"Shopkeeper Li, please take a look."
Su Mu handed over the long saber with both hands, and when all the blacksmith masters saw the saber he handed over, they all looked incredulous.
"This... Is this a Ten-Refined Blade Soldier?"
The blacksmith masters, who had been forging for many years and had crafted many Ten-Refined Weapons, made a preliminary judgment on this blade, and instantly there was a master who couldn't believe his eyes and exclaimed in surprise.
Under normal circumstances, a beginner apprentice would take several years, and those with poor talent might even take over a decade of learning to be able to craft a qualified Ten-Refined Blade Soldier.
But Su Mu had been at the shop for less than a year, and that includes three months of odd jobs; the actual time he spent was only a few months. Such forging aptitude is simply extraordinary.
For a moment, the sound of swallowing resounded throughout the forging room, and then everyone's eyes fell on Li Tie.
The initial judgment of the weapon as a Ten-Refined Weapon still required Shopkeeper Li's inspection to be deemed accurate.
Li Tie picked up the blade, first glancing at the blade itself, then he ran his hand over it carefully examining every detail of the long saber, occasionally tapping and flicking it with his calloused fingers, and as the inspection progressed, the brilliance in Li Tie's eyes grew even brighter.
"Hmm, the blade is straight without a bend..."
"The texture is slightly heavy, the edge is firm, although there are some minor flaws, the good far outweighs the bad; this long saber meets the standard of a Ten-Refined Weapon."
Li Tie showed a look of astonishment and gave his evaluation.
Instantly, the forging room echoed with a collective intake of breath, as everyone understood, despite Shopkeeper Li's usual humble demeanor, his standards for weapons were not low at all; getting such an evaluation on a first attempt at forging a weapon was no small feat.
Su Mu was still the first in the shop!
Even when the full-fledged blacksmith masters first came to the shop, Shopkeeper Li would have them forge a weapon to try themselves, and at that time quite a few of these veterans failed to satisfy Li Tie.
One can only imagine the shock Su Mu had brought to the blacksmith masters, concerning the so-called flaws mentioned by Li Tie, they were not at all an issue, considering Su Mu was only forging a weapon for the first time.
Soon, Li Tie publicly announced, "Su Mu, from today on you are our shop's ninth weapon blacksmith; in addition to your monthly salary of two taels of silver, you will receive an extra 300 silver coins for every Ten-Refined Weapon you forge. I hope you will continue to strive for excellence."
Su Mu beamed with joy. When he initially chose to forge weapons over agricultural tools and weapons, it was with the goal of earning higher pay; he now urgently needed more silver to balance his expenses.
The first time forging the long saber took Su Mu over twenty days. As they say, the first step is always the hardest. With this initial experience and the fact that Su Mu's forging skill had reached Great Success, familiarity breeds confidence.
Su Mu was confident that there would be a huge improvement in his efficiency of forging weapons, estimating that he could forge at least two swords a month; bringing in an income of more than two and a half taels of silver a month, which is more than eight times the previous reward of 300 cents!
"Thank you, Shopkeeper Li, I will surely double my efforts from now on."
Su Mu expressed his gratitude.
"Kid, congratulations."
Zhou Mountain stepped forward at this moment to congratulate him. To be honest, Su Mu's growth rate far exceeded Zhou Mountain's expectations; initially, Zhou expected Su Mu to merely forge a weapon by himself, without any stringent requirements for it to be Ten-Refined, so long as it was a complete forge.
However, he did not expect Su Mu to give him such a surprise, feeling the envious gazes from the other blacksmith masters, Zhou Mountain couldn't help but grin. Watching Su Mu become a full-fledged blacksmith, Zhou Mountain's delight was no less than Su Mu's own.
"The future is limitless, Su Mu, you must work hard from now on, strive to marry a wife in a few years, hahaha."
The other blacksmith masters also came forward to congratulate him, and naturally, there was the old generation's jesting towards the young, filling the forging room with an atmosphere of joy.
Su Mu thanked the congratulating blacksmith masters one by one, yet his mind was not overly prideful. He knew very well that while hard work was indeed important, the key to becoming a full-fledged blacksmith within a year lay in his increased comprehension.
"Now my comprehension is at 7 points, seven times what it was when I first transmigrated; regardless of whether it's learning forging or cultivating Martial Arts, my speed far surpasses ordinary people..."
"While ordinary people need to spend several years, I only need a few months."
"Endless comprehension, everything is just beginning!"
