Three Years of Blacksmithing, Achieving Divine Martial Arts - Chapter 15

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 15. The First Hammer Was Different
Life at Jangsimdang quickly fell into rhythm.
Before dawn broke, he trained.
He warmed his body with the Water Dragon Swimming Technique, then flowed from the Half-Stone Form into the Hot Stone Hammer Technique. Once daylight came, he washed and went to Jangsimdang.
During the day, he hammered metal.
In the evening, he ate.
Then he trained again.
It was a simple life.
That was why So Cheol

found it pleasing.
He could see where each day went.
On the first day, he struggled to control the force behind the Refined Iron. On the second, he began working with Black Iron. By the third, he started to notice, bit by bit, how quickly the heat dissipated when Brass and Tin mixed.
The memory left by the Direct-Transmission Badge proved invaluable.
Son Cheol-shim’s voice echoed in his mind—how the master had once explained materials to his disciples. Black Iron is dense, heat-absorption varies with its nature, and gold neutralizes a material’s properties.
Memory alone would have been half a craft.
But standing before the Furnace, the smell was different, and the recoil of the hammer against his palms was different.
So Cheol matched his memory to his hands.
Day after day, his speed quickened.

“Done already?”

On the fifth afternoon, a senior from the next workstation asked with bewildered eyes.
So Cheol set down the finished Black Iron ingot beside the water trough.

“This is the third one today, senior.”
“That’s exactly what bothers me.”

The senior glanced at the first ingot sitting in front of him.

“I’m still working on mine.”
“I spent a long time in the External Gate, senior.”
“So did I.”

He had nothing left to say.
So Shim-hwan laughed from across the workshop.

“Don’t bother comparing. The youngest isn’t a person with a hammer—he’s a hammer with a person attached.”
“Did you finish your quota today, So Shim-hwan?”

As soon as So Cheol asked, the laughter died.

“A master shouldn’t question a disciple’s output like that. Where’s the loyalty in it?”

Gwak Geo spoke from behind.

“Not even halfway through.”

So Shim-hwan’s face hardened.

“Elder. Among brothers and sisters, one should keep each other’s―”
“The Master’s looking for you.”

So Shim-hwan grabbed his hammer at once.
In just a few days at Jangsimdang, So Cheol had begun to see the shape of each person’s nature.
Gwak Geo was the kind whose hands moved faster than his words. Ask him for a favor and he’d grant it before thinking to ask why; correct him and he took it honestly.
So Shim-hwan was the reverse.
His mouth moved first.
That didn’t mean he couldn’t work—when he set his mind to it, he could accomplish twice what others did in the same span. The problem was that he rarely bothered to set his mind to it.
Son Cheol-shim, meanwhile, cursed at them both by turns while watching every detail of his disciples’ work with meticulous care.
So Cheol checked his hammer without fail, once every day.
It was the seventh day.
Son Cheol-shim flicked the Black Iron that So Cheol had forged with his finger.

Ting—

A clear, bright sound rang out.
His eyes narrowed.

“Hardly any impurities.”

The disciples of Jangsimdang beside him glanced over surreptitiously.
Son Cheol-shim examined another ingot.

Ting.

And another.

Ting—

“For someone who’s only been at this a week, that’s impressive.”

It was hard to tell whether he meant it as praise or criticism.
So Cheol simply smiled.

“Master, you’ve taught me well.”
“You’ve got a silver tongue, don’t you.”

Son Cheol-shim’s mouth curved upward.
He looked over So Cheol’s arms and shoulders once, taking measure of them.

“And the Hot Stone Hammer Technique?”
“I’m still working through it.”
“You’re stuck at Daeseong, aren’t you?”

So Cheol nodded.
After touching Daeseong in the Test Ground, things had definitely improved. Even when he swung the hammer for long stretches, his flow didn’t break, and retrieving his power felt natural now.
But the next stage remained invisible.
Son Cheol-shim spoke.

“At Wonman, the power itself is different.”

So Cheol’s gaze lifted.

“Up to Daeseong, the key is making sure your body doesn’t get dragged along by the weight—that you can keep using your strength smoothly. From Wonman on, you need to be able to drive the very edge of your power into the hammer itself.”
“The edge?”
“Words won’t teach you.”

Son Cheol-shim gestured behind him.
Two disciples brought forward an enormous hammer as if they’d been waiting for the signal.
So Cheol’s eyes widened slightly.
It wasn’t a fifteen-catty hammer.
The handle was thick, and the head much larger.

“Fifty catties.”

Son Cheol-shim lifted it one-handed.

“One I used in my younger days.”

