chsdbacks Chapter 405 Daily Life
Chapter 405 Daily Life
A new layer of pale gold moss has been laid on the foundation of Guixu, and the law monitoring station on the white rock platform has been operating stably for half a month.
Eros adjusted the law-sensing array inside the monitoring station to be completely synchronized with the reference frequency during the old domain's equilibrium period, and the heartbeat frequency of the larva deep in the Ruins also stabilized.
The golden light of Mars was extremely stable, and the law patterns on the surface of the dark golden barrier on the outer side of the membrane slowly flowed in the void without any further fluctuations.
The remnants and fragments that were recovered from the ancient domain in the deepest part of the void were completely transformed inside the law membrane of the ancient domain. After the transformation, the last few extremely fine law cracks inside the ancient domain continued to heal.
Su Fan ate fried dough sticks at a stall for half a month.
Every morning, I step onto the low stool by the still-pulsating aftershocks of the calamity at the alley entrance, lean the Pangu Axe against the stool leg, and rest my phone on a vinegar bottle to broadcast live.
The live stream content is not about war, conflicts of laws, or negotiations between extraterrestrial deities.
It's about watching how the fried dough sticks are fried, how the steam rises from the steamer, and the fresh oil splattered on Old Zhang's apron.
The number of comments on the bullet screen has increased from hundreds of thousands of simultaneous online viewers at the beginning to tens of thousands of stable online viewers now.
Several familiar IDs appear on time every day, and their opening comments are always the same.
"How many fried dough sticks does the boss want today?"
"Three sticks. Served with a bowl of soy milk, no sugar."
Su Fan chewed on a fried dough stick and spoke to his phone screen.
Someone commented in the live chat.
"After eating fried dough sticks for half a month, the wound on your face has completely healed. Is the scar on your left hand still there?"
He opened his left palm towards the camera; the extremely thin golden line on his palm was barely visible in the morning light of the fried dough stick stall, almost invisible unless you looked closely.
The comments section was quiet for a moment, then exploded.
Nezha squatted on the edge of the stack and ate a peach.
Sun Wukong brought back peaches from Flower Fruit Mountain. He picked the biggest and reddest one, took a bite, and the peach juice dripped down his fingers.
He tossed the peach pit into the crack in the Guixu. The pit bounced twice at the edge of the crack before rolling into the depths of Guixu, where it was caught by the pale gold moss that had grown on the white rock layer of the foundation.
The flowing patterns on the surface of the moss wrapped around the peach pit and then dispersed on their own.
"The Great Sage stayed on Flower Fruit Mountain for half a month, eating basket after basket of peaches. Last time he sent a message back saying that his monkey followers brewed monkey wine this year that was stronger than last year's, and invited you to come and drink it when you had time."
"They also said that the flint beacon rune at the entrance to the Ruins of the Land of Nothingness is very stable, and that the old axe mark on his mother's head has healed so well that the mark is no longer visible."
"Every day when she's awake, she counts the law patterns on her scales inside the core of her nest, and then goes back to sleep. The Great Sage said his mother slept for 30,000 years, and her greatest hobby after waking up was counting the patterns on her scales."
"After counting them all, she noticed there was one more line than three years ago. It was the law rune that Pangu carved with the tip of his axe, dipped in blood. She would pause when she counted that rune, and then continue counting."
Nezha took the last bite of the peach and threw the pit into the crack.
"Any new developments at the Eros monitoring station?"
Su Fan sat cross-legged on the city bricks, with the Pangu Axe resting on his knees.
"No. The old domain is extremely stable during its equilibrium period, with no fluctuations in its laws. The heart network of the Ruins is routinely scanned three times a day, and the results are always the same."
"The Old Domain has gone into seclusion very thoroughly, almost completely eliminating the lingering effects of its laws. Eros said that at this rate, the Old Domain's seclusion period will be longer than expected."
Yang Jian stood up from below his spine, piecing the two broken pieces of the mirror together and placing them in his palm.
A real-time image of the internal law structure of the old domain appeared on the mirror. The last law crack on the image had been mostly healed, and a very thin law membrane had condensed at the healed point.
He turned the shattered mirror toward Su Fan.
"After the old domain went into seclusion, the dynamics of the three branches in the origin of the gods outside the domain were also very stable."
"After the agreement took effect, the third branch withdrew all its dispatched envoys. After the monitoring station wreckage was recovered, the three factions that split within the second branch were still bickering with each other. The faction that advocated exploration did not obtain a majority of seats in the joint council, and the exploration motion was put on hold indefinitely."
"The gatekeepers of the first branch are still asleep within the seal. After the vortex of the old domain's laws dissipated, the traction disappeared, and they will not awaken prematurely."
"Overall, from the outer edge of the membrane to the depths of the void, from the old domain to the origin of the extraterrestrial gods, all fluctuations of the laws have stabilized. This is the quietest period in the outer reaches of the primordial world in the past 30,000 years."
