“Then use it,” Blake tossed the iron hammer in front of Qian Jin, his eyes narrowed to slits as he meticulously observed every subtle detail of the man’s movements.

Qian Jin bent down, grasped the four-hundred-pound hammer, and lifted. Instantly, he felt the substantial reality of its weight, yet it wasn’t as overwhelmingly heavy as he had imagined.

The Fengyun Golden Body had significantly accelerated the circulation of blood within Qian Jin's body. Though there was no actual long-distance running, the daily training was ten thousand times more agonizing than a marathon. Unbeknownst to him, all his physical functions had progressed and developed substantially, his posture naturally straightening.

A flicker of surprise flashed in Blake’s narrow eyes.

“Wait a moment,” Blake turned away, hands clasped behind his back, and approached the hammer rack. After searching amongst the hammers, he selected one whose head was noticeably larger than the one in Qian Jin’s hands. “Use this one.”

“Huh?” Qian Jin startled, quickly taking the hammer. His shoulder immediately felt the strain. He instantly channeled Dou Jin into his arms, and the six-hundred-and-fifty-pound hammer once again felt light.

Blake’s eyes, already shining with confidence, widened again in astonishment: It felt lighter again?

A faint smile creased the old man’s face. He picked up a thousand-pound hammer, slowly approaching the blacksmith’s forge. He arranged eight anvils in a circle around the hearth and tossed eight iron billets into the fire to heat up.

After the old bellows roared, a sound more grating than a cough, Blake swiftly used tongs to place the eight glowing-red billets onto separate anvils. The thousand-pound hammer unleashed a blow like a falling meteor. The instant the first red billet was struck, it erupted in brilliant, dazzling sparks, and Blake was already at the next anvil. The collection and swing of the hammer, followed by the crushing impact, was utterly seamless.

Qian Jin stared intently at Blake’s feet, trying to discern how he moved, but he could detect nothing about his footwork, causing him to focus even more intently on Blake’s lower body.

The thunderous sound of metal striking metal rose and fell incessantly within the smithy; Blake’s movements were growing faster and faster.

Qian Jin gradually realized that his visual perception was failing to keep up with the speed of Blake’s movements! Around the small forge, eight figures of Blake now appeared! Each figure possessed a hazy, illusory quality, making it impossible to tell which one was the real him.

I refuse to believe it! Qian Jin narrowed his eyes, abandoning the scrutiny of Blake’s seemingly flawless feet, choosing instead to observe his entire form.

One strike… ten strikes… a hundred strikes…

The eight silhouettes of Blake gradually began to diminish. His speed quickly returned to its initial level. A self-mocking smile touched the corner of Qian Jin’s lips. He had initially believed focusing on Blake’s feet would reveal the secret to his movement, but he realized the key lay in observing the whole body.

The movement wasn't just about the feet; it was the activation of every muscle and joint in a highly specialized manner, almost like a rapid muscular spasm.

Qian Jin gasped at the hot air rising from beside the furnace, privately speculating on this peculiar mode of movement. If he could incorporate this not just into forging, but into combat, it would likely unleash terrifying combat prowess.

“Understand it now?” Blake dropped his hammer and took out his tobacco pipe, regarding Qian Jin.

“I think I grasp a bit,” Qian Jin looked at Blake suspiciously, secretly wondering how the old man, after such intense exertion, hadn't even gasped for breath, let alone sweated. How was it possible?

“As a blacksmith, forging the Tie Jing piece by piece and then forging the Dou Bing is merely a lower-grade technique,” Blake pointed to the eight Tie Jing pieces still spinning rapidly on the anvils. “The temperature and time differ every moment. Iron refined at different times will naturally possess inherent differences. Outsiders might not see it, but it escapes no expert’s eye.”

Listening to Blake, a long-standing confusion in Qian Jin’s mind was resolved: why did his Zhanmadao always feel like it wasn’t truly a single, unified entity? The problem was here! The Tie Jing refined at different times possessed subtle variances that were difficult to detect.

The tobacco pipe in Blake’s hand, which had replaced the hammer, gestured vaguely towards the Tie Jing on the anvils. “Though these Tie Jing pieces weren't forged at the exact same moment either, their refining times are relatively close. Their cohesion is far superior to items forged at vastly different times.”

Qian Jin nodded repeatedly, deeply understanding.

“Since you grasp the basics, you know what to do now.” Blake placed his hands behind his back, resembling an old farmer strolling through a field, and walked back to the wooden shutter, squatting down.

“Right! You cannot use your Dou Jin,” Blake mumbled through his pipe smoke from behind the shutter. “Only when you are so fatigued you can barely lift the hammer, then you use Dou Jin, and then you employ the Blacksmith’s Breathing Technique.”

