Sentience?

Mo Tieyan looked at the jade silver before him, his hands trembling as he stroked the alloy, his eyes instantly reddening.

For this moment, he had spent ten whole years exhausting his heart and mind, nearly giving up.

Whose ten years were not ten years? An old blacksmith's were, too.

He immediately straightened his clothes and bowed solemnly to Tang Qingye in Leng Yaozhu's arms, bending his back extremely low and observing every courtesy. "What I pursued so bitterly for over a decade, what I poured my heart's blood into yet could not accomplish, has finally reached fulfillment today with your help, young friend. I will never dare forget this kindness."

Tang Qingye patted Leng Yaozhu's softness. Master really is addicted to holding me. With so many people watching, even I'm getting a little embarrassed.

Tang Qingye cupped his hands and inclined his body slightly, returning only half a bow, his tone calm. "There's no need for this, senior. It's enough that your long-cherished wish has come true. You needn't keep speaking of gratitude."

Mo Tieyan had always been hot-tempered and straightforward, never one to beat around the bush. Hearing this only made him anxious, his brows knitting tightly. He took it to mean Tang Qingye thought he was offering empty words and did not believe he sincerely wished to repay the kindness. He immediately stepped forward, clenched his fists hard, and spoke with urgent solemnity. "You don't believe me, young friend! I've spent my whole life smithing and forging, and I value trust and honor above all else. I've never spoken a single false word! Today, I swear before everyone: whenever you need any rare metals, forging materials, or help with forging, I'll come at your call and repay you with every connection and skill I've acquired in my life! If I break even the smallest part of this promise, I will never touch a forging hammer again!"

Seeing him so agitated, Tang Qingye smiled helplessly. "Don't be anxious, senior. I believe you. Please straighten up, and don't offer such a weighty bow again."

Only then did Mo Tieyan calm down a little and slowly straighten his back. His gaze shifted away from Tang Qingye, and only then did he notice Leng Yaozhu, the Spirit Pagoda's Deputy Pagoda Master, standing quietly nearby.

Startled on the spot, he hurriedly restrained his excitement, straightened his clothes, and bowed to Leng Yaozhu. "My respects, Your Eminence Heavenly Phoenix."

Leng Yaozhu gently raised a hand in a downward gesture and smiled warmly. "It's quite all right. He is my disciple, and he wishes to learn the art of forging..."

Before Leng Yaozhu could finish, the impatient Mo spoke directly. "Rest assured, Your Eminence. I will devote all my efforts to teaching this young friend and hold nothing back."

Leng Yaozhu's brow lifted slightly, and she slowly nodded. "Very good."

Actually, just getting him through the door would do...

Master Mo walked slowly to the forging bench and raised a hand to beckon the boy forward, his voice steady and unhurried. "If you want to enter the forging trade, first understand the difference between beating iron and forging an artifact.

"Ordinary ironworking seeks only to shape the metal. True forging means hammering away impurities and condensing the metal's aura. Hundred Refinement removes impurities; Thousand Refinement nurtures the soul. Not a single step can be rushed.

"Don't let my impatient temper fool you. I'm never impatient when forging."

As he spoke, he took a piece of heavy silver from his storage device, placed it on a tray, and pushed it over. "This is heavy silver, found in deep rock strata beneath the ocean. At room temperature, it's dense and hard. Once heated red in a furnace, it becomes pliable and malleable. It has extremely high affinity for soul power and very few impurities, making it ideal for laying your foundations as a beginner."

He paused and pointed to the two forging hammers set side by side nearby. "For today's first lesson, I won't teach fold-forging or impart any tricks to controlling the fire. Secure the heavy silver in the anvil's holding slot, wield both hammers with alternating strikes, and give it one thousand solid blows.

"You don't need to remove impurities. I only want you to keep the force of every strike steady, develop an even, stable hammering rhythm, and firmly establish the foundations of generating force through your waist and arms."

The orange-red glow of the furnace lit a boy's focused profile.

People said a boy was most attractive when he was serious, and the saying fit Tang Qingye perfectly, because he had passed the first checkpoint-confirming the character model.

