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Qing Xuanling smiled and swiftly followed Elder Gao to the center of the forge. Upon the anvil rested three steel ingots gleaming intensely.
Elder Gao smiled. "These are three high-grade alloys—nearly supreme-grade—each formed from three high-grade metals. And undoubtedly, in terms of quality and compatibility, they're the finest the clan can provide to combine with your Five Elements Ingot."
She regarded the ingots curiously and awaited Elder Gao's instructions. The old man smiled satisfactorily at her attentiveness and promptly handed her the "softer"-appearing ingot along with a pair of tongs.
"Hold it steady while I slice it into thin sheets." Elder Gao retrieved a remarkably sharp knife from his spatial ring. "This friend will serve as the glue that perfectly fuses the Five Elements Ingot with the other two alloys."
Qing Xuanling nodded seriously and swiftly grasped the ingot with the tongs, placing it upon the anvil. Elder Gao nodded and infused Qi into the knife—causing its blade to glow faintly red.
Elder Gao allowed the knife to heat for a few more seconds before finally bringing it to the ingot. He calculated the sheet size—three centimeters—and brought the blade down.
Surprisingly, the "soft" ingot sliced with extreme ease!
It should be noted that calling it "soft" was only relative—the ingot was still fundamentally metal!
The knife's sharpness and heat must have been extraordinary.
Elder Gao's eyes narrowed as he sliced several sheets. Upon finishing, he took a deep breath—the Qi required to wield the knife was substantial.
"Make a sort of sandwich with the ingots. The Five Elements Ingot in the center, the sheets I just made surrounding it, and the other two ingots as the 'bread.' Place it in the mold on the floor when you're done. Quickly."
Elder Gao issued this order while approaching his smelting furnace and igniting it with Qi—leaving the furnace lid closed for now.
Qing Xuanling glanced sideways at him while carrying out his instructions. It was simple work. She retrieved the mold Elder Gao had mentioned, assembled the ingot sandwich, and approached Elder Gao.
He nodded and opened the furnace lid. "Toss it in."
"…Huh?" Qing Xuanling tilted her head slightly in confusion.
"Toss it in, brat! Do as you're told!" Elder Gao clicked his tongue while raising a hand—ready to flick Qing Xuanling's forehead.
She swallowed hard and hastily tossed the mold with the ingot sandwich inside. She immediately retreated the moment it landed. Fortunately, Elder Gao didn't chase her.
She sighed in relief—and after waiting a moment—asked, "Elder Gao—is it alright to leave the ingots unattended inside the furnace? Couldn't that cause the alloys to merge into a useless combination?"
"The furnace's current heat isn't strong enough to melt the Five Elements Ingot or the other alloys to that extent." Elder Gao shook his head. "At most, it'll melt the sheets—which will act as glue to integrate the three ingots within the mold."
Qing Xuanling nodded in understanding. Artifact refining was far more interesting than she'd imagined.
They left the mold inside the furnace for half hour before Elder Gao ordered her to retrieve it.
She nodded and grasped a pair of tongs—using them to pull out the mold. She placed the hot mold upon the anvil.
"Hehe—let's see what beauty emerged this time…" Elder Gao drooled slightly as he removed the mold's lid using super-thick gloves.
Inside the mold lay a single silvery ingot faintly shimmering with five colors.
Qing Xuanling's eyes widened in disbelief. "The ingots fused together so perfectly?!"
She could scarcely believe her eyes as Elder Gao extracted the ingot—revealing a silvery steel rectangle emitting a faint five-colored glow. It was a perfect fusion between the Five Elements Ingot and the two alloys Elder Gao had prepared.
"Hehe—the 'glue' metal I used isn't so simple, brat." Elder Gao shook his head while caressing the new ingot. "It's an alloy created by a saint among refiners thousands of years ago. When properly applied, it can near-perfectly fuse hundreds metal types."
Qing Xuanling's eyes widened further. It was the first time she'd heard of such a thing!
Though upon reflection—since a saint had created it—it didn't seem so strange. After all, saints of a craft were individuals who had reached the pinnacle of their art—transcending limits and revolutionizing their field entirely.
The creator of the Clear Flame had also been a saint—an alchemy saint. And though the Clear Flame seemed more like a failed experiment, it held great utility in body cultivation. That alone should demonstrate how incredible saints were.
She sighed in admiration. "So the only thing left now is shaping this ingot into a sword?"
Elder Gao rolled his eyes. "Do you think refining is so simple? True—we've saved several steps thanks to that saint's 'glue'—but we still need to refine the metal and carve the weapon patterns."
"Weapon patterns?"
Elder Gao sighed. "The things that grant artifacts special abilities. You can think of them as formations or arrays for weapons."
Qing Xuanling nodded in comprehension—listening intently as Elder Gao explained the art of refining.
Refining was undoubtedly a delicate and exhausting craft. Qing Xuanling realized this anew while listening to Elder Gao's explanation.
Elder Gao smiled upon seeing the newfound respect in Qing Xuanling's eyes as she looked at him—and sent her to fetch the tongs again.
"I'll begin the hammering process—but as you can see, I only have one arm. So you'll hold the ingot steady with the tongs while I strike." Elder Gao regarded her seriously. "I know you're strong—but you must keep the ingot as still as possible, understood?"
She took a deep breath and nodded. She grasped the ingot with the tongs, heated it in the smelting furnace per Elder Gao's instructions, and swiftly returned it to the anvil.
After brief explanations, Elder Gao began hammering forcefully.
He raised his arm—veins bulging—and brought it down with tremendous force!
Bang!
Elder Gao's arm was pushed backward by the rebound force—but he used the recoil to raise his arm again and bring it down harder this time!
