I'm Going to Start Forging Blades!

Elsewhere,

Steward Li stood in the courtyard, watching Han Tieshan and his group swagger away. His face alternated between green and white.

He had assumed Han Tieshan was merely a dead duck with a stubborn beak—at most, he would make some noise and let the matter blow over.

He had never expected the man to actually dare to throw down his tools and walk out.

And Han Tieshan had even chewed him out in front of so many people.

Where was a steward like him supposed to put his face?

The air around them was deathly still. Everyone kept their heads lowered, not daring to make a sound, yet secretly glanced at him from the corners of their eyes.

Feeling all those different looks, Steward Li felt a surge of anger shoot straight to his head.

He suddenly swept his gaze over the crowd and barked, "What are you looking at?! Don't you have work to do?! Do you all want to leave too?!"

At that roar, everyone shuddered and scattered like birds and beasts, hurrying back to their workstations and burying themselves in their tasks. None of them dared even breathe too loudly.

Even after venting his fury, Steward Li's anger had not faded.

He shot Shen Chu another vicious glare.

That look carried complicated meaning—misdirected anger, blame, and seemingly even a trace of regret.

But in the end, he said nothing more. With a flick of his sleeve, he strode toward the rear courtyard, his face dark as iron.

Only after Steward Li's figure disappeared did Sun Ping cautiously sidle up to Shen Chu. "Shen Chu, kid, you've really poked a hornet's nest this time!"

Shen Chu frowned but said nothing.

Seeing that Shen Chu did not understand, Sun Ping sighed repeatedly beside him. "Han Tieshan running off is no small matter! The people under him are all seasoned hands. With them gone, half the work in the Sword-Forging Courtyard will grind to a halt. Do you know that in seven days, the three hundred refined-iron longswords ordered by the Zhao Family in the northern part of the city are due for delivery? That's an order worth three thousand taels of silver. If we can't deliver them..."

At this point, his voice was filled with helplessness. "Besides, Steward Li spoke up for you today, but did you see the look in his eyes just now? He's definitely already put this on your tab. When we can't make delivery and those above come down to hold someone accountable, Steward Li will be the first to make you carry the pot! You'll be finished!"

After saying that, Sun Ping let out another heavy sigh, patted Shen Chu on the shoulder, and walked away shaking his head.

The next day, news of Han Tieshan throwing down his tools had spread throughout the courtyard.

The moment Shen Chu entered the gate, he felt all kinds of gazes land on him.

Yet he did not care in the slightest. He went to his own forge and began hammering iron again at an unhurried pace.

Sun Ping saw this scene and could not help nodding.

This kid was good material. If anyone else had run into something like this, they would have lost all heart for work long ago.

Although Shen Chu was highly talented, if those above truly decided to assign blame, anyone would choose Han Tieshan over an immature blade-forger.

He recalled how Shen Chu had followed behind him these past days, working tirelessly without complaint.

The kid was steady and hardworking too. Once he had honed his skills, he could be quite a help at Sun Ping's side.

What a pity. Sun Ping himself was only an ordinary blade-forger. In this courtyard, his face was not worth much.

If he could forge a low-grade weapon, even the lowest low-grade weapon, Steward Li could at least use it to explain matters to those above.

It would prove that there were still people in the courtyard capable of holding the fort, and that Han Tieshan's departure had not thrown them into disarray.

What a pity...

Sun Ping looked at the iron blank gradually taking shape in his hands and shook his head.

At most, this thing would become a somewhat sturdier ordinary iron blade. It was nowhere near worthy of the words "graded weapon."

While he was distracted, a hand suddenly extended from beside him, offering a gleaming piece of iron.

"Master Sun, could I trouble you to inspect and correct this for me?"

Sun Ping froze. Turning his head, he saw Shen Chu standing beside him at some point, smiling at him.

"You've got quite the big heart..."

Sun Ping muttered, then took the piece of iron. The instant he touched it, his pupils suddenly contracted.

The feel of this iron...

He hurriedly raised it before his eyes for a closer look. A faint blue-black sheen shimmered along the cut surface.

Then he picked up a hammer and tapped it.

It rang when struck, crisp as a chime.

That meant the material was dense and compact.

"Th-this is..." Even Sun Ping's voice held shock.

He abruptly looked up, eyes wide as he stared at Shen Chu. "This piece... where did you get it?"

Shen Chu looked utterly confused. Scratching the back of his head, he said, "Master Sun, I hammered it out using the method you taught me. The one where you heat the iron to seven-tenths heat, then alternate three light strikes and one heavy strike. But I felt this piece seemed different from the ones I made before. The color looked a little darker, so I wanted to ask you to see whether I did something wrong."

Sun Ping's mouth fell open so wide that it would not close for a long while. "What did you say? Th-this was hammered out by you?"

Shen Chu nodded earnestly. "Yes. I did it at the forge over there."

Sun Ping took a deep breath, suppressing the shock in his heart. In a low voice, he said, "Make another one. Let me see."

"Alright."

Without another word, Shen Chu turned and returned to his forge.

Sun Ping followed him over and stood to one side, staring without blinking at Shen Chu's every movement.

Shen Chu skillfully clamped a piece of iron into the furnace and heated it until it glowed red. He took it out, set it on the anvil, raised his forging hammer, and began striking.

His movements were not particularly flashy; they were even somewhat immature. But every blow landed steadily and solidly, with a clear rhythm.

Three light, one heavy. Three light, one heavy. The hammering rang out crisp and regular.

The longer Sun Ping watched, the more alarmed he became.

The kid was indeed using his method, yet his control over strength and heat vaguely carried the air of an old master!

Shen Chu hammered several pieces in succession. After extinguishing the fire and wiping away his sweat, he laid the finished pieces out one by one on the worktable.

Sun Ping stepped forward and inspected them piece by piece.

The first few were ordinary iron materials, decent in quality but nothing remarkable. Then he picked up the final piece.

That blue-black sheen again. Dense in texture, and crisp when struck!

Shen Chu rubbed his head awkwardly and gave an embarrassed laugh. "Master Sun, I'm really sorry. I made another piece like this. Did I get the heat wrong and waste a piece of material for nothing?"

Sun Ping did not answer immediately.

He held the unusual piece up beneath the sunlight and examined it over and over. Then he compared it with several ordinary pieces beside it, remaining silent for a long time.

At last, he put down the material, turned to Shen Chu, and spoke with a barely perceptible tremor in his voice.

"Go. Light the fire for me."

"Huh?"

Shen Chu was taken aback.

"I said, light the fire for me."

Sun Ping repeated himself, his tone carrying a trace of fervor.

"I'm going to start forging blades!"

Shen Chu said nothing more and immediately went to stoke the furnace fire high.