Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
In the blink of an eye, the half a wooden flying sword and the piece of Lightning Strike Wood were softened properly.
Zhang Zhi took them out with a pair of tongs and put them on the Stardust Iron anvil.
He put both pieces together and aligned them carefully. Then, he grabbed his hammer and started pounding!
Electrical sparks spewed as he hammered the sword together.
Even though it was Dugu Ce’s second time, he was still astonished by the grandness. As for Junior Brother Niu, his jaw fell on the floor out of astonishment, he strongly believed his flying sword could be restored.
As Zhang Zhi continued hammering, the two pieces of Lightning Strike Wood slowly merged together. He then restructured the blade itself.
When the flying sword was taken out of the quenching pool, obvious electrical sparks were circulating the blade, followed by claps of thunder, forcing Dugu Ce and Junior Brother Niu to cover their ears.
“Restoration complete,” Zhang Zhi said as he came out from the rear.
Junior Brother Niu was over the moon, he quickly took his sword back before Dugu Ce could utter a word. The blade looked flawless, the reattachment did not leave a mark on the blade.
He activated his sword-controlling spell. The flying sword immediately came alive and flew up and down.
Dugu Ce looked at the scene in disbelief. ‘Did he really restore the sword? No, something is wrong!’
He quickly regained his senses and grinned coldly. “Zhang Zhi, I have to admit that you are quite talented in restoring flying swords but you’ve lost this time!”
“Oh?” Zhang Zhi said nonchalantly, he did not take Dugu Ce’s claims seriously.
Dugu Ce disliked Zhang Zhi because despite being a mortal, his attitude was off-putting and he acted like he was some kind of expert in his field.
‘Huh? Hold on, I sense spiritual power in him! Hmmm, whatever. Even if he has started cultivating, he’s just at the Qi Refining stage, he’s no better than a mortal!’
Dugu Ce angrily said, “Do you think it’s that easy? Simply reattach the sword with some material? Let me tell you something, the sword is made out of Lightning Strike Wood! Only with the same material, it can rival a mid-tier artifact in fighting those vile beings!”
“Now since you’ve reattached it with something else, it is not as powerful as before, so how can it be considered fixed?”
Dugu Ce was nitpicking but he was not entirely wrong. A flying sword made out of Lighting Strike Wood could not be considered fully restored if it lost its original trait in the process.
“What if the material I used to reattach it is Lightning Strike Wood?”
Zhang Zhi did not reveal everything to Dugu Ce. ‘I won’t tell you that not only I’ve used Lightning Strike Wood, but I also used the wood from the same log. I won’t tell you because I’m afraid I might scare you to death.’
“What a joke! Lightning Strike Wood is not something you can buy on the street, where did you get the material?”
To prove himself, Dugu Ce grinned and raised his hand at Junior Brother Niu’s sword. He used his spirit power to draw the sword to his hand.
“Lightning Strike Wood contains the power of the Heavenly Lightning. You simply attached a piece of wood on it and say…”
Before he could finish, Dugu Ce was once again shocked. He opened his eyes so wide that his eyeballs almost dropped out of his eye sockets.
The piece of wood that was attached to the blade was overflowing with the Heavenly Lightning power. If this piece of wood was not the Lightning Strike Wood, all the Lightning Strike Wood in the world would be just a piece of normal wood.
Most importantly, the two pieces of wood were fused together perfectly, there was no mark on the blade at all. Even the stripes and pattern of the wood looked seamless together. On top of that, the restored flying sword felt more thunderous than before.
Even those Nascent Soul Patriarchs might not possess such perfect restoration technique.
“Senior brother, let me have another look.”
Junior Brother Niu was afraid that Dugu Ce would break his sword again, so he quickly took his sword back while Dugu Ce was spacing out.
He nervously kept his sword into his magical pouch, only then he sighed a breath of relief.
He then respectfully bowed at Zhang Zhi. “Thank you, Owner Zhang for fixing my flying sword. I don’t know how to repay your great deed. So if you have any favor to ask of me, please ask away.”
Junior Brother Niu felt grateful for Zhang Zhi’s restoration from his heart. He was just a newly promoted inner disciple of the sect, therefore he had yet to acquire a mid-tier artifact.
