The Mount Hua Blacksmith

"Eighty!"

"Clang!"

"Eighty!"

"Clang!"

Inside a spacious stone chamber, a burly young man kept swinging a large iron hammer, bringing it down hard on a red-hot block of iron.

With each strike, he unleashed a burst of force, exhaling with a shout of "Eighty!" before slowly gathering his strength for the next burst.

The iron hammer he swung was a fearsome thing as well. Though it did not weigh the eighty he shouted, it certainly weighed thirty or forty jin.

That he could swing such a heavy hammer showed just how strong the young man was.

More importantly, his endurance was astonishing. Even with a burst of force behind every blow, he swung the hammer thirty-six times before stopping, and his breathing was only slightly hurried.

"Master! Mistress!"

Setting down the heavy hammer, Tian Hao picked up a towel beside him and wiped away his sweat as he greeted the middle-aged couple who had arrived a little while earlier.

They were his master and his master's wife: Yue Buqun, the Gentleman Sword of Mount Hua, and Ning Zhongze, the Jade Maiden of Mount Hua.

"Drink this basin of chicken soup first. I made it especially for you!"

Smiling, Ning Zhongze opened the wooden box on the stone table, revealing the chicken soup inside. It contained quite a few medicinal herbs, clearly making it a deeply nourishing medicinal meal.

"Mother, you're playing favorites! Why are you so nice to Little Mouse? My birthday was just a few days ago, and you didn't make Eight-Treasure Precious Soup for me!"

Following behind her mother, Yue Lingshan immediately protested when she saw the basin of chicken soup.

Eight-Treasure Precious Soup was no ordinary dish. It required eight precious medicinal herbs, and even the chicken had to be raised on medicinal herbs from a young age. Once prepared, it could greatly nourish the muscles and bones and heal hidden injuries.

Even their Mount Hua Sect only kept a dozen or so of those chickens. Her parents normally could not bear to eat even one, yet now they had stewed one for that fellow.

She felt as though he were her parents' real child, while she was merely adopted.

"If you can swing this hammer a thousand times a day like your junior martial brother Hao, I'll have your mother make you Eight-Treasure Precious Soup tonight."

Yue Buqun shot her an exasperated glare, then picked up the still-scorching block of iron with a pair of tongs and examined it closely.

"I'm not swinging some huge hammer!"

The girl hid behind her mother, then licked her pink lips at the enticing aroma, her bright eyes fixed on the basin of Eight-Treasure Precious Soup.

"Junior Brother Hao, share a little with me!"

Eight-Treasure Precious Soup was good stuff. Not only was it delicious and nourishing, it also aided the cultivation of both internal and external arts.

One bowl was equivalent to a month of arduous cultivation.

"Here!"

Tian Hao generously pulled off a chicken foot and handed it over. This was good stuff.

"Little Mouse!"

Staring at the chicken foot offered to her, Yue Lingshan's bright eyes went round with anger.

Are you even a man?

"If you don't want it, forget it!"

Not bothering to explain the wonders of chicken feet to her, Tian Hao stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it to pieces, and swallowed.

Then, under the girl's indignant gaze, he lifted the porcelain basin, a foot across, and gulped down every drop of chicken soup.

He was not finished yet. He ate all the chicken inside, and did not even spare the herbal dregs or chicken bones, chewing them up and swallowing them.

"Stingy brat!"

The girl stamped her foot in frustration, thoroughly infuriated.

Everyone in the Mount Hua Sect doted on her. Only this junior martial brother repeatedly left her smarting.

Neither her status nor her looks meant anything to him.

Even her parents sided with that fellow. It was maddening!

"The color is darker than last time!"

Yue Buqun suddenly spoke, delight showing on his face. Ning Zhongze also looked pleased as she examined the gray-black block of iron.

"It's still a long way off. According to the ancient texts, Black Iron is deep black with a faint reddish glow, and it's extremely dense-even heavier than gold. To hammer meteoric iron into Black Iron, I'll probably have to cultivate Embrace Origin Force to at least major attainment."

After rinsing his mouth with water, Tian Hao spoke gloomily.

His skill at smithing was the key reason his master and mistress treated him so well. In fact, it was this very skill that had gained him admission to the Mount Hua Sect three years earlier.

After all, the Mount Hua Sect had to pay for its longswords. The wear and damage from everyday sparring, combined with losses incurred when fighting enemies outside, amounted to a considerable expense.

For the Mount Hua Sect at its height, that naturally would not have mattered. These days, however, the sect had only a handful of cats, big and small, and Yue Buqun and his wife were holding everything together on their own. They had to economize in every respect.

