Chapter 66: The Utility Person Takes the Stage

After a night of effort, Jiang Ren successfully increased the amount of the mysterious energy by a significant margin, expanding its overall volume from the size of a soybean to that of a glass marble.

In the process, he also discovered that the duration of his recent training sessions had improved considerably compared to the very first one, by roughly one-tenth.

This boosted Jiang Ren's confidence immensely; visible progress was the greatest source of motivation.

"Let's set myself a small initial goal: fill the entire blade with mysterious energy."

Having exhausted his mental energy once again, leaving his mind feeling somewhat hollow, Jiang Ren thought silently to himself.

As the saying goes, a quantitative change leads to a qualitative change. When the mysterious energy completely filled the blade, perhaps some surprising transformation would occur.

However, these were merely his conjectures. After all, he had never encountered such a phenomenon before, and even if a change did happen, there was no guarantee whether it would be for better or for worse.

Creak!

The wooden door of the blacksmith's shop was pushed open. The sturdy blacksmith walked in, picked up the blade possessed by Jiang Ren, and gently stroked its surface with his rough palms as if he were appraising a precious treasure.

"Can't you show a little respect? Do swords not have human rights?"

Seeing the blacksmith's gaze, Jiang Ren felt a mild sense of discomfort.

If he could move right now, he would definitely send this blacksmith flying. After all, this blade was his true physical form. Even though he lacked tactile sensations from the outside world, having a man stroke him like this didn't make him feel any better.

Fortunately, this situation did not last long.

Holding the blade, the blacksmith began the final step: "polishing."

From the occasional mumbling to himself, it was clear that polishing meant sharpening the cutting edge and smoothing out any uneven areas.

The polishing process involved rough grinding, fine grinding, and precision finishing.

Proceeding from coarse to fine required more than a dozen procedures, taking at least five or six days at the fastest, and perhaps dozens of days if done slowly.

Throughout this process, Jiang Ren experienced a very strange sensation—much like scratching an itch on a human body.

"As a blade, feeling completely devoid of pain seems fine at first glance, but it always feels like something is missing."

Jiang Ren let out a silent sigh and once again threw himself into the cultivation of expanding the mysterious energy.

That's right, not exercise, but cultivation.

This spiritual power was growing at a speed visible to the naked eye; how could this possibly be mere physical training in an ordinary world? It was clearly cultivation in an extraordinary world.

Half a month later, Jiang Ren had completely transformed.

Originally, he had been nothing more than an iron plate with a rough blade-like shape.

Now, the blade's edge was razor-sharp, smooth and bright, with a straight spine and a standard fuller. The body of the blade possessed the effects of a "mirror surface" and "frost and snow," radiating a piercing cold light. The natural forged grain on the surface was clearly visible, exuding an extreme sense of aesthetic beauty.

Anyone who laid eyes upon it would undoubtedly praise it as a "fine blade."

Furthermore, the blacksmith had also crafted a matching scabbard for Jiang Ren. It lacked any superfluous patterns or decorations, adopting a very austere style that happened to match Jiang Ren's personal aesthetic.

When all the steps were completed, Jiang Ren, resting inside his scabbard, was placed into an ordinary, patternless, rectangular red wooden box.

Since his resting time vastly outweighed his cultivation time, and he required no sleep around the clock, Jiang Ren had gradually gleaned some information about this world from the voices of the blacksmith, the man in plain clothes, and the customers visiting the shop outside.

For instance, the continent below was called the East Pole Continent.

It was home to nearly a hundred large and small countries. The blacksmith shop happened to be located in a small nation called the Wing Country, which had a total population of around two million.

Because there were numerous countries, with large nations frequently swallowing smaller ones or devouring each other, compounded by the regular and irregular deaths of various monarchs, the imperial reign titles were extremely chaotic. Therefore, ordinary commoners generally kept time using the Jiuzhou Calendar.

Right now, it was precisely May in the 5742nd year of the Jiuzhou Calendar.

Regrettably, Jiang Ren had not heard any mention of immortal cultivation from their conversations.

Instead, he heard plenty of martial arts rumors—either some young chivalrous hero had wiped out a band of mountain bandits, or some martial arts practitioner who had washed their hands of the Jianghu met a tragic end with their entire family slaughtered.

In light of this, Jiang Ren decided to pour more of his focus into increasing the mysterious energy.

Another few days passed.

"After spending so much time, there's finally only a tiny bit left."

Jiang Ren observed the fruits of his cultivation with a trace of satisfaction.

At this moment, the blade was brimming with mysterious energy, leaving only a minuscule space at the very tip unfilled.

Feeling his mental energy fully restored, Jiang Ren immediately concentrated all his focus to drive the mysterious energy forward and fill the remaining vacancy.

Pop!

An extremely faint sound echoed from the blade.

In some ethereal realm, Jiang Ren suddenly felt a special connection form between himself and the blade. Although he still could not actively wield the blade or affect external objects, he could now use the mysterious energy to enhance the hardness and sharpness of this sword.

"A good start."

Jiang Ren smiled. Since he could reinforce the blade, sooner or later it could be upgraded into a divine weapon, or even weapons with formidable powers from the system mall's inventory.

The greatest benefit of this was that it would enhance his own survival capabilities.

After all, he was a sword—and a custom-made one at that. He would certainly never be treated as a mere collector's item, and would most likely fall into the hands of some tool-like martial arts practitioner, destined to clash against other weapons.

Though Jiang Ren felt quite confident in himself, he wasn't naive enough to think the blade wouldn't suffer any damage during combat.

Under such circumstances, every incremental increase in hardness and sharpness would lower the probability of sustaining damage by a fraction.

"The blade is entirely filled with mysterious energy and can't hold any more. Let's simply test what kind of reinforcement effect the mysterious energy has on the blade."

With a thought in his mind, Jiang Ren was just about to take action when he heard two sets of footsteps approaching from the storefront outside the blacksmith's shop.

One of them clearly belonged to the blacksmith, while the other was as light as a woman's footsteps.

Immediately, Jiang Ren cast his attention outside the wooden box.

The wooden door was pushed open.

The blacksmith walked in with a beaming smile on his face, followed by a man wearing a bamboo hat and grey martial attire.

"Only you are worthy of it!"

The blacksmith picked up the red wooden box, turned toward the bamboo-hatted man, and lifted the lid.

The man in the bamboo hat remained silent.

He simply reached out, took the sword from the box, gripped the scabbard with one hand and the hilt with the other, and slowly drew it out.

"He looks like he might not be weak, but that outfit..."

Jiang Ren couldn't help but shake his head inwardly.

Judging from the subtle sounds the bamboo-hatted man made while walking, his martial arts foundation should be decent.

Yet, wearing such an obvious bamboo hat—if he were to encounter an enemy, it would be the equivalent of shouting to them, "I'm right here, come get me."

A tool person who appeared low-key on the surface but was actually high-profile like this, lacking genuine strength, would likely need a replacement very soon.

The snow-white blade was revealed.

The light from outside shone upon it, reflecting an eerie, bone-chilling glare.

"A fine blade!"

The man in the bamboo hat finally spoke.

His voice was slightly hoarse and rigid, but the excitement within it was unmistakable.

Just like a wine lover encountering fine vintage, or a miser stumbling upon treasure, for a skilled wielder of blades, such a precious sword was a once-in-a-lifetime find.