The apprentice's life was hard. Every day, they had to get up early in the morning. First, they would practice the horse stance and exercise for half an hour. Then, they would go to the smelting room to help. The older apprentices would forge some tools, while the younger ones like Junior Leopard would help. In the afternoon, they would learn the basic skills of smelting in the yard.
In the evening, after a busy day in the smelting room, the messy things would be cleaned up by the apprentices.
"That's why I said that the previous books were right. Apprentices really have no human rights!" Holding a bowl-sized stake, Junior Leopard hammered it in the yard. While hammering, he silently cursed the evil old society.
This was the routine training of these apprentices every afternoon. Each of them had a hammer in their hands, and in front of them was a small stone platform. On the stone platform, there was a bowl-sized stake.
Yes, a bowl-sized stake. The task of these apprentices was to hit the stake on the stone platform with the iron hammer in their hands. Of course, they were not allowed to hit it randomly. There was a requirement. Every time they hit, they had to hit the same point. That was to say, they had to hit the place where they first hammered.
Don't think that it was easy. The stake was elastic. Not only was it elastic, but it was also a semicircle, not a plane. This indirectly increased the difficulty of hammering.
"Bang, bang, bang —!" A burst of muffled hammering sounded in this small yard, which contrasted with the sound of hammering metal in the smelting room.
"Boys, concentrate. When you can make a hole in this wooden stake in the afternoon, I will teach you what to do next. If you can't finish it in half a year, you can go home!"
Old Xing slowly walked around the yard, looking at his apprentices. Finally, he gradually fixed his attention on Junior Leopard.
"This kid is young, but he's very focused. He's also practiced martial arts before. His posture is also good. He's good material!"
Compared to the other apprentices, Junior Leopard, who had been here for less than 10 days, was obviously a notch better. The strength of each strike was not strong, but it was enough to ensure that each strike was under control, so that when the hammer hit, the hammer head would not bounce up uncontrollably. The other hand holding the wooden stake was also very stable, and the wooden stake on the stone platform would not move even a little after being hit.
The only regrettable thing was that he couldn't ensure that he hit the same spot every time. Although he tried his best, he still made a small bowl-shaped dent on the wooden stake.
"Kid, don't be anxious, don't panic. Pay attention to the stability of your right hand when you swing the hammer. It's not enough to just have a steady left hand. If your right hand isn't steady, you won't be able to hit the same spot!"
Standing beside Junior Leopard and watching for a long time, Old Xing suddenly said.
"Thank you, master!" Junior Leopard looked at him gratefully. The hammering speed obviously slowed down, and he began to slowly feel the strength of his hand when swinging the hammer.
"What are you looking at? If you have the same comprehension as this kid, I'll also give you some instructions. Practice quickly!"
While Old Xing and Junior Leopard were talking, the other apprentices involuntarily stopped what they were doing and looked at them.
Unexpectedly, they were scolded by Old Xing before they could take a look at them. They all buried their heads in hammering. But from time to time, Junior Leopard's keen spiritual mind could still feel some jealous and resentful eyes falling on him, which made him feel very uncomfortable.
"What's wrong with me? Why am I angry with these little bastards? What a loser!"
Feeling the fluctuation of his mood, Little Shiba laughed for no reason. Having lived two lives, he was almost 40 years old, and his mentality had long been mature. He didn't expect that his mood would fluctuate now.
Only mediocrity would not be envied by others!
In his previous life, he was mediocre. Although he had a doctorate, he had never been envied by others. After graduation, he mixed in with the civil service, but before he had a big future, he was finished. So he had never felt envied by others.
Unexpectedly, after living one more life, he was envied by others at the age of eight, especially in the "promising" profession of blacksmithing.
"I hope these little bastards won't make trouble for me. Otherwise, it'll be really hard to deal with!" Junior Leopard smiled bitterly in his heart, and once again immersed himself in blacksmithing.
Blacksmithing really has something in common with martial arts. Why do the key points of exerting force that Old Xing taught me have so much in common with the key points of punching skill that Wang Tianlei taught me?!
Little Shiba thought about it while hammering, and combined it with the punching skill he had learned before. Gradually, his mind entered a mysterious realm.
"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang —!" No one noticed that the sound of his hammering began to produce a slight change. The change was so subtle that the apprentices who were practicing with Junior Leopard didn't notice it. Only Old Xing felt that something was wrong.
At this time, he was standing with his back to Junior Leopard beside an 11 or 12-year-old apprentice. This apprentice's aptitude was second only to Junior Leopard's. Although his skills were not as outstanding as Junior Leopard's, he was still a promising talent. He was about to instruct this apprentice like before when he heard a voice that made him feel incredulous.
At first, he thought he had misheard, but when he turned around and saw Junior Leopard hammering the wooden pile with full concentration, he was stunned. Then, an uncontrollable ecstasy surged on his face. He hurried two steps to Junior Leopard and gently approached him. Watching Junior Leopard hammering the pile with a blank expression, Old Xing subconsciously relaxed his footsteps, as if he was afraid of alarming Junior Leopard.
Old Xing's abnormality naturally attracted the attention of other apprentices. They all stopped what they were doing and followed Old Xing's gaze to look at him.
This time, Old Xing did not let them continue to work, but let them do as they pleased.
