章 14: Epiphany
"Haah...haah..."
Shi Li dropped the hammer he borrowed on the floor before wiping off the sweat from his forehead. Shi Li couldn't feel his forearms anymore due to the length of time he lifted the hammer with his full strength.
"Man...are these hammers naturally heavy or am I really just that weak?" Shi Li couldn't help but ask himself this question due to the fact that he could only lift it up after exerting his full strength.
What Shi Li didn't know was that the females the man from the Logistics Hall talked about were actually cultivators in the second stage of Martial Novice or higher, which meant they had strength to spare. As for Shi Li who was still at the first stage of Martial Novice, it was somewhat surprising to see that he could lift up a hammer as heavy that with just his strength of 8 ren.
After taking a short rest, Shi Li took his clothes off, leaving him only with his undergarments on. If anyone were to see this, they would think that Shi Li's head was only attached to his skinny body due to curse. But in actuality, it was just the old Shi Li not keeping his vitality in check.
As Shi Li gripped the hammer, a thought entered his brain. Since he could barely lift it up after using his full strength, it would be harder for him to lift it up using one hand while accurately hitting places on his body. With that, he decided to cultivate his soul to full stone first before continuing.
With a better aptitude than before, it was around a few hours into the afternoon that Shi Li was able to successfully transform his soul into stone, thus putting him at the peak of the first stage of Martial Novice.
Shi Li recalled his experience a while ago and couldn't help but savor it everytime. "I wouldn't get sick of cultivating at this speed. I truly feel like I'm making progress when I have an aptitude at this level."
Feeling his newfound strength coursing throughout his body, he mustered his courage and lied down flat on the floor and grabbed the hammer.
"Hnggg...gah!"
It took a while for Shi Li to lift the hammer up with one hand, positioning it directly over his chest. Even though Shi Li lifted it up, the hammer was shaking as if it would fall everytime.
Recalling the contents of this technique, Shi Li's eyes could help but quiver as he muttered, "To cultivate the technique, one must breathe in a weird pattern as the body is being hit with the cultivator's full strength. If the body is hit with strength exceeding the cultivator's, the progress would be akin to rising like a phoenix from the ashes."
Steeling his mind, Shi Li gritted his teeth as he started to cultivate the external technique.
...
In the planet of Xiuzhen, there lies three continents having their own three grand sects as the pillars of each continent. One of these sects is the Solaris Heaven Sect located within the Crimson Blossom Continent.
Within the sect lies an orb that spans over 10 meters in diameter. The orb glistened like diamond when light reflected off it while it exuded an ancient aura if anyone dared to directly look at it.
At this moment, a man wearing exquisitely crafted gold robes entered the room where the orb was placed. This man was already in his late 80s but he still looked like someone in his 30s. The man had black hair and red irises that could easily instill fear to those who looked directly at him. This man, to the Solaris Heaven Sect, was known as their Grand Elder.
"For some reason, the Fate-Seeking Orb is telling me that something big will happen in the next 100 years," the man muttered. "What could be the cause for this?"
Seeing that no one else was around, the man placed his hand on the orb as he channeled energy into the orb that was far superior to Shi Xingwan's yet inferior to Tian Zhenfei's.
After a while, the orb glowed with a resplendent light as an image could be seen in its center.
On the image was a man screaming in pain as he continuously battered his body with a hammer. Cold sweat scattered all over the man's skinny frame as he held the hammer while it shook.
The Grand Elder wasn't surprised to see that a man was shown in the picture since a world-changing situation would always be connected to a person, but what shocked him the most was the red pearl that was relatively far away from the man.
"That gleam...that intent...could it be?" The Grand Elder's eyes widened as he recalled an item that fit the pearl's characteristics.
"The Transcending Zenith Pearl? Why did it come here? Unless..." The Grand Elder wondered why the pearl was beside the man. After a while, he looked at the man and examined him covertly using his energy.
"And so that's how it was," the Grand Elder's eyes gleamed. "To be actually born with an extremely pure blood of that bloodline, the Transcending Zenith Pearl will definitely make that man's name resound throughout Xiuzhen."
After knowing the cause of the Fate-Seeking Orb's calling, the man left the room, continuing what he was previously doing.
...
Even though Shi Li was focused in cultivating to become someone strong, he knew the importance of a heavenly treasure which was why he didn't let the red pearl leave his sight even if he was cultivating.
At this moment...
Bang!
"Gah!"
Bang!
"Hnggh!"
Bang!
"I must endure...!"
Bang!
After a while, Shi Li dropped his hammer on the ground as he took a few deep breaths. At the moment, Shi Li looked like he was in a sorry state. His body had bruises here and there with some of them having a bit of blood. Not only that, he was currently drenched in sweat. Combine that with his heavy breathing, it would look like Shi Li lost a fight or something.
Shi Li then sat upright as he endured the soreness of his body. He then tried to pinch his skin with his fingers, wanting to check his progress.
"Hmm...I could feel that my skin is definitely tougher when compared to before I began the technique, but at this rate, it would take at least a month before cultivating the [Iron Vessel Tempering Manual] to the peak of the first level!"
Shi Li did feel like he made progress on the cultivation technique, but it was sorely lacking in speed when compared to his soul. Knowing that he had an extremely high aptitude, he knew that there was a problem with him rather than the technique.
Knowing that he was the problem, Shi Li recalled the contents of the technique once more. "Cultivating the technique is akin to tempering a piece of metal, which means it must be hammered through a certain method. Now that I think about it, I hammered every part of my body at random, only relying on the breathing method for my skin's toughness to improve."
At this point in time, with the help of Tian Zhenfei's memories, Shi Li knew what his problem was.
"I think I know why I'm moving at a snail's pace now. To know how to temper one's body like a piece of metal, one must know how to temper metal!"
"I should learn how to forge!"
クリエイターの想い 
TrueDawn
TrueDawn For those who have read the previous version of TAT, Shi Li took up forging as a way to earn money. Now, Shi Li took up forging so he could cultivate faster. Would this change Shi Li's perspective of forging? Find out as you read more...I guess.
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