The Xu Family was precarious; losing the Forging Workshops would cause their status to plummet, reducing them to a second-tier Family, and they would quickly be swallowed by the other three Families.
Xu Yilin had shown him great kindness, and as the Xu Family's son-in-law, he couldn't just stand by.
Cultivating Master Refiners through ordinary methods was too slow; by the time the Xu Family recovered, they would have long been wiped out.
Once market share was lost, trying to reclaim it would be as difficult as ascending to Heaven.
"Brother-in-law, are you joking? I dream of becoming a Master Refiner."
Business was bad, and all the Refiners were resting, including the apprentices. Only Hu Shi insisted on coming every day. Just this dedication was worth Liu Wuxie's cultivation.
"Now there's an opportunity in front of you. I can help you become a generation's Master Refiner."
Liu Wuxie couldn't stay in Canglan City forever; the Lingyun Immortal Realm was his goal.
"Brother-in-law, stop teasing me. What do you want to Refine? I'll help you."
Hu Shi took it as a joke. The last time Liu Wuxie came, he caused the Forging Workshops to be unable to open for several days. How could he dare let him Refine weapons again?
Liu Wuxie didn't force him. In everyone's eyes, he had always been a good-for-nothing. If it were someone else, they probably wouldn't believe him either. Action was the best proof.
"Hu Shi, control the fire!"
Suddenly, Liu Wuxie's body gained an indescribable Aura; his eyes became incredibly firm. He took out a piece of meteorite iron and threw it into the furnace.
Hu Shi didn't dare to be slow. He pumped the bellows with his right hand. The black Ore inside the furnace emitted a scorching firelight. The temperature was extremely high, so he had to take off his outer garment.
To Refine a weapon, one must first melt the meteorite iron, pour it into a mold, and then forge it.
Refining is divided into three stages. The lowest level is called Ten Refinements, for some ordinary Qi, with rough manufacturing, such as hoes, plows, and other common civil tools.
The second type is Hundred Refinements, which is more difficult. Thousand tempering and hundred refining means this. The weapons forged are incredibly sharp and their toughness is far higher than Ten Refinements. The requirements for meteorite iron are also extremely high.
The most difficult is Thousand Refinements. In the entire Canglan City, not a single Refiner can achieve the Thousand Refinement technique.
After Hundred Refinements, the fine iron takes shape. It is very difficult to melt it again. Even if it is successfully melted, after pouring it into the mold, the hardness increases, and ordinary people cannot temper it, making it impossible to forge the desired shape.
Most of the weapons on the market remain at the Hundred Refinement stage; this is a watershed.
The Xu Family has a unique method of Refining. Ordinary Hundred Refinement weapons can be made sharper, which is the main reason why the Xu Family's weapons have always sold well.
Liu Wuxie also didn't care for ordinary Hundred Refinement weapons. If he was doing it himself, of course, he had to forge the best long saber.
Melting the meteorite iron would take some time. Liu Wuxie walked to the molds. Most of them were for sabers and swords, not the shape he wanted. He needed to carve a new mold himself.
He took out his tools and, following the design he had drawn in his mind beforehand, spent an incense stick's worth of time carving a mold for a long saber. At this time, the meteorite iron in the furnace had mostly melted. The red molten iron splashed some iron juice, which landed on the edge of the furnace and on Hu Shi's arm. Many burns were caused by this iron juice.
"Brother-in-law, there's too much of this meteorite iron. It's enough to forge three long sabers."
He had long heard that Liu Wuxie was a notorious spendthrift. Seeing it today, it was indeed true. Melting so much meteorite iron made Hu Shi's heart ache for a while; it was more than enough to forge three weapons.
"You don't understand this. You need to record the entire process of my Refining. It will help you in the future."
He poured all the molten iron into the mold and put it in cold water. It quickly cooled down and was placed on a bull horn anvil. Liu Wuxie was bare-chested. After being soaked in the Body Tempering liquid, his physical strength was immense. He held a hundred-jin heavy hammer, and Hu Shi held a ten-jin small hammer.
"Da da da..."
One person at a time, they continuously hammered the unformed blade.
After hammering a hundred times, the blade was put back into the furnace to continue calcining, kneading, pulled out, and hammered again.
Repeatedly, Hu Shi went from initial disbelief to shock and numbness. He could no longer describe his feelings at this moment. Who did the brother-in-law learn his Refining technique from?
Half an hour passed...
An hour passed...
Liu Wuxie was tireless. The blade, which was over a meter long, had been compressed to about half a meter, and its precision had increased tenfold.
"Brother-in-law, we can't continue hammering. We've already exceeded Hundred Refinements. If we continue like this, the blade won't take shape and will definitely be scrapped."
Hu Shi's heart ached for those few pieces of good meteorite iron. Wasting them was too regrettable. They had already exceeded Hundred Refinements, and continuing to hammer was of little significance.
The Xu Family was a famous Refining Family. They had also been trying over the years to see if they could make new Breakthroughs after exceeding Hundred Refinements, but they had all failed.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing!"
