything poorly, he would still be kicked out of the Li Residence.

At that point, it wouldn't just be a matter of being a little tired.

Thinking of this, he braced himself, walked back with a swaying gait, and gritted his teeth as he poured all the water into the vat behind Master Sun.

He was just about to catch his breath when, in the next second, a virtual panel appeared before him without warning.

[Successfully employed as a Blade-Forging Apprentice. Obtained initial skill: Thousand Hammer Refinement lv1]

[Thousand Hammer Refinement: When activated, consumes stamina to forge ironware. Each hammer blow increases the final quality of the ironware.]

[Passive skill: Bone structure improved from D-minus to D-plus. Strength and stamina have both increased slightly.]

Is this my cheat code?!!

Shen Chu was nearly overwhelmed by the surprise!

He had assumed that after transmigrating, he was just an ordinary person with nothing but a plain face. He never expected to have a cheat code to help him!

Under the enhancement of the newly acquired Thousand Hammer Refinement, he clearly felt his stamina, strength, and endurance improve significantly!

His back no longer ached, his legs no longer hurt, and the exhaustion from carrying the two buckets of water vanished as quickly as a receding tide.

But that wasn't what made Shen Chu the happiest. What surprised him most was that Thousand Hammer Refinement had actually raised his bone structure to D-plus!

According to the rules of the Li Residence, one only needed a C-minus aptitude to become a guard and avoid doing manual labor in this sweltering courtyard.

However, Shen Chu didn't want to leave just yet.

Because he saw the "lv1" next to Thousand Hammer Refinement.

This meant that Thousand Hammer Refinement was a skill that could be leveled up!

If the effect of lv1 was already this heaven-defying, wouldn't it become even more powerful if he leveled it up a few times?

If he could improve his bone structure every time he leveled up, couldn't he slowly raise his aptitude to the highest level?

When that time came, what kind of rapid progress would he make practicing the martial arts of this world with top-tier aptitude?

The more Shen Chu thought about it, the more excited he became. He suddenly felt that this sweltering courtyard wasn't so unbearable after all!

"Master, when might I be able to forge a blade?" Shen Chu asked, his eyes burning with intensity as he looked at Master Sun.

Master Sun glanced at him, his hands never stopping their work. "Kid, don't be so impatient. Blade-forging isn't a craft you can learn in a day or two. Just watch from the side for now, and pass me whatever I ask for."

"Yes."

Only then did Shen Chu realize that it had been too abrupt to ask about forging blades on his very first day in the Forging Room. Fortunately, Master Sun had a mild temper, or he might have been reprimanded!

He had to be more careful!

Following Master Sun's instructions, Shen Chu began to observe the blade-forging process.

Soon, he found he couldn't tear his eyes away.

It wasn't because Master Sun's technique was particularly exquisite, but because a clear pop-up window was floating above the blade blank on the anvil before him:

[Low-grade short blade (33/100)]

Just as Shen Chu was stunned by the sudden appearance of the window, Master Sun struck a few more times, and the numbers on the pop-up changed:

[Low-grade short blade (36/100)]

"Master Sun, this blade looks very sharp. Could it be a graded weapon?" Shen Chu asked cautiously.

"A graded weapon? This is still a long way from being low-grade!"

Master Sun shook his head with a smile, though it was unclear whether he was laughing at Shen Chu or himself.

"Even a low-grade weapon is something only a martial artist can use. In the entire Li Family, only three people can forge one. Someone like me only forges ordinary weapons."

With that, Master Sun stopped talking and buried himself in his work. Seeing this, Shen Chu closed his mouth and stayed quietly to the side, following Master Sun's arrangements.

This went on for ten days.

During these ten days, Shen Chu rose earlier than the chickens and went to bed later than the dogs, but he finally had a place to eat and sleep.

Especially the first time he picked up his rice bowl—even though there was no grease or meat in it, he shed tears without realizing it.

If anyone had asked him what happiness was, for the Shen Chu of that time, happiness meant having a full stomach!

Just as Master Sun had said, he truly was unable to forge low-grade weapons.

Over these days, Master Sun's forging process remained identical.

Hammering, quenching, tempering, polishing...

After several steps and over an hour of work, the highest number Shen Chu ever saw on the pop-up was stuck at (98/100), never moving again.

"Low-grade weapons, it's hard. I entered this trade at sixteen, and I'm fifty-eight this year; I've never managed to forge one."

Master Sun sighed, placed a finished ordinary blade on the rack, and then turned to look at Shen Chu. "Kid, you've been here for several days now. How much have you understood?"

"I am dull-witted, Master. I've only understood a little." Shen Chu gave an awkward smile, holding his thumb and forefinger a bean's width apart.

To his surprise, Master Sun pulled him in front of the furnace. "I have some time today; show me what you can do."

Seeing this, Shen Chu felt a surge of excitement, though he remained calm on the surface.

Following what he had observed over the past few days, he used the iron tongs to retrieve a blade blank from the bucket where they were stored and placed it into the furnace to soften.

Although Shen Chu's movements were clumsy, he managed to avoid making any mistakes.