22 Taming Spirits: A Master Class with Myne

Zhen Shi contemplated what Vivienne had told him a moment ago. And so he mentally asked, "System, it's fine to just cultivate by leveling up, right?"

Ding!

Cultivation is defined as an improvement of the existence of a person by gathering qi or understanding. Leveling up in the system is simply providing the user the energy needed to improve their cultivation. Thus, it is advised to meditate and cultivate in general.

FUCK! What type of system needs the user to cultivate as well? It's the system's job to level me up! At the very least, shouldn't you have told me sooner? What, do you think that by spouting some fancy definition everything will be fine?

System: "..."

Nevertheless, Zhen Shi heaved a sigh as he shifted into a meditative lotus position. Being bathed by the warm midday sunlight, with the peaceful sound of the trickling stream he slowly closed his eyes and attempted to circle the qi in his body. To his great annoyance, he wasn't able to make much progress. But immediately a stream of memories washed over his mind and was imprinted onto his soul. Zhen Shi immediately realized that this was the practicing method of the . As he went over this practice method he was immediately dumbstruck.

Previously, he hadn't thought much about the fact that the system is capable of improving his cultivation, as he had believed that it was an 'expected' function of a 'system'. But now with the in his mind, he could understand that this wasn't the work of the system alone. Just like the system's definition, every time he 'leveled up', he would be forcefully provided with a torrent of qi or energy. This would then be utilized by the system to revolve the energy of his body through his meridians and dantian. So his level ups were basically a type of forced cultivation.

Zhen Shi could only imagine what would've happened if he hadn't figured this out due to Vivienne and Myne's timely advice. But now that he was aware of the matter, he began to familiarize himself with the cultivation art.

But his progress was rather slow and was only able to move the qi about at a snail's pace. In fact, it was extremely difficult and he felt as if he was a mortal trying to walk on a tight rope with a blindfold. Thus he activated the skill he had received ages ago. Immediately, his vision veered off, finally focusing on his own body. He was met by the familiar view of his meridians and qi paths. Now being able to see what he was doing, it was much easier to move the qi along his meridians and qi paths.

Even still, Zhen Shi felt like ordinary cultivators might be able to do much better than he was. He could only assume that since he had leveled up so far automatically, it was difficult for his body and mind to get used to doing things manually.

FUCK! Why won't the qi move? It's like my qi path is the loading bar, while the qi is the amount of progress. But my internet is so slow that the progress just... stopped!

After what felt like ages, Zhen Shi was finally able to complete one rotation of qi around his body. It wasn't that his qi was weak or his meridians were thin, on the contrary, his qi was very rich and his meridians were extremely strong and wide due to the beast bloodlines. But this was simply a foreign act unfamiliar to him, and as such would require some time to master.

Zhen Shi heaved an exasperated sigh as he reopened his eyes. Even though he was suffering from a disability to rotate qi, he was feeling rather relaxed after that session of meditation and cultivation. He felt at ease and more familiar with the concept of qi. While he was immersing himself in that wondrous feeling, Myne walked from outside into the pavilion and sat down next to Zhen Shi.

Now feeling much better, Zhen Shi turned to a rather exasperated Myne with a grin and spoke out, "What? The wife giving you troubles, grand mage?" Myne scowled and muttered, "Fuck off... I didn't even do anything! It was all that Laura girl!" Zhen Shi's grin grew wider as he playfully comforted Myne by patting his back. Myne's scowl grew worse as he shook off Zhen Shi's hand and said, 'Kid, do you want me to teach you or not?"

Zhen Shi hurriedly stopped the joke and with a salute, he spoke out seriously, " Gomenasai, Sensei!" Myne frowned, "What bullshit are you spouting now?" but with a light sigh, he shook his head in exasperation. He turned his head to look at the peaceful garden and the ever-flowing stream and continued to speak, "You better listen to this old man's ramblings well... I won't repeat what I say!" Zhen Shi bent his head sideways with a quizzical look, "No matter how I look, I can't see the old man in your young face..."

