When the morning light spread over Luoling Peak, Qin Tiexin was already standing outside the Zhuxin Hall. He held two broken blades in his left hand, wrapped in coarse cloth, and the exposed handles were wrapped with frayed hemp ropes.
The door is ajar.
Qin Tiexin raised his hand and rapped his knuckles on the heavy wooden door three times.
"Come in." It was Luo Ling's voice.
Qin Tiexin pushed the door open and entered.
There is plenty of light in the Zhuxin Hall. Luo Ling True Person is sitting on the high-backed chair at the main seat. She is still dressed in red, but her bun is neater than usual, and her temples are not messy at all.
Wu Zhen sat down on her left side.
He had changed out of the shabby cloth clothes in the Xiaqi Pavilion and put on a navy blue monk's robe. The material was new, but the size was slightly looser, making him slimmer. His hair was carefully tied up, revealing his entire face - the wrinkles were still the same, but his eyes were clearer and no longer cloudy.
Qin Tiexin walked into the hall, first gently put down the broken blade in his hand, untied the cloth, and placed the two Edgeless pieces side by side on the floor tiles. The fractures were uneven, and the blade body was covered with fine scratches, glowing with a matte black color in the morning light.
Then he took out the dark red Hunyuan molten core from Storage Bag.
The molten core was about two feet high and three feet wide. It was irregular in shape and had uneven surfaces, like lumps formed by countless metals melted and then solidified under extremely high temperatures. The moment it hit the ground, the ground in the hall shook slightly and made a dull sound.
"This is the Hunyuan molten core I found in the ruins of Dabi's Fire Sect. It contains a large amount of spiritual materials. I want to melt out the mortal materials in it and use it to add smelting and repair Edgeless." Qin Tiexin took a step back and explained.
Luo Ling's eyes first fell on Edgeless, paused for a moment, and then turned to the molten core.
Wu Zhen stood up and walked over.
He squatted down in front of the molten core and stretched out his right hand. He first touched the surface lightly with his fingertips to feel the temperature, then put his palm against it, closed his eyes, and felt it with his spiritual power and Divine Sense.
The hall was quiet except for the fire crackling softly in the forge in the corner.
After about half a stick of incense, Wu Zhen opened his eyes.
"It is indeed Hunyuan molten core." His voice was hoarse, but his words were clear. "It is melted at high temperature and mixed with at least seventeen or eighteen kinds of metals. Spiritual materials account for 30 to 50%. It's hard to say exactly, but I can recognize at least three of them - red Flame Iron, star pattern copper, and earth black steel. They are all good things."
He paused and tapped a bulge on the surface of the molten core with his finger. "The problem is that the melt is too solid. The spiritual material and the mortal iron are completely blended. You have me and I have you. If you want to get the spiritual material metal ingot inside, you have to spend a lot of effort to separate it. Not to mention the time and effort, the success rate is still low."
"There is no need to separate the metal ingots of spiritual materials." Qin Tiexin explained, "You only need to control the temperature in advance and separate the mortal materials. The remaining mixed spiritual materials can be directly added to smelt. This knife of mine... is quite special."
Hearing this, Luo Ling also got up and walked over.
She squatted down in front of the Edgeless broken blade and looked at it for a while, moving her eyes from the handle to the tip, and then back to the blade.
"What special method?" she asked.
Qin Tiexin was silent for a moment and said in a low voice, "I made this knife the year before last. The material was left by my grandfather. At that time, it was a piece of black metal as big as a fist."
"What does it look like?"
"Dull black, heavy in hand, the piece of metal looked like it could only be used to make a short knife, but later I found... it eats iron."
Luo Ling raised her eyes. "Eating iron?"
"Yeah." Qin Tiexin nodded, "I put it together with ordinary refined iron, and it actually stuck, as if it was 'bitten'. Later, I smelted it with ordinary refined iron and forged it into a heavy knife. When it was made into a knife, it weighed 150 kilograms. After it was forged, there was no trace of the refined iron, and it turned completely matte black. It was as if the refined iron had been eaten by it, and it could not be sharpened."
Wu Zhen listened on the sidelines, his eyes moving slightly.
Luo Ling reached out and touched Edgeless Saber's body with her fingertips.
She closed her eyes, and the golden elixir True Person Divine Sense spread over the blade like a tide. Qin Tiexin Standing aside, she could feel some kind of invisible pressure in the air, so heavy that it made her breath tight.
