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

Feeling the terrifying power surging within him, almost overflowing, Zhou Lingxuan clenched his fist.

The essence of this centenarian body underwent a complete transformation overnight!

He now has enough resources to withstand the raging energy of heaven and earth. With this foundation of thunder and fire, he can forge even higher-level swords of heaven and earth in the future.

Zhou Lingxuan slowly exhaled a breath of scorching, foul air!

The heat even caused the air to distort slightly as the breath was exhaled into the air.

He picked up the gray cloth shirt next to him and casually draped it over his body, covering his terrifying muscles and the strange phenomena of thunder and fire!

He tucked all nine dark red fire nails, which emanated terrifying energy, from the anvil into his wide sleeve with a wave of his hand.

Turn around and walk towards the tightly closed, heavy iron door!

With a creak.

The iron gate was suddenly pulled open.

Outside, it was already broad daylight!

Chen Baichuan, with dark circles under his eyes, was anxiously wringing his hands at the door. He stared intently at Zhou Lingxuan as he walked out, and when the iron gate opened, he suddenly looked up.

"Old Zhou, nails..."

Even his breathing stopped, and Chen Baichuan's voice was dry.

He simply raised his right hand, pulled a dark red iron nail from his sleeve, and casually tossed it over without saying a word.

"Take this and hand it in."

Chen Baichuan hurriedly caught the dark red iron nail.

The moment he touched it, the terrifyingly high temperature made him shudder violently, almost causing him to drop the nail.

He quickly activated his Golden Core stage true essence to envelop his palm, and only then could he barely grasp it.

Looking down, Chen Baichuan froze on the spot.

The nail body, crafted from the finest cold marrow iron, has no array patterns on its surface, yet it perfectly locks the raging earth vein fire energy inside, appearing as if it were made from nature itself.

Chen Baichuan suddenly raised his head and looked at Zhou Lingxuan.

The old man was shirtless, his body covered in dark red scabs, a truly pitiful sight.

Chen Baichuan's heart tightened, and he quickly took two steps forward and grabbed Zhou Lingxuan's wrist.

True essence probes in.

The next second, Chen Baichuan's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

There were no broken meridians, and no fire poison attacking the heart.

The old man's body was brimming with energy and blood, like an ancient ferocious beast. Even his cultivation level had been significantly boosted, directly reaching the ninth level of Qi Refining!

"You old monster..." Chen Baichuan swallowed hard, his voice trembling, "How did you do that?"

Zhou Lingxuan withdrew his hand and casually wrapped his gray cloth shirt tightly around himself.

"They were forged in blacksmithing," Zhou Lingxuan said calmly. "The remaining eight are on the anvil. Go get them yourself. And once you're done, get out of here and don't disturb this old man's sleep."

Chen Baichuan took a deep breath, rushed into the workshop, and carefully put the remaining eight fire-fixing nails into his storage bag.

Time is of the essence. The Fifth Elder and the others are discussing the last resort of forcibly sealing off the earth's veins. If they are too late, once those guys make their move, the ruined hall will truly be lost.

"Old Zhou, I can't thank you enough." Chen Baichuan stood at the door, solemnly cupped his hands, and said, "I owe you my life for this."

Zhou Lingxuan waved his hand and turned to walk towards his own courtyard.

Half an incense stick later.

The main peak of Tianjian Pavilion, the sect's main hall.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

The dull drumbeats pierced the sky, causing the birds on the main peak to scatter and flee.

The rallying drum must not be sounded except in times of life-or-death crisis for the sect.

As soon as the drumbeats ended, five powerful Nascent Soul auras surged into the sky from different directions, heading straight for the main hall.

Inside the main hall, Chen Baichuan stood in the center with his hands behind his back.

"Shuashuashua——"

Several long rainbows landed, revealing the figures of five elders.

The Third Elder, Liu Quan, was at the forefront, his purple robe billowing, his face so gloomy it seemed to drip water.

"Chen Baichuan! Have you gone mad?!"

Liu Quan pointed at Chen Baichuan's nose and started cursing.

"The subterranean fire is raging! We're preparing to join forces to forcibly seal the ley lines. What are you doing, beating the rallying drum? If you delay the time and the outer gate is destroyed, can you take responsibility for that?!"

The Fourth Elder, a chubby man with a red face, was on good terms with Chen Baichuan. Even he was alarmed: "Old Chen, what are you doing? The Sect Master isn't here; you can't just bang this drum!"

The Fifth Elder, Sixth Elder, and Seventh Elder all frowned, their faces full of displeasure.

Chen Baichuan looked at the furious Liu Quan and sneered inwardly.

Without saying a word, he simply patted the storage bag.

Clang!

Nine dark red iron nails slammed heavily onto the bluestone floor tiles of the main hall.

A crisp metallic clang echoed through the hall. A surge of extremely pure and violent fire elemental energy instantly spread outwards.

The air temperature inside the main hall suddenly rose.

The cursing stopped abruptly.

The gazes of the five Nascent Soul elders were fixed on the nine iron nails, unable to look away even for a moment.

The Fifth Elder reacted the fastest, rushing forward and crouching down, staring intently at the Fire-Stabilizing Nail on the ground.

He reached out his hand, sensing the vibrations emanating from the nail from a distance.

"Top-grade Cold Marrow Iron..." The Fifth Elder's voice trembled, "The fire energy is contained within, perfectly integrated... without any array patterns? How is this possible!"