Myne ignored him as he continued to speak, "You can ask from the millions of blacksmiths out there... what is the most important for a blacksmith? And they'll all answer differently, knowledge of materials, the fire used, the blacksmith tools, the artificing techniques, superb control of energy and qi, or even powerful physical strength... And I say they're all idiots!"

He lightly scratched his chin and continues to speak with a grin, "In millennia of experience, I came to realize that the most important thing for a blacksmith, is spirit and will! All of those other things are merely necessities to engage in smithing, but they do not hold the true essence of a blacksmith. Most of the blacksmiths of my time, it's probably much worse now, got hung up on improving those factors, finally ending with subpar results..." Noticing Zhen Shi's skeptical face he continued to speak with an even wider grin, " I didn't use to think so either, but... I once met a boorish blacksmith out in the Ice Lands up north. His feet had been hamstrung and had been made into a cripple by a local Warband chief, simply for not providing his services under their conditions. He had been thrown out of his tribe to die alone in the bone-chilling cold. That was around when I first met him... But when I did, he was simply hammering down on a piece of obsidian, in the terrifying cold with no fire but his weak qi to melt the metal and nothing to maintain and nourish him beside the falling snow.

I was impressed by his determination and so offered to help out with... divine fire, more materials, better tools, but he with a toothy almost mad laugh he refused them all. So I stayed to witness his obvious failure and even made a bet with him. After all, he was trying to artifice one of the strongest metals, in the coldest regions known to mankind, without a proper fire and only a simple hammer for a tool. So my victory was assured."

Myne's eyes glowed, "But that was when I witnessed the miracle..." But he didn't get much further because Zhen Shi suddenly stood up while shouting excitedly, "Let me guess. He made a divine weapon, at the peak of the art of blacksmithing, the likes no-one has seen before! And with his powerful weapon he went and killed off that stupid Warband Chief, despite being crippled and he was hailed as a hero!"

Myne slapped his own face and muttered, "Kid are you crazy? What've you been learning this entire time? Who'd be hailed as a hero for killing their Warband chief in cold blood?" He continued to speak out, "Also, how on earth could he make a weapon at the peak of blacksmithing with only a small hammer? Are you drunk?" Zhen Shi could only shamelessly laugh, while seriously considering whether he should pretend to be drunk...

Myne shook his head helplessly and spoke out, "Well it might not have been a divine weapon but it was indeed miraculous. After years of hammering, he was finally able to carve out a small sharp edge on that stone. And after he did so, he collapsed on the spot."

Zhen Shi grimaced completely forgetting his mistake. FUCK! What's the moral of such a story?

Noticing his face Myne laughed and said, "I took him away and helped him to heal. But immediately after waking up he took that piece of carved obsidian and went back to his Warband. I was intrigued and so I followed him as well. He waited until the Warband Chief left on official business and then with his crippled cultivation and only that sharpened piece of obsidian he attacked!" Myne's eyes glowed with adoration as he continued in speaking, "He killed off the Chief's sons who were skilled warriors and even kidnapped his daughter. For many years to come, the people spoke how he escaped, laughing, on wings of his own making, boasting that he would father the chief's grandson! And that crippled boorish fellow won the bet in the end... Wait, FUCK! That's where my Mythril class furnace went! I lost it to him..." and finished with a sense of great loss.

Zhen Shi couldn't care less about Myne's Mythril class furnace, because he was still trying to piece the moral of this story, "So... Just hammer stuff and finally use winged flying tools that you made before to run away? Is that the essence of being a blacksmith?" he wondered out loud jokingly.

Myne slapped his face again in exasperation and spoke, " Uhh... That's what you got from that? His wings aren't the point. Indeed he probably made them before, otherwise, how could he have escaped with his legs hamstrung? But again that's not the point. The point is that while being a cripple he was able to beat the Warband chief's sons with that piece of obsidian! Even now I find it hard to believe. By holding on to his will and with great determination he was able to make such a crazy weapon; crude but highly effective. In fact, this tale teaches you many important facts."

Zhen Shi frowned with his head bent sideways, "It does??"