Yang Jian broke the shattered mirror in two, handing one half to Su Fan and keeping the other half for himself.
Xu walked out from the edge of the Guixu Crack, his bare feet stepping on the city bricks, his right hand pressed against the pale gold line on his chest.
The transparent law pattern on the fingertip was extremely faint in the golden light of Mars, but the memory of the Flint Flame Law sealed inside the pattern was still pulsating at an extremely slow frequency.
He walked up to Su Fan, took the stone core out of his pocket, and held it in the palm of his left hand.
The silvery-white crystal on the core surface beats at an extremely stable frequency, perfectly synchronized with the heartbeat of the larva deep within the Guixu foundation.
"The larva has completed its self-evolution. After absorbing the residual effects of the Great Sage's calamity, the chaotic life law patterns within its body are now a whole layer denser than before."
"The newly grown pattern has doubled its sensitivity to the fluctuations of the laws on the outside of the membrane wall. It can now simultaneously monitor the fluctuations of the laws in three directions: the direction of the old domain, the direction of the land of ruins, and the direction of the origin of the gods outside the domain."
"Its monitoring accuracy is even higher than the sensing array of the Eros monitoring station. It is no longer a passive monitoring node of the Guixu foundation; it has become the first active sensing law symbiotic entity in the Guixu law system."
"Deep within the foundation of Guixu, it wove an extremely fine network of law perception using the roots of flintwood, covering the entire white rock layer of the Guixu foundation."
Su Fan took the stone core and looked down at the silvery-white crystal on its surface.
The patterns within the crystal flowed slowly, with an extremely steady rhythm.
He returned the core to the ruins, picked up the Pangu Axe from his knees, carried it on his shoulder, and stood up from the edge of the battlements.
"Is there a law-based resonance between the sensory web woven by the larva and the Eros monitoring station?"
"Yes. The resonant frequency is completely synchronized with the reference frequency of the law during the old domain equilibrium period. After resonance, the law monitoring system of the Guixu foundation enters a completely autonomous operating state and no longer requires continuous calibration of the cardiac pulsus network."
"The Heart Network has been freed from routine monitoring tasks and will only be responsible for emergency response in extreme situations. After the last embers of the flint flame were inscribed with beacon runes at the entrance to the Ruins, the scorch mark completely healed."
"The law patterns left after the healing process slightly improve the law transparency of the Guixu Foundation, but it no longer has an active sensing function. From now on, the monitoring of the Guixu Foundation will rely entirely on the larvae and the Eros monitoring station."
"My role has shifted from monitor to maintainer; the cardiac network only needs to be restarted in extreme cases."
Xu put the stone core back into his bosom, moved his right hand away from his chest, and looked down at the transparent law pattern on his fingertip.
How often do extreme situations trigger?
Nezha slammed his fire-tipped spear to the ground.
"Based on the stability of the old domain during its equilibrium period, the next extreme situation may be a very, very long time from now."
The sound of the ruins was extremely calm and steady.
The city wall was quiet.
The golden light of Mars shone on the newly grown pale gold patterns on the city bricks, on the slowly rotating halo of the core fragments of Mount Sumeru and the fragments of Buddhist laws, and on the newly laid pale gold moss on the white rock plateau of the Eros monitoring station.
Everything was extremely quiet and stable, so stable that even the fragments of weapons in the hands of the 10,050 remaining soldiers on the city wall began to retract their light of law on their own.
It wasn't that the light had dissipated; rather, it had receded into the deepest part of the weapon fragment, leaving only a very thin golden line on the blade.
It has the same origin as the thin line on Su Fan's left palm.
Su Fan tucked the Pangu Axe into his waistband and walked to the center of the city wall.
He placed his left hand on the surface of the core fragment of Mount Sumeru. The golden line in his palm activated automatically when it came into contact with the Buddhist law patterns inside the fragment, and the will of all beings surged out from the line and poured into the fragment.
The law runes inside the fragment stopped flowing the moment they received the will of the Dao of All Beings, and when they resumed flowing, the rhythm of the flow changed from extremely fast to extremely slow.
Extremely slow but extremely stable, with the interval between each cycle being completely consistent and perfectly synchronized with the reference frequency of the law during the equilibrium period of the old domain.
He withdrew his left hand and turned to look at everyone on the city wall.
"The old domain is in seclusion, the monitoring station is operating autonomously, the larvae have completed their self-evolution, and the heart network has entered emergency standby mode."
"The outer defense line of the Primordial World has shifted from passive defense to active maintenance. The three major nodes of the maintenance system—the larva deep within the Guixu foundation, Eros's monitoring station in Guixu, and the flint beacon rune at the entrance to the Land of Ruins—have all entered stable and autonomous operation."
"The core fragment of Mount Sumeru serves as a backup node, and it no longer requires the infusion of the will of all living beings. This maintenance system can operate on its own for an extremely long time."
"The task of monitoring the laws on the South Heaven Gate City Wall can be officially transferred to Guixu, and the city wall itself will revert to its boundary marker function."
