Chapter 33: Wind and Rain

Boom!

Muffled thunder rolled, rain fell like beads, drumming on the old tree and eaves with a steady 'pat-pat'.

"This is the first rain since I came."

Li Yuan walked barefoot into the rain in a pair of shorts, hammer in hand, eyes closed, feeling the wind and rain slap against his face.

When he first arrived, his body was thin and weak; even wiping himself down with cold water made him fear falling ill. But now, letting the rain soak him, he felt only a slight chill.

He could feel his blood Qi circulating within his body, warm and gentle, shutting out the cold of the outside world.

Practitioners of Wu Gong rarely fall ill — not only because their physiques are strong, but also because of this very blood Qi.

"Wu Gong moves vary from person to person. In a real fight, of course it's not you throw one move, I throw one. Finding the force and unleashing the force — that is the Top priority of combat."

In the rain, Li Yuan adjusted his breathing, holding his hammer still, eyes half-closed, feeling the wind and rain.

There is a knack to practicing the hammer in the rain.

In the Bai Yuan Cloak Hammer, it's called 'listening to the force'; in the Soldier's Dao Combat-Killing Hammer, it's called 'recognizing the force'; the Scythe Art has similar terminology.

Normally, when disciples of various schools learn combat, besides wooden posts and sandbags, they have senior brothers or their master feed them moves in person, to grow familiar with force.

Even more lavish households will pay people to 'work the live post'.

And those without such conditions have clever shortcuts — practicing in the rain is one of them.

Bang!

In a single instant, Li Yuan opened his eyes; the hammer head moved with him, tearing through the curtain of rain, sweeping around his body as if to shut out all wind and rain.

Water cannot splash in — that is one of the hallmarks of the Bai Yuan Cloak Hammer reaching Great Completion.

Whoosh!

Hammer shadows wove together.

Apart from the Great Craftsman's Hammer he wielded with his palm, Li Yuan used his full strength at this moment; the great tendons on his arms bulged, gnarled and twisted like coiling dragons.

He swung the long-handled cloak hammer into a windproof curtain, the whirring sounds blurring into one continuous noise, punctuated by sharp cracks.

But…

"Can't block it — can't block it at all!"

Li Yuan could clearly feel the wind and rain assailing him from all eight directions; his seemingly airtight net of hammer shadows was pierced through like a sieve,

the cold rain striking him all over his body.

In the gloom, wind and rain — an attack more impossible to guard against than even the most skilled martial artist in Gao Liu City.

"It works!"

His hair was soaked through from being lashed by wind and rain, but Li Yuan's eyes were bright.

For him, who was severely lacking in sparring experience, this rain was simply a timely rain!

"If I can swing my hammer so that even this wind and rain can't splash in, how could any other person break through?!"

In the wind and rain, Li Yuan struck hammer after hammer, his body light as a spirit ape, using his feet, knees, hips, shoulders, arms, and elbows together; the blood Qi within him churned more restlessly than ever before.

The combat method of the Soldier's Dao Combat-Killing Hammer was far more fearsome than what was recorded in the Bai Yuan Cloak Hammer.

Though Li Yuan had only pushed the variations of the first killing move to seventy-six, his endurance already surpassed those blacksmith masters in the forge whose blood Qi was thicker than his.

Nurtured by blood Qi, his physique and endurance were also growing constantly.

Once he started, he practiced until the clouds scattered and the rain stopped.

"Outstanding results!"

Returning to his room to dry off and change clothes, Li Yuan's energy was still abundant; recalling his rain-hammer practice, he was very satisfied.

With a Completion-level hammer technique for comparison, his progress was fast. After this one rain, he had already faintly grasped the essence of combat.

If you can stop the enemy outside, then stop them; if you can't block them, the choice made in a split second decides life and death.

"Avoid the heavy, strike the light — guard the vital points first!"

……

After the rain, the sky cleared; the air still smelled of earth and grass.

