"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
Shu He carefully made his way down the hallway while blocking his ears from the inane screaming that was echoing down it.
'I can definitely see why they called him an asura now!' He thought to himself as he came upon on open room, the walls covered will all sorts of hilt-less blades, tools of varying kinds and pieces of metal he couldn't identify, the floor too was covered in storage boxes filled with all sorts of equipment, so much so that they were almost spilling out.
*BANG*
His attention was caught by a noise from the centre of the room.
Sparks flew in a circle around a figure as their burning lights bounced across the floor before rapidly cooling, the ornate hammer the figure held rose in the air once more and-
"HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII" An ear-splitting screech entered his ears once more before the hammer slammed on to the metal placed on the anvil, its glowing form bent and disformed as the hammer stuck its surface causing even more sparks to launch all over the room.
To Shu He, it reminded him of fireworks, the bright lights highlighting the darkness.
The yelling continued as the man ceaselessly hammered away at the metal, whenever it began to cool he'd grab some tongs and hold it in the forge next to him that seemed to be glowing hotter than the sun itself, Shu He felt like if he got any closer his skin and clothes would begin to go up in flames.
He couldn't help but reminisce when he stared at the figure, back then it was sculping and now it was forging, the difference in environment and intensity couldn't differ more if they tried and yet he felt the same atmosphere, one of utmost concentration and dedication.
There was a large difference, however.
When he swung his hammer, he yelled out, not in pain but whatever he felt sitting inside his heart at that moment, his face plastered with a maddening smile, his eyes once old and wrinkly now filled with a blazing sun.
Like before, Shu He couldn't help it, he sat cross legged on the floor circulating his Qi to protect himself from the heat while watching, each swing of the hammer was carefully controlled by the powerful muscles holding it, it stuck exactly where the smith desired, his form was a thing of beauty and mesmerising to watch.
It wasn't long before the howling of Yun Jiang no longer disturbed him, happily watching the process, out of curiosity he activated his sight to get some more insights, after all this was a cultivator smithing, surely it wouldn't be normal.
And he was correct.
With each raise of the hammer the Qi in Yun Jiang's body spiked and channelled into the ornate metal tool, it became a torch of Qi as he did so, then when it swung and hit the metal the Qi entered the metal, stretching out and melding like a forest of threads, the remaining Qi exited in the sparks that flew around the room.
He didn't understand exactly what was happening, his sight didn't allow him to observe anything near molecular level so there was definitely more to the eye than he could see.
He closed his eyes again before continuing to watch normally, one thing he was surprised about was Yun Jiang's visual appearance.
The Yun Jiang he knew was an old man with only a single wisp of hair on his head, his face was filled with wrinkles and blotches and a small white beard tied with string, while he had a body that resembled a well-built adult his skin showed clear signs of age, as far as Shu He knew he was at least in to his 70's and was the oldest person in the village, the former village elder Cao Yang was only slightly younger.
Yet before him was a man who seemed to be in his late 40's at most, his hair had grown back into a fine bronze stream that was tied behind his back, there were still a few lines of white hair, yet they accented his mature look rather than screamed old man like before.
His beard was a mix of white and bronze now, still tied with the simple string and his eyes of amber glowed and flickered with the fire of the forge, needless to say his physique seemed to have entered another level, if he would be compared to a body builder now, he was a mere casual athlete before.
'Just what happened in these three years… the Qi concentration in his body is higher than mine or others near my cultivation level, is he already at Meridian Awakening?' he thought as he watched along.
It was half an hour before the hammer struck for the last time, Yun Jiang lifted the now blade shaped piece of metal into the air, observing it intensely before dipping it in to a large vat of liquid near him.
*SHHHWWWWWWWWW*
The sizzling sounds reverberated through the room for a good minute while the liquid bubbled and spat.
He lifted the blade, now pristine and shiny out of the liquid and took another look, his eyes squinting.
"Hmmm, not bad… not perfect yet though" He muttered to himself while shaking his head, he threw the blade in to a box near him causing a large clang to sound out as the box full of them toppled over.
Yun Jiang sighed.
"I need to hand these over, they're getting in the way…" He stroked his beard before he caught sight of the sitting figure in the corner of his eyes, his eyes widened with surprise as he turned around and inspected the figure.
At this point Shu He stood up and brushed his robes off.
"You've had quite a glow up, Old Yun" He greeted him with a smirk.
"Hmmmmm?" Yun Jiang's eyes narrowed as he inspected the visitor, but then it seemed to hit him as he looked his eyes and hair.
"Oh, if it isn't Shu He! My, you've grown up quite fast! I thought you weren't meant to come to the sect for a full three years!" He said in surprise.
Shu He raised his eyebrow in suspicion "It HAS been 3 years Yun Jiang; you aren't going senile are you?"
"Really?" He looked at Shu He with surprise, thinking for a second "I suppose it has been a long time since I asked anyone what the date was…" He muttered.
"Don't tell me you've been locked up in here most of the time you've been here?" Shu He asked feeling a sense of disbelief.
"Of course! Let me tell you Shu He the techniques they use for crafting things and forging are unlike anything I've ever seen before! It's an entirely new world for me, every day I've been learning new techniques, learning about new resources or finding faults I never thought I had before! It's like a dream!" He explained with his eyes sparkling and arms wide open.
"But you shouldn't neglect your health… also out of curiosity what level of cultivation are you?" Shu He asked before he could forget.
"Oh, that? What was it called… van?... yin…? Oh right, it's Balance Attainment" He said while nodding.
