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

Zhou Lingxuan put down his teacup, looked up, and stared at the irritable Chen Baichuan.

"Conventional thinking is meant to be broken."

Zhou Lingxuan spoke in a calm tone.

"The blacksmith's rule is that no matter how fierce the fire, the hammer must always be obeyed."

Chen Baichuan froze, a breath caught in his chest, unable to come up or down, his face turning red.

"After you've finished speaking, go prepare the materials."

Zhou Lingxuan stood up and patted the wrinkles on the hem of his clothes.

"The old man will do his best to try; you just need to prepare the necessary items."

Chen Baichuan stared at Zhou Lingxuan's calm face, speechless for a long time.

This old man has gone mad.

He described a job that required risking his life as as easy as buying two pounds of cabbage at the market.

"Are you really sure?" Chen Baichuan asked through gritted teeth, his voice very low.

"No," Zhou Lingxuan answered decisively. "When it comes to blacksmithing, who can say they're 100% certain before the furnace is even opened?"

Chen Baichuan stared intently at Zhou Lingxuan, trying to find even the slightest trace of retreat on that wrinkled face.

We found nothing.

There is only one kind of pure dedication, the dedication that belongs to a blacksmith.

"it is good."

Chen Baichuan gritted his teeth and slammed his fist into his palm.

"I'll trust you this once. I'll deliver the things late tomorrow night. If you die in there, I, Chen Baichuan, will wear mourning clothes for you!"

Zhou Lingxuan nodded, turned around, opened the door to the secret room, and disappeared into the night.

Late the next night.

In the woods surrounding the abandoned hall, the night wind rustled through the leaves.

Chen Baichuan, dressed in a black robe, appeared silently in the shadows of the trees. He looked around to make sure no one was following him.

Zhou Lingxuan was already waiting there.

Chen Baichuan took out a heavy black iron box from his storage bag and handed it over.

The box was covered with sealing array patterns and emitted a chilling aura.

The surrounding weeds, touched by the cold air, instantly formed a layer of white frost.

"The blueprints are inside. There are also nine portions of top-grade Frost Marrow Iron, plus some auxiliary fire-resistant spiritual materials."

Chen Baichuan lowered his voice, his tone serious.

"These are my most treasured possessions. I brought them all out. To gather these Cold Marrow Iron, I even broke into the secret vault of the Weapon Hall."

Zhou Lingxuan took the box, weighed it in his hand, and found it to be very heavy.

"Remember this, only heaven, earth, you, and I know about it."

Chen Baichuan confirmed it again, looking tense.

"If word gets out, we're both doomed. Liu Quan is keeping an eye on me."

"Don't worry." Zhou Lingxuan put the box away. "Wait for my news tomorrow morning."

Chen Baichuan watched Zhou Lingxuan turn and leave, opened his mouth, and finally only managed to utter one sentence: "Get out alive."

Zhou Lingxuan didn't turn around, waved his hand, and strode back to the abandoned hall.

Back to the abandoned hall.

Zhou Lingxuan went directly to Old Sun's door and knocked on the door.

"Manager, what's wrong in the middle of the night?" Old Sun, still wearing his clothes and looking sleepy, opened the door.

Zhou Lingxuan threw the manager's token on the table, making a crisp sound.

"Pass on my message: everyone, immediately retreat to the outermost courtyard."

Zhou Lingxuan's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a strong tone.

"Without my order, no one is allowed to approach the back mountain. Anyone who disobeys will have their legs broken and be thrown out."

Old Sun was startled and instantly lost all sleepiness, quickly putting on his clothes.

"Manager, what... what are you doing? Is the subterranean fire going to explode again?" Old Sun's voice trembled.

"Don't ask. Just do as I say." Zhou Lingxuan said sternly.

Old Sun didn't dare to say anything more and quickly ran to knock on each door to call people.

In less than half an incense stick's time, all the dozens of servants in the abandoned hall were moved to the outermost courtyard.

They huddled inside, not daring to breathe, for fear of angering the newly appointed manager.

Lei Yang walked over carrying the Wind and Thunder Sword, his brows furrowed.

"Master Zhou, I'll stay and help."

