Chapter 212: The Forging State
Haganezuka: "!!!"
Kanamori: "!!!"
"My God, Dragon Hashira, what are you doing?!"
The two men glared at Su Chen, vehemently condemning his actions, but neither dared step forward to question him.
Beside the forge, Su Chen continued hammering the object in his hands, shaking his head as he worked.
He still wasn't satisfied with his creation.
After all, the first blade had only been a practice piece—a prototype. It was an ordinary sword. Although its quality was decent, it wasn't suitable for Shinobu, Kanao, or even himself.
Su Chen intended to forge three Nichirin Swords, each tailored to the characteristics of the three residents of the Butterfly Estate.
As a test piece, this sword had already met the basic requirements.
But it was simply too ordinary.
There was nothing remarkable about it, nothing that could bring out the individual strengths of a Demon Slayer.
Su Chen still needed to find his own rhythm.
And so, the Nichirin Sword was melted down and forged again.
Kanamori and Haganezuka, however, had no idea what he was doing.
Haganezuka was the first to panic.
"What are you doing?! Let me see it! Please!"
His voice dropped into an almost pleading tone.
Then Su Chen brought the hammer down again.
CLANG!
Kanamori: "!!!"
Haganezuka: "!!!"
Tanjiro: "???"
Kanamori: "Aaaah! No! I can't let you live!"
Haganezuka: "Dragon Hashira, what is this?! If you don't like it, just say so! Why are you torturing such a fine sword right in front of me?!"
They were both outstanding craftsmen, men who were deeply passionate about their art.
Especially after seeing the exceptional qualities of the Nichirin Sword Su Chen had forged.
They loved it.
But what was Su Chen doing now?
He was destroying his own creation with a hammer, casually throwing away such an excellent piece of work!
It was a complete waste of heaven's gift!
"Let me see it! Please!"
Haganezuka was practically on the verge of tears.
Was such a magnificent work of art really going to disappear after he had only caught a glimpse of it?
He had never seen a blade capable of slicing through iron ore so effortlessly.
Thinking that Su Chen was angry with him, Haganezuka immediately lowered his voice.
"Dragon Hashira, please give me some face. I'll forget about that Nichirin Sword you broke last time."
Su Chen continued swinging the hammer, completely ignoring him.
Just as Haganezuka had thought, when an artist was working, nothing around him should be able to distract him.
If it could, then his concentration simply wasn't sufficient.
And under the Time Domain, Su Chen could practically achieve a state of zero interference.
Haganezuka's voice barely reached his ears.
Clang. Clang. Clang—
Su Chen repeatedly hammered the Nichirin Sword in his hands, the crisp metallic ringing instantly filling the entire room.
Every strike stabbed deeply into Haganezuka and Kanamori's hearts.
What did it feel like to watch a beautiful work of art being destroyed right before your eyes?
They wanted nothing more than to tear Su Chen apart on the spot!
Yes.
That was exactly how Kanamori and Haganezuka felt at that moment.
But they couldn't defeat him, so all they could do was suppress their anger.
The calmest person present was Tanjiro.
He was the only one who knew that Su Chen was a relatively rational person.
Since Su Chen had been capable of forging this sword, he was obviously capable of forging another.
Rather than continuing to obsess over this particular blade, Haganezuka should focus on Su Chen himself.
Tanjiro quietly stood to the side.
The room was filled with nothing but the clang, clang of metal being worked and the curses of the two swordsmiths.
Yet Su Chen remained completely unaffected.
Under such immense pressure, he directly ground away the second blade!
Haganezuka and Kanamori immediately fell silent.
What a masterpiece!
An excellent swordsmith could determine the value of a treasure with a single glance.
Su Chen slowly lifted the second Nichirin Sword.
A unique metallic sheen shimmered along its blade, giving it an extraordinary sharpness.
"What a fine sword!"
SLAM! SLAM!
Haganezuka and Kanamori simultaneously slammed their hands onto the table.
Their hands trembled, and their eyes burned with feverish excitement.
Then Su Chen raised the Nichirin Sword once more and lightly sliced through a nearby piece of iron ore.
A frighteningly large crack immediately appeared across the ore.
The forging room fell silent.
The only sounds were the heavy breaths of Haganezuka and Kanamori.
There was no doubt about it.
This sword was better than the previous one.
What truly shocked the two swordsmiths was that Su Chen had forged a Nichirin Sword of such quality in such a short amount of time.
Normally, there shouldn't have been such a huge difference between a swordsmith's first and second blades.
But what if Su Chen had simply been unfamiliar with the process when making the first sword?
That's it!
Kanamori suddenly remembered something.
The village chief had once mentioned that Su Chen was the one who had fitted Shinobu's sword hilt.
In other words, Su Chen did possess some foundation in swordsmithing.
But if he had never received formal forging training in the Swordsmith Village, forging a complete Nichirin Sword should still have been extremely difficult.
The village chief had immediately determined that his disciple, Su Chen, had never previously been involved in the swordsmithing trade.
So there was only one possibility left.
Su Chen had been learning as he forged that first sword!
That was why there was such a huge difference in quality between the second and first blades!
It also perfectly explained why Su Chen had personally destroyed his first sword.
So that's what had happened!
Kanamori's breathing gradually became uneven.
His eyes widened.
There was only one thought in his mind.
How was this possible?
He had been learning swordsmithing since childhood, yet now he had been surpassed by Su Chen!
Su Chen's talent truly lived up to its reputation.
While Kanamori was contemplating his life choices, Su Chen had already picked up the Nichirin Sword again.
Then he handed it to Tanjiro.
Tanjiro stared blankly at him.
"Uh... Mr. Su Chen, this is...?"
Su Chen calmly replied,
"It's for you."
"For me?"
Tanjiro's cheeks immediately flushed with excitement.
Yet he wasn't blinded by the enormous benefit.
Instead, he felt that Su Chen had made a mistake.
Even if Mr. Su Chen was capable of forging swords, surely he would forge one for himself.
Why would he give it to me?
But Su Chen didn't care whether Tanjiro wanted it or not. He simply shoved the sword into Tanjiro's arms.
"This one isn't suitable for me."
After saying those final words, Su Chen turned away, casually swinging his hammer once more.
Tanjiro was left standing there alone, deeply moved.
He couldn't help stroking the Nichirin Sword in his hands, clearly reluctant to let go of it.
But then he suddenly noticed two pairs of eyes glaring fiercely at him.
Tanjiro slowly raised his head.
Kanamori and Haganezuka were staring straight at him.
"What's wrong?"
Tanjiro suddenly had a very bad feeling.