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

Holding the large bag of scalding hot discarded pills, Li Ping'an felt a sense of treasure in his heart, and his steps became much lighter.

He hummed a little tune as he walked around several mountains, and before it got completely dark, he found the deep valley between the main peaks.

Before he even got close, a strange smell, a mixture of burnt metal, rotten herbs, and unidentified substances, filled his nostrils.

Anyone else would probably have covered their nose and gone around them.

But when Li Ping'an smelled this, he didn't feel uncomfortable at all; on the contrary, he felt invigorated.

To him, this smell was the smell of spirit stones, the smell of treasures!

The entrance to the abandoned hall was small, with two dilapidated wooden doors hanging crookedly. In front of the doors were piles of discarded ore and broken weapons, which gleamed with a cold, eerie light under the moonlight.

This place does look rather dilapidated, even more run-down than the servants' quarters where he used to work.

Fortunately, although the air was filled with the smell of waste materials, there was no turbulent and unstable spiritual energy fluctuation like in a pill refining room. Most of the materials were damaged during the refining process, so they were safe for him.

As soon as Li Ping'an reached the door, an elderly man with gray hair came out to greet him, leaning on a cane.

"Is this the new junior brother Li Ping'an?" The old man's face was covered with wrinkles, but he smiled kindly.

"It is I."

Li Ping'an quickly put down the treasure in his arms and cupped his hands in greeting.

"Oh, I've been waiting for you!"

The old man warmly took Li Ping'an's hand.

"I am He Lu, the old man in charge of this abandoned hall. Come in quickly, it's cold outside."

This was the first time Li Ping'an had felt such pure enthusiasm since entering the inner sect, and he couldn't help but feel a warmth in his heart.

He followed He Lu into the abandoned hall, filled with curiosity about everything there.

But as soon as Li Ping'an entered the door, he was stunned.

He stared in surprise at the scene inside the room, completely stunned.

What... what's going on here?

The small, abandoned hall was neatly organized, completely unlike the messy exterior.

The most striking feature is the three long conveyor belts made of planks and wheels, stretching from one end of the house to the other. Although their design is rather rudimentary and they look crooked, the layout and construction are...

Is this some kind of... assembly line?

The memories of his dead began to attack Li Ping'an relentlessly.

Before he transmigrated, he had lived in a place known as the world's factory, so he was very familiar with this thing!

"Hehe, Junior Brother Li, were you scared?"

He Lu looked at Li Ping'an's astonished expression and a smug smile appeared on his face. He patted the conveyor belt next to him, his tone clearly introducing his own child.

"Our abandoned hall mainly deals with the waste materials left over from the sect's weapon forging. Although it's called waste, there are actually quite a few good things in it that can be recycled and reused."

"In the past, we all had to rely on our hands to flip things over in piles, which was slow, tiring, and easy to hurt our hands."

As He Lu spoke, he walked to the starting point of the conveyor belt, picked up a piece of charred iron ore, and placed it on it.

"Later, I thought about whether I could come up with a way to save effort. That's how I came up with this sorting table."

He pointed to the conveyor belt and continued explaining, "You see, I only need one person at this end to keep putting waste on it. This belt will then keep sending things to the other end."

"I assigned three people to sort the iron. The first person picked out the usable refined iron; the second person picked out the copper ore mixed in; and the third person picked out the residue from the rare ores."

"In this way, each thing does its own job without interfering with the others, and the really useless trash will fall down the chute into the collection bin over there."

He Lu looked at Li Ping'an with a smile.

"How is it, Junior Brother Li? Doesn't my method greatly increase the sorting speed?"

As Li Ping'an listened to He Lu's explanation, his mind was already in turmoil.

It's more than just similar!

Isn't this just the most primitive assembly line operation?!

Could this guy... also be a time traveler?

A bold idea popped into Li Ping'an's mind.

He looked at He Lu without showing any emotion, and tentatively spoke, his voice somewhat dry:

"Imperial Jade Liquor?"

He Luzheng was getting into the conversation when he was taken aback by Li Ping'an's seemingly random question.

"Wine? What kind of wine?"

He blinked, bewildered.

"Junior Brother Li, would you like some wine? Our facilities here are simple, we only have some ordinary liquor, but there's plenty!"

