Chapter 17: Weapon Refining Disciple
Luo San was also a straightforward person. He said, "Okay, from now on I'll call you by your name. You're an inner disciple, and I can't bear to have you call me Senior Brother. You can just call me Luo San." Shi Feng hurriedly said, "How can this be allowed!"
"Then call me Manager Luo."
"Okay!" Shi Feng nodded.
Luo San said, "Shi Feng, have you ever been exposed to weapon refining before?" Shi Feng shook his head. "I'm just a mortal from the mortal world. I've only been in the mountains for six or seven days. I don't know anything." Luo San said, "That's okay. It's the same for all new disciples. Although you're less than fourteen years old, you're strong and tall. You're quite suitable for our weapon refining hall."
As he spoke, he called out, "Go get Lao Guo." Someone answered, and soon after, a fifty-year-old man with a goatee came in. Luo San said, "This is our new disciple, Shi Feng. Lao Guo, please take him in."
Old Guo nodded and took Shi Feng away. They passed through several gates and arrived at an open field. A dozen disciples were busy working on the field. Old Guo said in a hoarse voice, "You're new here, so start by identifying the materials. Here are the refining materials sent from all over the sect. Come here."
As he spoke, he came to the largest pile of black and red dirt and said, "This is the iron essence most commonly used in refining tools. Iron essence is completely different from ordinary iron. It must be immersed in the golden spiritual energy underground for more than a hundred years to produce iron essence. This iron essence is often accompanied by sulfur copper powder, so it is black and red in color. The sulfur copper powder needs to be removed and purified before the iron essence can be obtained."
As he walked, he pointed to a pile of seemingly ordinary logs and said, "This is yew from Mantou Mountain in Bingzhou. Yew is as hard as iron, but it's not the yew itself we want, but the purple-winged insects that live in the yew trunks. These insects aren't purple themselves, but have been in the yew for so long that the sap has dyed them purple, making them very difficult to identify. It would be great if we could get three or two purple-winged insects from this five-foot-long yew log."
Old Guo was obviously familiar with many materials. He talked as he walked, saying things like sparrow saliva grass, black rhino horn, nine-bone copper, red stone... Some were plants, some were monster bones and skins, some were minerals, and some were inexplicable things. Shi Feng didn't remember them all after listening.
Old Guo said with a dull expression, "You are a new disciple. No matter what great family you come from, once you enter the sect you are just an ordinary disciple. You should start by identifying the materials. In the next month, there will be materials sent from all over the place. You will be responsible for carrying the materials with others and sorting them into different categories. You will earn two spirit stones a month, but if you make a mistake and I find out once, I will deduct one spirit stone from you. Hehe, if the number deducted is not enough, I will ask your family to send spirit stones to compensate you." He was obviously unaware of Shi Feng's identity as an inner sect disciple.
For the next month, Shi Feng spent his days at the Refining Hall helping to transport and identify materials, working until the evening hour, when he would return to Yuxiu Peak to rest. Evenings, Changqing would occasionally come to explain the Pure Yuan Gong to him. By the end of the month, although Shi Feng had learned many materials, he was still deducted five spirit stones. At the end of the month, not only did he not receive his two spirit stones, but he also gave three of the five spirit stones he had originally received to Guo Lao.
After hearing this, Chang Qing laughed and asked Shi Feng if he wanted him to help him get it back. Shi Feng shook his head and said, "I was wrong in the first place. There's no need. The crystal is of no use to me anyway." Later, Mr. Guo learned that Shi Feng was an inner sect disciple and hurriedly wanted to return the crystal, but Shi Feng refused to take it.
In the second month, Shi Feng had made great progress. He only identified the wrong material once and was finally rewarded with a crystal. Two months later, Chang Qing finished teaching the entire "Pure Yuan Gong". His own cultivation was also at a critical juncture, so he came to see Shi Feng less and less frequently.
Shi Feng felt the daily commute between Sword Forging Valley and Yuxiu Peak was too much of a hassle, so he suggested living in Sword Forging Valley. Chang Qing agreed. There were many houses around Sword Forging Valley, and after all, the work in the Weapon Refining Hall was dirty and tiring, so not many disciples were willing to come. Many were forcibly assigned here, and those with connections had already found someone to transfer to other branches.
...................
In the middle of the night, in a wooden house beside the Sword Casting Valley, Shi Feng sat cross-legged, his hands crossed, supporting his shoulders, his eyes slightly closed, breathing slowly alternately through his left and right nostrils. He had been comprehending the "Pure Yuan Gong" for more than two months, practicing diligently, and finally found a way. At this moment, he practiced the Melting Gold Technique, and between breaths, he felt as if a tiny thread between heaven and earth entered his body. He hurriedly concentrated his mind to store the thread in his sea of qi. Unfortunately, as Chang Qing said, people without spiritual roots have a physique that repels spiritual energy. No matter how many threads are stored in Dantian, they will gradually dissipate after a cup of tea.
