79 Chapter 78: Blacksmith Assistan (1/2)
Within the forge, fires raged and cast dark shadows across the gray, sterilized walls of Tang Qi Hong's workshop.
As always, Tang Qi Hong was busy. Today, she had seven furnaces burning at once, each of a different size and possessing different contents. Underneath the furnaces, thick yang qi burned, manifesting in incredibly power flames that turned the bottom of the furnaces red-hot. A short distance away from the furnaces were shelves that were stacked from top to bottom with rare spirit materials and qi ores.
Having been to Tang Qi Hong's workshop before, I wasn't too surprised by what I saw. However, Zi Xiao Ji, Zhao Shi and Da Ge found themselves gaping in awe at the forge belonging to the top inner sect disciple of the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect.
Unfortunately, they weren't allowed to marvel or express their amazement. They were only allowed in on the condition that they wouldn't make any noise and disturb Tang Qi Hong's blacksmithing process.
Tang Qi Hong herself was fluttering from furnace to furnace, throwing spirit materials into each of them and refining them or doing whatever she needed to turn them into weapons. And I was slightly behind, trying to grab stuff off the shelves.
”Eight Mystical Earthly Branches! Throw them into furnace four!”
”Roger that!”
”One kilogram of Divine Iron Ore, throw them into furnace three!”
”Understood!”
”Two pieces of Stellar Steel bars, furnace number seven!”
”Got it!”
Even as Tang Qi Hong moved, she was issuing instructions at a rapid rate. It was all I could do to holler back and follow her orders to the letter. Grabbing the specific spirit materials that Tang Qi Hong requested, I tossed them into the corresponding furnaces at whatever time she wanted me to put them in, then hopping back to the shelves.
While Tang Qi Hong danced at the center of the circle of furnaces, I was circling outside the fiery ring, collecting spirit materials and throwing them into whatever furnace as ordered. Perspiration dripped down my face as I struggled to catch my breath, but before I could even inhale, Tang Qi Hong had already moved on to the next cauldron, with a new request.
I was relieved to see that I wasn't the only one struggling. Tang Qi Hong was perspiring profusely as well, her face red from the exertion. Even so, she looked overjoyed, completely in her element as she stirred, melded or refined the contents of her furnaces.
Whoosh!
”Cough!”
I almost gagged as I caught a whiff of smoke that fumed from the seven furnaces. Tremendous heat permeated the interior of the workshop, almost suffocating me. Unfortunately, I had an elemental affinity with ice, not fire, so I found myself completely smothered by my current surroundings. Like a fish out of water, or to be more precise, like a fish in a frying pan.
Ugh…
I had no choice but to expend significant amounts of frosty yin qi to form a protective aura around me to protect me from the tremendous heat, otherwise I would have shriveled up and died from dehydration and burns.
Finally, Tang Qi Hong stopped and she flopped down in the middle of the circle of furnaces in a cross-legged position.
”Now I've to begin the Spirit Engraving process. I need you to help me by adding the relevant spirit materials whenever necessary.”
”Okay.”
I nodded and observed her. Tang Qi Hong wiped the perspiration from her forehead, her face just as red as mine, and she smiled.
”Make sure you keep up! I'm counting on you!”
”I'll do my best.”
”I know you will.” Tang Qi Hong then took a deep breath and closed her eyes. I watched, awestruck, as the bracelets on her wrists glowed and unleashed blasts of fire.
Whoa!
Resisting the impulse to take a step back, I watched as Tang Qi Hong's normally pale arms redden under the furious glow. Unaffected by the divine flames that now wreathed her, Tang Qi Hong launched into her Spirit Engraving process, her hands flickering through the air and drawing fiery symbols in the air.
Those are…!
High grade Spirit Engravings. There was no mistake. I watched in awe as the fiery symbols, circles and diagrams hovered ferociously in the air for a few seconds, their numbers and complexity increasing as Tang Qi Hong continued to weave more intricate patterns into them, adding to the volume and potency of such Engravings.
And with a flick of her hands, she sent all the flaming symbols into the seven furnaces. The fiery Spirit Engravings all disappeared into the furnaces and merged with the stewing spirit materials within, amplifying their power and enchanting the artifacts.
Boom!
However, several of these mergers turned out to be incredibly volatile. A single furnace trembled and shook violently as explosions rocked its interior when the spirit materials ignited under the blazing domination of its new Spirit Engraving.
”Soothing Ice Jade! Hurry!” Tang Qi Hong shouted even without opening her eyes. ”Furnace five, three pieces of Soothing Ice Jade!”
I wasn't even given any time to think. Acting on reflex, I grabbed the Soothing Ice Jade from the shelf beside me and immediately threw them into furnace five.
