Chapter 12

Blacksmith Sun demonstrated three times in succession, folding the red-hot iron blocks. Every movement flowed smoothly without a single pause.

Wangchuan confirmed that he had fully grasped every detail. He took the hammer and tongs and began practicing for real.

Blacksmith Sun handed the task over to the three apprentices and went to the side to operate the bellows.

At first, Wangchuan was not very proficient. After all, he had never done this kind of work before.

However, once he adapted to the weight and force of the hammer, the movements of his left hand operating the tongs gradually became smoother as well, and the transitions grew faster and faster.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!!

After more than ten minutes, Wangchuan finally got the hang of it. Although he was still not as practiced as Chen Feng and Heitan, he was already able to complete one hundred hammer strikes before the red-hot refined iron solidified.

As time passed, Wangchuan discovered that he was gradually entering a rhythm.

The hammering speed became faster and faster.

Quench in water!

Reheat.

Switch to the second piece.

There were three pieces of refined iron in the furnace in front of Wangchuan, ensuring that while one piece was being forged, others were always available.

After hammering continuously for more than ten minutes, his right arm began to feel slightly strained, so he switched to his left hand.

The sound changed.

Chen Feng and Heitan both turned to look at him, faces filled with shock.

Left hand hammering?

Did the left hand even have that much strength?

But they quickly realized that after only a brief adjustment period, Wangchuan’s left-hand hammering became fast, powerful, and rhythmically stable, not inferior to his right hand at all.

What they did not know was that over the past several years, while Wangchuan trained his core strength through fitness, he had also trained his left hand’s dexterity to be no weaker than his right.

By alternating hands, Wangchuan was able to let his right arm rest and recover.

One rotation every half hour.

Chen Feng and Heitan were drenched in sweat, while Wangchuan was completely immersed in the progress of forging Hundredfold Steel.

One hour passed…

Two hours passed…

Chen Feng and Heitan’s movements gradually became distorted.

They had no choice but to stop and eat flatbreads. Wangchuan, soaked in sweat, showed no intention of leaving the forging table and furnace, continuing his high-intensity forging without pause.

Moreover, his movements grew faster, smoother, and more fluent, flowing in a single unbroken sequence.

Finally, after three hours—

Ding!

“Completed the forging of one piece of Hundredfold Steel.”

Task Progress: 1/50.

Ding!

“Completed the forging of one piece of Hundredfold Steel.”

Task Progress: 2/50.

Ding!

“Completed the forging of one piece of Hundredfold Steel.”

Task Progress: 3/50.

Wangchuan had already lost track of how many times he had hammered. However, since the system confirmed it as qualified, it meant the number of strikes was sufficient.

Three hours, three pieces…

Wangchuan tossed the finished Hundredfold Steel blocks into the container beside him. Hearing the sound, Blacksmith Sun walked over, inspected them, then smiled and nodded.

“Not bad.”

Then he looked at Chen Feng and Heitan.

Neither of them had completed even a single piece of Hundredfold Steel.

Chen Feng and Heitan shuddered and hurriedly clamped up their partially forged steel blocks—already hammered an unknown number of times—and handed them over for inspection.

Blacksmith Sun’s expression darkened.

“Not acceptable.”

“Continue forging.”

The two cried out in misery.

“Junior brother…”

“Are you some kind of monster?”

“You can forge qualified Hundredfold Steel even with your left hand. How many points of Strength do you actually have?”

“It’s over.”

“Master is using Wangchuan as the standard. If we don’t finish this task, we probably won’t be able to enter the next task cycle.”

“But…”

“Five hundred thousand hammer strikes!”

“My god!”

“I’m going insane!”

Chen Feng and Heitan could barely accept reality.

After three hours, neither of them had forged a single qualified piece of Hundredfold Steel. Even if they pushed themselves to succeed, it would still take at least half a month to complete the task!

Half a month to earn 200 copper coins?

