Sixty years of blacksmithing, a single hammer blow forging a celestial being.

Li Ping'an was somewhat dazed as he watched the elder leave.

"He actually won't become an apprentice? Is he stupid?"

"Why don't you give up your place to me? I've been in the outer sect for twenty years, dreaming of becoming an elder's disciple!"

"Come on, even if he becomes an apprentice, what can he do? He'll only live for another two years at most."

"Alright, let's call it a day! All that time I spent wasted!"

Seeing that Li Ping'an refused to become his disciple, the crowd of onlookers dispersed.

Zhou Wen, the head steward, sighed as he looked at his older brother who was standing there dumbfounded.

"Brother, now that you've gone to the inner sect, I won't be able to look after you anymore."

"This is what you've saved up over the years from forging iron. I haven't touched it; I've been storing it for you. The inner sect isn't like here; whether for cultivation or for bribing officials, you always need these things!"

Zhou Wen took out a cloth bag containing four low-grade spirit stones.

Looking at his only close friend, Li Ping'an felt a slight stirring in his heart.

Now that he has the Heaven-Forging Hammer, there is hope for his path to immortality, and he naturally cannot give up cultivation resources such as spirit stones.

Without being polite, Li Ping'an accepted the bag of spirit stones.

But just as he held it in his hand, the Heaven-Forging Hammer in his right hand suddenly became scorching hot.

A powerful suction force entered the bag directly from his palm.

Immediately afterwards, the spiritual energy from those four low-grade spirit stones was forcibly extracted by the Heaven-Forging Hammer through Li Ping'an's body.

Li Ping'an calmly put the spirit stone, which had turned into a useless stone, into his pocket and patted Zhou Wen on the shoulder.

He casually opened the white jade medicine bottle that the elder had just handed him and poured out a round pill.

Longevity Pill.

Lu Xue gave it to him!

Li Ping'an handed the pill to Zhou Wen.

"Xiao Wen, you're only at the third stage of Body Tempering now, and you probably only have five or six years left to live. Take this medicine."

Zhou Wen's expression changed drastically as he looked at the pill, and he hurriedly reached out to push it away.

"This is unacceptable! Longevity Pills are rare even among inner disciples; one is worth at least five mid-grade spirit stones. It's far too precious; I cannot accept it!"

Without wasting any words, Li Ping'an pressed Zhou Wen's head down and forcibly shoved the pill into his mouth.

"I've been in this outer sect for sixty years, and you're my only brother. Why are you being so polite with me?"

Zhou Wen's eyes were red, but he couldn't speak.

Li Pingan patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile.

"After you leave for the inner sect, it's likely we won't see each other again. Take care."

After saying that, Li Ping'an turned around and walked towards Tongtian Peak with a flourish.

Zhou Wen stood still, watching the hunched back, and clasped his hands in a fist and shouted.

"Take care, brother!"

Li Ping'an didn't turn around, he just waved his hand.

The mountain road was rugged, and Li Ping'an studied the Heaven-Forging Hammer in his sea of ​​consciousness the whole way.

At this moment, the dark golden iron hammer was quietly suspended in the center of his sea of ​​consciousness.

After absorbing the spiritual energy from the spirit stones, four obsidian-like crystals appeared on the hammer handle.

The very last one emitted a faint glow.

Tempering the heavens, forging the earth, melting immortals, casting gods.

Li Ping'an understood that the four crystals were the energy of the Heaven-Forging Hammer, and the stronger the energy, the greater the power and effect!

Now, it's uncertain whether a few spirit stones can unleash the full power of the Heaven-Forging Hammer.

Give it a try!

With a thought, he spurred the Heaven-Forging Hammer to strike his own sea of ​​consciousness.

thump.

Li Ping'an felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, and the world spun around him.

His legs went weak and he sat down on the ground, taking a long time to recover.

"It hurts!"

Li Ping'an endured the lingering effects and looked inward at his own sea of ​​consciousness.

He discovered that his sea of ​​consciousness, which was originally only the size of a palm, had doubled in size.

It should be known that the size of a cultivator's sea of ​​consciousness is determined by heaven, and unless one possesses a legendary divine technique, it is extremely difficult to open it.

The Heaven-Forging Hammer only vibrated once, yet it doubled the size of his sea of ​​consciousness.

Li Ping'an was stunned!

Is this artifact really that powerful?

If the sea of ​​consciousness can be tempered, what about the body?

Li Ping'an decided to take out the Forging Heaven Hammer directly.

He took a deep breath and raised the hammer, smashing it down on his chest.

thump.

With a soft sound, Li Ping'an trembled all over, in so much pain he couldn't breathe.

After the excruciating pain came an intense itching; Li Ping'an felt as if countless ants were crawling all over his body.

