The forge fire in the Sword Furnace burned unceasingly, and Lian Que watched silently.
He methodically added various precious materials.
If someone with a discerning eye were to see, they would understand the effort Lian Que had poured into this.
Among them were materials of priceless value, such as Flowing Gold Stone and Drinking Light Mud. In terms of rarity alone, they were fully worthy of the life plate Jiang Wang had returned.
The people of the Lian clan were born bound by their life plates, so they treasured freedom all the more.
Lian Que had said that even if he died, he would not surrender his life plate, and this was no empty promise. If not for having no other options in the Heavenly Treasury Secret Realm, he would not have used it as a token of trust.
Because only the life plate could convey his sentiment of owing no one.
Thus, the moment he discovered the life plate on Jiang Wang, he roughly understood the choice he had made in the Heavenly Treasury Secret Realm.
Jiang Wang had not led him astray, and he would not lead Jiang Wang astray.
The direct lineage of the Lian clan was granted only three chances in a lifetime to forge a weapon in the ancient furnace, usually reserved for breaking through the bottleneck of a weapon-forger. Yet he was willing to use this precious opportunity just to forge a sword for Jiang Wang.
Lian Que's strength was not lacking. Back in the Heavenly Treasury Secret Realm, if not for the relentless conspiracies of those people, he might not have been eliminated.
And in the path of weapon-forging, he possessed particular talent. Otherwise, he would not have become one of the only ten disciples of his generation in the Lian clan to hold their own life plate.
The materials gradually melted in the Sword Furnace. He then infused different seal formulas with each step, every movement precise as a Mohist mechanism.
Throughout it all, Jiang Wang simply sat beside him in meditation, channeling Dao essence.
Time passed in a flash—three days and three nights.
...
Lian Que was truly amazed by the abundance of Jiang Wang's Dao essence!
Three days and three nights had passed, yet Jiang Wang showed no signs of Dao essence depletion.
What he did not know was that now, with nine Star River Dao Vortices and the Twining Star Spirit Snake, even without actively practicing pulse cultivation, Jiang Wang's body automatically generated eighty-four units of Dao essence daily, exceeding the mystical nine-nines.
If one considered Jiang Wang as a Dao essence vein, he could almost produce a Hundred Essence Stone every day. Not to mention his relentless cultivation, never missing his morning and evening sessions.
If not for the high consumption of Dao essence in practicing techniques and tempering the Gate of Heaven and Earth, his Tongtian Palace would have long been "overflowing with reserves."
Lian Que still woke Jiang Wang from his meditation: "The stage of mineral smelting has passed. You can relax and rest now. When needed again, I will call you."
Jiang Wang immediately stopped.
In truth, three days and three nights of Dao essence infusion did not exhaust him. Due to being in a meditative state the entire time, his spirit remained excellent.
With Lian Que focused on forging the sword, he would not be idle either.
He resumed his interrupted pulse cultivation, making up for his "lessons." Then came the Four-Spirit Body Refining Art. Over time, the Azure Dragon and Vermilion Bird chapters had long been perfected.
The Black Tortoise chapter had originally progressed slowly, but after witnessing that enormous turtle-beast in Youguo, its majestic and heavy aura, the powerful divine essence of the Bixia bloodline, had greatly inspired Jiang Wang, nearly allowing him to complete the Black Tortoise chapter in one stroke.
Now, he was focusing on the White Tiger chapter. With just this one step, the Four Spirits would be complete.
After finishing the Four-Spirit Body Refining Art practice, he began practicing the three techniques Chongxuan Sheng had found.
Tiger Bind was already inscribed in the Tongtian Palace, so that was not mentioned. The Sea of Blossoms and Thorn Crown still required more familiarity to wield with ease.
Another three days passed.
Lian Que was absorbed in purifying and adjusting the molten ore, only now allowing himself to relax slightly. He glanced at Jiang Wang and couldn't help but be a bit surprised: "Have you always cultivated this hard? Don't you need to rest and relax?"
"I'm used to it."
Lian Que nodded: "The reason you became the victor of the Heavenly Treasury Secret Realm is not without cause."
After thinking, he added: "Your sword is about to take shape. Do you have any thoughts?"
