A Waste of Time

Chapter 50: Twin Echo

"Big brother Xiaodan is absolutely right."

"You did very good, way better than all of us when we first started to try the Hundred-Refinement."

"Yeah. Just like the old man used to say... Think on what you did wrong."

"Indeed. Learn from your mistakes!"

"Let me heat it up for you, it'll take no time at all... You go take a breather of clean air outside and drink some water."

Nie Leixu felt genuinely pleased as his sons encouraged the boy who scratched his head, slightly embarrassed by all this masculine, sweaty attention. He thought to himself: I'm starting to think this was a bad idea. These guys really stink — like something must be very wrong with these dudes to smell this way! He practically escaped to the back of the Smithy, which looked half like a junkyard and half like a storage yard piled with dry firewood, coal processed with their special oil concoction, raw iron, spare molds, and rare Materials reserved for special commissions.

Daemon sank down at an old wooden table and took a sip of water, replaying every strike and swing in his head. He’d followed the Blacksmith’s instructions almost perfectly, yet near the end it got harder — the metal’s temperature dropped, losing malleability, which forced him to strike harder and grip the Blade tighter with the steel tongs to keep it from slipping.

He muttered under his breath, thinking no one could hear: "The key seems to be in progressing faster early when I'm working on the metal when it's hot — but that'd exhaust me faster, both mentally and physically, so towards the end it'd become even harder... But I really don't see it working any other way." He leaned back, closing his eyes, forcing his mind to rest for what came next.

Unbeknownst to him, Nie Xiaodan, Nie Leixu’s eldest, stood in the doorway, listening in shock. He’s right, the big brother thought. That’s exactly how you handle the Hundred-Refinement!

Meanwhile, back at the campsite, Ru returned with Protector Jian. The Swordsman paused the moment he laid eyes on the girl tending a wounded tiger. His senses twitched — her Cultivation was shockingly strong for one so young. She barely concealed it, but a trained eye like his saw enough: High-Rank Qi-Gathering Realm.

“Is that… young master Daemon?” the white-robed man asked, noticing the boy exercising with heavy weights but showing not a drop of sweat.

Ru frowned, then shook his head. “No — that’s young master Ippo. Stick around, you’ll see the connection.” He strode toward his sister. “Is he still in the forest?”

Jia ran her hand over the Tigress’s thick fur, smiling when the massive beast nudged her palm before stalking away to rest. The tiny cub yelped and tried to follow, but its mother clamped it gently in place. “No. He went back earlier after dragging out an immature Aquatic-Boa — and rescuing this family of two. They must’ve felt his lack of malice because the Tigress brought her Cub and followed him for protection when she was wounded.”

She flicked her eyes to the older stranger and gave him a polite nod when Protector Jian bowed slightly in return. “He probably sold the Boa to old man Lou by now. If you’re quick, you can trace him from there — though he’s likely at the Smithy. He couldn’t wait to learn the Hammer from that giant Nie Leixu.”

Ru smiled, handed over his Space-Pouch but palmed five Water Spirit Stones for himself. She’s ahead of me by two Sub-Realms, he mused proudly, but I won’t let the gap widen between us without fighting to shrink it as much as possible. Out loud, he said, “Keep everything. I’ll take Fellow Cultivator Jian to the village — his wish is to meet young master Daemon.”

He turned to Xia. “Want me to buy anything while I’m out?”

Xia checked her supply basket. “We have enough food for today — but we didn’t expect a Tigress and her Cub!”

“Buy everything she needs,” Ippo said flatly, executing Basic Sword Forms with perfect posture. “By the time you’re back, he’ll be here for another meal anyway. Both of us training this hard means he gets hungry twice as fast.”

Ru laughed, took Xia’s hastily scribbled list, and nodded along as she explained where to buy the best Ingredients. Jia stood aside, giggling behind her hand as her big brother listened so seriously — like a husband memorizing his wife’s household instructions. Protector Jian chuckled under his breath, bemused by a mortal bossing around a Cultivator as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

But the man in white kept a mental note: not once did either sibling let him out of sight. Polite or not, he was under watch the entire visit — especially when he glanced at the boy swinging his Sword with unflinching focus. One misstep, he knew, would get him killed before he finished his apology.

Back at the Smithy, Daemon kept failing to complete his first full cycle, no matter how many times he tried. Nie Leixu refused to make it easier, assigning his eldest, Nie Xiaodan, to keep the boy busy and honest. One Blade cooled, then a Sword, then a Great-Axe — each one forced him to adapt, strike, reset. The more he swung, the more familiar the rhythm became — but the exhaustion never lessened.

My Strength’s fine, Daemon thought grimly as sweat dripped down his nose, but this is different — it’s a test of mind as much as muscle. And all the while, deep in the campsite, Ippo’s relentless training siphoned his reserves, a fact none of the Nie clan understood.

Still, they watched with grudging respect as Daemon stubbornly pushed through missteps, mistakes, and smoke. When he finally set down the Hammer, he waved goodbye, ignoring the scorch marks and grime caking his shirt.

“Think he’ll come back after this abuse?” Nie Leixu’s second son asked once Daemon was out of earshot.

The Blacksmith’s left eye twitched before he cracked his son across the back of the head. “Abuse? You think that’s what this is?” He scoffed. “Da Wei’s brat didn’t whine once — he kept his head down and worked.”

“Heh… Xiaosheng got smacked again,” the youngest cackled, scraping a rough metal brush along a massive Spear shaft.

Xiaosheng glared. “Xiaowen. Harden your bones before you mock me — or maybe you’re bitter I bedded both the roofer’s daughter and wife at the same time?”

Xiaowen’s face darkened as his brothers snickered and their father cut them off with a barked order to get back to work.

“W-what happened?” Jia nearly dropped her basket when Daemon appeared by the campsite, filthy, drenched in sweat. “Did you wrestle all seven of them instead of learning the Hammer?”

Ippo smirked, still practicing Sword Forms. Xia pretended not to laugh as she chopped Vegetables. Mei squealed with laughter as she ran to fetch fresh Clothes.

Ru sipped his tea, studying Protector Jian’s polite mask slip into faint confusion — and maybe disappointment.

“I’m fine. Don’t overthink,” Daemon said, squeezing Jia’s hand softly. “Get Mei to prep me some Clothes. I need a quick bath — then I’ll meet our guest.”

He dropped his stained shirt in the laundry basket, turned on his heel, and left for the creek — the Smithy’s heat still ringing in his bones like a promise that tomorrow, the Hammer would sing again.

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