Gradually, these apprentices also saw the mystery of Junior Leopard's hammer. His speed was not fast, and his strength was not strong. But it was strange that every time he hammered, the hammerhead hit the same point on the wooden pile, and the point of contact would sink a little. Most importantly, Junior Leopard's hammering frequency seemed to be fixed, and his hammering movements became more and more skillful. In the end, it was like floating clouds and flowing water, giving people a feeling of incomparable harmony.
Junior Leopard seemed not to notice other people's attention. In fact, he really did not know that his mind had been completely immersed in this state.
Not knowing how long it had been, Junior Leopard's movements suddenly stopped with a "click" sound, as if he had woken up from a dream. His blank eyes instantly returned to normal, and then he found that the wooden pile on the stone platform in front of him had been hammered through by him. A hammer-head-sized hole appeared on the wooden pile. The strange sound just now was caused by his hammer hitting the stone platform below.
At this time, he finally noticed the situation around him, and could not help but be stunned.
"This is —!"
"Junior Leopard, come with me. The rest of you, go back and continue to practice —!" Old Xing suppressed the joy in his heart and roared. The other apprentices returned to their positions one by one, like cats whose tails had been stepped on.
Junior Leopard's performance was indeed magical, but in their eyes, it was just magical, or even strange. What could a group of teenagers know? They just regarded it as a magic trick.
But Old Xing was different.
He knew the state that Junior Leopard had entered just now. It was called epiphany. Epiphany meant that suddenly, a great truth was comprehended, and the understanding in a certain field became extremely profound. This was epiphany.
This kind of epiphany had nothing to do with aptitude, but only depended on good fortune and luck. Some geniuses could not have epiphany even once in their lifetime, while some fools could have epiphany several times in their lifetime and achieve great achievements in a certain field.
Old Xing had never entered the state of epiphany, but this kind of thing was widely spread between heaven and earth, just like the celestial fate in novels and unofficial history. Even if one had never eaten pork, wouldn't he have seen a pig running? Even if one had never seen a pig running, at least he had heard of this animal!
Now Junior Leopard's state and the effect caused by it, wasn't it the pig, oh, no, the epiphany that he had heard before?
Thinking of this, Old Xing felt a surge of emotions. He looked at Junior Leopard with a much softer look, which scared Junior Leopard a lot.
"Does this old man have a special hobby …?!"
It turned out that this old man did not have any special hobby, he just loved talents.
"Come here, sit down!"
After entering the room, Old Xing pointed to the stool next to him and said with a pleasant face.
Junior Leopard wanted to sit, but after thinking about it, he still stood there and said respectfully, "In front of Master, where can I sit?"
"I didn't expect you to be a man of etiquette!" Old Xing looked at Junior Leopard with some surprise, "You don't seem to be from the countryside!"
Junior Leopard smiled, "Although I was born in the countryside, I have learned poetry and books for a few days. Naturally, I know some of the principles of dealing with people!"
"Learned poetry and books for a few days!" Old Xing's face changed, "You can read?"
In this world, literate people were very few. Just like in the old society, the illiteracy rate was extremely high. Even Old Xing in front of him could not read more than 100 words. As for the characters, he could probably write his own name, which was already very good. In the mountain village where Junior Leopard lived, literate people were even fewer. Therefore, Junior Leopard's words were completely beyond his expectation.
Junior Leopard smiled bitterly and looked a little embarrassed, "These are all my brother-in-law's skills!" Then, he told Old Xing what Wang Tianlei had done in the village one by one, and Old Xing was deeply moved.
"I see. You are a far-sighted person. No wonder I heard that in recent years, there is a very prosperous small village near Qingyang Market. It must be your village!"
Speaking of this, he glanced at Junior Leopard and saw his happy face, then he said, "How did you feel just now? Was it wonderful?"
"Ah? Oh, yes, very strange! " Junior Leopard was stunned for a moment, and then he understood what Old Xing was referring to. He quickly said, "It's just —!"
"It's just that it's very difficult to recall it now. You can't find the previous feeling, right?"
"Yes!" Junior Leopard nodded quickly.
"Don't look at me. I'm not as lucky as you are. I've never had an epiphany. I've only heard it from others!" Seeing Junior Leopard looking at him with a hopeful look, Old Xing blushed with shame, "However, after this incident, you should have a great understanding of the hammering method. It's a pity that you stay here as an apprentice. I heard that you have learned martial arts, is it true?"
"It's true. My brother-in-law used to be a soldier in the army. I followed him to practice punching skill and Internal Qi!" Junior Leopard said truthfully.
"You have practiced Internal Qi?!" Old Xing was surprised again. Originally, he heard that Junior Leopard had practiced martial arts, but he just thought that he had practiced ordinary External Strength. He didn't expect that he had practiced Internal Qi.
"Have you practiced Internal Qi?!"
"Yes, but I haven't practiced for a long time, so —!"
Before he finished speaking, Old Xing stretched out his left hand and grasped his right hand. Then, a hot Internal Qi was transferred into Junior Leopard's meridian.
Junior Leopard's expression changed. Before he realized it, the Ignis Internal Qi in his body had counterattacked.
"Hey, good boy, it's the Internal Qi of Fire!" Feeling the counterattack of Junior Leopard's Internal Qi, Old Xing became more suspicious. His Internal Qi rushed out and broke Junior Leopard's Internal Qi.
This was also the result of Junior Leopard's deliberate restraint. Otherwise, with his cultivation, he would be able to resist for a while.
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