Chapter 124: Weapon Forging Art (Begging for Monthly Tickets)

At night, in the small courtyard.

Splash, splash~

Two female disciples from the Outer Sect poured scalding hot water into the wooden tub, moving carefully, afraid of scalding Li Yuan.

"Sorry for the trouble!"

Li Yuan let out a long breath, half-leaning against the tub, easing his fatigue.

The past few days in the Chi Rong Cave, he didn't even know how he had endured it; he didn't want to recall it now.

Martial artists are still human, of flesh and blood; they can only endure cold and heat relatively, not truly remain untouched by the seasons. If not for his Body Tempering reaching Great Completion, he truly wouldn't have been able to bear it.

"Senior Brother is too polite."

The two female disciples had lost their initial restraint, covering their mouths with light laughter, before going out again to boil water.

The taller of the two was called Pan Yi, the more voluptuous one was called Yu Xiang; both were from Fucheng. Being able to join the Divine Weapon Valley meant their innate bone structure wasn't poor, but their family backgrounds were modest, and they lived quite hand-to-mouth.

Attaching themselves to him wasn't truly a single-minded desire to become concubines; they also harbored plans to earn some silver.

"Poor scholars, rich martial artists, indeed."

Li Yuan sighed inwardly. Even disciples of the Divine Weapon Valley, few could truly be 'freed from production'; both Inner and Outer Sect disciples had to hustle for silver.

Those with poor Wu Gong took on chores and odd jobs, some even working part-time as Fuxiu Fuxiu Daoren; those with high Wu Gong either joined the Divine Guard Army, or, like Fang Fang Yunxiu and Sha Sha Pingying, traveled everywhere executing missions.

Those who could be completely freed from production were only some Inner Sect disciples from wealthy families, and the various True Inheritances.

"No wonder the other True Inheritances all underwent Body Transformation; their talent and innate bone structure are excellent, and they have pills. It would be strange if they didn't transform. As for Inner and Outer Sect disciples, they don't get this treatment."

With a thousand years of inheritance, the Divine Weapon Valley had many rules, especially regarding the cultivation of disciples.

Menial disciples paid money and contributed labor; Outer Sect disciples were left to fend for themselves; Inner Sect disciples paid some silver, but were still mostly left to fend for themselves.

What the Divine Weapon Valley truly supported was the three thousand Divine Guard Army; that was the sharp blade the Valley used to suppress the many forces of Fucheng, and even to launch external campaigns.

True Inheritance disciples were treated even higher; nominally below Elders, but in reality their treatment wasn't much different. Compared to Inner and Outer Sect disciples, this was 'treatment of being kept in comfort.'

This was the strict hierarchy of the Divine Weapon Valley; only innate bone structure and talent served as a ladder to slightly transcend it.

"I completed the Great Circulation of Qi and Blood very early, so going from Body Tempering Great Completion to Inner Strengthening is just a matter of slow grinding. With enough pills, this step will be quick…"

Li Yuan closed his eyes slightly, smelling the faint medicinal fragrance, pondering in his heart.

In the two-plus months since joining the Divine Weapon Valley, he had made up for a lot of common knowledge about Wu Gong, and was already very familiar with the various realms before Body Transformation.

For those with superior innate bone structure, as long as they had one Zhong Cheng Wu Gong, there were no bottlenecks before Body Transformation.

With his current innate bone structure, and the complete Soldier Dao Combat Slaughter Hammer, it could be said that as long as he had enough pills, Body Transformation Great Completion, and even Meridian Opening, would be unobstructed.

And pills, he currently wasn't lacking; after all, he wasn't daily swallowing rare pills like superior Yuan-Supplementing Pills.

After finishing his bath and seeing off Yu Xiang and the other girl, who left with slight resentment, Li Yuan wiped his body and called the little mouse out from under the bed.

The Divine Weapon Valley had no shortage of stray cats. After being startled earlier, this little mouse barely left the courtyard half a step; it was a complete homebody mouse.

"This little fellow's spirituality is getting richer and richer."

