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

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door of the secret room.

Three long and two short.

Chen Baichuan frowned. Who would come at this hour?

With a wave of his hand, a crack appeared in the formation.

Zhou Lingxuan slipped in and closed the door behind him.

Chen Baichuan was stunned, and quickly stood up: "Old Zhou? What brings you here? I heard about the fire going out of control at the abandoned hall. Are you alright?"

Zhou Lingxuan sat down opposite Chen Baichuan, poured himself a cup of tea, and drank it all in one gulp: "It's nothing. I came to see you about the subterranean fire."

Chen Baichuan sighed and plopped back into his chair: "This is troublesome. The Fifth Elder sent me a message asking if I could refine the Fire-Stabilizing Nails."

"I refused outright. That thing isn't something a human could make."

"To ignite the fire from the earth's veins, the fire must be sealed inside the nails. If my old bones were to go up there, I doubt even ashes would remain."

Zhou Lingxuan put down his teacup and looked at Chen Baichuan: "I can refine it."

The room fell silent instantly.

Chen Baichuan stared wide-eyed at Zhou Lingxuan, his breath catching in his throat.

After a long pause, Chen Baichuan swallowed hard, his voice dry, and asked, "Old Zhou, you're not kidding?"

Zhou Lingxuan leaned back in his chair, his tone calm: "I came all this way in the middle of the night just to joke with you?"

Chen Baichuan suddenly stood up and paced back and forth in the secret room.

He knew that Zhou Lingxuan could forge the Wind and Thunder Sword, a sword blank made of heaven and earth, and that his blacksmithing skills were superb.

But fire-fixing nails are different.

"Old Zhou, this is no joke."

Chen Baichuan stopped and placed his hands on the table.

"Nine fire-fixing nails are needed, and each one must withstand the impact of the earth's fiery energy."

"During the refining process, the fire poison will travel directly into your meridians along with the materials. You're not even at the Foundation Establishment stage yet; can your physical body withstand it?"

Zhou Lingxuan raised his hand and tapped his knuckles on the table: "Whether I can withstand it or not is my business. I came to you with conditions."

Chen Baichuan sat back in his chair, his expression grave: "Go on."

"First, I need the blueprints for the fire nails, as well as all the materials for their forging. The materials must be top-quality, without the slightest flaw."

Chen Baichuan nodded, agreeing readily: "No problem. I can get whatever I need from the weapon shop's storeroom. Even if they don't have it, I'll steal it from other shops for you."

"Secondly," Zhou Lingxuan said, looking at Chen Baichuan, enunciating each word clearly, "these nine Fire-Stabilizing Nails must have been forged by you, Chen Baichuan."

Chen Baichuan was stunned.

His mind worked incredibly fast, and he instantly understood Zhou Lingxuan's meaning.

Zhou Lingxuan is trying to make him take the place of someone else!

"Old Zhou, what's wrong with you...?" Chen Baichuan gasped.

Zhou Lingxuan's tone was calm, yet it conveyed an unwavering resolve: "I'm just a useless steward, an old handyman nearing the end of my life. If I were to forge the Fire-Stabilizing Nail, the Enforcement Hall could seize me and dissect me for research tomorrow. I don't want to cause trouble."

Chen Baichuan fell silent.

He certainly knew the stakes involved.

If the Fire-Fixing Nail was forged in Chen Baichuan's name, his prestige in the Weapon Hall would reach an unprecedented height.

Li Yuan? Liu Quan?

Compared to the immense merit of saving the sect's ley lines, these clowns are utterly insignificant.

This will not only solidify his position as the head of the hall, but also severely humiliate Liu Quan.

Didn't Liu Quan say he couldn't refine it? He insisted on smashing the Fire-Fixing Nail into Liu Quan's old face.

This was like a huge windfall, hitting him right on the head.

But Chen Baichuan did not agree immediately.

He looked at Zhou Lingxuan with a complicated expression.

"Old Zhou, what are you after?" Chen Baichuan asked. "You're giving me all the credit. What do you think you'll get out of it?"

Zhou Lingxuan smiled, a hint of nonchalance in his expression: "My only concern is that the Abandoned Hall won't be shut down. My only concern is that I can peacefully continue as my manager. It's that simple."

