A Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Starting as a Sword-Forging Servant and Ascending to Immorta

Zhou Lingxuan stopped in his tracks.

He turned around and looked at Elder Chen's old face, which was flushed with excitement.

"A path?" Zhou Lingxuan raised an eyebrow. "What kind of path? Is it even stronger than triggering the Heavenly Sword's marrow cleansing?"

Elder Chen himself just said that even the chaotic golden light descending from the Heavenly Sword couldn't repair his leaky body. Now another path has suddenly appeared?

In the corner, Old Qin also stopped what he was doing.

He held the sunflower seed shells between his fingers, reluctant to throw them away.

As a Golden Core cultivator, Elder Qin considered himself well-informed. He had heard many secrets about the Heavenly Sword Pavilion and even the entire Southern Region.

But apart from the legendary elixir, he couldn't think of any other way to get a good-for-nothing with no cultivation and nearing the end of his lifespan to embark on the path of cultivation.

"Chen Baichuan, have you lost your mind, you old bastard?"

Old Qin flicked the sunflower seed shells away, clapped his hands, and stood up.

"Even the Heavenly Sword's marrow cleansing technique is useless, what other tricks can you pull? Are you suggesting we use the Weapon Hall's most prized treasure to prolong his life?"

Elder Chen completely ignored Elder Qin.

He stared intently at Zhou Lingxuan, his chest heaving violently, clearly making an extremely difficult decision.

After a long while, Elder Chen took a deep breath and uttered a few words slowly and deliberately.

"Forge a... Heavenly Sword!"

As soon as those words were uttered, the courtyard of the abandoned hall instantly became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Zhou Lingxuan was stunned.

The handful of melon seeds that Old Qin had just taken out fell to the ground.

Even Xue Yi, who hadn't dared to say a word, gasped and covered her mouth tightly with both hands, afraid that she would scream.

"Are you crazy?"

Old Qin walked a few steps to Elder Chen and pointed at his nose.

"The Heavenly Sword is a sacred artifact passed down from our patriarch! You're sending a lowly outer disciple to forge it? This is utterly disrespectful! If those mad dogs in the Enforcement Hall heard this, they'd raze this ruined hall to the ground by tomorrow morning!"

Elder Chen slapped Elder Qin's hand away, the veins on his neck bulging.

"You don't know anything!"

Elder Chen cursed loudly, his spittle almost landing on Elder Qin's face.

"The Heavenly Sword I'm referring to isn't the one our patriarch left in the Sword Pavilion! It's the true Heavenly Sword, one that truly belongs to him!"

Zhou Lingxuan frowned.

"Elder Chen, what you're saying is getting more and more mysterious."

Zhou Lingxuan picked up the broken palm-leaf fan beside him and slowly fanned himself twice.

"I'm just a blacksmith, I can't even gather spiritual energy, and you want me to forge divine artifacts? Do you think this is like molding clay?"

Elder Chen calmed his breathing, but the fervor on his face did not diminish in the slightest.

"In the ancient tradition of us weapon refiners, there has always been a legend."

Elder Chen's voice became low and deep, carrying a sense of inexplicable awe.

"People in the cultivation world emphasize spiritual roots and comprehension every day. They believe that only by conforming to the way of heaven and absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth can they climb up step by step."

"But the art of weapon crafting is inherently about seizing the power of heaven and earth!"

Elder Chen gripped the air with both hands, his knuckles turning white.

"Legend has it that as long as one can master the art of sword forging to its fullest extent, even a mortal with no cultivation can break through the shackles of the Heavenly Dao."

"No spiritual root or cultivation technique is needed; simply borrow the power of heaven and earth to cleanse your marrow and instantly become an immortal!"

Zhou Lingxuan's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this.

Become an immortal on the spot?

This sounds a bit like the origin of the small purple jade hammer in my mind.

He had always thought that the Sky Hammer was just a cheat code that could purify waste and temper the body. Now it seems that the upper limit of this thing is probably more terrifying than he imagined.

"The ultimate?" Zhou Lingxuan looked at Elder Chen. "I've been forging iron in this outer sect sword pavilion for a full hundred years. A whole million swords, hammered out one by one. Isn't that the ultimate?"

Elder Chen shook his head.

"You've forged a million swords; your perseverance is indeed unmatched. But those swords you've created are nothing more than ordinary iron and ordinary swords."

Elder Chen pointed to the dark red alchemy furnace on the anvil.

"Even if you forge this top-grade magic weapon today, or even forge spiritual weapons or magic treasures in the future, they will still be inanimate objects."

"To resonate with the heavens and earth and receive unparalleled gifts, you must forge a 'master sword'!"

Zhou Lingxuan was somewhat puzzled.

