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

Inside the workshop, a spiritual energy barrier separated the inside from the outside.

Chen Baichuan's flushed face was almost touching Zhou Lingxuan's nose, spittle flying everywhere.

"You're utterly foolish! You're incredibly foolish!"

He pointed to the chaotic ruins outside the workshop, his voice trembling with emotion.

"What can you do staying in this godforsaken place?"

"Without meteorite iron from outer space, without deep-sea icy crystals, not even a decent piece of spirit ore! What are you going to use to forge this sword? This scrap metal?"

Chen Baichuan grew angrier as he spoke, grabbed Lei Yang, who was still in a daze, and pushed him in front of Zhou Lingxuan.

Lei Yang was pulled so hard that he stumbled and almost dropped the Wind and Thunder Sword from his hand.

"And this kid too!"

Chen Baichuan pointed at Lei Yang, his chest heaving violently.

"He's a promising talent, born to wield a great sword! If you stay here, can you forge a second Wind and Thunder Sword for him? You can't!"

"You're ruining him, and you're ruining yourself!"

"That path, countless master craftsmen throughout history have spent their entire lives trying to traverse, all because they lacked your opportunity! Now that the opportunity is right in front of you, are you going to throw it away just to guard this dilapidated courtyard?"

Chen Baichuan was heartbroken, his expression as if Zhou Lingxuan had thrown away not his future, but his own father's ashes.

Lei Yang was completely confused, but he understood one thing.

Elder Chen wanted to send Elder Zhou to the Weaponry Hall to have a better sword forged for a prodigy like him, using the best materials.

This certainly sounds much better than staying cooped up in the abandoned hall.

Lei Yang couldn't help but whisper, "Elder Zhou, what Elder Chen said... seems to make some sense."

Zhou Lingxuan ignored the furious Chen Baichuan and simply looked calmly at Lei Yang.

"Do you think that makes sense?"

"I..." Lei Yang felt a little guilty under his gaze, but still nodded with a forced smile. "The materials in the Weapon Hall are excellent. If you go there, you will definitely be able to forge a sword even more powerful than Feng Lei."

Zhou Lingxuan smiled, a smile tinged with a sense of vicissitude.

He turned to look at Chen Baichuan, who was on the verge of losing control of his emotions, and calmly posed a question.

Elder Chen, I have a question for you.

"Throughout history, how few prodigies have those renowned weapon-refining masters encountered?"

"He was once hailed as the one who came closest to achieving the Dao of sword forging. He forged swords for no fewer than three sword immortals, using the finest materials available at the time."

"But what was the result?"

Zhou Lingxuan's voice was calm, yet it struck Chen Baichuan's heart like a heavy hammer.

"Did he ascend to immortality by forging the sword?"

Upon hearing this, the fury on Chen Baichuan's face instantly froze.

Lei Yang was also stunned.

Yes, if you can succeed by finding a genius and using good materials to forge a sword, then why is that path called a dead end?

Chen Baichuan opened his mouth, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, but he couldn't utter a single word.

Of course he knows that history.

That legendary figure in the world of weapon crafting spent his entire life searching for prodigies, tailoring divine weapons for them, and attempting to glimpse the Dao of Heaven through them.

He succeeded countless times, forging countless spiritual weapons and treasures, and even a half-step immortal weapon was created.

However, he eventually reached the end of his lifespan and passed away in front of his own weapon-refining furnace.

That road ends completely when it reaches him.

Chen Baichuan understood this principle, and everyone in the Qitang Hall understood it.

But when he saw the Wind and Thunder Sword and Zhou Lingxuan, this living exception, he was overwhelmed with joy and subconsciously wanted to use the best resources in the Weapon Hall to replicate it and make it a success next time.

Zhou Lingxuan pulled Lei Yang in front of him and placed his hand on Lei Yang's shoulder.

"Elder Chen, you only saw the Wind and Thunder Sword, but you didn't think about how this sword came to be."

He looked at Lei Yang and spoke slowly.

"When this kid came to the ruined hall, his family was destroyed, he was covered in hidden injuries, and he was filled with resentment, but he didn't even know who his enemy was. At that time, he had nothing in his heart but to survive, he was as clean as a blank sheet of paper."

