Free Web NovelIn the quiet Autumn Water Pavilion at night, in the boudoir on the second floor, the biting spring chill rustled the window screens, making the silhouette of a woman, cast by candlelight onto the screens, sway.
Ying Bing was hunched over a desk, writing line after line of delicate script.
The first line on the paper read:
'Combine Yin and Yang.'
It was precisely the Dual Cultivation technique that Huanshen Sect Leader Qin had taught the two of them, a technique created by the Ancestral Master of Joyful Cultivation.
This Dual Cultivation method required the practitioners to achieve two points: first, the harmony of their Qi, and second, the fusion of their Divine Intent...
What a coincidence, wasn't it?
The key points of the first and second layers of “Phoenix Cries Heavenly Marsh” just happened to align!
This meant that she and a certain Xiao Li didn't even need to practice if they wanted to use it; the prerequisites were already well-established, and furthermore...
They even had matching 'training clothes'.
The two complemented each other, and it would surely allow her Taiyin Divine Intent to advance by leaps and bounds...
Ying Bing sat at her desk, her eyes deep, then subconsciously glanced through the crack in the door at Li Mo's room across the hall. freewebnovёl.ƈom
They had already Dual Cultivated very naturally before.
But ever since she knew what the gentleman Xiao Li was thinking, and after having that dream...
"My Hundred Phoenix Form is not yet at Perfection."
"It's not time yet..."
She lowered her head and poked the boy with a large head's head, then withdrew her finger as if she had been burned, as if the boy with a large head now carried the temperature of something fresh out of a fire vein.
A moment later, the candlelight in the boudoir extinguished, and only the light of the jade phoenix god lit up.
....
Three days passed in a blink of an eye.
Li Mo stepped onto Shenbing Peak and looked back; the various peaks of Qingyuan Sect were still covered in silver, the snow undiminished, as if spring had arrived, yet also as if it hadn't.
"Early spring has arrived, but this snow is melting so slowly."
He couldn't help but sigh.
"Three feet of ice is not formed in a single day, but once the snow begins to melt, it will only melt faster and faster from then on."
Elder Han He smiled slightly.
A young Heart-Nature is always prone to melancholy in spring and autumn; Li Mo was, after all, still a young man.
But it was precisely this young man who brought more and more unbelievable things to him and Elder Zeng, even overturning their previous understanding.
"Let's go to the fire vein and see your recent achievements."
Elder Zeng took the hanquan pill Li Mo handed him, then got up and walked ahead.
"You make it sound like he's your apprentice."
Elder Han He grumbled unhappily, then took a step and turned back, asking in confusion:
"By the way, Li Mo, why don't you also take some hanquan pills? Your accumulated inner fire is... too strong."
".....I already took some."
"?"
"Maybe it wasn't enough, I'll take a few more."
"???"
Watching Xiao Li pick up the bottle and take a few more hanquan pills as if pouring out candies, Elder Han He fell into contemplation.
It was understandable for young people to have strong inner fire, but...
This was simply too strong!
It could only be described as a unique talent, no wonder another nickname for Li Mo was gradually spreading on Shenbing Peak: Li Huowang.
The three arrived deep within the earth vein; here, with winter past and spring arriving, the heat became increasingly surging and powerful, like the heart vessel of a giant, and at this moment, that giant was gradually awakening from hibernation.
Deep within the earth vein lay a mass of silvery-white, shimmering iron essence.
Don't let it look like it can only forge one weapon.
But that was all the result of the blacksmith Xiao Li diligently refining iron ore every day; adding even a trace of it to an ordinary weapon could make it sharp enough to cut hair.
"Back then, when this old man was an apprentice at the Tianshan Sword Furnace, to gather this iron essence, I studied for two years, practiced for three years, and in total, it took seven years!"
Elder Zeng showed a look of reminiscence.
"This old man was pretty much the same."
Elder Han He had a similar experience.
Just as a chef's apprenticeship begins with peeling potatoes, the conditions for a blacksmith's apprentice are even more stringent: one must practice with ordinary iron ore, forging and refining enough iron essence before being officially qualified to forge weapons.
Yet, this kid Li Mo completed in three days what took them several years of hard labor.
Li Mo said seriously, "It's all thanks to the tireless efforts of both Seniors."
"How can someone, upon entering the profession, have a Senior with superb skills guiding them, and also be able to use the Ancestral Master's Divine Weapon?"
"Don't be modest, kid, those aren't the root cause."
Elder Han He was pleased by the words but still waved his hand with a serious expression.
"Today, you will attempt your first weapon forging."
Elder Zeng said with burning eyes.
"Good!"
Li Mo walked to the Ancestral Master's anvil and took out the Forty. It was still too early for him to use the hammer treasure, so the Forty was replicated according to the hammer treasure's appearance and could also be used for forging.
At the same time, a heavy and majestic mica cauldron with intricate patterns was placed in front of him.
That piece of iron essence was placed back into the mica cauldron and, amidst the distorted air, gradually glowed a fiery red.
"It's time to start forging."
Li Mo paid attention to the temperature of the iron essence in the cauldron.
"Xiao Mo, pay attention. This iron essence cools extremely quickly, so it needs to be repeatedly forged in a very short time."
Elder Zeng reminded him aloud.
Elder Han He watched intently. He did not speak to refute, which meant this was the consensus of all craftsmen.
The two old men were a bit nervous.
They had never seen a craftsman who started with iron essence for their first weapon forging; most began with ordinary items like farm tools or utensils.
"Inhale...."
Li Mo, his chest like a bellows, inhaled a breath of scorching air and raised the starry pestle in his palm.
Divine Treasure Hundred Refinements.
The minimum requirement it could meet was a Sharp Weapon.
Now, he had entered the door.
Clang—
Sparks flew, powerful and heavy, yet the force was concentrated and not dispersed, just right.
"Not bad...."
The two old men were both craftsmen seasoned by the furnace, so they naturally saw the effortlessness of this hammer strike; it was not only heavy but, more commendably, precise.
He wielded the heavy iron hammer {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} with the precision of an embroidery needle.
But before their praise could land, they suddenly raised their eyebrows.
His breathing technique, it seemed....
Clang, clang, clang—
The forging sounds, like a great bell, were as fast as a terrifying thunderclap, and the hammer's shadows even layered upon each other!
Ten hammers.
In a single breath, he struck ten times, each one equally precise and heavy!
Divine Treasure Hundred Refinements 入門, the Ten Forging Method.
Where other craftsmen struck once, he performed ten overlapping forges.
Hiss.....
Blue smoke rose, the iron essence was rapidly quenched, then put back into the cauldron for tempering, and then rapidly forged again.
This cycle repeated, a full four times.
Within the vast fire vein, only the continuous, dense hammering sounds echoed.
"This should be the critical point of the iron essence."
"Five times!"
Li Mo felt his whole body burning; though not to the point of being scorched, he had the illusion that he was the raging fire.
Indeed, in his eyes, the firelight that was about to bloom was reflected.
Clang—
The final hammer strike landed, and the already formed longsword was quickly immersed into an oil barrel.
Li Mo closed his eyes, listening to the sounds within the oil barrel, and let out a long breath, but ultimately shook his head slightly.
He lifted the iron essence sword, his gaze sweeping over it, and indeed, it was as he thought.
"After all, there's a flaw in Perfection...."
"Let this old man take a look." x2
Elder Han He and Elder Zeng immediately appeared beside him, took the newly forged sword, and their expressions subtly changed.
