Chapter 30

After intense practice, it's time to show my skills.

"You hit a little too hard with that hammer."

"You should slow down a bit with this hammer."

In the casting room, Chen Zong swung the hammer, while Elder Lie stood by, occasionally giving advice.

Although Chen Zong had refused to be his disciple that day, which made him leave in anger, the next day Chen Zong still came to the casting workshop as usual. Elder Lie acted as if nothing had happened, but his attitude towards Chen Zong was much better than before, and he often came over to guide Chen Zong.

With someone to guide him, Chen Zong naturally did not refuse, and his ironworking skills improved rapidly.

On September 6th, 395th year of the True Martial Era.

Chen Zong had been a martial artist for about twenty days.

Practice the sword!

Splitting Light and Shadow.

In an instant, two sword lights shot out, and it was still possible to discern two more blurry sword lights beside them.

"I'm about to break through."

Thinking this, Chen Zong continued to practice.

Again and again, until a single sword strike produced four clear sword lights.

One sword split into four lights, which was the small success stage of the first level of the Splitting Light Sword Technique.

From the time he started learning the Splitting Light Sword Technique to reaching the small success stage of the first level, it took a little over twenty days. This was about the same pace as when he practiced the True Sword Eight Forms, making Chen Zong more aware of the extraordinary nature of the True Sword Eight Forms.

"Perhaps I should spend more time practicing the True Sword Eight Forms to the subtle stage," Chen Zong thought, somewhat daydreaming, "Maybe if I practice the True Sword Eight Forms to the subtle stage, the mysterious sword tip will give me a better sword technique."

After practicing the True Sword Eight Forms thirty times, he returned to his room, rested for a while, and then practiced the first level of the Fierce Tiger Technique.

After practicing for over twenty days, his body's blood and qi had increased significantly, but he was still far from the full blood and qi of the fifth level. Chen Zong estimated that without external assistance, such as the Beast Blood Pill, it would take a year of his own efforts to reach the fifth level of the Blood Qi Realm.

Even someone who had refined their blood and qi seven times was like this, so for those who had refined their blood and qi only three times, it would take many years to reach the fifth level of the Blood Qi Realm without external assistance.

Moreover, as one's age increased, the body's blood and qi would gradually decline. Unless one could break through to the seventh level of the Blood Qi Realm and form a small circulation of blood and qi, the decline could not be slowed.

"After some time, I will receive the first month's task reward from the casting workshop. I wonder how many contribution points it will be?"

The reward for the task of being an apprentice in the casting workshop was closely related to the evaluation given by Elder Lie. Now that Elder Lie favored him, the evaluation should not be low.

On September 10th, 395th year of the True Martial Era, Chen Zong had been in the clan hall for exactly one year.

In the afternoon.

In the casting room, Chen Zong swung the hammer to forge an ordinary iron block.

Lifting the hammer and bringing it down, he gently struck the rough iron, then instantly struck it harder.

After practicing the four essentials of light, heavy, fast, and slow for over twenty days, and with Elder Lie's occasional guidance, Chen Zong had reached the level of free transformation.

If this were a martial art, Chen Zong had now reached the great success stage.

In just a short time, the rough iron was forged into an ordinary iron block without needing to be reheated in the furnace.

Ten centimeters long, ten centimeters wide and high, the surface was flat and smooth, the texture fine, clearly a high-quality ordinary iron block. An ordinary iron sword or knife forged from such an iron block would be better in hardness, toughness, and sharpness.

Counting this, it was the forty-fourth ordinary iron block Chen Zong had forged since coming to the casting workshop, enough to forge forty-four ordinary iron swords or knives.

"Only one block today."

After tidying up, Chen Zong said goodbye to Chen Wu Hou and Chen Qi and left the casting workshop.

"Take care, cousin." Chen Wu Hou waved with a smile, now very admiring of this cousin, and even a bit envious.

Chen Qi was quite envious but also a bit embarrassed, as his previous words had not been very pleasant.

If there were no surprises, today should be the day for new disciples to enter the outer hall of the clan hall, and Chen Yiming should also be there.

"Chen Zhigang, what are you doing here?"

Before seeing Chen Yiming, Chen Zong unexpectedly met someone.

"Hmph, if you can come, I can come too." Chen Zhigang was first surprised to see Chen Zong, then became wary, and finally sneered in disdain.

Staring at Chen Zhigang for a few seconds, Chen Zong suddenly smiled and ignored him.

He remembered that the clan hall had a rule: if a clan member who failed the martial apprentice selection could reach the fourth level of the Blood Qi Realm and become a martial artist within a year, they would also be eligible to enter the clan hall. Chen Zhigang must be in this situation.

Chen Zong only learned about this rule after becoming a martial artist.

"Chen Zhigang, the clan hall is not the same as the family." Chen Zong said, whether he understood it or not was his own business.

"I will surpass you and step on you." Chen Zhigang clenched his fist, full of anger.

