Several weeks pass quickly and Arc has reached body tempering stage 10
His body tempering has slowed down significantly as the further you go the slower it gets
Another reason why most people don't go past 10, not only is it extremely dangerous, it takes an enormous amount of time and energy to complete
Yet even though his body tempering has slowed down, he has not ceased putting in hard work
He could maintain Eagle claw with nearly no energy loss for almost three hours
'I think it's time I should go check on the book'
Arc thought to himself before preparing to head out towards the bookstore, only to see a massive line waiting to get inside once he got there
With nothing much else to do he began practicing his ki control while within the line, and after nearly an hour wait he finally arrived to the front
"Hello sir, oh its you, its great news your book has been selling very well"
The shop attendant recognizing him spoke cheerfully
"Thats great how much have we made?"
Arc spoke with a smile
"10,000 spirit stones"
"wow I made 6000 spirit stones"
Arc then became extremely excited
"no, no you misunderstand, your cut is 10,000"
Arc turn as he heard the voice of someone else
He saw the older woman who was in charge of the bookstore
" your book was very nice, even I bought a copy of it"
She spoke with a smile
" that's great. I'm glad you enjoyed the book"
Arc spoke with a smile while he did some guilt, he has to use all the resources available to him
'10,000 that's more than enough to complete my plan'
After leaving the bookstore, Arc realized, it is almost time for his assisted library work position to end
As each sect job does not last longer than a few months, he could always renew, and take the same job, which is what he has been doing lately, but he is now considering taking a forge job
With the funds he has available he could make tools and equipment to begin making stuff, this would require lots of time in the forge
So Arc decided to pay the librarian a visit to discuss this with him, after arriving at the library, he turned to the librarian and spoke
"Hey old man, i wanted to ask you something"
"Watch your tone brat, what do you want"
After having his conversation with the librarian ,arc realized he was overthinking things
The librarian had seen this coming, he knew that arc never stops moving forward to achieve his goal,
So he let him leave with no hassle, and told him to come visit when he is free
After leaving the library, he headed towards the administration of the sect
He found that the entire place was full , it seems many people were here to renew their jobs or pick new ones
After waiting a while for his turn he reached the front
"What can i do for ya kid"
An old man with a large white beard spoke
"Yes i was to change my sect duty"
"Of course no problem, whats your name and where do you want to be assigned ?"
"Archean, and i would like to be assigned to the forge"
"Very well"
The man then grabbed a a piece of jade, these are used to contain energy, but if a message is written with energy it can store information or images
With enough of them then you have a system that can share and spread information rapidly within the sect
This is very expensive though so it is technology seen only by the large sects, or factions
After being assigned his new position as a aid in the forge, Arc headed there to see what his job would entail
Arc headed into the forge room he was assigned to, and found that some else was already there, a man with long black hair that almost reached his waist and star shaped pupils, before he could say anything this person spoke
"Your new at the forge, so i was sent to train you in how to operate and use the Machines in this place, so that you don't mess up"
"Yes sir, how should I address you?" Arc asked inquisitively as he heard the elder incharge of the forge wasn't a man, yet this man wore the clothes of a elder
He turned toward Arc before responding
" Aether, is my name no need for titles, i'm not the incharge of the forge, sometimes i train new forge recruits when the elder is busy so she can focus on more important tasks"
Aether then changed the subject and started explaining to Arc what each Machine does, and how to operate them
Arc had seen blacksmithing shows before, so he knew what a couple of the Devices were for, but there was also other that left him speechless
'This can't just be me seeing things, but isn't that a lead proof case?, like the ones used to contain radioactive materials??'
