Becoming an immortal from a canal worker

The next day at 5:00 AM.

Chen Ping got up early, practiced as usual, and then headed towards the blacksmith's shop.

He pushed open the wooden door of the blacksmith's shop on time, and it creaked open.

As soon as the door opened, a wave of scorching heat rushed out.

At this moment, the main stove in the shop was already lit, and the flames were glowing red.

Tie Niu was squatting beside the bellows, pulling hard, while the thin Shi Tou was huddled in a corner with a bundle of iron. Hearing the noise, the two of them looked up at the same time.

Upon seeing Chen Ping, Tie Niu stopped what he was doing and respectfully greeted him, "Brother Chen is here."

Chen Ping nodded, walked to the stove, stood still, and stared at the fire in the furnace without saying a word.

Old Sun was standing in front of a large anvil, shirtless, forging a long knife blank that was not yet formed with an iron hammer.

Ding-dong, ding-dong.

The crisp sound of hammering was highly rhythmic, and each strike landed precisely at the perfect point.

Chen Ping spent the entire day yesterday observing the fire's color.

He had memorized the colors of dark red, orange-red, golden yellow, and off-white, but memorizing them clearly was one thing, and applying them in practice was another.

As the temperature dropped, Old Sun reinserted the knife blank into the deepest part of the furnace and gestured with his chin to signal Stone to take over the bellows.

Stone took it and played it in a fairly standard manner.

Chen Ping stood aside, silently counting in his mind.

One, two, three... The fire in the furnace rose from dark red to orange-red, and then, a dazzling golden yellow shone through, with a faint, extremely bright white tinge appearing at the edges.

Twenty-eight.

29.

"The time is right," Chen Ping said.

Old Sun didn't say anything, but pulled out the knife blank.

The front end of the blade blank, golden in color with a slight hint of incandescence, is at the perfect temperature for forging and shaping, without the slightest deviation.

Old Sun squinted, glanced at Chen Ping, said nothing, and walked back to the anvil to continue hammering.

Ding-dong. Ding-dong.

When the iron was heated a second time, Old Sun pushed the long knife back into the furnace, and the fire started to rise from a dark red.

Chen Ping continued counting.

This time, even the changes in the bellows' strength were recorded. The stone was pulled a little harder than last time, the airflow was a bit stronger, and the fire rose a little faster.

The golden hue faded, and whiteness just began to creep onto the tip of the knife.

"The timing is right."

Old Sun stopped hammering, turned around, and stared directly at Chen Ping.

"Can you accurately judge the color of the fire?"

"I kept an eye on it all day yesterday, and I've memorized it."

"Got it?"

"Um."

Old Sun stared at him, remained silent for a moment, neither praising nor questioning him, and pulled a short iron bar, about the thickness of a finger and about a foot long, from the scrap metal rack in the corner, and threw it onto the anvil with a clatter.

Tie Niu's hand stopped on the bellows handle. He turned his head and glanced at the stone, his eyes filled with shock.

Old Sun ignored the two men: "Watch closely, nails and long knives are different. I'll only demonstrate once."

After saying that, he used long pliers to pick up the thin iron bar and inserted it into the furnace.

"Pumping the bellows!"

Chen Ping strode over, and Shi Tou quickly made way for him.

He gripped the wooden handle of the bellows, pushed off the ground with his back foot, and used his waist and hips to generate power.

Push, pull, push, pull.

Old Sun stared at the fire in the stove, without saying a word.

The fire crimson color climbed upwards much faster than the longsword.

The iron bar was too thin and heated up extremely quickly. Chen Ping pushed and pulled it less than thirty times, and a golden, slightly white light shone through the surface of the iron bar.

"stop!"

Old Sun reached out and picked up the iron bar, then took out the small hammer.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Five hammer blows, all precisely striking the front end of the iron bar.

The iron bar narrowed rapidly under the hammer blows, and a sharp cone was formed in the blink of an eye.

Immediately afterwards, Old Sun flicked his wrist, flipped the iron bar, and aimed the hammerhead at the tail.

clang!clang!clang!

With three more hammer blows, the originally cylindrical tail was smashed into a flat, smooth nail head.

The entire process takes no more than ten breaths.

Old Sun used his other hand to insert the shaped iron nail into the water tank.

laugh.

A piercing white mist rose up with blue smoke, and the iron nails instantly faded from bright red to dark gray.

He took it out and handed it to Chen Ping: "Heating, hammering, and hardening are all three steps that cannot be omitted. The nails are small, so the heating must be quick and the hammering must be precise. If you waste a single piece of iron, I will deduct one penny from your wages."

Chen Ping took the nail, weighed it in his hand, rubbed it between his fingers, and silently went over the process in his mind.

"Understood."

Old Sun handed over the small hammer, stepped back, and made room for him.

Chen Ping picked out a thin iron bar from the pile of iron, inserted it into the furnace, grasped the wooden handle of the bellows, and began to pull.

Push, pull, push, pull.

Tie Niu and Shi Tou stopped what they were doing and looked over at each other.

Chen Ping stared intently at the changing color of the iron bars inside the furnace.

Dark red, orange-red, golden yellow.

