Martial Arts Longevity Begins with the Equipment Slot

Chapter 39 Rare and Precious Materials, Nine Steps of Refined Forging

Morning light streamed through the skylight.

At Jingduanfang No. 11, several rhomboid bright spots were cut out of the white stone floor.

The bright spot was warm and smooth, but it was partially hidden by the hem of Li Yangwei's gray robe.

Half of a cloth shoe was visible beneath the robe.

The toe of the shoe is embroidered with a peach blossom in fine thread, the stitches are dense, it is the work of a woman.

Li Yangwei still lies on the stone steps of the fire-viewing platform today, his face covered with a well-worn copy of "Ladies Bathing".

The book's pages were open, revealing a meticulously detailed painting depicting a romantic scene.

Chen Yu had been standing by the north anvil for half an hour.

He arrived before dawn, wiping the floor with a wet cloth and using long tongs to pick up charcoal and start a fire.

Despite performing all sorts of chores, Li Yangwei remained silent, showing no intention of passing on his skills.

"Master," Chen Yu stepped closer, "this disciple wishes to learn the art of fine forging."

The painting "Lady Emerging from Bath" slides down an inch, revealing the tip of her nose and half of her thin lips.

His mustache was sparse, with a crumb of a roasted bean clinging to it.

Li Yangwei licked it off with his tongue, but did not open his eyes.

"Refinement? Have you ever refined a woman?"

Chen Yu's ears turned slightly red: "Disciple...no."

"Never married, never touched, never tasted the flavor, yet you want to learn how to refine yourself?"

Li Yangwei tapped his lower abdomen lightly with the book tube.

"In this case, kidney yin deficiency causes hand tremors."

"Here, the fire element is too strong, and the mind is restless."

"You have both, so the blanks you forge will either crack or bend, like an innocent child trying to put on a show, but in reality, they are useless."

"cough."

Fang Ke coughed lightly at the north anvil, indicating that the time was right.

Li Yangwei ignored him and tapped his temple lightly with the book tube.

"When I teach students, the most important thing is 'first impression'."

When Fang Ke entered the neighborhood, I observed his steps; they were like a crane wading through water, light and graceful.

"When Ouyang Qing entered through the curtain, I observed her fingers, which resembled a butterfly in love with a flower, soft yet sticky."

"As for you, you still need to practice."

It's not unfounded that Li Yangwei was privately referred to by his colleagues as a "womanizer."

The reason he bears such a reputation lies in the gap between his obsession with taking on disciples and reality.

This man has always prided himself on being a womanizer and often tries to get close to his female disciples under the guise of being a teacher.

He was rather indifferent to his male disciples.

For the past six months, Li Yangwei has been longing to take on an obedient female apprentice, but has been repeatedly thwarted by the head of the academy.

The headmaster not only ignored his wishes but also forced Chen Yu, a male disciple, onto him, which made him somewhat unhappy.

In Li Yangwei's view, the head of the academy's actions not only disregarded his personal preferences but also damaged his reputation as a senior craftsman.

On the other hand, he also wanted to take the opportunity to dampen Chen Yu's arrogance.

After all, Chen Yu had just won first place in blind forging, so it was inevitable that he would be a little arrogant.

The purpose of embarrassing him now is to let him know that even if you are the top student handpicked by the head of the academy, you still have to be a subservient grandson under me.

"Master Li, I wish to learn fine forging."

Chen Yu, shameless as ever, asked again.

The art of fine forging cannot be learned simply by reading books.

Moreover, the teaching materials Li Yangwei provided to himself were completely incomplete.

I've read it many times, but there are still many parts that I don't understand.

Upon hearing this, Li Yangwei stood up, but his gaze passed over him and lingered on the edge of the curtain.

Ouyang Qing was removing her outer robe, her waist swaying gracefully, revealing a tight-fitting outfit with narrow sleeves.

Li Yangwei tapped his chin lightly with the book tube: "Qing girl, come here, let me give you some pointers."

Ouyang Qing approached.

Li Yangwei used a writing brush to press on the Mingmen point on the side of his waist.

"When the Qi flows through this area, the waist becomes flexible."

Slide down to the waist and hip curve.

"Connecting the past and the future"

Then tap on the wrists, elbows, and knees.