After a long time, Luo Ling stopped his hand and opened his eyes.
"It's not the precious material 'Swallowing Spirit Gold'." She said with certainty, "The crystal lattice is different, and Swallowing Spirit Gold is as white as the moon, and this thing is as mute and black as night. But it does have a similar ability to swallow and assimilate... and it is more domineering than Swallowing Spirit Gold, and it is not any metal I know."
She looked at Wu Zhen: "Brother Zhen, have you seen him?"
Wu Zhen shook his head, but did not move his eyes away from Edgeless: "I read a book called "The Record of Strange Metals" in the Lingxi Sect's library, which recorded three hundred and seventy-nine kinds of rare metals. There are three kinds of matte black metals with devouring properties, but the descriptions are inconsistent with this thing."
He paused and said, "There is a rumor... During the High Antiquity period, a piece of extraterrestrial iron fell in the northern border. It was black in color, as heavy as a mountain, and melted when it touched any iron. But that thing was only mentioned in ancient cultivators' notes. No one has ever seen the real thing, so we don't know whether it is true or not."
Luo Ling looked at Qin Tiexin again. "You said it swallowed others later?"
"Hmm." Qin Tiexin squatted down and ran his fingers over a deep dent on the blade, "After joining the Liuyun Sect, it became a little lighter. I'm going to make it a little heavier. I've mixed it with many spiritual materials using my good skills. Cold Iron essence, red heart copper, black iron sand... have all been forged into it. After each forging, the weight of the sword will increase a lot, but the size and shape of the blade will remain almost unchanged. Those spiritual materials... eventually became part of it."
He raised his head and said, "It weighs four thousand kilograms now."
The hall fell silent.
What is the concept of four thousand kilograms? It is rare for heavy weapons used in ordinary physical training to exceed one thousand kilograms. Not many people can lift a four thousand kilograms knife, let alone swing it.
Luo Ling suddenly smiled, a little playfully, with a light in his eyes. "It's a bit interesting."
She stood up, her red coat brushing against the floor tiles. "Since it can eat by itself, let it eat as much as it can."
Qin Tiexin was stunned.
Wu Zhen had already understood. "You mean... use this piece of Hunyuan molten core?"
"Yes, Tiexin's idea is feasible." Luo Ling turned and walked towards the forging platform, her voice echoing in the empty hall, "It is difficult to separate the Hunyuan molten core because the spiritual material, ordinary iron, melts too hard, but what if Edgeless can take a bite of it by himself? It can assimilate a variety of spiritual materials, and it must be able to digest the things in this molten core."
She turned around and her eyes fell on Qin Tiexin: "But recasting is not just about piling materials together. You are the one who uses the knife. It has to fit your hand and fit your way."
Qin Tiexin stood up straight. "Disciple understands."
"It's not enough to understand." Luo Ling walked back and stood in front of Edgeless, "You have to think clearly - what kind of knife do you want?"
She paused and her voice deepened:
"You have been a soldier at the border, and the sword is used to charge into battles, and break armor to kill enemies. You have fought in the ring, and the sword is used to block moves and look for opportunities to counterattack. You will encounter more opponents in the future, who may be humans, monsters, or other things. Your sword must be able to accompany you in all situations."
Qin Tiexin Silence.
He looked at Edgeless on the ground. This knife accompanied him from Ink City to the border, from the mortal world to the immortal gate. He remembered the origin of every scratch on the knife.
"It must be heavy." Qin Tiexin suddenly said.
Luo Ling raised her eyebrows. "How heavy is it?"
"At least five thousand catties." Qin Tiexin said, "Besides, my strength will still grow."
"What else?"
"It's easy." Qin Tiexin squatted down and held the handle of the knife - the handle of the broken blade. "Now, the center of gravity is too far forward. The cutting force is strong, but the change of moves is slow. I want to move it back half an inch."
Wu Zhen nodded at the side. "That's reasonable. You are used to using the Zhongyue sword technique, which is powerful and heavy, but if you encounter a Movement Method fast opponent, your center of gravity is too far forward and you can easily be restrained."
Luo Ling didn't comment, just asked, "Is there any more?"
Qin Tiexin thought for a while, "The cutting edge should be thicker. I often encounter hard problems, and if it is thin, it will easily collapse."
"That's all?"
Qin Tiexin nodded.
Luo Ling looked at him for a long time and suddenly said, "You forgot the most important point."
Qin Tiexin raised his eyes.
