The Weapon Foundry.
CLANG CLANG CLANG!
The sound of metal striking metal echoed daily from one end of the street to the other.
Inside the forges, roaring flames burned at nearly every moment.
Countless weapons—hundred-forged, several-hundred-forged, even thousand-tempered—were born in the meeting of fire and ice-cold water.
"Old Ke! Old Ke!"
An excited shout cut through the sounds of hammering as a burly, bare-chested man in his fifties, his body covered in knots of muscle, rushed into Ke Juzhen's forge as if his feet had wings.
"Old Ke, take a break! I've got some good news for you."
The burly man didn't stop talking as he entered, shouting excitedly, "Gu Zheng—Gu Ping'an—he's back! Holy cow, I mean, holy cow! That Gu Ping'an is incredible! Do you know what he just did?"
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG~
Without looking up, Ke Juzhen replied, "I don't."
"You'll never guess!"
