Commanding Wind and Cloud

He was set into darkness, and was then brought to light.

Qian Jin had already become accustomed to the process at which he would enter [Endless World]. Opening his eyes, he saw the familiar village with several cottages giving out smoke above from the chimney.

This time, Qian Jin didn’t aimlessly stroll around, but rushed into Blacksmith Blake’s Shop.

Provided the previous two experiences, Qian Jin headed for the hot spring which could wash away people’s fatigue before Blake could say something.

The marvelous hot spring once again instantly expelled Qian Jin’s physical fatigue and gave life to his biting muscles, making Qian Jin feel the explosive energy vested in them.

Blake knelt down beside the door and inhaled from the pipe, leaning across the drafty door with lots of crevices; his sleepy eyes fixed on the ground without a move. “I don’t have anything new to teach you today. Go on with practicing the hammer. I will teach you something else after you master the hammering.”

“Alright…” Blake pointed at the shelf behind Qian Jin with his pipe, saying, “From today on, stop using the previous hammer. Use hammer number two…”

Number Two? Qian Jin looked to the hammer along Blake’s pipe, just to find that Hammer Number Two was at least one hundred pounds heavier than the previous one he used. Good job, you old blacksmith, to have added one hundred pounds’ weight.

“Don’t forget the Forging Breathing Technique.”

Blake opened his drooping eyelid for a refresh, contracted his body, and started smoking again without saying anything else.

Qian Jin couldn’t stop grinning in pain while holding the hammer which was one hundred pounds heavier than before. The strength he had accumulated throughout these days was offset by the one-hundred-pound overweight.

Inhaling a deep breath of the flame which then floated around his dead reservoirs, the muscles around Qian Jin’s shoulder and neck started bulging. With the lift of the huge heavy hammer, a new round of hammering was on the way.

Since the hammer was added to weight, Qian Jin couldn’t continue the routes and angles of hammering as performed smoothly yesterday at all.

He had thought that he was about to master the skills of the first hammering Technique, however… With a bitter smile, Qian Jin lifted the hammer high once again.

Burning sparks splashed around the small yard, dancing with the one and only music notes produced by the crashing of metal.

One hour…

“Your forging proficiency was improved, forging level increased by one, and strength increased by one point.”

Two hours…

“Your forging proficiency improved, and strength increased by one point.”

Three hours…

“Your forging proficiency improved, forging level increased by one, and strength increased by one point.”

“Player Qian Jin has succeeded in forging Level 1 Purified Iron.”

Blake, seeing the resplendent metal sparks made by Qian Jin over and over again, twinkled his sleepy eyes with surprise and elatedness. He then raised up his hand and said, “Stop.”

For all these three hours’ exercise, Qian Jin felt that his body was swabbed-off, and that his warrior energy, Forging Breathe Technique, and brutal force were totally drained away.

Blake held the pipe in his left hand and walked around Qian Jin for two circles, nodding his head every now and then with eyes exuding ecstasy.

Qian Jin was frightened by the expression in Blake’s eyes; it was as if he was observing his son-in-law that Qian Jin forgot to call out for the System to observe his levels.”

“Great! Perfect!” Blake touched on Qian Jin’s arms and kept nodding his head. “I had never expected that you could become a Level 10 Blacksmith within such a short time. Well done!”

Level 10 Blacksmith? Hearing this, Qian Jin felt that all his energies were regained all of a sudden. He thought that it would take a couple of days to turn into a Level 10 Blacksmith, yet it turned out that such a faraway goal dreamed by a lot was attained due to a heavier hammer for practicing the eerie blacksmithing technique.

“That is to say…” Qian Jin pointed at his nose and asked in astonishment, “I have become a Level 10 Blacksmith? I’m now a Forge Master?”

“Definitely! You are already a Level 10 Blacksmith.” Blake, with hands crossed at his back, shook his head after nodding. “However, you are yet to become a Forge Master.”

“Aren’t I already a Level 10 Blacksmith? Doesn’t it mean a Forge Master?”

Qian Jin questioningly looked at Blake. According to old blacksmith Franklin’s illustration, becoming a Level 10 Blacksmith meant becoming a Forge Master. How could Blake say that it wasn’t corresponding with a Forge Master?

“A Level 10 Blacksmith is a blacksmith of Level 10, while a Forge Master is a master of forging.” Blake sat on the ground, lit up his tobacco stalk near the stove, and took a deep breath from the stalk, making the pipe flame flicker every now and then. “A Level 10 Blacksmith is someone nearest to the Forge Master, but not really. The real blacksmiths need to withstand and complete a test.”

Test! Test again! Qian Jin found that no matter in the Oakland Mage and Warrior Academy of Zence Empire or this Endless World, he couldn’t get rid of tests.

“What makes a real Forge Master? Merely by becoming a Level 10 Blacksmith? Maybe to others, it does, but to me, not.” Blake slightly raised his elbows as his hazy eyes shone with a resplendent pride and glory, as if he was towering above in the cloud. “A real Forge Master is obliged to possess a variety of skills, including primary repairing of the warrior weapons, mining on his own, forging purified iron, completing manufacturing of the warrior weapons alone, matching of timber for making a fire and the charcoal, and so on…”

“Repairing the Warrior Weapons? I can manage this.” Qian Jin recalled his memory of reviving warrior weapons for the guardians of Oakland. “I can also do the blade-washing.”

“Blade-washing? What does it have to do with repairing Warrior Weapons?” Blake frowned his eyebrows and confusedly said, “If a warrior weapon of a battle blade type is halved, of what use will blade-washing be?”

Qian Jin scratched his head in embarrassment, acknowledging that he had nothing to do with such an event. It seemed that his understanding of repairing was not the same with Blake’s.

“Take this with you…” Blake felt for his breast and took out a book, which had a cover that showed yellowing and was corrugated as if it would fall into pieces at any time. “Look at this Mine Inspection Technique first.”

Mining was a unique technique. Both human beings and demons had fully studied on this, but fell much behind the Barbarians inhabiting in the northern territory beside Zence Empire. Several tribes of the Barbarians had instincts for mining, whose members touched upon different geological types, rock masses of all kinds, and the surrounding mountains and streams since their early age. These were all to detect whether there was a metal mine in the site, and what variety of metal mine it belonged to as well as the output of the mines.

It was rumored that apart from acquiring all sorts of knowledge of mine inspection, the mining tribes of the Barbarians had innately special competencies for detecting mines.