Xiao Hua clearly remembered him. He registered him for the mission readily enough and handed over a token, saying, "Take this token to Li Fire Peak. Someone will guide you from there. If you quit midway, three contribution points will be deducted."

’A deduction of contribution points for quitting midway? The mission description didn’t mention that at all.’

Xiao Hua had waited until after he registered to mention it. If Xiao Hua wasn’t deliberately trying to screw him over, it meant the mission was so difficult that they intentionally left that detail out of the description.

Of course, it also proved one other thing: Xiao Hua had absolutely no respect for Lin Cheng. A simple word of warning could have saved him from this trap, but Xiao Hua had said nothing.

The Wild Ginseng, worth a hundred taels, had been a complete waste.

"I understand!"

Xu Yang took the token and turned to leave.

The Purple Sun Sect covered an immense area. Even with Xu Yang’s speed, it still took him the time it takes for an incense stick to burn to walk from the Outer Sect to the base of Li Fire Peak.

Of course, if he had used the Flying Swallow Skill, it wouldn’t have taken nearly as long. However, the Flying Swallow Skill most likely originated from the Cao Family. If anyone saw him use it, Cao Rong would know that he was the one who had killed Zhang Sishui, Guan Xiaojie, and the others.

He had already made a plan: once he had enough contribution points, he needed to exchange them for a new Lightweight Skill.

He wasn’t afraid of Cao Rong himself, but Cao Rong wasn’t the only member of the Cao Family in the Purple Sun Sect. In previous years, other members of the Cao Family had also passed the Dragon Ascension trials to enter the Sect.

After showing the token from Xiao Hua, a disciple guarding Li Fire Peak led him up the mountain.

After walking for a while, the POUND, POUND of forging hammers reached Xu Yang’s ears. A little further on, the trees on either side began to thin out until he was surrounded by yellow sand, and a fiery field appeared before him.

Waves of heat washed over him, carrying a suffocating temperature. Xu Yang was beginning to understand why some people would accept this mission only to quit. Not just anyone could endure this environment.

Fortunately, his Physique was powerful, so the waves of heat were nothing to him.

"Senior Brother Gao, an Outer Disciple is here for the Profound Iron refining mission," called out the disciple who had led him there.

Immediately after, a robust, bare-chested man with skin the color of bronze stepped out from a shed.

His muscles were like coiling pythons, and his neck was thicker than his head. He was the most powerfully built person Xu Yang had ever seen.

"Take off your shirt!"

Senior Brother Gao led him into a room and had him take off his shirt.

Xu Yang didn’t hesitate. He removed his outer shirt as told, revealing a lean but powerful body that looked as if it were forged from iron.

"Your Physique has been well-tempered. I hope you can last."

With that, Senior Brother Gao led him out into a large work area.

The area was filled with huge furnaces. A dozen or so bare-chested men were swinging hammers the size of human heads, tirelessly pounding away at red-hot blocks of iron.

Judging by their appearance, the hammers had to weigh at least fifty or sixty catties. With every strike, impurities would burst from the hammered iron.

Senior Brother Gao said, "This is all Profound Iron Ore. It’s full of impurities and must be hammered repeatedly to obtain pure Profound Iron. When you’re done refining a piece, your contribution points will be calculated based on its weight.

Also, Profound Iron is extremely valuable. No stealing. If you’re caught, your Martial Arts will be crippled and you’ll be expelled from the Sect!

From now on, when you enter Li Fire Peak, you are only allowed to come here. Do not wander around the peak."

By weight, Profound Iron is more precious than gold. As Senior Brother Gao finished speaking, his gaze sharpened.

Xu Yang cupped his hands and nodded, showing he understood.

Senior Brother Gao walked to a furnace, pulled out a red-hot piece of Profound Iron Ore, and placed it on a Forging Platform. "Watch my technique carefully," he said. "Learn it well, and it will double your efficiency."

He swung the hammer down, and a large amount of impurities jumped from the ore. Xu Yang watched intently and discovered that his technique was peculiar, containing a strange, vibrating power.

"Don’t grip the hammer too tightly. The instant you strike, you need to draw back some of the force. Otherwise, the recoil will be immense. If you can stick with it, your physical body will improve greatly.

This will be your station from now on."

After demonstrating for a moment, Senior Brother Gao handed the hammer to Xu Yang and turned to leave.

’Man!’

Xu Yang took it and tested its weight. The hammer felt like it was around eighty catties. For someone with his strength, eighty catties wasn’t much, but swinging it for an entire day would be brutal.

BANG!

He tried his first strike and felt his hands go numb from the shock. Only a tiny amount of impurities was knocked loose.

"Another one jumping into the fire pit. I bet he won’t last two days!"

"Nah, he’ll make it at least three days."

"I bet he’ll stick with it. Haven’t you noticed he’s a new face? He must be from the latest entrance exam. New disciples don’t have any contribution points to deduct, so they have to eat shit even if that’s what’s served."

...

The mocking voices drifted over, but Xu Yang remained unmoved.

He recalled the techniques and movements Senior Brother Gao had taught him and observed the methods of the others around him. He gradually started to get the hang of it, but the results were still poor. Each strike removed fewer impurities than the others managed.

