Commanding Wind and Cloud
chapter-36

“Qian Jin…” Francis grabbed onto Qian Jin’s arm and wanted to say something, but he saw no fear in Qian Jin’s eye. The skillful blacksmithing technique that looked like a dance gave the other blacksmiths a ton of pressure, but it seemed like it didn’t make Qian Jin nervous at all.

Qian Jin looked at Francis and Lucas and laughed. Lucas’ technique was much worse compared to old Blake in the Endless World. “Is he proud of this level of technique? Why are you people worried about him?” Qian Jin thought to himself.

“Boss, Francis, let me use your hammers.”

What Qian Jin said confused the crowd. “Why are you borrowing two hammers? Forging refined iron only required one hammer to do the job. Was he so scared by Lucas that he lost his confidence?

Qian Jin took the hammers from Franklin’s and Francis’ hands and walked to the forge. He said to Madeline who was still beside the bellows, “Could you please crank up the heat? Thanks.”

Lucas suddenly pulled on his mustache as he stared at Qian Jin in a bad mood. “This brat really has no manner. How dare he just use my worker like that?”

Lucas didn’t want to make a scene in public, so he didn’t express his negative attitude. He laughed as he said to Madeline, “To blacksmiths, blowing and controlling the fire requires experience and technique as well. Since Franklin’s Blacksmith Shop doesn’t have any excellent talent, you can help this kid out.”

Franklin snorted again, but he couldn’t refute what Lucas said. Blowing the fire was a very technical skill. It was true that no one at his blacksmith shop was better at blowing fire than this Lucas’ henchman.

The pig iron heated up and turned red. As soon as Qian Jin placed the red-hot pig iron on the anvil with the pair of tongs, he picked up the two hammers. This move caught everyone’s attention, “Is this kid really going to use both hammers?” the crowd wondered.

Lucas wrapped his arms together and smiled confidently. “These young guys are way too impatient. I only performed my elegant forging skill, and he now he already wants to try to compete with me?” Lucas thought.

Tink! The hammer struck on the pig iron for the first time, and it made a loud sound that was enough to shock the crowd’s souls. At the same time, Lucas’ smile froze on his face.

Without the tongs holding it in place, the iron jumped up into the air due to the impulse from the strike. But before it could land on the anvil, the second strike from the second hammer was already there. Tink!

It was another collision sound. Before the crowd could get use to the loud sounds, the hammers in Qian Jin’s hands landed on the iron rapidly like raindrops in a storm.

If Lucas’ hammer was performing an amazing dance that was not rehearsed, then Qian Jin’s hammers were engaged in a battle! Both hammers had performed an intense, yet exciting war song! The loud metal colliding sounds dragged the crowd into a magnificent, soul-stirring war!

Lucas stared at Qian Jin intensely. “What… what is happening?” He didn’t know what was going on.

Franklin was staring at Qian Jin so hard that his eyeballs almost fell out of their sockets. “Qian Jin wasn’t like this yesterday! How is he doing this after a night? Did he not show us all his capabilities yesterday? Is he upset at Lucas, so he decided to perform at his peak?” Franklin thought.

The metal jumped into the air due to the impulse, and it was hit and landed on the anvil again. Without the need of the tongs to lock it in place, the two hammers in Qian Jin’s hand repeatedly adjusted the iron’s position by striking. The hammers didn’t let it leave a certain area.

“Keep the heat up, don’t stop!”

“Throw the other piece of iron onto this anvil.”

“Keep pumping air into the forge, and put another piece of iron into it!”

Qian Jin swung both hammers with his hands and made various commands irregularly. It really opened the crowd’s eyes.

Two pieces of iron bouncing around, three pieces of iron bouncing around…

Gradually, the three pieces of iron turned into two pieces of iron, and the two pieces of iron turned into one piece of iron. The hot sparks splashed around the workshop and made sizzling sounds, as if a fancy firework was being lit up on the small anvil.

The iron continued to decrease in size, and Lucas’ heart began to speed up. Sometime during this process, both of his hands formed into fists, and the yellow mustache above his lips twitched.

“It is possible to forge iron this way?” Franklin looked at Francis, and he discovered that Francis was looking back at him with surprise in his eyes.

It was obvious that Qian Jin wasn’t going to stop forging any time soon. He reached into the burning forge with one of his hammers and tipped out the fourth piece of red hot iron!

Lucas’ heart started to contract, and the muscles on his face started to twitch aggressively. All the doubts from the members of the Fire Adventure Team had disappeared.

The warrior student who seemed young used two hammers and taught the crowd the definition of a miracle.

Two hours; the two hours that should have seemed long to the crowd who wasn’t doing anything, flew by as they watched Qian Jin forge. It seemed like only a few seconds had passed.

Tink! There was another metal colliding sound, and the hammer in Qian Jin’s hand circled in Qian Jin’s palm as it knocked the [Refined Iron] that was forged into the barrel of water.

‘Shiii!’ The never changing sound of hot metal meeting cold water resonated in the workshop, and steam filled the space around Qian Jin.

Qian Jin placed the two hammers of unequal weight onto the ground, clapped his hands and said with a similar tone to Lucas, “To be fair, I won’t be judging my own work. Mr. Lucas, if you are a true blacksmith, then please comment on my work.”

The comfort and confidence that were on Lucas’ face had disappeared. He frowned as his eyebrows met each other on his forehead.

Gradually, the tense, careful expression on his face went away, and it was replaced with the expression of joy and happiness. He slightly smiled as he looked at Qian Jin in disdain. “Kid, blacksmithing isn’t a game. You have gone on the wrong path. Your forging technique looked spectacular, but unfortunately…”

Lucas waved his index finger and sneered as he said to Qian Jin, “You neglected one thing. You only forged one piece of [Refined Iron] in two hours. Even if it is top quality, it lacks in quantity. It’s no match to my two pieces of [Refined Iron].”

The blacksmith who was working the bellows also swept the sweat off of his face and smiled proudly. “Boss Lucas is still the best blacksmith at Oakland!” he thought.

The blacksmiths behind Franklin were disappointed as they heard that, and even their breaths were heavier. The people from the Fire Adventure Team all looked at Lucas.

Qian Jin scratched his head casually and said, “Let’s take a look at the [Refined Iron], shall we?”

“Okay!” Lucas fixed his collar and walked up to the water barrel confidently, as if he was a general of an army, and he was observing his men.

“This…?” Lucas was surprised as he looked into the water barrel.