"Just for this?"

Chen Baichuan's face was filled with disbelief.

"Do you know what the Fire-Fixing Nail means? As long as you reveal your identity, the sect will treat you like royalty!"

"Don't even mention a useless hall manager; the sect leader would give you the position of inner sect elder without hesitation!"

"What would I need the position of inner sect elder for?"

Zhou Lingxuan countered with a question.

"Are you all the same, scheming and plotting all the time? Today you're wary of your apprentices betraying you, tomorrow you're wary of your political enemies setting traps for you?"

Chen Baichuan choked for a moment, his old face turning slightly red.

Zhou Lingxuan continued, "I've been a blacksmith for a hundred years, and finally, after much hardship, I've found a quiet place."

"I have food and drink in the abandoned hall, and nobody cares about me. I can even pick up some scraps to pass the time. If I went to the inner sect, I would be watched every day, and my old bones couldn't take it."

Chen Baichuan stared at Zhou Lingxuan for a long time.

He suddenly felt that the old man in front of him was more unfathomable than any other cultivator he had ever met.

Don't be greedy for credit, don't be reckless, and always know what you want.

This kind of temperament is something that even Li Yuan himself couldn't match, let alone Li Yuan.

"Old Zhou, you..." Chen Baichuan gave a wry smile, "I'm speechless."

Zhou Lingxuan tapped the table: "Stop talking nonsense. Are you in or not?"

Chen Baichuan stood up and walked back and forth in the secret room twice.

Do it? The risk is too great. If Zhou Lingxuan dies in front of the weapon-refining furnace, Chen Baichuan will be an accomplice.

Refuse? With the abandoned hall sealed off, Zhou Lingxuan's resources were cut off.

He himself missed a golden opportunity to completely turn the tide and crush Li Yuan and Liu Quan underfoot.

Chen Baichuan took a deep breath, stared intently at Zhou Lingxuan, and slammed his hand on the table: "Old Zhou, do you know what you're doing? Those fire-fixing nails are meant to be used to pay with one's life!"

Chen Baichuan spoke in a low voice, veins bulging on his forehead and veins protruding from his neck.

Zhou Lingxuan remained seated in the chair, without even changing his posture.

"It's just a few nails."

"How many nails?"

Chen Baichuan laughed in anger, pointing towards the back mountain, his fingers trembling.

"That's a magical artifact used to suppress the earth's veins! You think it's a horse-shod nail from a mortal blacksmith's shop?"

Chen Baichuan walked around the table, stood in front of Zhou Lingxuan, looked down at him, and breathed heavily.

"The first step in crafting the Fire-Stabilizing Nails is to forcibly ignite the raging earth fire."

"Once that fire enters the furnace, the temperature can melt a mid-grade magic weapon into molten iron. If your physical body, which hasn't even reached the Foundation Establishment stage, gets too close, you'll be instantly roasted to ashes!"

Zhou Lingxuan picked up the teacup, blew away the foam on top, and took a sip.

"The second step is even more deadly!"

Chen Baichuan held up two fingers, his voice trembling with barely concealed fear.

"You must hammer the invisible power of the earth's fire into a solid nail!"

"Fire is alive, it's violent; it runs rampant in the materials."

"With every strike of your hammer, you'll suffer a backlash from the subterranean fire. That backlash travels along the hammer and penetrates your meridians, capable of pulverizing your internal organs!"

Chen Baichuan became more and more excited as he spoke, and his spittle almost sprayed onto Zhou Lingxuan's face.

He paced back and forth in the secret room, gesturing with his hands incessantly.

"Old Zhou, the Fire-Stabilizing Nails are not ordinary magical artifacts. They require nine nails, and each one must be sealed with the fire energy of an entire ley line."

"You've been forging iron for a hundred years, you should know that trying to hammer a ball of fire into a piece of iron is completely against common sense!"

"If you're not careful, your temper will flare up, and not only will your old bones be reduced to rubble, but the entire workshop will be razed to the ground!"

"To be reduced to ashes, leaving not even a trace! What do you think you can use to withstand this? Your meager Qi Refining stage cultivation?"