Chapter 54: Little Heavenly Gang Meteor Hammer

Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Little Heavenly Gang Meteor Hammer

"Brother Lu, you want to forge a weapon?" Liu Zhi followed him, unable to hold back his question.

"No, I want to learn Weapon-Forging," Lu Yuan replied.

"What? You..." Liu Zhi was in disbelief. "Why would you suddenly want to learn that?"

Weapon-Forging required immense talent and demanded a considerable amount of energy. Lu Yuan had already displayed quite a high aptitude for the Martial Dao, so he should focus entirely on it. If he divided his attention, it would inevitably affect his progress. Of course, there were peerless geniuses who could balance both, but such existences were far too rare. Clearly, Lu Yuan had not reached that level yet.

"My family isn’t as wealthy as yours. We’re poor, so I have to find a way out," Lu Yuan explained. It served as a decent excuse.

Liu Zhi was left speechless. He really couldn’t refute that. However, it was still very unwise and shouldn’t be done at this stage. Youth was precisely the time for vigorous advancement. By rapidly improving one’s Cultivation, completing missions would equally yield resource rewards. He could always wait until his Cultivation entered the Seventh Grade in the future; when he encountered a bottleneck or reached a slow phase, it wouldn’t be too late to learn other things.

"Brother Lu, you should be careful with this," Liu Zhi warned.

"I’ve already thought it through very clearly." Lu Yuan shook his head. "Besides, I’m just going to try it out first and see if I have any talent for it. If I don’t, I won’t force it."

"Yeah, that works." Liu Zhi nodded. He could accept this reasoning; perhaps it really was a viable way out. After all, Weapon-Forging in the Demon Suppression Bureau was much safer than executing missions.

The two of them waited for quite a while before Yan Qing finally came out. What was different today was that Yan Qing had changed into clean clothes, washed his face, and groomed his hair, looking completely refreshed. He appeared extraordinarily handsome and possessed an exceptional bearing.

"Brother Yan," Lu Yuan greeted him.

"Brother Yan," Liu Zhi quickly echoed the greeting. "My name is Liu Zhi, I’m a good friend of Brother Lu."

"Hmm." Yan Qing nodded and cast a glance at Liu Zhi. "Let’s go." With that, he took the lead and walked forward.

A Craftsman capable of forging a Profound Weapon held a status in the Demon Suppression Bureau at least equivalent to a Seventh-Grade Martial Artist. The more formidable ones who could forge an Upper Grade Profound Weapon were equivalent to a Sixth-Grade Martial Artist, or perhaps even held a higher status. At the very least, a normal Sixth Grade wouldn’t dare offend them.

The three of them departed through the East Gate.

"Elder Wu, see you tomorrow," Lu Yuan said, waving his hand.

"Mm." Wu the Cripple hummed softly and lifted his eyelids. "Hmm?" He was slightly taken aback when he saw Yan Qing. He wondered how this kid ended up getting involved with him.

Yan Qing had purchased a house within the outer Third Ring as well, and it was about the same size as Lu Yuan’s home. It wasn’t very far from the Demon Suppression Bureau.

CREAK.

Just as the three of them arrived at the front entrance, the main gate opened. A tall, incredibly robust, white-haired old man wearing a sleeveless jacket that exposed his massive, muscular arms appeared. He stood by the door and smiled, revealing a mouthful of large white teeth. "Welcome home, Young Master."

"Uncle Yuann." Yan Qing nodded and introduced him. "This is Uncle Yuann, an elder of mine. These are my two colleagues."

"Uncle Yuan!"

"Uncle Yuan!"

Lu Yuan and Liu Zhi hastily bowed in greeting. With just one look, they could tell this old man was quite intimidating and far from simple. At the very least, his physical strength was absolutely astonishing.

"Yes, hello there, little friends. Welcome, welcome," Uncle Yuann said, his smile causing his eyes to narrow into thin slits.

Lu Yuan and Liu Zhi couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward, as well as slightly afraid. It felt as if they had walked into some terrifying place.

"Don’t worry, you two, I don’t eat people." Uncle Yuann shook his head with a completely serious expression.

"Relax, Uncle Yuann is a very nice person," Yan Qing reassured them as he led the two inside.

"We’re not afraid! This is the Jade Capital, what is there to fear?" Liu Zhi quickly said. Besides, they were members of the Demon Suppression Bureau!

"What do we have to be afraid of? Could it be that Uncle Yuan is a monster?" Lu Yuan asked in confusion.

