Chapter 7: Refining Swords and Knives

  Yang Fu stood at the door, stroking his beard and chuckling. He was the first to rush out after hearing the noise, but as soon as he reached the door, he saw Lei Ming punching a hole in the wall, leaving him speechless; the subsequent scene made him even more delighted, after all, they were just kids from his own courtyard, how amusing.

  "Yang Tian, you little guys get up so early. Haven't had breakfast yet, I'll go make some for you to eat." Yang Fu said and turned around to head into the house to cook.

  Yang Tian turned back and smiled, seeing Yang Fu had left. He then spoke seriously to Yang Erwu: "Erwu, you also saw that freak Lei Meng just now. From today on, at midnight and early morning, you must practice your skills well for me. Use the incantation I taught you this morning to circulate your energy! Practice the moves according to my actions earlier."

  "Got it, but I didn't remember much of that move..." Yang Erwu said dejectedly, his words sounding a bit like a child responding to an adult - he didn't think of Lei Ming and Yang Tian as kids at all; from the way they did things to their martial arts skills, the two of them were even more mature than adults.

  "Practice as much as you remember!" Yang Tian dissatisfied with Yang Erwu's nonsense.

  "Yes." Yang Erwu stood up straight and replied, then lowered his head and muttered: "But I still have to take care of my old man's meals..."

  Yang Tian got angry: "I told you to practice and you practiced! If there's a problem with food, go find Lei Meng, I'm in charge of teaching not feeding!"

  After finishing, Yang Erwu ignored him and stood there thinking deeply about the thunderous move: it seemed that his movements were even more smooth, without any hesitation, and the meridians of his inner energy stretched out even straighter! Hmm, makes sense, let's try. Thinking of this, Yang Tian hurriedly mobilized his inner energy, stirring up another powerful blow, the inner energy burst forth from his life gate, shooting straight to his palm, "Boom" a loud noise, and a hole the size of two palms appeared on the courtyard wall.

  "Hehe, I can too." Yang Tian rejoiced by himself.

  Yang Erwu, who was practicing Tai Chi on the shelf, heard the sound and saw that his master was not bad either. He was delighted and said, "Master, you're also very powerful..."

  "Don't be distracted! Focus on your practice!" Yang Tian shouted, then carefully considered the coordination of internal energy and movements.

  Yang Erwu also focused on practicing Taiji, but he didn't know how much practice was enough for him.

  Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, another two hours have passed. As it approaches noon, Yang Fu sees that the two are practicing intently and hasn't gone to call them for breakfast, so as not to disturb them, he enters the forging room alone to take a look. Looking at the neatly arranged tools and the additional bellows, he can't help but feel emotional, these two children have brought about too many changes for him, if they were his own sons, it would be even better...

  At this time, Lei Meng quietly carried five wild chickens into the courtyard gate - it turned out that he had gone out to hunt for game. Seeing Yang Tian and others still focused on practicing martial arts, they were completely unaware of his return. The courtyard wall also collapsed in one place, probably due to Yang Tian's doing. So he exerted his strength straight down to his right foot and "thudded" onto the ground, leaving a small footprint an inch deep.

  Two people were awakened, Yang Tian was about to scold, but seeing the wild chicken in Leimeng's hand, his stomach growled loudly, and his anger instantly turned into a smile: "Ah, Leimeng, you're back. I've been thinking of you to death..." Leimeng heard Yang Tian's rumbling stomach, followed by the flattering words, and couldn't help but get goosebumps.

  "No, no, no! Here you go!" Lei Meng hastily threw three wild chickens over: "Hurry up and cook them." Yang Tian caught the three wild chickens, turned around laughing loudly and ran into the house to cook.

  Then, Leiming threw the remaining two pheasants to Yang Erwu, seeing him clumsily grasping a handful of feathers, and laughed saying: "Erwu, you should also hurry back to cook for your old man. In the future, practice diligently, don't worry about food, we can hunt more often."

  "Thank you, Master!" Yang Erwu exclaimed with joy, carrying the pheasant and running out of the courtyard to head home. He wanted to tell his father the good news, to let him know that he didn't have to worry about food anymore and could focus on practicing martial arts with peace of mind. From then on, he felt even more deeply respectful towards Master and Mistress.

  In the next four or five days, Yang Tian practiced martial arts with Yang Erwu in the yard, while Lei Ming followed Yang Fu to learn forging. Occasionally, he would go out to hunt some birds and beasts to supplement his meals. During this time, Lei Ming also used a wooden strip to make a hard bow, asked the villagers for some old hemp to make a bowstring, and made arrows with hardwood branches. He found that hunting birds and beasts was more convenient with the bow and arrow, except for larger animals like wild boars. Yang Fu was also amazed, this kid knew too much.

  On the sixth day, after breakfast, the four of them carried back the charcoal they had burned and piled it up in a large heap in the corner of the forge, which was more than enough for their needs. Since forging didn't require too many hands, and there weren't that many tools to begin with, Yang Tian and Yang Erwu continued to practice their martial arts while Yang Fu guided Lei Ming in his forging.

