Chapter 7: Yao Family
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The production of a hammerhead required a total of five phases, ranging from heating the raw material to refining the final piece.
Usually, even for the simplest hammer, it would take at least 2 hours or more depending on the exact specifications, and the time could be reduced based on the skill of the person making it and the method used.
The one Zhu Rong was using at that moment was the traditional forging method,
a method that would undoubtedly take more than 2 hours for the simple fact that the various steps each required a minimum amount of time,
which couldn't be cut down, otherwise, one risked ending up with a poor quality product or one with defects.
Or at least, that's how it was supposed to be.
And yet, right in front of Han Tiezhang, the newly hired boy had produced the hammerhead in just under 50 minutes.
50 minutes!
'This technique… where the hell did he learn it?!' Han Tiezhang asked himself, still staring at the final product being assembled with a wooden handle made on the spot.
Even though the object itself wasn't anything special, the way it had been forged was anything but ordinary.
From the precision of his movements during the forging and final refinement, to the technique he used the entire time ,
fast, precise, without a single wasted movement, everything was perfect.
So perfect that even he wasn't sure he could have pulled off something like that.
The most surprising thing about all this was that the final product, which was made from ordinary steel, now looked like a simple yet refined work of art.
Even Bao Dashi, who was standing nearby and had once again stopped working on the double-edged blade, had witnessed the entire final phase of the process,
so stunned that he instinctively reached out to grab the hammerhead placed on the table.
Ah!
Just as he was about to grab it, his hand was pushed away by a dark wooden stick.
"Hey, let me have a look at it," Bao Dashi grumbled, wearing an expression as if someone had just blocked him from seeing his girl.
"Don't touch it, it's still hot, you'll risk burning yourself," Zhu Rong replied, ignoring him while finishing the handle.
Since it was going to be his personal hammer for now, he took a few liberties with the design of the hammerhead and the handle.
It might not look it on the surface, but he had made sure that both the handle and the head of the hammer contained a small spiritual circuit.
It wasn't anything too complicated, just a little addition that would come in handy once he started cultivating.
'He probably noticed it,' he thought, casting a little glance at Han Tiezhang, who was still staring at the hammer with a contemplative look.
Seeing the hammer was complete, he broke off his thoughts and walked over to the station, giving him a strange look.
'This guy... did he start forging while still in his mother's womb or what?' he wondered, unable to explain the forging skills he'd just witnessed.
Even an expert like him had to admit that, though the techniques used were simple, there was something extraordinary in the way they were executed.
Even he, with his sharp eyes, had almost missed that small circuit Zhu Rong had added at the end
and when he did notice it, he couldn't help but be even more impressed.
"Kid, you've really surprised me. I didn't know you knew how to carve inscriptions into objects too," he said with genuine amazement.
Carving objects was a process every blacksmith would eventually have to learn, even if only at a basic level.
After all, there was a separate profession for that, and those craftsmen were much more specialized in it.
But even for blacksmiths, having at least some knowledge on how to do it was important, and for obvious reasons.
He didn't know exactly what kind of circuit the boy had used, but he could tell it wasn't something simple.
Bao Dashi who was still admiring the final product, hearing this, raised his head as he checked the hammer and said,
"He made an inscription on it? Where?"
Then he reached out to grab the hammer again.
This time Zhu Rong let him, while turning his attention to Han Tiezhang and saying:
"So? What do you think? Am I good enough to work as a blacksmith here?"
***
In the heart of Qiyan City, inside the Yao Family manor, Lang Huojin was comfortably seated, sipping wine as he listened to the man in front of him.
He was a mercenary at the Core Formation stage, who had made a name for himself in recent years in Lushan Province.
He had founded the Mad Jackals Mercenary Group,
who, as long as the offered price was right, were happy to take on any job, dangerous or not.
The good performance of his group in the last few years had earned them increasingly lucrative jobs,
to the point of even receiving direct missions from important families like the Yao Family.
At that moment, he was in the receiving hall of the Yao Family's Third Elder,
Yao Wuchen.
Although he hadn't been told the details of the meeting before coming, he knew that whatever it was, it would be of great benefit to him.
But now, having just heard the complete details of the mission, he realized it was something far beyond what he'd expected.
Setting down his wine glass, he finally spoke:
"I see. How reliable is this information?" he asked, with a glint of interest in his eyes.
"We sent an exploration team from our family into the mine, and they confirmed this information.
The chances of a spiritual vein being there are very high."
"Unfortunately, the place is guarded by a very powerful spirit beast.
Many of the members we sent were killed, and the few who returned claim the beast is at least at
the early stage of Nascent Soul," said Yao Wuchen, clearly not happy with the situation.
The Yao Family, being one of the four most powerful families in the capital, also had their own
private forces, but those were nothing compared to the strength of the other families.
After all, they were a family of alchemists, and in that field, they were second to none in Qiyan City.
However, when it came to high level cultivators, they only had a limited number.
Not that it mattered.
They had their own ways of handling different situations, and one of those was precisely to hire strong mercenaries.
They weren't lacking in money, so they could afford to pay powerful cultivators to fight on their behalf.
"Taking care of a spirit beast at the early stage of Nascent Soul won't be a problem for our group."
he said, taking a last sip from his cup before setting it on the table and standing up.
"I've already contacted the members of my group, by the end of this week, they'll all be back from their missions.
I hope the weapons I requested will be ready by then."
Yao Wuchen also stood up, a sign that the meeting had come to an end.
"Don't worry, we've commissioned the batch from several smiths in the city.
By the end of this week, everything should be ready," he replied confidently.
As payment for the task, Lan Huojing had requested a substantial sum of spirit stones and several batches of weapons of various grades.
He had already received half of the total amount, while the other half would be delivered once the job was done.
Yao Wuchen had spent the past few months making numerous preparations to ensure news of the spiritual vein didn't leak out.
If one of the other families found out about it, they wouldn't sit idly by,
after all, it was too tempting a prize to ignore.
Securing that spiritual vein was of the utmost importance to him.
If he succeeded, his prestige within the family would soar, and even the head of the family would have no choice but to give him face.
He had waited far too long for this opportunity, and now that it was in his hands, he wasn't about to let it slip away, no matter the cost.