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

A few days passed in the blink of an eye.

Life in the abandoned hall remained dull and monotonous.

Zhou Lingxuan stood at the edge of the fire pit at the bottom of the valley, holding a newly replaced fine iron broom in his hand, slowly sweeping the scattered waste and debris into the pit.

His movements were extremely slow, and with each swing of the broom, he precisely controlled the force. The dust on the ground was swept into a pile, but not a single speck of dust was raised.

A few days ago, he just grabbed the bamboo broom by the handle and squeezed it with a little force, turning it into a pile of bamboo sticks on the ground.

Even walking on the wooden floor will leave deep dents.

He hasn't done anything these past few days, not even summoning the Purple Jade Hammer.

Every day, I just sweep the floor, move boxes, and control the ground fire valve.

They were all odd jobs that required precise control of strength.

The effect is very obvious.

call!

A wave of heat suddenly surged from the fire pit, and a blackish-red spark the size of a fingernail shot out from the bottom of the pit, heading straight for Zhou Lingxuan's face.

Zhou Lingxuan didn't even turn his head.

He raised his right hand, his index and middle fingers extending forward with remarkable ease.

Snapped.

He held the blazing spark firmly between his two fingers.

Without using any internal energy, relying solely on the control of the physical body.

The spark struggled for a moment on my fingertip before quickly extinguishing, turning into a small clump of black ash.

Zhou Lingxuan rubbed his fingers together and flicked off the black ash.

The calluses on my fingertips didn't even leave a white mark.

"Alright."

Zhou Lingxuan secretly made his own calculations.

Having reached the first level of Qi Refining, coupled with his surging physical strength, he has now completely tamed it.

It's like using your own arm; there's no longer that feeling of losing control, like you might crush something at any moment.

"Brother Zhou, why have you been working so slowly these past few days?"

Old Qin sat on a rock not far away, holding a handful of sunflower seeds in his hand, cracking them open while glancing this way.

"You used to be able to move those boxes of scrap metal in half an hour. Why are you taking so long these past few days?"

Zhou Lingxuan leaned the fine iron broom against the wall and patted the dust off his hands.

"I'm getting old, I strained my back, and I can't work as fast as I used to."

Old Qin rolled his eyes and spat the sunflower seed shells on the ground.

"Don't give me that. The other day when you were smashing that top-grade alchemy furnace with a sledgehammer, you were standing straighter than me."

"That was a final burst of energy before death."

Zhou Lingxuan made up a story on the spot and turned to walk towards the wooden house.

Old Qin clapped his hands, stood up, and followed behind.

"Did you read the booklet that old bastard Chen Baichuan gave you?"

"I've seen it."

"Did you figure anything out?"

"I've seen a lot of nonsense." Zhou Lingxuan pushed open the door of the wooden house. "You should get some rest. It looks like it's going to rain tonight."

Old Qin looked up at the gloomy sky, asked no more questions, and turned back to his house.

into the night.

The autumn rains arrived as scheduled.

Raindrops pattered on the dilapidated roof of the abandoned hall, making a dense, rustling sound.

Zhou Lingxuan sat cross-legged on the bed with his eyes closed.

Within the dantian, the pure true qi was flowing smoothly along the meridians.

Each cycle subtly nourishes this centenarian body.

Sudden.

Zhou Lingxuan opened his eyes.

The room was pitch black, with only a faint glimmer of rainlight filtering in through the window.

His breathing slowed, and his ears twitched slightly.

The sound of rain was so loud that it drowned out all other noises around us.

But in Zhou Lingxuan's current perception, there was an extremely discordant sound amidst the rain.

Someone stepped on and broke a dead branch on the outer edge of the yard.

The sound was extremely soft, almost completely blending into the sound of the rain.

But it couldn't escape the ears of a Qi Refining cultivator.

Zhou Lingxuan did not move, remaining in the cross-legged sitting posture.

He didn't even change the frequency of his breathing.

The commotion outside the door was getting closer.

The man walked very slowly, each step landing precisely in the gaps between the falling raindrops; he was clearly an experienced person.

A few breaths later.

The commotion stopped outside the window of the wooden house.

Even through the thin layer of window paper, Zhou Lingxuan could clearly feel a chilling murderous aura.

This murderous aura is familiar.

The man in black who ambushed and killed him on the way a few days ago.

The other party is here again.

Moreover, this time, the preparations were much more thorough.

The man in black outside the window held his breath, gripping a long sword tightly in his hand.

Last time he was careless, thinking that dealing with an old man would be a piece of cake, but he was caught off guard when the other party got close.

This time he learned his lesson and specially went to the black market to get a mid-level magic weapon.

If it pierces the neck, the tearing array pattern attached to the magic weapon will instantly grind the old man's neck into mincemeat.

The man in black had a cruel expression on his face.

He exerted his strength suddenly.

boom!

The windows of the wooden house shattered instantly.

Wood chips mixed with biting rainwater pelted into the house.

Taking advantage of the rain, the dark figure darted in through the broken window.

Not a single word wasted.

