Three Years of Blacksmithing, Achieving Divine Martial Arts - Chapter 27

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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 27. Six Lines Overlapped
What Hwang Won had done regarding Yeo Ui remained unknown to So Cheol.
So Cheol

didn’t press further. What he’d heard from his cousin was all the Internal Sect disciples had to offer, and if he kept asking, he’d have to explain why he cared in the first place.
On the walk back to Jang Sim-dang, his thoughts turned to Wang San. Third Rank, Peak. The man Hyeon Wi himself went out of his way to gauge carefully. He’d severed one Investigation Line by eliminating Hwang Won, but that didn’t mean Wang San had vanished too.
For now, it was the same as before. Grow stronger, learn more.
The moment So Cheol stepped into Jang Sim-dang, he went straight to the workbench. Inside the furnace, the lump of metal he’d placed there that morning glowed an incandescent red.
Son Cheol Shim paused as he passed.

“Going at it again?”
“Yes.”
“You were striking until evening yesterday.”
“Today’s work must be done today.”

Son Cheol Shim studied So Cheol’s face for a moment, then let out a dry chuckle.

“Something on your mind?”

So Cheol picked up the hammer and smiled.

“I need money.”
“Always about money.”

The familiar answer came back.
So Cheol extracted the material with tongs. He’d made the Rank One Beom Byeong several times now. Layering three Gi Moon lines in a single stratum no longer carried the tension it had on the first day.
The problem came after.
Three more Gi Moon lines on top of the first layer. Two strata, six Gi Moon. This was the threshold for Rank Two Beom Byeong.

Bang!

The hammer fell.
Past one hundred strikes, the first Gi Moon emerged, and two more lines settled into place behind it. The first stratum progressed smoothly.
So Cheol heated the material again and began forming the second layer.

Bang!

The fourth Gi Moon half-formed before wavering.
The next hammer blow shook even one of the lines in the first stratum.

“Stop.”

Son Cheol Shim snatched the material from across the bench.

“Strike any more and you’ll ruin what you made first.”
“Is my strength insufficient?”
“The opposite. You’re still driving forward like you were when you made the first layer.”

Son Cheol Shim tapped the side of the heated material lightly with tongs.

“How could metal with nothing be the same as metal that already has Gi Moon settled in it? The second layer goes on top while you’re watching where the foundation can hold.”
“Should I reduce the force?”
“If you only think like that, you’ll make another mistake.”

The material came back to So Cheol.

“Strike harder where you need to strike, spare the places that need to hold. Watch the metal.”

It was the same meaning as the words he’d heard when he first entered Jang Sim-dang from the Outer Gate.
Strike only as much as needed.
When So Cheol first crafted a Rank 1 Beom Byeong, the problem had been extracting the full force of his power. Now he had to know how much to pour in and where to stop. It was the same Cheon Dan Beop, yet the demands were different.
As So Cheol studied the ruined material, his mind grew calmer instead. Seeing where he’d failed meant he could see where to correct it next time.
That day ended in failure. The next day he passed the fourth Gi Moon. On the fourth day he reached the fifth, but the second layer twisted at the final strike.
So Shim Hwan clicked his tongue beside him.

“So the youngest does have limits after all.”
“Did you finish your quota today?”
“When someone fails, you offer encouragement from above.”

Gwak Geo spoke from where he stood farther away.

“Half left to go.”

So Shim Hwan closed his mouth for a moment, then returned to his workbench.
From the fourth day onward, So Cheol shed his impatience. He re-examined the rebound from the moment the hammer struck the first layer. Once he divided the areas that could absorb more force from those already sufficiently compressed, the impact changed.
The hammer fell short at first, then pressed deep the next time, then came up short again.
On the afternoon of the sixth day.
The material, layered through the fifth Gi Moon, glowed red on the anvil.
So Cheol studied the final spot for a long moment, then raised the hammer. He drew all his power up, and just before the descent, he released slightly from his wrist. When the hammer head made contact, he drove forward with his waist again.

Bang!

Sparks flew.
A thin line rose slowly across the red surface.
The sixth Gi Moon.
The first five lines did not waver.
Three lines stacked upon three, two layers deep.

“Done.”

Hearing So Cheol’s voice, Son Cheol Shim approached at once. He examined the material, shaped it, and watched the quenching through to completion.

Hisssss—

As the steam cleared, the finished blade was revealed.
Son Cheol Shim flicked the edge with his fingernail.

Ting—

“Rank 2.”

The hammer sounds around the workshop ceased one by one.
So Shim Hwan was the first to approach, receiving the blade.

“You made this alone?”
“Did I strike it for you?”
“How many days?”
“Six days.”