Arc thought to himself
Aether seeing Arc attention waning looked and when he saw where Arc was looking he spoke warningly
"That's for contaminant, quite a few materials the golden core elders work with radiate dangerous energies that can damage or kill anyone bellow foundation establishment"
" do not open any of those such containers, as it would be very easy to lose your life"
Hearing this Arc couldn't help but imagine a sword immortal flying on a sword made of plutonium
After Arc calmed down aether continued to teach Arc of what his duties would entail
' i see this isn't a bad job, all i have to do is help the people who come here to forge objects , and when i gain more experience and skill, people can directly commission me to make them things for some money'
Arc thought to himself,
Arc saw the potential in working here and seeing that Arc had grasped the basics aether said goodbye and left
Now armed with the information he needed Arc just had to apply it, and began mastering the trade
Since it was his first day he wasn't expected to directly act as a forge aid, he would first get acquainted with everything in the forge
Arc decided to attempt to put his "training" to the test and try to forge a knife
"It can't be that hard, physically I stronger than anything on earth well excluding a blue whale"
Arc muttered to himself as he set up everything according to what he knows
2 hours later Arc emerged from the forge room, his robes and scorched a detail he overlooked was that this was a cultivation world
The metals they use are finicky and like fighting back, the flames burn incredibly hot, beyond any forge on earth
In a situation where every little mistake which would have had few consequence on mortal metals,
they would have catastrophic consequences, when made with cultivation metals
Not only did they contain spirit energy, but it would blast out the moment it was handled incorrectly
And in a lot of those blast out scenarios, it would cause flames to cover Arc
Thankfully due to his highted ki control he could defend himself before he took any real damage, but his hair and clothes still received burned
And this problem was one he couldn't solve easily, as he has yet to cultivate qi, he is unable to sense it
How can he tell the difference between spirit qi iron, and mortal iron, if they look the same in the eyes of a mortal
This caused Arc to have to think fast for a solution, after getting a change of clothes he returned to the forge and began feeling out the metals
This time he wouldn't rely upon his eyes. he would use his ki as eyes, and attempt to determine whether the materials contained spirit energy
This is what he should've done from the start, but his mentality is still of a person from earth, and habits die hard
Arc took a deep breath and closed his eyes, he hands would graze and pass over the metals as his ki touched and entered them
He found this sensation strange, he didn't know how to describe it, the closest he could think of is that it is as if he was seeing with X-ray goggles and using a X-ray machine at the same time but not color tinted
He could "see" the outside of the metal, as well as the interior, he found that he could see an energy bound deep within some of the metals
This energy seemed to be trapped and unable to escape, no that's wrong it was a part of the metal, in the same way radiation is given off from uranium, these metals contained spirit qi
This realization struck Arc and he couldn't help but have a thought creep into his head, 'is radiation a form of spirit qi?'
Then wouldn't nuclear energy be a higher level application of spirit energy, to grasp the energy hidden within atoms themselves
Regardless of how much his thoughts raced he knew that that answer wasn't right, but simultaneously it wasn't wrong
He didn't know how much was real, or how much was fake, that would be something he would need to study in the future
His train of thought has lost his focus and he found that much of his ki has been wasted, as he wasn't focusing on the task before him
'This could also be used as a training method' Arc thought to himself as he took a deep breath and began focusing on what was before him
Arc continued this until he felt a knock on the door, after opening it he found that it was aether
"You're still here, kid? The forged closed an hour ago, i was just leaving and sensed someone inside, didn't expect it to be you"
Aether said laughing slightly
Arc grew somewhat embarrassed, he had lost track of time.
With that reminder he cleaned up the forge and headed down the mountain back to his room
After arriving back to his room Arc took out a empty notebook and began recording all the information he learned today
While he knew he wouldn't forget even if he doesn't write it down, this was a good way to organize his thought and brain storm, leading him to do this frequently
"I was right, i am able to you ki to sense spirit energy, but it's very rugged, not clear, no wonder it's recommended to use a formation when advancing to qi cultivator"
"For the average stage 10 body tempering cultivator, sensing energy was extremely difficult"
Arc muttered aloud as he thought to himself
'I can only sense the spirit ki when directly touching the metals, i need to practice sensing energy that could very much help when breaking into innate'
With that in mind Arc closed his eyes and focused on his ki, attempting to feel the energy in the air
This was a step higher than sensing the stationary energy with the metals
Arc felt something in the air that was tough and rugged, full of life, he also felt something nearby much weaker
It felt like a weak breeze in the distance, and yet as quickly as he felt it, it disappeared right before him and he no longer felt the energy
Yet he didn't feel to bad because knew he had succeeded, he felt earth qi and wind qi, when he joined the sect the test and found that he had an affinity for those energies
