76 Chapter 75: Holidays (1/2)
”You can have these 5 Ice Soul Python scales. What do you intend to do with them?”
Tang Qi Hong passed me five pieces. That might sound generous, but she had several hundred for herself. And that was only half of what we hauled back – Zi Xiao Ji had taken the other half, with Zhao Shi and Da Ge helping her carry them to her own forge.
I smiled. ”Isn't it obvious? I'm going to use them to forge equipment or weapons.”
”Do you even know how to?” Tang Qi Hong asked skeptically. She had a good point. I didn't have any experience in forging actual weapons whatsoever. My only experience came from freezing stuff into ice weapons, but metal was another story altogether.
”Nope. But that's why I'm your assistant. I'm supposed to learn from you.”
”Sure. But you've done enough for today. Take a break and I'll assign you tasks tomorrow.”
Now that might not sound like ”learning blacksmithing” from being Tang Qi Hong's assistant, but let's get real. Preparing spirit materials and the like was the most basic of the basics. If I couldn't even do these properly, how could I start talking about forging my own weapons? No weapon could be forged without even the basic understanding of how to prepare the spirit materials for the blacksmithing to take place in the first place.
With that done, I decided to go practice my Heavenly Draconic Meteor Swordsmanship. Since training was going to sound boring and tedious, and I couldn't be bothered with levels or stages, we're going to skip those details.
Needless to say, the next day came, and as promised, Tang Qi Hong showed up with a new assignment.
”Here are the Solar Lava Stones. I think there's about three hundred of them. What I need you to do is extract the flame qi from them and distill them into fiery ore. If you get this done within fifteen days, I'll reward you with ten gold coins.”
”Roger that!”
I saluted. Tang Qi Hong smiled. ”Thanks, as usual. You've been a great help. But try not to rush, okay? Sometimes I've to redo the stuff that you prepared and processed.”
”Sorry about that.”
I wasn't Qin Lie. Obviously without practice and experience, I couldn't prepare spirit materials perfectly. On the other hand, like Tang Qi Hong said, I got a bit sloppy in my haste to get the work done before the deadline.
”Nah, you're good. You're a fast worker, which helps a lot. I'll be counting on you then!”
”No problem!”
Twelve days later, I brought the fiery ore that I had extracted and purified from the Solar Lava Stones and brought them to Tang Qi Hong's doorstep. She had a shock when she saw me bundling them over.
”I told you not to rush!”
”Oh, well…purifying qi is my forte.”
Now that was something I had a lot of experience of. Having trained since middle school on how to purify my qi so that I could properly execute Heaven and Earth Formula, purifying and refining qi from natural objects had become my specialty.
Tang Qi Hong was surprised by the quality of my work this time. Nodding in satisfaction, she dismissed me.
”Take a rest. I'll give you something new tomorrow.”
”How are the Ice Soul Python armor going?”
”It's going,” Tang Qi Hong replied vaguely. ”I'm almost done.”
Craning my neck, I saw the pile of Ice Soul Python armor neatly stacked up in the corner of her workshop. Catching my gaze, Tang Qi Hong smiled.
”Of course, you're welcome to stay and learn if you want to.”
”I'll take you up on your offer then.”
The next day…
”Here are eight Draconic Rhinoceros horns. Help me shape them into spears. They'll be the core for Spirit Striking Spears, so try not to distort them too much. Hmm, five gold coins for this, and the deadline will be about twelve days. Can you do it?”
”Even if I have to stake my life on it.”
Tang Qi Hong laughed at that. ”You don't have to go that far. All right then, I'm counting on you. And I'll teach you how to forge spears when you're done.”
”Looking forward to it!”
With that, I began to work right away.
One benefit of doing these tedious chores was that I could deepen my comprehension of these spirit materials and their attributes. If I understood what sort of attributes, elemental affinity or other special characteristics they had, I could better forge corresponding equipment and armaments that suited whatever occasion that beckoned.
And just like that, another twelve days passed. This time, because the task was a lot harder, I barely managed to make the deadline. Panting, I hauled the eight spear-shaped Draconic Rhinoceros horns toward Tang Qi Hong's workshop.
”Oh! Just in time!”
Tang Qi Hong wiped the perspiration from her face when she spotted me. Apparently she had been using the fiery ore I distilled for her earlier to forge Solar Daggers or some flame-type spirit weapon. She placed the last piece down in a crate and turned to me.
”Oh, this looks good!”
She nodded in approval as she picked up one of the Draconic Rhinoceros horns and observed it closely. Placing it back, she beckoned me to step inside.
”Let's begin right away!”
After watching her forge a spear or two, Tang Qi Hong dismissed me. From the exhausted look on her pretty face, she seemed like she needed a break. I respectfully bowed and departed from her workshop, getting ready for my usual physical training.
”Whoa…”
Tang Qi Hong stifled a yawn as she downed a cup of water and splayed over her bed. As she did so, Lian Rou walked in.
