Forging Iron and Being Struck, a Breakthrough

The Zhao residence has changed its signboard, and the name is rather strange.

Spirit-Calming Hall.

Anyone who didn't know better would think this mansion had been converted into a pharmacy; you'd never guess it had become the largest grain distribution center in Hang Prefecture.

All kinds of grain that were originally under the control of the government began to be gathered here, registered, inventoried, and redistributed.

Large carts laden with grain came and went, and many minor officials from the government offices had recently moved here to work.

Sun Liang's scabies has recently subsided, and the redness has faded considerably, now appearing merely as marks left from sleeping on a pillow.

With an abacus in hand, he appeared and disappeared unpredictably. When the minor officials in the granaries were doing their work, they would suddenly feel someone behind them, and they would inevitably pay more attention to the accounts they calculated.

At this moment, he stood in the side courtyard, watching bags of grain being carried out of the mansion.

A smiling young man with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and slightly round cheeks walked over and put his arm around his shoulder.

"Didn't you eat lunch again? Come with me, I have some good stuff, hehe!"

Sun Liang shifted slightly, a little uncomfortable, to move the boy's hand aside, and asked, "Di Ba, why did you shave your beard?"

After shaving, the Diba Deng looked so young that he didn't look like a brother at all, but more like a nephew or niece.

"I don't just shave, I comb my hair too. Sometimes my hair and beard are all messy, which is really uncomfortable."

Diba Deng stroked his chin and casually tugged at Sun Liang, "Let's go, let's go."

After passing through several courtyards, the two came to a particularly flat area of black soil.

This is where Qin An used to practice his martial arts; the soil here has been tamped down to be as hard as iron.

Beside the site, there was a large building made of piled stones and cast in molten iron. Its gate, covered with iron sheets and made of solid wood, was over ten feet high and extremely heavy.

In front of the long window of the large house, there was a stone table and several stone stools.

There were several large clay balls on the table, two of which had already cracked open, leaving only empty clay shells.

"You're back? Di Ba, your cooking is pretty good."

Chu Tianshu's lips were slightly oily as he waved his hand and knocked open the third mud ball.

Steam rose from the mud shell, emitting a fragrant aroma, revealing a chicken wrapped in tree bark and thin rope.

The rich aroma of chicken, with a hint of fruitwood, intensified after Chu Tianshu used his fingers to cut the thin rope and bark.

He reached out and twisted off a large chicken leg.

The chicken skin was pulled along with it, almost tearing away half of the tough yellow skin from the chicken, and the abundant juices overflowed from the crack in the chicken leg.

Chu Tianshu quickly took a big bite, and the more he chewed, the happier he became, his face beaming with a smile.

Sun Liang had been busy lately, Chu Tianshu trusted him, and the minor officials respected him, which gave him boundless energy, and he didn't feel hungry at all.

The wonderful aroma made his stomach rumble a little.

The Diba Deng man stared blankly, muttering, "Brother Sun, we're late again."

"It's not too late."

Chu Tianshu laughed, "I'll have Danxia tell the kitchen to prepare ten large roosters. You'll be in charge of cooking them all later. Once you're done, I'll only take four, and the rest will be enough for the two of you."

The Diba Deng exclaimed in surprise, "Uncle Chu, aren't you going to share the remaining half with us?"

"I have another use for this. Okay, wait a minute."

Chu Tianshu ate heartily, finishing the chicken leg and even biting off the bone, all the while praising it.

"The chicken is so tender and juicy that it slips right into your stomach before you know it. The bones, on the other hand, give you a little more chewing time, which enhances the flavor."

"I've had beggar's chicken before, wrapped in lotus leaves, and it wasn't particularly delicious. To be honest, it even had a slightly rotten leafy taste. Yours, made with fruit tree bark, is quite novel."

A slight smile appeared on the face of the person in the Diba Deng.

