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

This hammer weighs over 100 pounds, and its head is jet black and shiny.

He walked to the anvil, stood with his feet apart, and stood firmly.

The subterranean fire in the furnace churned wildly, carrying a violent will, wanting to break free of its restraints and devour the mortal before it.

Zhou Lingxuan stared at the solid fire in the furnace that was almost burning through the space.

He slowly raised the iron hammer in his hand, the veins on his arm bulging.

"bring it on."

Zhou Lingxuan's voice was deep, yet it drowned out the roar of the subterranean fire.

"Let this old man see just how hard the fire of heaven and earth really is."

The giant iron hammer drew a dark arc in mid-air!

Zhou Lingxuan suddenly exerted force from his waist and abdomen, his muscles tensed instantly, and with a whooshing sound, he slammed hard into the red-hot cold marrow iron on the anvil!

"when!"

The moment the hammerhead struck the iron block, it wasn't the sound of metal colliding; it was clearly a dull thud!

Did the raging will of the subterranean fire erupt completely at this moment? Yes, it did!

The dark red flames, forcibly confined to the iron block, suddenly expanded outwards!

Following the hammer handle, a deadly recoil force crashed into Zhou Lingxuan's arms without reservation.

A snap.

Zhou Lingxuan's hands instantly split open at the base of his thumbs, and blood spurted out!

Wasn't that force domineering? It pierced right through his arms and slammed into his chest!

With a heavy slam of his back against the scorching hot bluestone wall, Zhou Lingxuan groaned as several bloody gashes burst open on his chest, causing him to stagger back three steps uncontrollably.

With a soft "poof".

A mouthful of blood gushed out and splashed onto the anvil, instantly evaporating into a blood mist from the high temperature!

The cold marrow iron on the anvil could not withstand the backlash of the earth fire and exploded into more than a dozen pieces that flew everywhere.

The first fire-fixing nail is ruined!

……

The outer perimeter of the courtyard in front of the abandoned hall.

Chen Baichuan, dressed in a black robe, paced anxiously in the shadows of the trees.

Just now, a muffled rumble came from the back mountain, and the ground beneath his feet shook three times!

Staring intently at the direction of Pit No. 3, Chen Baichuan stopped in his tracks, his face deathly pale.

"It exploded! It exploded on the first hit!"

Chen Baichuan was so anxious that he kept slapping his thigh, his voice trembling!

"I knew this job was inhuman! That old man wasn't even at the Foundation Establishment stage, and this backlash nearly killed him!"

He took a step forward and was about to rush towards the back of the mountain!

With a clang.

A sword rang out.

Blocking the path leading to the back mountain, Lei Yang took a step forward.

The Wind and Thunder Sword was drawn half an inch from its sheath, and lightning danced on the blade!

"Get out of the way!"

The pressure from the Golden Core stage cultivator pressed down directly, and Chen Baichuan stared wide-eyed.

Lei Yang bent his knees slightly, enduring the oppressive force, his hands gripping the sword hilt tightly, not retreating even half a step!

"Master Zhou said so."

With a stiff tone, Lei Yang stared at Chen Baichuan.

"No one is allowed to approach without his order. Anyone who disobeys will have their legs broken and be thrown out."

"You blockhead, you can't even tell what's important!"

Chen Baichuan was so angry that he jumped up and down, pointing at the back mountain.

"That old man inside is risking his life to fill the pit! If we had gone any later, we wouldn't even have made it in time to collect his body!"

His forehead was covered in cold sweat, and Lei Yang gritted his teeth, but his hand holding the sword remained steady!

"Unless Master Zhou has given the order, he's still alive. If you dare to force your way in, I'll chop you down first."

Seeing Lei Yang's desperate stance, Chen Baichuan was furious with this hothead, but dared not actually hurt him.

Frustrated, he could only spin around in place, clasp his hands together, and mutter to himself.

"God help me, please don't let that old madman die in there..."

……

Inside the workshop.

Isn't the situation even more dire than Chen Baichuan imagined?

Scattered throughout the workshop, the shattered Frost Iron was accompanied by earth fire.

The bluestone walls, already reddened by the heat, could no longer withstand the pressure, and large swathes of molten stone began to melt and drip down!

The subterranean fire spiraled out of control, roaring and threatening to devour everything in its path, turning the entire workshop into a sealed furnace.

Gasping for breath, Zhou Lingxuan leaned against the wall.

Every breath was accompanied by excruciating pain, like swallowing a red-hot knife!

The excruciating pain in my chest came in waves, and it felt like countless steel needles were stabbing wildly through my meridians!

He raised his hand and wiped the blood from his chin!

His eyes were bloodshot and red from the heat.

retreat?

If someone who has been forging iron for a hundred years were to be scared away by a single furnace fire, then his life would have been wasted. Zhou Lingxuan simply didn't have that thought in his mind.

He suddenly straightened up, and instead of retreating, he strode back to the anvil!

"Trying to burn the old man alive? You're still a bit short on the mark!"

Zhou Lingxuan gritted his teeth and frantically activated the purple jade hammer in his mind.

With a buzzing sound.

Unleashing a powerful suction force, the Heaven-Forging Hammer stirred deep within the sea of ​​consciousness.

This suction force traveled along Zhou Lingxuan's meridians, penetrating his body and enveloping the entire workshop!

Did a miracle happen? Yes, a miracle happened!

Suddenly suspended in mid-air, the originally raging and rampaging solid fire seemed to have encountered its natural enemy.