So Shim Hwan counted the Gi Moon once more, then handed the blade back. Gwak Geo silently repositioned his hammer.

“Elder brother.”
“What?”
“Nothing at all.”

So Shim Hwan returned to his workbench at once.
Moments later, hammer sounds erupted from both their stations almost simultaneously.

Bang!

Bang!

Son Cheol Shim let out a low chuckle.

“Now you two are finally awake.”
“Master, I’ve always been diligent—”
“Just keep working.”

So Shim Hwan’s hammer fell with a harder clang than usual.
So Cheol couldn’t help but smile.
He’d made just one Rank 2 Beom Byeong, and the hammer sounds across the entire Jang Sim-dang had quickened noticeably.
When Son Cheol Shim handed the finished blade to the Internal Affairs Hall, he made sure So Cheol’s name was credited properly. Unlike the time he’d forged a Rank 1 Beom Byeong, this weapon had been built from start to finish by So Cheol alone—both layers of it.
So Cheol looked at the materials left on his workstation before the blade itself. If he could craft a Rank 2 Beom Byeong now, both the money he could earn and the materials he could handle would change.
* * *
It wasn’t just forging that had improved.
Since returning from So Gang, the Qi-Blood flowing through his body had continued to transform. The prolonged underwater combat with Hwang Won had nearly depleted him, but after recovery, the Qi-Blood seeping into his bones ran deeper than before.
On the fourth night, So Cheol realized he’d entered the late stages of Rank 2.
By day he practiced Cheon Dan Beop, by night he honed his martial arts. The Su Ryong Yu Young Beop had taken root deeper in his body, and the Yeol Seok Chu Beop he’d elevated to Perfect Circle now lost less force with each swing of the same hammer.
In the Sal Ho Cham Shin Do, he could clearly see what came next.
The blade he’d seen from Hwang Tae Gon, the movements Yeo Ui had taught him, the moments he’d actually used against Gwang Sa Bang Ju and Hwang Won—they layered together, opening passages he’d never seen before.
On the seventh night.
In the New House Back Garden, So Cheol drew the Ho So Sal Do he’d taken from Hwang Won.
As he unfolded the Sal Ho Cham Shin Do, the blood-red blade cut through the night air. His foot went in first, the blade hidden behind his body, then followed at the final moment.
Remembering the direction of Internal Power he’d felt when blocking Hwang Won’s strike, he slashed once more.

Shring—!

The rings hanging from the blade shivered, producing a low tiger’s growl.
In the final slash, the power from his waist shot through to the blade’s edge all at once.

Whoosh!

Bamboo leaves flipped over in unison.
So Cheol stopped the blade.
The wall that had hung in the Great Hall had vanished.
Sal Ho Cham Shin Do.
Perfect Circle.
The Bronze Cauldron responded at once.

[Ho So Sal Do]
[Rank: Rank 3 Beom Byeong]
[Primary Material: Fang of the Ferocious Tiger of Distant Waters]
[Equip Condition: Sal Ho Cham Shin Do Perfect Circle]
[Equip Effect: Bone Quality Correction · Blade Sense Correction · Killing Intent Pressure · Grip Strength Correction]
[Special Acquisition: Sal Ho Cham Shin Do Jeol Cho · Memory Fragment of Hwang Won’s Blade Method]

“Hwang Won.”

He emptied one Slot and inserted the Ho So Sal Do. Unfamiliar memories rushed in.
Hwang Won was someone who had practiced the same blade method far longer. The broad framework was identical—pushing the body first, hiding the blade—but the moment of wrist rotation and the placement of Internal Power differed.
The brief memory cut short.
There were no answers regarding Yeo Ui or his business with her. All that remained was the blade method alone.
Still, the essence of Jeol Cho had survived clearly. Even if his current body lacked the Internal Power to follow Hwang Won’s application exactly, he could see the direction to pursue.
It was enough to gain.
So Cheol put away the Ho So Sal Do and drew out the O Sip.
It was the weapon he’d used most during the past week practicing Cheon Dan Beop. The Yeol Seok Chu Beop had reached Perfect Circle long ago, but the final Jeol Cho still existed only in memory and records.
Jin San Hwa Shin.
So Cheol didn’t drive the Qi-Blood into his arms alone—he spread it through his chest and back, waist and legs.
His skin grew hot, and his bones pressed inward. At early Rank 2, he would have stopped here. Even Son Cheol Shim said forcing further would destroy the body first.
Now the very bones that received the Qi-Blood were different.
He seized the Ban Seok Sae.
As the Qi-Blood completed its circuit through his entire body and returned, every muscle tensed at once. His back and shoulders swelled with power, and his frame grew heavy from fingertips to crown.
He raised the O Sip and struck the practice stone pillar sharply.