The dark blue sword tip was pointed directly at Zhou Lingxuan's throat.

Extremely fast.

The tip of the sword was only three inches away from Zhou Lingxuan's throat.

Zhou Lingxuan finally made a move.

He neither dodged nor avoided it, and didn't even move his buttocks.

His right hand suddenly rose.

He brought his index and middle fingers together and reached out directly towards the dark blue sword light.

The assassin sneered inwardly.

To take a mid-level magic weapon head-on with your bare body? That's suicide!

next moment.

The assassin's cold smile froze completely.

Snapped!

A very crisp impact sound rang out inside the room.

The magical longsword, radiating a chilling spiritual light, stopped abruptly half an inch from Zhou Lingxuan's throat.

Zhou Lingxuan's two fingers gripped the sword blade tightly.

The sword's blade flickered wildly with a ghostly blue light, and the tearing array was fully activated, attempting to crush those two fingers.

But not a single white mark was left on Zhou Lingxuan's fingertip.

The true qi at the first level of Qi Refining, combined with the abnormal physical body repeatedly tempered by the Heaven-Forging Hammer, has a hardness that far exceeds that of ordinary magical artifacts.

The assassin's pupils constricted, and he gasped.

He gripped the sword hilt with both hands and pushed forward with all his might.

It can't be pushed.

The blade seemed to be permanently embedded between those two fingers, remaining completely still.

He wanted to pull the sword back.

I still can't get it to spin.

"I let you get away last time."

Zhou Lingxuan sat on the bed, looking at the assassin who was so close to him, his tone calm.

"You dare to come again this time?"

Before he could finish speaking...

Zhou Lingxuan suddenly exerted force with both fingers.

A surge of violent true energy flowed directly from his fingertips into the sword.

Click!

A piercing sound of metal snapping.

That mid-grade magic weapon longsword was broken in two!

The assassin felt an overwhelming force rebounding from the hilt of his sword.

His hand instantly split open, blood spurting out, and he uncontrollably staggered back three or four steps, crashing heavily into the wooden wall behind him.

How is that possible!

Breaking a mid-level magic weapon in half with bare hands!

This old man isn't some strong handyman at all; he's a monster!

The assassin panicked completely.

Ignoring the excruciating pain in his hand, he reached into his robes with his left hand and pulled out a talisman that glowed with a yellow light.

Shift symbol.

As long as you crush the talisman, you can be instantly teleported a hundred feet away.

The assassin tightened his grip, preparing to crush the talisman.

Zhou Lingxuan didn't give him that chance at all.

The instant the longsword broke, Zhou Lingxuan flipped his wrist and directly grabbed the broken blade.

Infuse with true qi.

The broken sword emitted a sharp hum.

Zhou Lingxuan threw it backhand.

call out!

The broken sword transformed into a streak of light, instantly bridging the distance between the two.

The assassin's fingers had just touched the edge of the talisman.

puff!

The broken sword pierced the assassin's heart.

The immense impact propelled the assassin's body backward with a violent slam.

Take it!

The broken sword was deeply embedded in the wooden wall, pinning the assassin firmly to it.

The assassin's eyes were wide open, and mouthfuls of blood gushed from his mouth.

The teleportation talisman in his hand fell to the ground, covered in mud and water.

His body twitched twice, his head lolled to the side, and then he became completely still.

The battle ended very quickly.

From the moment the assassin broke through the window to the moment he was nailed to the wall, only a few breaths passed.

The autumn rain outside continued to fall, and the continuous sound of the rain perfectly masked the fighting noises inside.

Zhou Lingxuan sat on the bed and withdrew his right hand.

He didn't even dodge a breath.

On the ground, the broken half of the magical sword hilt was still shimmering with a faint spiritual light.

Zhou Lingxuan stood up and walked to the wall.

The killer's body hung on the wall, blood dripping down the wall and onto the floor.

Zhou Lingxuan reached out and groped the assassin's body.

There was no jade pendant identifying her.

He was clean and didn't have a single extra copper coin.

Zhou Lingxuan frowned.

Just then.

With a creak.

The door to the wooden cabin was pushed open from the outside.

Old Qin, wearing a straw raincoat, stood at the door.

The spiritual energy fluctuations when the magical artifact broke, though extremely brief, still alerted Elder Qin, who lived next door.

Old Qin glanced at the broken wood scattered on the ground, then at the corpse nailed to the wall.

He didn't say anything, but walked straight to the corpse.

Old Qin reached out and touched the assassin's neck, then pried open the assassin's mouth to take a look.

Then, he tore open the black clothes on the assassin's chest, staring at the wound around the broken sword, his brows furrowing more and more.

Finally, his gaze fell on the broken half of the magical longsword.

Old Qin bent down to pick up the sword hilt from the ground and carefully examined the remaining array patterns on it.

I stared at it for a long time.

Old Qin straightened up and turned to look at Zhou Lingxuan.

His expression became extremely strange, even somewhat solemn.

"Brother Zhou."

Old Qin threw the hilt of his sword onto the table with a crisp clang.

"This guy... doesn't seem to be someone Zhang Qian sent."