NOVEL WEB Chapter 22: Chapter 22: The Qilin Arm Village Chief, God-Tier Forging Skills
Before him stood a massive figure over two meters tall, but his head was disproportionately small, a classic case of a small head on a large body. He wore only the top half of his clothes, his thick right arm completely exposed. Blue veins bulged on his bicep, which was as thick as a water bucket and covered in exaggerated muscles. He wore a Hyottoko mask, and though his face was hidden, his voice revealed him to be an old man.
"Ho ho ho! So you're the new guests," the man boomed. "I am the chief of this village, my name is Tiehe."
As he spoke, Chief Tiehe struck a series of poses, as if showing off his muscles.
"A Qilin Arm?!" The thought popped into Si Shu's head, and he couldn't suppress a laugh.
"Hmm?" Hearing Si Shu mention his right arm, Tiehe immediately looked at him. "You little brat, did you just call my arm a Qilin Arm?" A grin spread across his hidden face. "That's an excellent name! Much better than my old one, 'Might Makes Right.' I've decided! From now on, it will be called the Qilin Arm!"
Cheering loudly, Tiehe slammed his fist on the ground, shaking the house and causing dust to fall from the ceiling. The other swordsmiths in the room also began to cheer and dance as if the chief had just acquired a priceless treasure.
Beside them, Michikatsu, encountering such a situation for the first time, had a giant question mark forming over his head.
"Si Shu," he muttered under his breath, "are all swordsmiths this eccentric?"
"I... think not?" Si Shu replied, not very confident himself. He could feel his own eyelid twitching. After all, a two-meter-tall, small-headed muscleman dancing with a group of smaller muscle-bound men was a sight that defied imagination.
After a good while, Tiehe finally calmed down.
"Ahem, my apologies for that display. Let's get back on topic. Are you here to have blades forged, or to pick them up?"
Glancing at Michikatsu, who clearly had no intention of speaking, Si Shu sighed and stepped forward. "We are both here to have blades forged."
"Both of you?" Tiehe paused, catching the emphasis in Si Shu's words. Even through the mask, Si Shu could feel Tiehe's gaze sizing him up. "I see. Both of you are here for forging." He nodded thoughtfully, as if an idea had struck him. "In that case, please go and select your Tamahagane. We will notify you when your swords are ready."
Hearing this, Michikatsu immediately turned and left. He couldn't stand the atmosphere here and was eager to get away.
Noticing that Si Shu hadn't moved, Tiehe asked curiously, "Little one, is there something else?"
"It's not a problem, exactly." Si Shu placed the pack from his back on the ground and slowly unzipped it. "I was just wondering if you accept customer-provided materials."
With that, he lifted out the crimson crystal Tamahagane with both hands.
The moment the crimson crystal appeared, it instantly captured the attention of everyone in the room. A terrifying silence fell, broken only by the sound of saliva being swallowed.
"What... what is this Tamahagane? I've never seen anything like it in my life," Tiehe whispered, retracting the foot he had been about to step forward with. He then took a giant stride to stand right in front of Si Shu. "Wait a minute... could this be the one the Smelting Village spoke of? The highest-grade, supreme Tamahagane from the summit of Sunlight Mountain!"
His voice grew more and more excited, and he pressed his masked face directly against the crimson crystal.
"Ooooh! This feeling! This heat! Oh, it's intoxicating!" Hot air puffed from his nostrils. He was like a lecher who had just discovered a beautiful woman, completely lost in the moment.
It wasn't just Tiehe; the other swordsmiths also noticed the uniqueness of the crimson ore. One by one, they crowded around, trying to get a closer look.
"Let me see! I'm first!" "Get lost, I'm first!" "Everyone move! As long as I'm first, I swear I'll sleep with this ore for the rest of my life!"
In an instant, the room was filled with the sounds of quarreling swordsmiths. Seeing these men descend into some unknown fanaticism, Si Shu coughed loudly a few times.
"So... do you accept customer-provided materials?"
"OF COURSE!" Tiehe roared, pounding his chest. "I will pour my entire life's energy into forging the best possible Nichirin Blade for you, little one!"
The other swordsmiths gasped in shock.
"The Chief is going to forge it himself?!" "My heavens, the last time he did that was six or seven years ago, for a guest named Yoriichi!" "Chief, please let me participate! I'm willing to just be an assistant!"
Tiehe turned and looked at the swordsmiths, who were all a head shorter than him. "Tie Ke, Gangzuka, Jinshashu, and Xiao Dao. You four will be my assistants."
The four named smiths cheered wildly, while the others slumped in dejection.
"By the way," Si Shu's voice cut in, "can I participate in the forging process?"
"Little one," Tiehe began, shaking his head as he sized up Si Shu. "It's not that I'm being dismissive, but forging requires a certain amount of experience." Si Shu simply looked too young. Although he didn't know how the boy had obtained this ore, forging ability and personal strength were not necessarily related.
"So, Chief Tiehe, what you're saying is, if I have a certain amount of forging experience, I can participate?" A small smile played on Si Shu's lips as he began to speak, rattling off a string of terms only a professional would understand. "In layman's terms, forging begins with... After the blade's shape is fixed, it is placed in cold water to... The installation of the tsuba also has its own intricacies, requiring..."
As he spoke, Si Shu walked to a corner of the room, picking up a large forging hammer and a piece of Tamahagane.
PING! PING! PING!
The hammer swung continuously, striking the surface of the ore with crisp, clear sounds. After hammering it for a while, he used tongs to place it into the furnace for heating. The arduous and tedious process of forging seemed like a work of art under Si Shu's demonstration—fluid and full of beauty. The hard Tamahagane was like a toy in his hands, easily kneaded into shape.
"How... how do you possess such skill?!" Tiehe exclaimed, his eyes seeming to bulge through the holes in his mask. "Could it be... you are the Si Shu the Smelting Village spoke of?!"
"Yes, that's me," Si Shu admitted freely, placing the shaped ore into water to cool. "There. Would you say this qualifies as 'experienced'?"
He pulled the perfectly square piece of refined steel from the water and placed it on the table.
"It's enough. Absolutely enough." With just a single glance, Tiehe could judge Si Shu's forging level from that piece of steel. It was no worse than the four men he had just named—in fact, it was slightly better! Among everyone present, the only one whose forging skill surpassed his was Tiehe himself.
A genius.
Marveling at Si Shu's god-tier forging skill, Tiehe waved his hand. "In that case, the forging will take place in three days. We will prepare the other materials. Someone will come to inform you. For these three days, you and that other fellow can look around the village."
With that, Tiehe led the large group of swordsmiths away.
Si Shu shrugged and left the residence, returning to the temporary lodging he shared with Michikatsu.
"You're back?" Although Michikatsu was curious why Si Shu had returned so late, he wasn't one to pry. Instead, he looked at him intently. "Si Shu, as Yoriichi's student, your strength must be quite impressive."
Their eyes met. Michikatsu seemed to be trying to provoke Si Shu's competitive spirit. However, Si Shu's mental age was far more mature than his appearance.
"Not at all. Compared to Master Yoriichi and you, Senior Uncle, I am still far too lacking."
Si Shu's words were masterfully crafted, neither completely denying his own ability nor failing to praise Yoriichi and Michikatsu. But Michikatsu wasn't one to fall for such flattery.
His body transformed into a bolt of lightning, and he shot towards Si Shu. With a chop of his hand, he aimed unhesitatingly for Si Shu's neck!
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