Smelting

They were not lumps of iron-iron ore would be more accurate.

Fang Zelin lowered his head and looked at the two small pieces of iron ore in his hands.

They were pitch-black, but on closer inspection, a hint of dark green seemed to shimmer within them.

"They should be something good."

With that thought, Fang Zelin began trying to pour Spiritual Power into them, wanting to see whether they held any other mysteries.

Yet after Fang Zelin poured his Spiritual Power into them, the iron ore showed no reaction at all.

Fang Zelin immediately frowned.

These things looked quite extraordinary.

But he seemed somewhat at a loss as to what to do with them.

At this thought, Fang Zelin's face fell into a worried frown.

Before Fang Zelin could think further, however, dark clouds had already filled the sky.

Then a bolt of lightning suddenly struck straight toward him.

The moment Fang Zelin saw the flash before him, he instinctively threw the things in his hands away.

The next instant, the lightning seemed to turn in midair, striking straight toward the pieces of iron ore he had thrown.

"Bang!"

Amid the flickering lightning, the iron ore took a lightning strike.

"These things attract lightning that much?"

Fang Zelin had seen the lightning's sudden turn perfectly clearly.

While Fang Zelin pondered, the thunder overhead did not stop. Every bolt that fell headed straight for the iron pieces on the open ground.

Watching from the side, Fang Zelin felt his heart pound with alarm.

He was simply too close to the lightning in the sky right now.

It felt as though he could reach out and touch it.

All he could do now was slowly crouch down to one side, hoping the lightning would not notice him.

Under Fang Zelin's gaze, sparks began flying from the two small pieces of iron ore ahead as lightning struck them repeatedly.

After only a short while, the two pieces of iron ore, originally somewhat dark green, began turning red.

Seeing this, Fang Zelin suddenly grew thoughtful.

Once the lightning strikes ended, Fang Zelin waited a little before stepping forward to collect the iron ore.

Then Fang Zelin hurried away.

The red panda at the foot of the mountain had already run off somewhere, but Fang Zelin did not mind.

Carrying the two pieces of iron ore, he hurried back to Yueyang City. A short while later, Fang Zelin arrived at a smithy.

The blacksmith inside was still working, with sabers, swords, kitchen knives, and other items hanging all along one side.

Fang Zelin immediately took out the iron ore and offered a tael of silver as well. "Melt these down for me!"

The blacksmith already had other work on hand and was about to refuse, but his eyes lit up when he saw the silver in Fang Zelin's hand.

Knowing he had met a generous patron, he hastily nodded and took the iron ore from Fang Zelin.

He turned it over and examined it. He did not seem to have seen this kind of iron ore before.

The blacksmith did not think much of it and tossed it straight into the furnace.

Then he began working the bellows, trying to stoke the fire hotter.

Fang Zelin stood quietly to one side, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on the iron ore inside.

No matter how the blacksmith worked the bellows, the iron ore in the furnace did not melt in the slightest. It did not even change color.

By the time an hour had passed, the blacksmith's face had turned the color of pig liver.

He should have realized sooner that this money would not be so easy to earn.

"Forget it. Stop working the bellows."

Seeing this, Fang Zelin shook his head, knowing the man had no way to melt the iron ore.

At his words, the blacksmith used his tools to take the iron ore out, his face full of embarrassment.

Fang Zelin said nothing about it and still paid the tael of silver, but he reached out and picked up the man's smithing hammer.

"You didn't meet my requirements, so I can take a hammer as compensation, right?"

"Of course, of course!"

How much could a hammer cost?

The blacksmith was thrilled. This was a whole tael of silver! Enough to buy countless hammers.

Fang Zelin took the hammer and left, then bought some other things, along with some dry rations.

Then he headed out of Yueyang City again.

After some time, Fang Zelin returned to the foot of Ten Thousand Ren Peak.

Fang Zelin had already made up his mind. Since the lightning strikes earlier could heat the iron ore red-hot, he would borrow the lightning's power to do a little forging.

He reckoned ordinary fire probably could not do anything to this iron ore.

If he could turn it into a weapon with a little simple forging, he would have one more thing to defend himself with afterward.

That was what Fang Zelin had in mind.

After Fang Zelin returned to the cave at the foot of Ten Thousand Blades Peak, he gathered some firewood and piled it into a campfire.

Once the campfire was burning, the entire cave was lit up.

That would do. Now he only needed to wait for dark clouds to appear over Ten Thousand Blades Peak.

This was also the conclusion Fang Zelin had reached after climbing for so long: as long as there were dark clouds up there, lightning was sure to follow.

After taking out his dry rations and eating some, Fang Zelin sat cross-legged and began cultivating.

Just as Fang Zelin began cultivating, a small figure ran in through the cave entrance.

Fang Zelin's brows twitched. He instantly recognized the newcomer as the red panda.

Once he realized it was the red panda, Fang Zelin paid it little further attention and continued cultivating on his own.

Dense Spiritual Qi spread through the little stone cave, filling the entire cave in an instant.

What surprised Fang Zelin somewhat was that he could sense the two pieces of ore he carried on him actually absorbing this spreading Spiritual Qi as well.

They were like living things.

After noticing this, Fang Zelin did not dwell on it. If they wanted to absorb it, so be it.

He had already sensed that this iron ore was extraordinary. Now that it could absorb Spiritual Qi, he might as well let it.

Over the days that followed, Fang Zelin stayed at the foot of Ten Thousand Blades Peak. Whenever thunderclouds appeared, he climbed straight up the peak.

Once the lightning had struck the iron ore red-hot, he took advantage of a gap between strikes to rush forward with his hammer and pound away.

Sure enough, when the iron ore was red-hot, it was easy to hammer it into shape.

Fang Zelin also took the opportunity to hammer the two pieces of iron ore together.

With every blow Fang Zelin struck, the iron ore gradually began to take shape.

And so, during thunderstorms, Ten Thousand Blades Peak rang not only with thunderous roars, but gradually with the clanging of hammer blows as well.

Once the two lumps of iron gradually merged together, Fang Zelin found himself in a quandary.

He was not very familiar with smithing. Having him swing a hammer a few times was no problem.

But asking him to hammer out a proper weapon, or anything else, was impossible.

Then, one day a month later, while Fang Zelin was cultivating in the cave-

Something suddenly stirred faintly in his heart, as though he had sensed the iron ore tucked against his chest.

At that moment, Fang Zelin seemed to see right through the iron ore.

Under Fang Zelin's gaze, every part of the iron ore was perfectly clear.

Then the iron ore even seemed to transmit something into Fang Zelin's mind. At that moment, understanding dawned in his heart: he knew how to forge the iron ore next.