Chapter 474: Sun Luguo (2)
Chapter 474: Sun Luguo (2)
His feet shifted through calculated movements, his hips rotated to transfer force, and his shoulders followed the motion like the gears of a perfect machine.
Qi flowed throughout his entire body before reaching the hammer, moving like a river of energy that concentrated itself at the very moment of impact.
Every strike landed at the exact perfect point, not a single millimeter too high or too low, as if the metal itself knew precisely where it needed to be struck.
Kyrian focused all of his attention on those movements. The world slowed down, and he began recording absolutely everything. The distribution of force throughout the body, the precise rhythm of every strike, the timing between one hammer blow and the next, the way heat spread through the metal, and the sound produced by each impact.
His mind absorbed every detail without letting a single thing escape, like a sponge submerged in an ocean of knowledge.
A few minutes later, his fingers trembled slightly. Then the palm of his hand.
Kyrian discreetly lowered his gaze. He recognized that sensation perfectly. It had happened before, first with alchemy, then with formations.
It was that almost irresistible urge to try, to learn, to understand, a flame that ignited within him whenever he encountered something worthy of being mastered.
His eyes were never merely copied. They awakened within him a strange desire to master whatever they saw.
The more he learned, the more he enjoyed it. At first, he had learned alchemy solely to obtain resources. Today, refining pills was something he genuinely appreciated, the precision, the science, the art of transforming herbs into powder.
The same had happened with formations. He spent hours creating formation plates even when he had no need for them, fascinated by the logic behind every rune.
Now, he felt exactly the same while watching Sun Luguo. Perhaps blacksmithing possessed its own unique beauty as well.
And he had never realized it before, the dance of fire and metal, the transformation of the crude into the refined, the creation of something that could endure for generations.
Time passed quickly. One hour, then another. The enormous block of Earth Black Metal gradually shrank as impurities vanished like smoke, and its shape slowly began to emerge.
First, it was merely a bar. Then a blade, becoming thinner, more elegant, more perfect with each passing moment, as though the metal were revealing its true nature beneath the master’s hands.
After nearly two hours, Sun Luguo finally lowered his hammer. Resting upon the anvil was nothing but the blade of a dagger, still without a hilt, without finishing touches, without engravings. Yet everyone present could sense that it was an extraordinary spiritual weapon, pulsing with an energy that only the work of a master could create. It was glowing with an inner radiance that seemed to rise from the depths of the metal itself.
The silence lasted only a few seconds.
Then it exploded.
"Fifty thousand spirit stones!"
"One hundred thousand!"
"One hundred and fifty!"
"Two hundred thousand!"
Kyrian blinked. It was not even finished, yet the crowd had practically begun an impromptu auction. The bids continued climbing.
"Three hundred! Three hundred!"
"Four hundred!"
Five minutes later, an old man with completely white hair made the final bid.
"Five hundred thousand mid-grade spirit stones."
The entire square fell silent. Sun Luguo looked at the old man before smiling.
"Sold."
The old man immediately handed over a spatial ring, and Sun Luguo casually tossed the blade toward him as though it were an ordinary object.
The buyer carefully caught the weapon as though it were an incomparable treasure, his eyes shining with admiration.
The crowd slowly began to disperse, still discussing what they had just witnessed.
It was at that moment that Kyrian stepped forward. Some people looked at him curiously, while others laughed.
"Look, here’s another one..."
"Another one who wants to become a disciple, probably."
"Someone shows up every day."
"He’ll be leaving in tears soon enough."
Kyrian completely ignored the comments. He stopped in front of the enormous man.
For Kyrian, learning blacksmithing on his own through manuals would be relatively easy, but learning from a master like this man had its advantages, especially because of the technique Sun Luguo had used.
Kyrian had managed to copy the movements, but the flow of Qi the man had used was impossible to replicate without possessing the technique itself. It was like trying to learn a song by hearing only its rhythm without knowing the notes.
So Kyrian had made his decision. He wanted to learn from this man. He had captured his attention and awakened an even greater interest in blacksmithing, an art he had never truly considered before.
Sun Luguo also raised his gaze. For several seconds, he observed only Kyrian’s violet eyes.
’Hm...’
’Interesting eyes...’
’A special physique?’
He thought silently. His instincts told him that this young man was different from the others who came asking to become his disciple. There was something about his posture, his composure, and the steadiness of his eyes beneath his gaze.
Kyrian spoke without beating around the bush.
"Do you accept disciples?"
No one seemed surprised. On the contrary, several people began laughing again.
"I knew it."
"Another one. He’ll be leaving in tears soon enough."
"Everyone thinks they can become Master Sun’s disciple."
Sun Luguo completely ignored the crowd. He continued looking at Kyrian.
The silence remained. Five seconds, ten, fifteen.
Without answering.
Then, a terrifying pressure erupted from the giant’s body.
’Boom!’
The ground trembled. The air grew heavy, as though an invisible mountain had descended upon the square.
Several nearby spectators instinctively stumbled backward, gasping for breath.
It was a cultivation pressure far beyond Kyrian’s, an invisible mountain crashing down upon him.
But the moment it reached his eyes...
...it vanished.
Those violet eyes completely absorbed the influence as though it were nothing, as though the pressure were no more than a passing breeze.
Kyrian did not move a single muscle. He continued looking directly at Sun Luguo exactly as before, without fear, without arrogance, simply unwavering, like a rock standing firm in the middle of a storm.
Another fifteen seconds passed.
Then the enormous blacksmith burst into laughter, a loud, genuine laugh that echoed across the square like thunder filled with joy.
"Hahahaha!"
His grin was enormous, revealing white teeth that contrasted sharply with his red beard.
He liked the boy. He could see that Kyrian’s determination in enduring his pressure was remarkable.
He could tell that Kyrian was not merely another young man trying to learn because of a fleeting moment of inspiration or motivation, but someone who truly wished to learn, someone whose eyes carried a spark he recognized.
The pressure disappeared completely, as though it had never existed.
"Of course," he said as he crossed his arms, his voice like distant thunder.
"I accept disciples."
The spectators’ eyes widened.
Some even thought they had misheard, exchanging disbelieving glances. Sun Luguo then tilted his head slightly.
"The real question..." His smile grew even wider, almost challenging.
"...is whether you want to take the test."
Kyrian met the giant blacksmith’s gaze without hesitation, his violet eyes shining with determination.
"I do."