However, although spiritual energy could not be transformed for him, through the absorption and dissipation of spiritual energy, his physical body was indeed strengthened to a certain extent, and his spirit was much better. Moreover, because Shi Feng was born with the ability to multitask, he worked during the day while half of his spiritual consciousness rested. At night, he practiced Pure Yuan Gong without feeling overwhelmed. As long as he slept for an hour before dawn, he would immediately feel refreshed.
Two months later, Shi Feng's ability to identify materials was perfect, and he diligently handled them, much to Guo's satisfaction. He then instructed Shi Feng to learn the second step of refining: how to decompose and refine the materials. Because the decomposition and refining process for each material differed greatly, seven out of ten disciples in the Refining Hall performed this task.
The workshop that Lao Guo took Shi Feng to was the one that decomposed and refined iron essence. Iron essence was the main raw material for refining tools, so it had the most manpower.
The refining of iron essence is not simple. First, the ore must be melted to evaporate the sulfur and copper powder mixed in it. This step alone requires melting and cooling three times. The Sword Casting Valley is close to the Burning Heaven Peak. There is a ground fire that has been transformed into a ground fire furnace. Its quality is second only to the Burning Heaven Peak.
The temperature of the underground furnace is much higher than the fire in the mortal world. As soon as Shi Feng walked in, he felt dry mouth and sweat all over his body. He stayed there for half an hour, but he couldn't stand it anymore. He came out and drank half a bucket of water, but he was still dizzy.
Melting the iron essence is only the first step. The next step is to hammer it continuously while it is red hot. The iron essence is also divided into grades. If a pound of iron ore is hammered into nine taels, it is first-grade iron essence, and if it is hammered into eight taels, it is second-grade iron essence... Of course, the one that can be hammered into one tael is the best ninth-grade iron essence.
This is by no means an easy task. The density of the iron essence increases each time it is hammered, and the difficulty of strengthening it will naturally increase greatly. After hammering once, the iron essence cools down and must be put back into the earth furnace to melt again for the second time.
The Equipment Refining Hall requires disciples to submit at least ten pieces of fifth-grade or above iron essence every month, and the reward is five spirit stones. Of course, if higher-grade spirit stones can be submitted, the reward will increase accordingly. If the ninth-grade iron essence is submitted, then one piece can be exchanged for twenty spirit stones.
Because refining iron essence is time-consuming and labor-intensive, the disciples worked in groups. Shi Feng was assigned to a group of four. The oldest was a teenager of eighteen or nineteen, clearly more dressed than the others. He had an arrogant demeanor, worked the least hard, and complained the most. The other three were only a year or two older than Shi Feng. Shi Feng had only been there a day or two, so everyone just nodded in agreement.
As time went by, they gradually became familiar with each other. One day, Shi Feng quietly asked a chubby disciple, "Hey, Xiaopang, who is Gu Mingsi?" The disciple named Xiaopang whispered, "He is a direct descendant of the Gu family, one of the seven great families. The family originally had high hopes for him. Last year, he came to the mountain to participate in the sect assessment, but who knew that he was only a first-level spiritual root, and could not enter the inner gate at all. He was arrogant by nature, and he burst into tears after hearing that his spiritual root test was completed. But he could only enter our outer gate. He originally didn't want to come to the weapon refining hall, but the Gu family was famous for refining weapons among the seven great families. Grandpa Gu still wanted his son to inherit his father's business and forced him to come to the weapon refining hall, so he cursed every day."
Shi Feng said, "I have something very strange. You said that we couldn't last long in the Earth Fire Furnace Room, but how come he seems to be fine? Since he has no spiritual roots, he should also have no magic power."
"Hey, can we compete with this rich young master?" Little Fatty curled his lips. "See, that jade pendant hanging around his waist is called the Leng Yue Zhen Ru Pei. It's a top-grade spiritual weapon that can ward off fire and cold. With this treasure protecting him, he can stay in the underground furnace for a whole day without any problem."
Shi Feng sighed inwardly. It turned out that the world of cultivation was just like the mortal world, divided into rich and poor. He then asked, "This Earth Fire Furnace is so full of fire energy, why aren't you using it to practice fire-based techniques?" The fat boy was stunned. "There's even higher-grade Earth Fire in Burning Heaven Peak, so why are inner disciples practicing here?" He came from a small, impoverished family. Though young, he'd been exposed to the world since childhood and possessed far greater experience than Shi Feng. He continued, "As for us outer disciples, the sect doesn't pass on any techniques to us. Even if you're from aristocratic families, you might have some fire-based techniques at home, but we're here to work. You're so brazenly practicing in here, you'll probably get a good beating from Steward Luo."
