Chapter 31
Thousand Refined Steel! Qi and Blood Treasure Medicine!
The smithy of the Changshan Dojo was huge. It was a caved-in area in the middle of the mountain, a piece of land that the dojo had carved out.
The mountain was filled with the sound of metal clanking.
Qin Huai carried the iron ore he had mined and walked to the old master who usually collected his iron. The high temperature of the furnace caused the air in front of him to distort. Although it was called a furnace, it was actually a hollow cylinder made of clay. There was a side door at the bottom, and beside the side door was a wooden drum that looked like an accordion. The fuel was naturally charcoal.
“Master Song, this is today’s ore.” Qin Huai pushed the bamboo basket over.
Master Song’s hair had already turned white, and the wrinkles on his face were as old as a withered tree. However, the muscles on his body were not any weaker than that of a strong man like Fang Han. He held a big iron hammer in his hand, and every strike was powerful.
Sun Ziyao had once gossiped that this Master Song had been on the mountain for twenty to thirty years. It could be that he was like a sweeping monk in wuxia novels, and he was the strongest person in the Changshan Dojo.
Qin Huai couldn’t be sure either, but Master Song was definitely a martial artist.
“The quality is not bad. A lazy brat like you is actually going deep into the mine at this time. It’s not that easy, you know.” Master Song was multitasking. While forging iron, he sized up the ore.
Old masters like them didn’t need to use the precise instruments from his previous life. They could roughly tell the amount of iron and impurities in an iron ore with their naked eyes.
“Still not leaving?” Master Song looked up.
“I still have to take the exam today.”
“Then let’s build a furnace first.” Master Song was already used to this process.
Qin Huai rolled up his sleeves and started to pile up the furnace using the intermediate forging skill in his memory.
The creation of a furnace was also a delicate work. First, use pure clay to sieve out all the stones and impurities. After soaking it in water for a long time, it was beaten into a paste and mixed with crushed grass.
After that, he repeatedly hammered and rubbed it until it was even.
The purity of the clay and the water retention completely guaranteed that the walls of the furnace would be heated evenly during the smelting process, and the addition of crushed grass was to form tiny holes in the walls so that the furnace would have anti-expansion properties.
All of these were to prevent the furnace walls from cracking and collapsing, so every step of filtering, soaking, and kneading could not be sloppy.
After that, there was still the drying and testing process, and it would take a day.
Luckily, setting up a furnace was just a test to skip the step of drying and testing. There were many ready-made furnaces on the mountain.
Once Qin Huai made his move, Master Song could immediately tell what level he was at.
“Your skills aren’t bad.” Master Song was surprised. He raised his eyes and looked at Qin Huai. He thought he was a handsome young man. He didn’t notice it the previous time.
When I was young, I learned blacksmithing from someone in town. After the demon disaster, I ran away.” Qin Huai’s reason came out immediately. Anyway, the town was indeed gone because of the demon disaster, and the dead could not testify.
The intermediate forging skill was not as easy to fool as a cultivation technique.
“Oh, do you know your own level?”
“The blacksmith master said that I’m talented. I think I’m at the intermediate level?”
“Intermediate? Why don’t you try forging a thousand refined steel and I’ll give you an evaluation?” Master Song was skeptical.
Such a small kid had intermediate forging skills? Those blacksmiths who had been blacksmithing for ten to twenty years could only reach the intermediate level.
“Go to the furnace over there to start a fire and forge.”
Grading was a matter of treatment, and Master Song was the one who personally graded the martial arts centers. In addition to his high skills, Master Song was also a fair person. He was never biased.
Without another word, Qin Huai aimed the wooden drum at the side door of the furnace, then sealed the side door completely with clay. Only the drumming air flowed in.
Then, he stuffed the charcoal in from the top until it was full, and then blew the air to light the fire. He kept blowing wind and adding charcoal.
For several hours in a row, Qin Huai had been working. Thanks to the body of a second refinement martial artist, he did not feel tired at all.
When the iron was burned red and white, it became soft iron. Qin Huai took it out instantly.
“Quick, strike it! The hammer must be fast and accurate! Thousand refined steel needs to be repeatedly heated and forged hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of times. Every time, it must be steady, accurate, and ruthless!” Master Song couldn’t help but ask.
He couldn’t help but feel excited when he saw a talent in blacksmithing.
