Chapter 4: Refining Equipment

  Ye's residence, Martial Arts Hall.

  Ye Nan Tian lifted a thousand-jin boulder with one hand and laughed loudly: "Is this enough?"

  Yeyang, dressed in a tight-fitting green robe, nodded and held up an iron sword, smiling: "Come on, old man!"

  "Good!"

  Ye Nantian let out a loud roar and suddenly threw the giant boulder flying, that stone shooting star-like towards Ye Yang's direction.

  "Shasha..."

  Ye Yang took a half step back, his body slightly sinking down, the iron sword in his hand emitting a "humming" sound, just as Ye Yang was pouring in a large amount of Fire God's power. At the critical moment, Ye Yang raised an eyebrow, and with a swift and powerful swing of his sword, a fiery red sword aura shot towards the giant stone!

  "Crack!"

  One sword, two segments, this Wind Slashing Technique is indeed extraordinary!

  Ye Nan Tian looked at the two huge rocks on the ground and couldn't help but laugh loudly: "Very good, Zi Yu, your strength has increased again! However, your grasp of force is still a bit off, the cut marks on this rock are too uneven!"

  Ye Yang smiled faintly and said, "Old dad, try again, how is it?"

  "Good!"

  Ye Nan Tian lifted up a huge boulder again and said: "Here it comes!"

  Ye Yang held the iron sword, his head held high and his strides wide, his entire being filled with confidence. Waves of Fire God's aura swirled around him, as if he was a young man who had stepped into fire. His left hand opened in a single palm, which was the prelude to using the Wall of Deflection!

  "Hmm, what's wrong with the wall?"

  Ye Nan Tian furrowed his brow, unsure what Ye Yang was thinking, but he quickly threw out a huge stone. He knew that with Ye Yang's current cultivation level, one stone wouldn't be able to hurt him anymore.

  "Boom!"

  A massive boulder hurtled towards Ye Yang, and in the blink of an eye, he reacted by leaping into the air and kicking the boulder with a single foot, using his soft power to send it flying back.

  That stone had yet to fly out when it collided with a wall of fierce flames in mid-air, and Ye Yang's swift-as-lightning slash struck again!

  "Boom!"

  In an instant, the boulder was reduced to powder under the sword's energy and scattered in mid-air, shrouded in smoke.

  ……

  Ye Nantian stood there in a daze, as if he didn't dare to believe everything he saw before his eyes. This Qinggang stone was taken from the depths of the mountains and was incredibly hard, with even third-level or lower powerhouses unable to leave a scratch on it. Yet under Ye Yang's one sword strike, this incredibly hard Qinggang stone had been completely split apart. What kind of strength was this?

  "Son, you...you've reached the strength of a 4th rank cultivator?"

  "No."

  Ye Yang smiled faintly, and in his heart, he understood that absolute power was not something he could achieve on his own. He had merely pushed the aura to three meters outside of his body, forming an aura wall, which then pressed down from behind, combining with the Wind Slashing Technique's frontal assault, and the powerful tearing force from both inside and out, ultimately shattering a whole piece of Qinggang stone into powder.

  Ye Nan Tian said: "This move, shouldn't be Zhan Feng Jue, what exactly is it?"

  Ye Yang smiled and spat out four words: "Cut off the void and chop wood!"

  That's right, Duan Kong Jian Mu, this is the name that Ye Yang came up with for his new move. Probably, on this continent, no one has ever used the Lian Huan Jian and Jian Feng Jue like this before, so Duan Kong Jian Mu is Ye Yang's unique skill!

  In theory, both the Wall of Fury and the Wind Slashing Technique are low-level techniques of the Yellow Rank, with extremely weak destructive power and defensive capabilities. However, when combined, their power increases greatly, at least reaching the level of a Mystic Rank technique!

  ……

  In the evening, a robust middle-aged man entered the hall.

