I'll Grant You That

"I'll grant you that!"

After Master Ruan spoke, he brushed past Xu Xian and sat down on a rattan chair in the corner of the small courtyard of the forging workshop.

The old rattan chair looked even older than Master Ruan, finally bearing a weight it shouldn't have at its age.

It twisted and deformed under the pressure, creaking and groaning.

Master Ruan reached for the tobacco pouch and pipe on the table. He took out some shredded tobacco and packed it into the bowl, not giving Xu Xian a single glance.

"You may leave!"

Xu Xian's expression showed his difficulty, but he persisted, "Senior Ruan, let's talk this over."

Master Ruan remained silent, putting the pipe in his mouth.

Xu Xian was quick. He leaned forward and snapped his fingers over Master Ruan's pipe.

With a gentle rub of his thumb and middle index finger—

Snap! (Very quiet...)

Whoosh! (A bit louder...)

A tiny flame ignited at his fingertip, lighting the dry tobacco.

Master Ruan stared at Xu Xian in silence. Xu Xian offered a broad smile.

Master Ruan’s expression didn't change. His gaze shifted back and forth between the flame and the young man's face for several moments before he took a gentle puff.

Above the pipe, the scene was one of dry wood meeting a hot fire.

Xu Xian quickly withdrew his hand and stood to the side.

After a few deep puffs, Master Ruan exhaled a cloud of smoke. With eyes half-squinted, he said, "You're quite a sensible kid."

Xu Xian replied humbly, "Senior, you overpraise me."

He was joking, of course.

As a transmigrator, no one understood the weight of lighting someone's smoke better than Xu Xian.

You think you're lighting tobacco?

No.

This was respect.

It was the way of the world, the highest etiquette in the eyes of a smoker, more effective than even a kowtow.

And just as Xu Xian expected, Master Ruan relented. He asked Xu Xian, "What do you want that ore for? You're not a master forger."

Xu Xian felt a surge of joy, sensing a chance.

He immediately said sincerely, "I want to use it to build a tower."

Master Ruan was taken aback.

"Build a tower?"

Xu Xian said seriously, "Yes."

"What kind of tower?" Master Ruan asked, half-doubting.

Xu Xian spoke four words with great emphasis.

"A Sword Tower!"

Master Ruan narrowed his eyes into slits and remained silent. He smoked, exhaled, and the smoke swirled around them...

Xu Xian didn't move, meeting the other man's gaze directly.

A single piece of ore?

To build a Sword Tower?

Such a claim was more than just far-fetched—it was absolutely absurd. Even a three-year-old would likely find it hard to believe.

But Xu Xian knew that when facing an old senior who had lived for thousands of years, sincerity was the ultimate weapon.

He didn't have to explain everything clearly.

But he absolutely could not lie or try to deceive.

After several breaths...

Master Ruan exhaled a long trail of smoke and pursed his lips. For the first time, he revealed a smile and teased, "Heh... you kid, you're just like the rumors say—interesting, and you don't follow the beaten path."

He didn't question it.

Because he saw sincerity in Xu Xian's eyes.

The eyes are the windows to the soul.

Lies can deceive.

But a person's eyes cannot.

Even if, in Master Ruan's view, Xu Xian's claim of building a Sword Tower was extremely preposterous.

Xu Xian smiled. "Then, Senior, can we discuss this?"

"Must you have it?" Master Ruan asked instead of answering.

Xu Xian pleaded, "I hope Senior will grant my request!"

Master Ruan leaned back, the rattan chair teetering. He lowered his brows, looking at the young man. While smoking, he said:

"My rule, Ruan Hao's rule, is that I only forge swords and do not do business. The swords I forge are handed over to the Wendao Sect without taking a single cent. The things I want, the Wendao Sect finds for me, and I don't pay a cent for them either."

"You want to buy my things?" Master Ruan shook his head. "No, it's against the rules."

