Li Mingfu got lost several times while searching for the elder's residence.
Thousand Mechanism Peak was enormous, and many of the caves and villas looked similar.
After asking a few disciples for directions and wandering around for a while, he finally found the correct cave.
Li Mingfu knocked on the door.
A moment later, the door opened.
A tall, muscular man stood there with arms thicker than Li Mingfu's head.
The man looked down at him and grinned.
"I was expecting you."
"Come along."
Li Mingfu didn't even have the chance to introduce himself before the elder turned and walked inside.
He quickly followed.
As they walked, the elder wasted no time getting straight to the point.
"What kind of weapon do you want?"
"Any size preference? Ore type?"
Li Mingfu thought for a moment.
"I want two daggers and a belt to carry them."
"I practice Shadowless Daggers."
"The daggers must be at least middle-grade magical weapons."
The elder suddenly laughed loudly.
"Low-grade magical weapons are already perfect for someone at your cultivation level."
"Middle-grade magical weapons are normally used by late-stage Qi cultivators."
"High-grade magical weapons are for early Foundation Realm cultivators."
"Top-grade magical weapons are for Foundation Realm cultivators."
"Using middle-grade will dry up your Qi quickly."
Li Mingfu thought about what the forging elder just said and shrugged.
"I should be able to wield middle-grade weapons perfectly fine in a few years. Having them now to practice with doesn't hurt."
The elder stopped walking and turned around to look at him.
He stared at him seriously for one minute or so, then burst into laughter.
"Okay Brat!"
"They're your daggers anyway."
"So tell me—light or heavy? What element?"
Li Mingfu thought carefully and replied.
"My right dagger should be lighter than the left one, but not too light."
"I prefer both to be slightly heavier, so my body will grow stronger while using them."
"The right dagger will be my main attacking weapon. So make it sharper and a little longer."
"The left dagger will be for parrying. A little thicker, more dense, as it will mainly be used for defense."
"As for the element…"
He paused.
"If possible, Shadow Qi."
"If not, Ice Qi."
"And if that doesn't work, Water Qi."
The elder laughed even harder.
"You're asking for quite a lot!"
"It's going to be expensive."
Li Mingfu just smiled.
As they talked about his daggers, he realized the elder didn't lead him into the villa.
Instead, the elder led him around the back.
There stood a massive warehouse.
When they walked inside, Li Mingfu realized something immediately.
This wasn't just a warehouse.
It was the elder's personal workshop.
Weapons hung everywhere on the walls.
Several disciples were working at different forging stations, hammering glowing metal while sparks flew through the air.
The elder gave Li Mingfu a short tour and showed him several rare ores and materials.
Then he grabbed a piece of paper and started sketching dagger designs.
While drawing, he discussed different materials and structures.
Li Mingfu listened carefully and occasionally added his own suggestions.
After some time, the elder nodded.
"I'll have to use a few rare ores."
"You're lucky as a low-stage Qi cultivator to be able to get weapons like this."
Li Mingfu laughed.
"I'll bring honor to the sect."
"These daggers will drink the blood of my enemies!"
"And when people see your daggers, they'll learn to fear them."
The elder laughed again.
"It'll take about one month."
"Come back then."
Li Mingfu bowed.
"Thank you, Elder."
The elder crossed his arms.
"Any other questions?"
Li Mingfu nodded.
"Yes."
"Do you have books about forging? Or someone who can teach me?"
"I've always wanted to learn how to make weapons."
The elder looked him up and down for a moment.
Shook his head, walked into his office, and returned with several books.
"Basic forging manuals and basic array books."
"Memorize everything."
"After that, I'll test you."
"If you pass, I'll teach you how to forge weapons."
Li Mingfu's eyes lit up.
"Thank you, Elder!"
The elder nodded.
"Anything else?"
Li Mingfu thought carefully.
"Yes… one more thing."
"I need a hidden trump card. Something that will surprise my enemies."
The elder raised an eyebrow.
"What do you have in mind?"
Li Mingfu explained.
"I like to charge my Qi and throw it at people."
The forging elder was confused and said.
"Explain more about your idea."
"Well, during the new disciple competition, I stood there charging Qi into water. Creating a water ball and launching it at my opponent. I want something similar to that. I want a weapon or invention that will charge my Qi into something and shoot it at someone."
The elder went silent for a moment, then said.
"Like a Qi cannon."
Li Mingfu, confused now, asked.
"Qi cannon? Is it portable?"
"I want to run and shoot at the same time."
The elder said.
"Qi cannons are usually for sieges or attacking from afar. They are big and heavy. Qi cannon attacks are very strong, but the charge time for shooting takes too long. No cultivator would carry one around."
Li Mingfu thought about it and found a blank piece of paper.
He quickly drew a simple blueprint of a bazooka on the paper.
After being satisfied with his drawing, he began explaining it using knowledge from his previous life on Earth.
He broke the design into parts and explained the function of each section.
The elder at first didn't take it seriously, but as Li Mingfu kept talking. He became more and more interested.
The two of them spent hours discussing the idea.
Finally, the elder shook his head and stroked his beard.
"This looks dangerous, but it might work."
"Once I build it, I'll send someone to fetch you."
"We'll test and refine it together."
He waved his hand impatiently.
"Now run along."
Li Mingfu bowed.
"Thank you, Elder."
And he ran off again.
The elder continued staring at the bazooka design.
Soon, he ordered a disciple to bring him a Qi cannon and the Qi cannon blueprint.
When the Qi cannon and the blueprint arrived, he placed the bazooka and the Qi cannon blueprint side by side and compared them carefully.
After a few minutes, he laughed.
"Interesting…"
He decided to modify the Qi cannon first since he already understood its structure.
Soon, he became completely absorbed in his research.
In fact, he became so focused that he forgot to start forging Li Mingfu's daggers.
He even ran back to his villa to retrieve another Qi cannon before returning to his private forging room.
His private forging room was normally forbidden for anyone to enter without his permission.
The elder began dismantling the Qi cannon piece by piece, then he started to make new pieces.
He started to create a new Qi cannon from the bazooka blueprint.
The more he worked, the more amazed he became.
"This kid… He's a genius."
The Qi cannon started to take shape. It was smaller than a normal Qi Cannon but not portable like the bazooka blueprint.
After spending hours thinking about the problems of how to make a bazooka.
Finally, he stepped out of his forging room and shouted to one of his disciples.
"Hurry and go fetch the Peak Master!"
Meanwhile, Li Mingfu was walking back happily.
He had been so excited during the conversation that he completely forgot about dinner.
As he walked, he read the forging books.
The more he read, the more shocked he became.
There were countless different types of ores.
Different hammering techniques.
Different forging temperatures.
Some materials were incredibly rare.
Then he skimmed the array books.
It felt like taking a mathematics class all over again.
There were endless diagrams and symbols.
Each line and symbol had a specific meaning.
One tiny mistake could destroy the entire array.
Some arrays required extremely rare materials.
Fortunately, over the years, cultivators had discovered substitutes for many of them.
When Li Mingfu finally reached his cave, he sighed.
"I really wish I had a time capsule to freeze time or clones to help learn."
"Learning these basics would take a lot of time."
But the idea of building and holding onto a gun again.
Made him more excited and motivated.
He needed to master forging and arrays first.
Li Mingfu suddenly had another worrying thought.
"I hope when I visit Venomroot Peak later…"
"I don't have to learn herbs and alchemy, too."
"That would be a huge hassle."
When he entered the cave, he noticed something on the table.
His servants had left him a plate of snacks.
He nodded in approval as both of them were currently cultivating.
While eating his snacks, Li Mingfu realized something.
During his long discussion about the bazooka, he had completely forgotten to give Little Flower the sword technique.
"Oops."
He shrugged and went to his room to continue reading the forging books.
Eventually, he became and started to cultivate.
Once his meridians started to hurt, Li Mingfu switched back to reading, but he eventually fell asleep while holding a forging book.