"Ba- what? Is that the fourth level, the one after Meridian Awakening?" Shu He's eyes almost popped out of his skull.
"That's right! I must say cultivation is great, it fills me with so much energy and even gave me back some of my good looks I had in my youth hahahaha." He said while laughing heartily.
"How did you progress so fast?! I started way before you and Gang Bo around the same time as you, yet neither of us are even at Meridian Awakening…" Shu He couldn't help but feel defeated, he thought he had been making fast progress.
"Probably because the division head supported me with resources the moment I showed off my skills, he said I shouldn't waste any more time as a mortal craftsman and pushed me up with pills and a fancy technique, it allows me to cultivate through forging".
"What? How does that work?!" Shu He immediately became interested, the only type of cultivation he had done was self-meditation, so he was curious on how these techniques worked.
"Err, I can't share it unfortunately or my head would get lopped off, but the gist is making use of residual energies from forging special materials as a booster" He shrugged, giving a short explanation even though he really shouldn't.
'Residual energies? The qi given off by materials when forged maybe?' He thought for a second, but he didn't have enough information to use it for himself unfortunately.
"Don't tell anyone I told you that much, alright?"
"Got it"
"Anyway, this isn't the place to talk, lets go to my residence; I'm sure you're scorching out here"
"Definitely, I don't know how you can stand it"
Yun Jiang just shrugged his shoulders "I quickly got used to it".
Then, two headed towards Yun Jiang's residence.
…
"So how were your three years down in Orefine? I went there a couple times myself, but I wasn't allowed to leave the great furnace." He asked, the two were sat at a table with a cup of tea sitting in front of them. "Though I guess I could leave if I wanted to, now…" He muttered afterwards.
"The great furnace? You've been there?" Shu He questioned, confused as to why it was being brought up now.
"Hmmm?" Yun Jian sipped his tea before replying "You don't know?"
"Know what?" Shu He tilted his head in confusion.
"The great furnace is a gateway to the sect, more specifically it leads to this very division, it's how the mortal workers move to and from here".
"Really?" Shu He was a bit surprised at this revelation, he had seen the place every day while he lived down in Orefine, so he didn't expect a gateway into the sect to be sitting in plain sight.
"So is the great furnace just for show there?" He asked in return.
"No, some of the minor work for the sect goes on there but it's much smaller scale, mortal workers usually work there for some time before they're allowed to enter the sect."
"Hm, I see".
"So, how was your time there?" Yun Jiang asked again.
Shu He's face became plastered with a wry smile.
"Well I wouldn't say it was bad, not great either; between the constant sparring with Gang Bo, trying to cultivate, Bai Shun's occasional surprise visits and working to keep the house we lived in I didn't have much time to do much else, life back in Green-Gate was far more peaceful."
"Hehe, that is was" Yun Jiang's eyes flashed with reminiscence for a minute, the old man had spent most of his later life as a mortal in that village so it would forever remain a part of him.
"Speaking of which, where is Gang Bo anyway, I thought he'd come with you?" He asked with confusion.
"Oh that…" Shu He scratched his head with helplessness "So you haven't heard either, that the sect master found a disciple."
"The sect master? I didn't hear that no but what does that have to do with…" As Yun Jiang spoke he steadily slow down as realisation hit him.
"No…" He said in disbelief.
Shu He merely nodded in return.
"That fellow became the prime disciple? What has this world come to…" He stared at the ceiling with blank eyes, compared to Shu He he had been in this sect for 3 years now, so he had a greater understanding of what it meant to become the sect master's disciple.
"What about you? Have you been up to much in the sect yet?" He asked after his amazement wore off.
Shu He's wry smile creeped up on his face again.
"Unlike Gang Bo I wasn't so lucky, I've only been here for less than a week so I haven't done too much, I joined the Beast Taming Division and tried to join the Alchemy Division, but I can't until I reach Meridian Awakening".
"For being here less than a week I'd say that's enough though? Alchemy… I do remember you saying you had interest in it when we were travelling here, but Beast Taming? I don't have much contact with their members, what made you go there?"
Shu He shrugged "It just happened; I think it may be interesting though"
The two chatted for a while longer, mostly about what happened during their three years apart and their minor experiences and changes, Shu He very much enjoyed the company since Gang Bo had left him alone since induction, he didn't have anyone he was really close to, so he felt a bit lonely.
It was clear Yun Jiang enjoyed the company as well, apparently the other division members keep a good distance from him, yet he didn't know why.
"You know they call you the Asura Smith right?"
"The what now?!" Yun Jiang stared at him in disbelief.
"I heard it on the way here, they say you strike fear in to people with your cries and even cause people to faint"
"Lies! I just get a bit excited, there's no one who fainted!" He denied the allegations.
Shu He coughed before speaking "Well I won't deny it scared the living daylights out of me when I heard it at first as well, it may be a good idea to keep it down so people don't hate you".
Yun Jiang stared begrudgingly at Shu He before speaking "Fine, I'll try".
'What are you, a child?' He smiled helplessly.
They spoke a bit more before something suddenly popped up in Shu He's head.
"Say, you said you've been forging special materials right?" He asked.
"Yes? Why?" Yun Jiang's brow rose, he felt like he had seen a similar expression on Shu He's face when he requested weird containers and such in the past.
Shu He rustled around his robe and pulled out two things, placing them on the table.
"Oh! This is…!" Yun Jiang's eyes began to sparkle as he saw the items.
They were the Spiritual Metal and Igneous Crystal that Shu He had 'won' at the Striking Luck store! He knew he was coming here today, so he brought them along with him!
"I was wondering if you could make me something with these" He asked nicely.