Longevity by Grinding Skills-Chapter 46: Drumming Jar Golden Hammer

He now had the Horizontal Training of the Red Rope Copper Body Cloak Hammer and the agility of the Flying Leg technique. If he also refined his Hunting Skill to master Archery, he would be able to attack, retreat, and strike from a distance. Add to that the Mental Resistance from the Linn Character Technique...

He’d be a proper Hexagon Warrior. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Xu Yunfan trod across the thin layer of frost on the bluestone slabs, then suddenly stopped.

Looking back, the courtyard was dense with footprints from his Flying Leg practice, looking as if they had been carved with an iron stylus. Even the shallowest print was as smooth and rounded as the edge of an inkstone.

This was ironclad proof of having reached Great Mastery of Muscle Training.

Next, he urgently needed to find a martial art from the Qingzhou region that specialized in Bone Forging.

Once he broke through to the Third Level Martial Master Realm, his muscles, bones, and skin would all reach Great Mastery.

At that point, forget the Thunderous Waves Sect coming to hold him accountable; what would it matter if he admitted to killing that vicious girl right to their faces?

For eight whole days, he hadn’t taken a single step outside his courtyard. His meals were left at his gate by the Changfeng Tavern for him to collect.

During the day, he practiced with his Cloak Hammer, the air filled with the unending whoosh of its swings. He trained from morning till night, until he was completely exhausted.

At night, he would sit cross-legged, form the Linn Character Seal with his hands, and chant the Supreme Kindness Heart Spell.

On his Attribute Panel, the notifications for his increased Skill Level in the Red Rope Copper Body Cloak Hammer weren’t exactly spamming the screen, but the progress was still considerable.

Then, late on the night of the eighth day, the statue of the Powerful Awakening Bodhisattva on his altar split in half with a CRACK.

"..."

Xu Yunfan’s eyes flew open, and he almost kicked a hole through the wooden floor.

A system notification floated faintly on his retina.

"The ominous aura has dissipated."

He was just one step away from a breakthrough, but this damn statue had to go and break first.

It left him in limbo, which was incredibly frustrating.

Still, the Linn Character Technique was really something.

Although he hadn’t fully mastered it, his mind was clear and his thoughts were sharp. His senses felt as keen as a newly polished mirror, and even executing the killing blows of the thirty-six forms of the Red Rope Cloak Hammer felt far more natural than before.

Now, when he pictured the moves of the Cloak Hammer, it was like looking at an open ledger; he knew with perfect clarity which move required seventy percent of his strength and which one concealed a follow-up.

Unfortunately, Li Haomiao had been right. The time was out of joint in this world; Primordial Spirits had vanished, and the Heaven and Earth Secret Power was no longer manifest. If it weren’t for his Attribute Panel, he wouldn’t have been able to even begin to grasp the Linn Character Technique.

The snow began to fall in the latter half of the night.

Xu Yunfan was sleeping soundly, wrapped in his quilt.

When he pushed the door open at dawn, rustling snowflakes were swept into his collar. The entire courtyard was draped in a silver-white blanket, weighing down the branches of the single old tree until they drooped low.

He raised his hand and caught a large, fluffy snowflake.

The instant the snowflake landed, it melted into a trace of water.

He had now reached Second Level Great Mastery, with his muscles and skin at the peak of human potential. By just slightly activating his Blood Qi, he became as unbearably hot as a melting furnace.

The snow in the courtyard was calf-deep.

"Master Xu! The hammer you ordered is ready!"

The raspy, gong-like voice of the young apprentice from Blacksmith Lv’s shop came from outside the courtyard walls.

Upon hearing this, Xu Yunfan was delighted and set off at once.

Inside the blacksmith shop, sparks flew wildly. Beside them, the furnace, fed by an apprentice vigorously working the bellows, was breathing out blue flames.

Blacksmith Lv was bent over, his rear in the air, dragging something from the furnace. Seeing Xu Yunfan enter, he immediately hollered, "Sir! Lend me a hand! This thing’s as heavy as a coffin lid!"

The moment Xu Yunfan took the heavy hammer with one hand, all the muscles in his body automatically tensed like a drawn bow.

The hammer’s head was as large as a washbasin. Thirty-six Wolf Fang Nails glinted coldly on its dark, Refined Steel surface. A Suanni Beast Head bit down on nine copper rings, the six-foot-three-inch handle was wrapped in Golden Python Sinew, and its pommel was a three-inch-long Armor-Piercing Awl.

