Chapter 232: Mr. Li’s Answer, Too Deep
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Li Nianfan saluted. He smiled and said, “Hello. I don’t think I know your name yet, General.”
“Mr. Li, my name is Rich,” said Rich respectfully.
He was kind of nervous. The expert was someone the King deemed important. The King planned for him to set up his recruitment post near the expert as he was worried that someone reckless would offend him.
Rich?
What a nice name. He was also a muscular general. He looked like a prosperous soldier.
Li Nianfan laughed. “Nice name.”
“Mr. Li, your plan to save the people was brilliant. If it were me, I never would’ve been able to think of something like that,” said Rich genuinely.
He was an unsophisticated person—great in battle but clueless in scheming. He was deeply impressed by the imaginative expert.
“I only provided guidance. The details of the process were all executed by your King.” Li Nianfan shook his head and asked, “How’s the war?”
“Not good.”
Rich looked around and sighed. He said quietly, “The Southern brutes are genetically strong. They’re forces to be reckoned with and they’re unstoppable!”
Li Nianfan’s expression changed slightly. “Not even once?”
“It’d be alright if we manage to stop them even once, but no!” Rich looked troubled. “This can’t be delayed any longer. The King gave orders to recruit more soldiers so we can stop the Southern brutes.”
It had to be dealt with in one go. As the saying went, ‘Failing once is confidence lost forever.’
If the Southern brutes continued to win, it would only unite their army even further. Their opponents would be more pressured. If they could be stopped once, they could tear down their confidence.
Rich told him, “Mr. Li, apart from the ordinary people, a lot of cultivation sects were defeated, too.”
“Is it the deeds of the demons?” asked Li Nianfan.
He knew that the demons were trying to fight against the cultivators. That demon seal incident at the Azure Ville was probably related to the demons, too.
To summarize, Immortals belonged in the Above Immortal Realm and demons belonged in the Demon Realm down below. They did not get along with each other.
“It’s them!” Rich was slightly angry. “How dare they?!”
Li Nianfan frowned. He was slightly panicking.
Looking at the signs, were they going to have a war between Immortals and Demons?
If that was true, he would be useless as an ordinary man. He was not even good enough to be ammo. He could die in random ways.
He finally had a thousand-year lifespan. It would be a shame to die out of the blue!
Li Nianfan looked at the little red bird on his shoulder. He had to be a bootlicker, and he had to lick it clean!
He groaned for a moment and noticed the saber sword on Rich. He said, “General Rich, may I look at your saber sword?”
Rich handed it to him without hesitation. “Here you go, Mr. Li.”
Swoosh!
Li Nianfan pulled out the sword and roughly glanced at it. Then, he frowned.
Rich needed some sort of status. His weapon should not be a low-grade sword, yet his current sword was slightly bent and the blade was damaged.
Li Nianfan could instantly tell that the sword was mainly made of iron.
The crafting was rough. It could be greatly improved.
He had a good relationship with Zhou Yunwu and the demons were the evil kind. He should help them out.
Li Nianfan asked, “General Rich, do you trust me? This sword can be stronger and sharper!”
“Really?” Rich was intrigued. He did not doubt it at all and he quickly said, “Mr. Li, you’re an awesome man. Of course, I trust you!”
“Follow me then.”
Rich hurriedly ordered his soldiers, “Get the nearby blacksmiths!”
Li Nianfan secretly complimented him. The General was a leader that was attentive to details.
Meanwhile, at a tower in the Ganlong Immortal Dynasty.
It was far from Fallen Town, but as cultivators, they could see the entire town from that tower.
The Holy Emperor, Zhong Xiu, and Luo Shiyu were standing on top of the tower. Someone was standing behind them.
That person was surrounded by dark mist and he had red eyes.
“Holy Emperor, I know you participated in the Liu Family wipe out. Tell me, who’s the Immortal living in the Immortal Realm? Is he related to the changes of the realm?”
The Holy Emperor looked pale. He stared at that person and said, “Who are you? Did you come from… The Above Immortal Realm?”
“That’s right! This is one of my figures. It’s as decent as an Immortal.”
