Three more peaceful days passed.
On this day, the wound on Zhou Changqing's elbow had fully healed, and so he returned to his usual routine of forging weapons in the courtyard.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Beside the furnace, Zhou Changqing, dressed in coarse clothes, held a pair of tongs in one hand and a hammer in the other, continuously striking a piece of refined iron that had been heated until it glowed bright red.
Unlike before, Zhou Changqing was not merely hammering the iron this time; his movements were significantly slower than his previous forging sessions.
As he raised the hammer, a golden luminescence flickered over his left hand. Gold-attribute Dou Qi flowed from his palm, down the tongs, and was continuously injected into the red-hot iron.
But just before the hammer fell, the Gold-attribute Dou Qi would retract, returning completely to the Qi vortex in his dantian.
Then, in the instant the hammer struck the iron, Thunder-attribute Dou Qi would surge from his Qi vortex, travel down his right arm into the hammer, and upon contact, be injected into the refined iron!
Once the Thunder-attribute Dou Qi was infused, it stimulated the residual Gold-attribute Dou Qi, forcing it to merge more deeply with the metal and enhancing the quality of the iron!
This was the new method for crafting peerless mortal weapons that Zhou Changqing had developed some time ago.
Instead of tempering the weapon only after it was shaped, he was now refining the metal ingot throughout the entire forging process.
The efficiency of this single-step method was far greater than the previous two-step process.
Moreover, refining the weapon during the forging process, rather than after it was completed, resulted in a significant improvement in quality.
If a mortal weapon forged with the old method required two strikes to cut through the Dou Qi Armor of a nine-star Dou Shi, then a weapon forged with this new method would only need one.
Why such a vast difference?
The reason lay in the temperature of the ingot during the refining process.
By a stroke of chance, Zhou Changqing had discovered that the higher the temperature of the metal, the more efficiently it absorbed Gold-attribute Dou Qi. It could also be pushed closer to its saturation point, allowing its quality to be enhanced to the absolute limit.
Previously, when using the old method, Zhou Changqing's Thunder-attribute Dou Qi was not strong enough to manifest as tangible lightning, which would have provided the blade with a higher temperature. This meant the ingot couldn't fully integrate the Gold-attribute Dou Qi, preventing it from reaching its maximum potential.
The new method was different. It used the heat of the furnace to compensate for the weakness of his Thunder-attribute Dou Qi, bringing the iron ingot to the highest temperature it could withstand. Then, stimulated by the Thunder-attribute Dou Qi, the ingot could absorb the Gold-attribute Dou Qi to its maximum capacity.
Of course, this new method was only useful for his current stage. Once Zhou Changqing's strength increased to the point where he could transform his Thunder-attribute Dou Qi into real lightning, he would no longer need the furnace's aid.
It was worth noting, however, that the new forging method not only produced better mortal weapons but also offered considerable benefits to Zhou Changqing's own cultivation.
The frequent switching between two types of Dou Qi during the forging and refining process forced him into a state of intense concentration.
When raising the hammer, he had to circulate the Condensing Steel Force to output Gold-attribute Dou Qi. Before the hammer fell, he had to retract it. Then, in the instant of impact, he had to circulate the Dormant Thunder Method to output Thunder-attribute Dou Qi.
This constant starting and stopping of cultivation methods, this retraction and release of Dou Qi, allowed for no margin of error.
The slightest mistake would cause both methods to run simultaneously, sending both types of Dou Qi into his meridians at once.
The consequences, naturally, would be a conflict between the methods, causing the two energies to run rampant inside his body.
In a mild case, he would suffer severe internal injuries and damaged meridians. In a severe case, his meridians could rupture, turning him into a cripple.
It could even lead to his Qi vortex exploding, wiping out his cultivation entirely, or worse, his body bursting apart.
This was why Zhou Changqing's movements were so slow and deliberate during the forging process.
But it was precisely because of this risk that his understanding of both cultivation methods and his control over Dou Qi were steadily improving.
Due to his unwavering concentration, Zhou Changqing vaguely felt that his Spiritual Perception had sharpened slightly, a sign that his soul was slowly growing stronger.