Jiang Wang looked at him and said with utmost sincerity: "You've worked hard."
This was not mere courtesy. While he himself cultivated relentlessly, he could see how much Lian Que had strained his heart and effort. Without exaggeration, in his eyes at this moment, Lian Que's ugly face, which appeared exceptionally clear under the forge light, seemed much more endearing.
Lian Que looked at the situation in the Sword Furnace and said: "I'm asking about your thoughts on the sword. Not on me."
Jiang Wang smiled: "You are from a weapon-forging family, a genius of weapon-forging. I have no thoughts—I trust you."
Lian Que shrugged and said nothing more.
After about the time it takes to burn half an incense stick.
His hands shifted rapidly, infusing seal formulas one after another. Finally, his right hand pulled outward, and a stream of scorching molten metal leaped from the Sword Furnace.
The moment it was exposed to the air, it crackled and popped loudly!
As if the very foundation of heaven and earth was its condensate.
The molten metal solidified into a crimson iron bar, then quickly turned dark black. Finally, Lian Que placed it on the nearby anvil.
"Come, you forge it yourself." Lian Que handed over an iron hammer the size of a human head.
The moment Jiang Wang took it, his hand sank. He had to channel Dao essence to steady it, secretly startled.
After all, with his current physique, his hand possessed at least a thousand jin of strength, yet he still struggled to lift this hammer.
"I'll go make the final preparations. You are responsible for forging the sword blank. Five thousand strikes on the front, then five thousand on the back. Alternate like this. Do not stop until I say so."
After giving these instructions, Lian Que turned and walked into the sword formation.
Behind him, the sound of hammering iron had already begun.
...
He did not know how much time had passed.
Jiang Wang truly had no recollection of time.
He was exhausted.
His arms had lost all sensation, completely numb.
Although he possessed many techniques for channeling force, in the end, he could only rely on his physical body itself.
He persisted solely through astonishing willpower, relying on the constant supply of Dao essence from the Star River Dao Vortices for support.
Lian Que never appeared. He even suspected the fellow had gone home to sleep.
But surely not for this long.
At first he could think about this and that, but later he could only empty his mind.
Since Lian Que had said not to stop, he could not stop.
After all, this was his own sword.
He had nothing before him, and no one behind him.
He was the only person he could rely on.
Perseverance was the only thing he could rely on.
Amid the countless hammer strikes, he faintly established a connection with the sword blank beneath the hammer. It was an extremely faint sensation, but due to its sharpness, it was not easily ignored.
Later on, Jiang Wang unconsciously circulated the method of the White Tiger Body Refining chapter.
The Four-Spirit Body Refining Art had originally been deduced based on the White Tiger Body Refining Art; the White Tiger chapter was the essence of it all.
Now that the Four-Spirit Body Refining had reached its final chapter, and the sword resonated with the metal of the west...
As he hammered and hammered, sensation gradually returned to Jiang Wang's arms.
First came soreness, then intense pain, but he gritted his teeth and endured it all.
Finally, he felt blood flowing in his arms—strong and warm.
The White Tiger Body Refining chapter progressed at a miraculous speed.
Just as he had adapted and was even beginning to excel, he heard Lian Que's voice.
"Enough."
Lian Que's voice was exhausted.
Jiang Wang instinctively stopped.
The hyper-aroused state from practicing the Four-Spirit Body Refining Art vanished, and he immediately felt weak all over.
But Lian Que paid him no mind. His hands, glowing red, directly grabbed the scorching hot sword blank that had been repeatedly forged with his bare hands, and plunged it back into the furnace.
"These past three days and three nights, I fasted and purified my mind, employing the Lian clan's secret methods, and have made complete preparations."
So another three days and three nights had passed. Jiang Wang thought in a daze.
"I had you enter meditation and empty your mind so that I could receive your purest Dao essence, allowing your sword to perceive you through the Dao essence from the moment of its birth. Then having you forge the sword blank was to infuse your spirit, energy, and will into it—the true essence of the matter."
Lian Que's hands danced through seals, his expression almost manic.
"So I need not ask you further. This is the sword you desire most!"
"Now, you may give it a name."