Just as that wisp of white began to spread from the tip.

Chen Ping loosened the bellows, pulled out the iron bar with his left hand, walked to the anvil, and raised the small hammer with his right hand.

The first hammer blow landed on the front end, and the iron bar flattened slightly.

The second blow was aimed straight at the tip.

The third, fourth, and fifth hammer blows fell in succession. Although his blows were slightly rougher and blunter than those of Old Sun, the overall shape of the nail tip was correct.

Chen Ping flipped the iron clamp with his left hand, exposing its tail.

when!when!when!

With three hammer blows, the flat nail head is formed in one go.

Chen Ping turned around and put the red-hot iron nail into the water tank.

laugh.

Smoke rose, and the iron nails darkened.

Old Sun stepped forward, used pliers to retrieve the nail, and examined it carefully for a moment.

After a moment, Old Sun uttered two words: "Pass."

Tie Niu's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he muttered in disbelief, "You got the heat right on the first try, and the shape was perfect too? When I first learned to hammer nails, I ruined three iron bars before I could even get a crooked one."

Shi Tou swallowed hard and muttered to himself, "Master once said that some people are born for this line of work; it's called talent."

Tie Niu couldn't hold back any longer and turned to Chen Ping: "Brother Chen, you've really never forged iron before?"

"no."

"Then what...?"

"I watched it all day."

Chen Ping spoke calmly, then turned around, picked up a second iron bar from the scrap heap, and put it back into the furnace.

Just then, small print appeared in front of my retina:

[Forging Proficiency +1]

Current progress: Beginner 1/100

When it came time to make the third item, Old Sun threw over a thicker iron bar and asked him to make a round iron ring.

Chen Ping continued with the same rhythm of about thirty pushes and pulls as before, but he didn't control the heat properly and burned it a little too much.

The iron was too soft, and when the hammer fell, the force was not controlled, and a piece of the edge was dented, resulting in a pitted iron ring.

Old Sun frowned and threw the iron ring back onto the anvil: "The iron material is a bit coarser, so you'll have to heat it for a longer time."

"Since the iron is different, is it based on the color change of the fire, or simply by counting the number of times?" Chen Ping asked.

"Observe the color of the fire. No matter how coarse or fine the iron is, it's at its softest when it turns golden yellow with a hint of white. Memorizing the number of bellows blows is a stupid method for the blind and fools!"

Chen Ping nodded and wrote it down.

Preretinal pulsation recurred:

[Forging Proficiency +1]

Current progress: Beginner 2/100

Chen Ping's eyes brightened slightly.

By noon, when hammering the last iron bar, Chen Ping had completely adapted to the rhythm.

The pushing and pulling of the bellows became an instinct of his body, and all his attention was completely focused on capturing the color of the fire.

Dark red, orange-red, golden yellow.

He raised his hand a breath faster than the first one, but the flame was more precise, and it was ready as soon as the white flame appeared.

The hammer fell, and the nail came out.

Old Sun took it, stopped what he was doing, and stared at Chen Ping for a while.

Turning to Tie Niu, he said, "Go to the street corner to buy lunch, and bring back an extra pound of cooked beef."

Tie Niu paused for a moment, then went out in response.

Stone stood in the corner, swallowed hard, and muttered under his breath, "Much stronger than me."

Lunch consisted of a pound of cooked beef, two large flatbreads, and a pot of cloudy wine.

Old Sun gestured for Chen Ping to sit down and pushed the beef towards him.

Chen Ping picked it up and tore it apart. The tendons were tough, and he chewed them more than a dozen times before swallowing. He then ate two large pancakes and drank a bowl of cold water.

Old Sun held his teacup, remained silent for a moment, and then spoke:

"I've never seen such talent in my entire life."

Chen Ping didn't take it, but took a sip of cold water and put the bowl down.

"When will you start making the hoe?"

"Tomorrow," Old Sun put down his teacup, "you practice five more small things this afternoon, make sure you've completely steadied your skills, and then we'll call it a day."

"What makes a hoe harder than a nail?" Chen Ping pressed.

"The rules for tending a fire are the same, but the difficulty lies in the hammering technique. Nails are hammered flat, but hoes need to be sharpened." Old Sun stretched out his hand and gestured along the edge of the anvil. "Sharpening requires a specific angle of cut. If the angle at which the hammer falls is even slightly off, the blade will become dull."

Chen Ping nodded and made sure to remember it.

After finishing the last bite of minced meat, he paused for a moment and said in a low voice, "Thank you for your guidance, Master Sun."

In the afternoon, Chen Ping made five more small items: three iron nails and two iron rings.

Old Sun only glanced at it, tossed it into the basket beside him, didn't nitpick, and that was it.

[Skill: Forging (Beginner)]

Current progress: Beginner (10/100)

As darkness fell, the firelight cast long shadows of the four people in the shop.

Old Sun asked Tie Niu to see Chen Ping out.

Chen Ping walked to the door and heard Old Sun's voice behind him:

"Don't be late tomorrow."

"Won't."

As Chen Ping stepped outside, the night wind rushed towards him. He looked down at his hands and saw new red marks on the edge of his thumb and forefinger, his palms still warm from the iron.