JSCMU-Chapter 141: The Dao of Forging

Yun Jin acted as if she didn’t see Yang Hui’s ugly expression. She continued speaking, “Peak Master, since I’ve already performed blood recognition with Tai’a, I naturally want to raise it. As you know, after blood-binding, Tai’a can only advance through its master’s personal refining. However, I don’t know the first thing about artifact refining. That’s why I came to visit Peak Master Yang, hoping to learn a bit.”

Yang Hui narrowed his eyes.

This Yun Jin actually wants to learn refining techniques?

Strictly speaking, sword cultivators were actually a good match with artifact forging.

The spiritual root best suited for sword cultivation was usually the metal element, sharp and unstoppable.

And the spiritual roots best for artifact forging were metal and fire. Many sword cultivators would practice some artifact forging on the side.

But.

Yun Jin is a special case.

Her spiritual roots were all five elements.

Optimistically, this meant she could learn anything.

Pessimistically, it meant she couldn’t master anything.

At her current cultivation, she might not see a big difference yet.

But in the future, as her cultivation increased, the difficulty of five-element roots would grow exponentially.

Don’t be fooled by her current brilliance.

She’s basically destined to never become a top-tier master.

Yang Hui said blandly, “Sorry. I already have enough disciples in Artifact Forging Peak to teach.”

Yun Jin wasn’t upset. She only raised her brows and shamelessly replied, “But none of them are as smart and clever as me.”

Yang Hui was so annoyed he laughed, “What, you seem to have a lot of confidence in yourself.”

“Of course,” Yun Jin answered without hesitation. “How about this, shall we make a bet?”

Yang Hui’s brow twitched.

He remembered all of Yun Jin’s past achievements. Now, just hearing the word “bet” from her gave him a headache.

He rejected her outright, “No, I don’t like betting.”

Rejected?

Yun Jin looked a little disappointed.

Yang Hui smugly stroked his beard.

He’s already this old, how could he fall for such childish disputes? A bet? No matter how good his odds looked, he wasn’t going to get involved.

Since she couldn’t rope him in, Yun Jin compromised, “Actually, for a genius like me, it doesn’t make much difference whether I have guidance or not. How about this, Peak Master Yang. Lend me one of the Earth-Fire rooms, and I’ll self-study the Dao of Forging. That should be acceptable, right?”

To forge artifacts, ordinary flames were useless. You needed either flames cultivated by fire-type cultivators, or Earth-Fire.

But except for rare exotic fires, most fires that were personally cultivated weren’t as stable or strong as Earth-Fire.

Any slightly larger sect would capture various grades of Earth-Fire and build Earth-Fire rooms.

At Tianxing Sect, the only place with Earth-Fire was right here.

So if Yun Jin wanted to refine Tai’a Sword, she had to go through Yang Hui.

Yun Jin’s words were extremely arrogant, and once again, Yang Hui was laughing from anger.

“The Dao of Forging is vast and profound. You want to self-study it?” Yang Hui mocked, “Foolish dream.”

Yun Jin smiled slightly, “Then let me try. Anyway, it’s my own pride I’ll be throwing away if I fail. If I remember correctly, your Earth-Fire rooms are open to the whole sect. However, disciples from outside Artifact Forging Peak must pay a small fee. I only need a Grade-2 Earth-Fire room. Standard rate is ten mid-grade spirit stones for half a month. I’ll rent it for a full month. How’s that?”

A whole month?

Yang Hui’s brow twitched.

An entire month!

If Yun Jin entered seclusion now, there’d only be one month left before the Grand Sect Tournament.

And she’s choosing to give up cultivating for the sake of refining a sword?

Yang Hui’s mood was complicated. He couldn’t help but warn her, “The Earth-Fire room is too saturated with flame aura. It’s unsuitable for ordinary cultivation.”

“I’m going there to forge,” Yun Jin said calmly.

Yang Hui hesitated again, then stiffly said, “The whole sect pays the same rate. There’s no reason for you to be excluded. If you want to waste your time, I won’t stop you.”

“Eldest Senior Brother,” Yun Jin immediately looked toward Yue Zhao.

Yue Zhao took out twenty mid-grade spirit stones and placed them in front of Yang Hui. He accepted them, then tossed Yun Jin a token, “Earth-Fire Room #203. It’s yours for the next month.”

“Also—” Yun Jin added, “Peak Master Yang, I’ll need some practice materials.”

Yang Hui glanced at her, “Beginners always start with ordinary black iron.”

Seeing Yun Jin’s totally clueless look, he explained further, “How far you can refine plain black iron measures your fundamentals. First-rank refiners must master the Hundred-Fold Refinement, one hundred qualified hammer strikes within ten breaths. More powerful ones reach the Thousand-Fold Refinement, one thousand strikes within ten breaths. ‘Hundred-refined iron’ can be used for low-grade artifacts, while ‘Thousand-refined iron’ is commonly used for mid-grade artifacts.”

Yun Jin was actually learning something. She couldn’t resist asking, “If I want to reach the Hundred-Fold Refinement, how long would that take?”

Yang Hui couldn’t help but laugh, he calmly said, “If we assume you have some talent and practice nonstop without any guidance, maybe you’ll barely make it in ten or twenty years.”

“Ten or twenty years? By then, even the daylilies would be cold,” Yun Jin said.

Yang Hui raised an eyebrow. “So, I advise you not to waste your energy on that sword right now.”

“No worries. I’ll just try it out. Maybe I’ll succeed in ten or twenty days?” Yun Jin replied cheerfully, full of optimism.

Yang Hui could only let out a mocking smile.

This Yun Jin is clearly overconfident, she really thought she could master everything.

Yue Zhao interjected, “Let my little junior sister try. You should still have some black iron in stock. We’ll also purchase a batch so she can practice.”

“You’re going along with her nonsense too?” Yang Hui frowned slightly, but finally said, “Fine, do as you wish! Tell me when you’re heading there, and I’ll have someone place the black iron in the Earth-Fire room. Black iron isn’t expensive, ten mid-grade spirit stones are enough to buy a large pile.”

“We’ll go take a look now.” Yue Zhao handed over ten spirit stones.

Yang Hui, apparently amused, added, “When you purchase it, ten spirit stones gets you a huge pile. But if you actually manage to refine it into Hundred-Fold or Thousand-Fold Iron, Artifact Forging Peak will buy it back at a high price. You might even earn some profit.”

Yun Jin’s eyes lit up. “Great! It’s a deal!”

She looked eager and ready to go.

Yang Hui shook his head. “Fine, go on then. Ask the disciple at the gate about the Earth-Fire room.”

Yun Jin nodded, and before leaving, she pulled out a storage pouch and placed it in front of Yang Hui, “Peak Master Yang, this contains the seeds from Baicao Pavilion, along with the corresponding contract. Whether you sign it or not is up to you.”

Yang Hui paused, about to speak.

But Yue Zhao and Yun Jin were already leaving without a backward glance.

Yang Hui stared at the small pouch, his expression torn.

Sigh.

People love to criticize those who sway with the wind.

But who would understand that being the one swaying in the wind is the most painful of all!