After he Chuangong, his internal energy filled his entire body, and he didn't know how to regulate it, which caused his sense of taste to become extremely sensitive.

At that time, ordinary food tasted incredibly unpleasant to him, but knowing that food was precious, he forced himself to swallow it.

Over time, he figured out a little trick: he would mix the dust into the porridge and wild vegetables and eat it together.

There's a lot to know about eating dirt.

Some soils have a delicate flavor. After being boiled, stir-fried, and sieved, the resulting mud powder can be carried with you and sprinkled on food to mask its imperfections.

During his time wandering in Shanxi Province, he learned a great deal from the wisdom of many local elders.

Our ancestors were truly wise; they had already studied the concept of eating dirt long ago.

But eating dirt all the time gets monotonous, so when he has the opportunity, he thinks about eating chicken. His specialty, beggar's chicken made from fruit wood, is a skill he has continuously improved over the years.

After the mud ball was dug out, he specially brought it to the main house.

Sure enough, even Chu Tianshu loved to eat it—but he loved it too much.

The Diba Deng dog watched longingly as Chu Tianshu picked up the remaining half of the chicken and went back into the main house.

The heavy door opened and closed smoothly as if it were nothing to Chu Tianshu.

The Meteor Gods and Devils, with disheveled hair, sat cross-legged deep within the house, his eyes like will-o'-the-wisps, staring intently at Chu Tianshu.

"Old ghost."

Chu Tianshu's voice was tinged with laughter, "Hey! Come and eat!"

He gently pushed the half-chicken forward.

The chicken flew to the Meteor Gods and Devils, and when it was still several feet away, a gust of wind blew onto the Meteor Gods and Devils, releasing several pressure points.

Meteor Gods and Devils moved his left hand, grabbed the half chicken, and without saying a word, devoured it, skin and bone.

Chu Tianshu stood with his hands behind his back, six zhang away from him, and said, "Continue."

Meteor Gods and Devils flipped his left palm, and a surge of internal energy welled up in his palm, condensing into a four-pointed star, sparkling brightly, which then began to swirl around him.

The faster this internal energy meteor flew, the more solid it became. Originally only the size of a fingernail, after flying dozens of times, it had become a starlight the size of a bushel.

Whoosh-Bang!!

The starlight streaked through the air, so fast it seemed to disappear without a trace, and struck Chu Tianshu's chest before the sound could be heard.

Chu Tianshu neither dodged nor evaded, taking the blow head-on. He then slid back half a foot, dusted off his chest, and said, "Again."

Anger flashed in the eyes of the Meteor Gods and Devils.

Not long after he was arrested, he was brought to this house, where Chu Tianshu released half of his acupoints, allowing him to manipulate them at will.

But Chu Tianshu sat at the other end of the room, and whenever he was at a critical moment in breaking through acupoints, Chu Tianshu would raise his hand and pat the ground.

The subtle and pure power penetrated through him, directly clashing with his internal strength foundation.

That's alright, just torture. He has enough patience to find an opportunity to retaliate.

Unexpectedly, it didn't take long for Chu Tianshu to fully understand the effects of him being the blacksmith and the Meteor Gods and Devils being the iron blocks.

Therefore, Chu Tianshu gave Meteor Gods and Devils another option.

"Even if I can only use half my strength, I still have a thousand tricks up my sleeve. If you dare to stand your ground and endure it without fighting back, I absolutely do not believe you can emerge unscathed!"

The Meteor Gods and Devils roared and waved his left palm repeatedly, conjuring up starlight of varying sizes.

These starbursts were no longer the four-pointed shapes he was most familiar with; some were as small as red beans, crystal clear and round, while others were as flat as paper, shaped like snowflakes.

Each starlight, as it revolves around its owner, increases its power through its affinity with external energy.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!

A variety of meteor-like techniques flew through the air to attack.

Chu Tianshu still did not make a move to counterattack, his hands were folded behind his waist, his head was raised and his chest was straight, and he calmly endured the attack.