"But for me to just give it to you?" Master Ruan shook his head again. "No, that's not reasonable."

He paused, closing his eyes and leisurely rocking the chair, which creaked rhythmically.

"So, this matter can't be done."

Xu Xian's eyes darted around as he desperately thought of a solution. He tested the waters, saying, "Then, Master Ruan, how about this? I won't say I'm buying, and you won't say you're selling. I'll trade something with you. Doesn't that sound much better?"

Master Ruan scoffed and gave Xu Xian a faint glance. "Heh... slippery. Changing the liquid but not the medicine? I'm not that old and senile yet."

Xu Xian laughed sheepishly, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Er."

If this wouldn't work and that wouldn't work, then...

Just as Xu Xian was unsure how to continue, Master Ruan asked out of the blue, "I heard you have a sword spirit root?"

Confused, Xu Xian instinctively replied, "Yes."

"And you even pulled out an immortal sword?"

"I did."

This was something the whole world knew; there was nothing to hide.

Master Ruan tapped his pipe against the table leg, scattering burnt ash all over the ground.

He asked casually again, "Above the Immortal Sword Pool, at the Fifth Sword Heaven, did you climb ten thousand steps?"

Xu Xian nodded, somewhat bewildered.

"I did."

After saying that, he specifically added, "More than that!"

Upon hearing this, a flicker of surprise quietly colored Master Ruan's bright eyes, but it vanished before Xu Xian could notice.

He sat up, placed the pipe back on the table, and said to himself, "They say a mutated sword spirit root is a natural sword seed—unstoppable, with the strongest offensive power and immense strength."

Xu Xian's mouth twitched. He felt like he was being insulted, but he had no evidence.

Master Ruan looked him straight in the eye and asked, "I wonder if it's true?"

"I don't know about being a sword seed, but as for strength, I'm alright," Xu Xian said.

Master Ruan followed up quickly, "Words are no proof. Want to try?"

Xu Xian didn't know what he was up to, so he asked, "How should we try?"

Ruan Hao smiled triumphantly. With a flick of his large hand, a massive iron hammer appeared out of thin air in his grasp. He tossed it casually.

The hammer hit the ground.

A heavy thud rang out.

The ground, covered in iron dust, was instantly smashed into a large pit. The entire forging workshop felt as if it shook three times!

Xu Xian looked over suspiciously.

The hammer was huge.

It was a heavy hammer.

The head was as large as a millstone, and the handle was over two meters long.

It was cast as a single piece.

It was entirely ink-black.

Under the autumn sun, it emitted a faint halo of ink-colored light.

[Star-Forging Hammer · high-tier heaven weapon]

Xu Xian's gaze returned to Ruan Hao.

"Senior, what is this?"

Master Ruan said slowly, "The Star-Forging Hammer is forged from Star Meteoric Iron. Legend has it that this iron was obtained by true immortals of the ancient era from the Ten-Thousand-Mile Abyss of the North Sea. It is famous for its weight."

"A piece the size of a fist already weighs a thousand jin. My hammer weighs a full hundred thousand jin. If you can lift it with one hand and swing it a hundred times without using any cultivator techniques, I'll consider you the winner."

A hundred thousand jin? That was just fifty tons.

Others might not be able to do it.

But Xu Xian definitely could.

He wasn't just a sword spirit root; he also had an acquired sword body and had consumed immortal plants and beast blood. While he couldn't say his single arm could swing a hundred thousand jin with ease...

If he gritted his teeth, lifting a hundred thousand jin wasn't a big problem.

Instead of looking troubled, he licked his lips and asked excitedly, "If I win, will Senior give me the stone?"

Ruan Hao denied it. "I didn't say that."

Xu Xian's face stiffened, and he said with a long face, "Then what do I get if I win?"

Master Ruan said calmly, "I'll grant you that you're impressive!"

Xu Xian's body jolted. After a brief moment of thought, he said, "If that's how you're putting it... fine!"