Chapter 95: Sword
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
Qin Mu's hair finally stopped growing and reached his waist. He took out a band to tie up his hair and went come up to the furnace with a grave expression.
Granny Si frowned, "Mute, you could already smelt Winter Iron Essence at Spirit Embryo Realm?"
Mute nodded his head.
Granny Si spat angrily, "You freak!"
Apothecary, Blind and the rest all nodded their heads in deep agreement and said in unison, "Freak! Mute, you're really a freak!"
Mute was immensely proud of himself and was grinning from ear to ear.
Winter Iron Essence was way better than Winter Crystal Iron as it was the essence which was extracted out from Winter Crystal Iron. Winter Crystal Iron could be smelted by the furnace fire and be forged into a weapon but the cold air from Winter Iron Essence could instantly extinguish the furnace fire and was extremely hard to smelt.
Throwing two Winter Iron Essences to Qin Mu, Mute clearly wanted him to smelt these two Winter Iron Essences and weld the two pieces into one before forging it into a weapon!
If Qin Mu could complete this, he would pass his test.
Qin Mu's vital qi circulated and turned into Vermilion Bird Vital Qi. With flames igniting on his palm, he put his hand into the furnace and his other hand started to work on the bellows as he attempted to raise the flames in the furnace to ignite the carbon.
However, when he palm entered the furnace, he immediately felt the oppressing cold air and the flames on his hand almost extinguished. Even the Vermilion Bird Vital Qi looked like it was going to freeze!
Mute was pleased with himself and signaled to Deaf who asked, "You mean that igniting the furnace is one of the tests and requires skill? This involves the marvel of smithing and can't be ignited by brute force?"
Mute was full of smiles when he suddenly heard a poof as the flames within the furnace burst forth. The carbons were forcibly ignited by Qin Mu's incomparably violent Vermillion Bird Vital Qi and overwhelmed the cold air from the Winter Iron Essences.
Deaf looked at Mute in sympathy, "Not being able to light the fire with brute force just clearly means that your cultivation at Spirit Embryo Realm is still lacking. What Mu'er has is enough brute force, therefore, he is able to light the fire without any skills."
Mute signaled angrily and Deaf smiled, "You sly fox. The furnace fire from the carbon isn't strong enough to smelt the Winter Iron Essences, so it turns out you still have another trick up your sleeve."
Qin Mu lighted up the furnace fire and immediately roused his vital qi to push the furnace fire to its maximum. However, the Winter Iron Essences just wouldn't smelt or even turn red from the heat.
Qin Mu frowned. Suddenly his two hands went into the furnace and grabbed the two Winter Iron Essences and used Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. His spirit embryo also started to become berserk and the vital qi outside the spirit embryo was like a huge fire furnace as it pushed the Vermilion Bird Vital Qi to its limits!
The Winter Iron Essences in his hands gradually turned red hot and not long after, molten iron actually started dripping down.
Qin Mu let the molten iron dripped into the sluice and the two pieces of Winter Iron Essences melted faster and faster. Not long later, the Winter Iron Essences had all melted and the molten iron had dissolved together.
Deaf looked at Mute who was dumbfounded, "What are you trying to test him again?"
Mute was disappointed. His original intention was to test Qin Mu's smithing ability.
To smelt Winter Iron Essence, one must first ignite the stove, however, the heat from the stove isn't able to smelt Winter Iron Essence. But as long as one's cultivation is dense enough, he can still use Vermilion Bird Vital Qi to soften the Winter Iron Essence.
In his envisage, Qin Mu would soften these two Winter Iron Essence and hit them repeatedly with the hammer to weld them together before forging it into a weapon. However, he didn't expect Qin Mu's vital qi to be vigorous beyond belief and he directly melted the two Winter Iron Essences with his vital qi!
His aim was to test his skills but Qin Mu managed to do it as well by using his brute force to overwhelm the skills needed. Furthermore, it was even simpler, making Mute having nothing to say.
The clanging sound of the metal striking sounded out as Qin Mu swung his big iron hammer, shooting off sparks in all directions. Every strike contained vigorous vital qi while he used Vermilion Bird Vital Qi to soften and Black Tortoise Vital Qi to cool it down as he tempered it by hitting.
He hammered it countless times and gradually a Pig Slaughtering Knife was formed.
Mute inspected it and nodded his head weakly. Qin Mu had passed this test.
Forging it into a knife, Qin Mu tested its sharpness and was very satisfied. He finally had a weapon forged by himself.
Blind smiled, "Mu'er, don't test out your knife first, you've yet to pass my test. This time we'll compete in reciting poems."
Qin Mu's face turned white as he mumbled, "Grandpa Blind, I'll definitely not win you…"
Deaf plucked out both of his ears with a pop which meant that he was not going to listen. Granny Si and the rest also had faces of disdain as they said, "Blind, change it to something else!"
Blind scratched his head but he couldn't reject everyone, "Then let us compete in spear skills. To gather qi as spear!"