Taking a few of the lowest-grade Zeng Xue Dan, crushing them into powder to feed the little mouse, Li Yuan smiled, finding it quite stress-relieving.

The Divine Weapon Valley had no shortage of spirit beasts and spirit fish; the Flood Dragon Horse from the True Inheritance rewards was also a type of spirit horse.

These 'spirit beasts,' in his understanding, were like the extraordinarily talented among their kind, possessing strength and physiques far surpassing their peers.

They also tasted very good.

"Perhaps, I really could raise a spirit beast?"

Li Yuan didn't pay it much mind; this was just a bit of fun for him outside of martial arts training. He was already very self-disciplined, but he couldn't bury his head in practice all day either.

He also needed appropriate leisure.

The little mouse's gradual changes gave him a sense of the joy of raising

something.

"Hoo!"

Li Yuan, unusually, didn't stand in a stake stance; he closed the door and lay down. Briefly sensing the Soldier Register, he also pondered the Rift Sea Mysterious Whale Hammer for a moment, before falling into a deep sleep.

The past few days in the Chi Rong Cave had drained his spirit and stamina tremendously; with this one sleep, he slept straight through to noon the next day.

Crack~

Dark clouds hung heavy, and thunder rolled.

Li Yuan stretched lazily, full of energy, but didn't want to get up; he just leaned against the headboard, closed his eyes, and listened to the rain.

Hum!

Inside the Soldier Space, five great stars shone brilliantly.

"Different Soldier Control effects paired together are more comprehensive; stacking the same Soldier Control effect can elevate that one effect to an extremely high level!"

Li Yuan realized his understanding of the Soldier Register was still insufficient, and he needed to dig deeper.

"Can stacking five pieces of heavy armor withstand the high temperature deep in the Chi Rong Cave?"

Li Yuan thought for a moment, and felt it probably wouldn't work.

High temperature was different from blades and swords; what could withstand blades and swords might not block heat. He still had to find an enhancement effect that could insulate against heat.

"For heat insulation…"

Li Yuan thought of the 'Golden Silk Coiling Snake Hand,' a fourth-tier famous-grade glove that had the enhancement effect of 'withstanding water and fire.'

"In the jianghu, the most common weapons are blades and swords; hammers are already considered niche weapons, and gloves are the niche within the niche…"

Li Yuan shook his head inwardly: "I still have to forge them myself!"

Even if gloves were rare in the jianghu, there would surely be enough for his needs. The problem was he simply couldn't find them, nor did he have that much time to search.

Compared to that, forging them himself might be faster.

"The Weapon Forging Method must be learned early."

Opening his eyes, the rain outside was falling hard. Li Yuan casually grabbed a bamboo hat and put it on, heading toward the Weapon Forging Valley.

On the road, he tried out the internal force that had completed the Great Cycle; the rain fell dense and unceasing, yet his internal force ran dry not long after it erupted.

"To maintain internal force covering the entire body for a long time, I fear it is simply impossible..."

Li Yuan swallowed a pill, waited for his qi and blood to recover, then walked into the Weapon Casting Valley.

He discovered that the tremor from yesterday seemed as if it had never happened; walking all the way, he heard no blacksmiths discussing the matter.

'They sealed their mouths?

Li Yuan's heart tightened slightly.

This indirectly confirmed his guess: the Divine Weapon Valley not only knew where the Sea-Splitting Profound Whale Hammer was, but also seemed to know that the disturbance in the fire vein was related to it.

"Elder Lei."

Li Yuan walked straight to the forging furnace where Lei Lei Jingchuan was, watching him hammer iron.

This Third Elder of the Weapon Casting Valley possessed exquisite and seamless hammer techniques, with minute control over force, yet in Li Yuan's eyes, slight inconsistencies could be detected.

Not only could he detect the errors, but he instantly knew how these errors arose and how to remedy them.

However, although he saw them, he would not speak, merely standing aside, feigning awe and admiration.

Clang!

Clang!

Lei Lei Jingchuan's hammer fell like a storm of wind and rain, but his peripheral vision swept over Li Yuan; seeing the admiration on his face, he nodded inwardly:

'This youth is teachable!

