A Mortal’s Immortal Gourd
Chapter 28: Testing the Sword

Early the next morning, Ergouzi went straight to Huichun Hall.

Sure enough, Sima Yi handed over five porcelain bottles without a word. Inside were Peiyuan Gutben Pills — 49 in total.

“Thank you! Thank you!”

“It's nothing, don't mention it.”

Sima Yi clearly didn’t take it too seriously.

“But you could definitely bring me more of those Strength Pills.”

“If you’ve got any rare herbs that are hard to sell, I can help you find buyers.”

Ergouzi carefully wrapped the bottles and stuffed them into his robe, making his belly look like he was ten months pregnant.

“Sure, though I don’t have any rare herbs at the moment.”

“I do still have some Strength Pills. I’ll bring them next time and trade for more Peiyuan Gutben Pills.”

After leaving Huichun Hall, he headed back to the weapon shop from before.

He could now wield a 100-jin sword. His old one was patched with iron pieces and looked like a fire poker.

This time, he planned to forge a new heavy sword.

The same chubby boy was still manning the shop.

“Hello, what kind of weapon would you like this time?”

It was already Ergouzi’s third visit, and the moment he walked in, the chubby boy recognized him.

“I want a 120-jin heavy sword.”

“No problem. What material would you like?”

“Besides standard steel and iron, we also have something called ‘Refined Copper Essence.’ Just adding a bit of it will greatly enhance the weapon’s performance…”

The chubby boy started explaining all the materials they had.

“What’s Refined Copper Essence?”

The way the boy described it made Ergouzi curious.

“Refined Copper Essence is made using a special method by Immortals. They refine 100 jin of copper until only 1 jin remains.

It’s infused with Immortal Qi from the hands of an Immortal. You tell me — is it good or not?”

After hearing that, even Ergouzi felt tempted.

According to legends, Immortals had god-like powers — flying through the skies, vanishing into the earth, calling wind and rain, capable of anything.

It was said the county magistrate himself was a powerful Immortal.

Of all the people Ergouzi had ever met, only his master Li the Half-Immortal was rumored to be an Immortal.

He made a mental note to ask Sima Yi later about which Immortals were in the county.

If this Refined Copper Essence really came from the hands of Immortals, and wasn’t too expensive, he’d like to buy a little to soak up some Immortal Qi.

But after asking the price, he gave up.

One jin of Refined Copper Essence cost 200 taels of silver. He’d rather buy 20 more Peiyuan Gutben Pills.

In the end, he settled on forging an ordinary iron sword.

After all, his sword was big and heavy enough — even smashing with it could kill someone. Whether it was sharp or not didn’t seem to matter.

A basic iron sword, 120 jin in weight, cost 100 taels of silver and took half a day to forge.

With nothing else to do, Ergouzi stayed at the shop to watch them forge it.

The store was run by three generations: an old man held the red-hot iron with tongs, a middle-aged man pounded it with a heavy hammer, and the chubby boy, about Ergouzi’s age, pumped the bellows vigorously.

The old man occasionally gave guidance to the father and son. Watching the warm harmony of the family, Ergouzi felt a bit envious.

By midday, the 120-jin heavy sword was finished.

It was entirely black, three chi and six cun long, and three cun and two fen wide.

Ergouzi tested it — it was a little heavy, but once his strength improved more, it would be just right.

“Customer, are you satisfied with this sword?”

Seeing Ergouzi hold a 100-plus-jin sword as if it were nothing made the chubby boy secretly gasp in awe.

“Satisfied. Very good.”

Ergouzi paid the 100 taels and left the weapon shop with the sword.

He bought 10 large meat buns at a bun shop, eating as he walked, heading toward Sanchazi Town.

He had successfully bought Peiyuan Gutben Pills and forged a new heavy sword today.

Now he just needed to take the pills, train regularly, and breaking through to the third layer of the cultivation method wouldn’t be far off. That would finally let him master that insanely hard sword technique.

Then he could go take the Martial Xiucai exam.

The exam only had four parts.

First: basic literacy — not a high bar. As long as you weren’t totally illiterate, you’d pass.

Second: lifting a 500-jin stone and walking a lap around the exam field. Hard for others, but for him, no problem. He could probably try 1,000 jin.

The third test was martial skills — whether sword, spear, or halberd, you had to be good at one.

Ergouzi still hadn’t mastered his sword technique, and this was where he was stuck.

The fourth test was actual combat. A high-level examiner would spar with the candidates. If you could last ten moves, you’d get full marks.

As for the fourth test, Ergouzi wasn’t confident.

In terms of getting beaten up, he had a lot of experience — some might say, even unique insights.

For example, when getting hit, hugging your head, squatting, and curling your knees to protect your chest and stomach was the best way to endure.

But face-to-face combat...

Besides two encounters with that black figure — where it was life or death — he’d never fought anyone before.

Ergouzi carried his massive sword, wondering, does getting beat up count as real combat?

“Clang! Clang! Clang…”

Suddenly, a group of burly men charged out from both ends of the mountain path, blocking his way.

“This road was opened by me, this tree was planted by me…”

A man with a face like a pork kidney solemnly recited the line before slamming his butcher knife into a tree.

The poor, scarred tree suffered yet another wound it didn’t deserve.

Ergouzi didn’t run this time. He stood there with his door-panel-sized sword, waiting for Boss Zhao to finish his speech.