The main reason was that his cultivation was only at Great Achievement in Qi Gathering Cultivation, while everyone else was an expert who had reached Qi Cultivation Gang.

’This really is a fire pit!’

An hour later, Xu Yang was drenched in sweat and utterly exhausted. At this rate, forget about earning twenty contribution points in a month; he’d be lucky to make even three or five.

’I haven’t been this tired in a long time!’

It felt like he was back in his early days at Weiyuan Hall, breaking into a sweat after just a few moments of practice.

’This means my Physique still isn’t strong enough!’

Xu Yang didn’t feel defeated. Instead, he rediscovered the original motivation he’d had when he first joined Weiyuan Hall—that fighting spirit to practice martial arts and change his own destiny.

After a short rest, he stood up and hefted the great hammer again.

Sinking his Heart Spirit into his body, he began to circulate his Vajra Skill. A great net of Vajra True Qi spread throughout his entire body.

BOOM!

With one strike, far more impurities were refined out. A recoil force traveled up the hammer’s handle, causing his bones and tendons to hum and his blood and qi to churn.

"Huh?" Xu Yang’s eyes lit up.

He discovered that under the effect of this recoil, some of his Vajra True Qi was breaking down and merging into his flesh, blood, bones, and tendons. The efficiency of tempering his Physique had clearly increased.

This discovery invigorated him, and his fatigue seemed to lessen considerably.

For the rest of the day, he continuously circulated his Vajra True Qi. Not only did his efficiency improve greatly, but the body-tempering effect of the Vajra True Qi also became much better.

As the Golden Crow sank in the west, he dragged his exhausted body out of Li Fire Peak alongside a dozen other Outer Disciples.

"Junior Brother Xu, this work isn’t for a newly-entered disciple like you," Chen Chao said with a smile. "If you’re worried about not having enough contribution points for the penalty, I can lend you some."

Over the course of the afternoon, Xu Yang had gotten to know a few people. It was only then that he learned that while it was true you could earn twenty contribution points a month from the Profound Iron refining mission, you needed to be at the Bone Marrow Cleansing Cultivation level at the very least.

"Thank you for your kindness, Senior Brother, but I want to keep at it for a few more days," Xu Yang replied, cupping his hands.

Chen Chao shook his head. "Take a word of advice from your Senior Brother. This kind of persistence is meaningless. We all cultivated the Mountain-Shaking Hammer before taking this job. Without it, you might not even be able to refine a hundred catties of Profound Iron in five or six days."

’The Mountain-Shaking Hammer!’

Xu Yang’s heart sank. No wonder he felt his technique was similar to theirs, yet his refining results were so much worse. It turned out there was a specialized Martial Art for it.

"If I need it, I will definitely come and ask you, Senior Brother," Xu Yang said, still not planning to give up.

’Where else could he find such a good training method? He’d cultivate here for a while longer before deciding anything else.’

Chen Chao nodded. "Alright. If you decide you want to borrow some, you can come find me anytime. Just pay me back four contribution points later."

He wasn’t actually trying to look out for his junior brother, of course. He just wanted to be a loan shark.

For the next few days, Xu Yang left early and returned late. Most of the other disciples had also started their missions, and everyone became busy.

On the fifth day, Xu Yang finally finished refining his first piece of impurity-free Profound Iron. He handed it over to Senior Brother Gao to be weighed. It was one hundred and three catties.

A piece of ore the size of a human head had to be hammered down until it was only the size of a bowl’s mouth to pass inspection.

"To refine one piece in five days is very good."

Senior Brother Gao smiled. "Are you going to keep at it?"

Xu Yang nodded. "Of course!"

He was earning few contribution points, but his Physique had improved by leaps and bounds these past few days. His progress with the Vajra Skill had nearly doubled.

"Catch!" Senior Brother Gao tossed a book to him.

Xu Yang caught it and saw four large, flamboyant characters written on the cover: Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique.

"It’s yours!"

Senior Brother Gao smiled. "Train it well. The Mountain-Shaking Hammer doesn’t just improve refining efficiency; it’s also a powerful combat hammer technique. Its Vibrating Strength can penetrate the body, specializing in breaking through Heavy Armor and Horizontal Training defenses."

Xu Yang hurriedly cupped his hands. "Thank you, Senior Brother Gao."

He had been thinking about saving up contribution points to exchange for the Mountain-Shaking Hammer’s Secret Manual. He never expected Senior Brother Gao to just give it to him. Inner Sect Disciples were really something else.

"Go on!"

Senior Brother Gao waved his hand. "An Outer Sect martial art like this can be learned freely in the Inner Sect without spending any contribution points. But remember, don’t just teach it to anyone.

If you don’t have enough contribution points, I’ll plead your case to the Sect."

He didn’t really have a choice. They were always short-handed for refining Profound Iron. Now that someone with patience and a well-tempered Physique had finally shown up, he had to help him out. If the man couldn’t take it and ran off, they’d be short-handed once again.

"I will bear it in mind!"

Taking the Secret Manual, Xu Yang turned and left.