That person smirked. “This is a big deal. You’re just a cultivator, you don’t need to guard this secret to your grave. Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance. I might even spare your family. Otherwise, I’ll let my grandchildren kill your wife and your daughter in front of you! It’ll be gory!”
They realized that there were small black mosquitoes on their necks. They had tiny, long proboscises with red eyes. They looked terrifying.
The mosquitoes were excited and lusted for fresh blood.
“No way, I won’t tell you!”
The Holy Emperor sneered, “I’m indeed just a small cultivator, but I’m not afraid to tell you this—you’re also an insect in front of the expert! Let me warn you. You shouldn’t offend the expert!”
“Haha, an ant wants to test my capabilities? He’s just an Immortal that slipped into the Immortal Realm. I wouldn’t even be interested if he wasn’t related to the changes of the realm.” That person could not stop laughing. It was as if he had heard the funniest joke. Then, he suddenly stopped. “Fine!”
The Holy Emperor and the others looked down from the tower. Their expressions changed into excitement and devotion.
That person arched his eyebrow and looked at what they were looking at, too.
A lot of people were gathered there, but the star of the gathering was an ordinary young guy.
He observed quietly.
Li Nianfan was at the blacksmiths. He greeted, “Owner Feng.”
The owner was a middle-aged man. He was forging a piece of metal. He smiled at Li Nianfan and greeted, “Mr. Li.”
Some young people were working in the store, too.
They were slightly nervous when they saw Li Nianfan walk in with soldiers.
Li Nianfan smiled and said, “Owner Feng, can I borrow your furnace?”
“No problem.” Owner Feng put his task at hand aside. He asked out of curiosity, “Mr. Li, you know how to forge?”
“A little bit.”
Owner Feng was amazed. “Awesome, Mr. Li. You surely know everything for an ordinary man!”
Ha, what a good compliment.
Li Nianfan observed the long sword then tossed it in the furnace to melt it.
Steel was formed by a mixture of iron and carbon. The heating process was to mix in the carbon, also known as the process of forging.
The sword was softened from smelting. Li Nianfan took the hammer at the side and hit it.
Clang!
It molded the shape at the same time. It was not that different from the usual forging process.
Li Nianfan hit it for a while then took the liquid at the side and poured it on the sword.
The surrounding blacksmiths had a change in their faces. Owner Feng reminded, “Mr. Li, this is cast iron.”
The cast iron was in liquid form. It was high in carbon and other substances.
“I know.” Li Nianfan continued to hit the sword while he explained, “This method is known as steel infusion! It’s to infuse cast iron and wrought iron together!
“Cast iron contains more carbon, wrought iron has more oxidation properties. The oxygen in wrought iron can oxidize the silicon, manganese, and carbon in the cast iron. This creates a boiling point and it helps get rid of the unwanted substances.”
It was a chemical reaction. However, no one around understood it.
They all looked like they heard something terrific but did not get it.
As for Rich, he took out a piece of paper and scribbled on it. He frowned and asked, “Mr. Li, could you repeat that? Did I spell ‘carton’ correctly?”
This was a mission assigned by the King. He had to take notes of whatever the expert said, even if he did not understand it. He was tasked to bring back the golden advice and study it with the others.
Li Nianfan ignored him. He kept forging.
Clang!
The hammer was heavy but Li Nianfan made it seem so light and weightless. It was as if he had some form of rhythm.
Sparks were flying. He looked utterly graceful.
The Fire Phoenix observed at the side with amazement.
She knew Li Nianfan was incredible, but she did not expect him to also know how to forge. He was perfect at it, too. It was as if the forging sounds contained the Basics of Wisdom.
It was like…the realm was performing a tune with him.
Also, she did not expect that she would not be able to understand what Li Nianfan said.
It meant that the information was beyond her and she did not even deserve to know it.
“Huh?”
That person looked oddly at Li Nianfan from the tower. “He’s got an outstanding understanding. It’s impossible that he’s ordinary!”
He looked at the Holy Emperor and others and sneered as he asked, “Is that the expert?”
The Holy Emperor remained expressionless. He calmly shook his head and said, “It’s not.”
That person mockingly chuckled. “We’ll find out!”