Li Ping'an's heart sank.

Undeterred, he used the classic code word again and spoke:

"Odd changes, even remains the same?"

Now, He Lu was even more dumbfounded. He scratched his already sparse white hair and looked at Li Ping'an with confusion.

"Chicken? What chicken? Oh, I get it!"

He Lu slapped his thigh, suddenly realizing what was happening.

"Don't worry, Junior Brother Li. To welcome you back, I've specially had the boys prepare a celebratory feast. There's liquor and roast chicken! Enough to go around!"

Li Ping'an was completely speechless.

He silently shook his head, realizing he had been overthinking things.

This guy is a pure, homegrown inventor!

Li Ping'an couldn't help but feel a sense of awe; the world is truly vast and full of wonders.

He Lu didn't notice the change in Li Ping'an's expression; he patted Li Ping'an's shoulder with a smile.

"Junior Brother Li, to be honest, we old folks have heard about your deeds a long time ago!"

"He worked as a blacksmith in the menial labor department for sixty years, and somehow managed to get his way into the inner circle through sheer hard work. Amazing! Absolutely amazing!"

"Don't worry, this abandoned hall of ours, to put it bluntly, is just a place for us disciples who have no talent or background to get by."

"They call themselves inner disciples, but in reality, they're just high-ranking menial servants."

He Lu sighed and continued.

"Once you're here, just think of it as coming home. If you don't have much to do on weekdays, just think of it as a place to retire. If you have time, give these good-for-nothing juniors some pointers."

He pointed to several disciples sitting by the assembly line, gazing longingly at him.

"They, like you, are people with perseverance."

"Unfortunately, he lacks talent and has no connections, so he can only drift through life in this abandoned hall."

"If you could teach them some real blacksmithing skills, so they could accumulate some wealth, maybe they could become respectable weapon refiners in the future?"

Li Ping'an looked in the direction He Lu pointed.

The disciples ranged in age from around fifty to just over twenty.

He glanced at it and saw that the highest cultivation level was only at the seventh level of Body Tempering.

In the world of cultivation, there is an unwritten rule: one cannot be considered to have truly entered the path of immortality until reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.

Although the craft of weapon crafting doesn't have such strict requirements on cultivation level, these guys, who haven't even reached the Qi Refining Realm, will most likely grow old and die slowly in this abandoned hall.

How similar to my former self.

Li Ping'an nodded, feeling somewhat moved as well.

Teaching a few disciples is not unacceptable.

Upon seeing Li Ping'an nod, the disciples who had been sitting instantly erupted in excitement!

They rushed over from the assembly line, crowding around Li Ping'an and calling him "Master" so affectionately.

"Master! You've finally arrived!"

"Master, please accept my bow!"

"Master, my name is Wang Erniu, and from now on I will be your junior brother!"

This scene startled Li Ping'an.

He quickly waved his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet.

"Everyone, everyone, this is unacceptable, this is unacceptable!"

"I can't bear the title of 'Master.' If you don't mind this old man, just call me Teacher Li from now on, and that will be enough."

Li Ping'an's expression was somewhat complicated.

Thinking about his own experience, he felt even more helpless.

So what if he activated the Heavenly Bell? Wasn't he still abandoned by the entire sect as a joke?

If I hadn't unexpectedly obtained the Heaven-Forging Hammer, my fate would probably not have been much better than these people in front of me.

As teachers, we must always point out the right path for our students.

But I'm still completely lost about my own future.

Even though Li Ping'an said that, the disciples were overjoyed, calling him "Teacher Li" repeatedly, their faces beaming with smiles they hadn't seen in a long time.

Looking at them, Li Ping'an felt a warm glow in his heart.

Well, I'll help in any way I can.

He was planning to go over to the rudimentary assembly line to see the quality of the scrap delivered today, and maybe find some treasures to add to the Forging Hammer's power.

Just then, a strange, sarcastic voice came from the doorway of the abandoned hall, shattering the brief moment of tranquility.

"You old man, are you that Li Ping'an?"

A young disciple dressed in the robes of a cabinet steward walked in with his hands behind his back, chin held high, and an arrogant expression on his face.

"I have something to tell you."