Moments later, Lei Lei Jingchuan set down his forging hammer, and Li Yuan timely handed over the towel for wiping sweat: "Elder, this hammer technique is truly exquisite to the extreme!"

"My hammer technique, well, it's just... hahaha, young man, you truly have good taste; no wonder you are Han Han Chuijun's disciple!"

Lei Lei Jingchuan had heard similar words countless times, but this time, after holding back a few times, he could not restrain himself.

Mainly because this young man possessed the Dragon-Form Bone Structure, was Han Han Chuijun's direct disciple, and might even be a forging genius comparable to his own senior brother.

This praise truly made his heart bloom with joy.

"..."

Li Yuan had not expected such an effect, so naturally, various exclamations and words of admiration were thrown out as if they cost nothing.

"Ahem, enough, enough."

Hearing this pleased Lei Lei Jingchuan, but noticing the surprised glances from the blacksmiths around, he quickly coughed and spoke seriously:

"Follow me, old man."

Li Yuan naturally followed; after winding around seven or eight times, they arrived at the Cold Pool Cave.

The tunnel was extremely stifling and hot, but upon arriving here, Li Yuan felt piercingly cold, colder than falling into an ice hole in the dead of winter.

"This place connects to the Cold Pool?"

Li Yuan saw that deep, dark water pit, and beside it, Jing Jing Shuhu fishing.

"Correct, this place connects to the Cold Pool."

Lei Lei Jingchuan coughed a few times; seeing his senior brother open his eyes, he patted Li Yuan's shoulder and turned to leave.

"First Elder."

Li Yuan bowed deeply to pay his respects.

Normally, a true disciple seeing an elder need only clasp their hands, but he felt that since he was asking a favor, spending no money on etiquette and being even more thorough was of no consequence.

"Hmm."

Jing Jing Shuhu did not even turn around, but obviously felt it, and his heart relaxed slightly:

"You wish to learn the Weapon Casting Art, so how much understanding do you have of this method?"

"The Weapon Casting Art is a secret transmission of the Weapon Casting Valley; over a thousand years ago, successive ancestral masters used this method to forge 'Divine Weapons,' hence the Divine Weapon Valley took its name."

Li Yuan had naturally done his homework; regarding the glorious records of one's own ancestors, no faction lacked them, and no inquiry was needed.

"The Weapon Casting Art encompasses everything, covering all kinds of strange and special weapons and armor across the world..."

"... various methods can all be categorized into 'Hammering Technique' and 'Spirit-Connecting Art'; mastering one allows forging famous artifacts, but mastering both is required to forge Divine Weapons..."

Li Yuan weighed his tone and spoke out his understanding.

"Not bad."

Jing Jing Shuhu nodded, his tone slightly softer:

"The Hammering Technique is divided into Weapon Hammering and Armor Hammering; the Spirit-Connecting Art is also divided into two types. Which one do you prepare to learn?"

Li Yuan was stunned: "Cannot I learn all of them?"

"Not young in age, but your ambition is indeed great."

Jing Jing Shuhu almost laughed in anger:

"I have hammered iron for over sixty years before barely learning them all; you want to learn all four directly? How can you be just like Han Han Chuijun, wanting to learn everything, wanting everything..."

The more he spoke, the angrier he became; remembering that detestable old thing, if Li Yuan had not swallowed his spit and endured the humiliation, he would have driven him away.

'Did Old Han steal someone's wife?

Watching Jing Jing Shuhu jumping with anger, Li Yuan thought to himself with contempt; he had truly never heard of the grudge between these two.

"Hmph!"

Jing Jing Shuhu angrily took a thick booklet from his chest and threw it to Li Yuan:

"This is the Weapon Hammering Technique; I give you half a year. If you can enter the door, come back then; if you cannot enter the door in half a year, then there is no need to come again!"

"Yes!"

Li Yuan heard the mockery in the old fellow's voice, but did not care much, turning to leave the Cold Pool Cave.

He prepared to find a reason to buy some forging hammers from Lei Lei Jingchuan.

Half a year?

His forging skill advanced from novice to master in less than half a year!