A Long Grind to Daoist Monarch-Chapter 157 - 129: So-Called Martial Bones, a Blacksmithing Prodigy (2)
Bai Qi spoke eloquently, anyway, he was not afraid of heat or cold due to his One-Practice Perfect Golden Flesh and Jade Veins, while He Jingfeng, who strengthened his muscles and bones through drugs, didn't fare as well, feeling chilled to the bone and constantly needing to circulate his Qi Blood to fend off the cold.
This Seventh Young Master He shivered and internally complained:
"I have yet to exchange even half a word with Master Li, while you are welcomed with hot tea during each visit and chat leisurely in the wooden house. I, the young master, am just taken on tours by his apprentices. Why are you, a practitioner, so interested in blacksmithing? Do you intend to become an artisan of weapons?"
If it weren't for Bai Qi earnestly observing the blacksmiths and diligently seeking guidance on steel forging, He Jingfeng would have suspected that he was purposely tormenting himself.
Spending every day soaking in the Big Punishment Kiln, braving the cold winds on the mountain, and then entering the shops where it feels like midsummer.
Such an alternating experience of ice and fire is unbearable even for someone with iron-like resilience.
"Brother Bai, you're here again."
After several days of consistent timely visits, all the blacksmiths at the Big Punishment Kiln recognized Bai Qi and greeted him enthusiastically.
Over the years, Jianghu people from the Green Forest Dao continuously climbed the mountain seeking Master Li to forge weapons, and some, to show their sincerity, waited for months unwilling to leave.
But someone like Bai Qi, who never missed visiting the Big Punishment Kiln, appearing ever eager to learn about blacksmithing, steel forging, quenching, and blade forming, seemingly wishing he could personally lift the hammer, was indeed a rare sight.
A dignified fish stall owner in the county town, enjoying such labor-intensive work?
What a peculiar hobby!
Could he simply be tired of fishing and contemplating a career change to blacksmithing?
"Uncle Hui, forging steel, eh? How about letting me have a try? I promise I won't ruin this piece of Yangxiao Steel! I've gotten accustomed to using both the big and small hammers..."
Bai Qi walked briskly into the shop, several furnaces had just been lit, and the bellows beside them roared with a whoosh.
Blacksmithing isn't without technical elements; it's not just blindly hammering with brute force. Typically, the metal ingots are sent into the furnace to be heated red-hot, then moved to the nearby large iron block where the master wields the main hammer, a small one, while the apprentice handles the large hammer for striking.
The master holds the small hammer in his right hand and tongs in his left, using experience to flip and forge the metal into shape.
There is also the process of throwing steel, divided into two types, Bright Steel and Dark Steel.
Bright Steel is used for the blade's edge, while Dark Steel is a combination of various elements hammered together.
Most importantly, quenching is the critical factor defining a blacksmith's skill.
The quality of forged weapons primarily depends on the mastery of heat and cooling.
Ordinary blacksmiths commonly use brine, clear water, and oil; however, skillful and able craftsmen possess their unique secret techniques, featuring unconventional "Quenching Iron Water."
These may involve animal oils, True Blood of Spirits and Monsters, or even child's urine.
Strange yet effective in their own ways!
"Brother Bai, this piece of Yangxiao Steel costs three to four hundred taels of silver. I wouldn't ordinarily use it myself, only for forging top-grade fifty-fold refined blades."
The elderly man, called Uncle Hui, was the longest-serving blacksmith under Master Li, possessing exceptional skill, and capable of forging blades.
Within the shop, newly entered apprentices performed repairs, handling the upkeep of Wagang Village residents' garden tools such as shortened hoes, broken plow handles, and dull axes.
After enduring two to three years and mastering some of the master's abilities, they would begin learning the true craft, forging items like sickles, pickaxes, scissors, and fire tongs.
Only when they could independently forge weapons and blades would their registration be updated by the kiln, marking them as an "artisan."
"Uncle Hui, if it's damaged, charge it to Young Master He's account. The distinguished family of Yihai Prefecture can't possibly withhold a few hundred taels from you, right, Young Master He?"
Gazing at that palm-sized piece of Yangxiao Steel, Bai Qi felt a surge of excitement.
In the alternating heat and cold, He Jingfeng, sweating on his forehead, sighed helplessly, wondering how he, the proud Seventh Young Master of the He family, ended up serving as a humble errand boy.
"Uncle Yang!"
He called out, prompting the old butler to promptly produce several ingots of snowflake silver.
"Brother Bai, with the lucrative business you have and no need to practice martial arts, why devote yourself to blacksmithing?"
Uncle Hui didn't accept the silver; he intended it as a joke. For a protege admired by Master Li, the kiln wasn't stingy enough to begrudge a piece of Yangxiao Steel.
