Lu Yu returned to the small courtyard just in time to see the little tail who had just woken up.
"All better now?" Lu Yu asked.
"Mm."
He tossed the burlap sack filled with iron essence and sand into the living room and said to her, "If you're all right, start working! Pick out all the iron essence."
With the appearance of a heartless boss exploiting his employees, he didn't want the little tail to become dependent on him. Sooner or later, he would leave here, and it wouldn't be possible to take a burden with him.
After all, the little tail was just an ordinary person.
"Mm." The little tail took out a small magnetic ring from the room and started working.
The small magnetic ring was originally hung around the little tail's neck, but later, at Lu Yu's request, she removed it.
Things like magnetic fields are hard to say whether they're good or bad, but carrying items with a strong magnetic field around frequently can affect one's own magnetic field, potentially causing symptoms like dizziness and nausea. That's why Lu Yu asked her not to hang the magnetic ring around her neck.
While using the magnetic ring to pick out the iron essence from the burlap sack, the little tail was somewhat distracted and occasionally turned her head to look at Lu Yu, who was cultivating.
Previously, when she felt very cold, she recalled the winter she spent with the old beggar when she was a child. It was that winter when the old beggar died, leaving the hope of life to her.
When she was being eroded by demonic energy, she felt like she was back in that harsh winter, only without the old beggar by her side, and the snowstorm getting stronger, the world growing darker, just as she thought she was about to die.
She felt a very warm embrace, a sense she had never felt before, like a mother's touch... although she had never seen her own mother, in the old beggar's descriptions, a mother's embrace was the warmest place in the world.
After breaking through to the fourth level of Body Refinement, Lu Yu felt that cultivating the Fierce Tiger Fist for qi and blood enhancement had become very slow, with a whole day of cultivation only increasing 1 point of qi and blood.
Now at the fourth level of Body Refinement, Lu Yu's qi and blood reached 88 points.
For ordinary martial cultivators, reaching this level of qi and blood strength, their realm mostly would have reached the fifth level of Body Refinement, and would be approaching the sixth level.
The Fierce Tiger Fist only supports cultivation up to the seventh level of Body Refinement, meaning Lu Yu's qi and blood is already near the limit of what Fierce Tiger Fist can achieve.
The vast majority of people practicing Fierce Tiger Fist find that after reaching the sixth level of Body Refinement, their qi and blood enhancement becomes very slow, much like Wang Qiang, who practiced for years without breaking through the sixth level.
The cultivation technique limits their enhancement of qi and blood, and the best approach is to find a more advanced cultivation technique than Fierce Tiger Fist.
However, starting anew with a cultivation technique takes a long time to reach the current level.
If one's perception isn't enough, it might be all for naught.
Generally, martial cultivators choose to enhance their qi and blood through meticulous practice when nearing the limit or to find an advanced cultivation technique for enhancement.
For people like Lu Yu, directly switching from fist techniques to blade techniques isn't advisable for most.
Back then, Han Yaotong saw Lu Yu hadn't been cultivating for long, and with his extraordinary talent and high perception, he agreed to let him switch to blade techniques.
Not long after practicing Fierce Tiger Fist, Lu Yu took out the Hundred Refined Sword and practiced the Bladeless Blade Technique; the enhancement effect for qi and blood was far superior to Fierce Tiger Fist.
The Bladeless Blade Technique is a third-grade spiritual cultivation technique, much more effective than Fierce Tiger Fist. After consuming Qi Blood Pills to accelerate the cultivation, it can increase 3 to 4 points of qi and blood daily, and soon, he'll be able to upgrade again.
With qi and blood enhanced to 88 points, Lu Yu found cultivating the Bladeless Blade Technique much easier, and the time he could spend on it each day was extended, but there was still quite a gap to completely execute "Heaven Collapse".
The half-powered Heaven Collapse could already kill martial cultivators at the sixth level of Body Refinement in seconds, and Lu Yu was somewhat eagerly anticipating just how powerful the true Heaven Collapse would be.
Little Tail picked out all the iron essence and struggled to drag a burlap sack towards Lu Yu.
Noticing Little Tail's movements, Lu Yu stopped his cultivation.
He went over, picked up the sack filled with iron essence, weighed it, it was at least fifteen or sixteen pounds, maybe even more.
Having just broken through, Lu Yu hadn't completely mastered his strength yet, and lifting similarly heavy objects felt lighter than before, so Lu Yu wasn't sure how heavy the sack of iron essence actually was.
Anyway, the last gold panning certainly made a significant profit, maybe even enough money to cover the amount spent on buying Rejuvenation Pills and Qi-removing Pills earlier.
But Lu Yu didn't plan to exchange it all for money; he wanted to keep some to reinforce the Hundred Refined Sword.
If nothing unexpected happens, the Hundred Refined Sword should suffice for him for a long time. For this purpose, he had fully inquired with Boss Tang to learn the differences between Hundred Refined Weapons and Spiritual Weapons before deciding to reinforce the Hundred Refined Sword.
Spiritual Weapons, at least compared to low-grade Spiritual Weapons and ordinary weapons, differ in that Spiritual Weapons can more perfectly channel Spiritual Qi and exert certain effects.
After infusing Spiritual Weapons with Spiritual Qi, they become sharper, harder, or can buffer attacks, or have additional flame damage... the specific effects depend on the materials used to forge the equipment.