So Shim-hwan approached quietly.
Gwak Geo set down his work as well.
The apprentices around them gathered one by one.
Son Cheol-shim withdrew the heated Black Iron and Copper, along with a small amount of gold, from the Furnace.

“Today I’ll show you the Thousand Forging Method.”

So Cheol straightened his posture.
He’d heard the name spoken a few times while learning forging.
The formal forging technique weapon smiths use when crafting Divine Weapons.
Son Cheol-shim lifted his hammer.

“Do you know why an ordinary blade differs from a Divine Weapon?”
“Because the materials are different, is it not?”
“That’s part of it, but only half the answer.”

Bang!

The first hammer blow fell.
All three metals were compressed at once.

“A weapon smith is a martial artist.”

Bang!

“With Qi-Blood and strength, we hammer the materials to their limit.”

Bang!

The sound grew louder with each strike.
Qi-Blood radiated from around Son Cheol-shim’s body.
A crimson aura wrapped around his shoulders and arms, taking the form of a hazy beast.
It looked like a great ox lowering its horns, standing firm.
So Cheol’s gaze fixed on it.
Gwak Geo spoke in a low voice from beside him.

Beast Power Phantom Shadow.

“Beast Power Phantom Shadow?”
“When martial arts are cultivated to a profound depth, Qi-Blood manifests in such form. It’s different from early transformations like Majestic Qi Manifestation.”

Even as Gwak Geo spoke, Son Cheol-shim’s hammer never ceased its motion.

Whoosh―!

Bang!

The fifty-pound hammer moved like a twig in wind.
“Immensely strong” would have been an understatement.
Each blow landed with perfect precision.
Impurities were driven out, and the three metals fused into one.
It was after perhaps the hundredth strike.
So Cheol’s eyes narrowed.
A faint line appeared on the surface of the heated material.
It was not a crack that had formed naturally.
The line ran long, following the grain of the material.

“Do you see it?”

Son Cheol-shim paused mid-swing with the hammer.

“Yes.”
“A Qi-Pattern.”

He wiped the handle clean with a damp cloth.

“After layering through a hundred forges, when the material reaches its limit, that forms. Three Qi-Patterns properly layered to make one tier—that’s a 1st Grade Divine Weapon.”

The hammer rose again.

“Six makes 2nd Grade. Nine makes 3rd Grade.”

So Shim-hwan spoke from beside him.

“Sounds easy when you just hear about it, doesn’t it?”

So Cheol turned his head.

“How many did you make first, senior?”
“Why dig into someone else’s painful past?”

Gwak Geo answered at once.

“Not a single one on the first day.”
“Master!”

Son Cheol-shim burst into laughter.

“This fool took a whole month just to create his first Qi-Pattern.”

So Shim-hwan swept his hair back with an aggrieved look.

“That’s actually fast.”
“Right. That’s fast.”

Son Cheol-shim didn’t deny it.

“That’s why I’m showing you this now, So Cheol.”

The hammer fell one final time.

Bang!

Sparks scattered across the forge.
Son Cheol-shim plunged the finished material into water.

Hisss—!

White steam rose in a rush.

“The Thousand Forging Method is a technique for crafting Divine Weapons, but it’s also a cultivation path to elevate your Hot Stone Hammer Technique to Complete Power.”

So Cheol’s eyes gleamed.

“How?”
“Every time, strike at the limit of your strength.”

Son Cheol-shim stood up a fifty-pound hammer.

“It’s not just one hard strike and you’re done. Hundreds of times, pulling out the same level of power each time while never losing the flow of the hammer—that’s what matters.”

What So Cheol had learned at Daeseong was the method of never squandering his strength.
Wonman was the stage of drawing out progressively greater power from within that flow.
So Cheol recalled Son Cheol-shim’s hammer strikes from moments before.

Bang, bang, bang.

Each impact was heavy.
Yet it never collapsed until the very end.

“Want to try?”

Son Cheol-shim offered a fifteen-pound hammer.
He didn’t give him the fifty-pound one.

“This much is plenty for someone using the Thousand Forging Method for the first time.”

So Cheol took the hammer.
So Shim-hwan whispered to Gwak Geo’s side.

“Master. You don’t really think the youngest will create a Qi-Pattern today, do you?”

Gwak Geo considered for a moment.

“He could, couldn’t he?”
“If someone makes one on the first day, they’re not human.”
“So Cheol’s been doing strange things lately, though.”
“All right, then.”

So Shim-hwan laughed.

“If the youngest creates a Qi-Pattern today, I’ll make him a fine robe.”

So Cheol looked up.

“You mean it?”
“When have you ever seen me lie?”

