Deep within the fire veins, where even sunlight dares not tread.
“Stir-fry the ore like it’s a vegetable?”
“Yep.”
“Even stir-fry it to a crunch?”
“Exactly.”
The two old codgers stared at the seriously focused Little Ke, taken aback and slightly gasping for air. They both wondered if the heat from the fire veins was frying his brain.
This isn’t a kitchen!
They’re craftsmen, not chefs!
What in the world is this nonsense!
Suddenly, they began to doubt if Little Ke could even become a divine craftsman. After all, even with the best hardware, if the thought process was off… well, that’s just troublesome.
“What are you looking at me like that for?”
The two old men gave him a rather impolite look. Ke Mo cleared his throat lightly and said:
“Controlling the heat for cooking and smelting is equally important, right?”
“Right…”
“Then those auxiliary materials Elder Zeng mentioned earlier are just like adding seasoning, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Fair point,” Elder Zeng pondered.
Ke Mo then turned to Elder Han He: “And isn’t constantly flipping the iron blocks and hammering them quite similar to stir-frying?”
“Well, I can’t deny there’s some sense to that…” Elder Han He also fell into thought.
Then both shook their heads simultaneously.
Are we seriously debating this? Can metal and food even be compared?
If we’re not careful, this kid might just lead us down a rabbit hole!
No wonder the Huanmo Sect got completely turned around by Ke Mo’s rambling…
“It’s just an idea; I still need to try it out.”
Ke Mo was fired up, hoping to use the “Divine Gem Forging” auxiliary martial art to boost his physique even further.
If he could combine both, his efficiency would skyrocket!
“If you two elders could, please pass on your smelting techniques to me; I need about half an hour to learn…”
“What on earth?”
“Half an hour? That’s it, this kid has genuinely lost it…”
Elder Han He and Elder Zeng muttered to themselves.
They both started as apprentices, and they’d been forging for nearly sixty years!
Ke Mo wanted to learn their casting methods and thought half an hour would suffice.
Even the simplest methods of smelting…
Impossible, absolutely impossible!
But looking at Ke Mo’s enthusiasm, an inexplicable thought began to creep into their minds.
What if?
With his talent, creating a divine skill and mastering divine weapons isn’t entirely out of the blue. The fourth spot on the Qianlong List—who isn’t extraordinary and can’t be judged by common sense?
“Alright, fine, here’s my weapon casting technique.”
“Let’s see you give it a try.”
Two thick tomes were handed over by the old fellows.
One called “Divine Weapon Smelting Method,” and the other “General Smelting Method.”
Ke Mo didn’t care about the hot ground, plopping down and immediately started reading.
If he could finish both books word for word in half an hour, it would be a feat of genius, let alone truly understand and master them.
Ke Mo really just needed to skim through.
【Ten concepts of martial realization infused into the skill…】
【First step: You have learned the “Divine Weapon Smelting Method,” becoming familiar with various ores, smelting techniques, and have started practicing…】
【Second step: Your “Divine Weapon Smelting Method” has leveled up.】
【Tenth step: You have reached a realm of understanding, mastering the necessary ingredients for smelting divine weapons. However, due to your physique and experience not being up to par, you cannot truly apply it yet.】
…
【Ten concepts of martial realization infused into the skill…】
【First step: You have learned the “General Smelting Method”…..】
…..
“Done?”
As half an hour ticked precisely by, Ke Mo stood up, and Elder Han He and Elder Zeng looked at him—one was dumbfounded while the other’s eyes searched for answers.
Ke Mo nodded seriously, “Yep, I can give it a shot.”
In reality, he only skimmed for half an hour—definitely not a full thirty minutes.
He just didn’t want the two old men to have a heart attack, so he stuck around a bit longer.
“Alright then, let me see how you plan to ‘stir-fry’ it!” Elder Han He still seemed a bit unconvinced.
“Okay!”
And off we go!
“First, let’s heat up the pot.”
