In the following days, Xu Xian moved between Zhujian Peak and Zhijian Peak daily, keeping a fairly normal schedule.
The cafeteria at Zhujian Peak was truly excellent—free of charge, with large portions that were quite filling.
The work at Zhijian Peak was also very lucrative. Every two days, he would return for a nap, and Li Qingshan would obediently pay him.
The days passed one by one.
Xu Xian became increasingly proficient at wielding his hammer.
Without realizing it, he had burned through an entire warehouse of mortal iron. Ruan Hao, somehow, managed to procure another massive pile from somewhere...
Xu Xian progressed from needing thirty types of mortal iron to forge spirit ore to now being able to refine it using just a single type.
At this point, Xu Xian began to speed up, shortening the time and exploring his limits.
The frequency of the hammer strikes.
The force of the hammer strikes.
The resonance between the ore and the Heaven and Earth Qi...
Finally.
Xu Xian brought out the Star-Forging Hammer.
It took only two hours to refine thirty types of mortal iron into spirit ore. He then followed the same method, gradually reducing the number of ore varieties.
In the end, he could refine a single type into spirit ore within half a day.
Time passed quietly, and four months had gone by.
The winter snow melted.
Spring had arrived.
It was a season of rebirth, and the flowers were beginning to bloom...
The spirit herb field in Zuiwan Residence was growing beautifully. At a glance, the ground was no longer a muddy yellow but a lush, vibrant green.
Ruan Hao also funded the purchase of a set of forging equipment for Xu Xian.
A spirit furnace.
A forging table.
And various matching tools of all sizes.
Zhang Yang was incredibly envious.
Zhang Yang said that these things were not cheap and that ordinary people could never afford them.
Zhang Yang also mentioned that on Zhujian Peak, one needed to reach the second rank of spirit forging to have their own spirit furnace and forging table.
The standard was being able to forge a mid-grade spirit weapon.
To apply for an individual forging workshop, one needed to reach the fourth rank of spirit forging, which meant being able to forge a low-tier earth weapon.
And if one could reach the seventh rank, they could establish their own lineage on Zhujian Peak, just like his master.
A seventh-rank spirit forger could forge a low-tier heaven weapon.
In the Wendao Sect's Forging Hall, there were over five thousand disciples. Only one person was a ninth-rank spirit forger: Master Ruan, Ruan Hao.
There were no eighth-rank spirit forgers.
There were two seventh-rank spirit forgers: Han Yi, the Peak Master of Zhujian Peak, and Xu Meng, Zhang Yang's master.
There were ten sixth-rank spirit forgers.
Fewer than thirty were at the fifth rank.
Fewer than a hundred were at the fourth rank.
Barely over two hundred were at the third rank.
The rest consisted of a small number of unranked second and first-rank forgers, and of course, those like Zhang Yang who remained at the mortal forging stage.
On Zhujian Peak, there was a saying:
"Nine ranks of mortal forging are easy.
The first rank of spirit forging is hard.
Eight ranks of immortal forging are like climbing to heaven."
In the entire world of Fanzhou, there were only three ninth-rank spirit forgers, and those at the eighth rank could be counted on one's fingers.
Even for the seventh rank, there were only thirty-six registered individuals.
For the disciples of Zhujian Peak:
The seventh rank was their limit.
The eighth rank was a dream beyond their reach.
Because even their masters were only at the seventh rank, which showed the true value of a master forger.
Zhang Yang was already at the ninth rank of mortal forging. His dream was to craft his own low-grade spirit sword during this year's master forger assessment.
Breaking through to the first rank of spirit forging would make his seven years of hard work worthwhile.
Xu Xian simply offered a word of encouragement: "Keep it up!"
After getting his own spirit furnace and forging table, Xu Xian became even more driven.
With Ruan Hao's approval, he also began to attempt the purification of spirit ore.
Spirit ore grades were categorized as:
Regular spirit ore.
Excellent spirit ore.