Qing Xuanling frowned as she felt her arms tremble despite merely holding the ingot with tongs. The vibrations traveling up her arms were potent.
She gritted her teeth and persisted—keeping the ingot perfectly still.
Elder Gao saw this and smiled. He suddenly began explaining.
"What I'm doing now is compressing the metal to its most compact form—eliminating voids within its structure and removing various impurities! Simultaneously—I'm using my forging technique to engrave weapon patterns into the ingot's core!"
Sweat dripped down Elder Gao's aged, wrinkled face—but a profound smile graced his lips! He felt most alive when forging!
Elder Gao asked Qing Xuanling multiple times to flip the ingot or reheat it in the smelting furnace—at least fifty times.
Qing Xuanling's jaw dropped at this.
It should be emphasized that in each hammering session, Elder Gao struck the ingot at least a hundred times with full force! So in the past hour alone, Elder Gao had hammered the ingot five thousand times!
She was breathless after calculating this. She looked at the old man's red, veined arms and his haggard yet radiant face—and couldn't help but swallow hard.
He burst into laughter upon seeing this. "Scared?! This is a refiner's daily life—and we're only halfway through the process! Now you should understand why apprentices take years to become first-level refiners!"
He swallowed a healing pill from his spatial ring while proudly chattering about his craft—but his eyes never left the ingot, now reduced to less than half its original size.
Yet now—the ingot shimmered intensely with a five-colored glow.
Qing Xuanling waited for Elder Gao's chatter to end before asking with bright eyes, "What's next? You said you've already formed a complete weapon pattern in the ingot's core—so shouldn't it be time to shape it into a sword now?"
Elder Gao smiled wryly at the girl's excitement. "Can't you give this old man some rest?! I'm excited too—but I'm not young anymore! This old body might break apart, you know?!"
Qing Xuanling stuck out her tongue at this. "Hehe—yeah, I suppose I got too excited…"
Both rested for an hour.
Though she hadn't realized it—she was quite exhausted too—from the effort she'd just exerted and her first day at the university.
They didn't speak at all during their rest—instead sitting cross-legged to recover their strength as quickly as possible.
When an hour passed, Elder Gao stood up.
"Let's begin." His voice rang like a bell—immediately rousing Qing Xuanling from her meditation.
Qing Xuanling nodded and swiftly grasped the ingot with the tongs without being prompted this time. Elder Gao nodded and heated the smelting furnace for a full ten minutes.
When he opened the lid—the heat was so intense even Qing Xuanling had to squint. But her eyes remained steady as she placed the ingot deep within the furnace.
Ten minutes later—the ingot glowed bright red.
"Pull it out!" Elder Gao roared while gripping his hammer tightly. The hammer was surprisingly small—though its head was the size of a human head. "This is the most crucial part of forging an artifact—so if you're interested—pay close attention!"
Qing Xuanling nodded firmly and watched Elder Gao's actions intently.
The old man took a deep breath while rapidly circulating Qi within himself following the steps of his refining technique. He lowered the hammer each time he exhaled.
Bang!
The ingot trembled violently—elongating under Elder Gao's force. But he wasn't satisfied with that alone—he continued hammering the ingot relentlessly.
Under Qing Xuanling's astonished gaze, the ingot began forming an elongated shape—with hundreds of lines appearing on the blade's surface, seemingly following a pattern or form.
But she couldn't discern what complete pattern or form these lines formed—it was as if they were incomplete. No matter how she thought about it, she couldn't find a reason behind it. But she didn't dare ask during such a critical moment.
Elder Gao continued hammering the ingot for half an hour—until he achieved a blade of sword. But his work wasn't finished.
"Dip the blade in the water beside you!" Elder Gao suddenly shouted after striking the forming blade. "Then reheat it in the furnace and bring it back for more hammering!"
Qing Xuanling nodded and swiftly followed instructions. Waves of steam crashed against her face as she submerged the blade—making her eyes water. She endured the discomfort and quickly reheated the blade.
When she brought it to Elder Gao—he hammered it for several more minutes before asking her to repeat the process again.
This repeated five times.
Each time, the lines on the blade's surface increased in number—forming a visible pattern filled with mystical charm.
But something strange occurred when she submerged and reheated the blade for the sixth time. Elder Gao's eyes were brighter and more solemn than before as he raised his hammer as high as possible.
He smiled at her—his voice deep and gravelly from physical exertion—reaching her ears.
"This will be the culmination of all our work. Pay attention."
An intense red glow suddenly enveloped his hammer. It didn't shine brilliantly nor possess a mystical appearance—but for some reason, it immediately captured Qing Xuanling's attention.
The hammer descended again—leaving a red trail in its wake.
Bang!
When Qing Xuanling looked back at the blade—she was stunned. The lines forming the mystical pattern had vanished by one-fifth!
Before she could ponder further—the hammer fell again.
Bang!
Less than half the original lines remained after this strike.
Bang!
Now—only a few scattered lines remained on the blade's body.
The hammer descended again. Qing Xuanling watched the scene in shock. When the hammer struck the blade—now fully shaped like a sword blade—a blinding radiance enveloped Qing Xuanling's vision!
Bang!
She unconsciously released the tongs and stumbled backward several steps. She blinked repeatedly—trying to regain her sight.
Elder Gao didn't scold her for this. Instead, he grasped the newly forged blade from the anvil with his sole hand. He offered it to Qing Xuanling with a smile.
"The hilt and edge sharpening still remain—but at this point, it can be said your sword's blade is complete."
Qing Xuanling gazed dazedly at the blade through squinted eyes—still somewhat blinded. But strangely, the blade's elegant, simple form with its unique five-colored glow was clearly visible to her.
Her lips moved unconsciously.
"…I want to learn this."