Inside an ordinary house, the relentless sound of hammers reverberated through the air. Behind an anvil stood an elderly man and a young man, each holding a hammer.
They were shirtless, sweat dripping from their bodies like a broken dam as they struck the glowing red iron ore.
"Huh!"
One hour later, Jun Wu exhaled deeply, wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead. He stretched his muscles to ease his nerves.
"You're a born blacksmith," Elder Peng commended, genuine appreciation on his face.
Elder Peng loved smithing and had never wanted an apprentice, but Mao Yun had a way of making people bend to his will.
Reluctantly, he decided to give Jun Wu a chance, though he'd already prepared to dismiss him at the first sign of a mistake.
However, instead of being disappointed, Elder Peng found himself increasingly impressed by Jun Wu's skill and dedication with each moment they spent together.
"Elder Peng, you flatter me," Jun Wu responded modestly.
"Being too humble is a form of pride… Don't let the pride of being talented in blacksmithing get to your head. This is only the beginning; you still have a long way to go," Elder Peng advised seriously.
Jun Wu opened his mouth, unsure of what to say, and could only nod. 'What a strange old man.'
"You've grasped the intricacies of hammering the ingot. Next, we'll work on shaping it into whatever you wish," Elder Peng said, staring intently at Jun Wu.
It had only been three days since Jun Wu began his apprenticeship, yet he had already mastered the hammering technique and was ready to move on.
As for fire control and other skills, they came easily to him. These steps would normally take an average youth six months to a year to learn, but not for Jun Wu.
It was as though he'd been born with a hammer in his hand.
A light sigh escaped Elder Peng's mouth. 'If only I'd had this talent, I could have forged a Mortal Grade weapon.'
Shaking his head, he pushed aside the depressing thought. "Go back and come early tomorrow."
"Yes, Elder Peng," Jun Wu replied with a light bow, grabbing his shirt from the wall. Just as he was about to leave the smithing room, he halted and asked curiously, "Elder Peng, aren't you interested in Mortal Grade weapons?"
Hmm?
Elder Peng furrowed his brow and turned to look at Jun Wu, his eyes widening in disbelief. "What did you say?"
His voice rose. "Did you say Mortal Grade weapons?!"
Closing the distance between them, he gripped Jun Wu's shoulders tightly. "Tell me quickly!" He shook him impatiently.
Jun Wu squinted. He hadn't expected his teacher to react so strongly. "The auction house is going to sell two Mortal Grade weapons."
"Really! When?"
From Elder Peng's expression, he looked ready to bolt to the auction immediately. It had always been his dream to forge a Mortal-Grade weapon.
As a blacksmith, creating powerful weapons was the ultimate goal, but without special materials and guidance, overcoming that mountain was nearly impossible.
Now, with the appearance of Mortal Grade weapons in the city, Elder Peng hoped to gain inspiration and perhaps achieve a breakthrough in his craft.
After managing to escape his teacher's excited grip, Jun Wu left Elder Peng's secluded smithing shop and headed home.
As he left the quiet street and joined the bustling main road, he noticed the crowd seemed more animated than usual, and he caught snatches of their conversations.
'As expected of a Mortal Grade weapon.'
With the influence of the Silver Moon auction house, he knew the city would soon be brimming with people hoping to acquire the Mortal Grade weapons.
As he moved through the crowd, a sudden feeling of unease washed over him. 'What is this feeling?' He scanned his surroundings for anything suspicious but found nothing. Frowning, he quickened his pace, heading home.
Reaching the final alley leading to his mansion, a voice sounded behind him.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Jun Wu halted and turned to see a burly man with a bushy beard glaring at him.
"What do you want from me?" Jun Wu demanded.
"What do you think? Your life."
At the other end of the alley, ten men armed with various weapons approached, looking at Jun Wu as if he were already dead.
"You dared to offend the Gu clan, and you thought you could get away?" a thin man among them sneered.
"Oh, the Gu clan…"
Instantly, Jun Wu understood who his enemies were. "Do you know who I am?" A light chuckle escaped his lips.
The ambushers consisted of Third-Rated Martial Artists, with a few Second-Rated among them. The burly man and the thin one, who seemed to be the leaders, were Peak Second-Rated Martial Artists.
"Do you think we care who you are?" the burly man scoffed and shouted, "Kill him!"
"Good. Let's see who kills whom." A smirk played on Jun Wu's lips as he looked at the men charging toward him.
The air stirred around him, and an array formation appeared before him. "I'll use you to test my new strength," he mused as four powerful wind strikes shot from the formation toward the men.
Whoosh!
The advancing men were caught off guard, unable to react in time, and the wind strikes sliced through them. In an instant, the quiet alley descended into chaos.
Before, in the Ruins, he had been a Peak Third-Rated Martial Artist, but now he had broken through, his power increasing enough to cast far more potent wind attacks.
In less than a minute, bodies littered the ground, the air heavy with the stench of blood. A few feet away from Jun Wu, the two Peak Second-Rated Martial Artists stood trembling.
"W-Who are you?" the burly man stammered, fear gripping his heart.
Aside from powerful clans, he couldn't think of anyone who could produce such a formidable young man.
"I thought you didn't care," Jun Wu sneered, casting two more powerful wind strikes.
Whoosh!
"No!" the two leaders screamed, attempting to flee.
Ahhh!
But they couldn't outrun the deadly wind strikes, and their heads were severed from their bodies, their corpses staining the ground red.
From beginning to end, his enemies hadn't come close to touching him. To Jun Wu, defeating two Peak Second-Rated Martial Artists was nothing.
…
Inside the Gu clan, the patriarch sat calmly, sipping his tea.
"Father, do you think those thugs can kill him?" Gu Cheng, wrapped in bandages, looked at his father.
"What do you expect? A Third-Rated Martial Artist killing two Peak Second-Rated Martial Artists along with ten Third-Rated Martial Artists?" The patriarch glanced at his son and shook his head.
"Don't be delusional. He's dead. We'll hear back from them soon. Now, don't disturb me. I need to prepare for the auction."
Unbeknownst to them, they had just added their family to Jun Wu's killing list.