Chapter 4: Airflow?

  In the following days, Man Tian still sank into his work every day, sinking into his own skeleton to the point of neglecting sleep and forgetting to eat. Even when Man Gong appeared behind him several times, he was unaware of it.

  The words on the beast's skin are limited, and only open a vague and illusory door for the barbarian sky. Whether or not to step through this door and feel the flow of energy in one's bones depends on the barbarian sky's own enlightenment.

  With each swing of the iron hammer, Mantian's emaciated body gradually couldn't withstand it, but Mantian didn't stop at all. He wanted to dig out the limit of his bones. Perhaps only after the power of his bones reached its limit could he feel the airflow on the beast skin.

  He didn't know how many hammer swings he had made, but he only felt his right hand gradually becoming numb, his back aching, and his legs starting to tremble. The prolonged exhaustion of his physical strength had already made him unable to bear it, yet he still hadn't felt the flow of energy in his bones. He felt that his skeleton was about to reach its limit, and his right hand's iron hammer seemed to weigh tens of thousands of kilograms, as if it would slip out of his grasp at any moment.

  He was almost skin and bones, with every movement powered by his skeleton.

  "Skeletal Flow! I don't believe you can't feel it!" Mantian growled, swinging his iron hammer with all his might. At this moment, the skeleton had already exhausted its strength, but under Mantian's unyielding willpower, his entire body transcended its limits and lifted the hammer high, bringing it down with ferocity.

  One hammer blow after another, the withered body shook violently with each strike, its limbs and joints almost disintegrating from the wild movement. The originally pale face turned even whiter, eyes filled with bloodshot redness, and sweat poured down like rain!!

  Under the will as hard as iron, Mo Tian still slowly raised his arm and swung down the iron hammer, while his mind was still feeling the bones all over his body, feeling the inexplicable airflow in the bones.

  When the barbaric skeleton can no longer produce any power, the whole person goes limp, even if his will is as firm as a rock, but his skeleton has reached its limit and cannot exert any strength.

  In the blood-red eyes of the barbarian lying on the ground, there was a deep sense of unwillingness. He wanted to get up, he wanted to continue wielding his iron hammer, but he didn't even have the strength to move. The barbarian lay on the ground, with his father's words echoing in his ears, his expression gradually becoming dazed, and a miserable smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. All that could be heard was his muttering: "Big brother, even if we don't have the blood of the tribal god, we are still Father's pride."

  Barbarian Tian still remembered that once when his father was drunk, he boasted that his two sons would definitely become barbarians. He was proud of his two sons, but after the eldest brother, Barbarian Xiao, heard someone mocking their father's boastful words behind his back, he steeled himself and left the tribe.

  At the time of his wild thoughts, his right hand fingers moved involuntarily, and his eyes suddenly froze, his pupils shrinking. He slowly turned to look at his withered right hand, his face revealing an incredulous expression, stunned for a moment, he hastily closed his eyes.

  Half a moment later, Man Tian opened his eyes again, and this time, his gaze was filled with surprise and shock.

  He felt it, a fine flow of energy like silk threads flowing through his limbs and bones!! This flow was extremely subtle, as if it didn't exist at all. If he hadn't sunk into the depths of his memories before and entered a state of complete calmness, he wouldn't have been able to detect it, no matter how carefully he tried!

  Man Tian closed his eyes, savoring the hard-won airflow that seemed to dart through every bone in his body like a small mudskipper. As he gradually became aware of it, Man Tian realized that wherever the airflow reached, those bones had regained some strength. After the airflow had passed through all the bones, it suddenly disappeared, leaving Man Tian startled and eager to grasp it again. However, no matter how many times he tried, he couldn't feel it anymore.

  Barbarian Tian did not lose hope because of this, but instead his heart was unable to calm down for a long time. It seems that what was said on the beast skin was not false, and there really is airflow in the bones! If he could control this airflow, perhaps one day his own strength would be comparable to that of the Barbarian Warriors!!

  Thinking of this, Man Tian's mind was relieved and refreshed, but the previous feeling of exhaustion came again, making Man Tian feel dizzy and dark, and he couldn't help falling into a deep sleep.

  He slept until the next day at noon, and even when his father carried him back to bed, he didn't wake up. Looking at the thick animal hide draped over his body, the familiar food prepared on the table, Mo Tian's heart felt warm beyond compare. He sat up, wolfed down the food his mother had prepared, and then carefully sensed his skeleton. Clenching his fists tightly, he felt that his strength seemed to have increased a lot.

  This made him inevitably have some expectations, and he started burning fire and forging iron without even washing up after getting out of the room.

  Before long, the clanging of metal echoed through the tribe once again.

  This time, Man Tian did not put his mind entirely on the airflow in his bones, but instead merged it with his ironwork!! After exerting himself to the limit of his bones yesterday, Man Tian's strength increased by more than double, and even his control over his strength was satisfactory.

  Recalling what Mo Gong said, exerting brute force can only be called iron-forging, and thus it is concluded that forging is not about using full strength. What puzzles Mo Tian is: what's the difference between the weapons forged through forging and those made through iron-forging? This is something Mo Tian cannot comprehend; he has never seen a Mo weapon, so he can't experience the difference between forging and iron-forging!

