The multiple wisps of qi, which were specifically 6 in number, were sent out to the Elders of the Shi clan. As they accepted the wisp of qi, they all heard the same thing in their minds.
"To the Elders of the Shi clan, we shall be holding an urgent meeting later in the Shi Ancestral Hall. If anyone dares to not come, they shall face the consequences!"
Of course, knowing that the patriarch would definitely do what he says, five out of the six Elders shuddered in fear. Since they knew what's better for them, they cancelled their plans for this day, even if it was teaching disciples or helping out in the clan, and headed towards the Shi Ancestral Hall.
As for the last Elder who didn't shudder in fear, he instead sighed after hearing the patriarch's announcement. "So...the time has come huh. I guess this'll be the time I'll fulfill the final mission of the Young Lady."
Afterwards, he circulated his qi all over his body and disappeared from where he was in the blink of an eye.
...
Night time of the same day, within the Shi Ancestral Hall.
The Shi Ancestral Hall was a hall that almost all Shi clan members knew thanks to its purpose. This hall was built to pay respect to the ancestors that made the Shi clan into what it is today. But for some of the higher-ups of the clan like the elders and the patriarch, they knew that this hall also served an additional purpose.
This purpose was to allow the higher-ups to hold secret meetings that wouldn't have any person eavesdropping on them.
Within the Shi Ancestral Hall was an underground floor that had an area of about 50 square meters. On its center was a round table that had 7 chairs circling around it. Shi Xingwan was already sitting in one of those chairs, waiting for the other Elders to come.
After waiting for a while, three people opened the door, respectfully greeting Shi Xingwan before sitting down.
Not long after, two more people entered the room and bowed respectfully towards Shi Xingwan before sitting down.
At this moment, the room had an eerie silence as they waited for the last person to enter the room, which everyone knew as the strongest person within the clan.
Once a few minutes passed, a whoosh sound could be heard as a man sat down on the last unoccupied chair. He nodded towards Shi Xingwan and Shi Xingwan nodded back.
"Since everyone is now here, let us start this meeting," Shi Xingwan said after seeing that everyone was already here.
"I'm sure you've received the recent news on the happenings within Verdant Breeze Town. We shall be talking about one of them today, the Tri-clan Tournament."
Hearing the Tri-clan Tournament, the Elders' ears perked up as they listened to Shi Xingwan's deductions.
"I don't know if the elders have the same idea as me, but this Tri-clan Tournament seems like a hidden blade meant to destroy the Shi clan for good. Does anyone have any objections to this idea?"
Each and every Elder within the room shook their heads as they got to this conclusion as well. Seeing that everyone agreed with him, Shi Xingwan continued, "Anyways, I think that this tournament is quite peculiar. The minimum cultivation requirement to enter the tournament is the Martial Adept stage. Why do I feel like they're intentionally doing this?"
Suddenly, an Elder replied. This Elder's facial features were quite similar to Shi Xingwan's, but his age was quite younger than Shi Xingwan as he exuded an aura of vigor. This Elder was Shi Xingwan's brother, Shi Xingtai.
"I'm not quite sure if they're intentionally doing this, but they might be aiming to raise the strength of the Verdant Breeze Town as a whole. With a tournament around, there's bound to be prizes, which would make every cultivator strive hard to reach the highest realm they could reach before the tournament."
Some of the Elders nodded at Shi Xingtai's opinion since it did make sense.
"But it doesn't seem right though," Shi Xingwan felt that something was off. Even though he deduced that it was probably related to Shi Li, he didn't speak of it right now. "If they wanted to raise the strength of Verdant Breeze Town, wouldn't it be more beneficial if the prizes were meant for Martial Masters? If any one of them broke through to the Martial Lord realm, Verdant Breeze Town would possibly enter an age of prosperity, would it not?"
"Well patriarch, since you say that, it does seem peculiar." All of a sudden, an Elder replied to Shi Xingwan's statement. This Elder was a middle-aged woman in her 40s but still looked like she was in her 20s. She exuded an aura of mature charm, allowing her to seduce every man who sees her. This Elder was known as the Shi clan's Temptress, known by the name of Shi Lianghua.
"Say we followed your thoughts patriarch. If it was done intentionally, who is the Huang clan targeting?" Shi Lianghua added.
At this point in time, Shi Xingwan couldn't help but emit a faint killing intent which somewhat stifled the Elders' breaths.
Afterwards, Shi Xingwan only muttered two words which somewhat shocked everyone in the room.
"Shi Li."
...
Shi clan, Shi Zhang's smithy.
A few days have passed since Shi Li asked Shi Zhang to teach him how to make a pearl holder. Today, Shi Zhang told him to make a pearl holder by himself, which Shi Li accepted.
Shi Li grabbed a chunk of iron which was said to be the best material for crafting pearl holders according to Shi Zhang and placed it in the furnace.
He then fanned the flames within the furnace, allowing the flames to grow stronger and hotter. After a while, the chunk of iron glowed red hot and Shi Li noticed this as he removed the glowing red chunk out of the furnace and placed it on the anvil.
Afterwards, he crushed a bit of coal and scattered it all over the iron as he hammered it into the iron, allowing the two to mix. Although Shi Zhang was curious as to why Shi Li would do this, he didn't stop him from doing so.
After integrating the coal into the iron, he then placed the alloy into the furnace, allowing it to heat up once more.
At this point in time, Shi Zhang couldn't help but ask, "Why did you mix fuel into the iron? Wouldn't that be a waste of fuel?"
Shi Li grinned after hearing his master's question. "You'll see, Master."
Back in his previous life, Shi Li lived in an age where iron was rarely used and steel was the norm. Not only that, a special material called graphene also existed at the time, called by the masses as a miraculous material.
Anyways, the reason why Shi Li added coal into the chunk of iron was to create steel, specifically carbon steel. Though it wasn't really exact, he was sure that the outcome would probably be close to having the properties of steel.
Once the alloy was glowing red hot, Shi Li removed it from the furnace and flattened it using his full strength. With the help of the [Energy Condensation Art], he was able to do more full strength strikes which allowed the hammering process to go faster.
After a while, Shi Li was able to form the rough shape of the pearl holder. The bottom was cylindrical in shape while four arches arose from the four cardinal directions of the cylinder. If one were to compare it to something in the present, it would be somewhat similar to the claw found in a claw machine.
Once he felt that the shape was satisfactory, he grabbed the holder with tongs and quenched it in water, where it easily cooled down to the point it could be held with bare hands.
Nonetheless, Shi Li still decided to be careful. He waited for five minutes for the holder to cool down before he sanded it down with sandpaper, allowing the pearl holder to show a pristine gleam.
Shi Li couldn't help but grin at the final product he made. Shi Zhang looked at it as well and muttered, "To think that my disciple has only started learning how to forge for around 4 days."
"To craft this piece with only the teachings of a few days, I can definitely say he'll become a legend whose name would resound for generations!"