That person leaped out from the tower in a black flash. He transformed into a black mosquito and flew toward Li Nianfan.
He had menacing eyes.
If that person was an Immortal who was familiar with Dao, he could suck his blood and destroy his figure. If that person turned out to be just an ordinary man, there was no downside to that either because he could just kill him.
Clang!
The sword started to mold after each hit.
Li Nianfan said, “There’s a step that you guys constantly forget, but…it’s crucial! The step is called quenching!”
He dipped the sword into a tankful of water as soon as he said it.
Sizzle—
There was a lot of steam. The water was boiling.
“Quenching can make weapons soft and malleable.”
Li Nianfan took the long sword out from the water, and gently pulled on the blade. The blade curved!
He wiped the blade with a cloth. Suddenly… a shine started to appear again. It was blindingly bright!
Li Nianfan smiled and passed the sword to Rich. “General Rich, are you satisfied with the sword?”
“Good sword! It’s a nice sword!”
Rich was astounded. He stared at the sword, feeling almost frantic.
A sword was sort of like a brother to a general.
The surrounding blacksmiths were shocked and in disbelief. It turned their knowledge upside down. “How?”
Owner Feng hurriedly took out a sword from their store and said, “General, try using the sword on this.”
Rich nodded, took a deep breath, and held the sword up high.
Clang! Owner Feng’s sword was snapped in half!
Yikes!
Everyone gasped. He only changed a bit of the forging process but he achieved a new material.
“Mr. Li, this…” Owner Feng looked at Li Nianfan. He was too astounded to speak.
“Nice sword, nice sword!”
“Legend. Mr. Li’s a true legend.”
“Legendary, it’s a legendary skill!”
Even Daji and the Fire Phoenix were stunned.
The swords alone could not impress them. However, the way it was improved was too powerful. The ingredients were the most ordinary materials, yet he improved it so much just by tweaking the forging process.
Immortals had great alchemy skills, but this ordinary man could do it, too!
Was this what they called a bigshot? How mysterious of him!
It must be related to The Answer!
Sigh, too bad none of them understood him when he spoke. Especially ‘carton’. What did it mean?
Li Nianfan smiled and said, “You don’t have to understand the science behind it. All you need to know is that the weapons will be more solid and sharp this way. The elasticity would be better, too.”
Rich was flushed from excitement. He was trembling all over.
Finally, he knelt on one knee in front of Li Nianfan. “Mr. Li, you’ve blessed thousands of soldiers! On behalf of all the soldiers, I thank you!”
Plop!
All the soldiers behind him knelt, too. They looked at Li Nianfan with sincerity and gratefulness in their eyes.
Li Nianfan quickly helped Rich up. He said, “General Rich, you’re so courteous. I’m helping myself while helping you guys. I can live in peace if you win the battle.”
Rich immediately said, “Don’t worry, Mr. Li. I won’t let you down with this sword!”
Buzz.
Li Nianfan could hear a small buzz near his ear.
Then, he felt a tingle on his neck. Something landed there.
He frowned and slapped his neck. Then, he pinched it. It was a huge mosquito.
“What a big mosquito!” He was shocked. The Immortal Realm had such big mosquitoes. It was about the size of a thumb.
The mosquito looked confused. It was so confounded with the fact that it was captured. It struggled like crazy with all its might, trying to escape.
However, it realized its power had disappeared completely!
This was not the scariest part. The most horrifying thing was…its power source was forcefully transferred!
This was initially just one of his figures. Even if he died, he would just have to cut some losses. Therefore, he was very daring.
However, its original power source had unknowingly transferred to this mosquito figure.
Which meant that its figure was now solidified. If it died in this state, it would be dead for real!
How… How was this possible?!
Who was he exactly? How could he do that?
Why was this happening?
Pitiful, helpless, and desperate.
It could not believe it. It wanted to question him, it wanted to beg for mercy, but no words came out.
It seemed like it had become an ordinary mosquito.
All of a sudden, it remembered what the Holy Emperor said. It was just an insect in front of the expert!
It was all too late.
“I don’t like mosquitos.”
Slap.
Li Nianfan casually slapped his hands together and ended the ugly life of the mosquito.