"Sir, have you been lonely in the back mountain of Xuantian Temple for many years?" Li Ye asked seriously while serving porridge to Ouyang Dongli who was sitting in front of him.
Cooking porridge after getting up early is a habit he developed on Tianshan Mountain, although there is a dining hall after coming to Prajna Temple.
But when he came to the back mountain of Xuantian Temple, he knew that he had to do everything by himself.
Ouyang Dongli thought for a while and said, "Sometimes there will naturally be some. Otherwise, how could I know your husband and accept you as my disciple?"
Li Ye looked away, looked at him and asked curiously: "Master, when did you meet Sir?"
"Speaking of which... to ask you this, I forgot which year I met him. Anyway, we have known each other for a long time. You have to ask him about this. My memory is not very good."
Ouyang Dongxiang shook his head and said.
Li Ye swallowed the hot porridge with some difficulty, looked at him and said in a hoarse voice: "What did Mr. decide to hit today? Furniture or a kitchen knife? He still thinks about that kitchen knife."
Ouyang Dongli laughed, patted his shoulder and said, "You like kitchen knives, I will teach you how to make a kitchen knife today."
Hearing these words, Li Ye suddenly felt happy and said, "I didn't expect that the first time I learned to make swords from my master was to make kitchen knives."
"You should be very proud to say that there are so many people in the five regions who want to learn sword-making from me, but I rejected them one by one because I thought it was troublesome. I thought it would be easier for you in the end."
Ouyang Dongli smiled at him, as if he was admiring an unborn piece of jewelry.
Hearing these words, Li Ye couldn't help but blush, and it took a long time to calm down.
...
After clearing away the pots, bowls and chopsticks, Ouyang Dongli made another pot of tea.
After two drinks, he stood by the blacksmithing stove, pointed to the charcoal on the ground and said: "If you are just making kitchen knives, you can just use charcoal made from fine wood in the mountains. There is no need to use ore."
Li Ye nodded and started to add charcoal to the stove.
"Don't be in a hurry when you start to make a fire. Add charcoal little by little, and then add more when the fire gets stronger..." Ouyang Dongli said.
"I use ordinary iron that I bought in the Buddhist capital to make kitchen knives. This saves time and I don't have to smelt iron myself..."
"You don't need to use the heaviest hammer at the beginning, just use the heavier one in the middle..."
"The fire is too small. Speed up the bellows and make it stronger..."
With a clanging clang, Ouyang Dongli gathered around the fire and began to forge the iron in his hands.
Li Ye pulled the bellows and added a few pieces of charcoal to the furnace from time to time. After a while, he was sweating profusely.
Looking up, Ouyang Dongli's expression remained unchanged, and there was not a drop of sweat in sight.
"Master, why aren't you sweating?" Li Ye raised his head and asked in confusion.
When Ouyang Dongli heard this, he laughed.
While waving the hammer in his hand, he said: "If you have to sweat like rain to hit a kitchen knife, wouldn't you have to soak in sweat to hit a sword?"
The red-hot iron, under the heavy blow of the hammer, sparks flew everywhere...it soon changed color and cooled down.
Ouyang Dongli threw the cold iron into the furnace. After it burned red, he took it out and continued hammering.
"Didn't you have porridge in the morning? The fire is so small, quickly add charcoal, pull the bellows harder, and harder..."
Ouyang Dongli waved the hammer in his hand while instructing Li Ye to control the fire.
"Use an iron solder to pass through the fire. There is too much charcoal in the middle and the wind cannot get in. How can the fire be fierce... Yes, that's it. Don't stop. If I tell you to stop, stop again... ....”
"Are you tired? If you are, go make a pot of tea. Master, I'm thirsty." Ouyang Dongli said from the side.
Tinkering, sparks shining, Li Ye sweated like rain for ten times, which lasted for an hour.
The piece of ordinary iron in Ouyang Dongli's hand has turned into a kitchen knife, shining coldly under the light of the fire, and only needs the final quenching and sharpening.
"Master, is this finished?"
Li Ye picked up the kettle and put it on the fire, looked at Ouyang Dongli and asked.
Ouyang Dongli threw the kitchen knife on the casting iron platform.
He looked at him and said with a smile: "If you go by the simplest requirements, this knife is almost finished. It just needs to be polished tomorrow and it will be ready for use. But if you want a kitchen knife that will satisfy you, then you It still needs a few more days of hammering.”
Li Ye nodded thoughtfully.
"Not to mention thousands of hammerings, hundreds of hammerings are always necessary. I will leave it for you to try tomorrow. There is a fundamental difference between what you spend ten and a half days working on and what you spend a day working on. "
Ouyang Dong looked at him and said lightly.
"Master, don't worry, I will study this casting skill with all my heart, and I won't let you down." Li Ye replied while pouring tea into the cup.
Ouyang Dongli nodded and picked up the teacup on the table with a satisfied look on his face.
...
In the following days, Li Ye not only guarded the bellows to control the flames, but also learned to swing the hammer from behind Ouyang Dongli.
He hammered a decent-looking kitchen knife into a crooked shape and looked at Ouyang Dongli with a smile.
"Are you sure you are hitting the kitchen knife and not the fire stick?"
