Little Zhiyuan

Ye Zhiyuan gasped quite audibly, unable to contain the rising feeling of shock. Before her eyes, an anvil large enough to prop up the heavens could be seen. It was like a steel mountain that lorded over a stretch of sandy terrain, and a great heat arose from its faces. It seemed to sparkle, almost, as the sun's rays bore down on it without restraint.

In the light, the copper grains of sand twinkling like precious elements on the floor, giving great emphasis to their makeup. They were a unique and magical type of sand, made of a sacred metal.

Standing tall all about the area were enormous trees made up of nothing but pure copper. Though they were made of metal, these trees swayed in the gentle breeze and sprouted copper leaves and branches; it was as if they were naught but regular trees.

At first, the space around Ye Zhiyuan was still and calm, but she suddenly heard a stomping noise that sounding more like the distant eruption of a super volcano. Before she could even turn around, deafeningly loud hissing filled her already aching ears. It was the sound of a giant sword, still hot form the forge, being submerged in a wooden tub the size of a natural lake.

When Ye Zhiyuan looked behind her, she saw a bareback elder with extravagant grey hairs and a youthful figure. He was clearly old and wrinkled, but his body was glistening with sweat, bulging with muscles and performing tasks with energy and efficiency.

He took the sword-shaped metal out of the icy water and brought it back to the anvil, his every step a stomp that shook the ground. Ye Zhiyuan unsteadily bounced around as he walked, unable to keep her footing. He did not notice her, and instead placed the tip of the sword on the anvil. While he inspected the base of the blade, his brown eyes wandered a bit and he spotted her looking at him from afar.

"A visitor?"

The giant elder suddenly grew panicked. He looked around, desperately searching for something, then remembering that he had it on his person. Attached to his belt was a stone hammer, which he hurriedly took in hand.

With his mighty arm raised, he brought the hammer down onto the blade at the midpoint, decimating the blade and destroying what he had been working on. Seeing such a thing, Ye Zhiyuan gasped and silently wondered why.

"Welcome to the Copper Forest! I am Hadur, and that was most assuredly not an iron sword. Pft! Iron? Who even uses that?"

While saying this, he tossed aside the broken pieces of iron onto the floor, even sweeping off the bits of the blade that remained on the anvil. Even the tiniest shard of that broken blade was much larger than Ye Zhiyuan's entire body, so it was obvious to her that he had, indeed, been working with iron. She could still see the fragments on the floor, for crying out loud.

Yet, this elder lied with a straight face as if all the evidence had been destroyed.

Ye Zhiyuan blinked a bit, confused, then cleared her throat and shouted, "Hello, Hadur! I am Ye Zhiyuan!"

Hearing her words, the old man chortled as he reattached his hammer to the belt. Bending over, he placed his hands on his knees and smiled at her with eyes narrowed into slits. The brushy brows above them dripped with sweat, the salt of which was sure to enter his eyes; he did not seem bothered by it.

"Yes, Little One! That is right. I am Hadur, no need for 'Lord' this and 'Sir' that! Hoho!"

From there, he stepped by the anvil and came ever closer to her. Though she was little more than an ant to him, the giant elder seemed incredibly pleased by the way Ye Zhiyuan had addressed him. His mood even seemed lifted after it. Forgetting all about his work, he crouched as low as possible and extended his index finger toward her.

"Pleased to meet you, Little Zhiyuan. What brings you to the Copper Forest?"

Ye Zhiyuan placed her hand on his rough fingertip, and they exchanged a 'handshake.' She started to explain her reasons for coming, and Hadur's eyes widened. The light hit his brown eyes in a way that made them appear dazzled, and he almost fell over on his backside. This was before she even mentioned who her master was, but not before she told him that she was seeking her own Dao, and her spirit led her to him.

Hadur cut her off before she could tell him of her master, instead saying, "So you are dao-seeking. Incredible! A young one such as yourself, seeking the discovery of her own dao... It's enough to make this old fart cry- ah! I am crying!"

Hadur gripped his knees tightly, and Ye Zhiyuan's ears twitched; she could have sworn that his knees were making a creaking noise just then.

Hadur ended up sitting down on the floor, and he picked Ye Zhiyuan up in his hand. Standing on it, it was as if she was standing upon the stage during the talent showcase. She could not help thinking back to her performance, and biting her lower lip.

"So, Little Zhiyuan, tell me. How can I help you discover your dao. Whatever reason it is that karma has brought us together, I will fulfill it to the fullest extent of my cabilities! Oh, Empress! What a blessing, this is!"

Hadur wept some more after that, and Ye Zhiyuan squatted so she could gently pat his palm. The tiny gesture was barely noticed by Hadur, who finally calmed down so he could hear what she had to say.