Lei Yang looked at Zhou Lingxuan, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

"You can't help."

Zhou Lingxuan waved his hand and pointed to the front yard.

"Go and keep watch on the perimeter. Don't let anyone get close. No matter what noise you hear, don't come in."

Lei Yang wanted to say something, but seeing Zhou Lingxuan's expression, he could only swallow his words, picked up his sword and went to the front yard, standing ramrod straight at the door.

The area has been cleared.

The interior of the abandoned hall fell completely silent.

Zhou Lingxuan walked alone towards the small workshop near the earth fire vein.

This workshop is usually used to process the most dangerous waste. The surrounding walls are made of heat-insulating bluestone, which is more than three feet thick.

Pushing open the heavy iron gate, Zhou Lingxuan went inside and locked the door behind him.

He walked to the corner and activated all the isolation formations in the workshop.

A faint light curtain rose up, enveloping the entire workshop.

The sounds of the outside world completely disappeared, and the workshop was so quiet that only his own breathing could be heard.

Zhou Lingxuan walked to the stove in the center.

He placed the black iron box on the anvil beside him, broke the seal, and opened the lid.

Inside lay a yellowed parchment scroll and nine black iron ingots radiating a chilling aura.

Cold marrow iron.

This is a top-grade fire-resistant material; only this material can withstand the impact of raging underground fire.

Zhou Lingxuan picked up the parchment scroll and carefully examined the blueprints for the fire-fixing nails.

The array patterns are very complex and require extremely high standards.

Each array pattern needs to be precisely inscribed on the nail in order to guide the power of the earth fire.

But he doesn't need to worry about those array patterns.

All he needs to do is pour his anger into it, and leave the rest to the materials to blend on their own.

This is his intuition honed over a century of blacksmithing.

Zhou Lingxuan took off his gray cloth shirt and casually tossed it aside.

The centenarian's body was frighteningly strong at this moment.

His muscles were clearly defined, with a bronze sheen, and each muscle contained explosive power.

He walked behind the furnace, where there was a huge bronze turntable.

This is the valve that connects to the earth veins of Pit No. 3.

When dealing with waste, it is enough to open a small gap and let out a little bit of ground fire.

But not today.

The Fire-Fire Nail requires the purest and most violent ley line fire.

Zhou Lingxuan gripped the bronze turntable with both hands, took a deep breath, and his chest bulged high.

The true qi at the peak of the sixth level of Qi Refining circulated wildly within his body, surging into the rotating disc through his arms.

"open!"

Zhou Lingxuan let out a low shout and suddenly exerted force with both arms, his muscles bulging high.

"Creak—"

The bronze turntable, silent for who knows how many years, emitted a piercing grinding sound as it was twisted violently.

The valve was opened wide.

"boom!"

A deafening roar erupted beneath the workshop, causing the entire ground to tremble violently.

The extremely violent dark red fire, accompanied by a roar that tore through the air, rushed directly into the furnace.

A pillar of fire shot into the sky, slammed into the top of the workshop, and then spread outwards.

Inside the enclosed workshop, the temperature instantly soared to an extremely terrifying level.

The thick bluestone walls all around began to glow with an eerie red light in just a few breaths, and even showed signs of melting on their surface, with drops of molten stone sliding down the walls.

The air was distorted by the high temperature, making visibility blurry.

Zhou Lingxuan stood in front of the stove, bearing the brunt of the heat.

A terrifying heatwave swept over me, making even breathing difficult. The air I inhaled was scalding hot, stinging my trachea.

The sweat had just seeped out of the pores and hadn't even had a chance to slide off before it was directly evaporated into white mist by the terrifying heat.

Zhou Lingxuan's skin was roasted red, but he didn't even flinch.

Deep within his consciousness, the small purple jade hammer began to tremble slightly, seemingly developing a strong craving for the raging earth fire.

He picked up a pair of iron tongs, clamped a piece of cold marrow iron, and threw it directly into the roaring dark red earth fire.

The cold air on the surface of the Frost Marrow Iron evaporated instantly, making a hissing sound, and the iron block began to turn red at a visible speed.

Zhou Lingxuan turned around and picked up the heaviest iron hammer from the tool rack.