Su Mu was full of anticipation for the future; he knew that as long as he kept moving forward step by step with a solid footing, the future would be bright.
In the springtime, the rain drizzled on incessantly.
By the evening, Su Mu returned to the village, took off his raincoat, and calculated that it had been forty-three days since he last took the antidote, over ten days past the monthly antidote requirement.
As the rainy weather triggered the toxins inside his body, it felt like countless bugs were crawling and gnawing at his flesh and internal organs, causing Su Mu to tremble slightly and sweat coldly but he gritted his teeth to endure.
When the sharp pain subsided, Su Mu's face turned pale as he let out a long, deep breath.
"I can still hold out for a few more days; over the past three months, I've only used two antidotes... I still have four antidotes left."
The youth squinted slightly, from the moment the person in charge left, he had quietly started preparing to escape from being a Death Warrior. Directly releasing himself from the control of the drugs was unrealistic; Su Mu's first step was to try to delay taking the antidote as much as possible.
Doing so would gradually decrease his reliance on the antidote, even if only by a little, it was meaningful. Moreover, the saved antidotes would become Su Mu's trump card, possibly useful in critical moments.
"Time to begin cultivating."
After a breath, Su Mu first brewed the Three-in-One Body-Strengthening Soup and still made a grimace when drinking the concoction at this point. Gnashing his teeth, he gulped down a bowl, and then Su Mu started practicing Five Animals Qigong and Tiger Subduing Fist in the woodshed.
The wind of his fists roared, creating a mighty force.
When his whole body was drenched in sweat, satisfied and invigorated, Su Mu completed his exercises, washed up, and went to bed.
A few days later, several new apprentices arrived at the shop. Li Tie originally had little interest in taking new apprentices, but upon finding a talent like Su Mu, the shopkeeper seemed to take a keen interest in apprentices again.
This time, it wasn't just the shopkeeper who was eager, but many of the blacksmith masters in the forge who also showed interest, all proactively offering to take on apprentices.
Zhou Mountain found out about the matter and smiled broadly but didn't compete with them. He was already satisfied having trained a Su Mu, who was bound to excel beyond excellence.
Zhou Mountain knew well that it wasn't easy to produce someone like Su Mu; this kid wasn't officially confirmed so quickly because of what Zhou Mountain taught him, but more due to Su Mu's own high aptitude, his ability to endure hardship, and his willingness to persist.
Clang!
Sparks flew, and a crisp and pleasing sound of metal echoed continuously.
"Is this the Su Blacksmith from whom the master spoke? Is he really just a newly confirmed blacksmith master? Why do I feel like his forging skill is even higher than other senior masters?"
The new apprentices at the blacksmith shop, while helping Su Mu with the bellows, were mesmerized as they watched.
The forging hammer, weighing twenty or thirty pounds, seemed as light as a feather in Su Mu's hands. Su Mu skillfully integrated his power and Tiger Subduing Fist into it, and with each strike, the ground resonated slightly. One hammer followed another, rhythmic as spring rain, yet unyielding like a storm.
Such a forging technique would reveal some depth to even an unskilled eye.
"This kid's progress is just incredible."
Zhou Mountain looked over a few times, surprised. At this rate, Su Mu would likely surpass all the blacksmith masters in the shop this year, including a master with decades of forging experience, or even the shop's owner, Li Tie.
Clang, clang, clang!
The flames roared, and with the sound of iron striking iron, time flew by, and spring gave way to summer.
In the blink of an eye, three months had passed.
Under the blazing sun, in the shaded forest behind the mountain, Su Mu was practicing Tiger Subduing Fist, each move producing a crisp and firm sonic boom. As he continued to punch, he felt his Qi Blood growing increasingly hot and restless, and the power circulating between his arms faintly touched a bottleneck.
As long as he could break through this bottleneck, he would step into an entirely new level.
Su Mu became even more absorbed in his punches, his technique growing more rapid and fierce.
The diligent reaps, a harvest proportional to the sowing; months of quantitative change turned into qualitative change at this moment. As Su Mu unleashed a final punch, a faint tiger's roar echoed from his fist, and the bottleneck was shattered with a roar!
Rumble.
Like a burst dam, Su Mu felt the power inside him instantly penetrate all his acupoints, resonating through his body, accompanied by a series of crackling sounds.
At this moment, the power inside Su Mu surged like a river under the downpour of a summer rain, rising continuously and becoming more solid.
Power Penetrating All Acupoints, Refining Force accomplished!