After an hour, Gan Jing, panting and rubbing his shoulders, dropped the sharpened axe before Blake. Only then did Gan Jing realize that the process of sharpening the blade consumed just as much physical energy as forging metal.

To sharpen this axe, not only did his arms have to exert force, but his waist, back, legs—every muscle in his body—had to apply tension at varying frequencies; in fact, it was perhaps even more exhausting than actual smithing. Blake blew across the edge of the axe, smiling in satisfaction.

"Very good. You've mastered the most rudimentary Edge-Washing." "Edge-Washing?

What's that? Shouldn't I be learning Sharpening?" Gan Jing had been so engrossed in watching Blake sharpen the blade that he hadn't heard the System Spirit's notification.

When he brought up his status screen, he froze. Sharpening Art: Max Level!

[Condition met to learn Edge-Washing Art] Edge-Washing Art: Novice! "What is mere Sharpening?" Blake scoffed dismissively.

"Without the Edge-Washing Art, how can you ever become a Divine Artisan?" Divine Artisan? Gan Jing stared blankly at Blake again.

While he had no idea what a Divine Artisan represented in the Endless World, back in his own world, a Divine Artisan? Since the ages when humans and demons first made contact, the total number of Divine Artisans who had ever existed could be counted by holding up one hand and then cutting off three fingers.

On the current continent, whether in the human realms or the demon territories, Blacksmiths already held a high status. As for Divine Artisans?

That was something even daydreaming blacksmiths rarely dared to entertain, as it was often ridiculed. "Enough talk; it’s meaningless now.

If you work hard, you will naturally understand in the future." Blake picked up his smithing hammer and returned to the forge, addressing Gan Jing. "You should be rested.

Now, I will teach you something new." Gan Jing desperately wanted to tell Blake that his entire body was aching unbearably and that descending the stairs might even cause pain in his legs, but facing Blake’s enthusiastic demeanor, he decided to keep quiet for the moment. "I will teach you hammer striking techniques many times, so learn as much as you can today; it doesn't matter if you don't grasp it all." Blake’s expression grew serious as he looked at Gan Jing.

"However, this Forging Respiration Art, you must learn it diligently." "Forging Respiration Art?" Gan Jing looked at Blake in surprise. Did forging require a matching breathing technique?

This was the first time he had ever heard of such a thing. "Yes, Forging Respiration Art.

It can only be used when forging; you won't even be able to force yourself to use it or practice it otherwise," Blake stated calmly. "Look at that ball of fire, take a deep breath, and imagine you are drawing the very life force of that flame into your body.

Breathe in deeply!" "It's so hot!" Gan Jing sucked in a sharp breath, feeling as though his chest cavity was about to ignite, as if he had truly stuffed burning charcoal and wood into his lungs. When he gasped out, he even felt like he might spew actual fire.

"Silence! Breathe according to the path and frequency I specify!" Blake displayed a rare strictness, placing his finger directly on the most intensely burning point within Gan Jing’s body, tracing a line across his chest toward his arm, saying as he did so, "Hah, hah, three sharp exhales!

Then one long inhale, imagining you are drawing the flame’s life into your body... Listen!

Hah-hah, two short exhales..." Gan Jing exerted intense control, desperately trying to follow Blake's instructions for breathing, all while managing the supposed heat as it moved inside him along a very peculiar path. Initially, Gan Jing thought this might be some kind of martial cultivation technique.

But he soon dismissed that notion; every single Dou Qiao (Energy Acupoint) along the path Blake indicated was a known 'Waste Acupoint.' Warriors! Due to the long wars between humans and demons, a mature cultivation system had long been established.

In forming this system, predecessors had explored extensively and discovered that the human body possessed numerous Dou Qiao. Some of these, when nourished and circulated by Dou Jin (Fighting Energy), could generate more Dou Jin and Dou Qi (Fighting Aura).

However, some acupoints were utterly useless, unresponsive no matter how much they were nourished or circulated—these were known as Waste Acupoints or Dead Acupoints. The cultivation of Dou Jin and Dou Qi had never required bizarre breathing methods; it only necessitated circulating the energy within the acupoints, and strictly within the 'living' ones.

The Forging Respiration Art Blake taught traversed only the Dead Acupoints, completely violating every record in human texts. Two hours passed.

When Gan Jing heard Blake say he could stop, he immediately sank to the ground, gasping for air. "You rest now; let me forge." Blake appeared happier than ever, gripping hammers in both hands, tirelessly striking a piece of glowing red iron billet.

This time, Blake’s technique was noticeably simpler, involving far fewer movements than before, repeating seemingly only eighteen distinct striking patterns. Yet, Gan Jing felt that these simple eighteen strikes were infinitely harder to learn than what he had seen previously.

Not only did they appear to contain vast variations, but even these simple eighteen strikes demanded distinct requirements for force, trajectory, and speed. Three hours later, Blake finally ceased his demonstration.

He dropped the great hammer at Gan Jing’s feet. "Strike until I tell you to stop." "Strike until you call stop?" Gan Jing painfully pulled himself up from the ground, lifted the two great hammers, and carefully recalled Blake’s forging methods from before.

Suddenly, he realized that the hammer swings he thought he had already memorized and mastered... he could only remember the very first strike clearly...

He took a deep breath, imagining drawing the flame into his lungs. Instantly, the inhaled heat felt like an unbroken wild horse galloping through his body.

He quickly diverted his focus to controlling the Forging Respiration Art, brought the first hammer down, and felt the surging power rush into his arm, unleashing a force he had never known. Even controlling the hammer's trajectory felt slightly easier than he expected.

Clang... "Pah!" Gan Jing spat out a curse to mask his failure, inwardly fuming that remembering something was vastly different from actually executing it.

Blake sat alone in the corner, smoking his pipe, not sparing Gan Jing another glance, returning to his initial silence, as if completely oblivious to what Gan Jing was doing. One strike...

ten strikes... fifty strikes...

one hundred strikes... one hundred thirty strikes...

Gan Jing cheered inwardly. After 129 failures, he had finally executed one correct strike.

Immediately afterward, the thirty-first strike of the next round failed again... Gan Jing could only grimace and continue swinging the hammer, focusing on the iron.

The Forging Respiration Art had, without him realizing it, begun to feel natural. :Recommendation for this book, Peak Combat Techniques, Book ID 17685.

Here is the synopsis: Martial Dao practitioners excite their greatest innate potential, capable of achieving physical godhood. Cultivators of the Immortal Dao draw upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to refine their bodies, reaching unity between man and heaven.

Orphan Yan Huan was accepted as an affiliated disciple by the renowned Martial Dao sect, Cloud Summit Gate, at the age of nine, gaining the opportunity to step onto the path of pursuing ultimate strength. However, over three years, his progress was exceedingly slow, making him a laughingstock among his peers.

To seek a breakthrough, Yan Huan took a desperate gamble, resulting in his primordial energy reversing and surging into his Purple Mansion, nearly costing him his life. This near-death experience awakened his memories from a previous life.

Relying on his prior-life knowledge of ergonomics, Yan Huan created his own path for Martial Dao cultivation. Later, through fortunate encounters, he became a legend who simultaneously cultivated both Martial Dao and Immortal Dao—a feat unseen for thousands of years.

In the vast world, masters are as numerous as the clouds. Who can contend against Peak Combat Techniques that integrate Martial Dao, Immortal Dao, and ergonomics!