Myne ignored him and said, "In all my years I have never seen such a unique weapon. I can only assume he ventured into some trance and a higher level of blacksmithing when he crafted it. No matter how much I tried, I was unable to copy his attempts... So the first lesson is that a weapon need only be powerful. Appearance matters less!" Myne continued as Zhen Shi nodded in agreement, "The next lesson is, no matter how suited a weapon is to a person, the one who knows best about it is the blacksmith who created it."

He turned to look at Zhen Shi, "In fact, your bow is an amazing piece of weaponry, and the blacksmith who made it is probably even leagues above that fellow in the Ice Lands. I have no idea where you got it from, you lucky bastard. But, obviously, the blacksmith knew nothing about you. I can sense how there are small misfits between you and that bow. Right now you can barely bring out the power of a Grade 2 weapon and the only reason you could handle Vivienne back in that valley was because of the high-quality materials! It's true that that problem will lessen with time and practice, but if you made the bow by yourself such a problem would've never occurred."

Myne now proudly patted his chest as he reached the end of his lessons, "And the final lesson... it is impossible for anyone to reach such a level overnight. So forget everything I said and follow the advice given by the ordinary blacksmiths," with a confident and self-satisfied grin.

Zhen Shi fainted and collapsed sideways. SHIET! Then why'd you make me listen to all that crap?

Myne laughed joyfully seeing this and said, "Don't misunderstand, just know that the spirit and soul you impart into your weapon or armor is of paramount importance," grinning further at Zhen Shi's face he continued, "Your bow is a true masterpiece. I doubt you'd be able to reach that type of a level soon, or ever. So try to make slight modifications to make it suit you better."

Zhen Shi finally got himself up stared at Myne with dead disappointed eyes. Myne frowned and slapped him out of it, "Fuck off. Do you want to learn from me or not?" causing Zhen Shi to hurriedly sit straight and listened obediently.

Myne continued to speak rather seriously, "I noticed you are skilled with materials and appraisal, so I'll teach you nothing of that..." He manifested a rather thick manuscript and a small book in his hand, "Next, formations are an important part of any weapon or tool. Your skills as a formation master are related to your artificing skill and formation master are powerful in their own right. For instance, the formation of this island is very powerful! It could hold off the attack of anything below the immortal level and even supports distant spiritual communication. But, you'll have to start from the bottom, so you can use these notes and collection of formations I collected casually," throwing the manuscript at him.

Zhen Shi hurriedly caught it. Don't throw these valuable notes like garbage!

Myne was ignorant of his thoughts and threw the other book at him saying, "And this is my personal artificing technique called . It supposedly can manifest a divine cauldron out of pure aether from nature once you reach the highest level. Doubt you'll reach it because I haven't either."

Zhen Shi hurriedly caught it thinking, FUCK! How did these poor books piss you off? But how could he say that out loud when Myne was actually helping him.

Myne ignorantly continued speaking, "As for fire, the Vermillion bird flame of yours should be very suitable." Next, he took out a rolled bundle of parchment and spoke out with great pride on his face, "Alright. For any type of armor or weapon, I have a rather 'clever' way, of improving the power. I made it when I was inspired by a strange art of divination in the Ice Lands, performed by weaving cloth. I call it , as it involves entering into a trance-like state that the warbands referred to as 'Odr' and then engraving what you saw or felt on the metal," and threw him that parchment as well.

Zhen Shi caught it as well. *sigh* I won't say anything anymore...

Myne ignorantly continued, "Alright. Now I'll show you how to make a simple weapon." Saying so he lightly flicked his hand causing a dark-black furnace to appear. There was no engraving on its outer surface giving it a rather glossy black finishing. He spoke with a satisfied grin, "This was the broken furnace I got for free from the market. I took the liberty of improving it up to Grade 3. I figured I'll leave the rest of the fixing to you." Myne flicked his other hand causing that familiar dark blue flame to appear over his hand. He threw it into the furnace causing the entire furnace to be engulfed in the dark blue flame and hiss out with the release of dark black smog.