He threw the semi-finished blade back into the furnace. Hu Shi had no choice but to pump the bellows. There was no open flame, but the black Ore could still make a hissing sound, and the blade turned red again.
"Hu Shi, eat this."
The next step was the most important. After continuously hammering for an hour, Hu Shi's physical strength was severely depleted.
He took out a Heavenly Spirit Pill and told him to swallow it. He couldn't stop for a moment; a slight mistake would render all the previous efforts futile.
"This... what kind of Dan is this? Such a rich aroma."
How could Hu Shi afford such a high-level Dan? A look of surprise appeared on his face. He couldn't quite understand the brother-in-law in front of him.
"Just eat it."
Liu Wuxie also took out one and ate it in one gulp. His depleted True Qi instantly recovered, and his strength was abundant, with a vague tendency to break through Afterheaven Sixth Level. This was a good sign.
His True Qi was constantly being depleted, and after being compressed, its purity was continuously increasing. Liu Wuxie was reluctant to break through his Realm, wanting to squeeze out all the potential of this body.
After eating the Heavenly Spirit Pill in one gulp, Hu Shi's body felt as if it was bathed in soft sunlight. He felt comfortable all over, and his body made cracking sounds, breaking through to Afterheaven Sixth Level. This made him overjoyed. A small Dan had shortened his months of hard work.
He had been stuck at Afterheaven Fifth Level for a long time and had never had the chance. It was a natural progression; without the Heavenly Spirit Pill, he would have broken through in at most one or two days.
"Thank you, Brother-in-law!"
Hu Shi bowed. He almost knelt down. His respect for him just now was due to the master-servant relationship, but this time it was from the bottom of his heart.
"Next, we need to forge continuously for an incense stick's worth of time, without stopping for a moment. I was worried that your physical strength wouldn't keep up, but breaking through to Afterheaven Sixth Level gives us a better chance."
After explaining to Hu Shi, forging a Thousand Refinement weapon in the Afterheaven Realm was very difficult. Liu Wuxie planned to engrave spirit patterns to infuse the weapon with spirituality, which was the most crucial part.
Afterheaven Realm uses mostly ordinary Hundred Refinement weapons. Upon reaching the Xian Tian Realm, True Qi surges, and ordinary Qi cannot carry too much True Qi. Spirit Qi is needed to support it. No one in Canglan City can Refine Spirit Qi; only the Di Du City has Refiners who can do it.
Each piece of Spirit Qi is worth a lot; there are no more than five pieces of Spirit Qi in the entire Canglan City.
The blade turned deep red. Liu Wuxie quickly pulled it out, holding a carving knife, and carved strange patterns on the blade. Hu Shi was completely stunned.
At this moment, Liu Wuxie seemed to be possessed by a God. Every movement was fluid, every time the knife fell, a lifelike mark was left on the blade. The unformed long saber emitted a faint spirituality.
As a Refiner's apprentice, he certainly knew the importance of spirituality. Being able to Refine a weapon with spirituality was enough to sweep across the entire Canglan City.
Hu Shi had the urge to worship. His right hand trembled, and the hammer in his hand almost fell and hit his foot.
"Start!"
At Afterheaven Fifth Level, True Qi was limited. Liu Wuxie could engrave at most ten spirit patterns, which was the limit. To reach the level of Spirit Qi, he needed to engrave a hundred spirit patterns. His Realm was too low to support it to the end, so he had to stop.
Hu Shi's hammer in his hand slammed down hard. A powerful counterforce almost sent the hammer flying out of his hand. After being blessed with spirit patterns, the semi-finished blade seemed to have become countless times harder.
Liu Wuxie's hundred-jin heavy hammer in his hand slammed down hard, and sparks flew everywhere. Hu Shi quickly composed himself, not daring to think too much, and devoted himself wholeheartedly to Refining.
This was the best weapon he had ever Refined so far. If he succeeded, his Refining technique would be a qualitative leap, and he might even become a Master Refiner.
Da da da...
A series of dense sounds echoed in the Refining room. No one noticed here.
Liu Wuxie's long saber was at a critical juncture. A group of uninvited guests arrived at the Forging Workshops, a group of people with menacing Auras.
"Call out your Steward. Your Xu Family actually sold us inferior weapons, causing several of our brothers to die in the Mountain Range. If your Xu Family doesn't give us an explanation today, we'll smash the Forging Workshops."
There were ten people in total, all fierce and evil-looking. Each of them was not weak in strength, all at Afterheaven Eighth Level. They should be a certain mercenary group in Canglan City.
They constantly walked the edge of life and death, entering the Mountain Range to hunt Demon Beasts and obtain inner Dans to earn gold coins. Thirty percent of the Xu Family's weapons were sold to these mercenary groups, and their weapon consumption was huge.
"I am the Steward here. How can I help you?"
Dong Changliang stood up and quickly went to meet them. The other servants also got up, opening their sleepy eyes.
"What kind of thing are you? Let the one who calls the shots in your Xu Family come and talk."
He slapped Dong Changliang across the face without hesitation, sending him flying into the counter, where he spat out a large mouthful of blood. Half of his face was swollen. This group of people was too overbearing, injuring people as soon as they arrived.