A Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Starting as a Sword-Forging Servant and Ascending to Immorta

Zhou Lingxuan looked at the piece of debris in Elder Chen's hand and was somewhat surprised.

This old man is definitely skilled.

During the forging process, he imbued the hammer with pure sword intent, moving with incredible speed. Even a Golden Core cultivator like Elder Qin couldn't discern the specific techniques, only finding the hammering method mysterious.

Elder Chen was able to accurately detect the residual sword intent fluctuations within a single piece of iron filings, and even deduce his forging technique of using sword intent as a carving tool.

This level of insight and keen understanding of weapon crafting is something that ordinary elders would never possess.

Beside him, Steward Sun, who had just been slapped and knocked unconscious, slowly regained consciousness.

His mind was still a little dazed, and his ears were ringing when he heard Elder Chen utter the words "sword intent."

Deacon Sun lay on the ground, raising his head with a face full of resentment.

He'd completely lost face today. Not only did he fail to kill Xue Yi, but he was also publicly reprimanded by Elder Chen. How could he possibly swallow this insult!

"Elder Chen! Don't listen to his charlatanry!"

Deacon Sun yelled at the top of his lungs and struggled to get up.

"What does a piece of trash burning garbage in an abandoned hall know about sword intent! He must have used some shady sorcery to deliberately damage the earth's veins..."

He hadn't finished speaking.

Elder Chen didn't even turn his head, but instead pressed down with his hand.

boom!

A massive surge of spiritual energy descended from nowhere, like an invisible mountain, slamming heavily onto Steward Sun's back.

Before Deacon Sun could even scream, he was pressed firmly into the mud in a spread-eagle position.

The ground was smashed into a shallow crater. Deacon Sun's mouth was full of dust, and his bones made cracking sounds as if they could no longer bear the weight. He fell completely still, with only muddy blood bubbles still coming out of his mouth.

After dealing with the noisy flies, Elder Chen's attention was entirely on Zhou Lingxuan.

He took two steps forward, holding the piece of iron filings in his hands, breathing heavily, his old face flushed red.

"Master! Please speak! Is this sword intent?"

Elder Chen became more and more excited as he spoke, gesturing wildly with his hands.

"I have been studying weapon crafting for sixty years, but I have always been troubled by my inability to perfectly remove impurities from spiritual materials."

"Those associated minerals and those hidden cracks require a lot of time and effort, even with the most advanced spiritual fire."

"Your technique just now, directly using sword intent to penetrate the body and dismantle impurities from within, is simply an unprecedented and ingenious idea! If this method could be promoted, the crafting level of our Weapon Hall would definitely rise to a whole new level!"

Faced with Elder Chen's fervor, Zhou Lingxuan stood still, his expression completely unmoved.

He looked at the Elder of the Weapon Hall who was so excited he was about to jump up, and calmly asked a question.

Do you know who I am?

Elder Chen was stunned.

The fervor on his face froze for a moment, and his mind raced as he tried to find the corresponding identity of the "master" in front of him from the list of reclusive masters or guest elders of the Heavenly Sword Pavilion.

But after thinking for a long time, my mind went completely blank.

Elder Chen blinked, revealing a pure sense of bewilderment.

Zhou Lingxuan understood.

This old man was a complete weapon-forging fanatic, oblivious to everything else, focusing solely on his furnace. He probably wouldn't even bother to listen to the major events happening in the sect.

Xue Yi, who was standing nearby, couldn't hold back any longer and whispered a reminder.

"Elder Chen, his name is Zhou Lingxuan. He's the one who triggered the Heavenly Sword phenomenon a while ago."

Elder Chen frowned, muttering the name to himself.

"Zhou Lingxuan? Activating the Heavenly Sword? That sounds familiar..."

He suddenly slapped his thigh, as if he had remembered something.

"Oh! That old outer sect servant who's rumored to have forged a million swords, even attracting the attention of the sect's most prized artifact?"

Zhou Lingxuan nodded.

"it's me."

He picked up the rag next to him and slowly wiped the dust off his hands.

"I've been forging iron in the outer sect's sword pavilion for nearly a hundred years. I just managed to collect a million swords recently, and luckily, it caused quite a stir."

Zhou Lingxuan threw the rag on the anvil, his tone as calm as if he were talking about someone else's business.

"The commotion was quite loud, alarming the entire sect. When the elders came to investigate, they discovered that the one who caused the strange phenomenon was a useless old man whose lifespan was almost exhausted and who hadn't even reached the Qi Refining Realm."

Elder Chen's expression began to change.

The initial fervor surrounding the discovery of a peerless master is gradually fading.