Jiang Wang forced his eyes open.
A sudden brightness flooded his vision!
As if pierced by something, a tear slipped from his eye.
Before Jiang Wang's eyes, the sword blank, its form not yet clear, rose within the forge fire.
But that sharpness, that aura, had already captured him completely.
In that instant, hundreds of images flashed through his mind.
Like inescapable moonlight—once you see it, you are already enveloped by it.
When channeling Dao essence and forging the sword blank, he had completely emptied himself.
This sword blank, in a sense, was a reflection of his innermost heart.
And what lay buried deep within Jiang Wang's heart?
That moon that could never be touched, the ideals that drifted ever further away, the homeland he could never return to.
With an indescribable emotion, Jiang Wang spoke with feeling: "Let us call it Everlasting Longing."
"Everlasting Longing."
Lian Que murmured the name, gazing at the sword blank in a trance.
No true weapon-forger lacked affection for their creation, but he truly felt something that moved him deeply in this not-yet-fully-formed sword.
...
The original site of the old state where the Lian clan once stood was now occupied by the Xia Kingdom.
But the Xia Kingdom was not the nation that had destroyed the Lian clan's homeland. The state that existed before Xia had been conquered by the Xia Kingdom, and the grudge had nowhere to go.
When the homeland was destroyed, the entire Lian clan fled and scattered, migrating to the Qi Kingdom.
In the years since, the Lian clan were guests in a foreign land, the Lian family were people of a foreign land.
At first, the Lian clan was not recognized by the local Qi people and suffered much marginalization. Nor did they gain the trust of the Qi court, so even the most talented descendants could not be entrusted with important responsibilities.
Because they missed their homeland, and their homeland lay to the south, the Lian clan named the city they built Nanyao.
Over so many years of development, the old state had long vanished into the dust of history. The Lian clan, relying on their rising reputation among weapon-forgers, gradually secured a foothold in the Qi Kingdom.
But discrimination never disappeared, and the divide always remained.
Back then, outside the Full Moon Pool, Chongxuan Sheng had told Jiang Wang not to fear the Lian clan. While this showed support for a friend, it also, to some extent, reflected this phenomenon.
In the hearts of many Lian clan members, there was also a homeland they could never return to. They would forever be people of a foreign land.
...
Lian Que slowly concluded his seals.
He placed a ball of light enveloping the sword into Jiang Wang's hands.
It was as if handing over a beam of moonlight.
The light dispersed.
And there it was:
The sword grip was slightly flattened, the crossguard like a full moon.
The patterns on the sword collar were like intertwined longing.
The spine was straight and upright, the edge sharp and thin.
From the blade, a cold light could be seen flowing. Yet the sword point concealed its divine radiance.
In color, the handle was like ink, the blade like snow. Not a single blemish was visible.
On the sword spine, near the crossguard, three characters in Qi script were engraved.
They read: Swallows Return Home.
The sword name was "Everlasting Longing," the sword inscription was "Swallows Return Home."
...
...
Everlasting Longing
—On behalf of Jiang Wang at Nanyao
Everlasting longing, swallows return home.
Frost moon stores wine, drunk for three months,
Blossoms like makeup, willows like waists.
Wish to send the date of return with the swallows,
Eastward and westward, always far away. (1)
Crossing a thousand mountains with a single heart,
After a thousand mountains, both wings grow old.
...
Scanning every eaves, none are the same,
Spring swallows fly back but find no nest.
Wandering the old city, crying in vain,
The four seasons end, cold and heat vanish. (2)
Wishing to ask where the townspeople are,
The ones without a home are in Nanyao.
Everlasting longing, always like a knife.
...
Notes:
(1) The Zhuang Kingdom lay to the west of the Qi Kingdom.
(2) The four seasons end because Maple Forest City is forever frozen in that time, with no more spring, summer, autumn, or winter. The swallows need not come again, nor need they go.
I always felt a poem should accompany this sword. So I wrote it from Jiang Wang's perspective. Jiang Wang himself was not a man of literary flair, and this poem does not represent any such talent on his part. It is purely my own emotional expression "on his behalf." I also hope readers can better appreciate these emotions.