In short, Spiritual Weapons are weapons with added attack special effects.
In terms of material alone, low-grade Spiritual Weapons without infused Spiritual Qi might not necessarily be harder or sharper than Hundred Refined Weapons.
Lu Yu cultivated the Bladeless Blade Technique, deeply aware that what he needed was not flashy attack effects, but a weapon that was heavy, hard, and durable enough.
This was a point where the hundred-refined sword, reinforced with iron essence, far exceeded low-tier spiritual weapons.
Most crucially, he hadn't yet reached the Qi Cultivation stage and hadn't cultivated Spiritual Qi, so spiritual weapons in his hands were no different from ordinary weapons.
Using the scales at the pharmacy, he roughly weighed it, and the final weight of the iron essence reached 21.3 jin. After deducting the weight of the burlap sack, it should weigh between 19 to 20 jin.
Converted to money, it's close to 16,000 gold.
The second half of the Bladeless Blade Technique's cultivation technique requires 70,000 gold, so it seems possible to obtain the remaining part of the Bladeless Blade Technique.
If he were wealthy, it would be much simpler. With 700,000 gold, the second half of the Bladeless Blade Technique's cultivation technique would be in hand.
Time waits for no one. Now, the Wild Wolf Gang is beginning to target the Han family's members, and there's an unknown force watching over him from the shadows, so the stronger his power, the better.
Carrying the iron essence and hundred-refined sword, he went to Tang's Blacksmith Shop. Upon hearing Lu Yu had come to see him, the shop owner knew there was big business today.
"You're planning to reinforce the hundred-refined sword?" The shop owner was slightly surprised by Lu Yu's request; he didn't expect him to actually acquire so much iron essence.
"According to my many years of forging experience, combined with my father's previous experimental conclusions, the best ratio of ordinary materials to iron essence is 50 to 1. Adding 1 tael of iron essence to a 5-jin weapon can achieve the most perfect effect."
"Too much iron essence results in a weapon that's overly hard and brittle, not suitable for use as a weapon. Too little doesn't really matter, but it can't attain the most perfect material."
"How much iron essence are you planning to use to reinforce the hundred-refined sword?" the shop owner asked.
"50 to 1," Lu Yu said without any hesitation.
"Ah~" The shop owner gasped, shocked by Lu Yu's audacity. He had told Lu Yu last time that to reinforce the hundred-refined sword, a minimum of 3 jin of iron essence was needed for a noticeable effect.
Too little would show no visible effect, simply wasting money.
In his eyes, acquiring 3 jin of iron essence was already very difficult for Lu Yu, but unexpectedly, Lu Yu managed to bring 12 jin to reinforce the hundred-refined sword, leaving him astonished.
"The hundred-refined sword weighs 600 jin. Considering wastage, you'd need to give me 13 jin of iron essence for me to do this job for you," the shop owner said.
"Alright, I will give you 13 jin of iron essence. The remaining iron essence after reinforcement will serve as your payment, and the amount you earn will depend on your skills."
The shop owner took the hundred-refined sword and iron essence from Lu Yu, excitingly caressing the sword, saying, "No problem! Even without payment, I'd do this job!"
"With so much iron essence! We can undoubtedly forge a divine soldier." The shop owner trembled with excitement.
Lu Yu could tell that the shop owner was just like his father, who was forging weapons until his dying breath, filled with passion for weapons.
This was evident from the weapons in the warehouse having not a speck of dust; the shop owner cared for them well and was passionate about them.
Carrying the hundred-refined sword, the shop owner shouted to the apprentices and workers in the blacksmith shop, "Close the shop today, no farm tools."
"Tie Sheng, light the big furnace. Everyone else, prepare tools and materials; this time, we are going to forge a true divine soldier!"
The people in the blacksmith shop got busy. Ever since the shop owner's father passed away, the large furnace which had not been lit in over a decade was reignited, and batches of coal were poured into the furnace.
Watching the gradually reddening furnace, spitting out scorching sparks, the shop owner recalled fond memories. The last time the large furnace was used was when casting the hundred-refined sword.
This time, it's reignited because of the hundred-refined sword.
Last time it was a memory; this time it's a rebirth! The rebirth of the hundred-refined sword, the rebirth of Tang's Blacksmith Shop, the rebirth of himself!
The hundred-refined sword, infused with his father's decades of effort, will surely become a divine soldier.
Forging a divine soldier was his father's dream while he was alive, and it's also the dream that has never faded in his heart over the years!
"This re-forging might take quite a while; you should go deal with other matters first. I'll notify you as soon as it's ready," the shop owner said to Lu Yu.
"Hmm."
Lu Yu nodded, seeing the commotion at Tang's Blacksmith Shop, feeling extremely eager for the reinforced hundred-refined sword.
After leaving Tang's Blacksmith Shop, Lu Yu didn't return to the small courtyard. He wanted to find the person who was spying on him.
No matter who the opponent was, which force they belonged to, Lu Yu wouldn't tolerate them lurking in the dark and plotting against him.
Striking first was a principle Lu Yu believed in.
After wandering a few rounds in Windmill Town, Lu Yu could vaguely sense someone following him, so he headed for the deserted Blackwater Ditch.