"He forgot his moves and practiced randomly in the yard, not to get stronger, but just out of his body's instinct."

"Then, the time was right, and a bolt of lightning struck."

"That lightning bolt, by chance, didn't kill him; instead, it cleansed his marrow."

"And I, too, just entered that state of selfless forging, not thinking about anything, just following the nature of that piece of scrap iron, hammering it down again and again."

Zhou Lingxuan loosened his grip and spread his hands.

"Countless coincidences came together to create this Wind and Thunder Sword, which doesn't even qualify as a high-grade weapon."

"You're telling me now to go to the Artifact Hall, find a bunch of arrogant geniuses, and use a bunch of materials brimming with spiritual energy to replicate this perfectly?"

Zhou Lingxuan shook his head, a hint of self-deprecation in his voice.

"Elder Chen, you're not helping me."

"You're forcing me down that dead end that's already been proven to be a dead end."

"Deliberately seeking out geniuses and deliberately piling up resources is a step backward from the start. Because your goal is no longer to forge iron, but to attain enlightenment. Once your mind is filled with impure thoughts, the hammer in your hand will no longer be pure."

"It was precisely because I stayed in the abandoned hall, not thinking about anything, not asking for anything, and letting things take their natural course, that all of this came about."

His words, like the morning bell and evening drum, echoed within the small workshop.

Chen Baichuan stood there completely stunned.

The fervor, eagerness, and obsession in his eyes melted away quickly under Zhou Lingxuan's words of returning to simplicity, like ice and snow exposed to the scorching sun.

Instead, there was a profound shock and a sense of awe.

Yes.

Go with the flow.

It cannot be sought.

The truth that countless predecessors in the weapon-forging world had spent thousands of years trying to understand was revealed in the simplest language by an old handyman who had been forging iron in a ruined hall for a hundred years.

They were all wrong.

It was wrong from the very beginning.

They regarded forging swords into the Dao as an attainable goal, and devoted all their efforts to calculation, planning, and searching for the optimal solution.

But they forgot that the way of Heaven cannot be calculated.

Looking at Zhou Lingxuan's wrinkled face, Chen Baichuan suddenly felt that the person standing in front of him was not an old man nearing the end of his life.

He was a master who had truly grasped the Dao.

He let out a long, long breath, as if he were exhaling all the obsession that had been building up in his heart for decades.

"I see."

Chen Baichuan's voice was a little hoarse. He solemnly cupped his hands and bowed deeply to Zhou Lingxuan.

"Master Zhou, I was too attached to appearances."

That address of "Master Zhou" was delivered with heartfelt admiration.

Lei Yang watched in stunned silence.

He couldn't understand anything about inferior or superior vehicles, or pure or impure.

All he saw was that Elder Qitang, who had just been furious and wanted to devour people, was now bowing respectfully to Elder Zhou like a schoolboy who had made a mistake.

Zhou Lingxuan accepted his bow without hesitation.

"It's good that you understand."

Chen Baichuan straightened up, a bitter smile on his face.

"I've figured it out, but it's too late. I'm afraid I have no hope for the rest of my life."

He glanced at Zhou Lingxuan, his expression complex.

"The path you've taken is one that others can neither learn nor envy."

"Staying in the abandoned hall is indeed your best choice."

Chen Baichuan completely let go of his obsession, and he felt much more relaxed.

He dusted himself off and regained some of the forthright demeanor of an elder of the Weapon Hall.

"Alright, enough with the nonsense."

"If you don't want to go to the Weaponry Hall, I won't force you. But you, this useless hall manager, must take office today!"

With a wave of his hand, Chen Baichuan removed the soundproof barrier from the workshop.

He strode to the door and yelled at the deacons outside who were still dealing with the scene.

"Stop dawdling!"

"Come on! Follow me to the administration office!"

Chen Baichuan grabbed Zhou Lingxuan's arm, but this time the action was not a forceful tug, but rather carried a sense of closeness that left no room for refusal.

He glanced back at the few servants in the courtyard who were bound by spirit-suppressing locks and looked ashen-faced, and snorted coldly.

"I will personally escort you to your new post today!"