A talented craftsman like Tian Hao, who could forge weapons, naturally had to be well looked after.

That just went to show how important it was to master a trade!

Yet although he had successfully become Old Yue's disciple, his aptitude was too poor to practice internal cultivation methods. Even training in external arts was a struggle.

There was no helping it. Aptitude mattered most in martial training. With good aptitude, one gained twice the results with half the effort; with poor aptitude, one gained half the results with twice the effort.

"Take your time. There's no rush. You're still young!"

Stroking his long beard, Yue Buqun was already very satisfied.

Black Iron was refined from meteoric iron. Meteoric iron was not difficult to find, and their Mount Hua Sect, with its long history, had collected quite a supply.

But although meteoric iron was a decent material, it was merely decent. A meteoric iron longsword offered limited help to an expert in the Houtian Realm like him.

A Black Iron longsword, on the other hand, would at least double his fighting strength.

Unfortunately, Black Iron was extremely difficult to refine. Not only did it demand great strength and skill from the smith, more importantly, it required an extremely high flame temperature.

That was why Black Iron was so rare in the martial world, even though meteoric iron was fairly plentiful.

Fortunately, this disciple he had picked up had solved the hardest problem: the flame temperature. All that remained now was to develop his strength and craftsmanship.

The future held promise!

"Don't push yourself too hard. It's been less than six months since you developed Embrace Origin internal force. Using it for long stretches puts considerable strain on your body."

Concern showed on Ning Zhongze's face, along with a trace of heartache. Inwardly, she felt a deep sense of regret.

This disciple had led a bitter life, and his aptitude was only average. He truly was not suited to martial training.

Yet he was diligent-more diligent than all the other disciples in the sect put together.

Unfortunately, martial training depended above all on aptitude and comprehension. Both internal and external arts made extremely high demands on one's aptitude. Effort alone was not enough.

What a pity!

"Thank you for your concern, Mistress!"

With a chuckle, Tian Hao felt genuine affection and respect for the master and mistress before him.

Whatever Old Yue had been like in the original story, at least for now he deserved the title Gentleman Sword, and he treated Tian Hao very well.

"Get some rest early!"

Glancing at the sky outside, Yue Buqun set down the block of meteoric iron and told Tian Hao to rest early, then left with his wife.

His main purpose in coming today had been to check the progress of the meteoric iron's refinement. Although it was still far from becoming Black Iron, there had been considerable improvement.

The future held promise!

Just imagine it: in the future, every member of the Mount Hua Sect would wield an incomparably sharp Black Iron longsword in battle. Even fighting opponents above their level would be no problem.

"Why are you still here?"

After seeing Old Yue and his wife out of the cave, Tian Hao turned to Yue Lingshan, who had not followed them.

"Junior Brother Hao, help me adjust this sword!"

She approached with a cheerful grin and handed him the longsword she was holding.

"So it's Little Mouse when you don't need anything, and Junior Brother Hao when you do?"

Tian Hao made his disdain for the girl's swift change of attitude plain, paying no heed whatsoever to the fact that she was a girl.

As a new-era citizen with the four virtues, he firmly believed in equality between men and women!

I'll endure it!

That scornful look made Yue Lingshan's teeth itch with anger, but for the sake of having her treasured sword adjusted, she endured it.

"Shing!"

"Fine sword!"

He drew the sword from its sheath, and a pale green gleam reflected onto his head. Tian Hao's eyes lit up as he praised it.

As a blacksmith with an inherited craft, he naturally had a good eye. The blade before him was emerald green, like a pool of spring water. It must have been alloyed with some precious metal, making it far stronger than ordinary steel.

It was a rare and precious sword!

"How do you want it changed?"

After examining it for a while, Tian Hao looked at the girl beside him.

"Father gave me this Jade Water Sword for my birthday, but the grip doesn't feel quite right. Help me adjust it."

Yue Lingshan hurriedly explained what she wanted. This mattered a great deal to her.

A weapon that fit one's hand could better bring out the power of one's swordsmanship. Without Tian Hao, she would naturally have had to put up with it, but since she had this resource available, she ought to make good use of it.

"Hold out your hand. Let me see!"

Raising his palm, Tian Hao motioned for the girl to hold out her hand.

The grip was the part one held, and compared with Yue Lingshan's slender, delicate hand, the Jade Water Sword's grip was indeed a little too thick and long. It needed to be altered to fit the shape of her hand.

As a daughter of the martial world, Yue Lingshan had no particular reservations and openly held out her small, fair hand.

But the moment the skin on the back of her hand touched Tian Hao's heavily callused palm, an ancient mirror suddenly appeared.