Refined spirit ore.
Top-grade spirit ore.
To forge a low-tier spirit weapon, the most basic requirement was to refine the spirit ore to the refined level. To forge a mid-grade spirit weapon, one had to use top-grade spirit ore.
As for earth weapons and heaven weapons...
Until now, no master forger had been able to craft them using only spirit ore.
They all started with immortal gold.
Spirit ore yields spirit; immortal gold contains the Dao.
Only items forged from immortal gold were worthy of being called earth weapons.
Therefore, breaking through to the fourth rank of spirit forging required not only talent but also a massive amount of money.
After all, immortal gold was not cheap. Even the most ordinary immortal gold cost over a thousand spirit stones.
This was the primary reason why a common low-tier earth weapon could sell for over 6,000 spirit stones.
The materials themselves were extremely expensive.
Furthermore, Ruan Zhong had told him that refining spirit ore into immortal gold was immensely difficult.
It was theoretically possible, but in reality, even he had never succeeded.
In the old man's words:
Refining mortal iron into spirit ore was like a chicken and a duck producing something that was neither a chicken nor a duck.
Though illogical, there was at least some connection.
But refining spirit ore into immortal gold was like a fish in the water and a pig on land producing a flying eagle.
It was a complete jump across species.
If one wanted to refine mortal iron into immortal gold, it would truly be like a dragon born among snakes or a phoenix flying out of a chicken coop; they simply weren't creatures of the same plane.
The metaphors were crude, but the logic was simple.
However, Xu Xian didn't see it that way. He had read Ruan Hao's theories, and forging acquired immortal gold from spirit ore was theoretically feasible.
It was simply a matter of operation and technique.
If it couldn't be done, it wasn't because it didn't exist, but simply because one's strength was insufficient.
Of course, with his current level, such thoughts were still too far off.
What he needed to do now was figure out how to refine regular spirit ore into top-grade spirit ore.
This process sounded like it wouldn't be difficult, much like how Xu Xian had smashed a piece of regular heavy iron into top-grade heavy iron on his first day.
Just keep hammering.
How hard could it be?
In reality, spirit ore was rich in Heaven and Earth Qi. Not only was it harder and heavier, but the bonds between its various substances relied on Heaven and Earth Qi as a pivot.
To refine it, one needed to extract unnecessary impurities from the Qi without destroying its structure.
It was complicated to explain and even more complex to execute.
Fortunately, Xu Xian had the Pupil of Insight.
He was confident he could achieve it in a short time, and then he could begin forging swords.
Xu Xian had already made a plan.
Once he became a sixth-rank spirit forger, he would pack his bags and go to Demon-Slaying City. He would trade a high-grade spirit weapon for the corpse of a fifth-grade beast, and a low-tier earth weapon for six...
By following this pattern, he would slowly accumulate beast bones.
One hundred thousand beast bones was a lot, but he could now live for a thousand years. As long as he didn't die, he would eventually save enough.
The days continued to pass.
Xu Xian's life remained as productive as ever.
Hao Ren visited him occasionally, and Zhang Yang brought him meals every day. In March, some good news arrived: Lin Qianqian had broken through to the core formation stage.
And as the days slipped by, Xu Xian became proficient at upgrading regular spirit ore to excellent spirit ore.
Moreover, the scrap rate was infinitely close to zero percent.
He began the next step: upgrading excellent to refined.
Based on his previous experience, he succeeded on his first try. However, following Ruan Hao's teaching habits, Xu Xian's success didn't satisfy him; instead, he made him practice repeatedly.
He had to succeed every single time.
This entire process eventually took a month.
Then, Xu Xian spent another month mastering the ability to refine regular ore into top-grade spirit ore.
Xu Xian became more and more skilled.
Ruan Hao, who used to have an imposing air even when not angry, had become increasingly radiant in recent days.
According to the disciples on the mountain, they often saw Master Ruan smiling.
It was extremely creepy!!!
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