Forging Immortality: The Undying Blacksmith

Chapter 59: Boundless Audacity!

Anyone capable of causing such a stir in Shengtian was not to be underestimated. Li Qing certainly didn’t dare look down on the Star-Plucking Thief’s martial prowess; a conservative estimate placed him at the level of an Inner Force expert, at the very least.

Throughout their drinking, he remained perfectly calm and vigilant. After every sip, he circulated his Inner Force, purging every drop of alcohol from his system to ensure his reflexes remained razor-sharp.

“Brother Li, you just came from Shengtian?” Ning Yuan asked, a playful and irreverent glint in his eyes. “Care to share what the situation is like in the capital?”

“The Nine Lotus Sect has withdrawn,” Li Qing answered truthfully. “The various powers of the martial world are now scrambling to claim territory from the three major martial arts halls. To maintain order, the imperial court recalled the Wuli Army.”

Ning Yuan refilled his own cup, took a small, deliberate sip, and squinted in satisfaction. “Just as I expected. The commanding general of the Wuli Army is no simple man. He’s a Grandmaster.”

So it’s true.

Ning Yuan’s words confirmed the suspicions held by Li Qing and many others in the martial world. General Lü had indeed reached the realm of a Grandmaster.

After answering, Li Qing posed his own question. “I want to know what you did to Prince Yu’s Estate. What could possibly warrant a bounty of several hundred thousand silver taels?”

At this, Ning Yuan let out a dry laugh. “Hahaha, the list of things I’ve done to earn Prince Yu’s hatred is long indeed. That old mountain ginseng from the Quanshan Medicine Shop, for instance. The luminous pearls hanging on these very walls? All liberated from his estate.”

He spoke not with a hint of shame, but with considerable pride.

“But if you’re asking about the several-hundred-thousand-tael bounty… well, there is a rather special reason for that.”

Ning Yuan’s eyes narrowed to slits, his smile spreading across his face like a ripple in a pond.

“While Prince Yu was leading his men to Xiaocui Ridge, I borrowed the seal of some damned painter, snuck into the estate, and left a little mark on the pristine posterior of the First-Rank Principal Consort.”

“The ‘Bamboo Willow Recluse’!” he roared. “Hahahahaha!”

Ning Yuan erupted into a fit of wild, unrestrained laughter, slapping his thigh so hard that tears squeezed from the corners of his eyes.

Li Qing’s eyes, however, went wide, his gaze filled with profound disbelief.

Leaving a painter’s seal on the Consort’s body…

This man’s audacity was simply boundless! What kind of grudge could possibly motivate such an act?

Without needing to see it, Li Qing could vividly imagine the scene: fair, delicate skin, marred by the crimson stamp bearing the name of that unfortunate artist.

No wonder the first thing the Prince’s Estate did after issuing the wanted poster was execute the elderly painter. It had puzzled Li Qing at the time, but now it all made a chilling sort of sense.

After a long moment, Li Qing slowly reined in his astonishment. He shook his head and took a silent, heavy drink. This Star-Plucking Thief was a truly untethered soul. His mind worked in ways that even Li Qing, with his modern sensibilities, couldn’t begin to follow.

It was best to keep his distance from men like this. Getting caught in their wake was a dangerous proposition.

“And the Consort’s flavor… truly exquisite,” Ning Yuan sighed, his laughter subsiding into a wistful, reminiscent grin.

Li Qing: “…”

“My turn,” Ning Yuan said, his gaze turning sharp as he looked Li Qing over. “Why are you on Xiaocui Ridge? Don’t tell me you’re after Lin Yi’s martial arts legacy.”

“A legacy like that is tempting, I’ll admit, but martial arts are just a passing hobby for me. I have no desire to be hunted by the entire martial world,” Li Qing replied smoothly. “I heard there was a vicious tiger on this mountain. I came to hunt it, nothing more.”

Ning Yuan’s eyes swept over the spiked iron armor Li Qing wore and the heavy, broad-bladed hunting knife at his waist. He seemed to accept the explanation.