“Kid, why didn’t you rush through the checkpoint today?”

“I want to test my sword on you.”

He’d just been thinking about how he’d never fought someone, and here Boss Zhao was, delivering himself. Perfect for some real combat practice.

Still, he scanned the surroundings and had already picked out his escape route.

Swords don’t have eyes. With so many guys, they might stab him full of holes. Better safe than sorry — he’d run if he had to.

“Well, well! Looks like you’re not scared!”

Boss Zhao felt his underworld status was being challenged. He yanked the butcher knife from the tree.

“No one else is allowed to interfere. I’m gonna fight him myself — three hundred rounds!”

The guy did have some skill. His butcher knife came slicing fast and fierce, one strike nastier than the last.

Luckily, Ergouzi had been practicing his Nameless Cultivation Method, which made his mind sharper and reflexes quicker. Otherwise, he’d already be full of holes.

He was clumsy at first, but gradually adapted to Boss Zhao’s rhythm.

Finally, he seized a chance and swung horizontally.

“Boom!”

Boss Zhao’s butcher knife shattered into pieces with a crisp clatter, and Ergouzi’s massive sword was already at his neck.

“This one doesn’t count. My knife broke.”

With all his men watching, Boss Zhao refused to lose face. Pride was more important than life.

“Get another knife and come back!”

Ergouzi was more than happy to keep fighting — he needed the practice.

Boss Zhao wrapped his bleeding hand and took a 7 or 8-jin thick-backed broadsword from one of his guys. He gripped it in both hands and charged.

“Clang! Clang! Clang…”

This time, Ergouzi was in full control. He even held back a bit, but still, after only a few rounds, Boss Zhao’s blade was broken again.

Boss Zhao was now panting like an ox, arms trembling from exhaustion.

“Still wanna fight?”

“I’m hungry. Going home for dinner. We’ll fight 300 rounds again tomorrow.”

He gave himself a way out and left with his crew.

Watching them leave, Ergouzi felt a bit disappointed.

He’d just started getting the hang of it, and now no one wanted to play.

All he could do was carry his sword and head back...

Meanwhile, back at the weapon shop — the moment Ergouzi left, they closed up early for the day.

The three generations gathered around a pile of silver, eyes blazing.

“Refined Silver Essence!”

“Yeah, definitely Refined Silver Essence!”

“So this is the legendary Refined Silver? Looks just like ordinary silver ingots!”

Another huge stroke of luck — the 100 taels of silver Ergouzi had paid with turned out to be Refined Silver Essence.

It was worth at least ten times more than normal silver.

“Dad, Grandpa, he hasn’t gone far. Should we…”

The chubby boy was clearly tempted and already had robbery on his mind.

“Shut up!”

His grandfather cut him off immediately.

“You know why our family’s been blacksmiths for eight generations? Because we stick to our place.”

“Those who buy swords and knives — how many of them are kind folks?”

“You think just because he doesn’t recognize Refined Silver, he’s easy to mess with? He might be the disciple of some hidden master.”

“Didn’t you see him carry a 100-jin sword like it was nothing?”

“I’m warning you — don’t even think about leaving this house today. Step outside and I’ll break your legs. Don’t bring disaster to the family.”

Chastised by his grandpa and dad, the chubby boy backed down.

But he was still young, naïve, and fearless — convinced he could take on the world.

In his mind, he had already marked this young customer for future attention.

“You’re not a kid anymore. Starting tomorrow, I’ll teach you the art of weapon forging. Take this copy of The Compendium of Weapons and start studying.”

To calm the boy down, the old man dug out a leather-bound ancient book from under the counter and handed it over.

“This is a family heirloom. Take good care of it — don’t lose it.”

The boy took the book, flipped through a few pages, and stuffed it into his robe...

Ergouzi, of course, had no idea the copper coins and silver he used had caused such a stir.

Even more unexpected — the Refined Copper Essence he thought was too expensive to afford was actually the same batch of copper coins he’d casually spent at the weapon shop earlier.

Good thing he was stingy — or he might’ve been scammed.

Not his fault — the coins and silver looked exactly the same.

Only someone at the Qi Sensing level could feel the richer spiritual energy inside them.

He’d always used them like that, and no one had ever noticed.

Now back at Shekou Mountain, everything seemed normal — no sign of intruders. He finally felt at ease.

The paths up the mountain were all blocked, but martial artists could still scale the cliffs.

He was already thinking — if he had time, he’d chip away all the protruding rocks on the cliff face.

The flatter areas, he’d plant with thorns.

Let’s see who can climb up then.

But for now, cultivation came first.

He stored the pills in his yellow gourd and waited three days before taking them.

After being enhanced by the gourd, the pills had much stronger spiritual energy.

Each pill, once refined, gave a strand of True Qi through the Ren and Du Meridians — equal to ten days of regular training.

From then on, he took one pill a day and progressed quickly in his cultivation.

Sometimes, he’d sneak down to the official road to fight Boss Zhao.

But Boss Zhao was a sore loser. After losing a dozen times, he stopped showing up.

Ergouzi wandered the area for days, but Boss Zhao stayed hidden in the mountains.

It left Ergouzi pretty disappointed.

As for the sword technique his master taught him — still no major progress.

This martial art really was as profound as rumored — insanely difficult!