"Well, um..." She stood straight and cleared her throat, taking several seconds to center herself. Without the slightest trace of cultivation within her, utilizing her innate ability was far more difficult. With sweat and incredible amounts of effort, a breach opened before her.

Hadur wiped his eyes and looked on with increasing interest in what she was doing. It was not difficult for him to indentify that it was a creation ability, but from what he could sense it was unlike any other such ability.

He did not sense any cultivation from her either, so it could only be that it was an innate ability that did not require anything but her own energy. It was the kind of skill that Hadur could not know about; it was a unique skill.

From the breach, a katana appeared before it subsequently closed. Upon closer inspection, there was an inscription on the blade that Hadur recognized, and he gasped in excitement.

"A Muramasa sword? Incredible!"

Ye Zhiyuan caught her breath while Hadur picked the sword up in between his two fingers. He held it up, directly before his left eye, and made several observations. "Hmm ...no nicks in the blade ...the sharpness is unreal and the inherent energy ..."

That was when his eyes narrowed and he returned the sword to Ye Zhiyuan. It faded from sight, vanishing forever. Hadur seemed a bit skeptical, and so he decided to pose a question. Ye Zhiyuan gulped when she heard it, since she did not know the answer. Not at all.

"Who is Takemikazuchi?"

Ye Zhiyuan shook her head, under Hadur's watchful gaze, and the giant elder nodded. "I thought so."

Looking at the tiny girl standing in the palm of his hand, Hadur as at a temporary loss for words.

"Little Zhiyuan," he snapped his fingers and a giant copper dagger materialized in his free hand. Looking at it, Ye Zhiyuan felt like her eyes were being pierced by magical energies the likes of which threatened to bore into her soul. Hadur put an end to that, and brought the dagger over for her to look at.

"What do you think is the difference between this dagger and the sword you just conjured? Think hard now."

Ye Zhiyuan felt relieved that this question seemed much easier to answer, so she gave it some thought and came up with her answer. "The materials used to make them both?"

"Precisely. Now, what about the materials? What did you use to make that sword?" Hadur's eyes brightened. The more she could figure out on her own, the easier it would be to grasp her own understanding of her Dao. This was groundbreaking stuff.

After seeing that katana, and the effect that conjuring it had on Ye Zhiyuan, he was sure as to where her problem lied. She could not yet see her way toward grasping her dao, because she had yet to experience the necessary Way.

"I created it from ...nothing?"

Hadur shook his head, but did not give her an answer.

Ye Zhiyuan nodded, as if she had already known that this was not the right answer. She exhaled with a huff and thought about it some more. Had she not created it from nothing? If not, then what did she use? How was she able to create things and bring them into the world?

"From my soul. I made it with my soul!"

Hadur gave her a thumbs up, then proceeded.

"So then, if that is your soul's innate ability, why do you think you need to constantly expend energy in order to have the sword maintain its shape? When I forge a weapon, it is not dependent on any energy to be sustained. It sustains itself. Why?"

"Well ...is that not because you forged it from the raw materials? You refined those materials and produced a dagger, so of course it wouldn't be dependent on your energy."

Hadur shook his head, looking solemn.

"The concept is the same as you, using your soul to produce a weapon. Just as I am able to supply myself with the raw ingredients, your soul is able to provide all that is necessary to produce a weapon. Unfortunately, because you do lack a certain understanding, the weapon cannot truly become independent of you. It needs your energy, because it is still in a period of being created, not yet a creation."

"What is it that you lack, Little Zhiyuan. Think about it as hard as you possibly can, then think about it some more. It will come to you."

Standing within his palm, Ye Zhiyuan ended up taking a seat as well. What could it be that she was missing? What was she not understanding? Why were the weapons still in the process of being created, and not able to become actual creations?

While she was contemplating it, she looked around. She saw the anvil, the tub of cold water, the blazing heat of the forge. Hadur was a blacksmith, so crafting weapons was something he was pretty much an expert at. He could forge any weapon with the copper in the forest, and that was due to the fact that he was exceptionally skilled and learned...

'Maybe that's it...'

Ye Zhiyuan opened her mouth, unsure of her answer but unable to come up with a better one.

"Is it because ...I do not yet understand how such a weapon is forged?"

Hadur, who had been anticipating a decent wait, looked at her with a "Hm?"

"Ah," he flashed a smile, "that's it! That's the very thing!"

In a crazy rush, Hadur shot to his feet and almost sent Ye Zhiyuan flying out of his palm.

"Wonderful work, Little Zhiyuan! You do not understand how to forge such a weapon, nor do you understand the weapon itself, so it cannot be completed. That is why you were brought to me. I am not only a blacksmith, but an accomplished general! I will teach you the essence of weapons!"