141: Chapter 141 The Fifth Life, The Blazing Sun Illuminates the Martial Path (Eighty-Nine)

Early on the third day, Chu Shi carried ten pieces of snow-white refined iron and walked to Elder Jin's door.

"Disciple Chu Shi, I have successfully completed the task."

The door opened with a creak.

Elder Jin walked out, his gaze landing on the refined iron in Chu Shi's hands.

He picked up a piece, gently stroked it with his fingertips, and tapped it with a hammer.

A crisp sound echoed through the valley.

The old man's face remained expressionless, but Chu Shi could see a faint, imperceptible glimmer of approval in the depths of his eyes.

"Not bad," Elder Jin said indifferently. "A few days earlier than I expected."

He put down the refined iron and looked at Chu Shi.

"These past few days, I have observed your every move. You have talent and perseverance. Not bad."

This was the first time Elder Jin had genuinely praised him.

"But do not get arrogant," the old man's tone shifted. "This is only the most basic foundation. The path of weapon refining is incredibly dull and requires a lifetime of patience. Many people remain apprentices their whole lives simply because they cannot endure the loneliness."

"For the next three days, you don't need to do anything else. Just practice the processes of ore identification, smelting, and forging until you are proficient. Aim to achieve ten successes out of ten furnaces as much as possible. In three days, I will teach you shaping. Having refined iron is useless; only by forging the refined iron into the shape of an object and inscribing it with runes can it become a true magical artifact."

Chu Shi bowed respectfully.

"This disciple understands."

Elder Jin nodded and turned back into the room.

Chu Shi also took the refined iron and returned to his own furnace.

Back at the refining station, he immediately put the ten pieces of refined iron into his storage bag and turned to walk toward the ore pile on the west side.

Elder Jin's "ten successes out of ten furnaces" did not mean just refining ten pieces of qualified refined iron; it meant that from selecting the ore, every furnace and every step had to be flawless.

Shi Tie and the others had already burned the No. 3 furnace red-hot, with the crucible, charcoal, and molds neatly arranged on the side.

Seeing Chu Shi approach, Shi Tie quickly stepped forward: "Senior Brother, everything is ready. If you need anything, just give the order."

Chu Shi nodded without saying much.

He bent down and randomly picked twelve pieces of ore from the pile, not deliberately choosing the best quality. There was magnetite, hematite, and even two pieces of limonite with low iron content.

"Begin."

The first furnace: limonite.

Chu Shi crushed the ore, added charcoal and limestone in proportion, and precisely controlled the rhythm of the bellows.

The Blazing Sun Body Casting Method circulated slowly within his body. His skin felt slightly hot, and he could clearly perceive every slight fluctuation in the temperature inside the furnace.

An hour later, the molten iron flowed out smoothly.

Cooling, forging.

Three hundred and sixty hammer blows, no more, no less.

A piece of snow-white refined iron lay quietly on the anvil.

Shi Tie held his breath as he watched from the side.

Limonite was the hardest to refine; it had many impurities and an unstable melting point.

They usually refined limonite and considered it good if they succeeded three out of ten times, and the purity of the refined iron barely met the standard.

Yet, Chu Shi's furnace was completed in one go, and the purity of the refined iron was even higher than the magnetite they refined.

The second furnace: hematite.

The third furnace: magnetite.

...

Chu Shi refined furnace after furnace.

His movements became increasingly fluid and precise.

Selecting ore, crushing ore, loading the furnace, controlling the fire, extracting iron, forging—every step was like flowing water, without a single wasted movement.

By the end of the first day, he had refined eight furnaces, and all eight were successful.

On the second day, twelve furnaces, all twelve successful.

On the evening of the third day, as the last hammer fell, thirty pieces of refined iron were neatly arranged in front of Chu Shi.

Each piece was uniform in size, pure in texture, and exuded the same gentle, moist luster.

Shi Tie and the others were completely numb.

They had worked in this workshop for over two years and had seen many gifted weapon-refining apprentices.

But even the most gifted one had taken a full six months to barely achieve seven successes out of ten furnaces.

Yet Chu Shi, in less than half a month, had gone from a novice who knew nothing to achieving ten successes out of ten furnaces.

"Is this what a prodigy is..." one of the disciples muttered to himself, his eyes filled with awe.

Chu Shi wiped the sweat from his forehead and stretched his somewhat sore arms.

He was not satisfied.

These three days, he was not only practicing the process but also feeling the "breath" of the iron.

Every piece of ore had its own temper, and every hammer blow had a different resonance.

He could feel a wonderful connection forming between himself and these cold metals.

Just then, the door to the inner room of the refining chamber opened.

Elder Jin walked out.

His gaze swept over the thirty pieces of refined iron and lingered for a moment.

"That will do."

The old man walked to the anvil, picked up a piece of refined iron, and threw it into the furnace fire.

"Shaping is the skeleton of weapon refining. If the skeleton is crooked, no matter how well the runes are inscribed later, it will still be a waste of a weapon."

The furnace fire roared, and the refined iron was soon burned red-hot.

Elder Jin picked up the hammer and, without any unnecessary preheating, struck directly.

"Ding! Ding! Ding!"

The sound of the hammer striking the iron blank was crisp and rhythmic.

The old man's movements were not fast, but each hammer blow was heavy as a thousand jun, landing precisely where the iron blank needed it most.

In his hands, the red-hot iron blank was like soft dough, changing shape at will.

Chu Shi watched intently.

He noticed that Elder Jin's hammer technique was completely different from his own previous one.

His previous forging of refined iron was to remove impurities and make the texture denser.

But Elder Jin's hammer technique was "guiding" the flow of the iron.

Where it should be thick, where it should be thin, where the ridge should be raised, where the edge should be sharpened—every blow was just right.

Half an hour later.

A three-foot-long sword blank lay quietly on the anvil.

The spine of the sword was straight, the blade was thin and sharp, and the curve of the hilt perfectly fit the palm.

The entire sword blank had no traces of grinding, yet it appeared naturally formed.

Elder Jin put down the hammer and handed the sword blank to Chu Shi.

"You weigh it."

Chu Shi took the sword blank.

The moment it was in his hand, his eyes lit up.

The center of gravity of the sword blank fell exactly three inches in front of the guard.

This was the most perfect center of gravity for a long sword, making it the most effortless and flexible when hacking and slashing.

"The core of shaping is not about casually beating iron into a shape, but letting the iron become what it should be."

Elder Jin's voice was low. "A sword must have the bones of a sword. A knife must have the soul of a knife. If the center of gravity is wrong and the tendons and bones are not aligned, it is just a piece of scrap iron."

"Look at this sword spine; it is three times thicker than the blade. It is not only for strength but also to carry runes. When inscribing runes in the future, the main runes must be inscribed on the sword spine. If the sword spine is too thin, it will not be able to withstand the power of the runes and will shatter directly. And this hilt, the curve must fit the palm, and the length must be just right to be held. If it is off by a fraction, it will not be easy to use."

Speaking of this, Elder Jin paused and looked at Chu Shi.