After three months of working as a blacksmith apprentice, Lin Da Niu found Yang Pingan one day and said, “Ping’an, I know you work very hard and diligently. Every day, besides being an apprentice at the Blacksmith Shop, you also need to cultivate and study, and your life is very difficult.”
“I’ve seen all your efforts these past few days. In terms of strength and endurance, you are already capable of becoming an apprentice. From today onwards, I will teach you how to forge iron and how to become a true blacksmith.”
Yang Pingan was overjoyed at this and said, “Thank you, Master Niu, I will study hard.”
Lin Da Niu just nodded and began to teach Yang Pingan the basics of forging.
However, with Yang Pingan’s current skill, his iron forging and smithing abilities were practically zero; everything had to start from the basics.
Under Lin Da Niu’s instructions, Yang Pingan began the basic forging of raw ore, which involved repeatedly forging purchased iron ore to remove impurities.
After a long period of hammering, the iron ore, which was originally the size of a soccer ball, gradually became elongated, and its color changed from its original dark black to a lustrous gray-black.
Once it was forged into a long strip, the rest was handled by Lin Da Niu.
Lin Da Niu took the iron ore with tongs and quickly hammered, processed, and quenched it, ultimately turning it into the desired object.
From that day on, Yang Pingan spent every day hammering and processing raw ore with a thirty-pound forging hammer.
Although he still couldn’t forge, he already looked somewhat like a blacksmith apprentice.
However, being a blacksmith was more tiring than just doing odd jobs.
Not only did he have to continuously swing a thirty-pound hammer, but he also had to face the high temperatures of the furnace.
For a six-year-old child, the intensity of the work was imaginable.
Time flew by.
After a year of diligent study, Yang Pingan could finally barely be considered a blacksmith, able to forge some simple farm tools.
But compared to a true blacksmith, especially Master Lin Dali and Master Iron Forest, there was still a huge difference.
As for the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Method mentioned in the original work, Yang Pingan had neither Tang Hao’s guidance nor the Clear Sky Hammer Spirit.
It was impossible for him to cultivate it in the short term.
Normally, if one could fully master the Clear Sky Sect’s Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Method, they could basically reach the level of a Divine Craftsman. You are reading on novelping.com, the official source.
There were only three Divine Craftsmen on the entire continent, which showed the profoundness of the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Method.
At least, it was not something a newly initiated young blacksmith like Yang Pingan could master.
According to the original records, the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Method was a continuous hammering and forging method that used borrowed force to maximize the blacksmith’s strength.
Even Tang San, after becoming a Spirit Ancestor, practiced diligently for nearly two years before he could continuously swing eighty-one hammers.
Yang Pingan also tried to use borrowed force for forging as described in the original work, but after barely ten hammers, he was completely exhausted.
This also made Yang Pingan realize that his innate conditions and physical fitness were too poor.
To truly start practicing the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Method, he would have to become a Spirit Master at least.
Because Yang Pingan usually focused on his own cultivation and had no interaction with others, not even with his teachers, he gradually became known as the eccentric in the school.
As an elementary school student, Yang Pingan’s persistence and willpower were completely unlike those of a child.
Every day, he was either at the Blacksmith Shop, the Dormitory, or the classroom, practically a three-point-one-line routine.
At most, he would also visit the library, playground, and cafeteria, completely unconcerned with other matters.
Moreover, Yang Pingan basically repeated the same routine day after day, with no breaks in his cultivation process, never socializing or playing with others.
The only time he spoke was usually to directly ask teachers questions he encountered while reading.
The questions Yang Pingan posed were also bizarre and varied, not something an elementary school teacher could master, or rather, not something a low-level Spirit Master could master at all.
Dean Wu and Director Su occasionally saw Yang Pingan busy, but each time Yang Pingan would just greet them and quickly leave.
Director Su looked at Yang Pingan’s busy figure and couldn’t help but sigh a little: “Dean Wu, this child is truly excellent. If his Innate Spirit Power could be a bit higher, his future prospects would probably be limitless. It’s a pity his Innate Spirit Power is only half a level; he will probably only become a Spirit Grandmaster at most in this lifetime.”
Dean Wu also had a look of regret on his face: “Although this child is alone and helpless, he studies exceptionally hard. I once went to the Blacksmith Shop where he works for something, and he works very diligently there. He is already a qualified blacksmith, and his future achievements in blacksmithing might even surpass those of a Spirit Master.”
Director Su deliberated for a moment before speaking: “Dean, looking at this child’s temperament and effort, as well as the questions he usually asks, he clearly has good comprehension in the areas of Spirit and Spirit Master. If that Grandmaster were to take him as a disciple, he might also become a Spirit Master theory expert.” Read this novel at NovelPing for the best experience.
Dean Wu shook his head: “There’s no need to mention that again. Although my friend seems rather decadent, he is proud and arrogant; only a peerless genius would likely catch his eye.”
Director Su just fell silent upon hearing this.
Yang Pingan occasionally encountered Yu Xiaogang in the academy, but each time he met Yu Xiaogang, he would quickly leave without even greeting him.
This Yu Xiaogang was not an academy teacher, nor had he taught him a single class.
Secondly, he was not an academy leader; instead, he was the son of his enemy.
Greeting him would be a waste of time.
And every time Yu Xiaogang saw Yang Pingan, his eyes were exceptionally peculiar, seemingly filled with rejection, disgust, and even a hint of jealousy.
Looking at this child with the same Spirit as himself, especially since their Innate Spirit Power levels were also the same, he was practically a younger version of himself.
But this Yang Pingan was completely different from him.
Although his family was poor, he diligently cultivated, completely lacking his own decadence and disappointment, and certainly not having the pain of being driven out by his family.
In short, compared to Yu Xiaogang, Yang Pingan was like the opposite side of a mirror: one was diligent and hardworking, while the other was decadent and disheartened.
Yu Xiaogang couldn’t help but sigh, muttering to himself, “Youth is truly good. If you had experienced countless setbacks like me, and no matter how much you cultivated, your Soul Power couldn’t advance an inch, would you still be like this now?”
The biggest benefit of becoming a blacksmith was the increased salary.
Since Yang Pingan became a blacksmith, his monthly salary became three silver coins, a direct threefold increase.
Additionally, there were certain bonuses based on the quantity forged and the Blacksmith Shop’s profits.
Overall, he received about four to five silver coins per month, which at least temporarily solved his financial difficulties.
And whenever there was a holiday, Yang Pingan would return to the village for a few days.
Although the time was relatively short, it at least showed that he was still alive and that place was still his home, preventing other villagers from coveting his house.