"You will... what?" Nie Hanchang could not believe his ears.
"If you are not willing, I won't insist," Zhao Yunxiao said solemnly. "After all, I cannot promise that I can salvage this mess that you made either!"
"No! No, that's not it! Please help me, Junior Martial Brother Zhao!" Nie Hanchang urgently answered.
He, too, knew that he was fast approaching his limit.
If it was as Zhao Yunxiao said and the metal was truly about to break, there was no way that he would have the skills and energy to salvage the situation.
After all, he could not even tell that it was breaking!
On top of that, just like how Zhao Yunxiao had heard of Nie Hanchang, Nie Hanchang had heard of Zhao Yunxiao as well.
Among the outer disciples, Zhao Yunxiao was known as the jack of all trades – the one who held the greatest number of sect jobs.
Yet despite holding so many jobs, Zhao Yunxiao did not compromise on his work quality and was able to do well in every last one of them.
Since someone like Zhao Yunxiao who had years of experience with smithing was willing to help him out at this critical juncture, Nie Hanchang definitely would not turn him down!
"It's decided then," Zhao Yunxiao said. "However, you have to promise not to let anyone else know about this. As you know, this is against the rules. And don't blame me if it goes badly either. I won't be held responsible for your mistakes."
"I definitely won't!" Nie Hanchang replied immediately. "Thank you, Junior Martial Brother Zhao!"
"Enough talk, the grimiron is starting to cool," Zhao Yunxiao did not bother with the pleasantries and directly snatched over the metal tongs and hammer from Nie Hanchang. "Maintain the flame. You know how to do that at least, don't you?"
"Y-Yes! I can do that!"
Just like that, the roles of Nie Hanchang and Zhao Yunxiao were reversed all of a sudden.
The first thing Zhao Yunxiao did after taking over was to throw the entire piece of metal back into the flames, heating it almost to the point of melting.
Nie Hanchang bit his lower lips in nervousness when he saw that, but decided not to say anything in case he distracted Zhao Yunxiao.
After the metal had been heated to extreme softness, Zhao Yunxiao pulled it out and directly folded it in half, effectively doubling up on the thickness of the grimiron with a second layer.
Nie Hanchang frowned.
He might not be a smith, but he still knew a thing or two about weapons.
While foldforming was a common practice among mortal smiths, forging treasure weapons was a completely different matter altogether.
Not only did the resulting sturdiness matter, but the ability to conduct energy was just as important, if not even more so.
By folding the metal like that, wouldn't the flow of energy within the grimiron be disrupted as a result?
"Instead of looking at me like that, think about who made it so that I have to do it in the first place. Without doing this, the metal will just break if we continue the smithing process!" Zhao Yunxiao cursed. "And don't worry, I will try to resolve the accompanying issues too. I don't know if this will work, but this is the only way I can think of that will save your bow!"
"Yes..." Nie Hanchang answered timidly.
This was the first time he had seen such an aggressive side of Zhao Yunxiao, who was usually calm and collected.
Sensing that the situation might be worse than he imagined, Nie Hanchang could not help but feel a certain level of self-reproach.
In fact, he was right that Zhao Yunxiao did not usually speak in such a harsh manner.
The only reason he did was because he was extremely on edge at the moment.
He was frustrated that Nie Hanchang jumped right into this without having considered everything properly.
He was frustrated that he had felt bad for Nie Hanchang and ended up going against his own self-preservation values by breaking the rules.
He was frustrated that he did not have the necessary skills to salvage the bow with ease, and had to resort to extreme measures that he had never even seen anyone perform before.
As a smith, how would he not know that there could be consequences that come with foldforming?
However, what choice did he have?
The smithing process had already started. At this point, melting down the entire bow and redoing it from scratch would only hurt the grimiron even more, losing the primordial essence that only a new piece of metal would possess!
Everything he was doing now was purely theoretical, an idea born of numerous different concepts mashing together in his head.
Not to mention the foldforming technique, he had never seen anyone working with rare quality grimiron in his life either!
