What kind of kitchen knife was this? It was clearly a deadly weapon. If someone actually used it to chop vegetables, he feared it would slice not only the vegetables, but the table clean in two as well.
At that thought, he set the kitchen knife aside and asked, "You forged this?!"
"Yes!" Little Leopard nodded, a faintly smug smile appearing on his face. Forging a kitchen knife sharper than even a fine-quality weapon from ordinary kitchen-knife materials was more than enough to demonstrate his talent for smithing and smelting.
The Wu Ironworks dealt in every kind of ironware, from hammers and hoes for farmers and scissors and kitchen knives for townsfolk to weapons and iron armor for the army. Nothing was left out. It could be said that they had both military and civilian goods firmly in hand, covering every kind of iron implement in the world.
For precisely that reason, the Wu Household's blacksmiths fell into three main categories. One specialized in forging weapons and military equipment, while another made implements for civilian use. The distinction between the two was as clear as the waters of the Jing and Wei Rivers, but those who forged military equipment enjoyed much higher standing than those who made civilian goods.
After all, military equipment had to meet far higher standards than civilian implements. Every weapon and suit of iron armor had a soldier's life hanging on it, so even the Wu Ironworks had to proceed with care. The Wu Ironworks had blacksmiths who specialized in this kind of military equipment. Even those who were not Master Artisans were at least Artisans with a decade or so of experience.
Weapons were needed not only by the army, but by people of the martial world as well. Thus, the third category at the Wu Weapon Shop forged all kinds of weapons for martial artists. These weapons differed from the previous two categories. Most people roaming the martial world were nobodies with no particular demands for their weapons, so long as they were sharp and sturdy. Weapons of this sort did not require a Master Artisan; a reasonably skilled blacksmith would do, and the Wu Household had no shortage of such people. There were, however, some renowned figures who demanded a great deal from their weapons. They needed them custom-made and had numerous other requirements, some of which even ordinary Master Artisans struggled to meet. Fortunately, there were few such people, so demand was limited. The Wu Household's reserve of grand Master Artisans was more than sufficient to satisfy it.
The ironworks at Green Ram Market was small, occupying the lowest rank and smallest tier among the Wu Ironworks' establishments. It had only one Master Artisan, who was also an instructor and normally did no forging himself. The shop handled only two kinds of business: ordinary civilian ironware and ordinary weapons for people of the martial world.
The smiths here were therefore divided into those two types as well. Still, weapons always required much higher standards than kitchen knives and the like, so the weapon smiths received far better treatment than the other blacksmiths. Leaving everything else aside, their wages alone were twice those of the smiths who made civilian ironware.
Apprentices like Little Leopard were not paid in the first place. The ironworks fed you, clothed you, and taught you a trade, and you still wanted wages? Wouldn't that be utterly ungrateful?
Still, though there were no wages, there were rewards. If an apprentice could forge a fine-quality item, the ironworks would give him a reward, its size determined by the value of what he had made. Naturally, this was also meant as encouragement, urging the apprentices to apply themselves to their craft and produce more fine-quality work. These so-called fine-quality items, of course, were only civilian implements. Weapons and the like were things only apprentices who had completed their training-in other words, true blacksmiths-were allowed to touch. The Wu Household's ironworks also had a rule: once an apprentice could forge a weapon that met the required standard, he could shed his apprentice status, become a blacksmith, and receive wages.
Generally speaking, an ordinary person needed at least five years to go from apprentice to qualified blacksmith. Little Leopard had been here only half a year, yet he had already reached this level, leaving Qin Xuanlong truly astonished. Astonishment aside, however, the craftsmanship displayed by the kitchen knife in his hand convinced Qin Xuanlong that Little Leopard was already capable of forging weapons. He could also see that the boy's future would be far brighter than his own.
Since that was the case, he might as well do the boy a favor now. Perhaps it would help him in the future.
As one of those in charge of the Wu Ironworks, he was naturally well acquainted with Little Leopard's background. The boy came from a mountain village and had become an apprentice with the Wu Household only because his family had too many sons to feed. They had pulled some strings to get him taken on as an apprentice. At the time, no one had imagined that the boy would turn out to be a genius.
But even if he was a genius, he was still only a child. Whatever achievements he might attain lay in the future. Right now, he was merely a poor boy. Lending him a hand at a time like this would be like delivering charcoal in the snow, which was why Qin Xuanlong had made this decision. In his eyes, no matter how gifted Little Leopard was, he was only an eight-year-old child and would certainly feel grateful to him for this.
Little Leopard was indeed grateful, just not moved to tears as Qin Xuanlong had imagined. With memories of two lifetimes, he had little trouble guessing what Qin Xuanlong had in mind. Still, this arrangement benefited everyone. He would have been a fool to turn it down.
The days flew by. More than half a year had passed since Little Leopard had successfully shed his apprentice status and become a qualified blacksmith.
Little Leopard had lived very comfortably during those months. A blacksmith's monthly wages ranked among the best in all of Green Ram Market. Even though he used a large portion to support his family, what remained was enough to keep him living quite comfortably. Besides, the Wu Ironworks offered bonuses too.
After more than half a year of honing his forging skills, Little Leopard had essentially learned to unite theory and practice when making weapons. In terms of craftsmanship, he now ranked among the best in the entire Wu Ironworks.
His progress left Qin Xuanlong so astonished that he made the same decision Old Xing had made before: once Little Leopard turned ten, he would take part in the Wu Household's first round of Selection. Qin Xuanlong believed that Little Leopard's current skill was more than sufficient to stand out in the Selection. With his age taken into account as well, the Wu Household would surely value him and make him one of its core members.
Little Leopard understood that two key factors accounted for his outstanding performance. The most important was still the Enlightenment he had experienced while hammering wooden stakes in the backyard. That Enlightenment had benefited him enormously, giving him a perfect understanding of the rhythm and force of hammer blows. For a long time afterward, Little Leopard had tried countless times to enter that state again, but every attempt came to nothing, and he could only give up. In fact, unless he kept his eyes in that strange state, he could not even fully grasp everything he had gained from that Enlightenment.
Luckily, my eyes are freakish enough! Little Leopard walked down the street, breathing the fresh air and feeling the warm sunlight, the corners of his mouth curving into a smug smile.
The other factor was his Flameheart Method. It was a fire element method, and although its rank was not high, it had greatly improved Little Leopard's control over heat and temperature. Ordinary blacksmiths relied solely on experience to judge the heat. Little Leopard was different. With flameheart inner qi in his body, he could use his fire-element inner qi at any time to gauge an item's temperature and how thoroughly it had been heated. This was far more direct than relying on experience alone.
And so, he was thoroughly satisfied with his current life.
How could he not be? He had enough money to spend, his workload was light, and he could study the martial arts he loved most. Was there anything in the world better than this?
There wasn't!
At least, Little Leopard didn't think so.