Shi Feng stopped talking after hearing this. He had already made up his mind. As an inner disciple, he had a copy of Pure Yuan Gong, which contained the method of absorbing the five elements of true essence. He happened to be good at multitasking, so it didn't matter if he could work and practice at the same time.
That day, after returning to the house, Shi Feng took out the "Pure Yuan Gong" and turned to the "Yan Yang Jue", and studied it carefully. Chang Qing had already talked about this technique before. Shi Feng spent a night and had a rough idea of it.
The next day, Shi Feng melted iron ore in the underground furnace, secretly practicing the Flame Sun Art. Sure enough, a wisp of heat from the surrounding air entered his body with his breath, and the heat instantly subsided. However, the fire energy entered his dantian and then dissipated. Shi Feng had previously tried to absorb gold energy using the "Melting Gold Art." Although it ultimately failed to retain it in his dantian, it at least lasted for a cup of tea. However, this fire energy, however, could not be retained even for a breath. It seemed that his fire essence was even weaker than his gold essence.
However, Shi Feng was already very satisfied. He used Chunyuan Gong to resist the heat, not to practice.
With this method, Shi Feng could stay in the underground furnace room for half a day. And after a short rest, he could stay for another half a day. Everyone was inevitably surprised. After asking around, they learned that this unremarkable young man was actually an inner sect disciple, possessing a magical weapon bestowed upon him by his master. As a result, Gu Mingsi looked at Shi Feng with a touch of jealousy, and Xiaopang looked at him with a touch of awe.
As time went by, everyone knew that Shi Feng also had no spiritual roots and was admitted into the inner sect as an exception, so their respect for him disappeared. In addition, this "inner sect disciple" had no airs at all, so he gradually became one with everyone.
With the help of the "Yan Yang Jue" and his ability to multitask, Shi Feng's iron refining speed increased dramatically, yielding thirty kilograms of fifth-grade iron essence in the first month. Shi Feng had always been very stubborn, and from the second month on, he was no longer satisfied with fifth-grade iron essence, but instead tried to refine higher-grade iron essence.
The higher the quality of the iron, the longer it takes. Shi Feng hammered a ten-jin iron into five-jin, which was already fifth-grade iron, but he did not hand it in. Instead, he continued to hammer it, four-jin, three-jin, two-jin... Shi Feng was still hammering.
The other four disciples in the same team were stunned. A month had already passed, and Shi Feng hadn't submitted any iron essence this month, so naturally he hadn't received any reward. Fatty couldn't help but ask, "Shi Feng, what are you doing?" Shi Feng smiled and said, "I'm trying to see if I can refine a piece of ninth-grade iron essence." Gu Mingsi muttered, "You're crazy!"
As a result, after spending nearly a month, Shi Feng really refined a piece of ninth-grade iron essence. General Manager Luo San was very impressed and praised Shi Feng in public.
After Manager Luo left, Gu Mingsi muttered to himself, "I could easily get thirty pieces of fifth-grade iron essence in a month, which would give me 15 spirit stones. Two months would give me 30 spirit stones. Instead, I spent two months and only got one piece of ninth-grade iron essence, which gave me 20 spirit stones. I wasted time and lost money. I'm really out of my mind..."
However, to Gu Mingsi's disbelief, Shi Fengke seemed to have lost his mind and continued to refine Ninth Grade Iron Essence. This time, Shi Fengke only took a month to refine one Ninth Grade Iron Essence block, obtaining 20 crystals, while the disciples only managed 20 to 30 Fifth Grade Iron Essence blocks, and the most they got was 15 crystals. As for Gu Mingsi, he had always been lazy and couldn't even refine ten Fifth Grade Iron Essence blocks.
The rules of the Refining Hall stated that anyone who paid less than ten pieces of fifth-grade iron essence would not be paid, even if they refined nine pieces. Gu Mingsi came from a wealthy family, so he naturally had no desire for the five crystals. However, he often failed to pay the required amount each month, which inevitably led to the scolding of Manager Luo, which was embarrassing.
That night, Shi Feng was meditating and resting in his room when he heard someone outside say, "Brother Shi, Brother Shi, are you asleep?" It was Gu Mingsi's voice. Shi Feng stood up and said, "Is that Brother Gu? Please come in." He took out a moonstone from the drawer, and the whole room was instantly illuminated.
When he first started, he was a fool who knew nothing. He couldn't find any oil lamps or candles, so he would just go to bed when it got dark. Later, he learned that monks all used moonstone for lighting, which was much brighter than candles and very convenient.