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

These words, spoken in the Fire Chamber, carried a somewhat casual tone.

Chen Baichuan was stunned for a moment.

Chen Baichuan's brows furrowed even more as he stared at Zhou Lingxuan's bloodshot eyes.

The two of them have already made their point clear.

Li Yuan tampered with the Xuan Shuang Shield, leaving no trace of his actions. If the investigation were conducted according to the established rules, nothing would be found.

Chen Baichuan has calmed down and decided to use the resources and connections he has at his disposal to crush Li Yuan fairly and squarely within the rules.

This is a power struggle among the top echelons of the Qitang.

It's about having a solid foundation, but even more so about skill and strategy.

At this critical juncture, what help can a useless steward with no cultivation and relying on longevity pills to stay alive be?

Chen Baichuan looked Zhou Lingxuan up and down.

The old man was wearing a steward's robe, and there was still some black ash from the fire pit at the bottom of the valley on his cuffs.

Those hands were dry and rough, with large knuckles; they were hands that had held a hammer all their lives.

Go dig out a few more pounds of red copper from the scrap heap?

Or should we help burn a few more truckloads of the waste residue that the equipment hall produces every day?

Chen Baichuan shook his head.

"Old Zhou."

Chen Baichuan's tone softened considerably, his earlier agitation gone.

"I appreciate your good intentions. But the affairs of the Weapon Hall are not something your servants in the hamlet can handle. That bastard Li Yuan is watching my every move. If you, an outsider, get involved, you won't be of any help and will only cause trouble for yourself. Don't go around causing trouble."

Chen Baichuan walked to the bronze furnace and reached out to touch the deep, sunken pit.

"I hold 70% of the orders for the Artifact Hall. As long as I don't give in, even if Li Yuan pleads until the heavens break, he won't get those top-grade spiritual materials. Does he really think I'm a pushover? I can handle this myself; you don't need to worry about it."

Zhou Lingxuan did not move.

With his hands tucked into his sleeves, he watched Chen Baichuan's overbearing demeanor and a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.

"Elder Chen has misunderstood."

Zhou Lingxuan's voice was steady, with a slow and deliberate quality typical of an old man.

"As I just said, I don't understand the intricate power struggles within the Weapon Hall, and I will never get involved. Who becomes the Hall Master and who manages the resources is a matter for you inner sect bigwigs."

Chen Baichuan turned his head.

"So you said you could help?"

"The old man is a blacksmith."

Zhou Lingxuan looked into Chen Baichuan's eyes.

"I've been forging iron outside the Heavenly Sword Pavilion for ninety years. I have no other skills, I only know how to use a hammer and a furnace."

Zhou Lingxuan took half a step forward.

"What I mean is, if Elder Chen encounters any difficulties in the future and needs to forge a good sword, I can help you forge it."

The underground fire chamber fell silent.

A muffled rumble emanated from the distant fiery veins.

Chen Baichuan stood still and blinked.

To forge a fine sword?

Chen Baichuan almost thought he had misheard.

A powerful elder of the Weaponry Hall, with a Golden Core cultivation level, and the foremost weapon-refining master of the Heavenly Sword Pavilion.

He oversees hundreds of craftsmen proficient in various weapon-refining techniques. Any one of the stewards in the Class A Earth Fire Chamber could forge a mid-level magic weapon with their eyes closed.

The weapon-making workshop has no shortage of swordsmiths.

Now, a former steward comes to him and says that if he needs a good sword in the future, he can help him forge one.

Chen Baichuan opened his mouth, about to say "Don't go around causing trouble," but he swallowed the words back.

Looking at Zhou Lingxuan's calm face.

This old man wasn't joking.

There was not a trace of flattery or arrogance in those cloudy eyes, nor any hint of ignorant pride. It was simply the pure, unwavering confidence of a craftsman in their skill.

Chen Baichuan's brows slowly relaxed.

He suddenly realized that the old man was quite interesting.

"Alright." Chen Baichuan twitched the corners of his mouth, revealing a somewhat complicated smile. "I've got it. If all the furnaces in the Weapon Hall explode and all my men are wiped out, I'll come to the Abandoned Hall and find you to forge my sword."

These words carried a hint of teasing and a touch of nonchalance.

In Chen Baichuan's view, Zhou Lingxuan's words were more of a statement—a statement that while he couldn't offer much help, he was willing to stand by Zhou's side.

For someone who has just been betrayed by their own disciple, this statement is at least a consolation.

Zhou Lingxuan sensed the perfunctory tone in Chen Baichuan's words.

He wasn't angry.

He simply pulled his hand out of his sleeve, made a fist in mid-air, and mimed swinging a hammer.

"Elder Chen, there's something I need to make clear beforehand."

Zhou Lingxuan looked at Chen Baichuan, his tone becoming very serious.

"Forget about the magical artifacts."

"This old man has never learned those tricks of your cultivation world. I don't know how to inscribe a spirit-gathering array on a sword, nor do I know how to create those armor-piercing and bloodthirsty restrictions."

Zhou Lingxuan lowered his hand and patted the dust off his clothes.

"The old man only knows how to swing a hammer to forge iron."

This statement is extremely straightforward.

It exudes the simplicity and honesty of an ordinary blacksmith.

The smile on Chen Baichuan's face suddenly froze.

"All they know how to do is swing a hammer and forge iron..."

Chen Baichuan chewed on those words repeatedly.

At first, he thought the statement was somewhat ridiculous.

How dare someone who can't even carve array patterns boast that he'll help the Elder of the Weaponry Hall forge a fine sword?

A sword without array patterns—is that a magical artifact? No, it's just ordinary iron!

but.

Just as Chen Baichuan was about to say a few words of laughter and scolding.

Deep in his mind, a blindingly dark purple lightning bolt suddenly flashed.

The lightning bolt was so bright that it cleaved away all the distracting thoughts in his mind.

Chen Baichuan's pupils suddenly contracted.

Wind and Thunder Sword!

That half-grown good-for-nothing kid named Lei Yang held a dark purple longsword with an exaggerated shape and a figurative lightning bolt in his hand!

Chen Baichuan's breath caught in his throat for a moment.

That day in the courtyard of the abandoned hall, he watched Lei Yang draw that sword with his own eyes.

There are no array patterns.

There are no restrictions.

There isn't even a basic spirit channel!

That was a lump of iron that had been struck by lightning and hammered out by pure brute force, blow by blow!

However, this piece of ordinary iron, which had not been processed by any cultivation techniques, contained a violent and incomparable source of thunder!

It can protect its master on its own, and can even allow a weakling in the Body Tempering stage to shatter the true qi shield of a Qi Refining stage cultivator with a single sword strike!

Chen Baichuan felt his scalp begin to tingle.

He stared intently at Zhou Lingxuan.

"A sword forged by heaven and earth..."

Chen Baichuan's lips trembled slightly as he squeezed out those words through gritted teeth.

He remembered.

I remember everything!

The old man in front of me is no ordinary blacksmith at all!

This is a peerless genius who wielded a hammer in the blacksmith's shed for ninety years, honing his forging skills to a state of pure simplicity, breaking the shackles of nature, and attracting the gifts of heaven and earth!

This is a monster that can use the most primitive hammering to forcibly smash the energy of heaven and earth and the essence of thunder into ordinary iron to forge a famous sword!