“Forging doesn’t just rely on brute force. The judgment of the iron’s quality, the control of the hammer’s landing position, and the control of the flame’s temperature…”
He couldn’t help but ask. He had forgotten that it was a test.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Sparks flew in all directions as Qin Huai’s hammer smashed onto the red-hot iron block again and again.
Another few hours passed. Qin Huai’s forged steel was almost done.
“Very good. It’s thousand refined steel.” Master Song couldn’t help but praise.
“Hu~ Hu~ Hu~”
Even Qin Huai, who was a second refinement martial artist, could not help but sweat profusely after forging this piece of steel. And this was under the premise that the eternal Qi art could last longer.
“You’re indeed at the intermediate level.” Master Song looked at Qin Huai with a gentle expression. It was no longer as sharp and cold as before.
“How old are you?”
“Fifteen.”
“Hiss, his future is boundless.” Master Song seemed to have something in his eyes.
“Martial arts is important, but it’s not bad to have many skills. If you have time in the future, come to my place often. I’ll give you some pointers.” Master Song became more and more enthusiastic.
Qin Huai nodded and accepted Master Song’s invitation.
Master Song took out a wooden plate with a pleased look. Then, he carved the word “intermediate” on it with an iron plate. The technique was extremely crude, and the only difference was the signature.
“What weapon do you use?”
“Ah? Weapon? What do you mean, Master Song? “Qin Huai asked.
“I’ll use your thousand refined steel to forge a weapon for you. Take it as a gift.”
“I don’t use weapons, and I don’t like to fight with people. Master Song, why don’t you make me some armor?” Qin Huai thought about it seriously.
“Alright! Remember to come and get it tomorrow!” Master Song lowered his head and continued forging.
“Many thanks, Master Song.” Qin Huai cupped his fists and bowed.
Intermediate forging skill against a silver disciple, and he could earn a bowl of blood Qi soup every three days, plus two blood Qi pills every month. Including the ‘salary’ of his own black-plate rank, it was fifteen bowls of blood Qi soup and two blood Qi pills every month.
After that, he didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he went around the mountain where the sounds of forging could be heard.
Receiving experience points for forging took a long time. By nighttime, there were not many people left on the mountain.
“Ding! You have collected a [Forging Skill Essence (White) ], [Forging Skill] experience +3”
“Ding! You have collected a [Forging Skill Essence (White) ], [Forging Skill] experience +3”
“Ding! You have collected a [Forging Skill Essence (White) ], [Forging Skill] experience +2”
…
The forging skills of the dojo were much better than the blacksmiths in the Luo residence.
Qin Huai had collected more than 30 experience points in one go. Although it was not much, it was better than nothing.
He returned to his own courtyard. After sleeping for two hours, he was woken up by the crow of a rooster.
After collecting the experience points as usual, only then did Qin Huai take the wooden token to the Qi and blood room of the dojo. As the name suggested, the Qi and blood room was the place to receive Qi and blood soup and pills.
When Qin Huai arrived, he saw a crowd gathered in front of the room, and they were chattering excitedly.
Once he got closer, he saw an elegant young man in a white robe standing in the crowd. His long hair fluttered in the wind, his eyebrows and eyes were like flowers, and his fair face and skin made him look more feminine than a woman.
Who was this person?
“Who is this guy?” Li Zhang’s voice sounded in his ear, and he had the same confused look as Qin Huai.
“You don’t even know Senior Brother Qi?” The people around were surprised.
“Senior Brother Qi, Qi Yangbing, the number one genius of our Changshan Dojo in the past ten years. He’s only twenty-four years old and is a fourth refinement martial artist. He’s also ranked tenth on the eight martial roll.”
The senior brother talked on and on, his eyebrows dancing with joy. It was as if he was the creator of the eight martial roll and he knew everything about it.
Qin Huai, who was at the side, also roughly understood what was going on.
The eight martial roll was a ranking competition organized by the eight big martial arts centers. It was held once a year to select the twenty strongest geniuses under the age of twenty-five from the eight big martial arts centers.
Those on the list were all favored by the high officials and nobles in Pingnan City. The most important thing was that the first place on the eight martial roll could not only receive a Qi and blood treasure medicine jointly brewed by the eight major martial arts centers, they could also get a recommendation to go to the county city and join a higher class dojo.
That medicine is comparable to hundreds of Qi and blood pills, so naturally, it was priceless!