Forging Immortality: The Undying Blacksmith

Chapter 21: Outer Force Expert!

“I’ve only ever smelted it. Time to try forging it under high heat.” Li Qing’s brow furrowed as he turned the chunk of Black Gold over in his hands.

His master, Master Gu, was also a practitioner of the Gu Xuan Hammer Technique. He had successfully forged weapons with Black Gold before and had even recommended Li Qing for the task of forging one for Thousand-Man Commander Qian Hong.

That meant Master Gu believed he had the ability to forge Black Gold into a weapon.

*The only thing Master Gu and I have in common is the Gu Xuan Hammer Technique. The secret must lie there.*

With that thought, Li Qing placed the Black Gold on the forge’s anvil. The intense heat from below radiated upwards, unleashing shimmering waves of heat.

He immediately shrugged off his heavy cotton coat, hefted his iron hammer, and settled into the opening stance of the Gu Xuan Hammer Technique.

“Hoo!”

He took a deep breath and brought the hammer down with ferocious force.

*CLANG!*

The hammer struck the Black Gold, producing a deep, muffled sound that sent a tremor through the entire forge.

Immediately, Li Qing began to strike again and again, his movements flowing with the rhythm of the Gu Xuan Hammer Technique. Once he entered the state of forging, his focus became absolute, the world outside fading into nothingness.

*CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!*

Under the moonlight, the rhythmic ring of steel echoed through the night, a tireless heartbeat in the oppressive silence.

He lost all track of time, never bothering to count the hammer blows.

Then, he saw it. The piece of Black Gold was finally beginning to change. Its once-impenetrable hardness was gradually yielding, becoming soft and pliable under his relentless assault.

Sensing the shift, Li Qing pressed his advantage, striking while the metal was hot. He swung the hammer tirelessly, his entire being focused on shaping the Black Gold.

*Incredible metal. Each strike forces it to absorb a little more heat from the forge.*

*No wonder they say ordinary blacksmiths can’t work with Black Gold. It demands impossible strength. A common smith, someone who isn’t a martial artist, wouldn’t stand a chance.*

Li Qing marveled at the material, his anticipation growing. Just how powerful would a hammer forged from this be?

And that Thousand-Man Commander Qian Hong wanted an entire sword, the Qinghong Sword, forged completely from Black Gold.

The thought alone made Li Qing sigh. The scale of that project was staggering, on par with building a palace. Even with his current strength and the specialized techniques of the Gu Xuan Hammer Technique, shaping a single fist-sized piece was this difficult. To forge an entire sword from it? You could work a dozen smiths to death and still not see it finished.

The thoughts vanished as quickly as they came. Li Qing once again submerged his consciousness into the process, his world shrinking to the hammer in his hands and the glowing metal on the anvil.

As the fist-sized piece of Black Gold became fully malleable, he quickly tossed the other iron ingots into the forge. His plan was to forge the Black Gold into the face of the hammer, using regular iron for the rest of the body.

Time flowed by, unnoticed.

*CLANG!*

With a final, resounding strike, he successfully fused the Black Gold into the hammer’s face. What should have been a matte black surface now possessed a deep, polished luster, as if it had swallowed the light itself. The body of the great hammer still glowed a menacing dark red.

Li Qing didn’t stop. He fetched a bucket of cold water and carefully began to sprinkle it over the nearly finished weapon.

A violent hiss tore through the silence as the water instantly vaporized, sending a great plume of white steam billowing into the night air.

“Not bad,” Li Qing said to himself, a grin spreading across his face. “I’ll call it the Peerless Hammer.” He felt the name was fitting. A hammer infused with Black Gold was truly without peer in this world.

Unlike weapons that relied on a sharp edge, a warhammer required no quenching or sharpening. Once the cold water had completely cooled the weapon, the Peerless Hammer was finally complete.

[Successfully forged a Refined Mortal Weapon: Peerless Hammer. Reward: 3 Years of Lifespan!]

*Three years!*

The words burned in his vision, and Li Qing’s eyes widened.

The best he’d ever gotten for an ordinary weapon was a single year, and the rewards had been diminishing with each creation. The last fine iron spear had only granted him five months. He never imagined that a hammer reinforced with Black Gold would be classified as a Refined Mortal Weapon, instantly adding three full years to his life.

He glanced at the number representing his remaining lifespan: 145.

He had nearly a century and a half left to live. He was just shy of seventeen.

The number was staggering. Barring illness or disaster, he could live to be over one hundred and sixty. And as he continued to forge, that number would only grow.

*At this rate, I might actually outlive the heavens,* Li Qing thought, unable to suppress the thrill coursing through him. He placed both hands on the Peerless Hammer and slowly lifted it.

It was a massive weapon. The handle was as long as his own armspan, nearly the height of an average man. The head was immense, its somber blackness giving it an aura of immense weight and power.

Two hundred and thirty pounds!

It was the heaviest hammer he had ever used. Yet, as he held it, it felt balanced, almost light in his grasp.

“Wait… my strength?!”

Having finished the Peerless Hammer, Li Qing realized his own power had surged once again. In his hands, the massive weapon felt like an extension of his own arm, moving with perfect obedience.

“Have I broken through to Outer Force?!”

A wave of joyous realization washed over him. He had likely stepped into the ranks of the Outer Force experts.

A deep exhaustion settled into his bones from the long night of forging, but beneath it, a new, boundless energy surged. He felt as if he could forge another Peerless Hammer without breaking a sweat.

“‘When strength is born from within, and blood and qi roar like the tide—that is Outer Force.’”

The description from the Gu Xuan Hammer Technique’s manual echoed in his mind. It matched his current state perfectly.

“I never expected this… This isn’t just a double blessing, it’s a triple windfall!”

First, he had successfully smelted Black Gold and forged the Peerless Hammer, a Refined Mortal Weapon.

Second, he had been rewarded with three years of lifespan, giving him an even greater sense of security.

And finally, the greatest prize of all: he had cultivated Outer Force. This was the level of martial power he had craved ever since he first joined the army.

“With this power… if I went back to the Wuli Army now, I could probably land a position as a Hundred-Man Commander,” Li Qing mused, a pleased smile on his face.

In the Wuli Army, all Hundred-Man Commanders were Outer Force experts. The Thousand-Man Commanders were masters of an even higher realm: Inner Force.

As for Grandmasters of Transformation Force, you’d be lucky to find a handful in the entire Feng Country. Rumor had it the Wuli Army’s general was such a figure, but it had never been confirmed.

Of course, Li Qing had already left that life behind. He had no intention of ever going back.

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