Moments later, the smog formed into a small spherical blob of smog. It cracked like an egg finally revealing a small demonic imp with two horns and a tail. It jumped and danced around the furnace and the blue flames, seeming to giggle and chitter evilly while staring at Zhen Shi and Myne. Zhen Shi stared at it rather curiously as it's cultivation level was apparently of the Soul Formation Stage 1. But, Myne's face contorted strangely but he still pointed at it and said, "This is the furnace spirit. They only appear in furnaces at grade 3 or above and only if the blacksmith is skilled enough and has a good enough flame. Furnace spirits are basically helpers for a skilled blacksmith. But they might be more trouble than help if you try to force them."

With his free hand, he threw over another book which Zhen Shi caught as well. Sheesh! Throwing books again? Not that I'm complaining though...

Myne's face contorted again as he spoke, "That's a 'clever' trick I learned on my travels. Furnace spirits are rather strange creatures and sometimes won't even give in under greater power and the threat of death, not that it's easy to kill them. But that skill should help tame any furnace spirit weaker than your cultivation level." Saying so he hurriedly went back to focusing on his task, and materialized a dark block of silver metal, "This is black silver, a special alloy used to make sharp weapons," and threw it into the flaming furnace.

Immediately the dark blue flames rose to burn it off, but the demonic imp jumped in front of it and skilfully held off the flames with a giggle. "Most furnace spirits know out of instinct what to do, but controlling it properly is the blacksmith's job. There have been many incidents of the furnace spirit going out of control, and even killing the owner. So be careful..."

Zhen Shi eyed the black horned imp, who in turn eyed him and creepily giggled.

Myne grinned now as he continued to speak, "First I'll remove the impurities. Remember there is no such thing as a naturally occurring pure ore, so always purify the material," and under Myne's guidance, the chittering demon Imp proceeded to carefully spread the heat of the dark blue flames across the piece of metal while removing the impure slag. Once Myne was satisfied with the quality of the ore he took out an ordinary-looking hammer with a worn head "This is a mallet that I use to prepare the basic structure of the artifact. There are blacksmiths who use their own fists, even large sledgehammers and anvils or sometimes nothing at all. Just find what suits you, but in my opinion, a small hammer is the best," and started to slam the piece of metal while it was held by the black imp.

Clang! Clang!

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The sound of the hammer clanging metal reverberated across the pavilion. Myne was utilizing his full strength and even then the black demon imp within the dark blue flames seemed to be fine as it went about maintaining the heat of the metal and shaping it with a calm but mischievous look. Myne continued to speak, "Every weapon is going to require a unique refining formula and it is very difficult to figure one on your own. So here you go," and threw out another book which also was caught by Zhen Shi.

Yah, Keep it coming. Just keep throwing more skill books!!

Myne put away the mallet and broke out the refined and shaped metal into three odd-shaped portions. He intensified the blue flames causing more black smog to form. Under his control, the smog formed into two more black blob eggs which cracked open revealing two more identical black imps chittering mischievously.

"You can have as many as 81 furnace spirits but the number will be based on two main factors. The grade of the blacksmith and the grade of the furnace. The number of maximum furnace spirits one can use is the multiple of those two factors." He momentarily let the three imps work by themselves as he patted his own chest saying, "Back then, I could of course use as many as 64 furnace spirits on my grade 8 Mythril furnace. But my cultivation has fallen and this furnace is only at grade 3, while I lost my furnace to that fellow. So right now I can bring out about 15 furnace spirits but you don't need that many to make a basic knife. Three is more than enough."

He turned back to the furnace and simultaneously controlled the three furnace spirits to work on making the three main parts of the knife; the hilt, the bolster in the middle and the blade. He whisked his hands and gathered some blue fire qi causing small blue colored talismans to appear and blend in with the blue flame, "And now I will add a basic strengthening formation on to the blade. I will be using the fire qi of the same fire to make sure they stabilize each other," he said while the three imps got to work on capturing talismans and adding them onto the three components of the knife. Moments later, the three parts were glowing with the finished marks of the formation.

Myne clapped his hands loudly, "Alright, basically now the process is over, but since I only used a piece of black silver and that basic formation what we'll be getting is an ordinary grade 1 weapon. I t should have been a lesser grade 1 weapon but the furnace quality helps.