"Famous swords? There must be quite a few famous swords in the world, right? On the Heavenly Sword Pavilion's century-old sword ranking, which of the top ten swords isn't renowned throughout the Southern Region?"

"No!"

Elder Chen, with a solemn expression, directly interrupted Zhou Lingxuan.

"The fame of so-called famous swords is not something created by the hype of ordinary people!"

"Those cultivators who earned their fame by wielding swords, and then others giving their swords resounding names, that's just self-deception!"

Elder Chen took a step forward and looked directly at Zhou Lingxuan.

"A truly renowned sword is one whose name is 'Heaven and Earth'!"

"It's a sword born to be famous!"

"This name wasn't given by humans; it was bestowed by Heaven!"

Elder Chen became more and more agitated as he spoke, his hands trembling.

"The moment a sword is forged, heaven and earth resonate, and extraordinary phenomena descend. Heaven itself bestows upon it a name, which is then engraved upon the sword's blade. This is what makes a renowned sword!"

"And the so-called Heavenly Sword is simply a naturally formed, renowned sword!"

The abandoned hall fell into extreme silence once again.

Elder Chen's words completely overturned everyone's understanding.

Xue Yi felt a chill run down her spine.

A name bestowed by Heaven?

What kind of heaven-defying divine weapon must it be to have the heavens personally bestow a name upon it? When she usually refines pills, she's already grateful if she can produce a top-grade pill with pill patterns, let alone dare to dream of the heavens bestowing a name upon it.

Old Qin was also utterly shocked.

He'd lived to be this old, and this was the first time he'd ever heard of such a claim.

"Chen Baichuan..." Old Qin swallowed, his voice dry. "Has anyone actually done what you've described?"

Elder Chen's fervent expression suddenly froze.

He slowly turned his head, looked at the dilapidated hall and the rubble scattered on the ground, and finally gave a bitter smile.

"no."

Elder Chen shook his head, his voice filled with a deep sense of helplessness.

Throughout history, countless masters of weapon crafting have devoted their lives to collecting rare and precious artifacts from all over the world, attempting to pave this path.

"Some of them threw themselves into the furnace to consecrate the sword, while others slaughtered entire cities to extract blood for tempering."

"But without exception, they all failed."

Elder Chen sighed, and instantly aged ten years.

"How could Heaven, so high and mighty, so easily bestow a name upon a weapon forged by a mortal?"

"Those grandmasters didn't even have the qualifications to trigger celestial phenomena; in the end, they could only die in despair, clutching a pile of scrap metal."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Lingxuan had already made up his mind.

Others can't do it because they didn't get cheated.

But he has.

The Heaven-Forging Hammer in the sea of ​​consciousness can even swallow the chaotic golden light descending from the Heavenly Sword in one gulp.

This thing is definitely more domineering than any name bestowed by Heaven.

Moreover, the path Elder Chen described was practically tailor-made for him.

No spiritual root or cultivation technique is needed; all that's required is to continuously forge swords and constantly challenge the limits.

Isn't that exactly what he's doing right now?

Zhou Lingxuan remained outwardly calm, and even deliberately sighed.

"Elder Chen, are you just making fun of me?"

Zhou Lingxuan spread his hands and threw the tattered palm-leaf fan onto the anvil.

"So many master weapon refiners can't do it, and you expect me, an old man nearing my grave, to accomplish it?"

"I can't even afford a decent piece of iron ore, how am I supposed to forge the Heavenly Sword? With this yard full of scrap copper and iron?"

Elder Chen suddenly turned his head and stared intently at Zhou Lingxuan.

"They failed because they took the wrong path!"

Elder Chen pointed at Zhou Lingxuan's hand.

"Those masters rely too much on external tools! They think that as long as the materials are good enough and the heat is intense enough, they can forge divine weapons."

"But they forgot that the essence of weapon crafting is people!"

"You are different."

Elder Chen took a step closer, his voice low but carrying a chilling penetrating power.

"You spent a hundred years hammering a million pieces of ordinary iron."

"Your foundation is more solid than that of any grandmaster weapon refiner!"

"More importantly, you've mastered the technique of infusing sword intent into forging!"

Elder Chen pointed to the piece of iron filings that had been shaken off the anvil.

"Sword intent is the embodiment of a cultivator's essence, energy, and spirit. You treat sword intent like a carving knife, reshaping the material from within. This method transcends the realm of ordinary weapon crafting and touches the edge of the 'Dao'!"

Elder Chen took a deep breath to calm his agitated emotions.

Throughout history, countless people have tried to take this path, but none have succeeded.

Elder Chen stared intently at Zhou Lingxuan, speaking each word slowly and deliberately.

"But you... might be an exception."