He looked down and saw that foul-smelling black impurities were constantly seeping from the pores of his skin.

Body Tempering Stage 3.

This single blow allowed him to leapfrog two realms.

Li Ping'an panted, savoring the pleasure brought by the advancement in his cultivation level.

He gripped the hammer, wanting to strike again.

However, this time when the hammer fell, nothing unusual happened.

He looked over in confusion and noticed that the obsidian at the very end of the hammer handle had dimmed.

It has lost its spiritual energy.

Two hammer blows were enough to deplete the spiritual power of four low-grade spirit stones.

This thing is indeed a divine weapon, but it's also a bottomless pit.

Li Ping'an stared at the inner mountain path disappearing into the clouds ahead, his eyes darting around.

It seems that once I'm in the inner sect, I'll need to find a way to acquire more resources.

And there just happened to be a place that was perfect for me, where I could get a lot of resources!

Having made up his mind, Li Ping'an quickened his pace.

The inner sect of the Tongtian Sword Sect is located atop a mountain, consisting of ten large mountains.

The cabinet he was going to was right in the middle.

That's where inner disciples accept sect missions in exchange for cultivation resources; it's usually the busiest place.

When Li Ping'an, an old man dressed in tattered servant's clothes, walked in, he instantly attracted everyone's attention.

He stood out from the other inner disciples, who were all dressed in flowing white robes.

"This guy is Li Ping'an?"

"Yes! It's that old guy who's been forging blacksmiths for sixty years!"

"I heard that he had some ambiguous relationship with the recently departed Saintess Lu Xue, which is why the elders made an exception and allowed him to enter the inner sect."

"Relationship? It's nothing more than a mortal trying to climb the social ladder. She's now a high and mighty saintess and has already severed ties with him."

The crowd was buzzing with discussion, but no one looked at Li Ping'an seriously.

In the world of cultivation, strength reigns supreme.

Li Ping'an was only at the third level of Body Tempering, so he naturally looked down on him.

Even if he activates the Heavenly Bell, a third-stage Body Tempering cultivator whose vital energy is almost depleted would be nothing but a joke even if he entered the inner sect.

Li Ping'an calmly walked through the crowd into the Cabinet Hall.

The cabinet's deacon sat behind a rosewood desk, flipping through a register.

He was taken aback when he saw Li Ping'an come in.

"Li Ping'an, right?"

"Your situation is special, come with me to the inner room to talk."

Li Ping'an was somewhat surprised, but he still silently followed them inside.

The moment he entered the room, the butler's smile vanished, replaced by a troubled expression.

"Li Ping'an, according to the rules, those who are admitted to the inner sect through special procedures should be assigned a place by the steward. But your situation is really putting this steward in a difficult position."

"Our inner sect, the Spirit Sword lineage, only accepts geniuses with exceptional talent. At your age, you can't even get close to the threshold."

"The Heart Sword lineage requires the mind to be focused and the spirit to be concentrated, which places extremely high demands on the sea of ​​consciousness. Your sea of ​​consciousness is only the size of two palms, and they won't accept it."

"This is difficult, really difficult!"

The deacon kept saying it was difficult, but his left hand made obvious small movements.

Li Ping'an understood perfectly well what was going on with the act of asking for money.

He had been working in the outer gate for sixty years, not only forging iron but also doing odd jobs in various places, so he knew all the ins and outs of the trade.

What's so difficult about it? It's all about money!

Unfortunately, the four low-grade spirit stones he possessed had long since become useless and were of no use whatsoever.

Moreover, he never intended to join the Spirit Sword Heart Sword lineage from the beginning.

He had already set his sights on a certain place.

That was the abandoned inner hall.

A waste hall, as the name suggests, is a place specifically for collecting and disposing of waste.

Wasted pills, broken spiritual artifacts, and even the corpses of dead spirit beasts were piled up there.

Because the spiritual energy remaining in these discarded items is unstable, they often explode or release poisonous gas. Those who go there to work are mostly fringe disciples who have made mistakes or have no future.

In other words, the inner circle is useless!

Useless disciples guarding other useless disciples—that's what a useless hall looks like!

The sect disciples privately call him the Useless Hall!

What was a wasteland to others was Li Ping'an's paradise.

The ancient iron hammer in his sea of ​​consciousness possessed the power to melt immortals.

Melt all things and extract their essence.

What others see as trash, he sees as treasure.

Seeing the steward's shifty-eyed appearance, Li Ping'an spoke directly.

"Sir, there's no need to make things difficult for me. Ping An knows her place; I won't go for the Spirit Sword and Heart Sword."

"Ping An only wants to do his last bit of effort for the sect. Ping An has volunteered to go to the abandoned hall to guard the waste materials."