It was unclear if peach wood was harder than lightning-struck peach wood. The peach tree, as thick as a flagpole, was chopped by Long Feicheng with his polished wood-cutting knife. He swung the knife over a hundred times, panting heavily before it finally broke.
As soon as he finished chopping the peach wood, Long Feicheng tossed the knife aside and sat down on the ground to catch his breath.
“Damn it, why is this peach wood so hard? My hands are covered in blisters!”
Yan Shouyi picked up the peach wood and said with a smile, “You’re a city person after all, not used to farm work. Your grip on the wood-cutting knife was incorrect, so it’s no wonder you got blisters. You should pop them, and I’ll find some herbs to put on them for you later.”
Although Yan Shouyi had fair skin, he had worked in the mountains quite a bit during his childhood. As a descendant of Lu Ban, he had been dealing with carpentry tools since he was young.
The wood-cutting knife, as long as his arm, was as nimble in Yan Shouyi’s hands as a pencil sharpener shaving a pencil.
Yan Shouyi effortlessly trimmed off the protruding branches from the peach wood, then peeled it and began shaping it into a sword.
It looked as if he had practiced countless times; everything he did was natural and fluid, without any wasted motion.
Lin Zitong watched from the side, and unconsciously pouted. It wasn’t out of anger, but rather a sense of pride. In her eyes, Yan Shouyi, when engrossed in his work, was simply the most handsome man in the world.
And this man belonged to her.
When she saw Yan Shouyi sweating, she would go over to wipe his brow. When he coughed, she would ask if he was thirsty.
This made Long Feicheng beside them burst into tears of envy.
“Go on and flaunt your relationship. I’ll find my own girlfriend someday, and I’ll flaunt it even more than you!” Long Feicheng swore vehemently.
To Yan Shouyi and Lin Zitong, his boastful words sounded like: “Woof woof woof! Woof woof woof woof woof!”
Poor single dog!
Soon, a light peach wood sword began to take shape under Yan Shouyi’s wood-cutting knife. This process took no more than three to four minutes, less time than it took Long Feicheng to chop the peach tree.
Next, Yan Shouyi took out his carving knife and began to add finer details, including patterns on the blade, grooves on the guard, and textures on the hilt to improve grip.
If it were colored, the peach wood sword would be indistinguishable from a real sword.
Finally, Yan Shouyi carved two talismans onto the peach wood sword. Once activated, one would unleash a power similar to a palm lightning strike and a divine lightning spell, while the other would project a golden protective light.
Yan Shouyi had merged the divine lightning spell, the palm lightning strike, and the golden light incantation from Longhu Mountain into the peach wood sword.
Long Feicheng might not have understood, but Lin Zitong knew that carving such a peach wood sword was no simple feat. It was likely that Yan Shouyi had long intended to craft a weapon for Long Feicheng, and today he had just happened upon the lightning-struck peach wood.
Ultimately, the peach wood sword was completed in Yan Shouyi’s hands, taking a total of half an hour.
The finished peach wood sword had a thin, natural-looking blade. The mysterious talismans on the sword made it immediately apparent that it was no ordinary object.
However, as Lin Zitong looked at the peach wood sword, she felt something was still missing.
Yan Shouyi provided the answer: “It’s missing a sword tassel.”
Long Feicheng asked, “What’s a sword tassel?”
“It’s the tassel at the pommel. In combat, it can obscure the opponent’s vision, wrap around your hand, entangle the opponent’s weapon, or even be grabbed to wield the sword remotely,” Yan Shouyi replied.
Long Feicheng was already coveting the peach wood sword as it was. He chuckled, “Brother Yan, that sounds too advanced for me. Even if I had one, I wouldn’t know how to use it. How about we leave it as is? Quickly, see if it feels balanced in my hand!”
In this desolate wilderness, there was indeed no suitable sword tassel to be found. Yan Shouyi had no choice but to temporarily abandon the idea, tossing the peach wood sword to Long Feicheng, intending to complete it for him at a later opportunity.
Long Feicheng took the peach wood sword. It felt just right in his hands, neither too heavy nor too light. With a horizontal sweep, it cut through the air with a whistling sound.
He was very satisfied.
A sword that was too heavy would affect speed, while one too light would make it difficult to control its power. Therefore, a sword was not only about appearance; there were many subtle aspects to it.
For example, if the peach wood sword were placed horizontally with the guard aligned with his finger, the sword should be perfectly balanced.
