Cultivating immortality begins with discerning the secrets of heaven.

"Control the heat! Control the heat! How many times have I told you? You need to pay attention to the heat of your forges!"

"Lin Yang, control your forging rhythm. Brute force alone won't work."

"You can't even forge a single piece of refined iron. With this level of skill, I bet you'll just be there to make up the numbers at the Ascension Conference four years from now."

Master Mo sat in a grand chair and reprimanded the disciples from various families without any mercy.

Seven days have passed since Lin Yun obtained the Fire Marrow Heart. After much thought, he believes that the safest way to deal with the Fire Marrow Heart is to hand it over to the family.

So he sent a letter to his second uncle, Lin Hairong. In the letter, he did not explicitly mention the existence of the Fire Marrow Heart, but only hinted at it. Only the two of them, uncle and nephew, could understand it.

During these seven days, Master Mo also diligently taught them the art of forging and shaping, that is, how to refine the prototype of a magical artifact.

The iron and stone were melted, forged into refined iron, and finally refined into a prototype of a magical artifact.

It requires not only strength, but also a meticulous mind; relying solely on brute force is not advisable.

Lin Yun patiently forged a piece of refined iron. This time, he was going to forge a longsword made of refined iron, which was the most common weapon and the choice of most disciples.

However, they all underestimated the difficulty of forging swords. Having only recently mastered the skill of blacksmithing, they found it difficult even to forge iron into a perfectly straight shape.

After a long while, someone was the first to finish their work.

  

It was Zhong Mo. Her pretty face was slightly flushed, and beads of sweat dripped from her neck. Her sporty posture distracted many people.

Seeing this, Master Mo's expression softened for once, and he said, "Not bad. If this bow were strung with the sinew of a wild ox, it would be considered a prototype of a low-grade magic weapon."

Upon hearing that it was merely a low-grade magical artifact, Zhong Mo frowned slightly, but remained silent.

"Heh, you've only been involved in weapon crafting for a short time, yet you've already managed to craft a low-grade magic weapon, which is quite remarkable," Master Mo said.

Just then, another dull thud of a hammer fell.

clang!

Before Chen Guan stood a sturdy, finely crafted crescent-shaped iron blade, its blade gleaming coldly.

Although it has not been sharpened, it is already incredibly sharp.

Even the usually demanding Master Mo couldn't help but show his approval when he saw this scene.

"Exquisite craftsmanship; this knife is a rudimentary form of a fine iron magic weapon."

"Have you ever worked with weapon crafting before?"

Chen Guan chuckled and said, "Reporting to Master Mo, this disciple did indeed receive a first-tier weapon-forging inheritance, and in recent years I also studied some blacksmithing techniques of ordinary people."

"No wonder you're so skilled. I don't have much more to teach you about forging and shaping. You can practice on your own for the next three months. Come back to listen when you've finished tempering your spirit and refining your nature."

"Of course, if you want to come, I won't stop you," Master Mo nodded and said.

After all, he only accepted disciples in name only, and what he taught them was only the most basic weapon-refining skills.

It's impossible for him to truly pass on his best skills unless someone demonstrates exceptional talent, prompting Master Demo to consider taking on a disciple to inherit his mantle.

"Thank you very much, Master Mo!" Chen Guan gladly agreed.

Before long, the longsword Lin Yun forged was also finished. Its appearance was crude and could only be described as barely resembling a longsword.

The others were all of similar skill level; among the dozen or so apprentices, only Zhong Mo and Chen Guan stood out.

"This is just the most basic weapon-refining technique. If you can't even master this, your chances at the Taiyuan Ascension Conference four years from now are slim."

"Practice diligently. When you can independently forge a fine iron magic weapon, you will be considered to have graduated."

Refined iron magic artifacts are low-grade magic artifacts made primarily from refined iron, and can be considered the most popular magic artifacts among independent cultivators.

It's inexpensive and durable, but Vaillant is rather unremarkable.

If one can truly refine refined iron magical artifacts independently, then one will have a skill to make a living and a stable source of spirit stones.

"Alright, go back and practice more on your own. I'll come back in seven days to check on your progress."

Master Mo waved his hand, dismissing them.

After leaving the cave, most people felt heavy-hearted, and even the usually arrogant Zhong Jie had a furrowed brow.

They all underestimated the difficulty of crafting artifacts. The first hurdle alone stopped them; they couldn't even forge a prototype of a magical artifact.

"I thought that crafting magical artifacts only required a wave of the hand, with flames melting and forging the materials into shape, and then carving some mysterious patterns to succeed," Yang An couldn't help but sigh.

Zhong Mo calmly said, "If a weapon refiner is at the Foundation Establishment stage, then this is indeed a possible method for refining weapons."

Hearing this, many people sighed inwardly.

If they had the cultivation level of Foundation Establishment, they naturally wouldn't be here learning weapon crafting from Master Mo.

Foundation Establishment Pills are extremely precious, and the main ingredients used in their production are strictly controlled by the Taiyuan Sect, making them rarely seen in the cultivation world.

Even a thousand-year-old family like the Zhong family doesn't have a stable channel to obtain Foundation Establishment Pills, which shows just how scarce these pills are.

As long as one can join the Taiyuan Sect, each disciple will have one chance to exchange their sect contribution for a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Of course, the sect contribution points required to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill are enormous, and disciples without a background or status need to spend a very long time accumulating enough.