“You’re a wise man,” Ning Yuan said with a sigh, taking another drink. “Far more rational than those martial artists who chase after every rumor. I may have obtained Lin Yi’s legacy, but I haven’t practiced it.”

This piqued Li Qing’s interest. “Oh? And why is that? Does the art come with some great restriction?”

A famous, dreaded line from a story in his past life surfaced in his mind.

To master this art, one must first castrate oneself!

Could Lin Yi’s legacy be something so drastic?

Ning Yuan’s next words, however, sent a jolt through Li Qing’s heart.

“Heh,” Ning Yuan sneered. “Restrictions? That’s putting it mildly. It’s a demonic art that cannibalizes your very lifespan.”

“It’s called the ‘Life-Severing Art’,” he continued. “It’s an internal technique, but a truly unique one. The moment you begin, your life force starts to drain away at an alarming rate. The stronger you become, the faster you die.”

“And to stave off this decay, there’s only one path: you must become a parasite. You have to hunt down other martial artists and drain their Inner Force to fuel your own.”

“That’s the secret to its rapid progression. The power you steal from others makes you grow stronger at an unbelievable pace.”

What a bizarre, evil art!

Li Qing’s pupils constricted, his mind reeling from the horror of the ‘Life-Severing Art’. But beneath the shock, an undeniable flicker of heat ignited deep within him, a thought he kept carefully hidden behind his stoic expression.

“That so-called prodigy of the former dynasty, Lin Yi, actually had abysmal innate talent,” Ning Yuan explained. “But he still managed to break through to the Grandmaster realm in his old age. By then, he knew his time was short, which is why he had himself buried here on Xiaocui Ridge.”

“Once you start down this path, there’s no turning back. Your lifespan is in constant decline. Draining the Inner Force of others only grants you a temporary reprieve.”

“Once that time is up, the decay returns, but worse than before, accelerated by your newfound strength. This creates a vicious cycle. You must constantly hunt, constantly drain, constantly grow stronger. It’s a spiraling descent until there’s no one left to consume, and you’re left to watch helplessly as your own life gutters out.”

“Whew.” Li Qing let out a long breath and drained his cup. “It’s like a runaway horse,” he mused, “galloping full tilt towards a cliff’s edge with no way to turn back.”

“Yes… a runaway horse.”

As Li Qing spoke, he failed to notice Qi Kang’s face fall in a dark corner of the tomb, his expression swallowed by the shadows.

This trip to the tomb had been unexpectedly enlightening, revealing secrets of the martial world Li Qing never would have otherwise learned. He was intensely interested in the ‘Life-Severing Art’, but he knew better than to ask Ning Yuan for it. He couldn’t risk exposing his own secret of immortality—a secret far more valuable, and dangerous, than any martial art.

Finally, he decided it was time to leave.

Li Qing clasped his fists. “Brother Ning, I should be on my way. The old hunter I traveled with will be getting anxious.” He added, “You have my word. I won’t tell a soul you’re on Xiaocui Ridge.”

Ning Yuan just smiled, his pride self-evident. “It wouldn’t matter if you did. I wouldn’t claim my lightness skill is the best in the world, but it’s easily in the top three.”

At that, Qi Kang stood and walked over, his face etched with reluctance. “Master… you’re leaving already?”

Looking at the young man he had brought to Shengtian, Li Qing felt a pang of something he couldn’t name. He sighed. “I understand what you want. Your heart is set on practicing martial arts and making a name for yourself in the world.”

“Every man must choose his own path. I won’t try to dissuade you. But if you ever grow tired of it all… if you ever want to come back to the forge… the door will always be open.”

With that, Li Qing solemnly clapped a hand on Qi Kang’s still-slender shoulder, then turned to leave.

“Master…”

Qi Kang watched the man who had taught him the blacksmith’s trade walk away so decisively, and tears began to well in his eyes.

Li Qing didn’t see it. As he walked out of the tomb, he was already muttering to himself.

“Insisting on this martial arts nonsense… A quiet forge is so much better. Simple, peaceful…”

“Youth,” he sighed. “They just never listen.”