"I am most certainly not a monster." Uncle Yuann immediately rolled his eyes. He wondered why the hell they were imagining him as a monster.

"Getting initiated into our lineage is very simple; you just need to cultivate a Hammer Technique to the major success stage," Yan Qing explained as they walked. "Once initiated, you will learn Weapon-Forging and the subsequent Sacrificial Spirit Method. But if you fail to master it..."

"A Hammer Technique? Is it difficult?" Lu Yuan asked. A Hammer Technique was generally interconnected with a Fist Technique; there wasn’t a huge difference between them.

"It’s not extremely difficult either," Yan Qing said, shaking his head. "Especially for genius Martial Artists like you who managed to join the Demon Suppression Bureau. It is merely easy to learn but hard to master, and achieving success in a short amount of time won’t be easy."

"Oh," Lu Yuan said, feeling relieved. He had the system, so he didn’t need to worry about this at all.

The Yan Residence had a Weapon-Forging Room that was specially built for this purpose. Inside, it contained a boiler, bellows, hammers, various tools, ores, and more—it had everything one could possibly need.

The four of them arrived in front of the Weapon-Forging Room.

Yan Qing couldn’t help but glance sideways at Lu Yuan. Back in the day, it had taken him a full half-month just to get initiated. Reaching major success had taken him nearly two years. He had no idea how long it would take Lu Yuan.

"Come in."

"Brother Lu, I’ll wait for you outside." Liu Zhi stopped at the door.

"There’s no need, you can come in too," Yan Qing said nonchalantly.

"Huh? Really?" Liu Zhi’s eyes lit up. He also wanted to witness exactly what kind of special methods belonged to this lineage of Weapon-Forging geniuses, a lineage capable of being specially recruited into the Demon Suppression Bureau.

"It’s fine. If you can learn it, that’s your own capability." Yan Qing didn’t mind at all. It was merely a set of Hammer Techniques; if he managed to learn it, he would be considered an insider of their lineage anyway.

"Alright!" Liu Zhi’s interest was instantly piqued. If he could learn it, he might just be a Weapon-Forging genius...

The indoor space wasn’t large, only a dozen or so square meters. Combined with the stone tables, tools, and other equipment, it appeared even more cramped. Fortunately, there were only the three of them.

"This set of Hammer Techniques is called the Little Heavenly Gang Meteor Hammer. It only has nine stances, but each stance possesses several variations..." Yan Qing picked up a small, mallet-sized hammer, demonstrating the moves as he explained.

With only nine stances, having several variations per stance meant there were merely a few dozen changes in total. He finished teaching it very quickly, but its true crux didn’t lie in the physical moves; rather, it was...

CLANG CLANG CLANG.

He struck a raw iron ingot, producing a series of crisp, rhythmic rings that sounded like a beautiful piece of music.

"The Little Heavenly Gang Meteor Hammer uses musical rhythm as a medium. Through the sound, you discern the changes in the material, the internal structural patterns..." Yan Qing’s explanation began to venture into the profound and mystical.

Liu Zhi listened with a blank stare, utterly bewildered. He understood the literal meaning of the words, but he simply couldn’t comprehend the concept. It was just a piece of iron; once it was forged and set aside, would there still be internal shifts in power?

Lu Yuan, on the other hand, caught on to a few ideas. Molecular and atomic movements, energy transfer... internal energy... Using changes in sound to perceive and judge internal transformations was indeed profoundly mysterious.

[Martial Arts: Little Heavenly Gang Meteor Hammer (Initiation 38/1000), Cloud-Brushing Hand (Major Success 1000/3000), Nine Glories of Archery (Minor Success 1607/3000), Cyan Gang Fist (Consummation), Wind-Breaking Nine Slashes (Consummation)]

"How much of that did you guys understand?" Yan Qing put away the hammer and asked Lu Yuan and Liu Zhi with a smile.

"Less than... ten percent?" Liu Zhi replied, feeling uncertain and slightly embarrassed.

"Haha." Yan Qing chuckled. "That’s normal. Memorize the Hammer Technique and practice it. If you manage to get initiated, you’ll slowly figure out some of it."

"Yeah." Liu Zhi nodded. He had memorized the entirety of the Hammer Technique.

"What about you?" Yan Qing looked at Lu Yuan.

"Fifty percent?" Lu Yuan replied. He wasn’t entirely sure either.

"What?" Yan Qing’s expression abruptly changed. "Are you serious? Don’t even think about trying to fool me."