"Sigh, I don't expect to join the Taiyuan Sect through the path of weapon crafting. After I finish my studies, I'll go back to my family and become a weapon crafting elder," Chen Wang said with self-awareness.

Yang An chuckled and said, "Brother Chen Wang is right. I probably don't have much talent for refining weapons. If my family hadn't spent spirit stones on me, I would have been better off going back to raise spirit fish sooner."

In fact, this idea came to more than one person, and the members of the Qi Refining Clan all became depressed.

Before coming to Fire Cloud Valley, he was full of confidence, dreaming that he could learn something and make a name for himself at the Taiyuan Ascension Conference four years later, winning a spot as a weapon-refining disciple and joining the upper sect.

Unfortunately, ideals are beautiful, but reality is harsh.

The profound nature of weapon crafting dealt them a heavy blow, and many gave up the idea.

Amidst the crowd, Chen Guan, riding a palm-leaf fan, leisurely flew away.

The crowd watched his retreating figure, their expressions complex.

"This Brother Chen Guan is truly a genius. He only advanced to the mid-stage of Qi Refining a few days ago, and today he has displayed outstanding talent in weapon crafting. It's truly enviable," Lin Yang muttered to himself.

In response, Lin Yun patted his cousin on the shoulder and nodded in agreement, saying, "People's constitutions cannot be generalized. I once ate three large bowls of spirit rice porridge, two braised pork knuckles, and a whole roasted chicken when I was extremely hungry."

"It seems that this Brother Chen Guan must have his own special qualities."

Lin Yang was slightly taken aback and said, "That's quite a big eater."

These words immediately eased the previously tense atmosphere considerably.

Even Zhong Mo couldn't help but give Lin Yun a strange look a few more times before shaking his head and flying towards his cave.

As for Zhong Jie, he clenched his fists, watching Chen Guan's departing figure, his eyes filled with a competitive spirit.

...

In the following days, besides his daily cultivation, Lin Yun also squeezed out a lot of time to forge iron and refine weapons.

In the morning, he would draw out the Qi and blood in his body to practice the "Blood Moving Technique." In the afternoon, he would forge iron and refine weapons. At night, he would replace sleep with meditation to cultivate Qi.

The Book of Insight hadn't provided any useful information in the past few days, yet his days remained fulfilling and enjoyable.

Five days later, a piece of intelligence made him frown deeply.

[The Night Wolf Bandits, acting on Wu Tong's orders, dispatched over a dozen men to Xiangnan Ridge today, intending to rob a batch of spirit bamboo that the Lin family was sending to Zhongling Market for sale.]

"Night Wolf Thief? Wu Tong? Where did this guy come from?" Lin Yun frowned slightly.

The Lin family's influence and power were limited to Xiangnanling. He really couldn't imagine what other forces outside Xiangnanling were hostile to the Lin family.

"No, I must write to the family as soon as possible." Lin Yun felt a little anxious; this was clearly aimed at the Lin family.

But just then, a voice came from outside his courtyard: "Yun'er, I've arrived."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yun's eyes lit up slightly.

It was his second uncle, Lin Hairong, who came in person!

"Second Uncle, come in quickly." Lin Yun hurriedly welcomed his second uncle in.

Seeing his flustered appearance, Lin Hairong couldn't help but chuckle and said, "You should remain calm in the face of important matters. I know you've obtained a treasure, but there's no need to be in such a hurry."

"Although my Lin family is not a family with a thousand-year history, it has been passed down for several hundred years and has a certain foundation."

"Show me the treasure you unexpectedly acquired..."

Before he could finish speaking, a burst of pure fire-attribute spiritual energy spread through the courtyard, almost dispersing the cool protective barrier set up around them.

Lin Hairong shuddered and immediately activated his internal magic power to suppress the fluctuations of fire spiritual energy in the air.

"You little brat, are you trying to get yourself killed? You actually took out such a Fire Marrow Heart so brazenly! Put it back right now!"

Looking at the crystal core in Lin Yun's hand that emitted a crimson glow, Lin Hairong couldn't help but rebuke him.

"Hehe, isn't this what you said, Second Uncle, about keeping calm in the face of big events?" Lin Yun said with a grin, but still obediently put the first-tier fire-elemental spiritual item back into his storage bag.

After confirming that no fire elemental energy was leaking out, Lin Hairong finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But still feeling uneasy, he went outside the courtyard gate and checked that no one was around before finally relaxing completely.

"You're too reckless. This Fire Cloud Valley is the Zhong family's territory. If the Zhong family finds out that you dug up a Fire Marrow Heart here, you won't even have time to cry when they take it back."

Lin Yun adopted a reassuring tone for his second uncle, saying, "Don't worry, second uncle, I've kept this matter very secret; absolutely no one will know."

Next, he fabricated a story about how he discovered it, and then told Lin Hairong in detail how he obtained the Fire Marrow Heart.

"Hmm, you did a good job on this."

"Tell me, what do you plan to do with this Fire Marrow Core?"

Lin Yun immediately became serious and said, "Of course I will hand it over to the family! The family has treated me well, and I, Lin Yun, will repay them handsomely."

Lin Hairong knew his nephew's character all too well, so he readily replied, "Very good, your spirit is commendable. I will take this back to Huangzhu Mountain. The family will never forget your contribution."

"Wait a minute! I just thought about it. If the family can give me some more benefits, I can make more contributions to the family in the future," Lin Yun said shamelessly.

...