Chapter 310: Chapter 309: Start Preparations
The Chinese New Year’s Eve has just passed. Instead of resting like everyone else, Shi Xiaole followed the usual routine and went into his forge.
The rhythmic sound of hammering metal echoed.
Eventually, out of ten sword billets, five burst into fragments.
This signifies that out of ten strikes, Shi Xiaole had perfect ones five times.
According to the parchment, skillful swordsmiths in ancient times had at least a 95% success rate when forging lower-quality spirit swords. Shi Xiaole was far from reaching this level.
He practiced intensely for another month.
Shi Xiaole’s technique gradually improved, and his success rate was finally around 70%.
Two months later.
Out of ten sword billets, eight failed.
Third month.
Shi Xiaole’s success rate was infinitely close to 90%.
"This is my current limit."
Looking at the fragments of iron on the ground, Shi Xiaole let out a deep sigh.
No one knew his condition better than himself. He knew that reaching a 95% success rate was not just a technical issue; it needed long-term cultivation of one’s senses.
Even he, needed time to accumulate skills.
Nevertheless, a success rate of 90% was enough to guarantee that Shi Xiaole wouldn’t waste the materials he collected for forging spirit swords.
"Brother Le, come to our house for lunch at noon."
As he was closing the door to his forge, a large and husky young girl walked over, blushing shyly.
"Cuihua, thank you for your kind offer, but I have something set for now. I’ll take your offer next time."
Shi Xiaole chuckled.
Cuihua was Uncle Wang’s daughter. She was twenty and not yet married.
"What are you planning to do, Brother Le?"
Cuihua asked, puzzled.
Usually, Brother Le wouldn’t close his forge until dusk, even though he was always busy with his hands. Cuihua found herself inexplicably upset at the sight of the closed forge door.
"I am going to forge a sword. Cuihua, this is fifty taels of silver that I picked up. Use it to buy some nourishing stuff for Uncle Wang."
Shi Xiaole took out a bag of silver pieces from his bosom and handed it over.
Uncle Wang hurt his leg years ago. He worried about the lack of dowry at home and that his daughter had no prospects. So, he worked hard every day. Shi Xiaole knew about Uncle Wang’s situation, so this was his attempt to help them out a bit.
Of course, he could not give too much either, or else his good intentions would end up causing harm.
"Fifty taels?"
Cuihua was startled. Her father worked a whole year and would not earn that much money. Was Brother Le really that lucky?
"I can’t accept—"
"Cuihua, don’t you want to see Uncle Wang keep struggling? Fifty taels of silver may not be much, but it can at least lighten his burden."
Shi Xiaole walked away.
Cuihua watched his retreating figure as her eyes welled up with tears.
Some things don’t need to be said too explicitly. Cuihua wasn’t stupid; she knew that it might be the last time she would see the straightforward and honest Brother Le, who worked tirelessly day after day.
...
Yuhua Town, one of countless towns in the Great Cold State.
In a private room, Shi Xiaole, dressed in a blue shirt like jade, was quietly drinking wine.
After having searched for him fruitlessly for half a year, the martial artists in Great Cold State have given up their pursuit. Many even suspected that he had left the state.
So Shi Xiaole was not worried about being discovered.
Moreover, there were only four martial factions in Yuhua Town. Even the leader of Yuhua Gang, the strongest among them, was only at the ninth level of Xuan Qi. He was not a threat to Shi Xiaole.
The materials needed to forge a low-grade spirit sword were not very valuable. They just needed to be treated with a special method to obtain a toughness far superior to copper or iron.
One of these materials was only available from the Yuhua gang nearby. In this visit, Shi Xiaole intended to buy some from them.
"Ah, help!"
A scream suddenly came from the street.
Shi Xiaole looked out from the window and saw a pretty young girl being dragged away by several men. A man lay bloody on the ground, trying to save her, but he was restrained by others and getting a severe beating.
"Alas, why did she have to catch the fancy of Master Yue Er? Who in Yuhua Town can offend him?"
The bystanders kept their distance, afraid to get involved.
The girl’s family tried to intervene, but they were blocked by the experts of Yuhua Gang. They could only wail and scream.
The local martial artists nearby dared not voice their anger.
They had seen far too many such incidents. They knew if they wanted to survive in Yuhua Town, they couldn’t offend Master Yue Er.>
"Young lady, if you do not want your husband to suffer in vain, let him go. I will have someone send you back tomorrow."
Looking down from above, Master Yue Er made a staggering proposition. It caused the pretty young girl’s face to alternate between red and white. The man was furious and spat out a mouthful of blood.
"My husband..."
The girl cried out in despair.
Yuhua Gang’s influence controlled half of Yuhua Town, and they also had the protection of local officials. As the young brother of the leader of Yuhua Gang, who could control Master Yue Er?
In the past, he abducted countless married women and only sent them back to their husbands after getting bored of them. Therefore, women of Yuhua Town who had even a bit of beauty didn’t dare to go out into the streets.
Who would have thought that disaster would strike her just for standing outside her home for a while?
"Scoundrel, you will not die a good death!"
The man was beaten until he fell to his knees, his eyes filled with rage as he glared at Master Yue Er. No man could bear the humiliation of being cuckolded.
