Rebirth of The Strongest Swordsman

Chapter 3

"Internal Qi is merely raw energy," Lin Feng stated coldly, keeping his hand immovable. "Without anatomical precision, distance management, and correct leverage, your Qi is wasted breath, as you rely on physical power you fail to comprehend."

Song Feng swallowed hard, feeling the steel nick his outer skin. "If you execute me, Elder Liu will slaughter you! He is meeting with Supervisor Hu Lang from the Canglan Sword Sect right now to finalize the agreement to seize the timber yard and the mountain valley behind it!"

Lin Feng's eyes narrowed into sharp slits as his mind processed the information. 'The Canglan Sword Sect is targeting the Fallen Sword Valley,' he calculated internally, recognizing the regional sect trying to extract resources from the Qingyun Sect.

"Where is Elder Liu right now?" Lin Feng demanded, holding the steel blade steady against the disciple's neck.

"He is at the Main Assessment Hall in the Central Zone!" Song Feng stammered frantically, pressing his palms into the dirt. "In three days, the annual Servant Elevation Assessment begins! Elder Liu placed your name on the death match roster and arranged for examiners from the Canglan Sect to execute you on the stage legally!"

Lin Feng stared down at Song Feng for two seconds, then pulled the steel blade back from his neck.

Song Feng gasped for air, scrambling backward on his hands and knees until his back struck the heavy armored legs of the patrol guards.

"Get up," Lin Feng ordered coldly, resting the steel sword across his right shoulder. "Go tell Liu Tianba that I accept his assessment, and in three days, I will walk into the Main Assessment Hall myself."

Song Feng pulled himself up with the assistance of two guards, staring at Lin Feng with intense malice and instinctual fear. "You are insane, Lin Feng! You possess no Qi, and in three days, the Canglan Sect's examiners will tear your flesh from your bones!"

"Leave," Lin Feng said, taking one step forward.

Song Feng and the ten guards retreated frantically out of the timber yard, dragging Zhao Wei, Li Er, and the unconscious Gao Wu behind them as they fled down the gravel path.

Da Zhuang stood up slowly from the firewood stack, staring at the steel sword in Lin Feng's hand in utter shock. "Brother Lin... you defeated an Outer Disciple! But what are we going to do in three days? The Servant Elevation Assessment is a death match designed to execute you!"

Lin Feng looked down at his right hand as the cold numbness of the Eclipsed State began to subside. A faint, silver thread of Divine Sword Qi trickled back into his spinal marrow from his newly unlocked second node, restoring his internal energy flow.

"The assessment provides my pathway out of this slum," Lin Feng stated calmly, closing his fingers into a tight fist. "I will claim the status of Outer Disciple on that stage."

Suddenly, a heavy iron bell chimed three times from the distant peak of the Qingyun Sect.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

A powerful, suffocating pressure washed over the outer mountains, accompanied by a booming voice amplified by spiritual art across the sky.

"By order of the Canglan Sword Sect!" the voice boomed, rattling the storehouse timber. "All servants and outer disciples of the Qingyun Sect are to gather at the main square immediately, and surrender all administrative rights of the Fallen Sword Valley to Supervisor Hu Lang at once!"

Lin Feng turned his gaze toward the central peak, his newly restored silver Sword Qi vibrating sharply along his spinal column.

The heavy vibration of the distant iron bell slowly faded through the wooden rafters of the storehouse.

Da Zhuang clutched his chest, breathing heavily as he stared out the open doorway toward the distant central peaks. "Brother Lin, that voice belongs to Supervisor Hu Lang from the Canglan Sword Sect!" Da Zhuang shouted, his voice trembling with panic. "They are seizing the Fallen Sword Valley today!"

Lin Feng stood near the doorway, observing the faint silver glow settling into his second spinal node. His Dantian remained cool, yet the thread of Divine Sword Qi flowed smoothly along his vertebrae, restoring his core physical perception.

"The Canglan Sect is accelerating their timeline," Lin Feng stated flatly. "They wish to secure the territory before the senior sect elders can react."

"Are we going to the main square right now?" Da Zhuang asked, stepping nervously toward the gravel path.

"First, we go to the forge," Lin Feng replied, stepping over the splintered wooden threshold into the morning sunlight. "A mortal frame cannot conduct high-density Divine Sword Qi without refined steel."

They walked down the muddy gravel path leading through Zone 1 of the servant slums. Fifty yards ahead, thick black smoke rose from the brick chimney of Uncle Zhu's blacksmith shop, filling the air with the sharp scent of burning coal and hot iron.

Zhu Tieshan stood beside a massive stone anvil, wielding a twenty-pound iron hammer against a glowing slab of pig iron. His scarred forearms rippled with muscle under the soot, and a wooden jug of bitter grain liquor rested on a barrel beside his forge.

"Uncle Zhu!" Da Zhuang called out, stepping into the heat of the shop.

Zhu Tieshan did not raise his head from the anvil, driving his heavy hammer down with a loud metallic crash. "If you are here to buy iron axes, I have none," Zhu Tieshan rumbles, his voice rough from charcoal dust. "Elder Liu’s patrol guards confiscated the raw ore supply two days ago."

Lin Feng stepped into the forge, his cold eyes locking onto a dark iron longsword resting on a wooden rack behind the anvil. The blade measured three feet in length, forged from high-density black iron, weighing approximately thirty-five pounds.

"That blade contains three percent unrefined copper impurities," Lin Feng stated, stopping three feet from the anvil. "Your temper heat was fifty degrees too high during the second quench."

Zhu Tieshan froze his hammer mid-air, turning his bloodshot eyes toward Lin Feng. "A servant without Qi dares to critique my forging mechanics?" Zhu Tieshan demanded, narrowing his dark eyes.

"Flaws in metal alignment do not hide from proper observation," Lin Feng answered calmly. "The hilt balance is offset to the left by two millimeters, which will fracture the spine under heavy kinetic impact."

Before Zhu Tieshan could respond, heavy leather boots slammed loudly against the wooden floorboards at the shop entrance.

An Outer Disciple corporal named Gao Shan stepped into the forge, accompanied by four patrol guards bearing iron-bound spears. Gao Shan held an official confiscation scroll tied with red silk in his left hand.

"Zhu Tieshan!" Gao Shan shouted, pointing his finger at the wooden weapon rack. "By order of Elder Liu and Supervisor Hu Lang, all refined iron weapons in this forge are impounded for the Canglan Sect's arrival!"

Gao Shan stepped forward, pushing Da Zhuang aside with his heavy leather shoulder guard. Da Zhuang stumbled against a timber support post, gasping as his back hit the wood.