Old Liu was utterly bewildered. How could a mere Qi Condensation Stage Three cultivator possess such exceptional blacksmithing skills, capable of forging even a hoe into a Grade One spiritual artifact?
This wasn't just about refining techniques; it was a matter of outrageous wealth and disregard for convention.
"Is it that strange?
Now that we've begun cultivating, shouldn't we strive to do everything to the best of our ability?
If I can forge a hoe into a Grade One spiritual artifact, why should I hold back?"
Faced with Old Liu's questioning, Yang Hong replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Uh... Daoist friend, what you say has such profound logic that I am rendered speechless."
Old Liu blinked, then gave Yang Hong a thumbs-up.
As a cultivator nearing a century in age and still only at Qi Condensation Stage Six, he suddenly realized that the gap between himself and a Foundation Establishment cultivator might just be a matter of achieving perfection.
Yang Hong paid no mind to Old Liu's thoughts. He picked up a few more ore pieces from the pile beside the furnace and tossed them in.
"Little fatty, come here and work the bellows."
"Ah... Oh, okay."
Liu Fei, the little fatty, was a bit slow-witted and didn't react immediately. It wasn't until his grandfather kicked him that he understood and scurried over to work the bellows by the furnace.
Whoosh—huff—whoosh—huff—
The little fatty had some strength. The bellows, designed by Yang Hong to require a hundred pounds of force to operate, were indeed moved by him. It was just that his rhythm was abysmal.
"You little rascal, pull slowly... Steady... Pull slowly..."
Before Yang Hong could say anything, Old Liu began scolding his grandson from behind him.
"Oh... Understood."
Although the little fatty showed a hint of impatience on his face, he was still quite obedient and began operating the bellows according to his grandfather's rhythm.
The fiery furnace's temperature gradually increased. The iron ore slowly melted into molten iron, flowing down to the lower section of the furnace.
Once the molten iron had cooled into a glowing red iron bar in the lower section, Yang Hong finally told the little fatty, who was covered in sweat, to stop.
"Next, I will use the 'Forty Hammer Strikes' technique to forge it. Watch yourselves and learn what you can."
Yang Hong looked at the iron bar, seemingly speaking to the little fatty but actually addressing Old Liu.
"The 'Forty Hammer Strikes' technique allows for the use of hammers weighing from one hundred to a thousand pounds. You cannot begin forging until you can continuously swing the hammer forty times, nor can you switch to a heavier hammer until you have mastered the current one."
With that said, Yang Hong gripped the glowing red iron bar with his left hand using tongs and swung the hundred-pound hammer high with his right.
"Clang—"
The impact of the hammer on the iron bar was crisp and resonant, not dull but rather pleasant to the ear.
As the hammer descended, the iron bar slightly caved in. A rebounding force traveled through the point of contact to the hammer, and with this momentum, Yang Hong's hammer was raised high again.
Then it fell, then rose, repeating this process.
"Clang, clang—clang—clang, clang—"
Yang Hong's hammerstrokes were neither uniformly fast nor uniformly slow, but followed a specific rhythm. The sound of the strikes, as Old Liu had said, was melodic.
Thump—
Upon the fortieth strike, Yang Hong's hammer stopped on the iron bar, which had not yet fully hardened, possessing a dark color with a hint of dark red. This marked the end of one round of hammering.
Yang Hong placed the iron bar back into the furnace and said to the still-dazed little fatty.
"Work the bellows."
"Mr... Mr. Yang... Is it over already?"
The little fatty looked up at Yang Hong with a bewildered, innocent expression. He had been listening to what he considered beautiful music.
"Not yet. The force of the 'Forty Hammer Strikes' is too little. It needs repeated forging to refine the iron ore into fine iron. At my current cultivation level, it requires eight rounds of forging."
"Oh—"
The little fatty acknowledged with an "oh" and obediently returned to working the bellows.