Large clumps of dark red flames were forcibly torn apart, turning into strands of pure fire that surged wildly into Zhou Lingxuan's body!

"Ugh!"

A low growl escaped Zhou Lingxuan's throat.

The fire entered his body, and the pain was ten times more intense than the backlash he had just experienced. But he endured it!

He took the second piece of Frost Marrow Iron from the box and pressed it directly onto the anvil, then grabbed the iron tongs with his left hand. His right hand tightened its grip on the large iron hammer!

He swung the sledgehammer and brought it down hard. Using the force of the raging fire within his body, Zhou Lingxuan twisted his waist and abdomen, and his arm muscles bulged high!

"when!"

That hammer blow landed squarely!

It was forcefully hammered into the interior of the Frost Marrow Iron, and the fire line followed the hammerhead.

A burst of dazzling sparks erupted from the surface of the iron block, but it did not explode!

"Again!"

The giant iron hammer was raised and brought down again, and Zhou Lingxuan's eyes widened.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The sound of hammering echoed through the closed workshop, each strike heavier and more urgent than the last!

All of it was absorbed by the Heaven-Forging Hammer, and as the forging deepened, the power of the earth fire overflowed from the Frost Marrow Iron.

However, this power did not linger in Zhou Lingxuan's sea of ​​consciousness. Instead, it was quickly transformed by the Heaven-Forging Hammer and fed back into Zhou Lingxuan's limbs and bones!

The terrifying heat raged inside his body, constantly tearing apart his muscles, fascia, and blood vessels!

It then quickly reassembles and repairs these torn flesh and blood, with that pure, nourishing power.

Tearing apart, then rebuilding.

Destruction, rebirth.

In this extreme pain, Zhou Lingxuan completely forgot everything around him!

He forgot that he was forging the Fire-Fixing Nail, forgot about the danger of the underground fire outside, and even forgot about his Qi Refining stage cultivation level. He forgot everything.

He entered a profound and mysterious state of selflessness!

All that remained was him, the hammer in his hand, and the iron on the anvil, between heaven and earth.

Each hammer blow was faster than the last, and each strike carried a natural rhythm!

Locked tightly inside the Frost Marrow Iron, the raging earth fire was gradually tamed by him.

……

The courtyard in front of the abandoned hall.

Chen Baichuan stopped spinning!

He listened intently to the sounds coming from the back mountain.

The continuous, rhythmic sound of hammering pierced the night sky and clearly reached his ears!

"Clang...clang...clang..."

His mouth was wide open, and he couldn't close it for a long time. Chen Baichuan was completely frozen.

"This...how is this possible?"

Chen Baichuan muttered to himself, his face showing an expression of utter disbelief.

"He really treated the subterranean fire like iron? That's ley line fire! He didn't even bother to inscribe any array patterns, just rammed it in like that?"

Lei Yang finally relaxed, standing to the side. He let out a long breath and pushed the Wind and Thunder Sword back into its sheath.

"I told you, Master Zhou wouldn't die."

Lei Yang curled his lip, his tone tinged with smugness.

Chen Baichuan completely ignored Lei Yang's taunts. His mind was now filled with the rhythmic clanging of metal!

He knew all too well what that voice meant, as an elder of the Weapon Hall.

This is skill approaching the Dao!

Completely abandoning the cumbersome weapon-refining methods of the cultivation world, it forcibly controls the power of heaven and earth in the most primitive and barbaric way!

"A madman... what a crazy old man..."

A fanatical light flashed in his eyes, and Chen Baichuan swallowed hard.

……

The forging in the workshop lasted for a full three hours!

Zhou Lingxuan struck the final blow, and as the ninth piece of Cold Marrow Iron gradually took shape on the anvil, it transformed into a thick iron nail about seven inches long and dark red all over.

A crisp buzzing sound came from inside the fire-fixing nail!

In that instant, all the remaining earth fire energy within the workshop was completely drained and locked within these nine nails.

The originally melted bluestone wall cooled rapidly and solidified into pitted, glass-like crystals!

With his hands braced on the anvil, panting heavily, Zhou Lingxuan threw down the large iron hammer.

Just then, a muffled boom suddenly came from inside his body!

With a loud bang.

The violent fire element, nourished by the Heaven-Forging Hammer, settled completely within the dantian.

The trace of lightning essence that remained in his body when he forged the Wind and Thunder Sword seemed to sense the provocation of the fire element and suddenly became active!

The two forces collided violently within Zhou Lingxuan's dantian: thunder and fire, the two most violent forces in the world.

The expected situation of broken meridians did not occur.

Under the suppression of the Heaven-Forging Hammer, the thunder and fire elements actually merged perfectly, lingering in the center of the dantian, forming a slowly rotating purplish-red vortex!

A sudden surge in energy!

The barrier of the seventh level of Qi Refining is practically non-existent; it can be broken through in a single strike!

With unstoppable momentum, he reached the eighth level of Qi Refining.

Only after breaking through the barrier of the ninth level of Qi Refining did this surge of energy finally stop and stabilize at the early stage of the ninth level of Qi Refining!

Zhou Lingxuan slowly straightened up.

He was shirtless, and his entire body was covered in dark red scabs!

His muscles became firmer and stronger, but beneath these scabs...

Wisps of dark red fire and fine purple lightning intertwined and flowed across his bronze skin, emitting subtle crackling sounds!

Standing amidst the ruins riddled with cratered glass, his presence was as imposing as an abyss.

Thunder and fire elements coalesce!