Throwing away his bamboo cane, his five fingers opened up and his Black Tortoise Vital Qi instantly transformed into flowing water as a water dragon spear appeared on his hand.
Qin Mu's vital qi burst forth and a fire dragon spear appeared. Both of them moved and the huge spears in their hands continuously vibrated just like poisonous dragons waiting for their chances to pounce out from the abyss.
The two of them circled each other continuously but the water dragon spear and the fire dragon had never touched each other.
Qin Mu awakened his Heaven's Eyes and his gaze landed on Blind to look for a mistake but he could never find it. Blind may be blind but he didn't show any mistake.
"No mistake then I shall create one!"
Circling each other for quite some time, Qin Mu suddenly gave a stomp and the ground sank as a huge hole was stomped out by him. The vibrations on the ground made Blind's footing unstable.
Whoosh—
The fire dragon spear in his hands stabbed out but Blind gave a smile instead. His water dragon spear was unleashed later but arrived first as he stabbed towards Qin Mu. Even though Qin Mu had stabbed first, Blind's spear was quicker than Qin Mu as it stabbed toward his chest!
Qin Mu gave a smile as water splashed around on his chest when a whirlpool appeared and blocked Blind's spear. The water dragon spear on Blind's hands immediately burst apart and he flew backward from the blast. The long spear in Qin Mu's hands burst forth dramatically and turned into a fire dragon as it stabbed on Blind's chest.
Landing on the ground with a flip, Blind staggered and immediately awakened the divine treasures he had sealed to regain his footing. He shouted angrily, "You're cheating, using two types of vital qi at the same time! You have already lost in terms of skill. You only rely on your Overlord Body Vital Qi to bully me!"
Qin Mu mumbled, "Grandpa Blind, do you want to redo it?"
Blind's anger turned into joy as he said, "Isn't Overlord Body meant for bullying others? This is your strength, therefore, you have passed my test. Granny, it's your turn."
Granny Si looked at Qin Mu who had just won with a complicated gaze, "Mu'er, to me, you had already passed my test. When you had fought through the three hundred and sixty rooms, you had already passed."
Qin Mu was slightly stunned, "Granny?"
"Which child wouldn't leave their home one day?"
Granny Si spoke in a low voice, "When they grow up, they'll all have to leave. I can't keep you by my side forever. These old geezers have already let you pass their tests and it would be selfish of me to not to…" She carried her basket and went back to her room, closing the door.
Qin Mu was stumped for words.
Village Chief gave a cough to make him regain his senses and said, "Mu'er, if you pass my test, you'll be able to leave Disabled Elderly Village, to leave Great Ruins and go to the outside world for an experience."
Qin Mu turned around and replied, "Village Chief, please advise me."
Village Chief smiled, "What us old geezers taught you are all abilities for you to survive in this world. Old Ma taught you strength and dignity. Butcher taught you courage and fearless. Deaf taught you art and elegance. Cripple taught you to run for your life and craftiness. Blind taught you to see through facades and see the truth. Apothecary taught you how to concoct medicine and save lives. Granny taught you wisdom and kindness. Mute taught you flexibility and calmness. And what I can teach you is a ruler, to use your conscience as a ruler to measure good and evil. Raise your sword."
Qin Mu took out Junior Protector Sword and raised it in front of him. The back of the sword had separated the blade of the sword into two sides. One side reflected Qin Mu's face and the other side also reflected Qin Mu's face.
"There are four sides of a sword. The side that is facing you is your heart and one side is good and the other side is evil."
Village Chief continued serenely, "The side that faces your enemy is your enemy's conscience. One side is good and the other side is evil. The sword is your ruler which is used to measure good and evil. It is used to measure yours as well as your enemy's. Sword skill is used to measure your enemy's good and evil as well as yours. I shall impart the first form of my sword skill. Once you learn it, it will be considered as a pass and you'll be able to leave the village."
Qin Mu became excited. Village Chief was finally imparting sword moves to him!
The hearts of Old Ma, Blind and the rest jolted slightly as they looked at Village Chief. Granny Si also pushed open the room door and looked over.
Village Chief finally was going to impart sword skills to Qin Mu. This may be a small matter in the eyes of other people but in their eyes, it was an incredibly big event.
Especially to Apothecary as he knew the meaning hidden in the sword skill Village Chief was going to impart to Qin Mu.
Village Chief's sword skill wasn't merely an inheritance and was more of a responsibility!
Learning Village Chief's sword skills meant that he had to take on the responsibility that even Village Chief couldn't complete.
Apothecary whispered, "Village Chief, do you think he could take on that burden?"
Village Chief smiled, "I can't doesn't mean that he can't either. Devil Cult Patriarch is old and has seven years left to live. I'm also old and would only die a few years later than him. It's time to leave behind my legacy."
Stirring up his spirit, he told Qin Mu, "My sword skill is called Sword Pictures and the first form of Sword Pictures is called Sword Treading Mountains And Rivers."