The Fourth Elder also came over, gasping in astonishment: "This fire... it's the earth vein fire from Pit No. 3! Perfectly sealed! Old Chen, you really forged the Fire-Stabilizing Nail?!"

Chen Baichuan slightly raised his chin, feigning nonchalance: "Just lucky. It took some effort, but at least I didn't waste these good pieces of iron."

The Fourth Elder excitedly grabbed Chen Baichuan's shoulder and shook him twice: "Old Chen! You've broken through? After three hundred years, our Heavenly Sword Pavilion is about to produce another Nascent Soul stage Grandmaster of weapon crafting?!"

Upon hearing this, the Sixth Elder and the Seventh Elder gathered around, their faces beaming with joy as they offered their congratulations.

Only Liu Quan stood there, his face alternating between pale and flushed.

He stared intently at the fire-fixing nail on the ground, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

He had previously vowed that Chen Baichuan would never be able to refine it, and even threatened to eat a grand master's chair.

Now, those nine nails felt like nine resounding slaps to his old face.

Chen Baichuan glanced at Liu Quan and slowly said, "With these nine nails, the fire problem should be solved, right? We don't necessarily need to seal off the abandoned hall again, do we?"

The Fifth Elder nodded repeatedly and carefully put away the nine nails.

"Amazing! Absolutely amazing!" The Fifth Elder's face was beaming. "With this, if we all join forces, we can divert the fire to pits one and two, and the crisis will be averted!"

The Fifth Elder stood up and patted Chen Baichuan on the shoulder: "Elder Chen, you have made a tremendous contribution this time! If we had forcibly sealed it off according to Elder Liu's method, the abandoned hall and most of the outer sect would have been destroyed."

"The death of a few handymen is a small matter, but those weapon-refining furnaces, alchemy rooms, and the outer sect's spirit fields are all the foundation of the sect. If they are destroyed, how many spirit stones would be needed to rebuild them? The sect's operations would be paralyzed by half!"

The Fourth Elder chimed in, "Exactly! Those menial servants may seem insignificant, but without them doing the hard work, are we inner disciples supposed to carry manure and tend the boiler ourselves?"

Liu Quan's face turned green upon hearing these words.

He snorted coldly and flicked his sleeve: "Now that the item is refined, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and set up the formation!"

The Fifth Elder didn't care about Liu Quan's attitude, after all, suppressing the subterranean fire was the most important thing.

"Let's go! To the abandoned hall!"

The next morning.

Behind the abandoned hall, at Pit No. 3.

The towering flames continued to rage, and the violent roar was deafening.

Five Nascent Soul elders stood in mid-air, positioned at five different locations within the fire pit.

Although Liu Quan and Chen Baichuan were at odds, he dared not be negligent in the slightest when it came to such a matter concerning the survival of the sect.

The five people simultaneously performed hand seals.

"rise!"

The Fifth Elder shouted, and the nine Fire-Stabilizing Nails transformed into nine dark red streaks of light, hovering above the fire pit.

"fall!"

As the five people unleashed their true energy simultaneously, the nine fire-fixing nails, accompanied by the sound of air being pierced, precisely pierced into the nine earth vein nodes surrounding the fire pit.

"Boom—"

The earth trembled violently.

The originally raging and chaotic ground fire, like a wild horse with reins on, began to divert towards pits one and two, guided by the fire-fixing nails.

The pillar of fire visibly shortened.

The pungent smell of sulfur gradually dissipated.

It took half a day.

As the sun rose high in the sky, the flames in Pit 3 finally went out completely, leaving only dark red lava flowing slowly at the bottom of the pit, no longer displaying the violent momentum that had threatened to erupt.

The five Nascent Soul elders fell back to the ground from mid-air, each covered in sweat, their true essence greatly depleted.

The Fifth Elder, without taking a break, immediately took out a compass-shaped magical artifact and carefully surveyed the area around Pit No. 3.

A moment later, the Fifth Elder put away his magical artifact, let out a long sigh of relief, and his face was filled with ecstatic joy.

"How strange! How truly strange!" The Fifth Elder strode back to the crowd, slapping his thigh excitedly.

"This ley line is now as stable as a rock! Those nine fire-stabilizing nails not only diverted the fire energy, but also firmly anchored the nodes of the entire ley line!"

The Fifth Elder surveyed the crowd, his voice booming, "I guarantee that unless someone uses hundreds of Explosive Flame Talismans to blast a hole through the bottom of this pit, even if a powerful being undergoes tribulation by lightning at the edge of this pit, the earth fire won't even make a ripple!"

The Fourth Elder burst into laughter and slapped Chen Baichuan on the back: "Old Chen, did you hear that? Your skills are absolutely amazing!"

Chen Baichuan coughed twice, forcibly suppressing the upturned corners of his lips, and put on a humble appearance.

The Fifth Elder turned around, his expression turned serious, and he cupped his hands in greeting to Chen Baichuan.

"Elder Chen, you deserve the greatest credit for this!"

The Fifth Elder raised his voice a few decibels to make sure that all the inner sect deacons who were peeking around could hear him.

"I propose that the sect hold a grand ceremony in three days!"

"Firstly, to announce to the entire clan that the crisis of the subterranean fire has been completely resolved, thus reassuring the people."

"Secondly, it's also to congratulate Elder Chen on his remarkable improvement in skill! With the ability to refine such a divine artifact, Elder Chen's advancement to the Nascent Soul stage is just around the corner!"