He laughed out loud, "Now I'll use and show you the power of my self created skill. Soon I'll enter into an Odr." Just as he finished talking, Myne simply stopped moving and his eyes gave off a vacant look. Zhen Shi found this astounding because he had completely lost track of Myne's presence. He would have been completely undetectable if his body had been hidden.

Zhen Shi's brow furrowed in deep sorrow (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`), 'FUCK! No! Bro, how can you just die--'

But he didn't get any further as Myne's vacant eyes were suddenly filled with life. In fact, he seemed to be overflowing with energy. He clicked both hands and materialized two simple sharp engravers. As if he was possessed he started scratching the surface of the flaming metal while it was held by the three demonic imp spirits, who had suddenly stopped their chittering almost in fear of disturbing Myne.

With the ever-burning blue flame, under the eyes of the silent imps, Myne's hands moved as naturally as the flowing stream next to him, slowly forming a clear and mesmerizing picture. Moments later, just as his hands stopped, the three furnace spirits brought the three components together. They clicked together like the perfect pieces of a puzzle. Myne who had now awakened from his 'Odr', poured chilling water aether all over the finished knife. But just before the water reached the glowing white knife, the three demonic imps suddenly jumped forward and with mischievous giggles they struck the blade of the knife, easily puncturing the blade and forming three clear holes.

HISS!

As the water hit the heated metal cooling it, a cloud of steam filled up the main hall. It mystically lingered within the central garden among the rocky stream, before it was blown away by the wind into the afternoon sky. But now Myne was grinning awkwardly and scratching his head as he put away the furnace spirits and held the freshly formed knife forwards for Zhen Shi to see.

The blade of the knife had an engraving, of an old hand gripping on to a bow from which a powerful arrow had been shot. Then the engraving extended up to the end of the hilt and showed this arrow cleanly passing through the loops of a dozen axe heads. The carving was present completely identically on both sides, and Zhen Shi couldn't help but admire the craftsmanship. Seeing the engraving he felt nostalgic about a legend he had read about. But there were three holes on the blade which were rather unfitting and slightly ruined the beauty of the knife.

Myne hurriedly wiped the awkward grin off his face, as he said, "See? That skill was able to improve it up to a lesser grade 2 weapon." Zhen Shi nodded in appreciation but still asked, "So why did you put in these three holes? They kind of ruin the engraving..." Myne playfully slapped his head and hurriedly spoke, "Idiot. Did you think I lost control or something? Do you think the furnace spirit taming skill has a side effect?" He paused at his own mistake but kept speaking to cover it up, "Stupid! I only did that to give the knife a more aerodynamic body and make it a throwing knife. This is a weapon, not a ceremonial treasure!" Zhen Shi nodded in agreement but with a hint of suspicion.

Myne noted his face and as such quickly spoke out, "Well that's about the gist of it. You have everything you need, so you can experiment in your leisure," and continued now in a rather relaxed fashion, "You can ask me about any problems you face or don't. Your choice," and once again in a rather hurried manner, "Now let me show you the power of this knif--throwing knife."

Myne gripped the knife from its blade and suddenly pulled back his arm accumulating a terrifying amount of qi. The strengthening formation glowed brightly and one could almost see the arrow passing through the axe handles as the engraving came to life. Immediately he threw his hand forward and the knife left his fingertips. The wind was shredded apart as the knife swept past the rocky stream quickly reaching the other end of the pavilion. Under the eyes of Zhen Shi and Myne, it struck the wall and immediately ripped apart the bronze wall as it shredded forward in great speed.

Now, Myne happily turned back to Zhen Shi and spoke out while visibly relaxing, "See there was nothing to worry about. That was the true power of that special technique and that throwing knife! It's on par with the attacking power of your bow without the incredible materials of course." Zhen Shi too was about to present his agreement--

But suddenly a huge commotion was heard from outside the pavilion.

"Argghhh! My butt--"

"Oh god, Lance has been attacked!"

"Are you sure? It's still daylight..."

"Shut up! Just sound the alarms!"

"There are daylight assassins!

"Fuck, We're under attack!"

Myne's eye twitched ಠ_ಥ as he turned to Zhen Shi shouting, "FUCK!"