Nevertheless, Zhao Yunxiao was determined.
Regardless of what he said, since he had already decided to break the rules to help Nie Hanchang, he naturally had to make sure it works out somehow!
Steeling his resolve, Zhao Yunxiao raised the hammer in his hand and slammed it down on the heated grimiron.
He had already seen the weapon blueprint earlier.
Now, all he needed to think about was how he could deliver the result!
Clank-! Clank-! Clank-!
Every strike has to hit the right spot, at the right angle, and with the right amount of energy. As long as one of these aspects is off, the result will not be ideal.
Tian Mingre's words resounded in his head.
The right spot.
Clank-!
The right angle.
Clank-!
The right amount of energy.
Clank-!
Look for spots of non-uniformity, be it in terms of shape, thickness, gas bubbles, grain structure, or anything else.
Clank-!
Zhao Yunxiao channelled his essence energy not just through the hammer but also throughout his body, raising his senses to the extreme as he focused on the state of the grimiron.
Shape. Thickness. Gas bubbles. Grain structure.
He refused to let any little detail go without notice.
Clank-!
Don't do it blindly.
Clank-!
Don't hammer for the sake of hammering.
Clank-!
There must be a reason behind every strike.
Tian Mingre's words were like a mantra that kept repeating in Zhao Yunxiao's head.
In fact, it was not just Tian Mingre's words either.
Everything that Zhao Yunxiao had learnt and heard over the years, every last bit of information and notes that he deemed useful – all of it was continuously playing out in his head.
Reheating.
Hammering.
Reheating again.
Hammering again.
Zhao Yunxiao did not even realise it, but at a certain point, his senses had started blocking out what was happening in his surroundings.
The current Zhao Yunxiao could no longer see anything in the furnace room apart from him, the tools in his hands, the metal and anvil, and the furnace fire.
Everything outside of these was nothing but silent darkness.
He was no longer capable of thinking about anything but the metal, as well as how to forge it into the bow that it was meant to become.
Aside from all that, there was only the image of his final goal – the completed grimiron bow.
His eyes started to dilate, but his overall vision of the grimiron became clearer.
His hands started to feel numb, but his overall ability to feel the state of the grimiron became better.
Every hammer strike became that much more precise.
Harder.
Faster.
And far more efficient.
He was no longer consciously controlling his actions, but allowing his memories and thoughts to carry him along.
In this entranced state, the smithing process accelerated multiple times to reach a level completely unprecedented for Zhao Yunxiao.
Unfortunately, the fact that he no longer consciously controlled his actions also meant that he was no longer capable of controlling the rate at which he expended his essence energy.
Using the rare quality grimiron as the main smithing material was far more difficult than using most other lower quality materials.
Even after being softened from the heat, a significant amount of essence energy still had to be imbued into every hammer strike to form the grimiron accordingly.
As a cultivator at the Intermediate Essence Gathering realm, the energy capacity of Zhao Yunxiao's dantian was limited.
If he wisely rationed his energy usage, it would still be a manageable task.
However, Zhao Yunxiao was no longer capable of doing so, and quickly approached his limit as the smithing process progressed.
While his actions did not slow by any measure, his face was quickly turning pale, and sweat started to pour down his face as well as drench his clothes.
Nie Hanchang looked on with mixed feelings.
He was initially worried after Zhao Yunxiao performed the foldforming technique, but quickly became excited after seeing how Zhao Yunxiao's smithing speed continued to accelerate.
Under such a fast yet precise process of smithing, the grimiron quickly formed in Zhao Yunxiao's hands, taking on the shape of the bow that he had imagined.
However, as the bow itself neared completion, Nie Hanchang could tell that Zhao Yunxiao's condition was quickly deteriorating as well.
"Are you all right, Junior Martial Brother Zhao?"
Clank-! Clank-! Clank-!
"Junior Martial Brother Zhao?"
This time, it was Nie Hanchang who did not receive a response.
Clank-! Clank-!