"Have a heavy hammer on the surface and a small hammer point. To make a satisfactory kitchen knife, you have to keep hammering, yes, don't stop..."
"You have the realm of a physical body, but you don't know how to use it. Is your practice just for fighting? Not only do you need to use force, but you also need to be able to use skill! Come on... come on!"
Ouyang Dongli shouted loudly from the side.
one day......
Two days...
Five days...
On the seventh day, Ouyang Dongli just came over to take a look at him and stopped giving any advice.
Because the kitchen knife in Li Ye's hand had been tempered many times and shone with a cold light.
In Ouyang Dongli's words, Li Ye is also a genius in the practice of casting.
This knife was molded by Ouyang Dongli himself and continued to be tempered by Li Ye. It is already a good kitchen knife that is rare to find in the Five Realms.
After a few more days of polishing, it will be Li Ye's first step in learning how to make a kitchen knife.
However, Li Ye was not satisfied. He spent these days tempering the kitchen knife day and night, and at the same time tempering his own muscles and bones.
He eats when he is hungry and sleeps when he is tired, working day and night just to practice more perfect casting techniques.
Just like after enlightening Zhan Xue on Tianshan Mountain, he had to perform the simplest sword moves 20,000 times every day.
He now does the same things over and over again every day, doing the simplest things like lighting a fire and blowing the bellows.
Perform the simplest hammering movements, lifting the hammer, dropping the hammer, adding charcoal, and pulling the bellows.
It's like repeating a formula every day, without any difference.
My husband once told him on Tianshan Mountain that if you practice the simplest moves to the extreme, even the simplest sword moves can evolve your own sword intent.
Li Ye, who keeps swinging the hammer every day, is also thinking that if someone like him cultivates without knowing how tired he is, will one day be able to hide the meaning of the hammer in any of his movements?
Such the simplest life and the simplest way of practice would definitely drive many people crazy, but Li Ye didn't care.
Immersed in the practice of casting, I don’t know day and night.
He cannot move the true energy of Dantian, but he can move the physical power of the formless Dharmakaya...through the arm bones, condensing the power into the hammer...from the entire surface of the hammer, to later Condensed to a certain point of the hammer.
Ding, clang, clang, unaware of the passage of time and the withering away of strength.
Ouyang Dongli, who came over occasionally, was also surprised by his strong strength. He never stopped for a moment from morning to night.
Li Ye, who was practicing day and night, gradually realized the mystery of casting and realized the joy of casting.
On the tenth day of practice with the hammer in his hand, he had clearly understood the purpose of each hammer strike.
An idea has arisen in his heart. Every time the hammer in his hand falls, he wants to hit the entire surface of the iron or a certain point of the kitchen knife.
Just like how he practiced the method in the past, he could see it with his hands.
Just like when he practiced archery on the Fuchun River, he could shoot wherever his eyes could see with the arrows in his hand.
There is no need to exert any deliberate force on his arms or wrists. With just one inadvertent movement, the hammer in his hand will follow his thoughts and land on a certain surface or point.
To use his own words to describe it, through these days of hard training, he has been able to use the hammer in his hand like an arm.
Thoughts in my heart...
The hammer in hand...
The impact point of the hammer blow...
The three are integrated and indistinguishable from each other.
As the mind of the seventh-level formless dharma body was moving, Li Ye felt that his soul had melted into the mountain, into the casting platform under the wooden shed, and into the hammer in his hand.
Refining the body, refining the mind, refining the soul...
Unconsciously, he actually integrated the seventh-level mental method of the formless dharma body with the casting technology taught to him by Ouyang Dongli.
While tempering the kitchen knife in his hand day and night, he is also unintentionally tempering his body, state of mind and soul.
The power of the physical body is operating, and with the cooperation of the formless dharma and the physical and mental dharma, the hammer swings up and down.
And the kitchen knife in his hand, under his tireless tempering, the dark blade flashed with circles of cloud patterns.
Ouyang Dongli, who got up early, walked into the shed, picked up the kitchen knife from the iron table, put it in the sun and looked at it carefully for a long time, and couldn't help but admire it.
Looking at Li Ye, he said: "Not bad, not bad, we can start the final attack today."
Opening the front is the final step in casting.
And this day was the thirteenth day that Li Ye came to the back mountain of Xuantian Temple.
It took him thirteen days, under the guidance of Ouyang Dongli, to build his first kitchen knife.
"Although I can make a kitchen knife in an hour, there is really no way to compare it with the knife you spent more than ten days making. It has nothing to do with the casting technology. This is a kitchen knife made with care, and you deserve it." My inheritance, Ouyang Dongli."
Ouyang Dongli couldn't help but praise his apprentice.
After a long time, Li Ye came back to his senses, looked at Ouyang Dongli who walked into the shed, and grinned.
Said: "Master, this casting technology is really useful for tempering your body..."
He looked at himself with his spiritual consciousness and felt that the skills of the formless body had improved greatly compared to when he first entered the seventh level.
As soon as I saw it, I walked towards Xiaocheng, and I couldn't help but feel inexplicably happy.
Ouyang Dongli smiled, lay on the bamboo chair and said, "Then what are you waiting for? Let's do the last step of your process."
Li Ye grinned and waved the hammer in his hand.
The sound of tinkling broke the morning tranquility on Fangcun Mountain.