Zhou Lingxuan continued speaking.

"The ancestral master manifested his power, descending with chaotic golden light. Unfortunately, my body is too weak; my foundation is already rotten to the core. Even the golden light, which cleansed my tendons and marrow, couldn't transform me."

"The elders think my aptitude is too poor, and none of them are willing to take me as a disciple. In order not to cause trouble for the sect, I volunteered to come to this abandoned hall, where I burn garbage every day to make a living."

Zhou Lingxuan spread out his hands, displaying his calloused, withered, and thin palms to Elder Chen.

"In my whole life, I've only ever been good at blacksmithing. As for sword intent, I just figured it out by doing too much blacksmithing. If you asked me to be the deputy head of the weapon-making hall, I'm afraid I wouldn't even be able to memorize the most basic weapon-making techniques."

"As for the promotion you mentioned..."

Zhou Lingxuan shook his head.

"I can do it even if I can't promote it, because I've been forging iron for nearly a hundred years and I know the texture of metal better than the lines on my own palm."

"With a bit of luck, we finally figured out this clumsy method. Would those high-ranking weapon refiners in your weapon hall be willing to spend a hundred years forging ordinary iron?"

Elder Chen was speechless.

The courtyard of the abandoned hall suddenly fell into extreme silence.

The fire valve had been closed, but the air still retained a lingering, intense heat.

On the anvil, the dark red, top-grade alchemy furnace emitted a faint spiritual light, illuminating Elder Chen's astonished face.

A night breeze blew by, swirling up a few fallen leaves that rustled against Elder Chen's grey robe.

Elder Chen stood frozen in place.

An immense divine sense uncontrollably reached out and swept directly over Zhou Lingxuan's body.

Body Tempering Stage 2.

The spiritual energy fluctuations were pitifully weak, like a flickering candle in the wind, ready to be extinguished at any moment.

His qi and blood were extremely weak, and his meridians exuded a deathly aura.

In his divine perception, the person in front of him was a complete and utter cripple.

An old handyman whose body was half buried in the yellow earth.

Elder Chen was not giving up and once again thoroughly searched Zhou Lingxuan's body with his divine sense.

No.

It truly lacks any of the fire-attribute spiritual power a weapon refiner should possess, and it can't even perform the most basic true qi circulation.

The fervor on Elder Chen's face froze completely.

He opened his mouth, uttering a few dry syllables, but couldn't piece together a complete sentence for a long time.

How could this happen?

The incredible forging technique just now, the ingenious idea of ​​perfectly integrating sword intent into the hammering, actually came from the hands of a good-for-nothing who hasn't even reached the Qi Refining Realm.

Xue Yi stood aside, watching Elder Chen's ever-changing expression, and felt a pang of disappointment in her heart.

She thought she had latched onto a powerful patron, someone who would repair her alchemy furnace whenever it broke, and even help her forge more advanced magical artifacts.

It turned out that the thigh belonged to an old man who was about to die.

She quietly moved two steps closer to Old Qin and lowered her voice.

"Elder Qin, has Elder Chen gone mad from the shock?"

Old Qin sat on a wooden stool in the corner, holding a melon seed in his hand, not in a hurry to crack it open.

He looked at Elder Chen, then at Zhou Lingxuan, a hint of amusement on his face.

That old rascal, he's putting on quite a good act.

If he hadn't personally witnessed Zhou Lingxuan withstand ten thousand sword intents in the Sword Tomb, he would have truly believed his nonsense.

They completely exposed their past, leaving no way out.

If it were anyone else, with such astonishing weapon-forging skills, they would be eager to cling to the elder of the Weapon Hall and rise to prominence overnight.

Zhou Lingxuan, on the other hand, was afraid that others wouldn't know he was a good-for-nothing, so he desperately tried to push him away.

The atmosphere in the courtyard was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

Elder Chen stared intently at Zhou Lingxuan, his chest heaving violently.

The piece of iron filings in his hand had been squeezed out of shape.

He originally thought he had encountered a reclusive master craftsman and wanted to recruit him into the Weaponry Hall to revitalize it.

It turned out that he was just an ordinary person who had accidentally discovered the sword intent forging method while blacksmithing for a hundred years.

This technique cannot be popularized without strong cultivation.

Moreover, Zhou Lingxuan's lifespan was nearing its end, and he could pass away at any moment.

A full half-cup of tea time had passed.

Elder Chen's tense body suddenly relaxed.

He looked at Zhou Lingxuan's calloused hands and sighed deeply.

The sigh was particularly clear in the quiet, abandoned hall.

"pity……"

Elder Chen shook his head, his voice filled with undisguised regret.

"What a pity!"