Heavens Renowned Talent, Cheol Woon-bi (1)

Yu Jinsan arrived at his destination after riding for half a day with his granddaughter.

This sparsely populated manor was on the outskirts of Yangyu County.

Seeing the constant sound of hammering, it seemed like they had come to the right place.

“It seems like this is the place.”

“Wow. Are you going to make a weapon here?”

Was it because she had experience going to the smithy shop in Ho County? Yu Seol seemed to have already caught on.

“Right, let us head in first.”

“My Grandpa is the best~ hehe.”

“Only realizing that now? Grandpa will pretend to be your younger brother now and stay still, but this time, Seol will be the one to go ahead and talk.”

One needs a lot of experience to navigate the harsh world wisely. Therefore, this time, he planned to watch everything from behind and instill negotiation experience in his granddaughter.

“What about money?”

Yu Jinsan’s eyes turned to the bag hanging on the waist of the child.

“Try paying with what you have first. That should be enough.”

Of course, that was a lie. How much pocket money could she have?

Yu Seol, who knew nothing about that, seemed to be in a good mood and kept shaking her grandpa’s hand.

“I get it; I will handle it.”

The first thing that caught his eye was the large letters on the entrance of the manor.

[The forge doesn’t discriminate among the guests under any circumstances.]

This meant that they would make anything without any fights, as long as they paid the price for it.

They wouldn’t side between the two disputed sides and strictly maintain the principle of being neutral.

Unless one was from Murim, it was a natural thing to do so. That way, one would survive on this land for a long time.

As they stepped into the entrance, they were impressed with the long rows of bellows and braziers on the left and right sides of the yard.

Even at this moment, dozens of craftsmen were working with tools.

Bang! Thud! Bang!

“Ahem!”

As soon as they entered, a tall man with a cloth tied around his head approached them, hammer in hand.

The muscles in his arms twitched under his rolled-up sleeve.

He looked at Yu Jinsan and Yu Seol with a playful expression.

“Have the little monks come to take donations? Which temple did you come from?”

“We’re not monks. We came to have a weapon made.”

Was it because of the child’s serious expression?

Jang Han, the smithy, couldn’t hold back his laughter and burst out laughing.

“Hahaha! Thanks to you, I managed to laugh for the first time in a long time. This isn’t a place for toys to be made, so find some other place.”

“For real. I even brought money with me.”

Yu Seol said, opening the pouch at her waist to show it.

Dozens of coins. It was enough money to buy many snacks, but making weapons with that was out of the question.

Jang Han’s face turned a bit red as he peered into the bag.

“…Pfft.”

He was holding back his laughter.

And Yu Seol just continued.

“I will give you this, so please make two spears.”

Jang Han even dropped the tool in his hand and clutched his stomach.

“Puahahahaha!”

He laughed so hard that his eyes teared up. Realizing she had been ignored, Yu Seol stared at her grandpa with a pout.

“Shhh…”

She was bound not to like this.

Yu Jinsan nodded as if this were alright and patted her on the back. This experience was a valuable foundation for her to remember.

Above all, the goal was achieved—to get the attention of someone.

“What is it?”

“What’s happening?”

Blacksmiths from all around began to gather.

They lived with boring tools all day long. So, how could they give up on the fun?

“Haha! Hyungs, these kids here want weapons made.”

“Puahahaha! Is that true?”

“Why don’t you at least make them a toy and send them off?”

Weapons with names engraved on them were considered luxury items even in Kangho, and their values reached at least several tens of silver coins.

But no one would think of that as expensive.

They even had a tradition of making fifty items at a time when taking a request and then discarding all but the best one.

It was bound to be amusing that two kids came up to them holding coins and pride.

At that time, Yu Jinsan, who had been watching silently, sent a message to his granddaughter.

-Now is the time to flatten their noses. Take out our family heirloom and show them what we mean.

At the sound of her grandpa’s words, Yu Seol quickly unpacked the bag she had on her back.

A spear blade with a red shine on it.

The moment she took out the Fire Dragon Divine Spear, which was bigger than an adult’s forearm, the smiles all vanished from their faces.

“…”

The first thing that surprised them was the strength of this child.

This was because a child this small was holding a spear blade, which had to be heavy even for adults, as if she were just holding a twig.

Then, as they examined the spear blade, one by one, they began to open their mouths.

Those who handled weapons could immediately tell. Even if they had money, cold iron couldn’t be obtained so easily.

Was it because of this reaction? Yu Seol looks strong now.

“Have you ever seen anything like this?”

Among the blacksmiths, the one who appeared to be the oldest quickly took the spear blade.

And carefully evaluated it, and soon, his hands began to tremble.

“Th-this cannot be…”

Everyone noticed which iron this was made of. The fact that his emotions were turning intense could be because of another reason.

“What is it, Uncle Cheol Woong?”

“Hyung, are you sick?”

The man called Cheol Woong mumbled as if he were possessed.

“… I cannot believe I got to touch the work of Jin Gyu in this life.”

The people around him all looked closer, as if they had heard something shocking.

“Uh?”

“J-Jin Gyu?”

Who was Jin Gyu?

Although he was a hundred years old, he was the greatest person in history when it came to blacksmithing, which is still talked about now.