"I feel an itch when I see a hammer."
Bai Qi replied dismissively.
"Aren't you a fisherman, for heaven's sake?"
He Jingfeng, wiping sweat from his brow, almost couldn't resist. A flood dragon in the waves, eager to swing a hammer and forge iron?
Who would believe that!
Uncle Hui also chuckled, put down the small hammer in his hand, and asked:
"Shall I assist you, Brother Bai?"
Forging iron is a laborious task divided among many people: one main hammer, one secondary hammer, one helper to add coal and work the bellows.
Thus, a blacksmith's skills are rarely taught outside and are usually passed down within the family.
Those who set up their own furnaces are often father-son, brothers, or uncles and nephews.
Only a Master Craftsman like Li Yuan, who opens three large kilns alone and is generous with his skills, may impart real knowledge.
"Uncle Hui, take a break."
Bai Qi has endured at the Big Punishment Kiln for over ten days, initially learning how to select good materials and tend the fire in the furnace.
These two processes require the accumulation of experience and are steps that seem easy to handle but often result in setbacks.
Uncle Hui may look thin, but he actually has quite a bit of strength. The bellows pulled by him are fast and vigorous, a rush of airflow feeding into the furnace, the flames within climbing higher, rapidly reddening the Yangxiao Steel.
With iron tongs, it's placed on the large anvil, then with a loud "clang," Bai Qi's right hand wields the heavy hammer down, scattering sparks!
Even with quality material like Yangxiao Steel, impurities must be removed through forging. Whether it becomes ten-refined, fifty-refined, or hundred-refined depends on the craftsmanship in this step.
"The hand is steady, the rhythm is good, truly a practitioner, without the clumsiness of an apprentice just handling a heavy hammer..."
By the wooden hut, Kiln Heads Lu Shiping and Chao Sanjing watch the spectacle, the former nodding in approval.
The latter also exclaims:
"Swinging dozens of pounds with a long breath, great strength, muscles and membranes full and firm, One-Practice Perfect Golden Flesh and Jade Veins, enviable."
As Master Li's apprentices, they've learned not just ceramics, brickmaking, and blacksmithing, but naturally martial arts as well.
Yet, at First Tendon Training Barrier, Second Bone Training Barrier, they've been rather mediocre, barely accomplished, not honed to perfection like Bai Qi.
"But practicing martial arts is practicing martial arts, forging iron is forging iron; high kung fu doesn't make for formidable blacksmithing."
Lu Shiping shook his head, his own master relying on a single Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique, capable of rhythmically striking eighty-one blows to turn raw iron into the ultimate Hundred-refined Steel.
The secret lies not in how powerful the strength is or how abundant the Qi Blood is, but in understanding the nature of the iron, controlling the heat, and knowing how to hammer out impurities without diminishing the essence.
This is the true skill of a Master Craftsman!
Why is the boy surnamed Zhu arrogant, not holding Brother Bai in esteem?
Because of his miraculous Hundred Refinements Hand, naturally gifted in forging iron and steel, able to create a fifty-refined Wind-listening Saber at a young age, something many artisans fail to achieve even in a lifetime.
"Eighty strikes with the large hammer, then switch to the small hammer, this is the test of skill."
Chao Sanjing squinted his eyes, the palm-sized Yangxiao Steel repeatedly forged by Bai Qi, impurities largely removed.
The next step is using the small hammer, continuously stretching and folding, hammering into strips or sheets, much like kneading dough. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
Any misstep, the toughness and hardness of Yangxiao Steel would be greatly jeopardized, turning prime material instantly into inferior stock, rendering future forged blades and spears weak.
Clang! Clang! Clang—
By the furnace, Bai Qi's arm muscles bulge with power, every ounce of strength used perfectly, the blazing fire illuminating, sweat beads scattering, sizzling on the large anvil, emitting "hiss" white smoke.
After eighty hammer strikes, the ink talisman in his mind faintly flickers, and as he raises the small hammer, that sense of mastery grows ever more intense.
Clang! Clang clang! Clang clang clang—
The small hammer strikes faster and faster, sparks rush in a line, the Yangxiao Steel repeatedly flipped, stretched, and folded, impurities shaken loose, peeling away layer by layer into a blackened shell.
The incessant rhythm of striking, rich in cadences, increasingly captivates, Uncle Hui eyes wide by the bellows, Kiln Heads Lu Shiping and Chao Sanjing hold their breath.
Even Li Yuan, sitting inside quietly sipping tea at first, unknowingly steps outside, eyes flickering with surprise, gazing at that tall silhouette.
"Eighty with the large hammer, a hundred and twenty-nine with the small hammer! He forged Yangxiao Steel into shape! Such a rare blacksmithing prodigy!"