  "Big brother, the refinery has been quite busy lately. Shall we let Zi Yu go and gain some experience?" The middle-aged man said respectfully to Ye Nan Tian. He was none other than Ye Nan Tian's own younger brother, Ye Bei Chi.

  The Ye family's greatest asset in Liangcheng is the smelting workshop, the largest weapon smelting workshop in all of Liangcheng.

  Ye Nan Tian glanced at his son beside him and said, "Zi Yu, you're already an adult, it's time for you to learn the art of refining equipment. Otherwise, our Ye family's refining lineage might be cut off. In any case, the refinery will eventually be passed down to you, so it's better if you go familiarize yourself with it early on."

  Ye Yang calmly nodded and said: "Good."

  After dinner, followed Ye Beichu to the Ye family's smelting workshop, which was a underground type of workshop, just below the Wu Feng Workshop, it can be said that it is very secretive.

  Entering the smelting workshop, a wave of heat rushed towards me. Before my eyes were groups of ironworkers wielding their hammers, sweat flowing down their powerful muscles as they struck with all their might, each blow shaking my heart!

  "Zi Yu, this is the Refinery!"

  Ye Beicheng pointed to the huge furnace in the center of the smelting workshop and smiled: "Three thousand years ago, our ancestors, the great Fire God Warriors and Refining Masters, refined the battle-axe Yao Yang here, which was praised as one of the few divine craftsmen on the mainland. However, over the past few thousand years, the refining technique has been lost for a long time. Now we can only know some superficial knowledge. Of course, this is enough. With just these superficial skills, the weapons refined by our Ye family are also among the best in Jianghu!"

  Saying that, Ye Beicheng couldn't help but smile proudly: "The current emperor, Qin Huang Yi Zheng's weapon of choice is actually the Broken Magic Sword forged by my father, your grandfather, who exhausted his life's energy to create it. It's an extremely powerful sword, the vanguard sword that opened up the great Qin Empire, haha!"

  Ye Yang nodded: "Uncle, what secrets does this equipment refining technique hold? Can I still learn it with my current qualifications?"

  Ye Bei Chi burst out laughing and patted Ye Yang's shoulder intimately: "Of course! If you want to talk about the secrets of equipment refinement, it's all about controlling the smelting of metals and the fire timing. And our Huo Shen clan is well-versed in the true energy of the Fire God. I ask you, who else in the world can surpass us in equipment refinement?"

  "Uncle, teach me the art of refining equipment right away! Look at me now, I don't even have a decent weapon in hand, all I have is a pair of fists, this won't do!"

  "Haha!"

  Ye Beicheng, this burly man with a thick beard, laughed heartily and said: "No problem, as long as you're willing to suffer, I'll teach you everything I know!"

  "Good!"

  ……

  Ye Bei Chi strode over to a furnace and said to the blacksmith, "You go find another furnace, today I'm using this one."

  "Yes, sir!" The blacksmith walked away respectfully.

  Ye Beicheng smiled slightly and turned to Ye Yang, saying: "The secret of refining equipment lies in the choice of fire and materials. On this continent, the materials suitable for smelting are divided into metals and rare stones. The materials don't need to be mentioned, they can be found in various mines, the rarer the mineral, the more valuable it is. What we need to master is the choice of fire!"

  As he spoke, Ye Beicheng raised one hand and the Fire God's true energy transformed into a stream of fire that poured into the furnace, infusing it with the power of the Fire God to raise its temperature.

  "Remember, the purer your Flame God's power is, the more refined the materials you refine will be. The Flame God's power I cultivate is only an ordinary Flame God's decree, but my ancestors' Flame God's power was a deeper and more profound martial art, so they were able to forge extraordinary treasures like War Axe Yao Yang, which I am not capable of doing."

  Ye Yang couldn't help but ask: "Is there a difference in Fire God's power too?"

  "Of course!"

