Chapter 26: I'll Handle It

Inside the auxiliary hall to the right, a fiery pit churned with molten lava, quickly filling over half of the hearth.

Chen Guang glanced at the lava in the hearth, then removed his snowy white cloak, revealing a practical short outfit suitable for sword forging. 

He then fished out a white jade porcelain bottle and poured out a black pellet from it.

Tang Jian, standing not far away, slightly furrowed his brows and caught a whiff of a pungent odor.

He couldn't help but frown, wanting to say something but ultimately remaining silent.

He had seen this type of pill before—it was called the "Vitality Pill."

The elite guards at the Iron Estate, particularly those at the commander level, would receive one each time they went out on a mission.

This pill temporarily suppressed injuries and boosted vitality, but once its effects wore off, it would cause even greater harm to the user. 

Therefore, no one would take it unless absolutely necessary.

However, Chen Guang only slightly furrowed his brows before tilting his head back and swallowing the pill.

Watching this scene, Tang Jian couldn't help but feel a renewed sense of respect for Chen Guang.

Soon, a flush appeared on Chen Guang's cheeks, and his overall vitality recovered somewhat, making him look almost the same as before he was injured.

He exhaled a breath of impure air and used an iron clamp to pick up the melting stone cup, turning to fetch the sword forging materials.

Tang Jian quickly stepped forward, took the iron clamp from him, and held it steadily in his hand.

Yao Bin, who was originally planning to take over, saw this and stood aside.

Chen Guang glanced at Tang Jian, feeling that he seemed somewhat different today.

However, he needed to focus on forging the sword and couldn't afford to be distracted, so he didn't think too much about it. 

Instead, he reached into a nearby black lacquered wooden box and retrieved a dog-head-sized crimson crystal, which he placed into the stone cup.

Seeing this crystal, Tang Jian thought to himself that such a large piece of red copper ore crystal was worth an astronomical price on the current market. 

It seemed that the Yan family had truly gone all out for this sword forging challenge.

He moved the stone cup into the hearth and began melting it with the heat of the lava.

As time passed, the stone cup in the hearth turned bright red and translucent, and the red copper ore crystal inside began to gradually melt.

Seeing this, Chen Guang continuously grabbed various auxiliary materials and threw them into the stone cup.

Just when all the materials started to melt and fuse together, an unexpected scene occurred.

A series of muffled "gurgling" sounds came from the hearth, and the lava that had filled half of it began to sink, showing a trend of completely flowing back.

"No, it's the underground fire tide! The heat is not enough," Chen Guang exclaimed, his expression changing drastically.

This was a critical moment for melting the materials. Once the heat was lost, the melting would surely fail, and there would be no need to forge the sword.

His heart skipped a beat, and he quickly turned around. Without hesitation, he grabbed a handful of fire essence powder from the wooden box and threw it into the hearth.

With a muffled "boom," a large patch of crimson flames shot up, instantly supplementing the insufficient heat.

"Quick, add more charcoal," Tang Jian urged.

Yao Bin, like a headless fly, spun around in circles before finally noticing a neatly stacked pile of charcoal beside his feet. He quickly bent down, picked up a few pieces, and threw them into the hearth.

Watching the flames gradually stabilize inside the hearth, Tang Jian didn't relax.

Based on his experience from forging swords at night a few days ago, this level of melting couldn't truly achieve the refinement of removing the impurities and retaining the essence. 

The sword embryo forged in this way would likely have flaws, which could easily lead to the failure of the subsequent spirit awakening.

After a moment of thought, he glanced sideways at Chen Guang and Yao Bin.

Seeing that the former was intently focused on the stone cup while the latter was still recovering from the previous danger, he slightly moved his mind, and a thin strand of light golden flame flowed out from his fingertip, merging into the hearth.

With the addition of this golden flame, the temperature inside the hearth suddenly rose, and the materials in the stone cup completely melted.

A moment later, Tang Jian poured the molten liquid from the stone cup into a mold and waited for it to gradually cool and solidify.

Once it solidified into an iron embryo, Chen Guang poured it onto the forging table before it had completely cooled down.

Yao Bin quickly followed up, using the iron clamp to fix the iron embryo in place, allowing Chen Guang to start hammering it.

Tang Jian, having some free time, occasionally added a few pieces of charcoal to the hearth to maintain the temperature.

"Clang, clang, clang..."

The three of them remained silent, with only the intermittent sound of hammering echoing inside the auxiliary hall.

After about three hours, sparks flew from the forging table, and a three-foot-long crimson sword embryo was basically formed.

But at that moment, something unexpected happened.

Chen Guang, who had been vigorously forging the sword embryo, suddenly had an abnormal flush on his face. Then, with a "pu" sound, he abruptly spat out a mouthful of blood.

The blood landed on the sword embryo, immediately causing a plume of white smoke to rise.

His body swayed, and the forging hammer in his hand nearly fell.

Seeing this, Tang Jian quickly stepped forward and supported Chen Guang from behind.

"Master..." Yao Bin's expression changed as he hurriedly called out.

Chen Guang shook his head, trying several times to lift the forging hammer again, but he couldn't exert any strength. Eventually, with his wrist trembling, he handed the hammer to Yao Bin.

"You take over..."

Upon hearing this, Yao Bin hesitated.

In such an important sword-making competition, could he, a novice swordsmith who could only forge low-grade magical swords, really handle it?

Seeing Yao Bin's indecisiveness and reluctance to take the hammer, disappointment and helplessness flashed in Chen Guang's eyes.

Just then, a hand suddenly reached out beside him, fingers closing around the handle of the forging hammer.

"I'll do it," Tang Jian sighed and said in a deep voice.

After saying this, he helped Chen Guang sit aside, walked back to the forging station, picked up the black hammer, and with Yao Bin's surprised gaze, forcefully struck down.

"Clang!"

A shower of sparks scattered in all directions.

Chen Guang's face was incredibly worn out, but his gaze towards Tang Jian brightened.

After a while, Tang Jian's clothes were completely soaked.

Holding a three-foot sword embryo that emitted a red glow, he came to Chen Guang's side and showed it to him.

"Mr. Chen, how is it?" Tang Jian asked.

Chen Guang's fingers slightly trembled as he gently stroked the sword body, as if touching the hair of a beloved woman, his movements extremely gentle.

"Excellent! Much better than the sword embryos I've made in the past. The sword patterns are fine and uniform, indicating that the hammering force and degree are just right. This sword deserves to be paired with high-grade runes," Chen Guang said excitedly.

After finishing his sentence, his expression turned somewhat disappointed.

"Unfortunately, my old injury has relapsed, and coupled with the Vitality Pill I took earlier, my injury is now even more severe. I'm too weak to awaken its spirit. Yao Bin's skills are not enough to inscribe high-grade runes. You..." Chen Guang said, his gaze turning to Tang Jian, with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

At this point, if he still couldn't see that Tang Jian was indeed a swordsmith, then his decades of sword-making experience would have been in vain. 

However, he didn't know the extent of Tang Jian's sword-making skills and still had some doubts in his heart.