Only a lunatic would do that.

Chen Feng and Heitan struggled until midnight, finally pushing the progress bar to 3/50. They were soaked as if pulled from water. Leaving the progress unfinished, they logged out to rest.

Wangchuan, switching freely between both hands, was actually less exhausted than they were. Still energetic, he looked at his task progress—6/50—and decisively logged out as well.

If he did not rest now, it would affect tomorrow’s tasks.

…

Early the next morning, when Wangchuan logged in, he saw Chen Feng and Heitan standing at the village entrance, looking mentally drained and full of grievance as they stared at him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Senior brothers?”

Chen Feng spoke to Wangchuan.

“The Hundredfold Steel task has no way to be ended early. We probably won’t be able to stay at the blacksmith shop anymore.”

Wangchuan froze.

Heitan sighed.

“It will take us at least half a month to finish the Hundredfold Steel task. And today, my right arm is obviously aching badly. It will definitely affect our daily mining income.”

“Chen Feng and I discussed it and decided to withdraw from the blacksmith shop. Otherwise, we won’t be able to manage both sides.”

The two were serious.

The Hundredfold Steel task did not earn much money to begin with. If it also affected their daytime mining efficiency, it would simply not be worth it.

Wangchuan showed a shocked expression.

He had not expected the two senior brothers to make such a decision.

He felt a sense of guilt, as if they were leaving the blacksmith shop because of him.

For a moment, he did not know what to say.

“It’s fine.”

“If we leave the blacksmith shop, we can always look for other side jobs. Auntie Wang still has tasks for cutting bamboo and making bamboo strips. Wang Dalang has rice harvesting and hunting tasks…”

“But you—being alone to finish the ‘Hundredfold Steel’ task—you’re going to have a hard time.”

Chen Feng and Heitan also felt some guilt toward Wangchuan.

They felt as though they were abandoning him.

As they talked, the village gate opened.

Only then did everyone part ways.

Wangchuan bit into his flatbread, his thoughts churning violently.

The two senior brothers were gone.

Only he remained as an apprentice in the blacksmith shop.

Should he continue?

The 200-copper task would take at least eight days to complete.

That averaged out to just over twenty copper coins per day.

And the forging task was extremely exhausting. He would have to eat at least three flatbreads each day during it…

Which meant that after working himself to exhaustion all day, he would earn only a little over ten copper coins.

Was it worth pushing himself this hard?

But then he thought—if even he left, Blacksmith Sun would be left alone.

Wouldn’t his master be even more pitiful?

Although Wangchuan had not reached the level of “a teacher for a day, a father for life,” he still could not bring himself to abandon Blacksmith Sun.

“Forget it.”

“Less money is still money.”

“Compared to Brother Lin and the others, at least I still have an extra source of income.”

“Over a month, my bonuses should still be higher than theirs.”

With this thought, Wangchuan decided to stay at the blacksmith shop.

The following days were monotonous and exhausting.

During the day, he had to mine and transport ore tirelessly.

At night, after six o’clock, he continued advancing the progress of the “Hundredfold Steel” task.

Sometimes, he felt like a beast of burden in two different worlds.

He suffered endlessly in the real world, then suffered again in the game world.

Day and night blurred together, and he nearly forgot which world was truly real.

Fortunately, the ten-thousand-yuan monthly salary from the Warring States Game Studio kept him going. He worked diligently and persevered until the eighth day, finally forging the last pieces of Hundredfold Steel.

The task progress reached 50/50.

After inspecting them, Blacksmith Sun revealed a satisfied smile.

“Good!”

“This batch of Hundredfold Steel is forged extremely well.”

“This is your reward.”

Ding!

System Notification:

“Hundredfold Steel task completed. Reward obtained: 200 copper coins.”

“Life profession unlocked: Blacksmith.”

“Hundredfold Steel Forging Technique ‘Beginner Level’ unlocked.”