Becoming an immortal against the will of heaven

"How is it? Are you convinced now?" Chen Tian said, wiping the wood shavings off his cleaver while looking at Erwa, who was still dumbfounded.

Hearing this, Erwa snapped back to reality as if waking from a dream, and hurriedly nodded, saying, "Convinced... convinced... I'm convinced."

Erwa originally thought that the gap between him and Chen Tian was already very small, which made him feel a little complacent. But now, Chen Tian's skills far surpass his by hundreds of times.

This made Erwa deflate like a punctured ball, instantly withering.

Looking at Erwa's frustrated face, Chen Tian smiled indifferently, then returned to the smithy, picked up his hammer, and continued forging the next item.

After standing blankly for a long while, Erwa listlessly returned to the smithy, but instead of busying himself with work, he quietly observed Chen Tian from the side.

He hadn't noticed it before, but now that he paid special attention, Erwa discovered that Chen Tian's movements, rising and falling, had a kind of natural and magical aura.

This strange posture seemed to possess some kind of magic, making Erwa unconsciously become engrossed in watching.

After a good while, Erwa stood up from the ground and asked Chen Tian with a yearning look, "Uncle Chen, tell me, what do I need to do to reach the same level as you?"

"Want to be like me?" Chen Tian glanced at Erwa and said faintly, "Perhaps you'll need to practice for another hundred years."

"What? A hundred years? Wouldn't I be dead by then? Uncle Chen, you're joking with me, aren't you?" Erwa was shocked by Chen Tian's words and asked incredulously.

However, Chen Tian didn't say anything more after hearing this, and instead swung the large hammer in his hand, 'ding ding dang dang' hammering away.

"Yo, you're all here! Erwa, you little rascal, have you been listening to your Uncle Chen?" Just then, a rough voice came from afar.

Erwa was startled by the voice and hurriedly looked in the direction it came from, discovering a simple and honest middle-aged man standing not far from the smithy.

"Dad, why are you back?" After clearly seeing the appearance of this middle-aged man, Erwa instantly screamed.

The person who came was Erwa's father.

"Not bad, kid, you've grown taller and stronger, you're a little man now."

Erwa's father smiled and then patted him on the shoulder: "Alright, go buy some snacks to go with the wine, I have something to say to your Uncle Chen."

Hearing his father's instructions, Erwa didn't dare to be negligent, nodded vigorously, and then darted away like a rabbit.

After sending Erwa away, Erwa's father walked towards Chen Tian and said with gratitude, "Brother Chen, thank you for helping me look after Erwa."

Chen Tian smiled and shook his head, saying nothing, but instead asked him, "By the way, how is your wife now?"

"Thank you for your concern, Brother Chen. After two years of treatment in town, my old woman's illness has greatly improved. Seeing that the weather is getting cooler, she personally made a cotton-padded jacket and insisted that I bring it over to give to you."

Hearing this, Chen Tian noticed that Erwa's father was holding a thick cotton-padded jacket in his hand, and also carrying a bottle of clear wine.

Chen Tian looked at the bottle of clear wine a few more times and smiled, "It seems I'll have to close up shop early today."

Hearing Chen Tian's words, Erwa's father was first stunned, then looked at the wine in his hand, seemingly understanding something, and immediately laughed heartily: "That's right, we should close up shop early, let's have a good drink, you and I."

Chen Tian smiled, then extinguished the fire in the stove and walked with Erwa's father towards his dilapidated old house.

Just as they sat down at the table, Erwa bought some peanuts and spiced beef back, respectfully placed them on the table, and then sat quietly to the side.

Erwa's father, as if he hadn't seen him, impatiently pulled open the bottle stopper and poured a large bowl full for Chen Tian and himself.

Afterwards, Erwa's father raised the large bowl in his hand and said to Chen Tian with gratitude, "Brother Chen, I want to toast you with this first bowl of wine. If it weren't for you, I don't know how I would have made it through. You are our great benefactor."

With that said, Erwa's father tilted his head back and drank the wine in the bowl clean.

Seeing this, Chen Tian didn't stand on ceremony either, and also drank all the wine in front of him.

"That's great, Brother Chen, let's have another!" Erwa's father laughed loudly and then helped Chen Tian fill his glass again.

Erwa sat quietly to the side, 'hehe' laughing foolishly.

After two or three bowls of wine, the atmosphere in the room instantly became much more harmonious, and the three chatted and drank together.

"Haha, Brother Chen, I really didn't expect it. In just two years, your skills have improved so much. When I was in town accompanying my wife for treatment, everyone was talking about a magical blacksmith who appeared in Vegetable Basket Village. The knives he makes can cut iron like mud. Do you know that now a kitchen knife you make can sell for a hundred taels of silver in town, and even so, those wealthy families are still vying to buy them, and take pride in having a kitchen knife made by you in their home."

After taking another sip of wine, Erwa's father spoke about some of the things he had heard and seen in town, revealing his admiration for Chen Tian in his words.

"Dad, what about me? How much money can the things I make sell for?" Hearing his father praising Chen Tian so much, Erwa couldn't sit still and asked excitedly.

"You?" Erwa's father glanced at Erwa and said disdainfully, "Hmph, probably worth only sixty or seventy copper coins."

"Ah, so little?"

The difference between seventy copper coins and one hundred taels of silver was several thousand times, and Erwa couldn't help but feel a little disappointed after hearing this.

Looking at Erwa's dejected appearance, Erwa's father laughed and was about to continue speaking when suddenly, a middle-aged man dressed in a silk robe, looking like a rich man, walked in from outside the door.

"Hey, Dali, is this the place where that blacksmith Chen you mentioned lives? Why is it so dilapidated?" As soon as the middle-aged man entered the room, he looked around at the scene in the room.

Only when he saw such a dilapidated and old house did he frown and ridicule, his tone quite disdainful.

And Erwa's father's face changed drastically upon hearing this!