Even his Dou Qi was gradually being enhanced through the constant cycle of consumption and recovery, pushing his cultivation realm higher.
If it weren't for these benefits, Zhou Changqing would never have continued using such a risky forging method.
Perhaps this was what they meant by fortune and disaster being two sides of the same coin. Risk was always accompanied by reward.
After a long while, the piece of refined iron clamped in the tongs had been hammered into the rough shape of a broadsword.
After quenching it to cool it down, sharpening the edge, and fitting it with a hilt and sheath, a brand-new, peerless broadsword was born.
Zhou Changqing looked at his creation with great satisfaction.
Although the new method carried considerable risk, its efficiency was far beyond what the old method could match.
One mortal weapon every three days meant that Zhou Changqing could now forge ten in a month, doubling his previous output of five.
Ten mortal weapons might not sound like a lot, but at their current price of over ten thousand gold coins each, ten of them would fetch more than a hundred thousand.
This terrifying earning power meant his monthly income was equivalent to the annual net profit of one of the Three Great Clans.
Putting the broadsword aside, he glanced at the sky. It was time for his daily relaxation and a small drink.
After washing up and changing his clothes, Zhou Changqing sat in the courtyard and began to sip his wine.
"Old Zhou! You home? Your old man is here!"
A young man's voice called out from beyond the courtyard wall, reaching Zhou Changqing's ears.
Zhou Changqing shook his head with a helpless smile. Old Xiao always had the best timing.
"Come on in, the gate's unlocked."
Creak.
A young man in a black robe with red trim pushed the gate open and ran straight toward Zhou Changqing.
Smack!
"Old Zhou, you sly dog, you've been hiding your true strength all this time! You have no idea how much you've made me suffer!" Xiao Yan plopped down beside him, slapping Zhou Changqing on the shoulder with a look of feigned pain and resentment.
"Get off me. What exactly did this father of yours hide from you? When did this happen? Why don't you enlighten me?" Zhou Changqing swatted Xiao Yan's hand away, annoyed.
"Uh…"
Xiao Yan froze. After thinking for a moment, he chuckled awkwardly. "Now that you mention it, I guess nothing."
He had known Old Zhou was talented back when they were fourteen, but at the time, he thought the guy had only reached the Dou Zhe stage at thirteen.
That level of talent was already impressive, so Xiao Yan hadn't thought much more of it or asked for details.
As for the peerless weapons, he had been focused on his own training for the past six months and hadn't visited at all, so it was perfectly normal that Old Zhou hadn't told him.
"Then why are you acting like you've been wronged?" Zhou Changqing shot him a wordless glance.
"That's not right either. I remember you only got your cultivation method half a year ago, right? So what's with your cultivation level? How did you break through to a high-stage Dou Zhe in just six months?"
"That kind of cultivation speed is insane, almost as fast as mine! You only broke through to Dou Zhe at thirteen, how could you be this monstrous?!"
"Hmm? Who told you I broke through to Dou Zhe at thirteen?"
"I'm not?"
"Of course not! This father of yours started practicing at four, reached the ninth stage of Dou Zhi Qi at nine, and broke through to Dou Zhe in the same year! If it weren't for the issue with my cultivation method, I would've been a Da Dou Shi ages ago!"
"And one more correction. I'm not a high-stage Dou Zhe. I'm a peak nine-star Dou Zhe!"
"Holy shit! You…!"
Hiss!
Xiao Yan was stunned, even more shocked than when he'd first heard the news from his own father!
From a one-star Dou Zhe to a peak Dou Zhe in half a year?
And he became a Dou Zhe at nine years old? Was this guy even human?
The guy's gotta be cheating! He's using a hack!
Is this even legal?!
Even Yao Lao, within Xiao Yan's ring, couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath.
When he first met this kid, he had assumed he was like Xiao Yan, breaking through to Dou Zhe at eleven.
He never imagined the boy's talent was even more astonishing than he'd thought!
In all of Yao Lao's vast experience, talent of this caliber was exceedingly rare.
And every one of those geniuses hailed from the great powers of the Central Plains