Gwak Geo and Son Cheol-shim looked at So Shim-hwan at the same time.
So Shim-hwan cleared his throat awkwardly.

“I don’t lie about important things.”

So Cheol smiled and stood before the workbench.
The heated materials lay before him.
Son Cheol-shim’s Thousand Forging Method was vivid in his mind.
Fix the feet.
Use the waist.
Send the power from the shoulder through to the wrist.
Complete Power gathered within his body, fitted with the Direct-Transmission Badge.
Son Cheol-shim was expecting the power So Cheol could draw out using only the Daeseong Hot Stone Hammer Technique.
So Cheol possessed far more power than that.
There was no reason to hide it all.
Creating a Qi-Pattern required strength.
He lifted the hammer.
The first strike.

Bang!

The anvil trembled as a whole.
Jangsimdang fell silent.
So Shim-hwan’s jaw dropped.
Gwak Geo’s eyes widened.
Son Cheol-shim uncrossed his arms for the first time.
Only then, watching their reactions, did So Cheol wonder.

‘Did I hit too hard?’

“Again.”

Son Cheol-shim’s voice dropped lower.
So Cheol lifted the hammer once more.

Bang!

The anvil sang out at the second blow.
So Shim-hwan grabbed Gwak Geo’s arm.

“Senior.”
“What?”
“Am I the only one who finds this strange?”

Gwak Geo didn’t answer, instead studying So Cheol’s legs and waist.

“The power isn’t leaking, and the hammer isn’t bouncing.”
“That’s what makes it stranger.”

Though he heard their exchange, So Cheol didn’t stop.
Third strike.
Fourth.

Bang! Bang!

The Complete Power granted by the Direct-Transmission Badge was already becoming familiar to his body. Unlike when he’d wielded the fifteen-pound hammer at the Test Ground, he had far less need to conceal this strength now.
What was difficult was drawing up to the same point with each blow.
The first strike had gone well.
So had the second.
By the tenth blow, his shoulders began to grow heavy.
By the twentieth, strength drained from his wrists.
Son Cheol-shim spoke at once.

“Don’t stop!”

So Cheol’s hammer rose again.

“The Thousand Forging Method isn’t about striking well once! You must seize the moment it weakens!”

Bang!

So Cheol gritted his teeth.
The Daeseong Hot Stone Hammer Technique allowed him to channel his strength continuously.
Because of that, the hammer’s momentum never broke.
The problem was the weight of each individual strike.
To maintain the same force, he had to draw a little more from his body each time.
His feet pressed against the ground.
His waist turned.
His shoulders followed.
The hammer descended.

Bang!

He withdrew it again.
This time he absorbed the recoil from the direct strike with his waist.

Bang!

“Yes!”

Son Cheol-shim cried out.

“Don’t generate new force with every stroke! Use what you learned during the test!”

He was right.
So Cheol slowed his pace slightly.
He reined in the impulse to strike harder.
Instead, he felt where the power was leaking from his body.
When the hammer came up, his shoulders lifted.
He suppressed them.
On the downstroke, his wrist bent first.
He made his waist wait one beat longer.

Bang—!

The sound changed.
Son Cheol-shim’s eyes lit up.

“That’s it.”

So Cheol didn’t lose that sensation.
Forty.
Fifty.
At some point, he stopped counting.
His breath grew hot.
Sweat poured down his back.
The palms gripping the hammer handle had begun to chafe.
Yet the heated material was growing harder than before.
The sensation of three metals pushing against each other had vanished.
It received the hammer as a single mass.
So Cheol felt that transformation through his hands.

Bang!

Once more.

Bang!

So Shim-hwan’s playful expression had already faded.
Gwak Geo unfolded his arms and stepped forward.
The other disciples abandoned their work entirely and gathered close.

“Master.”

Someone called out softly.
Son Cheol-shim did not answer.
His gaze was fixed on one point of the heated material.
So Cheol didn’t see it.
All he felt now was the weight of the hammer.
It was the moment when the thought first crossed his mind—to lower his hand.
Son Cheol-shim’s voice reached him.

“Once more.”

So Cheol clenched his teeth and twisted his waist.

Bang!

Sparks scattered in all directions.
In that instant, a thin line appeared on the surface of the heated metal.
So Shim-hwan’s mouth fell open.
Gwak Geo smiled slowly.
Son Cheol-shim gazed at that line for a long moment.
The first Qi-Pattern.
So Cheol lowered the hammer, breathing hard.

“Master.”

He barely managed to turn his head.

“A set of clothes—you mustn’t forget about that.”

So Shim-hwan’s face twisted.

“You’re thinking about that now, of all times?”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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