"Relaxed, calm, and lively."

It was about to hit the crucial spot.

Ouyang Qing stiffened slightly, then turned and ran out of the curtain.

Fang Ke, standing some distance away, frowned deeply but dared not utter a word.

"What a waste of such a great figure."

Seeing that Ouyang Qing refused to cooperate, Li Yangwei's interest waned, and he turned to Chen Yu instead.

"Once you find me a woman with a waist more supple than Ouyang Qing and skin whiter than the women in paintings, I'll be in a better mood before we discuss the matter of teaching you."

Li Yangwei tapped the tabletop lightly with a book tube.

"Fang Ke, this hothead is yours. You teach him a lesson. I have an appointment in Yinghua Lane today, so I won't waste my time with you."

After saying that, Li Yangwei left.

Beside the north anvil, Fang Ke was holding a hammer, waiting for the fire to start, when he heard the sound and paused slightly.

He didn't speak, but simply tapped his chin lightly with the tip of his hammer, signaling Chen Yu to come closer.

"I would be grateful if you could instruct me on the method of refining the technique, senior brother."

Chen Yu asked respectfully.

"Junior brother, don't be so polite. Let me explain the principle of precision forging to you first."

Fang Ke had just finished his work, so he sat down and began to explain.

The Forging Classic states: "Casting is to give form; forging is to give soul."

"Refinement is not merely about form; it takes metal and stone as its core, blood and qi as its essence, spirit as its soul, and heaven and earth as its mother, thus nurturing ordinary iron into a sharp weapon."

"To put it simply, fine forging is a high-level blacksmithing technique that surpasses ordinary forging."

"An ordinary blacksmith forges a knife by selecting iron ore from the foot of the mountain, burning ordinary charcoal, and hammering out his livelihood day after day."

"Once the knife is made, it's just an ordinary object."

"It can cut meat and defend itself. When it gets dull after a long time, you can sharpen it and it will still be usable. Once it's as thin as a willow leaf, you can throw it away and replace it with a new one."

"But fine forging is different. Fine forging uses meteorite iron, cold iron, copper essence that has been simmered in the earth's fire for thousands of years, dragon bones, and phoenix perching wood."

"These materials themselves have an extraordinary origin."

"Take meteorite iron, for example. It comes from outer space. When it falls from the sky, it is red-hot. After landing, it cools down for thousands of years. The polarity reverses and forms unique patterns. There are no two pieces of meteorite iron with the same power in the world."

"Furthermore, the cold iron was sealed under the ten-thousand-year-old ice. As the ice layer thickened every year, the impurities in the iron were squeezed out. After a thousand years, that piece of iron was purer than any steel in the world."

"There is also Earth Fire Copper Essence, which is fished out of magma. The fire of the earth's core has burned inside its body for thousands of years, and the fire nature has penetrated into the copper bones. Weapons forged from this copper essence are naturally imbued with the power of magma."

"Therefore, our task as blacksmiths is to shape these materials and bring out their properties."

"These special materials, when combined with iron, can give a weapon the toughness of iron, the rust resistance of meteorite iron, the purity of cold iron, the fiery nature of copper essence, the suppleness of a dragon, and the regenerative power of a phoenix..."

Fang Ke spoke eloquently and went on for a long time.

Chen Yu roughly understood.

Precision forging can be considered an abbreviation for precision forging technology.

The term "refined" refers to the selection of high-quality materials, the meticulous craftsmanship, and the precise performance.

The core message can be summarized in one sentence: Use better materials and more refined processes to make weapon performance far exceed that of ordinary forging.

After finishing his explanation of the theory, Fang Ke stood up.

"Understanding the principles is essential before taking action; you can't understand just by listening. Let me demonstrate the nine-step introductory training method for you."

"The first step is to identify and select the iron material."

Fang Ke took out three iron blanks from the cabinet and placed them on the anvil.

"This is rough iron from Xishan. It has many impurities, but it is highly forgiving and is the only choice for beginners."

"This is a black iron embryo from the North Sea. It already possesses sentience. You must not touch it now, or you may suffer a backlash and be injured."

"This is a fragment of meteorite iron, an object from outer space. You can only handle it after you become proficient."

Fang Ke used pliers to pick up the rough iron and put it into the furnace.

