Chen Feng finished his practice and stood up. Although it was just one session, his Dantian was already storing a significant amount of Dark Vortex power—enough for a Rank Two Fighter, nothing more.

Brushing the snow from his body, Chen Feng walked out of the woods step by step. Seeing Ashe outside brought him a wave of ease.

After half a month together, Chen Feng had grown fond of the child. Ashe was pure, lovable, and wholeheartedly warm, entirely without guile. Being around him felt like complete relaxation. Ever since arriving in this foreign realm, it had been a constant cycle of fighting, and moments of such tenderness were rare. This feeling reminded him of being home.

"Big Brother, it's time for dinner! Grandpa made wild pheasant stewed with mushrooms today, which Ashe loves the most! Big Brother likes it too, right?" Ashe, still young, didn't express himself perfectly, but the excitement radiating from him was indescribable.

Old John was a blacksmith, specializing in forging weapons for the various mercenary and merchant groups that ventured into the Icebound Demon Garden.

The Icebound Demon Garden was a place overrun by magical beasts. Typically, during the summer, large numbers of mercenary companies would explore it, slaying low-level beasts to trade their pelts, magic cores, and battle cores for coin to sustain their ventures.

Many who passed in and out of the Garden bought their weaponry from Old John. When they returned, they often gifted him the cheap pelts or meat from low-level beasts or battle animals, so despite being far from any town, the old man and his grandson managed quite well.

"I like it!" A rare smile broke across Chen Feng's slightly pale face.

"Big Brother, it's so cold out! Why are you wearing so little? Grandpa said you'll catch a cold!" Ashe said with clear concern in his bright voice.

Chen Feng gently touched Ashe's golden hair. "Don't worry, Big Brother is fine!"

With that, he took Ashe's hand and led him back to Old John's forge.

Old John had already prepared the meal. Seeing the steaming, abundant food warmed something deep within Chen Feng, a surge of warmth washing over his heart.

What a kind pair, this grandfather and grandson. He had been unconscious for a full half-month, cared for selflessly by them both. In this world governed by strength and ruled by money, saving a stranger and spending so long to nurse him back to health was truly moving.

Chen Feng's nature was reserved; he wouldn't easily voice such gratitude, but he secretly resolved that he must repay them handsomely one day.

After finishing their meal in comfortable silence, Old John moved to his hammering station. He was under commission from a mercenary group to urgently craft fifteen greatswords and several iron bows.

Their living quarters were not spacious; the forge was right next door. Chen Feng and Ashe cleared the dishes and followed him over.

Outside, the wind was biting, but inside the smithy, it was intensely hot.

Ashe obediently ran over to help pump the bellows. Old John smiled when he saw Chen Feng approach, nodding slightly. "You're here!" With that, he lifted the large hammer in his hand and began shaping a piece of metal.

It was a block of black iron. Black iron was the most common metal used for weaponry. The longer it was scorched in the flames, the sharper and more resilient the resulting weapon would be.

What Old John was doing now was the most basic forging: hammering a block of raw iron the size of a soccer ball down into refined steel the size of a fist. This required little technique, just relentless hammering, beating the somewhat porous black iron until it became hard steel. The concept of "a hundred refinements make steel" described this exact process.

Chen Feng glanced at Old John. The old man was shirtless, and though aged, his body remained remarkably solid, his muscles knotted and corded, radiating a beautiful sense of power. Chen Feng estimated the great hammer in his hands weighed at least fifty or sixty catties (about 25-30 kg), yet in Old John’s grip, it moved as if alive, soaring up and down.

"Clang, clang..."

The sound of colliding metal followed a unique rhythm, echoing back and forth within the narrow confines of the smithy.

"Let me take a turn," Chen Feng said, seeing Old John dripping with sweat. He sighed, intending to help. Though not fully recovered, a hammer of fifty or sixty catties felt like straw to him; after all, he had run back and forth carrying an iron shovel weighing 4820 catties in the Tenfold Weight Domain. This weight was nothing to concern himself with.

Old John looked Chen Feng over. His face was quite pale from his recent injuries, and his frame looked thin. He couldn't help but chuckle. "You're too frail, boy, you certainly can't manage it!"

Chen Feng insisted, "Though I am thin, I still have some strength!"

Old John shook his head, smiling. "You see me swinging this hammer easily, but it weighs fifty-six catties! You are young; go rest."

Ashe chimed in immediately, "Yes, Big Brother, this hammer is very heavy! Lots of people can't even lift it! I know another big brother, about your age, came here once and couldn't lift it, smashed his foot instead, and then had to spend a lot of money to get it treated!"

Chen Feng felt a wry helplessness. Although his body was thin, after being transformed by the Flame Dragon bloodline, scoured by the Vortex energy, and having trained for over three months in the Weight Domain, the explosive power in his muscles was beyond any normal person's imagination. Though the old man meant no malice by underestimating him, a competitive spark ignited within Chen Feng.

He immediately stepped forward, extending his hand to take the hammer from John. "Give it to me! Let me try!"

Old John protested, "You are a stubborn child. I told you that you can’t lift it. I made this for my own use; even experienced smiths can’t swing it properly, let alone a boy your age..."

Before he could finish speaking, his eyes widened in sheer horror. Before him, Chen Feng had already lifted the hammer with a single hand, swaying it slightly in the air. The hammer seemed weightless in his grasp.

"This..." Old John could hardly believe his eyes. He couldn't fathom how a youth barely fifteen years old could swing such a heavy hammer as if it were nothing.

Chen Feng smiled, and with a decisive "Clang," the hammer smashed down onto the cherry-red black iron resting on the anvil, sending a shower of sparks erupting.

Watching the force of that single strike, Old John's mouth twitched again. Having worked as a smith his entire life, he instantly understood the implication of that blow. Both the sound of the impact and the deformation of the black iron beneath the hammer indicated that this casual swing from the young man carried far more sheer force than his own.

This meant that if it took him a thousand strikes to refine a piece of raw iron into fine steel, this young man might achieve the same result in fewer than five hundred!

What immense power!

Old John looked up at Chen Feng again, wondering what kind of monster he and his grandson had accidentally saved. He watched for a while, unable to detect any abnormality, and finally shook his head, concluding that he must simply be growing old.

ps: Sigh, I only got back at 8 PM tonight, which is quite late. I just saw that the new book ranking list updated and we dropped—ugh. I'll take a look; if I have enough time tomorrow, I'll release a small burst of extra chapters. If I get back late again, don't hold your breath. In any case, Old Ya will update with all his might. Thank you all for your support!! Also, does anyone have a synopsis for King of Fighters, or a very complete move list, perhaps detailing the animation and conditions for executing various moves? If so, join the group chat and message me directly, or find the group owner, Luobo, and I will upload it to the supplementary materials so brothers who don't play KOF can understand. Please don't post it in the discussion thread, as I rarely check the comments (Wuwu, Old Ya is scared of getting scolded)...

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