"I mixed in my private stash of Profound Iron Sand to successfully forge this Drumming Jar Golden Hammer."

Blacksmith Lv wiped his soot-blackened face.

"Twenty years ago, I could have forged this into a Treasure Artifact that could cut through iron like mud..."

The old man suddenly choked up, as if he had recalled some incredible memory from his past. He stared blankly at Xu Yunfan, who was steadily getting a feel for the Drumming Jar Golden Hammer.

Xu Yunfan didn’t reply. He held the hammer and gave it a light shake.

The Nine-Linked Rings CLATTERED loudly, and dust rustled down from the rafters.

A slight movement of the hammer stirred a powerful gust of wind, and the icicles under the eaves shattered in response.

Xu Yunfan’s hands itched to try it out. If not for the lack of space in the blacksmith shop, he would have loved to practice his Red Rope Cloak Hammer with this new heavy hammer.

Blacksmith Lv’s eyes were filled with nostalgia, the furnace fire dancing in their sunken depths.

"Back when I was an apprentice at Divine Weapon Ridge... I saw a True Disciple of Master Ou Ye Zi forge a blade from Meteorite Iron. When the blade was completed, a hundred-zhang waterfall flowed backward, straight up into the sky.

"Unfortunately, my own talent was limited. In my entire life, I’ve never managed to forge a weapon of the Sharp Blade Level. Your weapon here, even with the Profound Iron Sand I added, is merely at the Peak of Mortal Artifacts."

Almost sixty, Blacksmith Lv swallowed hard, leaving the rest of his thoughts unsaid.

"A fine weapon!"

Xu Yunfan was deeply moved. He turned to thank the blacksmith.

"This is already excellent. In all of Beiye City, you’re probably the only one, Blacksmith Lv, who could forge such a heavy weapon."

Blacksmith Lv shook his head slightly, his face full of wistful regret.

"You don’t understand. In this trade of smithing and forging weapons, I’ve barely scratched the surface."

"How much?"

Hearing they’d gotten to business, Blacksmith Lv’s spirits immediately lifted.

"One thousand six hundred taels of silver."

"Done!"

Xu Yunfan agreed without the slightest hesitation. The boost this Drumming Jar Golden Hammer would give him was far greater than he had imagined.

One thousand six hundred taels of silver for a heavy weapon that suited him so well? To him, it was an incredible bargain.

The transaction was complete. Just as he was about to leave, Blacksmith Lv suddenly lowered his voice.

"Young brother, the art you cultivate... it’s the Red Rope Cloak Hammer, isn’t it?"

Xu Yunfan’s expression immediately underwent a subtle change.

He spun around abruptly, holding the Drumming Jar Golden Hammer. His tall, iron-tower-like body seemed to root itself to the ground.

Even the apprentice, who had been vigorously working the bellows, couldn’t help but tremble at the sight and froze in place.

Seeing this, Blacksmith Lv barked at him.

"Keep stoking the fire! If the temperature drops, I’ll toss you in there myself!"

The apprentice, scared silent as a cicada in winter, didn’t dare hesitate. He immediately puffed out his muscles and went back to working the bellows, HUFFING AND PUFFING.

Seeing this, Xu Yunfan’s eyes narrowed slightly. He naturally understood that Blacksmith Lv was showing his goodwill and indicating that he had no other intentions.

"How did you know, old sir?" Xu Yunfan’s voice was even.

This Blacksmith Lv before him, who was merely at the Minor Achievement Realm of Skin Cultivation, seemed to have a far from simple background.

’It makes sense,’ he thought. ’If he were just an ordinary blacksmith, how could he know Kung Fu and be in the business of making weapons for martial artists?’

’Back when he started cultivating the Red Rope Copper Body Cloak Hammer, Li Haomiao hadn’t told him the origins of this Kung Fu, only that he had found it in the Great Zhou Arsenal.’

’It seems there’s more to the story.’

Blacksmith Lv chuckled.

"This Jar Gold Hammer... if you had taken it to any other blacksmith in Beiye City, you’d have been lucky if they could even replicate its appearance. It’s a good thing you ran into me. Otherwise, you would have wasted a long time waiting for a weapon like this."

Although he had just mocked himself for not having even reached the true threshold of weapon forging, his craftsmanship was naturally second to none compared to the other smithies in the city.