Upon entering the main hall, Tang Jian's brows slightly furrowed as he detected a mingled, indistinct scent.
His gaze swept around, and he noticed neatly arranged wooden shelves, each with a square box placed in its designated compartment.
Beneath each compartment, there was a foil paper labeled with names of materials required for sword forging, such as "Fire Essence, Saltpeter, Silver Scale, Iron Essence..."
Clearly, this annex was a storage warehouse for materials.
Yao Bin pulled out a silk scroll from his bosom, checking and retrieving square boxes from the shelves one by one, which he then tucked into his sleeves.
Tang Jian's eyes followed his movements within the hall, quickly ascertaining that the boxes Yao Bin had taken contained the materials necessary for refining a mid-grade magical sword.
After collecting the materials, Yao Bin led Tang Jian out of the hall and locked the door.
Then, he unlocked the door to the Xie Mountain Hall.
"Remember, you can look around, but don't touch anything. You can't afford to break it," Yao Bin said casually, glancing at Tang Jian before entering.
Tang Jian nodded without saying anything, simply following him into the hall.
Upon entering, he scanned the room and found that the furnishings were similar to the sword smithy in the governor's mansion where he had once been.
The same ebony shelves, the same forge, the same fire pit... even the placement was almost identical.
Yao Bin walked forward, taking out the square boxes from his sleeve and neatly arranging them on the ebony shelf.
Tang Jian, meanwhile, paced around the hall, taking everything in.
When he approached the fire pit, his brows suddenly rose, and he couldn't help but let out a slight "huh."
Conventionally, a swordsmith's fire pit would never truly go out, whether actively forging or not. Even during periods of closure, the embers would be buried to preserve the fire, and when reactivation was needed, fire essence would be added to reignite it.
But this fire pit was clearly different.
Inside the circular pit, it was clean, without any accumulated ash or charcoal, only a circular iron plate resembling a well cover, etched with a pattern of an exotic beast exhaling fire.
"Yao Senior Brother, this fire pit looks unusual. Is there something special about it?" Tang Jian asked curiously.
Yao Bin paused his actions, glanced at the fire pit, and a hint of disdain flashed through his eyes, but he still explained,
"This is called an Earth Fire Well, connected to an underground fire vein. When forging, the seal is opened, and a small amount of fire essence is added to draw up the earth fire for melting the sword-making materials."
"I see," Tang Jian said, understanding now.
He had heard Ning Chen mention earlier that the fires used in sword-making were not limited to charcoal; there were also heavenly fires, earth fires, and exotic fires, among many others.
Among these, charcoal was the least effective, often lacking sufficient heat and sometimes unable to melt many ore materials, requiring additives like fire essence to enhance the temperature.
As for heavenly fires, earth fires, and exotic fires, there was no absolute ranking; their quality depended on the specific flame.
"Let's go," Yao Bin said after arranging all the materials, beckoning Tang Jian and turning to leave the hall.
After exiting, he led Tang Jian to the door of another annex on the opposite side.
This time, he didn't take out a key but directly pushed the door open.
As the door creaked open, a somewhat choking smell of burnt charcoal immediately assailed their nostrils.
Yao Bin stood at the door, gesturing "please" to Tang Jian but did not enter himself.
Tang Jian hesitated slightly but then stepped forward into the annex.
Upon entering, he immediately saw a large pile of black charcoal stacked against the wall.
Beside the charcoal were small piles of miscellaneous items, including burnt charcoal remnants, black iron powder mixed with impurities, and a small pile of failed sword embryos...
In the corner, there was even an iron anvil with numerous dents, one corner broken off and layered with dust, clearly long abandoned.
"Yao Senior Brother, you mentioned earlier that there's an Earth Fire Well available. Why is there still so much charcoal here?" Tang Jian asked.
"The underground fire vein passing through Yuejing is just a branch of the one beneath the nearby Fiery Cloud Mountains. Due to the instability of the fire vein tides, it's unreliable," Yao Bin explained casually.
Tang Jian nodded, understanding that fire vein tides referred to the fluctuation cycle of underground fire veins, which could be strong or weak, sometimes weaker than charcoal fires.
This charcoal was probably used during such times.
"Tang Jian, the sword shop is no match for a merchant guild or the Yan Estate. There aren't many comfortable lodgings. My master prefers tranquility, and the small building is sufficient for us two. You'll have to make do with staying here," Yao Bin said, standing outside the door.
Tang Jian was taken aback by this. The room, besides the miscellaneous items, had no beds, tables, chairs, or other living essentials. How could it be habitable?
"I'll arrange for someone to bring over a bed, table, and chair. Don't worry about it," Yao Bin added, seeming to guess Tang Jian's thoughts.
"Thank you for your efforts," Tang Jian responded after a moment of contemplation.
If it were a year ago, when he was still the son of a provincial governor, a teenage prodigy with exceptional talent in cultivation and sword-making, he would never have accepted this. But now, he did.
About half an hour later, the sword shop assistants brought a bed, table, and chair for Tang Jian and helped with the cleaning for quite a while until the place was barely habitable.
However, the miscellaneous items remained untouched.
According to Yao Bin, these scraps were also resources of the Yan Sword Shop and couldn't be disposed of disposed of casually.
Tang Jian was indifferent to this. What he was thinking about now was how to focus on recovering from his injuries and enhancing his cultivation.
In the evening, he left the Yan Sword Shop and visited all the nearby shops selling medicinal pills.
He only asked about prices but didn't purchase anything.
He found that there were quite a few medicinal pills for enhancing cultivation and assisting in practice, but only one type could help him repair his dantian and restore his magical power.
It was called the "Restoring Essence Pill," exorbitantly priced, almost equivalent to the price of a mid-grade magical sword.
In Tang Jian's current penniless state, purchasing it was impossible.
At night, Tang Jian lay on the bed in the annex, one hand behind his head and the other on his chest, gently rubbing the sword-shaped sachet and inhaling its faint lingering fragrance, deep in thought.
However, after a moment, he suddenly sat up, clutching the sachet in his hand, a decision forming in his mind.