The warm current inside Lin Fei's body gradually faded, and he slowly opened his eyes.
Across from him, Li Chen was already coming out of meditation as well. The two exchanged a smile before getting out of bed and washing up.
During this period, they had both developed the habit of waking at the Hour of the Hare each morning to cultivate the Evergreen Art. Their internal progress could be seen in their calm expressions and steady breathing—their energy restrained yet full.
Li Chen finished washing first and began getting dressed.
"Xiao Fei, you're really not coming to the beast stables with me today?"
"No," Lin Fei replied as he tightened his belt. "There's a place I haven't visited yet. I want to take a look today."
"Alright then. See you tonight."
With that, Li Chen stepped out the door.
This week, Lin Fei had been assigned to work as a helper at the Forging Workshop.
The workshop sat on its own hill north of the mountaintop academy. From the dormitory area, walking along the ridge road for about half an incense stick's time revealed a cluster of scattered stone buildings. Several large structures had chimneys sending thin blue smoke into the sky.
There was only a single road leading in and out. At the entrance, several packhorses and wagons waited patiently.
As Lin Fei approached, the sound of metal striking metal rang from within the buildings—clang, clang, clang—mixed with the acrid scent of smelting ore and the cold metallic smell of forged steel.
"Lin Fei!"
A voice called from behind.
Lin Fei turned and saw Liu Jinfá jogging toward him.
"Brother! Great, you're here today too!" Liu Jinfá panted as he ran up.
Lin Fei smiled. "Yeah. I've never been here before—thought I should see it."
"Then you came to the right place!" Liu Jinfá grabbed his arm excitedly. "Come on, I'll show you around. I know this place well!"
They entered a stone building surrounded by high walls.
Inside, it was bustling with activity. Smoke rose constantly from the roof chimneys. In the open courtyard stood a towering smelting furnace with blazing flames. A bare-chested middle-aged craftsman was feeding materials into the fire.
"That's Master Zhong," Liu Jinfá explained quietly. "He handles most of the ore smelting and artifact forging."
Lin Fei nodded as he looked around curiously.
"New arrivals, come register!"
A muscular senior student wearing a sleeveless vest called out from the courtyard.
Liu Jinfá quickly pulled Lin Fei over.
The senior looked at him. "New?"
"Yes. First-year student—Lin Fei."
"Register your name and wait over there."
After signing in, Lin Fei followed Liu Jinfá to a side room.
"That's Senior Brother Liu," Liu Jinfá whispered. "Fourth year. We usually follow his instructions here."
About a dozen freshmen were already waiting.
Standing quietly in the corner was a thin young man wearing coarse clothes—Zhou Ping.
He noticed Lin Fei as well.
Just as Lin Fei was about to greet him, an elderly man with white hair stepped out from the inner courtyard.
The old man was slender, his beard and hair silver-white, but his eyes were sharp and bright.
Liu Jinfá lowered his voice.
"That's Elder Mo. I heard he came from the Divine Martial Kingdom."
Lin Fei was slightly surprised.
The Divine Martial Kingdom—his uncle Wan Li had once mentioned it. A western nation famous for crafting powerful artifacts.
So this Elder Mo must be a master craftsman.
Elder Mo walked to the forging platform beside the furnace.
Master Zhong and Senior Brother Liu immediately stopped working and bowed respectfully. The students followed suit.
Elder Mo unfolded a scroll blueprint on the forging table.
It depicted a jade dagger.
"Hongyi," Elder Mo said calmly to Master Zhong. "Today we have an important commission."
"This jade blade is being crafted for the Lin Master Association. Complete the forging today, and let the students assist."
Master Zhong examined the blueprint while resting his hands on a large iron hammer.
"This appears to be a Level Five artifact, Elder. Are there any special requirements?"
The students gathered around, eyes full of curiosity.
Elder Mo pointed at the design.
"The blade core will be made from Azure Jade. Purple-gold will be used to engrave Wind Art runes, and a Wind Spirit Stone will be embedded in the hilt as the energy core. This artifact is designed to enhance the speed and power of Wind Arts."
He tapped the blueprint.
"The key steps are: forging the blade core, carving the runes, and embedding the spirit stone."