This was the first time he truly understood what that affinity meant, it means connection, understanding
He found his ki was significantly diminished, almost the entirety of it was gone, which makes sense
According to many of the books he read, ki has low efficiency when casting spells
The moment his energy ran out, so did his connection with the elements
After that Arc felt completely exhausted and collapsed into his bed and slept the night away
The next morning Arc headed to the forge and found that today he was assigned to help an inner disciple in the forge today
With that he followed instructions given to him by Aether and began preparing the forge, after having everything ready to go he took out a book and began reading to pass the time
An hour later Aether opened the door leading in the inner disciple, he was pleasantly surprised to see that everything was prompt and ready
"That's convenient well done"
The inner disciple spoke as he began preparing, and instructing Arc,
on the other side of the door Aether laughed slightly after closing the door,
he immediately removed the elder robes he was wearing, changing back into inner disciple robes
He also removed the wig and contacts he was wearing, having him appear as a completely different person
What Arc and that inner disciple didn't know was that Aether wasn't a elder who was training the forge aids to do the elder in charge a favor
That was just an excuse he would use so that the people in the forge listen to him
He did it purely because of the low quality the forge aids were, they weren't trained and had to learn how to do everything themselves
This left him having poor service while trying to forge, he decided to take matter into his own hands
He organized a lot of the basic skills and tricks that would be helpful for someone who is aiding another person in forging
And he could come and teach them to the new people who come to the forge
This had a positive impact on the sect and on those in the forge, leading this happier smiths to share tips with the hardworking aids,
while those who weren't cut out for it found that out quickly without wasting everyone's time
While he felt proud of his work, he knew that he couldn't keep this up forever, eventually he would be caught
With that in mind, he has tried to change the forge environment so that the people there willing share information amongst each other
While limiting the time he is the "elder Aether"
He then left quickly in the hopes of not getting caught
While "aether" removed his disguise and left the forge Arc remained busy, he used the knowledge he held and sensed the spirit energy with ki
Allowing him to avoid making fatal mistakes, naturally he wasn't able to do everything on his first try he made a few mistakes
But seeing how well Arc was doing, for his first time as he was told by "aether" the inner disciple would occasionally interject giving him tips and tricks that would simplify things and avoid mistakes
During this time Arc found experience was the best mentor, no matter how many times you plan something out, if you don't do it, you won't progress
"Bring out an empty metal canister"
The inner disciple spoke once Arc handed it to him he took a deep iron ingot into his hand and used his spirit qi to cut it into very small pieces which he placed within the canister
He then took out of his own possession a bag that contained some sort of metal powder, which he poured within the canister filling in the gaps left the the deep iron
He then compressed and sealed it after confirming their were no remaining gaps, or voids within the canister
He then place it directly within the forge, before turning to Arc, and speaking
"Turn on the true flame"
The forge could transform into several powerful flames, that have different properties when forging
The most common used was earth fire, which was the most stable of the unique flames
But there are always outliers who use unorthodox methods when working in the trades
After a brief moment of thought, Arc realized the inner disciple was making a canister damascus billet
Arc watched as the inner disciple brought it up to heat and began setting the welds
Each movement was Precise and thorough, as he could see the interior as easily as we see the exterior
The only sounds in the forge was of a hammer hitting metal, no one said a word, Arc focused on maintaining the temperature of the flame
While the inner disciple meticulously prepared the billet, and when it finally was completed welded in the inside with no inclinations, he began to hammer it to shape
Each strike increased the length of the blade; it took a diamond edge blade. Similar to a dagger yet much longer
This process continued until he had a blade 38 inches long(96.52 cm), he then handed the blade to Arc and showed him how to sharpen it
Since he never removed the canister it must be ground off, so Arc took it and headed to a machine that appeared like a belt sander and sharpened the blade
"Your angel is slightly off, change your grip"
"Don't gouge the metal, take small pieces first"
The inner disciple began correcting Arc mistakes, allowing them to proceed after not much time
With the completed blade in his hands Arc couldn't help but feel they had forgotten something
"Isn't the blade supposed to be quenched?"
Arc asked inquisitively, before hearing the other disciple laugh slightly as he responded
"I quenched it in my spirit qi, so no need for it to be placed within oil"
After that the inner disciple began gathering his things to leave, and Arc began to clean up the forge to head home for the day
Today was an extremely productive day, where he had gotten hands on experience within the forge
He needed to organize his though, to put what he has learned to practice, immediately after cleaning up the forge he headed home and began writing everything
After finishing to note down everything that he felt was important, he lied down and immediately went to sleep