  It took two days to refine all the ore into iron bars. It's unknown whether it was because Lei Meng had just started practicing forging, or if folding and forging was difficult from the start, or if Lei Meng had high requirements for craftsmanship, but it took a whole ten days of continuous forging and quenching to produce three 70cm long, 6cm wide, 5mm thick, and 11kg heavy Tang knives. Then, it took five more days to sharpen, grind, and polish them, and one day to assemble the knife handles with the hardwood brought back, and make a scabbard for each knife. The Tang knives were straight as swords, with the blade opening at the tip, making it convenient for stabbing. The body of the knife was silver-gray, with dense, rain-like faint forging patterns on its surface - this was a good knife! Paired with the dark yellow wooden scabbard, the natural texture of the wood presented an ancient and elegant flavor. All three Tang knives were like this, no wonder Lei Meng spent so much time and effort to forge them. Another five days passed, and Lei Meng used the same craftsmanship to forge three 20cm long, 4cm wide, 4mm thick, and 2.5kg heavy daggers.

  After completing the production of knife sheaths and other subsequent work, it happened to be a sunny dusk. Lei Meng and Yang Fu both looked tired but with bright eyes, holding knives and daggers, came out in the courtyard and solemnly handed them over to Yang Tian and Yang Erwu - although these few knives and daggers may not be divine weapons, they were fresh things for Lei Meng and Yang Fu, and were handmade by the two of them, so they felt a great sense of accomplishment.

  Yang Tian and Yang Erwu were extremely excited when they received the knife and dagger. Yang Erwu was thrilled to finally hold his dream knife and dagger, his emotions surging; Yang Tian was because he saw the legendary flower-patterned knife and dagger, which are several times more durable than ordinary metal-forged swords, and the unknown mineral used may have a better composition, so even roughly-made farm tools were already much more durable than those bought outside, so finely-crafted knives and daggers would absolutely be able to cut through ordinary-made weapons.

  Yang Tian said gratefully: "Old master, Lei Meng, thank you for your hard work. We will definitely make good use of these swords." Yang Erwu also nodded hastily: "Yes, yes, I will definitely make good use of them..."

  Lei Meng thought about going out to gain some experience, pretending to be angry, and shouted: "Nonsense! These knives and daggers are sharp tools for killing pigs and people, they are beautiful to look at, can't cultivate fields, whatever you use them for is good! What you should do is not let them collect dust!"

  "What? How's that?" Yang Tian feigned surprise, but in fact he and Lei Meng both wanted to get out and didn't want to be trapped here.

  "That's what we'll use to make a name for ourselves!" Lei Meng said with a heroic tone. Yang Tian and Yang Erwu also exclaimed excitedly: "Great! We'll use it to make a name for ourselves!"

  As soon as Yang Fu heard this, his heart skipped a beat. He was in trouble. It turned out that he had to leave this place. Under the fatigue and heartache, he couldn't help but sway there for a moment. Yang Tian's eyes were sharp and he looked at him with surprise, hastily rushing forward to support Yang Fu, and said with concern: "Old master, what's wrong with you? Are you too tired? I'll take you back to the house to rest."

  Lei Meng and Yang Erwu also rushed forward to take a look. Yang Fu felt slightly relieved in his heart, saying: "It's nothing, kids, I've been too tired lately, I'll be fine after resting for a while. Sigh, getting old..."

  Yang Tian hurriedly supported Yang Fu into the house, while Lei Ming went to prepare food. Yang Erwu saw that it was getting dark and didn't have anything else to do, so he bid farewell and happily returned home with his knife and dagger.

  The dinner passed in a quiet and slightly melancholic atmosphere. Putting down his bowl and chopsticks, Yang Fu said with a tinge of sadness to the two children who had finished eating and were waiting silently: "Children, I know you both have extraordinary backgrounds, and I'm grateful that you've been able to accompany this old man for so long." Seeing Yang Tian about to speak, he hurriedly stretched out his hand to stop him, saying: "Let me finish speaking first. This period of time may not be long, but I feel very happy, with you both here, the home is always lively and warm, with many more smiles...I know this small place can't hold you back, and I don't want you to spend your old age here either. Young eagles grow up and must fly independently into the blue sky..."

  "Old man, we will come back often to visit you."

  "Old grandpa, I know you regard us as your own grandchildren and your love makes us feel warm. We also regard you as our grandfather. When we go out, it won't be long before we'll come back to take you with us and let you live by our side."

  Yang Fu felt a sense of comfort in his heart and the gloom also dissipated, but at the same time he also had some doubts: "What about your family?"

  Lei Meng and Yang Tian exchanged a glance, saying: "Those things can be told slowly later, it's not convenient now."

  Yang Fu thought for a moment and didn't ask any more questions. After all, people who are not ordinary always have their own mysterious side. In a pleasant mood, Yang Fu said to the two: "Lei Meng, Yang Tian, you're tired, go rest quickly, I'll clean up these bowls and chopsticks."

  Yang Tian hurriedly got up and supported Yang Fu, saying: "No, no, let's do it ourselves, we have many children to take care of."

  Yang Fu then left with a smile, half-supporting and half-leading Yang Tian.

  Only Lei Meng was left with a bitter face, putting away the bowls and chopsticks, muttering to himself: "Yang Tian is also too quick, snatching the task of supporting Fu Ren in an instant."

  Everything was ready, and Lei Ming and Yang Tian returned to their room. Lei Ming secretly summarized his gains from tempering the knife: first, he had tempered six weapons, becoming more familiar with the process, which could be considered a great start; second, constantly operating the furnace had allowed him to control his internal energy more accurately; finally, continuously operating the furnace had also made his internal energy more refined.

  When Yang Tian was showing off his improved martial arts skills, Lei Ming couldn't help but reveal the benefits of tempering weapons, causing Yang Tian to become speechless and sigh with emotion: People compare people, it's suffocating!

  One night passed peacefully in someone's fanciful dreamland, but who knows what tomorrow will bring?