Chương 24: A Hundred Percent

Though the Zhang family had restructured, they remained nothing more than a Qi Refining Realm clan. They also lacked a Heart Demon Oath to prevent their techniques from leaking beyond the bloodline. As a result, only those whom Zhang Chongwen personally deemed worthy were granted access to the family's two great inheritances. For now, Zhang Huaijin felt little interest in talisman crafting. He knew better than to bite off more than he could chew. Ambition was one thing; gluttony was another.

Besides, among the Four Great Professions of cultivation, once you climbed high enough in one discipline, breaking into another later on became significantly easier. For the time being, Huaijin decided to focus his efforts on artifact forging. Of the Hundred Arts of Cultivation, the Four Great Professions were the most coveted. Among them, alchemy reigned supreme, followed closely by artifact forging. Array Formation drawing came third, while talisman crafting brought up the rear.

Zhang Chongwen transferred one hundred merits from Huaijin's identity token. Huaijin's token already held several hundred points, rewards from the family for his achievements, as well as proceeds from the spirit beast materials he had contributed back then. After all, starting this year, the Zhang family would no longer be distributing spirit stones. Once the merits were transferred, Zhang Chongwen passed down the inheritance of artifact forging to Zhang Huaijin.

"Study this on your own first," the patriarch said.

"If you run into anything you don't understand, ask your father." Zhang Chongwen had no talent for forging himself. The only art he had ever mastered was brewing spirit wine. Huaijin's older brother, Zhang Hanren, had inherited that talent. From a young age, he had studied under Chongwen and grown into a skilled winemaker. The Zhang family's two great inheritances now rested in different hands: Zhang Lixian presided over artifact forging, while Zhang Liliang managed talisman crafting.

As for Zhang Chongwen's two sworn sons, neither had talent for either discipline. They worked as Spirit Plant Cultivators instead. In the cultivation world, if you were willing to put in the effort, the worst you could become was a Spirit Plant Cultivator, a diligent, weathered farmer of the spiritual fields.

"Alright! Thank you, Grandfather. I'll take my leave now!" Huaijin stored the inheritance, bid farewell to Zhang Chongwen, and returned to his own cave dwelling. Three days later. The inheritance in Zhang Huaijin's palm crumbled to ash. For disciples of cultivation families, techniques and arts were imprinted directly into the mind. Extracting these inheritances from a family cultivator was nearly impossible, unless you captured them alive and performed a direct soul search.

"It doesn't feel that difficult," Huaijin murmured to himself, contemplating what he had learned. If anyone had overheard such a shameless humblebrag, they probably would have tried to beat his head in. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. The Blue Bamboo Sword was the Zhang family's signature spirit artifact. Not only did the family's own cultivators use it, but they also sold it to outsiders.

Green Bamboo Mountain was covered in blue bamboo, some of which had grown into Tier 1 Spirit Wood. This resource alone had contributed no small fortune to the family's coffers. After fully absorbing the Tier 1 artifact forging inheritance, Huaijin gathered the materials needed for the Blue Bamboo Sword and began his very first forging attempt. The furnace he used was a Tier 1, Low Grade model that Zhang Lixian had long since discarded. For Huaijin's current needs, it was more than sufficient.

He prepared the materials, visualized every step in his mind, and then set to work. One by one, he melted down the Blue Bamboo Sword's components in the proper order. When the temperature reached the right point, he shaped the molten mass and fixed its form. Then came the hardest step: tracing three simple sharpness runes in his palm and branding them deep into the sword's interior. Huaijin completed it in a single, fluid motion with no hesitation.

After inscribing the runes, he began hammering, nurturing the blade with steady, rhythmic strikes. He made gradual adjustments, refining the edge, tempering the metal. Fifteen minutes later, a Blue Bamboo Sword rested in Zhang Huaijin's palm.

"I succeeded. Just like that?" He stared at the sword, almost disbelieving. Then he laughed softly.

"Just as I thought. No difficulty at all." If anyone had heard that kind of talk, they would have wanted to beat his head in. He had become a Tier 1, Low Grade artifact forger on his very first try.

"No difficulty at all."

"Hmm. Let's keep going." Huaijin continued forging. Fifteen minutes later, another Blue Bamboo Sword came off the line. Huaijin had only recently broken through to a new level, and his cultivation base was still somewhat shaky. But the constant forging, channeling his spiritual energy, expending it, cycling it again, steadied his realm with every piece he completed. Half an hour later. Crack! As he worked on his tenth Blue Bamboo Sword, a sharp crack rang out, followed by a muffled explosion from the furnace.

The materials inside were ruined, the bamboo charred black.

"Ah. That's more like it." Huaijin wiped his hands.

"The success rate was so high it was starting to feel unreal." He shook his head. By now, most of his spiritual energy was depleted. Without sufficient cultivation, you couldn't forge at all. Three days later. Zhang Huaijin carried thirty Tier 1, Low Grade Blue Bamboo Swords to Zhang Lixian. Seeing the stunned look on his father's face, Huaijin smiled.

"Turn all of these into merit points for me, then exchange them for more forging materials. I'm ready to start working on a new type of spirit artifact." Zhang Lixian said nothing. The way he looked at his son, it was the gaze of a man staring at a monster. He had always known Huaijin's comprehension was extraordinary. But this? This was beyond extraordinary. This was terrifying. Feeling discouraged, Lixian nonetheless took the swords and prepared a large batch of forging materials.

He wanted to see if Huaijin could actually do it again. Three days later, faced with a massive pile of Tier 1, Low Grade spirit artifacts, Zhang Lixian had no choice but to admit defeat. When Zhang Chongwen heard the news, he threw his head back and let out a long, joyful laugh. He felt more motivated than ever. For the sake of the family's future, he had to keep pushing. —— One year passed. In Langya County town, the Zhang family rented the shop next to their spirit wine store.

They set it up to purchase spirit beast materials and ores while also selling Tier 1 spirit artifacts. Over the past year, Zhang Huaijin had forged an enormous number of Tier 1, Low Grade spirit artifacts for the family, with an unbelievable one hundred percent success rate. Then he pushed further and became a Tier 1, Mid Grade artifact forger. He failed once. And succeeded on his second try. During that year, the Zhang family harvested spirit rice twice more and began selling spirit artifacts.

They saved up enough spirit stones, three thousand, to upgrade the spirit veins of their two remaining mountains, Azure Gale Mountain and Heavenly Blaze Mountain, to Tier 1, Mid Grade. That same year, the family gained another mid stage Qi Refining Realm cultivator: Zhang Haoyu, a third generation cousin. Haoyu possessed a Five Element Spiritual Root and, like Zhewu, came from Green Bamboo Town with mortal parents. The family's strength was growing steadily.

Without hampering their development, they began training their younger members. After Haoyu advanced to the fourth level of Qi Refining Realm, Zhang Hong was called back from Heavenly Yang Mountain. He was then sent to guard the shop in Langya County. Meanwhile, Zhang Wujian advanced to the third level of Qi Refining Realm. Since the family's other spirit mountains had all been upgraded to Tier 1 Mid Grade, his cultivation wouldn't suffer.

To earn merits, Wujian chose to leave Green Bamboo Mountain and guard a different spirit mountain for the family. The Zhang family was gaining momentum. In their ongoing struggle with the Hu family, they consistently held the upper hand. Their cultivators' strength steadily increased. Rogue cultivators no longer dared to provoke them lightly. Another year passed in the blink of an eye. Zhang Huaijin was now eighteen years old. His cultivation had reached the sixth level of Qi Refining Realm.

He was a Tier 1, Mid Grade artifact forger. And his success rate remained a perfect one hundred percent.