  Just as Mo Tian was perplexed, Mo Gong's voice sounded from behind: "Forging iron requires strength, and refining also requires strength as its foundation! You may not be a Mo warrior, but your current strength is comparable to that of a first-rate Mo warrior!"

  Man Tian was taken aback by the words, he stopped swinging his iron hammer and turned to look at Man Gong, who had his eyes tightly closed. If it were yesterday or before, Man Gong's words would have made Man Tian ecstatic, but after sensing the airflow, Man Tian's goal was no longer limited to being as strong as a first-rate barbarian warrior. He would continue on this path until one day he became a powerful figure in the borderlands, and even the southern borders.

  What made Mo Tian puzzled was that although Mo Gong's eyes were blind, he felt that Mo Gong was staring at him at this moment. This eerie feeling made Mo Tian's heart feel hairy, and after a moment of contemplation, Mo Tian said: "Thank you for the compliment, Mo Gong. I have a doubt in my mind, and I hope you can dispel it."

  The old man with a wrinkled face and closed eyes leaned on his cane, hearing the barbarian's words, replied calmly: "Speak."

  "Barbarian king, little heaven doesn't know, what's the difference between the weapons forged by you and those made from iron? Both are made with strength, why would they be different?" Barbarian Heaven expressed his doubts!

  Mo Gong stood still, not responding or moving. His tightly closed eyes faced Mo Tian, causing a sudden shock in his heart. In that instant, he had an illusion that Mo Gong's eyes were staring at him.

  "Haha! It seems that not only I have been blinded!" The Barbarian King suddenly burst into loud laughter, his voice filled with an unusual emotion. After speaking, he didn't dispel the doubts of the Barbarian Heaven, but instead left leaning on his cane.

  This left Man Tian staring blankly at the receding figure of Man Gong, momentarily unable to wrap his head around it. What did Man Gong's words mean? Was he the only one who was blind? After a long moment of contemplation, Man Tian still couldn't grasp the meaning behind Man Gong's words and could only suppress the doubts in his heart, continuing to forge ahead.

  It was almost evening when Father came back, and Tian Tian expressed his doubts again.

  "Xiao Tian, although Father is not a blacksmith, he has heard many rumors about blacksmiths over the years. It's said that blacksmiths are fundamentally different from ironworkers in that the weapons they forge are more durable and sharp. Moreover, blacksmiths possess something called 'blood patterns' which, when infused into the weapon, can increase its power manifold. Such a weapon with blood patterns is also known as a 'barbaric instrument'!"

  "What's with the bloodline?" Man Tian's heart slightly solidified, this bloodline is probably related to the tribe's divine bloodline, and how could he have a bloodline without having the tribe's divine bloodline? Thinking of this, Man Tian felt somewhat disappointed.

  "Foolish!!" Just as Man Tian's mind was complicated, a loud shout suddenly rang out, startling both Man Tian and his father. Looking at the old man ten feet away, Man Tian was shocked, while his father's face turned red. He couldn't help but say: "Uncle ancestor, Ah Yong also heard it from outsiders. Moreover, isn't there blood veins in the barbaric device?" Man Yong was just an outsider to the forging world and naturally had no confidence when facing Man Gong.

  "If you want to ruin Xiao Tian's future as a blacksmith, then keep talking! If not, from now on, shut your mouth! If you understand, why are you a blacksmith?" Ba Gong's words were sharp and unpleasant, causing Ba Yong's face to turn red with anger. He lowered his head and remained silent, but the words infuriated Ba Tian, who couldn't bear anyone speaking ill of his father, not even Ba Gong. Just as Ba Tian was about to retort, Ba Father pulled on his hand, signaling him to remain silent.

  Man Tian suppressed the anger in his heart and glared at Man Gong with annoyance.

  "Kid, true forging is using the hammer in your hand to forge a life!!" Meng Gong said, and then walked away with his cane.

  When the silhouette of Man Gong merged into the dusk, Man Tian's face was unhappy, while Man Yong had a smile on his face. He looked at the sulky Man Tian and affectionately stroked his head, saying: "Little Tian, you should be happy!"

  "Delighted? He scolded you, can I be delighted?" Man Tian said in a low voice to Man Yong.

  "Xiao Tian, you should know that Uncle Zu has been back in the village for almost ten years now. Today is the first time Father saw him lose his temper!! Although his words were harsh, it means he values you highly!! Because he sees you as an unpolished jade, not allowing anyone to interfere with your growth." Man Fu said in a low voice, then looked in the direction where Man Gong had left and said softly: "Remember Man Gong's words, true forging is using the hammer in your hand to forge a life." After finishing speaking, Man Fu turned around and entered the room, only to find Man Mu crying tears of joy.

  "With this iron hammer in hand, can I forge a life?" The barbarian king picked up the hammer and fell into deep thought.

  One night passed, and the next day, Mantian began his dull ironing. While pondering over Man Gong's words, Mantian tried to exhaust all his strength again, trying to feel that flow of air once more. He believed that it wouldn't take long before he could grasp that flow of air and control it!

  In this way, every day is spent immersed in ironwork!