Lin Fei understood only part of it.
When Elder Mo finished explaining, he turned and left.
"Begin at once. The blade core and spirit stone should be finished before evening. I will handle the rune engraving personally."
Master Zhong nodded and took a block of Azure Jade from a nearby shelf.
The jade glowed faintly with a soft cyan sheen—clearly a precious material.
"Listen up, freshmen," Master Zhong said.
"Your job today is to sort ores, tend the furnace, fetch water, and transport materials. Do not touch the forging table."
He turned to Senior Brother Liu.
"Liu Jian, assign them."
"Yes, Master."
Senior Brother Liu began giving orders.
"You three—move this week's finished artifacts to the wagons outside."
"You—fetch five buckets of water from the back and bring them here."
Then he pointed at Lin Fei, Liu Jinfá, and Zhou Ping.
"You three—go to the materials room and bring back two portions of slag, one portion each of copper ore and iron ore, and half a portion of cold iron. After that, help me tend the furnace."
The three walked toward the eastern room.
"Do you two recognize those materials?" Lin Fei asked.
Zhou Ping glanced at him and nodded.
Behind him, Liu Jinfá gave Zhou Ping a thumbs-up.
Inside the room were rows of bamboo baskets filled with different ores.
Zhou Ping pointed them out one by one.
"This is slag. That's iron ore. Copper ore there. And the dark blue ones are cold iron."
"Let's sort them into empty baskets first."
Lin Fei looked surprised.
"You recognize all of these?"
"Yes."
Zhou Ping gave no further explanation and began selecting cold iron pieces.
Lin Fei and Liu Jinfá started working beside the slag and metal ores.
Liu Jinfá leaned closer and whispered,
"Zhou Ping comes here every week. He's basically an expert already. He's memorized almost every ore and gemstone."
Lin Fei nodded, feeling even more impressed.
They carried the sorted materials to the furnace.
Senior Brother Liu inspected them and nodded approvingly.
"Correct."
Then he turned to Zhou Ping.
"Zhou Ping, climb up and load the furnace. Order is cold iron, slag, iron, slag, copper. Half portions first."
"I'll start the fire."
Zhou Ping silently grabbed a basket and climbed up the ladder beside the furnace.
Senior Brother Liu then pointed at Lin Fei and Liu Jinfá.
"You two—work the bellows."
Soon the furnace roared to life.
Heat waves blasted outward.
Senior Brother Liu crouched beside the furnace, using a metal hook to adjust the burning coals.
"More airflow! Good—keep it steady."
"Zhou Ping, add the materials!"
After more than an hour of work, Lin Fei sat down on the stone steps outside the forging room, drenched in sweat.
Liu Jinfá joined him and handed him a water pouch.
"Brother, tired? Drink some water."
Then he pulled out a box of pastries from his treasure pouch.
Lin Fei took a big gulp of water and waved away the sweets.
"The smoke ruined my appetite."
He glanced inside the workshop.
"Fatty… do you and Zhou Ping come here every week?"
"Yeah," Liu Jinfá nodded.
Lin Fei watched Zhou Ping's back inside the room.
He felt curious.
That day in the forest, Zhou Ping had casually taken out a jade mirror artifact—clearly something valuable.
Someone like that… still came here to learn forging?
Lin Fei turned back.
"Are you interested in forging artifacts?"
Liu Jinfá looked around and lowered his voice.
"Artifacts and talisman tools are expensive. If I learn forging, I could make money later."
"Crafting artifacts… repairing talisman tools… that's serious money!"
Lin Fei chuckled.
"You're thinking far ahead."
"Of course!" Liu Jinfá puffed out his chest proudly.
"My father always says—skills never burden a man. My Lin Arts talent isn't great, so I might as well learn a trade."
Lin Fei looked back inside.
Master Zhong stood at the forging platform, hammering the freshly smelted metal with intense focus.
Nearby, Zhou Ping had already finished his assigned work.
Yet he still stood quietly beside the forging table, watching every movement.
Even during the midday break, he didn't leave.
Lin Fei couldn't help wondering—
Why was Zhou Ping so obsessed with watching the forging process, as if he couldn't bear to miss a single moment?