Crack!

The base of the pillar crumbled entirely.
So Cheol released the technique immediately. His breathing came ragged, but his mouth curved upward.

“So that’s why they told me not to do this.”

He couldn’t sustain the technique for long yet.
But he knew how to deploy it.
Yeol Seok Chu Beop.
Perfect Circle.
The Jin San Hwa Shin he’d only ever glimpsed in memory had finally become his own.
* * *
Back in his room, he began organizing what lay inside the Bronze Cauldron.
First, he withdrew one of the twelve Rank 2 Beom Byeong blades he’d obtained from Hwang Won’s group. It was not the Ho So Sal Do.
The Yeon Bo So Che required one Rank 2 Beom Byeong and six taels of Jok Geum.
The blade was too dangerous to sell as-is; its provenance would raise questions. So Cheol didn’t deliberate long.

“This is what it’s for, then.”

The Jok Geum and blade melted together in the rainbow light.
The blade itself dissolved entirely, leaving behind a subtle essence that flowed through his hands and arms into his body. A faint shift lingered in him, though he couldn’t yet discern exactly what had changed or by how much.
Next, he examined the fourth Slot.
On the fourth day, the Jeong Hyeol—ten droplets that had gleamed blood-red—showed the rainbow light beginning to recede.

[Bo Hyeol Purification Complete]

[Bo Hyeol 10 Drops]

“Finally.”

His first Bo Hyeol.
So Cheol’s first thought was to set aside two drops. He disliked the idea of pouring all his immediate recovery options into weapons—not when life itself might hang in the balance.
While it could be used for restoration, there was something else he wanted to test first.
The O Sip.
The Rank 2 Beom Byeong that Son Cheol Shim had wielded, and the weapon he’d carried longest.
When he dripped a single drop of Bo Hyeol onto the hammer head, the blood didn’t spill—it seeped into the metal itself.
Two drops.
Three drops.
Red light bloomed through the Gi Moon.
The moment the eighth drop vanished, the Bronze Cauldron rang out.

A deep, resonant hum—

The O Sip lifted into the air. Within the black hammer head, red light and rainbow light crossed several times, then slowly settled.
Its appearance remained nearly unchanged.
Only its essence had transformed.

[O Sip]
[Rank: Rank 3 Beom Byeong]
[New Enhancement: Suk Neung Saeng Gyo
(Practice Makes Perfect)
]
[Success Rate Enhancement for Rank 3 Beom Byeong and Rank 3 Peak-Tier Beom Byeong Forging]

So Cheol’s lips curved into a smile.

“The hammer reached Rank 3 before me.”

Two drops of Bo Hyeol remained.
His body had grown far more solid than when he’d first drawn the Jeong Hyeol. So Cheol extracted a new Jeong Hyeol again.
He could withstand it even past ten drops.
Eleven.
Twelve.
Fifteen.
After adding the final drop, he swallowed the Gi Hyeol Dan. The new fifteen drops of Jeong Hyeol were wrapped in five-colored light, while the first two drops of Bo Hyeol remained separate.
So Cheol refilled all four Slots.
Ho So Sal Do.
Su Ryong Yu Young Beop silk.
O Sip, now advanced to Rank 3.
Jang Sim-dang Direct Seal Badge.
Hwan Sa Myeon and Yo Rin Nae Gap could be swapped out when needed.
As the four positions filled, immense power surged through his body.
His stage was still Rank 2 Late Period. But it was different from the moment he’d entered. The process of refining his bones was nearly complete. Next came Rank 3, where Internal Power was forged.
And below that.
So Cheol’s gaze froze entirely.

[Original Bone Quality: A Middle Rank]
[Bone Quality After Equipment: A Supreme Rank]

For a long moment, no words came.
On the day he’d first entered the Iron Workshop, his assessment had been C Lower Rank.
Now, even with all equipment removed, he was A Middle Rank.
Equipped, he was A Supreme Rank.
He remembered the day when Yeo Ui had drawn the full attention of the Martial Arts Hall simply for possessing A-Rank bone quality.
That distance had seemed vast then.
Now, in the Bronze Cauldron before him, the peak of that A Rank floated beneath his own name.
It was a change that could never be shown to the outside world. He couldn’t explain it to Son Cheol Shim, and Wang San learning of it was absolutely unthinkable. If circumstances ever demanded another bone quality assessment, he’d have to figure out how to hide this first.
So Cheol slowly clenched his fist.
He still didn’t know what Wang San was betting on with Yeo Ui, or why Hwang Won had moved separately. There remained only one slot for the Ju Geom San Chang recommendation.
But he, too, was still climbing.

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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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