In the world of blacksmiths, he was a grandmaster.

He made just 10 weapons in his lifetime, three of which were among the top ten treasures of Murim.

The name of the maker, Jin Gyu, was clearly engraved at the root of the spear, along with the title of Fire Dragon Divine Spear.

“Hurry, hurry up and call Father!”

“Yes, Hyung.”

As expected, these people had an eye for things. It was knowing the value of a weapon.

Yu Jinsan, who was watching them silently, sent a message to his granddaughter, and she was shocked.

“Now, hand it back.”

“…?”

Cheol Woong was a bit shocked at this reaction and hesitated, but he couldn’t do anything.

The strength of the child was so strong that he couldn’t possibly resist if she snatched it back.

And everyone had blank expressions at what she said next.

“Goodbye then.”

When Yu Seol took the spear and turned away, the entire smithy was in uproar.

“…Wh-where are you going?”

“W-wait!”

They couldn’t see it, but they could imagine the sight of Yu Seol raising her shoulders and smiling.

“P-please!”

Yu Seol’s steps stopped at the cry of someone.

“Why?”

“…It’s Father’s wish to see the works of this person, so please just wait.”

After thinking for a moment, Yu Seol looked secretly at her grandpa.

Then Yu Jinsan very slightly shook his head once. It meant to ignore them.

But Yu Seol’s heart was too soft to be that cold.

“Is showing it once fine?”

“R-right. Please.”

“Fine.”

After saying that, Cheol Woong silently stared somewhere.

After a while.

From somewhere in the manor, an old man with white hair came running, unable to hold onto his clothes. Judging from his behavior, he must have been the head of the family.

“Where is the work of Jin Gyu?”

“Look here, Father. It is the real one.”

The Family Head was shocked.

His hand, which carefully stroked the blade of the spear, was full of emotion. His interest was solely on the spear alone, and he didn’t care about the kids who had brought it.

Soon, the Family Head released qi, and a red tint enveloped the spear.

Swish!

It wasn’t spear qi, but one of an odd nature. However, the force he felt was enough to withstand the strongest push.

After extinguishing the qi, he continued to fumble and check it again.

After a while, he spoke softly.

“So far, I have been making trash.”

“Father…”

The muscular blacksmiths all bowed their heads.

“How can our family claim to be the best in the Central Plains without being able to create such weapons…?”

“…”

The proud blacksmiths couldn’t even respond.

Just as the atmosphere was getting strange, Yu Seol broke the silence and asked.

“Then, can’t you make a new one now?”

“… even if we want to, it is impossible. Getting the materials is more difficult than finding a star, so how could making one even be possible?”

He couldn’t even try it because the materials could not be found.

Yu Jinsan, who had been observing, spoke for the first time.

“Melt down that spear. Use it as the material.”

“…?”

Melting Jin Gyu’s weapon? Who could be crazier?

But it wasn’t a waste for Yu Jinsan. No matter how great a spear master was, if the spear didn’t fit his hand, it was no better than a bamboo stick.

At that time, when Yu Jinsan took something out of his pouch, everyone was shocked.

“A scaled dragon’s spiritual stone.”

This shining bead.

It seemed like no jewel could be more beautiful than this one. Yu Seol glanced at her grandpa, her eyes asking why he hadn’t told her.

“…Where did you get this from?”

“I will tell you later, so let me make the request first.”

The first priority was to handle the task at hand. The Family Head, who received the stone, had trembling hands.

“Really… Are you sure we can melt down this spear?”

Yu Jinsan didn’t even hesitate.

“I want two; the handle has to be 5 feet, and the blade should be one foot and 5 inches. One of the two should be bladeless.”

It was a bit shorter than normal ones, but that wasn’t the problem now.

Contrary to his thoughts, the Family Head was hesitant to respond.

It was a natural reaction since the clients were young kids.

What if they were the kids of some prestigious family who had taken away their family’s heirloom secretly? If he melted the work of Jin Gyu, then everyone would ask him to take responsibility.

There was no way Yu Jinsan didn’t know of their thoughts, so he sent a message to the Cheol Family Head.

-I am like this because I have a story behind me, but as the head of our family, I have the authority to request that our family heirloom be melted. I thought you had the authority to accept my request.

A voice that spoke of the years he had experienced.

This was, by no means, something a child could imitate.

The eyes of the Family Head were shaking, unable to believe this.

At that time, the eldest son, Cheol Woong, who was watching from the side, noticed his feelings and tried to dissuade him.

“F-Father… even if we accept the request, you don’t have to do it.”

“You don’t have to come forward. It isn’t something that cannot be accomplished without you.”

The Family Head, who had stepped back in old age, wanted to pick up the tools again.

Cheol Woong sighed in frustration.

“Phew. It is impossible for you to refine the cold iron with your current body. You might even die.”

Making a weapon would consume so much energy, and moreover, smelting was a lot more difficult than shaping.

But for some, it was sometimes worth going against death.

From a master’s point of view, the greatest honor was to create a new weapon that would leave a mark on the world.

Then the Family Head made up his mind, put his hands together, and wrapped his arms around Yu Jinsan and his granddaughter.

It was a formal bow given to clients.

“Fire Dragon and Scaled Dragon, I will burn my last soul and create the Twin Dragon spears.”