Xu Yunfan paid no mind to Blacksmith Lv’s smug tone.
Seeing Xu Yunfan lost in thought, Blacksmith Lv rubbed his nose and said, "This Red Rope Cloak Hamr is one of the ultimate skills of Divine Weapon Ridge. When you first learned it, didn’t it feel just like smithing?"
His calloused palm made a rustling sound as he rubbed the hamr’s handle.
"Watch closely!"
Before Xu Yunfan could respond, Blacksmith Lv, now by the furnace, let out a thunderous shout.
In that instant, as Blacksmith Lv swung the hamr, his deltoids swelled like iron balls, and bronze-colored veins slithered like flood dragons beneath the skin of his gnarled arms.
Unfortunately, the force that should have flowed seamlessly through his back and waist was broken in two at his slightly stooped spine.
The ’Reversed Celestial River’, a move that should have been powered from the heels, had been forcibly altered by the old man into a technique driven by a reverse thrust of the shoulder blades.
The red-hot iron ingot on the anvil suddenly twisted like a snake.
The gale-force wind from the descending heavy hamr kicked up the dust on the floor.
CLANG CLANG!
The sharp clang of tal on tal rang out, sending sparks flying in all directions.
Xu Yunfan unconsciously tapped his knuckles against the heavy hamr’s python sinew wrapped handle.
He could clearly see the cold sweat seeping from Blacksmith Lv’s lower back, soaking his coarse cloth shirt and leaving dark patches.
’Forcibly executing a move that exceeded his body’s limits like this could easily damage his internal organs if he wasn’t careful.’
Blacksmith Lv forced himself to straighten his back. He panted, wiping the sweat from his brow. A strange light danced in his sunken eye sockets as he lifted his head, looking rather pleased with himself.
"How was that? It took thirty years of practice to achieve that single strike. Back in my days at Divine Weapon Ridge, even among my peers, this move of mine was..."
"Your technique is seasoned and perfected."
Xu Yunfan suddenly cut in, his gaze sweeping over the old man’s slightly trembling calves.
"It’s just that this move should draw on the rebound force from the ground, yet you, Senior, used your shoulder blades instead of your heels. Quite an original approach."
As he spoke, he extended two fingers and made a deceptively light but heavy swipe across the still-warm anvil. The depth of his finger marks was identical to the hamr’s impression.
The blacksmith’s murky pupils contracted sharply. His scar-covered hand suddenly gripped the bellows handle tightly. He shoved the apprentice who was working the bellows aside with his foot, sending the boy tumbling across the ground.
He then asked, "Which Elder from Divine Weapon Ridge are you the disciple of?"
Xu Yunfan was silent for a mont.
Seeing that Xu Yunfan didn’t answer, Blacksmith Lv didn’t press the matter. He just nodded and said, "Don’t trouble yourself. Since we have this connection, if you need anything in the future that I can help with, just ask."
After a while, Xu Yunfan asked, "Sixteen hundred taels... could you make it a little cheaper?"
Blacksmith Lv: "Business is business. Let’s not talk about it."
"..."
An awkward silence fell over them. Xu Yunfan found it difficult to admit the truth.
Before Xu Yunfan could speak again, Blacksmith Lv gave the bellows a hard push. A purplish-blue fla flared up in the furnace, illuminating his face and making the wrinkles look like a network of deep ravines.
"You’ve got a sharp eye, kid. Do you know about the Qingzhou earth tremor from thirty years ago... "
Before he could finish, Xu Yunfan had already lifted the Jar Gold Hamr, turned, and covertly flexed his long arms.
As the hamrhead cut through the air, the Nine-Linked Rings rattled like muffled thunder, crushing the old man’s unfinished words under the dull roar.
The icicles hanging from the eaves cracked and shattered. Amidst the flurry of ice crystals, Xu Yunfan’s voice drifted back.
"Elder Lv, I’ll be back when I have ti! And while you’re at it, please forge an iron box for this weapon!"
"...I’ll have soone deliver it to you in three days."
"Thank you!"
Watching Xu Yunfan’s retreating back as he shouldered the heavy hamr, the blacksmith smacked his lips, clutched his lower back, and suddenly plopped onto the ground, his face pale and covered in a cold sweat.
The apprentice beside him was horrified and rushed forward.
"Master, what’s wrong?!"
"Get lost."