The meteor's rays struck various parts of his body, creating concentric rings of light at different angles.

His robes and sleeves fluttered wildly, his hair swayed like the smoke of war, and he repeatedly slipped backward, yet took the initiative to step forward again.

The Meteor Gods and Devils had actually noticed that although Chu Tianshu did not engage in a direct confrontation, he had adjusted his posture.

With each meteor streak that struck the opponent, Chu Tianshu made a slight adjustment in an instant.

But Meteor Gods and Devils couldn't understand it. Since they had to rely on their internal strength and foundation to withstand the attacks anyway, what use would adjusting their posture be?

He didn't believe that he really couldn't hurt someone like Chu Tianshu.

"Ya ah"

The Meteor Gods and Devils continued to wave their hands incessantly amidst a long chant.

Chu Tianshu had three or four breaths to spare, but he couldn't find an opportunity to take a step forward and could only be blasted backward.

Even after his back had leaned against the wall, meteors continued to fly by, striking his forehead, shoulders, chest, liver, and gallbladder.

A stray hair on his left temple was ripped off, and his sleeves and trouser legs were torn in several places.

His pupils were also trembling, not for any other reason than the shock from the impact.

But the amplitude of this trembling gradually decreased.

Chu Tianshu's pupils became increasingly stable, with clear whites and dark brown irises, without a trace of bloodshot or impurities.

Whoosh!

Chu Tianshu suddenly opened his mouth, his snow-white, lustrous teeth precisely biting down on a piece of starlight.

With a crunch, he chewed the starlight to dust and swallowed it.

Meteor Gods and Devils's hand froze in mid-air, a hint of astonishment on his face.

"You... you didn't use internal energy just now?"

The Meteor Gods and Devils could sense that Chu Tianshu had simply opened his mouth normally and used his ordinary teeth to crush the meteor formed from his inner energy.

Without the aid of internal energy, how could a human's teeth be this hard?!

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Chu Tianshu's eyes brightened, and he opened his arms and burst into laughter.

His vocal cords vibrated, causing the surrounding air to undulate and distort.

In the eyes of the Meteor Gods and Devils, Chu Tianshu's figure, in that distorted air, suddenly lengthened and then shortened, like a candle flame or a shadow, flickering and unpredictable, utterly absurd.

By exerting effort on all things and receiving feedback, one can refine oneself.

If the other party's actions are within one's expectations and they are more proactive, then the efficiency of this tempering process will naturally be better.

Just now, Chu Tianshu achieved the state of Double Flawlessness Qi and strength.

In terms of influence on physical objects alone, his current strength and self-nature are likely more Double Flawlessness than Hai Donglai's.

"Meteor, you've helped me with my cultivation, which is a merit. I'll let you live another half a day!"

Chu Tianshu raised his head in laughter.

Meteor Gods and Devils felt the sound waves in the air gather into Sword Radiance of sword light, striking his acupoints and resealing the power he had only partially released.

The door appeared to have been opened only slightly before closing again.

Chu Tianshu's figure had already disappeared from the large house.

Outside the main gate of the mansion, a young girl in blue slightly raised her head, gazing at the three large characters "Spirit-Calming Hall" on the plaque.

It was written by Chu Tianshu himself, the characters imprinted on the wood, each stroke seemingly following the grain of the wood.

No, it's the wood grain that, influenced by the brushstrokes, becomes aligned with those strokes.

"Young lady, your skills are quite impressive. May I ask what brings you lingering outside my door?"

Chu Tianshu's figure quietly appeared inside the threshold, his gaze fixed on the guest.

The surrounding air was illuminated by sunlight, and some dust particles could be seen.

He suddenly appeared here, and the dust in the air only slowly and quietly rose and drifted outwards, fading into the distance in tranquility.

The change in atmosphere was like a shift from swift thunder and lightning to gentle harmony with nature, a natural breeze, warm and gentle as if created by heaven.