Once again, the only thing that answered Nie Hanchang was the sound of repeated hammering that had been reverberating through the furnace room for the past few hours.
At the same time, Zhao Yunxiao's face only got paler by the second.
He was about to run out of essence energy!
Nie Hanchang gritted his teeth as he watched.
No, this was not things should go.
It was his bow, so how could he just stand by and watch while Zhao Yunxiao pushed himself to the limit for the sake of its completion?
Nie Hanchang took another look at the grimiron that was already fully in the shape of a bow, leaving just a few uneven areas.
It was almost at completion, and the current fire should be sufficient for the remainder of the process.
That was the last bit of assurance that he needed.
After steeling his resolve, Nie Hanchang stepped forward and placed a hand on Zhao Yunxiao's back.
With that, he sent every last bit of his remaining essence energy directly into Zhao Yunxiao's body, hoping to replenish as much as the latter's energy as possible.
Unfortunately, although the exhausted Nie Hanchang might have managed to recover a portion of his energy over the past few hours, he was still nowhere near his peak condition.
Compared to his heart and determination, the amount of help he could give Zhao Yunxiao was not nearly as much.
Still, he wanted to help, even if it was only by the slightest amount!
But the moment his essence energy flowed into Zhao Yunxiao through his sweat-drenched back, Nie Hanchang felt his heart skip a beat as a familiar image suddenly appeared in his head.
It was the image of the completed grimiron bow.
Nie Hanchang might have only obtained the grimiron ore recently, but he had been holding onto the same goal for years.
Naturally, he had been working on this bow blueprint for just as long.
He had put his fullest effort into this bow blueprint, researching through numerous testimonials and scrolls, consulting various smith friends, and doing countless experiments to find the perfect shape that suited himself.
It was no exaggeration to say that he had exchanged his blood and sweat for it.
Before the start of the smithing process, he had the thought that he could always try to excavate another piece of ore should he fail this time, and that as long as he had the determination, he would be able to succeed one day.
But now that it seemed this close to coming to fruition, Nie Hanchang could not help but feel a sense of agitation in his heart.
He did not want to fail this time!
He was unwilling!
Then again, perhaps what he felt was not simple agitation, but something more mystical.
This was definitely not the first time that Nie Hanchang had imagined the completed bow in his head, but it definitely felt different this time.
It was almost as though the grimiron bow was calling out to him, asking him for help!
Weakness washed over Nie Hanchang after he sent every last bit of his remaining essence energy into Zhao Yunxiao, but he gritted his teeth and forced himself to keep standing.
He kept his hand on Zhao Yunxiao's back, and drove his dantian to the limit.
Even if he could only recover a sliver of energy in these last few moments, he wanted to pass every last bit of it to Zhao Yunxiao.
He, Nie Hanchang, would not be someone who left his fate entirely in the hands of others!
On the other hand, a bit of colour returned to Zhao Yunxiao's face as the energy from Nie Hanchang flowed into his body.
The semiconscious Zhao Yunxiao did not hesitate to tap into all of that energy, using it as his own.
By now, the grimiron bow had fully taken form. Even the last bit of uneven areas had been hammered flat.
But it was still one step left to completion.
Zhao Yunxiao threw the hammer to a corner, switching to a chisel into which he directed every last bit of essence energy in his body, that from both he and Nie Hanchang.
Slice-!
Engravings appeared on the bow at a frightening pace as Zhao Yunxiao wielded the chisel like a brush, cutting through the softened grimiron with essence energy shrouding the tip of his blade.
He did not miss a single detail that was on the blueprint, creating an exact replica of the bow that was occupying Nie Hanchang's mind.
After this, all that was left was attaching the bowstring!
Zhao Yunxiao instinctively reached out to the monster tendon that Nie Hanchang had brought in with him, but something completely out of their expectations occurred at this point.
Boom-!
A shockwave suddenly erupted out from the grimiron bow, sending the two exhausted outer disciples flying to the corners of the furnace room!