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

"Didn't you notice it during the material inspection?"

"The six stewards of the Equipment Hall checked it three times."

"You've seen it too?"

"I've seen it."

Chen Baichuan gritted his teeth.

"The Frost Iron itself is fine; its weight, spiritual properties, and hardness are all correct. The fire poison has been infused into the iron's interior, so it's not usually noticeable. Only by continuously forging it using the Frost Shield's refining method will the coldness begin to gather, and the fire poison hidden inside will then be released."

Zhou Lingxuan picked up the iron block.

The Cold Sound Iron is inherently cold, while the Fire Poison is hidden within. When these two forces collide during the forging process, the result is naturally an explosion in the furnace.

The fire poison sand in Xue Yi's batch of red copper could at least be sieved out by tapping.

These Cold Sound Iron pieces before us have almost no flaws on their surface.

"Do you have all the materials?"

"I dismantled more than twenty pieces, and there's something in every single one."

"Should we change the materials?"

"All the usable Frost Iron in the warehouse is here. Even if we go outside to collect some, we can't even gather enough for ten shields."

"Can other materials be used as substitutes?"

"If we use a different main material, the shield's grade will drop, and the Frost Array Pattern will be unable to support it. The sect will immediately expose the flaw during their inspection."

Zhou Lingxuan put the iron block back on the ground.

"One hundred shields, three days to complete, that's already a very tight schedule."

"I've done it before."

Who delivered these materials?

Chen Baichuan did not answer immediately.

He walked to the door, first checked the array outside, and then raised his hand to seal the weapon-refining room.

Only after making sure no one could hear him did Chen Baichuan lower his voice.

"Liu Quan".

"The Third Elder?"

"No one but him would do that."

"Is there any evidence?"

"If I had evidence, I would have stuffed all this Cold Sound Iron into his cave long ago!"

Zhou Lingxuan pulled over a chair that hadn't been burned.

"Without evidence, what makes you so certain it was him?"

Chen Baichuan pointed to the room full of waste materials.

"The task of forging the Frost Shield was decided half a month ago. The Cold Sound Iron was transferred from the sect's warehouse and sealed for twelve days. There are no more than five people who could access this batch of materials during the sealing period and avoid the eyes and ears of the Weaponry Hall."

"Liu Quan is just one of them."

"This batch of Cold Sound Iron was free of fire poison before it was put into storage."

"Sure?"

"The equipment shop had already kept a sample. I just took it out to test it, and it's perfectly clean."

Zhou Lingxuan understood.

The poison was infiltrated after the materials were stored.

The other party had calculated the time when the materials would be collected by the Weapon Hall and also knew the method for forging the Frost Shield. The fact that the fire poison was hidden so well indicated that the person who made the move was no stranger to weapon forging.

"Liu Quan has a past grudge against you."

"Who told you that?"

"There aren't many secrets within a sect."

Chen Baichuan paced back and forth in the room several times.

"He's always held me responsible for that flying sword incident. He didn't touch the Weapon Hall in previous years because he couldn't find an opportunity. Now that you're in charge of the abandoned hall, and I've been using magical artifacts to pressure that guy surnamed Li in the administration office, he's finally got an excuse."

What will happen if we can't deliver the shield tomorrow?

Chen Baichuan stopped in his tracks.

"According to the sect rules, if an emergency weapon-forging task is delayed, the elder in charge will be suspended from duty and investigated. With all three furnaces exploding at the same time, eight weapon-forging masters in the weapon-forging hall were injured, and someone must also be responsible for the lost materials."

"How long will the shutdown last?"

"Investigate until the matter is clear."

"Can it be investigated thoroughly?"

Chen Baichuan did not respond.

It cannot be determined.

When the materials arrived, the Weaponry Hall had already inspected them, and the document in charge of the inspection bore Elder Chen Baichuan's seal. Now that the Cold Sound Iron has a problem, the Weaponry Hall can't even find out who did it.

If Chen Baichuan is suspended from his post and Liu Quan's side becomes the new person in charge of Qitang, the so-called investigation will naturally drag on indefinitely.