Lightning Strike Wood flying sword could rival mid-tier artifacts when fighting vile beings, that was why he treated the sword like his precious. It was only natural that he felt grateful for Zhang Zhi’s service.
Dugu Ce regained his senses and glared at both Zhang Zhi and Junior Brother Niu.
Once again, he lost his face and his money to Zhang Zhi. He angrily swung his sleeve and wanted to leave this loathing blacksmith once and for all.
“Immortal Dugu, are you forgetting something?” Zhang Zhi took his jade slip out with a grin. The jade slip had recorded the conversation he had with Dugu Ce earlier.
Dugu Ce’s face twitched helplessly. If he simply walked away from the bet, he would be punished if the news got back to the sect.
Therefore, he clenched his teeth and walked to the entrance of the blacksmith. He concentrated his energy in his dantian and shouted loudly, “Zhang Zhi is handsome, Zhang Zhi’s skills are awesome!”
Since it was not his first time, Dugu Ce got better at shouting and it sounded even more fitting.
“Woah, it seems like the owner of this blacksmith is really skilled! The inner disciple of Lingtai Sect came again today just to promote this shop!”
“What is he promoting?”
“I think he must have fallen victim to a prank of some sorts.”
…
Whispers and discussion sounded from the gathering crowd, and it made Dugu Ce embarrassed.
He almost forgot that Lingtai Town was a no-fly zone, therefore he could only activate his Gale Rhyme and ran like the wind.
Zhang Zhi saw Dugu Ce running away like a scaredy-cat and an idea popped up in his mind. He ran after him and shouted, “Dugu Ce, I’m just being lucky this time because I have a piece of Lightning Strike Wood at hand! If you bring me rarer swords, I might have lost!”
Dugu Ce halted his hasty steps and shouted back, “Zhang Zhi, just you wait! I’ll be back with rarer swords! Until then, you will die by my hands!”
“Okay, I’ll be waiting!” Zhang Zhi looked at Dugu Ce sentimentally, as if two lovers were separating.
The reason Zhang Zhi provoked Dugu Ce was because he had no idea how to complete 10 flying swords restoration within 3 days, and since he could take advantage of Dugu Ce the idiot, he might as well trick him further.
“Owner Zhang, I’ll be taking my leave as well. If I have any peers who might need your service, I will definitely recommend them here.” Junior Brother Niu respectfully bowed and left the blacksmith.
When he walked past the signage outside the blacksmith, he paused to look at the price of 100 low-tier spirit stones.
Before he entered the blacksmith, he strongly believed the service was overpriced but now, it was extremely valuable. Not only did the blacksmith provide a rare piece of Lightning Strike Wood, but the restoration was also flawless!
Such flawless service could easily charge for 200 low-tier spirit stones!
The blacksmith quieted down after Dugu Ce and Junior Brother Niu left.
Zhang Zhi bitterly opened the magical pouch. The system had taken 90% of the spirit stones, leaving him with a pitiful 10 spirit stones.
“Oh well, if I can keep this going, I’ll eventually become rich in the spirit realm!”
Other than Dugu Ce’s business, no one visited the blacksmith for the entire morning. The signage Zhang Zhi put out was the main reason that stopped customers from coming because not everyone was confident in Zhang Zhi’s skills.
He was not in a hurry though, he believed Dugu Ce would surely return with a few more business deals. On top of that, he got quite the review from Han Ling’er and Junior Brother Niu, the word of mouth should be able to attract several more customers.
A quick calculation later, Zhang Zhi believed he would be able to complete his mission.
Zhang Zhi had completely discarded the idea of giving discounts because the system would provide rare restoration material like that Lightning Strike Wood.
If he could sell the piece of wood on the market, he would be able to earn a considerable amount either. Plus the outstanding forging skills, 100 low-tier spirit stones was actually a bargain!
Zhang Zhi was starting to think like a master.
In the afternoon, Dugu Ce brought two men and a woman to the blacksmith.
Dugu Ce no longer looked like an enemy in Zhang Zhi’s eyes, he looked like the God of Fortune instead.
“Senior brother, are you sure this place can restore my flying sword?”
“100 low-tier spirit stones is super expensive, is it a scam?”
