My Cultivation Starting from Archery

"Perhaps there really are traces of immortals."

"Forget it, those are too far off, let's find the Ghost Vein Wood first."

Ghost Vein Wood usually grows in dark places teeming with miasma and is accompanied by many poisonous insects. Hence, the tree itself is toxic. After it is used to revive a dying person one last time, the user often dies a gruesome death and must endure extreme pain.

"It's mentioned in the 'Hundred Herbs Map'."

The Imperial Family of the former Great Da Yan had once employed this substance.

Because the Old Emperor had not made clear whether the second or twelfth prince should succeed him, the princes had used Ghost Vein Wood on him, forcing him back to life to make his decision clear, then dying in torment...

"There really is one!"

Chen Sansi quickly found his target in the woods ahead.

The Luotian Mountain Range is truly rich in resources.

The growth of Ghost Vein Wood is extremely slow. The one he found was only as thick as a baby's fist and a little over a person's height; it would yield only a few dozen arrow shafts at most.

"Let's look for more!"

After successively killing four or five Poisonous Beasts comparable to those with Mastery of Meridian Passage, Chen Sansi finally entered the range of the Ten Layers Mountain, where the miasma was denser than before and the Evil Qi between heaven and earth had increased noticeably.

"Ghost Vein Wood..."

Without going deeper, he saw a Ghost Vein Wood that was as thick as a person can embrace, enveloped by miasma, and at least eight hundred years old. If the whole tree was felled, it would produce an inexhaustible supply of arrow shafts.

But Chen Sansi did not approach recklessly.

Because right next to the Ghost Vein Wood, inside a hollow of another large tree, there was a mass of dense, pale blue Mystical Energy, which upon estimation might possess the strength of Mastery of Meridian Passage or even the Profound Image Realm. The appearance of an Exotic Beast in such a place indicated that not all animals would turn into Poisonous Beasts.

"Roar—"

A deep roar resounded, and a colossal figure slowly emerged from the tree hollow.

It was a black bear!

Moreover, it was draped in an ancient monk's robe, with Buddha beads around its neck and a Crescent Moon Spade in its hand; who knows how many years ago a hapless Martial Artist had encountered it and met their doom.

If Chen Sansi hadn't known about Meng Guangxin's whereabouts, his Fifth Senior Brother, he might have suspected it was his own Senior Brother who had met a tragic end.

"Roar!"

After coming out, the black bear first scratched itself against the tree trunk, then started patrolling its territory.

Chen Sansi decisively retreated.

His Sword Qi Skill was limited; using it once would consume one set of incense. It was better to save it for preserving his life, and since the bear was an Exotic Beast, it would be best to leave it intact to use for food later.

Thinking so,

Chen Sansi turned back and chopped down the previously encountered Ghost Vein Wood.

A few dozen arrow shafts were enough to last him for a while.

Moreover, the iron materials provided by the Seeking Immortal Tower were only enough to make about a dozen arrowheads; cutting down so many trunks would have been wasteful.

Fortunately, within a valley at the border between Jiuzhong Mountain and Ten Layers Mountain, where there was no miasma at all, Chen Sansi not only hunted three Exotic Beasts but also found the broken grass that the Seeking Immortal Tower needed, reaping a bountiful harvest.

Carrying all his finds, he returned to Liangzhou City several days later.

Chen Sansi left one Exotic Beast at the military camp, which was of little help to High Realm Martial Artists, took all the others home for Si Qinmohua to handle, and then, armed with the Iron Core Bow, the Fierce Monster Tendon, and the Ghost Vein Wood, he proceeded to the Forge.

High-level Alchemists needed to have cultivation, and so did the craftsmen forging weapons.

The person in charge of the Forge was an old man with muscles all over his body. He was said to have been with Sun Dushi since his youth and was considered one of his trusted old comrades. With a cultivation at the realm of Mastery of Meridian Passage, there was a chance he could even strike at the Xuanxiang Realm in recent years. It was said that most of the Main Generals' weapons from the Eight Camps, including Lu Ji's Heavenly Halberd, were made by him.

"Do you want to learn to forge?"

Old Man Pang said with interest, "I hear you were learning Power Quenching Medicine not so long ago, and now you're about to start forging. Young man, don't you ever get tired?"

"Jack of all trades,"

Chen Sansi said with a cupped fist, "Please grant me your guidance, Senior Pang."

He wasn't trying to hide the special nature of the materials because once used on the battlefield, everyone would eventually know, and since they weren't celestial objects and could be found in the mortal world, knowledge of them didn't matter much.

But before then, he hoped to retain the opportunity for a striking debut, not alerting the opponents from the start. Also, the belief that having more skills does not burden one was genuinely how he felt, and it didn't contradict the other consideration.

"Heh, this old man is getting old. If it were someone else, I definitely wouldn't teach, but you, I have to teach no matter what."

Old Man Pang quickly brought a booklet from elsewhere: "This is a set of Hammer Techniques, go back and practice them, and then come find me."

Chen Sansi said, "I've learned it already."

After a quick mastery of Swordsmanship, he had specifically taken time in the past few days to practice two weapons; one was the saber, and the other was the hammer. The techniques brought by the old senior were exactly what he had practiced.

"Oh?"

Old Man Pang said excitedly, "Then that's great, let's start right away!"

He went to the forging bench.

"In any of the three hundred and sixty trades, it's the layman who watches the excitement, the insider who sees the skill!"

"Take the forging of weapons, for example."

"They're divided into lower, middle, upper grades, and top-grade."

"The Five Tigers Soul-breaking Spear you're holding is upper-grade, while the Zhenyue Sword is top-grade, good enough for you to use. Actually, there was no need for you to learn forging."

"But since you want to learn, watch closely!"

"Forging isn't difficult, but there are many subtleties involved." Continue reading at My Virtual Library Empire

"For example, to what extent to heat it, what temperature to use, and the water temperature during quenching, and so on..."