”Qi Hong, how as it been recently?” she asked. Tang Qi Hong raised her head wearily and stared at Lian Rou blankly.
”What do you mean?”
”How is your blacksmithing going?” Lian Rou specified. Oh come on. You didn't really think she was going to ask Tang Qi Hong if she had tamed me, right? This wasn't Spirit Realm, and I was far from being Qin Lie.
”Going well.”
”You seem like you've picked a capable assistant.” Lian Rou nodded, slightly impressed, as she ran a hand through the Draconic Rhinoceros horn.
”Oh, well…Fei Wu is all right, I guess?” Tang Qi Hong smiled. ”He's not perfect and he lacks experience, but he's pretty diligent and listens to everything I say. I can't complain. I think he'll gradually get better with more practice.”
”That's the same for everyone.” Lian Rou frowned and she noted the smoothness and curve of the Draconic Rhinoceros horn. ”Hmm, could it be…this was done by him?”
”Yeah, he did. Pretty good, right?” Tang Qi Hong puffed her chest out proudly. Oi, I was the one who shaped them, you know. Not you.
”Wow, this is pretty good, considering that he's a newbie. There are a few rough edges, but this is on par with at least a few of the inner sect disciples' work.”
”That's right. He did all eight of them for me within twelve days. I just need to polish them up a bit, but he saved me a lot of time in terms of refining the material to make it ready for use. I probably just need a few minutes to correct the minor flaws before I can use it as the core material for my Spirit Striking Spears. Fei Wu's work saves me a lot of time and energy.”
”Wow, that's impressive.” Lian Rou smiled bitterly. ”I wish Tong Xue was just as dedicated. He doesn't really put in as much effort in his work, and I usually end up redoing a lot of his preparation from scratch.”
”Tong Xue is the same as Pang Feng,” Tang Qi Hong reminded her. ”He has no interest in forging. He's probably here to join Blood Blades.”
”Isn't Fei Wu the same?” Lian Rou wondered out loud. ”I mean, he has never expressed any interest in blacksmithing before. He's more of the combat type, like Tong Xue. Actually, Tong Xue isn't even the combat type, he's more of the espionage and intelligence type. But Blood Blades also need intelligence agents and spies, so Tong Xue's skills in those areas will be a good fit for them.”
”It's a pity that Fei Wu can't assimilate artificial qi like the rest of us, or he would be able to be among the top.” Tang Qi Hong sighed. ”That one star constitution…I feel like either someone measured his constitution wrongly, or we've been judging the whole idea of talent and strength wrong from the start. I guess he's proof that you can't judge someone by his constitution.”
”But…if he is this focused and diligent with his work…what is he going to do?” Lian Rou looked puzzled. ”Join the Blood Blades or become a Spirit Engraver like you?”
Tang Qi Hong giggled. ”I think it's precisely because Fei Wu is such a diligent person that it doesn't matter what he does. If you tell him to do something, he'll do his best to do it.”
Lian Rou shook her head and smiled dryly.
”You're pretty lucky, aren't you? Make sure you grab him before some other girl does.”
”D…don't talk nonsense!” Tang Qi Hong turned red. ”We…we're not in that kind of relationship! I mean, I…ugh!”
Good thing I wasn't there to witness that tsundere nonsense or I would probably bury myself at how cringe worthy that was.
*
Before I knew it, a month had passed since I had first entered the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect. the New Year holidays arrived and we were allowed to go home to celebrate with our family.
The New Year holidays in this timeline were identical to Lunar New Year as celebrated by all Chinese Diasporas as well as those in China back in my original timeline. For mainland China, there would be fifteen days of holidays and celebrations, set aside so that we could go around visiting relatives. In Singapore, it would be shortened to only two days, but we had the weekends to continue the visiting of relatives.
It was a pretty fun holiday, especially since I got to eat a lot of nice food I otherwise wouldn't eat normally.
The only thing that bothered me was the spring cleaning. I mean, seriously, who enjoyed spring cleaning? I would much rather spend the time doing other stuff…like eating. Or training. Or gaming. Or doing something that I enjoyed.
On the other hand, the reunion dinner on the night before the actual Lunar New Year Day was worth all the trouble.
”Looking forward to the meal, Wu?”
Dad was grinning when he saw me almost salivating at the prospect. I blinked and hurriedly reclaimed my composure, and nodded.
”Yeah. It seems delicious.”
”Well, we'll be leaving soon, once your mom is ready.”
As always, ladies take longer to get dressed and stuff. Not that I had any complaints. Along with my brother, Fei Ji, I leaned back in the couch and waited patiently for Mom to emerge. Dad was humming to himself as he checked his new shoes, spreading kiwi over them.
~~~~
I jerked up when I heard the doorbell ring, the melodic tune floating throughout the house as a result of the bell.