With a warm reminder: the upper right corner of the page has options to “toggle between simplified and traditional” and “adjust font size” for your reading comfort.
Ke Mo went straight to Elder Zeng’s large cauldron, pouring in the raging true fire from the business end, and the patterns on the cauldron lit up, making the geothermal flames within surge and lick at the cauldron.
The temperature in the cauldron shot up.
“Next, add in some smooth oil to coat the pot.” Ke Mo solemnly poured in some black magic wood oil.
Speaking as he worked.
“Huh?”
Elder Han He and Elder Zeng were both stunned.
This kid is acting like he’s on a cooking show!
And wait a minute—didn’t they just argue about who gets to teach Ke Mo? Aren’t they supposed to be the teachers here?
“Heat the oil until hot, then add the ingredients!”
“Slowly raise the temperature to soften the iron ore~ ah, this feels about right, now let’s throw in those auxiliary materials.”
“It’s time, let’s go big and stir-fry!”
Ke Mo mimicked Elder Zeng’s technique, purifying a mountain of iron ore.
Then, with a flourish, he flipped the cauldron to turn the iron blocks over and fold them mid-air.
After contemplating for a moment, he decided to channel Elder Han He’s method, ding ding ding, hammering at the food… no, iron chunks.
The entire process was like clockwork, seamless and repetitive!
During this time, impurities were knocked out, and the texture became denser.
With every hammering motion, “Divine Gem Forging” was in full swing!
He wasn’t just smelting the ore!
He was also refining himself!
He was both the smith and the divine iron being forged!
After a long stretch without any progress, “Extreme Body of Weaponry” began to show signs of progress—this was no small feat. After all, with “Divine Gem Forging,” the better the blade or ore being forged, the greater the boost to his physique.
For now, he was merely smelting ordinary iron ore.
“Whew…”
Ke Mo’s chest heaved like a bellows, breathing fire and iron as he hammered away at the iron blocks!
This scene was really heating up!
“Fire it up and serve it hot!” Chef Ke finally completed his first dish!
With a final flip of the pot, the little drips of iron liquid left in the cauldron were whisked away by his hammering, slowly solidifying on the cauldron lid.
As it cooled, it revealed its original form.
What had once been a large pile of ore now shrank to merely the size of his palm.
It gleamed silver with a surface like rippling water, but its texture was incredibly hard.
“Iron… essence?!”
Elder Han He and Elder Zeng were utterly dumbfounded, their expressions more horrified than if they’d seen a ghost.
…
【Congratulations to the host for creating an improved ‘Steel Stir-Fry Method,’ elevating the forging techniques of Shenbing Peak to new heights.】
【Investment feedback: Mica Heavy Cauldron.】
That day, the disciples of Shenbing Peak received an astonishing message.
The Forging Institute was undergoing a major reform and would collaborate with the Qingyuan Sect’s cafeteria to research new techniques together.
So from now on, there would be an additional assessment requirement—first, they would need to practice flipping pots and kitchen skills in the cafeteria.
A million confused thoughts ran through the disciples’ minds.
And the mastermind behind this…
Was casually strolling towards Qiushui Pavilion with a basket of goodies.
“Honestly, forging iron all day is tiring.”
“At least I’ve got “Divine Gem Forging” underway…”
Ke Mo dragged his slightly sore limbs and strolled to Qiushui Pavilion.
Everywhere he walked, the accumulated snow turned to water.
His pure Yang robe, while brimming with sunlight, didn’t actually catch fire.
The issue was that in such an environment, the accumulation of yang energy happened rapidly, like fire in a too-hot state.
To put it simply, he was feeling quite “fiery” right now.
“What’s that Ice Chunk up to?”
As Ke Mo opened the gate to Qiushui Pavilion, a weary thought popped into his mind.
If only someone could cool him down a notch.
Her delicate and fair little hands were surely refreshingly cool.
As everyone knows, Ice Chunk is always chill. Wouldn’t it be delightful to snuggle up to her a bit…?