“I suddenly don’t want to restore my flying sword!”
Dugu Ce got frustrated. “What’s wrong with you guys? Are you saying that I’m lying? The blacksmith here might be rather expensive but his skills are unrivaled!”
“Have you heard of what happened to Junior Brother Niu’s Lightning Strike Wood flying sword? He restored it here!”
…
Zhang Zhi was surprised at first but quickly realized the situation.
Dugu Ce must be running low on funds, he dared not simply pay for his juniors anymore, so to ‘trick’ his juniors into paying for their own restoration fee, he boasted and praised the blacksmith.
His juniors were a little suspicious at first but since he said it out loud, it was inappropriate for them to reject him. The juniors also suspected that the blacksmith took advantage of Dugu Ce but since they were not in a position to speak their mind, they simply treated this as necessary spending to prevent further troubles.
The juniors each took 100 low-tier spirit stones out and put their damaged flying swords on the counter
Zhang Zhi took the payment before he sized up the three damaged flying swords.
He hated to admit it but Dugu Ce had an eye in choosing damaged swords.
All the swords might be low-tier artifacts but every single piece had different and unusual problems.
The first sword looked like it had an ant problem, its blade was blanketed with tiny holes; the second sword looked dull, its material seemed to have gone bad; the third one was the worst, it could barely fit as a sword because only the hilt was present.
“Owner Zhang, you’ve taken the money, I suppose you can restore every single piece right?” Dugu Ce said sinisterly.
“What’s wrong now? Want another bet with me?” Zhang Zhi grinned like a perverted uncle.
“Tell me, can you fix them?” Dugu Ce was out of ideas, hence the stupid question. He did not realize if Zhang Zhi told him the answer, the bet would not happen at all.
“It’s your guess.” Zhang Zhi showed a mysterious grin.
Dugu Ce pondered at the answer. The three flying swords were made up of Strong Gold, Fire Metal and Deep Crystals respectively, even though the materials were not as rare as Lightning Strike Wood, it would be quite difficult for Zhang Zhi to buy all the materials in the market now.
Moreover, all Dugu Ce needed was an excuse to kill Zhang Zhi so that he could redeem his pride, he could not be a coward at the last step!
He clenched his teeth and said, “Fine, the same old rules!”
Zhang Zhi did not say anything. He took the three swords to the rear.
The blacksmith did not prepare chairs for its customers, so Dugu Ce and his juniors had to stand in front of the counter.
Since they were quite free, the juniors started asking Dugu Ce for tips and teachings about cultivation. It was quite rare for them to spend time with their senior anyway, so might as well make use of the time.
Dugu Ce felt proud when he saw the admiration in his juniors. He had always been the outstanding star among the people, the center of focus! He started to talk about tips and tricks about cultivation.
His juniors took their jade slip out and recorded everything Dugu Ce said, they were nervous as if they were afraid to miss out a single word from their respectful senior.
Their attentiveness further fueled Dugu Ce’s pride.
However, when Zhang Zhi swung his hammer down, the thunderous smash captivated the juniors.
Zhang Zhi’s bold and strong swing caused sparks to spew at every hit on the anvil. The thunderous smash was ceaseless and heart-pounding. Whosoever who saw him forging would have the urge to admire him.
It was Dugu Ce’s third viewing of Zhang Zhi’s forging, he was more or less immuned but he realized his juniors were captivated. He got sour and raised his voice. “As you might know, Foundation Building stage comes after Qi Refining, followed by Core Creation. Therefore, Foundation Building stage is extremely important…”
Dugu Ce explained the details of Foundation Building stage as loud as he could but his juniors were compelled by the forging, they did not pay attention to what he was saying.
“Ahem, juniors, do you understand the way of Foundation Building?” Dugu Ce had to feign clearing his throat to regain his juniors’ attention.
The juniors regained their senses and simply said, “Ah right, senior, you are right!”
“Yeah, I feel inspired already! You are the best, senior brother!”
After the trio brushed Dugu Ce off, they glued their eyes to the forging again, as if it was more important than cultivation.
Dugu Ce had always been the center of focus, yet he was given the cold shoulder here. He clenched his teeth tightly as the ember of rage in him burned strongly.