Learning How to Forge

Even though forging wasn't in his plans, Shi Li thought that it was also a great way to earn money once he goes outside the clan and travel alone.

As for now, forging would help him increase his cultivation albeit in a painful way.

Since it was currently night time when he finished battering his body with the hammer, he decided to consolidate his soul's cultivation for a bit before heading to bed.

...

The next morning.

Shi clan, Shi Xingwan's room.

As of this moment, Shi Xingwan's eyebrows were furrowed as he continued to think while reading the papers in front of him. He didn't know why, but each passing day he would more unease as if something bad was happen.

Although nothing bad actually happened.

"Man..." Shi Xingwan placed the papers on his desk before signing it and moving onto another paper. "I should really venture out sometime, staying in here making me somewhat paranoid."

He then chuckled lightly before his expression turned serious. "Anyways, I still can't dodge the fact that the Huang clan is aiming to wage war with us. Although a few days have already passed since my son has started cultivating, I still feel like his cultivation wouldn't be enough to survive."

"I should put him under pressure," Shi Xingwan's eyes gleamed.

In a safe environment like the Shi clan, most people would usually laze around in the clan and not cultivate, thus making the clan's strength stagnant. But by holding tournaments that have incentives, the clan members would strive hard to get those incentives while knowing the fact that they have multiple opponents at their throat.

This is what Shi Xingwan meant by putting his son 'under pressure'. He would hold a tournament wherein his son would participate and this would stimulate his son's potential, boosting the efficacy of his son's aptitude even further.

"Question is..." Shi Xingwan rubbed his chin, "When's a good time to hold the tournament? And will it coincidentally lead to the Huang clan's attack?"

At this moment where Shi Xingwan was deep in thought, a knock could be heard coming from his room's door thus bringing him back to reality.

"Who is it?" Shi Xingwan couldn't help but frown. The person who knocked on the door must have some really bad timing, he thought.

"Father, it's me," a voice extremely familiar to Shi Xingwan could be heard on the other side of the door. This voice came from Shi Li.

Realizing that Shi Li was behind the door, Shi Xingwan removed his frown and calmed down before saying, "Come in."

Shi Li heard what his father said and did his usual routine whenever he entered his father's room. After seeing that Shi Li got comfortable with his seat, Shi Xingwan looked at him and asked, "What brings you here, my child? You have been coming to my room quite often."

"Father..." Shi Li cleared his throat before saying, "I want to learn forging." Shi Li didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point.

"Forging..." Shi Xingwan couldn't help but frown even though he was calm and composed. "Forging is an extremely hard field of work though it brings in massive profits. It would need you to have sufficient strength, concentration, and intuition. Plus shouldn't you be cultivating at this moment? Why bother learning forging?"

"Well Father, the reason why I want to learn forging is because it has something to do with my cultivation technique," Shi Li replied after careful consideration. "The [Iron Vessel Tempering Manual] requires that the cultivator must temper the body as if it was a piece of metal. If I want to progress quicker, I must learn how to temper a piece of metal."

Shi Xingwan put Shi Li's cultivation techniques in the back of his head after seeing that his son was successful in cultivating those techniques. He forgot that both of Shi Li's techniques had something to do with the concept of tempering. To think that his son that used to fool around would be able to infer that learning forging would help him speed up in cultivating is nothing short of a miracle.

Shi Xingwan pondered for a bit before nodding. "Okay, since you want to learn forging for your cultivation, I'll allow you to do so. But have you decided which blacksmith you're going to learn under? We have around twenty blacksmiths within the clan and each of them have their own specialties."

"Uh..." Shi Li thought that his clan was a poor clan that usually had one blacksmith just like in the novels he read, thus making him look indecisive. He browsed through the old Shi Li's memories and found nothing regarding the blacksmiths of the clan so he shook his head. "That I am not sure of, Father. As long as the blacksmith is an expert in tempering metal and making sure that the pieces harmonize together, I guess that would be enough."

"An expert in tempering metal and synergizing parts huh..." Shi Xingwan rubbed his chin before recalling one certain person that fit Shi Li's criteria. He then stood up and walked towards the door as he gestured Shi Li to follow him.

"Come with me, I think I know who you're looking for."

...

Shi clan, an open area.

Clang! Clang!

The sound of hammering metal reverberated throughout the space as the smoldering heat from the furnace colored the place a faint red.

After a while, the hammering sounds were mixed with the sounds of footsteps, alerting the man who was hammering away that people were coming.

The man stopped hammering the piece of metal he was currently working on and turned around to see two men looking at him. One was a middle-aged man and the other one was a young man that bore a resemblance to the middle-aged man.

They were none other than Shi Xingwan and Shi Li.

...

Shi Xingwan and Shi Li walked up to a blacksmith that Shi Xingwan knew as the best blacksmith in the clan.

"Hey Zhang, how has it been?" Shi Xingwan looked at the man who stopped his work and gave a smile.

"It has been fine Brother Wan," the man named Zhang smiled. "How can I help you?"

Shi Li looked at the man named Zhang and examined his body. First of all, Zhang exuded immense strength and vitality as if there was a dragon inside his body that wanted to be free.

And from the hammering Zhang did, he could see that Zhang was able to control his strength very well, which meant that he wasn't wasting any excess strength at all.

Shi Xingwan saw Shi Li's curious gaze and said, "Shi Li, this man in front is named Shi Zhang. He's the only certified blacksmith in the clan and he's also a great friend from my generation."

Hearing that the man in front of him came from his father's generation, Shi Li couldn't help but rub his eyes. The man in front looked like he was in his early 20s while his father had a few white hairs appearing on his head.

Shi Xingwan then looked at Shi Zhang and said, "Brother Zhang, this young man in front of me is my son Shi Li. He wants to learn forging so he could progress in his cultivation. Could you teach him?"

Shi Zhang rubbed his chin as he examined Shi Li's body. "Forging needs a lot of strength...and it seems that your son lacks the strength Brother Wan. Also you said something about cultivation...kid, what's your cultivation technique?"

Hearing that he was being asked, Shi Li bowed respectfully and answered, "This junior right here is cultivating the [Steel Body Manual] and [Iron Vessel Tempering Manual]."

"Hoh...cultivation techniques based on tempering eh?" Shi Zhang's ears perked up as Shi Li obtained Shi Zhang's interest.

Pondering for a bit more, Shi Zhang nodded and said to Shi Xingwan, "Since I could understand why your son needs to learn forging, I could teach him what I know. But first..."

"He needs to pass a test of mine."