However, being a child, he could only manage three rounds before he was too exhausted. The remaining five rounds were done by Old Liu himself.
Amidst a symphony of tinkling and clanging, a Grade One spiritual artifact scythe, forged from ordinary iron, was freshly produced.
"A... A spiritual artifact... A spiritual artifact scythe?"
Witnessing Yang Hong forge a common iron ore into a Grade One spiritual artifact scythe with his own eyes, Old Liu still couldn't believe it.
"Yes—a Grade One spiritual artifact scythe, along with the Grade One spiritual artifact hoe, for the sum of two spirit stones, or twenty Thousand Jun Stones."
Handing the scythe to the elder, Yang Hong directly extended his right hand, demanding payment.
"..."
Old Liu now regretted his decision. If he had known Yang Hong would demand spirit stones for his creations, he would never have asked Yang Hong to forge farming tools.
But as he looked at the dark, unassuming scythe and hoe, and considered that they were Grade One spiritual artifacts, he felt that one spirit stone each was incredibly cheap.
In the cultivation world, even the cheapest standardized Grade One spiritual artifact longsword cost at least ten spirit stones.
This was a genuine bargain price!
He truly wanted them, but he genuinely lacked the spirit stones.
However, he dared not haggle. If he drove away such a talented and gifted individual as Yang Hong, he would be filled with regret.
"Daoist friend, please wait a moment. I'll go fetch the Jun Stones."
"Mm—"
Reluctantly, Old Liu set down the scythe and hoe, then dashed home to gather all his possessions.
He spent all his savings and commissioned Yang Hong to craft four more cleavers.
It wasn't that Old Liu didn't desire weapons.
It was because Yang Hong repeatedly emphasized that he only crafted farming tools and nothing else.
Alright then.
Although Old Liu knew Yang Hong was speaking nonsense, there was nothing he could do. Since Yang Hong was the blacksmith, he had the final say.
[Jun Stone] should actually be called fragments of Jun Iron Ore.
In certain deep regions of the Li Huo Desert, Jun Iron Ore exists. These ores, shattered by sandstorms, have fragments blown to unknown places.
The lighter Jun Iron fragments fall before the Zi Kun Mountain Range, which are then called Jun Stones.
A Jun Stone the size of a pinky fingernail weighs five catties, making it a mineral of extremely high density. And this is the weight of a Grade One Jun Stone; higher quality Jun Stones are even heavier.
After understanding the properties of Jun Stones, Yang Hong also decided to forge a Jun Iron blade for himself.
Even in his sealed state, he could exert a force of 9 million catties. Ordinary weapons and spiritual artifacts could not withstand Yang Hong's strength.
Therefore, Yang Hong accepted all Jun Stones he was offered.
Clang, clang—
As Old Liu, wielding the set of spiritual artifacts crafted by Yang Hong, defeated a second-tier early-stage scorpion demon beast, Yang Hong's business became even more booming.
The villagers naturally didn't have many Jun Stones, but they pooled their resources. Once they collected ten Jun Stones, they would come to Yang Hong to commission "farming tools."
Among them, the scythe was the most popular. Although small, it was light and convenient, suitable for ordinary people to carry.
Concurrently, under the "visionary leadership" of Chen Xiaohu, the village chief of Chishi Village, Yang Hong's blacksmith shop was continuously expanded.
There were now a total of fifty sets of forging furnaces.
Furthermore, two hundred villagers were learning blacksmithing techniques from Yang Hong.
For a time, the sound of blacksmithing could be heard clearly even from ten miles away.
"Remember, forging cannot be done rigidly. You must learn to borrow strength. Strike, rebound, lift, flick, then strike again, forming a cycle."
Yang Hong, like a supervisor, held a large teapot and strolled slowly between the blacksmith stalls, watching the villagers of Chishi Village forge diligently, feeling quite at ease.
Thanks to Old Liu, that show-off elder, Chishi Village finally had goods other than Jun Stones to exchange for grain.