"Heh, you have spirit, but those with spirit usually don’t meet good ends."
Master Yue Er laughed sadistically, stepping forward to the man. He raised his hand toward the man’s forehead, his powerful aura stirring fear.
"No!"
A young and beautiful woman screamed in agony, almost fainting.
Just as the man was about to be killed, everyone observed a sudden blur, and in the blink of an eye, a youth dressed in green appeared between the man and Master Yue Er and grabbed the latter’s hand.
"Huh?"
The expressions of the Martial World spectators changed instantly.
"Kid, you dare to stop me? Are you seeking death?"
The surprise on Master Yue Er’s face was soon replaced by a narrow-eyed glare.
"Does he often bully people like this?"
Ignoring him, Shi Xiaole asked the man batting down on the ground.
The man, desperate, gritted his teeth and said, "This man is the younger brother of the Yuhua Gang leader, he abuses his power, causing harm to many."
Whoosh!
A figure flew backward, the impact causing him to cough up blood and fall unconscious. The people watching drew breaths of cold air, "Isn’t that Master Yue Er?"
"You dare to kill Master Yue Er?"
The Yuhua Gang members were stunned, but before they could finish their words, they met the same fate as Master Yue Er, their bodies pierced by Shi Xiaole’s Sword Qi.
"Young swordsman, you better leave, the Yuhua Gang won’t let you go."
Released from their torment, the man and young woman clung to each other while reminding Shi Xiaole. The bystanders had already run away in fear of getting involved.
"Is Yuhua Gang that bad?"
Shi Xiaole asked casually.
The man hurriedly explained the deeds of the Yuhua Gang, but fear in his voice suggested they should flee.
"What are you guys waiting for, run!"
The families of the young woman stomped their feet anxiously, tugging and pulling.
Thud, thud, thud.
A large crowd of people charged towards them, and spotting the middle-aged man at the forefront, the man and the young woman felt despair creeping in; they could no longer escape.
"Who dared to kill my brother!"
When Yue Shan heard the news of his brother’s death, he immediately rushed to the scene. His eyes turned red with anger upon seeing the corpse on the ground and his face twisted viciously.
"Kid, was it you who did this?"
Yue Shan’s gaze swept over everyone present before ultimately landing on Shi Xiaole, as if he wished to devour him alive.
Despite being the leader of Yuhua Gang, Yue Shan had never encountered Shi Xiaole before, hence his reaction. Otherwise, it might have been different.
"What if it was?"
Shi Xiaole replied nonchalantly.
"Since it was you, then you go to die! Attack him!"
Even in his anger, Yue Shan remained rational. He decided to first send his men to test Shi Xiaole’s strength.
However, before the Yuhua Gang’s top fighters could intervene, Shi Xiaole made the first move, pointing his fingers gently into the air.
Shhh.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
"No!"
Yue Shan was kneeling on the ground; two gaping holes on his knees. Panic surged within him. He hadn’t even seen how Shi Xiaole had made his move.
The man and the young woman were stunned.
The top fighters of the Yuhua Gang stopped advancing. They knew they had bit off more than they could chew and wished they could run away.
Shi Xiaole interrogated Yue Shan using the Soul Transfer Great Method and finished him off with his Sword Qi. Once he was done, the main dolls of Yuhua Gang were all dealt with.
This scene terrified the remaining gang members who scattered in all directions, tripping over each other in their haste to escape.
With a wave of his hand, Shi Xiaole sent out his Sword Qi like rain, causing the fleeing gang members to fall one by one. None managed to escape.
With this, the principal force of the Yuhua Gang was wiped out.
Spies from the remaining three gangs, who had witnessed the entire incident, were soaked in cold sweat and could think of nothing but to report everything to their leaders as soon as possible.
"You can go now. There won’t be a Yuhua Gang anymore."
Shi Xiaole said to the dumbfounded man and others before heading in the direction of the Yuhua Gang.
Although he never admitted that he was a chivalrous swordsman, Shi Xiaole didn’t mind interfering if he came across an injustice. Of course, wiping out the Yuhua Gang had also saved him the cost of purchasing the Lujin Stone.
After obtaining the Lujin Stone from the Yuhua Gang’s warehouse, Shi Xiaole took a look around but didn’t find anything valuable, so he left.
Over the next month, Shi Xiaole pieced everything together, through purchases, exchanges, or searches, to finally gather all the materials needed to cast the low-grade spirit sword.
Once he was fully equipped, he rushed to the active volcano located in the eastern region of the Great Cold State—Mountain Jinyun.
Inside Mountain Jinyun was an active volcano.
To forge the low-grade spirit sword described on the parchment, he needed to use a special tapping technique and the high temperature above the lava of the volcano to store energy.
Soon, Shi Xiaole found the active volcano.
The diameter of the volcano’s opening was ten meters, and looking down, there was a sea of red and yellow bubbling lava. Every time it bubbled, a burst of scorching heat would attack the skin.
"According to the information, this volcano erupts every several hundred years, and the last eruption was just thirty years ago. It shouldn’t pose any danger."
Taking a risk for wealth and success, Shi Xiaole was prepared to take the gamble and jumped into the volcano to forge his first low-grade spirit sword.