  Ye Beichi nodded, smiling: "I don't know much either, I just know that the higher the level of fire god power, the more pure the material will be. Today, I'll first teach you how to grasp the power of fire god to control the temperature in the furnace, and then you can choose your own mold to forge your own sword!"

  "Good!"

  Ye Yang was extremely excited to have arrived in this world filled with martial arts and killings, having a sword of his own was really important, while the Hua Tian Sword on his back didn't seem quite right, its blade had already rusted, probably not even able to kill a chicken.

  This whole night, Ye Beicheng and Ye Yang didn't rest at all. Ye Yang studied diligently, while Ye Beicheng was secretly delighted. This nephew had always been idle and untalented, but now he voluntarily asked to learn the art of refining equipment. This was simply a huge joyous event.

  The next day, Ye Yang refined the fine iron for a whole night, and the Fire God's true energy in his body was consumed by 77-88. No wonder the blacksmiths in the Ye family's smeltery would rest for ten days to half a month after refining a single blade!

  "Hsss... hsss..."

  In the crucible, the fiery molten lava flowed slowly under Ye Yang's control of Huo Yan's divine power, like a fire snake escaping in all directions, yet unable to escape Ye Yang's invisible palms.

  "Let go of the mold, Zi Yu!" Ye Beicheng reminded him from the side.

  Ye Yang nodded and quickly selected a medium-sized sword mold, placing it into the pool. He slowly poured in the molten metal, and after a while, this set of procedures was considered complete.

  Next step, cool down!

  After the cold water was poured into the mold, there was a loud "bang" sound, and the mold burst open. Ye Yang was overjoyed, reached into the pool and pulled out a shining sharp sword!

  Although the hilt was not yet decorated, it did not affect the overall killing intent of the sword. The blade's edge sparkled like a bright moon, causing Ye Yang to secretly admire it. The Fire God clan's forging technique was indeed extraordinary. Normally, repeated hammering and shaping were needed to make the blade smooth and even, but under the control of the Fire God's true energy, it automatically condensed into a sharp blade, and its light was exceptionally uniform!

  "Haha, Zi Yu's first work is out!"

  Ye Beicheng burst out laughing and then shouted loudly: "Appraiser, come over and take a look at this sword. What grade does it belong to?"

  An old man with white hair walked out of the small wooden house, gave Ye Beiqiu a distant bow, then took the sharp sword from Ye Yang's hand, looked at it and shook his head, saying: "It's not even decent, can only be used as a killing tool for soldiers on the battlefield, not even worthy of being considered a ninth-grade sword!"

  "Oh?" Ye Beicheng laughed: "Even so, Zi Yu's first attempt at refining a weapon was able to produce such a sharp blade, it already shows that he is talented and intelligent. He is much stronger than my useless son Ye Shuang, who only managed to refine a piece of scrap iron suitable for making a hoe on his first try, haha!"

  Ye Yang looked slightly embarrassed and smiled: "Uncle, are weapons also divided into grades?"

  "Hmm!"

  Ye Beicheng smiled and said, "Ordinary weapons are not worth mentioning, but those crafted by famous masters are different. From the lowest 9th rank to the highest 1st rank, our family's battle axe, Yao Yang, is a 3rd rank blade, which can be called a divine artifact! In Liang City, there are two major auction houses and three major weapon catalogs, all of which have experienced appraisers."

  Saying that, Ye Beicheng patted Ye Yang's shoulder and said: "Ziyu, when you think your crafted weapons are good enough, you can take them to the auction house for appraisal. Once they're graded, even a 9th-grade sword can sell for dozens of taels of silver, which is enough for an ordinary family's expenses for ten years."

  Ye Yang nodded, his heart filled with hope. It seemed that this equipment refinement technique was not only a way to strengthen oneself, but also a good way to make money!

  Farewell to Ye Bei Chi, although excited and thrilled in his heart, he couldn't overcome the fatigue of a sleepless night. As soon as he returned home, Ye Yang fell asleep soundly.

  Highly recommended: