Chapter 100: The King of Metal Forging
Chapter 100: The King of Metal Forging
Translator: Ash Editor: Geoffrey
At every hill, every lake, every farmland, every town, Li Yao saw many bizarre things and met many strange people.
One time, he had encountered an old man of 130-years of age. Obviously, he was just an ordinary person; however, he had a pet “Whistling Sky Hawk”, a spirit beast with a length of 4-5 meters.
When the old man was 4 years old, he had inadvertently picked up a palm-sized bird whose wings were broken. As the bird was very pitiful, using branches, the man had helped connect its broken wings and had also smeared healing ointments.
From then on, the little bird always stuck to him, accompanying him all the way through adolescence, marriage, childbirth, and old age.
From the beginning to a century later, the little bird had always remained palm sized. The old man had also gotten accustomed to the existence of this small thing that was always around him.
But who would have known that after its 104th birthday, the height of the little bird would suddenly soar; in just a short span of three years, the bird grew to be 5m long, revealing the lofty appearance that many spirit beasts had.
Only then did the old man come to realize that he had picked up an amazing thing.
"I was just an ordinary wage earner. My house was small, and there was also my son and daughter-in-law as well as my grandchildren who were soon to be married. So, where would I be able to raise such a big bird?"
"I was forced to secretly raise it on the roof of the house. Because of this, I had been nagged by my wife, my son, and my daughter-in-law, and the neighborhood committee had even come looking for me several times—they had even alerted the police!
"A few cultivators from the cultivation sects had come knocking at my door, stating that they were willing to pay an exorbitant price for this guy, but how could I be willing to part with it? In the eyes of cultivators, it is just a spirit beast, but in my eyes, it's my whole youth, my whole life! I will not sell, I will absolutely not sell!"
The old man gently caressed the Whistling Sky Hawk's head and laughed as he spoke.
The Whistling Sky Hawk, which was known for its fierceness, very gently leaned on the old man.
The left wing was slightly twisted and signs of having been seriously injured in the past could be seen.
"And just like that, after another twenty years, I retired. My children and grandchildren don't need to worry about me, and my old woman has also left a step earlier. Finally, I can fulfill my childhood dream! Little bird, oh little bird, ever since I was a child, I have always wondered how much better it would have been if you were a spirit beast. If you were a spirit beast, then I could ride you and continue to fly—fly across the mountains, over the rivers, above the clouds, and even fly throughout the Heaven Origin Sector."
The old man jovially laughed, revealing the lack of front teeth as he climbed up on the back of the Whistling Sky Hawk with difficulty.
"Preet——"
The old man blew a whistle laden with rust. The Whistling Sky Hawk gave a long whistle before flapping its wings and soaring into the sky.
The Whistling Sky Hawk had suffered an injury to its wings, and the old man was not a cultivator and simply didn't know any skills for riding spirit beasts. A man and a spirit beast slowly soared into the sky; the way they flew was full of twists and turns, it was simply too horrible to watch.
The old man simply didn't care. He sang a song which used to be popular a century ago as their silhouettes slowly disappeared into the pile of cotton-like layers of clouds.
Along the way, Li Yao had encountered no small number of people who were no different that this old man.
He had met a sword cultivator with tyrannical strength that was both accomplished and well-known, but as the age of 90 dawned upon him, he suddenly came to a realization and had discovered that what he truly wanted to become was a scholar-type cultivator—he wanted to be a poet.
And so, this sword cultivator put down his sword. In the desolate and vast land of snow, he hiked on a mountain of snow, searching for inspiration.
Occasionally, he would encounter some highway robbers or bandits, but only as a last resort would he use the sword. On the contrary, he would try to use poetry filled with warmth and love to reform the evildoers.
Over time, everyone near the snow mountain had heard of a "Devil Poet" who had excellent sword arts as they came to fear his poems and even moreso dreaded the 3-feet-long sword in his hand.
Li Yao had also met a village doctor who had graduated from the Empyrean Capital School of Medicine and had once worked in many cultivation sects. He was a renowned master in the cultivation world and was most skilled in unblocking the eight extra meridians as well as treating Qigong Deviation.
But after the age of 180, feeling obligated, the peak Building Foundation Stage cultivator rejected many high salary offers from major hospitals and cultivation sects, concealed his identity, and started traveling to every remote village in the federation in order to treat the patients in the backwater villages.
"Three decades ago, I had once acted as a protector for a sect leader of a major sect during his breakthrough and had helped him successfully step onto the Core Formation Stage. Later on, the sect leader had gifted me a luxurious seaside villa in addition to five shops on the busiest commercial street in a major city!"
"I used to think that it would be the largest consultation fee I would ever receive in my life."
In a shabby brick house, the village doctor, while grilling sweet potatoes in the fire furnace, laughingly said to Li Yao, "That is, until yesterday when I had received the most valuable consultation fee.”
"What was it?" Li Yao very meticulously peeled the sweet potato as the hot air blurred his vision.
"I helped a little boy who had lost vision in both his eyes when he was playing with fireworks, helping him see the light after four years. He gave me a fierce kiss right here."
Pointing at his cheek, the village doctor had the most brilliant smile hanging on his face; it was truly a very natural and serene smile.
A retired old man riding a Whistling Sky Hawk, a sword cultivator who wanted to become a poet, a peak Building Foundation Stage village doctor...
There were many, many people like this.
During the day, Li Yao, in this picturesque paradise of mortals, would listen to all kinds of strange stories from these people.
During the night, even while sleeping, he would not forget to cultivate; he would zealously assimilate Ou Yezi's memory fragments.
Each memory fragments contained ten days to one month worth of Ou Yezi's memories.
And, every night, Li Yao would approximately assimilate one or two memory fragments.
If he tried assimilating any more, he would exhaust his spiritual power and would feel as if his whole neural field was on fire, causing him to feel excruciating pain. Assimilating more than he could handle would do more harm than good for his cultivation.
In this long trek which spanned for three months, Li Yao had assimilated about 70-80% of Ou Yezi's memories of the time when he was a forge worker.
Compared to the previous illusory dreams, this was different. This time, the memory fragments had completely integrated with Li Yao's, completely integrating with his own memory.
As if he had truly been a forge worker of the Hundred Smelting Clan, practicing the superior metal forging techniques forty millenniums ago.
Although each time in the process of assimilating the memory, Li Yao, as Ou Yezi, would be tortured inhumanely to the point where he wanted to die.
But, the harvest he reaped was also enormous.
He had learned all of Ou Yezi's forging skills. In addition to < One-Hundred-and-Eight Hands Chaos Gale Hammer Technique> as a foundation, Li Yao had finally reached the peak of perfection on the road of metal forging.
In today's world where various advanced magical equipment refining techniques were used in mass production, taking a broad view at the entire Heaven Origin Sector, it would absolutely be impossible to find a second Li Yao, one who would so foolishly learn some antique forging techniques from forty millenniums ago.
Therefore, Li Yao could also be known as "The Star Glory Federation’s Top Expert in the Ancient Art of Manual Forging Techniques"!
Although it sounded like a pretty prestigious title, it didn't have much practical value. But still, Li Yao found a little satisfaction in his heart.
"Today is forging techniques, and tomorrow will be the most sophisticated refining equipment techniques. After I assimilate all of Ou Yezi’s memories about forging divine equipment and sharp equipment, even Deep Sea University will be nothing! And finally, one day, the title of Holy Land for Refiners will belong to my Grand Desolate War Institution's Refining Department!"
After three months, in a nameless small mountain village in the northern reaches of the federation.
"Moo..."
"Baa..."
"Woff, woff! Woff woff!"
At the entrance of a village, a large group of the wooden oxen[1] reeled left and right as they let out feeble bellows in the grain drying field.
The wooden oxen were all generic metal beast puppets made for farming purposes.
Taking the sheep that kept bleating “Baa baa” as an example, its entire body was built from metal, its joints were inlaid with various crystals, and its entire body was engraved with dozens of array glyphs, allowing it to automatically walk and look for dead branches, leaves, and straw.
After swallowing, everything would be broken down into plant fibers and would again be entwined together, turning into woolen-shaped fibers in its belly.
These kinds of fibers could be used to weave nets, and in the economically backward places, they could even be directly used to sew clothes. It was an extremely valuable puppet beast.
And the huge copper bull next to it, needless to say, was not only used to plow the fields; during the harvesting season, so long as some common parts were installed, it was possible to change its body, turning it into a harvesting machine.
Through the horn-like blades on its head, rice stalks could be completely cut off which would then enter its stomach through its mouth, where it would be processed before shining rice grains were discharged from behind.
In poor areas, these metal beast puppets were the life and blood of an entire family and would often be used for a good several generations.
The same was true for this small nameless mountain village.
The few dozen metal beast puppets were antiques from a hundred or so years ago and had already passed their life expectancy. Either their mechanical limbs were broken, or their crystals had been stolen by thieves, or some crucial place of engraved array glyphs was worn out due to the passage of time.
"Young Master Li[2], can you help auntie check whether or not this iron bull can be salvaged? It was the dowry my grandmother brought when she got married!"
"Young Master Li, if you have time, can you help this grandpa check this big dog? Although it is not alive, it had accompanied me ever since I was born. This is but 130 years of feelings!"
Li Yao was surrounded by bright and honest villagers. On one side of the house, a villager was killing a pig to make pork stew for Li Yao. It was the most delicious meat in the entire grains drying field.
It was not easy to find a master who could repair magical equipment in this kind of backwater village.
The honest villagers didn't know how to thank Li Yao, so a villager was simply butchering the big, fat pig which was prepared for the new year celebration.
Many foolhardy kids thought it was the new year as they ran around in the drying grains field with their runny nose, jumping and shouting in joy as they giggled in a sound that was as sweet as the rings of a silver bell
"Hold on for a moment, hold on for a moment, uncles and aunts! I am going to slowly check, one by one. However, I also have no way. Some are completely worn out. But as long as there is still some breath in me, I will try to completely repair these wooden oxen and flowing horses!"
Li Yao said while happily smiling.
After three months of experience, Li Yao's current appearance was completely different from the time when he had just departed. If his friends came to see his current appearance, they would absolutely be surprised.
Compared to 100 days ago, he seemed to be a bit taller, about a half centimeter. He was slightly skinny, and due to living and traveling in the wilderness for a long time, his skin had become quite tanned. His hair was in a mess, and a beard has grown on his face. All in all, it completely gave off a slightly sloppy appearance.
He was dressed in workwear sown from ordinary coarse cloth which was covered in dust and grease. At first glance, he looked no different than most of the common field workers.
But, the biggest change could be found in his temperament.
Translator notes-
[1] - 木牛流馬 - Wooden Oxen and Flowing Horses.
[2] - Here, the young master doesn’t refer to a child of a wealthy family; the master here is like expert or professor.
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