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

After the commotion subsided, the blacksmith shop returned to its quiet state.

Old Wang, the head of the miscellaneous tasks, came out of the shop at that moment.

He saw everything clearly just now, and he never expected that his brother would actually do it!

Looking at his old brother with whom he had spent nearly a hundred years, Old Wang sighed heavily.

He took out a cloth bag containing spirit stones from his pocket and handed it to Zhou Lingxuan.

"Brother, once you go to the inner sect, I won't be able to take care of you anymore."

"Over the years, your iron-forging salary has been four low-grade spirit stones. You insisted on not accepting them back then because you said you couldn't cultivate, but I've been saving them for you."

"But it's still yours, so take it."

Zhou Lingxuan was moved as he looked at the cloth bag that Old Wang handed him.

The appearance of the Heaven-Forging Hammer gave him hope on his path to immortality.

On the path of cultivation, spirit stones and cultivation techniques are indispensable, and activating the Heaven-Forging Hammer requires a massive amount of spiritual energy.

He accepted the spirit stones without any pretense or refusal.

Then Zhou Lingxuan took out the white jade porcelain bottle that the Second Elder had bestowed upon him.

He took out a pill from inside and handed it to Old Wang.

"Old Wang, you've been stuck at the third level of Qi Refining for many years, and now you only have ten years left to live, right?"

"If you keep this, you'll live another ten years. Perfect timing—go down the mountain, get married, and have some fun!"

"Brother, this won't do!"

"This longevity pill is worth five mid-grade spirit stones in the market. It's too precious; you need it more than I do!"

Seeing that Old Wang repeatedly waved his hands to refuse, Zhou Lingxuan didn't waste any words.

He grabbed Old Wang's head and forced the pill into his mouth.

Zhou Lingxuan only let go of Old Wang's hand after he swallowed it.

Looking at his old buddy who used to follow him around forging iron and often took care of him, Zhou Lingxuan felt a pang of emotion.

"You're my only brother in the outer sect after sixty years. Why are you being so polite with me?"

"After this journey to the inner sect, it's likely we won't see each other again. Take care."

After speaking, Zhou Lingxuan patted Old Wang on the shoulder and walked towards the top of the inner gate with slightly aged steps.

Old Wang's eyes reddened as he watched Zhou Lingxuan's departing figure and bowed deeply.

"Take care, elder brother!"

...

Throughout the journey, Zhou Lingxuan's mind was completely absorbed in his sea of ​​consciousness, studying the Heaven-Forging Hammer.

At this moment, the spirit stone bag given by Old Wang was empty; all four low-grade spirit stones had been absorbed and turned into dust.

After absorbing the spirit stone, the Heavenly Hammer in the sea of ​​consciousness emitted a faint glow on its surface.

With a thought, Zhou Lingxuan tentatively activated the Heaven-Forging Hammer and gently tapped it into his sea of ​​consciousness.

thump.

My consciousness is in turmoil, and my awareness is blurred.

Zhou Lingxuan felt as if his head had been hit hard, and the world was spinning.

It took him a full half hour to regain his senses.

When he eagerly looked inward into his sea of ​​consciousness, he was completely stunned.

The originally narrow and barren sea of ​​consciousness actually doubled in size.

It should be understood that a cultivator's sea of ​​consciousness is innate and cannot be increased unless one possesses a legendary divine cultivation technique.

The Heaven-Forging Hammer achieved such an amazing effect with just a slight tremor.

Although his consciousness, now twice as large, still couldn't compare to that of those geniuses, it still gave him a glimmer of hope.

If the mind can be trained, can the body be trained as well?

Zhou Lingxuan gritted his teeth, summoned the jade hammer from his sea of ​​consciousness, and fed it the few mid-grade spirit stones given to him by the elder.

He took the jade hammer and smashed it against his own chest.

The moment the hammer fell, Zhou Lingxuan felt as if he had been crushed head-on by a towering mountain.

That pain was ten thousand times worse than the pressure from Zhang Qian's spiritual energy.

After finally enduring the excruciating pain in my internal organs, a sharp pain soon followed throughout my entire body.

The sensation was as if countless ants were frantically crawling under the skin.

Zhou Lingxuan looked down.

Those weren't ants, but black impurities expelled from pores.

The chain didn't straighten out until evening.

After the hammering was completed, Zhou Lingxuan changed dramatically, looking as if he had become thirty years younger.