Shaking his head, Chen Zong ignored Chen Zhigang. With Chen Zhigang's abilities, he was nothing in the clan hall. He would soon realize the truth. Even if Chen Zhigang could rise, so what? Chen Zong could defeat him twice and could defeat him three times. The gap between them would only grow larger.

In the outer hall, Chen Zong found Chen Yiming.

"Brother Zong." Seeing Chen Zong, Chen Yiming was very excited.

"Good, becoming an outer hall disciple, you must work hard to refine your blood and qi to the limit and break through to become a martial artist." Chen Zong encouraged him.

"Brother Zong, don't worry, I will definitely work hard and follow your footsteps." Chen Yiming was full of confidence, as were all new arrivals to the clan hall.

Chen Yiming practiced boxing and would be assigned to the boxing group. Chen Zong practiced the sword and could not provide much help in terms of cultivation. As for the Tiger Strength Boxing, everything that needed to be said had already been said.

"How is my father, my aunt, and Ah Lie?" Chen Zong asked hurriedly, which was one of the main reasons he came to find Chen Yiming.

"Uncle Zheng is doing well with Aunt Bi Qing's care. They asked me to tell Brother Zong to practice hard and not to worry about them." Chen Yiming smiled. "And Ah Lie, he is now at the first level of the Blood Qi Realm. Brother Zong, guess how much strength he has in one arm?"

"Seven hundred catties?" Chen Zong was originally going to guess six hundred catties, but then he thought that Yang Lie had innate strength, and his strength might increase more than the standard after his cultivation improved.

"How did you guess, Brother Zong?" Chen Yiming, who had planned to show off, pouted, then became excited again. "It's seven hundred catties. If Ah Lie reaches the peak of the third level of the Blood Qi Realm, his one-arm strength will definitely exceed one thousand catties. His heavy punch has also reached the initial stage. It's really scary to think about."

Chen Zong also smiled. Each conversation with Chen Yiming made him feel very happy, and Yang Lie's cultivation progress also pleased him.

After chatting for a while, Chen Zong encouraged Chen Yiming again and told him to come find him if he had any problems. He would also visit him from time to time before leaving.

Back in his room, Chen Zong began to practice the Fierce Tiger Technique, feeling the blood and qi power surging in his body, making him feel full of strong power, which intoxicated him.

However, the cultivation of blood and qi power must be done with moderation. Once it exceeded the limit, it would cause damage to the body, which was not worth it.

Taking out the "Little Sword Canon," Chen Zong read it, interpreting each word and sentence.

Each time he read the content of the "Little Sword Canon," he never got tired of it. On the contrary, the more he read, the more he found it interesting, and the deeper his understanding of the sword and sword techniques became.

After reading it again and putting it back, Chen Zong decided to take a walk outside. As soon as he opened the door, he saw someone about to knock.

"Is there something?" Chen Zong asked.

"Are you Chen Zong? This is an invitation for you." The person handed a large red and gold invitation to Chen Zong, his eyes full of confusion and envy.

"An invitation?" Chen Zong was puzzled and took the invitation.

The background was red, and the three large gold characters and a golden dragon shape seemed to be about to soar into the sky.

"Rising Dragon Invitation?" Looking at the three gold characters, Chen Zong was even more puzzled and couldn't help but open it to see. Instantly, he understood.

This Rising Dragon Invitation was sent by the Tang family, specifically by Tang Junluo, inviting Chen Zong to attend the Rising Dragon Gathering at the Martial Proof Tower three days later in the morning.

"Tang Junluo... Rising Dragon Gathering..." Chen Zong closed the invitation and thought, "Could it be that Tang Junluo successfully broke through the limit and refined his blood and qi eight times?"

Originally, refining blood and qi seven times was the limit in Fengwu City. Refining it eight times broke the limit and set a new record, making him arguably the first genius in Fengwu City's history. If so, it was only natural for the Tang family to hold a grand gathering for him.

Apart from this, Chen Zong couldn't think of any other reason.

"Three days later?"

"Perfect, I've been in Fengwu City for a year, but I've never seen the scenery of Fengwu City except for coming and going. Well, I'll take this opportunity to go for a walk." Putting away the Rising Dragon Invitation, Chen Zong smiled. He guessed that the reason Tang Junluo sent him the invitation was because of their draw as martial apprentices, which earned his attention. Otherwise, with his background, he wouldn't have caught the other's eye.

He imagined that the person who delivered the invitation was confused because why would a fourth-level Blood Qi Realm disciple from a branch family receive an invitation from the Tang family, and he was also envious.

So, besides himself, other geniuses would also be invited, with the purpose of highlighting Tang Junluo's exceptional abilities.

This was a good opportunity to meet other geniuses from other families.

The path of a martial artist was never a solo act. To become stronger, one needed opponents, and friends were also necessary.

The Rising Dragon Invitation did not affect Chen Zong's normal cultivation. He continued to forge a few ordinary iron blocks at the casting workshop every day, practice the Splitting Light Sword Technique and the Fierce Tiger Technique, and improve in all aspects.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed, and Chen Zong took his fine iron sword and left the clan hall.

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