"They want to strip you of your eldership?"

"The status of an elder is not so easy to strip away, but the Weapon Hall cannot be kept."

Chen Baichuan picked up the teapot on the table, found that it was completely dry inside, and put it down heavily.

"The Affairs Office and the Enforcement Hall will come to inspect early tomorrow morning. If you can't hand over one hundred Frost Shields, I will suspend you from your post, and the Weaponry Hall will be handed over to someone else. Once the account books, materials, and weapon-forging records are found, I will also take into account your decision to serve as the manager of the abandoned hall."

Zhou Lingxuan tapped on the armrest.

"So you're telling me to come quickly?"

"I summoned you here to tell you to leave."

"Where are we going?"

"Leave the Heavenly Sword Pavilion."

Chen Baichuan took out a storage bag from his pocket and stuffed it directly into Zhou Lingxuan's hand.

"There are spirit stones, pills, and a few refining materials that I've accumulated over the years. There's an old path on the back mountain that's not usually patrolled by disciples. Go back to the abandoned hall now and take Lei Yang with you; you can get down the mountain before dawn."

Zhou Lingxuan didn't catch it; the storage bag fell onto his lap.

Why should I run?

"You still don't understand?"

Chen Baichuan stood up again in a hurry.

"If I were to be expelled from the Weaponry Hall, the first thing the new head of the hall would do is investigate everyone and everything. You, this useless hall manager, were someone I forced into this position; do you think they'll let you off the hook?"

"I have an identity jade badge issued by the office."

"Elder Li was threatened by me back then, and he wished he could chew that jade tablet to pieces. Would he speak up for you?"

"And there are clan rules."

"Stop trying to fool yourself with the sect rules. As long as they believe that I smuggled refining materials through the abandoned hall and then classified you as someone planted by the weapon-making hall, locking you up for a few months wouldn't be considered a violation."

Zhou Lingxuan raised his eyelids.

"When did the Equipment Hall start smuggling materials into the Destroyer Hall?"

"Never shipped."

"What's there to be afraid of?"

"Someone can stuff fire poison into the Cold Sound Iron, and they can also stuff other things into the abandoned hall's account books!"

Chen Baichuan braced himself against the table.

"I called you here tonight just to make things clear. This matter is directed at me, so there's no need for you to stay and suffer with me."

Zhou Lingxuan picked up the storage bag and tossed it back to him.

"The old path on the back mountain is for you to walk on."

"you……"

"If you leave, I'll reconsider."

Chen Baichuan caught the storage bag, and was so angry that he raised his hand to smash it, but in the end he put the bag back.

"I've been in the Heavenly Sword Pavilion for over two hundred years, where else can I go?"

"I've been a blacksmith in the outer gate for a hundred years, and I have nowhere to go."

"How can these be the same?"

"There's not much difference."

Zhou Lingxuan got up and walked towards the pile of discarded shield blanks.

Chen Baichuan took two steps to catch up.

"What do you want to do?"

"Let's take a look at the materials first."

"It's no use looking at it. The fire poison has already seeped into the Cold Sound Iron, and ordinary spiritual fire can't remove it at all. Forcibly quenching it with high-level spiritual fire will only turn the Cold Sound Iron into waste water."

Zhou Lingxuan did not stop.

"That's why it's called fire poison."

"I've tried six methods!"

Have you tried the seventh method?

Chen Baichuan got stuck.

"What, the seventh type?"

"Someone like me."

Zhou Lingxuan arrived at the pile of waste materials and used his foot to pry open several shattered shield blanks.

Each shield blank had red marks inside.

Some only have a single crack, while others have broken into several pieces. The location of the fire poison varies, with the deepest cracks hidden in the center of the material and the shallowest close to the outer layer.

Chen Baichuan followed to the side.

"I've seen you remove the Fire Poison Sand with my own eyes. But this Fire Poison has already fused into the Cold Sound Iron, it doesn't even have a form anymore, how can you remove it?"

"Find it first."

"And then what?"

"Smash it out."