Blacksmith Lv cursed, "I’m not dying yet! Hurry up and get Doctor Cui over here. I’ve thrown out my back!"
"..."
’Blacksmith Lv may seem straightforward and decent enough now, but what he’s really like remains to be seen. For now, he’s worth befriending.’
On the way back, goose-feather snow drifted down. The streets were empty of pedestrians, but Xu Yunfan felt the blood qi in his body boiling like a cauldron.
As the heavy hamr swayed in his hand, its vibrations seed to gradually sync with his heartbeat, and the blood qi of his Copper Body Skill began to circulate on its own.
A luster of interwoven gold and bronze appeared on the surface of his skin. Every tendon throbbed beneath it, as if molten lava was surging through his veins.
After returning to Qinghe Residence, Xu Yunfan imdiately picked up the Jar Gold heavy hamr and began practicing the Red Rope Cloak Hamr in the courtyard.
The sound of the heavy hamr tearing through the air shattered the courtyard’s silence.
The mont he unleashed the Thirty-Six Forms of Cloak Hamr, the accumulated snow swirled upward like a white dragon taking flight.
The vortex of air kicked up by the two-hundred-jin Jar Gold Hamr as he brandished it was strong enough to carve cracks into the bark of an old tree thirty feet away.
In an instant, his muscles bulged, and as his blood qi surged, blue veins surfaced all over his body. The Drumming Jar Golden Hamr in his hand tore through the air, creating an explosive boom in the courtyard.
The Red Rope Cloak Hamr had thirty-six forms in total, each one stronger than the last. As the heavy hamr danced wildly, the very air in the courtyard humd and trembled, and the surrounding blanket of snow was thrown back.
As a Martial Master at the Second Level of Great Mastery, his strength had nearly doubled. The two-hundred-plus-jin Jar Gold heavy hamr felt like a wooden stick in Xu Yunfan’s hands, churning the air as if it were a thick liquid. The display of power was terrifying.
With every swing, the Nine-Linked Rings on the heavy hamr rattled like thunderous waves crashing against the shore, and the fierce wind whipped his sideburns back.
’You are freely brandishing the Red Rope Cloak Hamr. You have never felt so invigorated. Your Red Rope Copper Body Cloak Hamr Skill Level has increased.’
’You feel that the Drumming Jar Golden Hamr in your hand is a perfect fit. Many previously overlooked aspects of your technique have been adjusted. Your Red Rope Copper Body Cloak Hamr Skill Level has increased significantly.’
’...’
The mont the system prompts appeared, Xu Yunfan suddenly spun and brought the hamr down. The heavy hamr landed like a cannonball on a nearby granite block, and a web of cracks instantly spread across the hard surface.
After practicing it more than a dozen tis until his limbs felt slightly sore, Xu Yunfan glanced at the system prompts that had appeared on his Attribute Panel.
’He was overjoyed. Having a suitable heavy weapon really does increase cultivation efficiency by a lot. According to the Attribute Panel, the Red Rope Copper Body Cloak Hamr doesn’t just deepen my mastery of the Hamr Technique; it also makes my physique tougher.’
After dinner, with the moon high in the sky, Xu Yunfan unfolded the "Thunderous Waves Palm" manual by candlelight.
On the yellowed pages, next to Fei Yao’s elegant, small-script calligraphy, a dark red annotation had appeared at so point: "Tidal Force travels through the hand’s Shaoyang ridian and must align with the waxing and waning of the moon."
A thought struck him. He stood up and abruptly pushed open the window lattice. He saw moonlight spilling over the snow in the courtyard like flowing quicksilver, a sight that seed to resonate with the flow of blood qi described in the palm technique.
"Interesting."
This Thunderous Waves Palm specialized in tempering the great tendons of the arms. When mastered, one could generate several bursts of strength out of thin air from the snapping of these great tendons during a fight.
He followed the diagrams, slowly practicing the movents with his palms. The blood qi in his arms began to flow slowly, gradually becoming more active.
When he executed the seventh form, "Wave Diversion and Flow Control," a sharp pain suddenly shot through his palms, as if millions of fine, ox-hair needles were piercing through his ridians straight to the bone marrow.
Far from being alard, Xu Yunfan was delighted. This was clearly the sign of ’Powerful Tissue’ described in the Thunderous Waves Palm manual.
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