Leng Yaozhu stood nearby, her gaze slightly intent as she quietly watched her disciple's profile. A barely perceptible gentleness and anticipation lay hidden in her eyes, and the corners of her lips rose almost imperceptibly.

Leng Nu Jiao's gaze was tender and lingering, resting entirely on the plainly dressed boy beside her.

The other blacksmiths: No, something's wrong. Why is there a sour stink? Who took a dump at a time like this?

His left hammer swung up and struck the edge of the heavy silver with a clang. The entire piece bounced slightly, and his right hammer had already fallen like lightning, striking the other side.

Both hammers swung as he began his sustained forging. He did not use his full strength-about thirty or forty percent.

Sparks flew in every direction, and the rhythmic hammering rang through the forging room like cheerful percussion.

With each hammer blow, the recoil immediately traveled back, as though the heavy silver were resisting his strength.

He was in no hurry at all. He reined in his hammering force a little, continuously striking to assess the heavy silver's grain. A gentle, lingering thread of energy quietly slipped along the hammerhead into the depths of the heavy silver, sensing its properties.

An unbroken yi wood aura followed the hammer's tip through the heavy silver's grain, while the power of heaven and earth's origin enveloped the blank, reflecting the location of every impurity in his mind.

Whenever his arms began to ache, the gentle aura flowing around him traveled through his limbs, instantly soothing every trace of soreness and strain. Through a thousand rises and falls of the hammers, his muscles and bones remained relaxed and unimpeded.

A thousand hammer blows came and went, and sweat soaked his clothes, yet his force remained even, without the slightest hitch.

Under the hammer blows, the heavy silver slowly developed a faint pulse. A soft glow rippled across its surface, and the impurities within slowly floated toward the surface, drawn by the vitality. Every breath resonated with his own, giving rise to a trace of nascent sentience, while the surrounding air hummed faintly with the rhythms of heaven and earth spreading from his body.

"Th-this... Thousand Refinement with spirit!"

A blacksmith exclaimed.

"What are you making such a fuss for? This isn't Thousand Refinement with spirit. This damn thing is really about to become sentient!"

"What a pity. The Deputy Pagoda Master's disciple fell short on spiritual power this time. Otherwise, he might actually have succeeded in granting it sentience through that emerald-green power of his."

A sharp-eyed old expert slowly offered his analysis.

"No, hey! What are you all analyzing so knowingly? He's fucking six!"

"You... you fu... You truly are a miracle worker, young friend."

Mo Tieyan was closest to Tang Qingye, so naturally he felt it more deeply. Looking at Tang Qingye, whose clothes were slightly dirty at the hem, he thought for a long time before speaking.

Tang Qingye: *??*

Leng Nu Jiao: Young master is sooo amazing.

Leng Yaozhu: You really make your master proud.

Class was nearing its end. A girl sat beside the window, her blue hair hanging smoothly, her skin luminous white, her features gentle and delicate.

Her elbow rested lightly against the windowsill, her gaze falling on the branches and leaves of an old tree beyond the courtyard. The lecturer's voice and the sounds of her classmates packing their books were all shut out of her awareness. She sat blankly, her thoughts drifting far away.

Outside the window, the sea breeze stirred the treetops. The girl sat quietly, her lowered lashes hiding the thoughts in her eyes, her gaze fixed among the tree's crown, paying no attention at all to the approaching end of class.

"Class dismissed. Have a lovely vacation, everyone."

The teacher had barely finished speaking when Mu Xi, with her dazzling golden hair, sprang from her seat. She threaded briskly through the crowd, her high ponytail bouncing as she ran, and reached Ouyang Zixin's desk by the window in just a few steps. Her eyes brimmed with unconcealable excitement as she blurted out, "I don't have to stay in Eastsea City for the vacation! My father's taking me to Heaven Dou City! It's a hundred times livelier than our Eastsea City, with everything you could want. Will you come along with me? We can use the vacation to wander around and unwind."

She spoke excitedly for a long while, but Ouyang Zixin beside her kept gazing at the trees outside the window without the slightest response, as though she had not heard her at all.

Mu Xi immediately raised a hand and lightly slapped the desk, her tone both helpless and annoyed. "Ouyang Zixin, are you even listening to me?"

A gust blew past, lifting the girl's cowlick. "Huh?"