Sizzle…
Thankfully, the moment the Soothing Ice Jade sank into the contents of furnace five, the violent explosions ceased and the reactions began to calm down. I could finally let out an exhalation of relief as I wiped the sweat off my forehead.
”Phew.”
”It's not over yet,” Tang Qi Hong told me, amused. Her eyes were still closed, but she was aware of everything that happened inside her workshop. I didn't find that surprising. After all, this was her territory, her domain.
Gulping, I waited for the next set of instructions.
Tang Qi Hong didn't disappoint. Her orders came out fast and furious, and I struggled to keep up, running up and down the shelves to grab whatever spirit materials she asked for and tossing them into the appropriate furnace. I wasn't a measuring machine, so I had to estimate the quantity. Fortunately, I had my glasses, which had a built in measuring device in my lenses, so I could grab a fairly accurate amount or weight of whatever material Tang Qi Hong asked for, and threw them in accordingly. Banzai for advanced technology!
On the other hand, Tang Qi Hong's movements only seemed to grow faster and more animated. Her hands danced across the air, tracing and weaving more intricate Spirit Engravings and inscribing them into the contents within the seven different furnaces. As she did so, her instructions accelerated, almost catching me off guard.
You've got to be kidding me!
Panting, I dashed to the shelves, occasionally relying on my footwork techniques just to keep up with the increased rate of orders that Tang Qi Hong was issuing. I was disappearing into a black blur within the cave (come to think of it, wearing black in a sweltering workshop full of fires is not a good idea), blitzing from one end to the other just to grab whatever spirit materials Tang Qi Hong wanted.
Finally…mercifully, the orders ceased. Tang Qi Hong gradually stopped the inscription of her Spirit Engravings and fell silent. She just sat on the meditation mat quietly, almost as if she was resting. Exhausted to the point of collapse, I used this opportunity to sit down and regain my strength as well. While leaning against the wall, I glanced at the seven furnaces in the enormous workshop and tried to recall the movements and Engravings that Tang Qi Hong demonstrated. There was a lot I could learn from her.
”Yao Tai…really was a low-ranking blacksmith,” Zi Xiao Ji whispered from the entrance of the workshop.
”WHO THE HELL IS YAO TAI!?” I yelled before I could stop myself.
”Someone at Nebula Pavilion,” Zi Xiao Ji replied.
”What the hell is Nebula Pavilion?!”
”Miss, this isn't Spirit Realm,” Zhao Shi reminded Zi Xiao Ji, who frowned and shrugged. Before the little lady could say anything else, she also quickly added, ”And this isn't Sword Dynasty either.”
”Aw…”
”Didn't I tell you guys that you can only watch if you keep quiet?” Tang Qi Hong growled from where she was sitting. The two girls immediately shut up after that.
As for me, I turned back to study Tang Qi Hong's figure, trying to burn into my memory her movements and Spirit Engravings. I needed to try them out when I returned to my workshop. Since I still had the Ice Soul Python armored scales that I was planning to use to forge a couple of weapons, after all…
A long time passed before Tang Qi Hong finally spoke up again.
”Put out the fires!”
Before I could obey, Tang Qi Hong was already moving her hands and executing some fire technique. Dense yang qi flowed out of her hands and streaked toward the seven furnaces. Upon contact, the divine flames that blazed under them immediately retreated into promethium pipes that led all the way back toward the heart of the volcano.
The interior of the workshop instantly dimmed, the only illumination afforded by the fluorescent light hanging above in the ceiling. I breathed a sigh of relief as the temperature also fell, the heat receding along with the volcanic flames.
”Wu, can you use your ice techniques to cool down the furnaces and speed up the formation of the spirit artifacts within?”
”Roger that.”
At Tang Qi Hong's behest, I stood up and approached the furnaces. Taking a deep breath, I channeled my frosty yin qi toward the furnaces and cooled them down. The moment my frosty yin qi touched the furnaces, thick, white fog billowed across the workshop. Ghostly tendrils obscured the sight of everyone inside the workshop, settling down in a dense cloud that enfolded everything within its snowy embrace.
I moved from one furnace to another, freezing them with my icy qi and cooling both the furnace and the spirit artifact contained within. When I finally finished the last one, I slowly withdrew.
Normally, because vision was obscured, if this was an anime, it would lead to a ”lucky” accident where I crashed into the heroine and end up in an embarrassing position. Fortunately this was reality, so no such lucky accidents occurred. Furthermore, with my Heaven and Earth sense, I could detect not only Tang Qi Hong but also the positions of Zi Xiao Ji, Da Ge and Zhao Shi.
”Speaking of which, don't you have your own spirit armaments to forge, Xiao Ji?” Tang Qi Hong asked, irritated.
”Now that you've mentioned it, I do!” Zi Xiao Ji replied cheerfully.
”Then why are you wasting your time here?”
”Protecting Brother Wu takes priority!”