As usual, Li Yuan was the first to arrive at the forge, releasing the banked furnace fire from overnight. The bellows pumped, and in just a few strokes, flames leapt up.

"Two or three days at most before the Forging Method reaches Minor Completion!"

Taking out the raw steel he'd forged in the previous days from the corner, Li Yuan greatly enjoyed this feeling of constant improvement, of having a direction to push hard in.

In an armory, one fire, one forging — fold and forge again, this is one refinement. Five refinements of pig iron becomes wrought iron; a hundred refinements becomes raw steel; a thousand refinements becomes refined steel.

There is even talk of ten thousand refinements.

Li Yuan didn't understand how one kind of iron could be forged over and over, but could only chalk it up to this life being different from the last.

"Five-times refined wrought iron can only make a kitchen knife; ten refinements is barely enough for a weapon, and even then it's the lowest grade — the kind sold in shops for one or two taels a piece.

As for a sharp blade…"

Li Yuan took out three pieces of hundred-refined raw steel.

Weapons naturally have their good and bad; the price difference between them can stretch to ten times, even over a hundred times.

An ordinary Jasper Knife costs three taels, but a Jasper Knife forged by Zhang Ben himself commands an internal price of thirty taels of silver and upward.

"One fire, a thousand hammer blows — one refinement. These few pieces of raw steel took me seven days, and that's with me; other smiths would probably need well over half a month?"

Li Yuan's fingers traced the steel; his Great Completion forging skill let him clearly sense the quality, good and bad, of these pieces.

Then, he stacked the three pieces of steel — each of differing quality — together, heated them red, and forged.

Bang!

……

Forge, shape, hammer, quench, temper, anneal, grind…

With Li Yuan's endurance, and having prepared in advance, he still spent a full two days at it; only on the second day, when the sky had gone completely dark, did he barely finish.

"Good!"

Li Yuan raised his head. The master blacksmith and the helpers in the forging room were actually still there, and at the sight of the long saber in his hand, they burst into cheers.

"A sharp blade! This Jade Saber is definitely a sharp blade!"

"It's only been a little over three months, right? Junior Brother Li has actually forged a sharp blade!"

"A sharp blade! Forge one and you get a tael of silver! Junior Brother Li has to treat us to a drink!"

……

Li Yuan was well-liked in the forging room—after all, this was his master's territory.

"Once I get the silver, I'll definitely buy drinks for all of you senior brothers!"

Amid a chorus of cheers, Li Yuan cupped his fists in response. Only after quite a while did he finally get a moment to himself; he took out the polished hilt and pressed it on with a *click*.

【Jade Saber (First-Tier)】

【The first sharp-blade-tier long saber forged by the Master of Arms…】

【Wielding Requirement: None】

【Wielding Effect: Water-Repellent】

A first-tier sharp blade!

"It's still quite a gap compared to those few Jade Sabers Master keeps in the warehouse, but where exactly does this effect come from?"

Stroking the blade lightly, Li Yuan felt somewhat solemn in his heart.

A few months earlier, he had believed that the reason his wielded weapons had various effects was because of the generations of previous owners those weapons had had.

But only after he joined the forging room did he discover that even newly forged weapons had wieldable effects.

"Is it related to the forger, or the material, or both, or what?"

Master Li thought about it for a moment then let it go—he never made things difficult for himself.

Toying with the first weapon he had forged himself, Li Yuan was not without some feelings, but he still unhurriedly tidied up the forging room,

putting away what needed putting away, sealing the fires that needed sealing.

Only after stepping out of the forging room did a smile appear on his face.

This sharp blade had helped his forging skill break through to minor mastery. The unranked forging hammer he had previously equipped to meet the wielding requirement of the Grand Craftsman's Hammer could now be taken off.

The Sickle-Saber could be wielded anew, or he could choose another weapon.

"The twenty-eighth of March is the Gao Liu temple fair. People from several nearby towns, even other counties, might come. There just might be something good."

Li Yuan felt a stir of interest.

(End of chapter)