"The second step is to warm the furnace and control the fire."

"The fanning rhythm consists of three short and one long, two fast and one slow, and is called 'Awakening Dragon Breath'."

Fang Ke demonstrated and explained at the same time.

"Haste makes the fire raging, slowness makes the fire wan; the alternation of yin and yang brings the fire into balance."

Chen Yu took the palm-leaf fan and imitated fanning himself.

Fang Ke reached into the furnace opening with his hand.

"Too hasty, too impulsive, the iron is overheated."

"We must retreat, like the receding tide."

Chen Yu quickly adjusted, and Fang Ke nodded slightly.

"Okay, keep this pace until the iron ingot turns orange-yellow like gold."

"The third step is initial forging to remove impurities."

When the iron billet came out of the furnace, Fang Ke struck it with a 30-pound hammer.

"The first forging is to remove impurities and set the shape."

"Don't smash, give it away. When the hammer falls, flick your wrist, causing it to slide half an inch, expelling impurities without damaging the iron body."

Seven hammer blows fell, and five plum blossom petals appeared.

Black granules appeared on the edges of the iron billet, like beads of sweat seeping out.

"The fourth step is folding and forging."

Fang Ke folded the iron billet in half with short pliers, sprinkled borax as a flux, and then melted it back into the furnace for three breaths.

"This is the first section."

Take it out and forge it again, seven hammer blows to the Big Dipper, the rhythm is two fast, three slow, and two fast.

"Seven hammer blows and one fold, the number of layers doubles."

"One stack of two, two stacks of four, four stacks of eight... seven stacks of one hundred and twenty-eight, which is the number of a hundred chains."

"Step 5: Sealing the furnace for hardening."

"Take a mixture of deer antler powder, animal bone powder, and yellow blood salt, wrap it around the iron ingot, then coat it with yellow mud, let it air dry for a while, and then put it into the furnace to be sealed and carburized..."

"Step 6: Steel-clad composite."

"Step 7: Shaping and sizing."

"Step 8: Cover with soil and quench."

"Step nine: tempering to determine its properties."

……

After the demonstration, Fang Ke took a half step back.

"You take the lead, starting from the first step. I won't interfere, I'll only correct mistakes."

Chen Yu took a deep breath and put the rough iron into the furnace.

Fanning the flame, identifying the color, removing from the forge, hammering down...

The entire process went smoothly without any mistakes, leaving Fang Ke dumbfounded.

"Impressive! No wonder you're the number one blind forger!"

"Junior Brother Chen, which master did you learn your skills from in the outer courtyard?"

"It's Master Xiahou Fei from the No. 9 forging workshop of Bailiantang."

Chen Yu put down his tools and replied.

"Xiahou Fei? No wonder your fundamentals are so solid. Strict teachers produce outstanding students, unlike our master..."

Fang Ke swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

Under Fang Ke's guidance, Chen Yu practiced the Nine-Step Refined Forging Method several more times.

Half a day later, he felt he had grasped the basics, so he stopped and went to the canteen for lunch.

In the afternoon, in an unused courtyard.

Chen Yu began practicing the Gale Blade technique from scratch.

After completing a set of exercises, open the exercise panel to view them.

【Technique Section (Tier 2 3%)】

[Technique]: Swift Wind Blade

[Quality]: Low-grade Tier 2

[Status]: Equipped

[Progress]: First floor (28/100)

[Equipment Requirements]: Beginner Level of Blood Refining Realm

[Equipment Effect]: Cultivation will surely yield results, once proven, forever, progress is visible, cultivation efficiency +40%.

I gained 28 experience points in just one go!

Chen Yu clearly remembered that when he practiced the Wild Bull Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique before, he could only gain 17 experience points per round.

Without the aid of medicine, the rate at which experience points are now increasing is far greater than before.

Chen Yu felt there were probably two reasons for this.

First, the upgrade of the cultivation technique level doubles the efficiency of cultivation.

Secondly, now that my martial arts level is high, it should be a piece of cake for me to go back and practice these low-level martial arts techniques.

If you were to practice a technique of the same level, it might not be so easy.

In any case, being able to quickly master the technique is a good thing.

The Gale Blade technique only has seven levels; at the current speed, it will soon reach its limit.