Not only did he become more upright, but a few strands of his once white hair had even turned black.

Moreover, this tempering was not just a physical transformation; his cultivation level directly reached the fourth stage of Body Tempering.

From the second stage of Body Tempering to the fourth stage!

This single blow sent him leaping two ranks.

Zhou Lingxuan was overjoyed and looked at the jade hammer with great excitement.

If one hammer strike can get you to the second tier, then if I just do a few more strikes, won't I be able to directly reach the Foundation Establishment stage?

He couldn't wait to unleash the Heaven-Forging Hammer on his chest again, but this time nothing happened.

Zhou Lingxuan looked at the jade hammer, which had become dull, with a sense of helplessness.

So many spirit stones, only enough for two swings of the hammer?

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

"It seems I'll have to find a way to get more spirit stones after going to the abandoned inner sect hall."

Just as Zhou Lingxuan had this thought, a loud bang came from in front of him.

Following the sound, Zhou Lingxuan knew that it was the location of the Pill Hall!

This commotion means someone's alchemy furnace exploded!

That's perfect, since I'm currently lacking resources.

This discarded pill is actually a valuable item!

Things that others avoid at all costs are resources for Forge Hammer.

This is practically a gift of inspiration delivered to our doorstep.

"No rush to the wasteland, let's go collect the discarded pills first."

Zhou Lingxuan, disregarding the filth on his body, hurried towards the alchemy hall.

At this moment, on the alchemy hall atop the mountain, a pill-making room collapsed, and the pill furnace in the middle was emitting black smoke.

A beautiful young woman in a blue dress stood at the door with her hands on her hips and her eyebrows furrowed.

Her hair was frizzy like a bird's nest, and her fair face was blackened by smoke.

Despite how ridiculous it was, none of the onlookers dared to laugh out loud, feeling incredibly uncomfortable!

But the quirky girl was perfectly aware that everyone around her was trying not to laugh.

She snorted coldly, glared at him with her small eyes, and shouted in a coquettish tone.

"What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen this grandma frying food before?"

"If you keep looking, your grandma will throw you all into the furnace and refine you!"

Upon hearing this, everyone shrank back and quickly hid inside the house.

This little devil is not someone you can afford to offend!

Seeing everyone leave in fright, the girl let out a smug snort.

But then he noticed an old man walking slowly towards him, clearly not yielding to his tyranny.

This immediately provoked the girl's temper, and she pointed at Zhou Lingxuan, who had rushed over, and scolded him.

"Hey, old man! Didn't you hear what your grandma said?"

"Don't think that just because you're old I won't dare to do anything to you!"

Zhou Lingxuan looked at the willful and capricious girl in front of him and cupped his hands in greeting.

"Senior sister, I am from the Abandoned Hall."

"I just happened to be passing by and heard the commotion. I figured I could take your useless pill back and deal with it."

Upon hearing that they had come to collect the discarded pills, the girl's eyes lit up with joy.

She quickly walked up to him and was about to speak.

He smelled the foul odor, quickly covered his nose with his sleeve, and took three steps back.

"Ugh, you stink! How can you smell so bad? Did you fall into a cesspool?"

"Please forgive me, senior sister. The work done in the wasteland is all dirty, so it's inevitable that it will get a little dirty."

The girl waved her hand dismissively and urged him on.

"Oh, stop talking, hurry up and get rid of those useless pills!"

Zhou Lingxuan didn't waste any time and went straight to the alchemy furnace, reaching out to grab it.

The girl was so shocked by what she saw that her eyes widened.

"Are you crazy? Don't you use a miasma-covered box to protect yourself when collecting waste pills?"

"This discarded pill is extremely poisonous; it will kill you!"

Zhou Lingxuan was naturally aware of the poison, but he possessed the Heaven-Forging Hammer.

The moment his palm touched the discarded pill, the Heaven-Forging Hammer in his sea of ​​consciousness swallowed up all the poison that had seeped into his body.

But he pretended to be indifferent, trying to fool the girl in front of him.

"I don't have much time left anyway, this little bit of poison won't affect me much."

"We can't let this little thing delay Senior Sister's great undertaking of refining divine pills."

The girl was stunned when she heard this, and felt even more guilty.

But the girl still wouldn't let it go, and huffed.

"Hmph, whether you poison me or not is up to you, but you can't die here!"

"Hey, take this!"

As she spoke, the girl took out a bright green pill and tossed it to Zhou Lingxuan!