Any slight deviation would affect the sword’s quality and, consequently, the skill of the wielder.
Of course, Long Feicheng knew nothing of these intricacies. His swordsmanship looked like that of a three-year-old child.
But regardless, having a weapon in hand was better than being empty-handed.
As the saying goes, men remain boys at heart. Holding the peach wood sword, Long Feicheng went on a rampage, “harvesting” the wild grass by the roadside, providing sound effects for his sword.
“If I had such a divine artifact in my hands when I was little, I guarantee not a blade of grass would have survived within a ten-mile radius!” Long Feicheng exclaimed.
Yan Shouyi smiled, took the peach wood sword back from Long Feicheng, and then, with a focused gaze, suddenly slashed towards the bamboo forest in front of him!
BOOM—
A bolt of lightning erupted from the peach wood sword, engulfing the bamboo forest. The dry leaves on the ground were swept into the air, and over a dozen thick bamboo stalks, as thick as bowls, were cleanly severed!
“Good heavens!”
Long Feicheng’s eyes widened. “Is this its true power?”
Yan Shouyi returned the peach wood sword to Long Feicheng and said, “Practice your swordplay well when we get back. Even if you don’t learn the Lu Ban techniques, you’ll still have a knack for catching ghosts.”
Long Feicheng excitedly took back the peach wood sword, brimming with excitement and high spirits.
Lin Zitong asked Long Feicheng what name he would give the peach wood sword. Long Feicheng pondered for a moment and replied, “Let’s call it Caiwei.”
Upon hearing the name, both of them were momentarily stunned. “Why would you choose that name? Are you still unable to forget Caiwei?”
Although Lin Zitong was Lu Caiwei’s good friend and hoped Long Feicheng would end up with Lu Caiwei, the two clearly lacked fate. After such a long time, there was still no spark, so even Lin Zitong had given up on them.
Long Feicheng laughed, “I don’t mean anything else by it. I just think Caiwei’s name sounds nice, and I’m not very learned, so I’ll just call it Caiwei.”
“I see.”
They both nodded and didn’t dwell on the matter any further.
Acquiring the Caiwei sword was merely a small interlude on their journey into the mountains.
With the Caiwei sword strapped to his back, the trio immediately set off again.
With the headhunter leading the way, they didn’t take any detours and arrived at Jiang Shuang’s father’s mine.
Along the way, Yan Shouyi learned from the headhunter’s confession that Boss Zhou seemed to have had a clear objective to excavate something from this mountain before he came to Chenjia Village.
Therefore, he had secretly recruited various extraordinary individuals in Xiangjiang and brought them all to Chenjia Village.
The headhunter heard about Boss Zhou’s plans in Xiangjiang and felt that this trip would definitely yield some benefits and profits. Thus, he approached Boss Zhou, but without revealing his identity as a headhunter.
He thought that if there was anything in the mountains of Chenjia Village, he could take advantage of the chaos, strike unexpectedly, and seize what Boss Zhou desired.
As for what was in the mine, the headhunter actually didn’t know.
Therefore, Boss Zhou was unaware of the headhunter’s true identity and treated him as a trusted subordinate, assigning him the task of handling matters in Chenjia Village.
Unexpectedly, by chance, the headhunter encountered Yan Shouyi and his companions and ended up falling into their hands.
It truly was a case of trying to steal a chicken only to lose the bait, ultimately harming himself.
Speaking of which, the headhunter was filled with regret. He had become accustomed to being powerful in the small place of Xiangjiang, completely forgetting that there were always people more skilled than oneself.
An hour and a half later, the three stopped their steps in the bamboo forest.
The headhunter landed on Yan Shouyi’s shoulder and was about to speak when San Yuan snatched his position and kicked him down.
San Yuan: This is my spot!
The headhunter, who had fallen to the ground, was extremely dejected, but he still said,
“Boss Zhou and his men’s camp is just ahead.”
Directly in front of the bamboo forest, Yan Shouyi could vaguely see tents of various sizes, and figures moving about.
He sniffed the air and frowned, saying, “I smell sulfur. They’re probably using it to ward off insects and snakes.”
The headhunter confirmed, “That’s right. I saw the people Boss Zhou brought sprinkle sulfur around the area.”
But Yan Shouyi immediately added,
“This isn’t ordinary sulfur. There’s something else mixed in with the sulfur… It seems they’re not just trying to guard against snakes and insects!”