"It has to 'live'." Luo Ling said word by word, "The knife is a dead thing, but the person who uses it lives. Your breathing, your heartbeat, the contraction of your muscles when you exert force, the flow of spiritual power when you draw the knife - these all have to be integrated into the knife. Recasting is not a patchwork, it is making it become a part of your body."
She paused and her voice slowed down:
"Go back. Just do one thing in the past few days - think about the feeling of you holding the knife every time, the force you use every time you swing the knife, and the breath you take after putting the knife away. Come to me after you think about it clearly."
"Also, this is your introductory exam. I will provide you with the tools and furnaces you need, but you have to do the materials, plans, and actual operations yourself. Neither I nor Brother Zhen will interfere."
Qin Tiexin lowered his head. "Yes."
He bent down, rewrapped the broken blade of Edgeless, put it on his shoulder, and put the Hunyuan molten core back into Storage Bag. He pushed the door open and went out. He walked down the mountain along the bluestone steps.
In the Zhuxin Hall, Luo Ling and Wu Zhen were still standing where they were.
"Isn't it a bit risky? The spiritual materials are smelted directly without separation. If you are not careful, the furnace may explode." Wu Zhen suddenly said.
Luo Ling didn't answer. He walked to the door and looked at Qin Tiexin's retreating figure. The young man had broad shoulders and a thick back, and his steps were steady and steady. Even though he was carrying a four thousand kilogram broken blade, his back was still straight.
"Don't you see? He has actually thought it through a long time ago." Luo Ling said, "Otherwise he wouldn't have taken out the fusion core as soon as he entered the door. This kid is not here to ask for our opinions at all."
Wu Zhen was silent for a moment. "That molten core... do you really think Edgeless can swallow it all?"
"Whether you can swallow it or not, you won't know until you try it. What's more, since we are here, there will be no danger." Luo Ling turned around and looked at the forging platform in the center of the hall. "To be young means to dare to think and try. You will never grow up if you follow us."
She paused and looked at Wu Zhen playfully:
"Just like back then, didn't you listen to the old sect master?"
Wu Zhen didn't answer, his face turned a little red.
When Qin Tiexin returned to cave abode, the sun was near zenith.
He placed the Edgeless broken blade in the center of the refining room, and sat cross-legged on the ground under the light from the skylight.
He looked at Edgeless for a long time, then stretched out his hand and grasped the handle of the knife. This part of the broken blade was only four feet long, but the grip was still familiar - the callus in the palm of his hand just caught in the depression of the rope, and when the five fingers tightened, the curvature of the knuckles and the handle of the knife fit perfectly.
He remembered the first time he held this knife.
Ink City Blacksmith Shop, after he finished forging, he fell into a coma due to physical and mental exhaustion, but when he woke up and saw "it" for the first time, he couldn't hide the joy in his heart.
Later I went to Xinyang Pass. In the wind and snow in the north, this knife accompanied me to complete Formation-Breaking Second Camp's training, accompanied me to kill countless Northern Di soldiers, and accompanied me to capture Yelü Hongshan alive. I still remember the fear that I couldn't get rid of when I used Edgeless to kill for the first time.
Then came the Liuyun Sect. During the outer sect competition, on the ring, the sword hit Zhou Chongshan's Chenfeng Sword. The moment it broke, he heard a sound - not the crisp sound of gold and iron clashing, but a deeper, muffled sound as if something was breaking together, like the wail of "Edgeless".
Luo Ling said, let him think.
I want the feeling of holding a knife, the force of wielding the knife, and the breath of holding the knife.
Qin Tiexin Close your eyes.
Pictures appeared in my mind - not coherent, but fragments. The arc of chopping in the snow, the tremor of blocking in the ring, the frustration of the blade breaking through the bones and flesh when killing beasts in the mountains and forests...
There are more subtle ones.
The flow of Dantian's breath when breathing and exerting force are synchronized. The rhythm of muscles tensing and relaxing. The sound of wind brushing against the ears when the blade of the knife cuts through the air.
He opened his eyes and his gaze fell on the Edgeless fracture.
The place is jagged, as if it has been torn open. On the cross section, you can see layers of texture - the marks left after countless times of forging, devouring, and assimilation, like the growth rings of a tree.
Qin Tiexin suddenly understood what Luo Ling said.
"Recasting is not restoration, but rebirth."
What he wants is not to put the broken knife back together, but to let the knife continue to accompany him in a new look.