Qian Jin managed a bitter smile. This drastically increased the difficulty!

Qian Jin withdrew all his Dou Jin, and once again felt the immense weight of what he was holding. Step by painstaking step, he walked to the furnace and raised the hammer high. He recalled the frequency of the high-speed trembling in Blake’s muscles, trying to command his own muscles to vibrate, but discovered this was no easy feat.

Forget vibrating at Blake’s frequency; even vibrating all his muscles simultaneously was difficult. Often, one group of muscles would tremble, but another muscle would forget the command, causing it to cease vibrating.

One minute… ten minutes… half an hour… an hour…

Qian Jin remained unable to control the simultaneous vibration of all his muscles. He pursed his lips and thought to himself, If the whole body is impossible, then half the body!

Even half the body proved unexpectedly difficult to control! Qian Jin closed his eyes again, meditating on Blake’s muscle vibration frequency, gradually analyzing the function and proportion contributed by each muscle during that high-speed movement. Finally, he discerned a few muscles—likely the most crucial ones—as the primary sources of vibration.

Try these few… Qian Jin lifted the hammer again and struck the billet on the first anvil heavily. His feet synchronized with the vibrating muscles of his body, and he flashed sideways, appearing as if teleported before the second anvil. Before he could even swing the hammer, his entire bodily coordination completely broke down—thump—he collapsed heavily onto the ground.

Qian Jin lay prone, his cheeks burning. Recalling the sensation of falling, it felt as if he had simply tripped himself while walking; clearly, he had misjudged many steps.

“This…” Qian Jin struggled up, brushing the dirt from his clothes, and offered an awkward, apologetic laugh while looking at Blake, who stood in the corner with a look of schadenfreude in his eyes. “This is harder than the second strike of the Shengfeng Eighteen Hammers.”

“The second strike of the Shengfeng Eighteen Hammers?” Blake pondered deeply, nodding. “Alright, continue moving like that, but when you swing the hammer, use the second strike of the Shengfeng Eighteen Hammers.”

Qian Jin’s vision momentarily dimmed, and an overwhelming urge to slap his own mouth surged through him: Why speak now? He hadn't mastered the movement, and now he had to add the Shengfeng Eighteen Hammers, Second Strike.

But the task remained; the iron still needed forging.

One fall after the first, there would be a second, and then a tenth, a hundredth…

Three hours passed, and Qian Jin began to question if he was here to learn smithing or to play hopscotch; every movement ended in a fall!

Four hours… A smile finally appeared on Qian Jin’s face. Although his movements lacked the fluid grace of Blake’s, and he couldn’t even replicate that initial instantaneous teleportation effect, at least after moving, he no longer immediately fell down.

“Player Qian Jin has grasped the rudiments of Ten Thousand Shadows Movement.”

A system notification chimed beside Qian Jin’s ear.

Ten hours… Fourteen hours… Fifteen hours… Sixteen hours…

One strike… two strikes… ten strikes…

Without the aid of Dou Jin, relying purely on physical force, the striking power of the Shengfeng Eighteen Hammers, Second Strike, though much improved, still hadn't reached Blake's effortless level.

Qian Jin was certain that if he were allowed to use Dou Jin, the Second Strike would at least look better, but since Blake forbade it, he wouldn't use it!

If strength failed… use Dou Jin! If Dou Jin failed… use the Blacksmith’s Breathing Technique…

Sixteen hours. Under the dual pressure of the Shengfeng Eighteen Hammers, Second Strike, and the bizarre choreography of the Ten Thousand Shadows Movement, every fiber of Qian Jin’s being was twitching uncontrollably as he lay on the ground. Though he desperately wanted to crawl into the backyard hot spring, he found he lacked the strength to move at all.

Blake hoisted Qian Jin onto his shoulder as if carrying a sack of grain, carried him to the backyard, and unceremoniously dropped him into the spring. The magical elixir that dispelled fatigue furiously devoured the exhaustion within him.

Soaking in the water, Qian Jin’s mind raced. The physical stimulus from this training session was immense! His body, which the Fengyun Golden Body had nearly pushed to its absolute limit, had somehow ascended again! He desperately wanted to know, given this foundation, what heights he might reach if he broke through to the Demon Subduing Warrior realm.

“Player Qian Jin’s time is up. Departing the Endless World…”

Qian Jin sat up from the ground, sensing something was missing from his clothes.

A powerful surge of spiritual energy echoed through the cavern, drawing Qian Jin’s gaze.

Huang Quan! Clad in a cloak woven from feathers, she clutched a dark stone tightly in both hands, fine wisps of spiritual energy drawing magical power from the dull rock.