"From now on, if there are any fluctuations in the laws on the outside of the membrane wall, Guixu will know first, Eros will receive them simultaneously, and the entrance to the Land of Ruins will be automatically registered. The South Heavenly Gate will only need to be taken over again in the extreme case that the three-way monitoring is interrupted at the same time."
Qingfeng, leaning on his broken sword, stood up from the edge of the battlements.
The newly grown dark red law pattern on the broken sword has fully grown, gleaming with a faint cold light in the golden light of Mars.
He planted his sword in the ground and looked at Su Fan.
"After the city wall reverted to its boundary marker function, what should be done with these 10,050 remaining soldiers? The law imprints on their weapon fragments are still there, and the weapon fragments are still glowing."
"But the introspection of the law imprints no longer requires the active infusion of the will of all living beings. They've guarded the South Heavenly Gate for so long, now that the city walls are no longer needed, where have they gone?"
"Those who wish to return to the mortal realm, return to the mortal realm; those who wish to stay at the South Heavenly Gate, stay at the South Heavenly Gate; those who wish to go to the Ruins of Return, go to the Ruins of Return. There are still a few empty shops next to the fried dough stick stall on that narrow street in the mortal realm, enough to open a weapons shop."
"Old Zhang said that the bicycle repairman next door, Master Wang, moved away last year, and the shop has been empty ever since. The bluestone slabs in front of the shop and the fried dough stick stall are from the same batch, and the aftershocks of the calamity can still make them glow when stepped on."
"Human warriors can repair weapons. The law crystals from the three demon emperor heads on the tip of his demon emperor spear can be used as quenching stones. Gongsun Bao's dull axe became even sharper after being quenched."
"Among the soldiers left behind, there were a few who had previously run blacksmith shops in the mortal world, and their skills were better than those of the soldiers who temporarily sharpened knives at the South Heavenly Gate."
Su Fan slung the Pangu Axe over his shoulder.
The human warrior sat at the edge of the battlement, the Demon Emperor's Spear resting on his lap.
The new skin growing on the old scars of the two broken legs has become thicker than before after being infused with the will of the Path of All Beings, and the surface of the new skin is covered with very faint golden patterns of the Path of All Beings.
He slammed the Demon Emperor Spear against the city bricks, the butt of the spear wedging three inches into the bricks.
"I run a weapons shop in the mortal realm. In my life, I've slain extraterrestrial gods, Rahu, and the remnant soul of Dijun, and now I'm back in the mortal realm sharpening kitchen knives for people. It's worth it."
"Master Wang, who repaired bicycles next door, has left. The bluestone slabs in front of his shop and the ones in front of the fried dough stick stall were from the same batch; they shine when you step on them."
"Old Zhang, who has a broken leg, sits in his shop sharpening knives. When customers come, he uses the Demon Emperor Crystal from the tip of his spear to quench the knife. Once quenched, the knife can cut through iron like mud. Old Zhang, the owner of the fried dough stick stall, said that he doesn't charge for sharpening knives, and there are plenty of fried dough sticks to go."
Gongsun Bao tucked his axe into his waistband, stood up, and walked to the human warrior's side.
"I'll go with you. After the axe with the dull blade was re-quenched, the edge was indeed sharper than before, but the dullness was still there."
"When you sharpen the knife later, the rolled edge will serve as a quenching tank. After quenching, the knife will bear the imprint of the laws from the bones of the myriad demons of Beiju Luzhou, so you don't need to wet it when cutting meat."
Qingfeng pulled the broken sword from the ground, and the dark red law pattern on the sword flashed in the golden light of Mars.
He tucked his sword into his waistband and walked to the last piece of broken brick that had been used to fill the gap in the city wall.
This broken brick was one of the last batches of broken bricks he personally filled in when he repaired the city wall half a month ago. The light gold patterns inside the brick have completely interlocked with the gold patterns of the old brick. At the point of interlocking, one can see extremely subtle remnants of the will of all living beings slowly flowing.
He pressed his right hand on the brick surface, and the will of all living beings in his palm was automatically absorbed by the law patterns inside the broken brick. After absorption, the golden patterns on the brick surface became slightly brighter than before.
"I'll stay at Nantianmen. After the city wall reverts to its original function as a boundary marker, someone still needs to watch over it."
"Of the 10,050 survivors, more than 2,000 have no home to return to. Their homes were destroyed on the city walls when the extraterrestrial gods first attacked the South Heavenly Gate."
"They stayed behind with me. The fragments of the weapons of the two thousand people are still there, as are the imprints of the laws. For each fragment of weapon, you can find the corresponding brick on the South Heavenly Gate city wall."
"The golden patterns on the bricks and the law imprints on the weapon fragments flow in sync. The South Heavenly Gate no longer needs to be guarded, but the boundary markers need to be maintained. Maintaining the boundary markers is maintaining the law imprints they themselves left on the city walls. As long as the imprints remain, the people will not disperse."
Yang Jian pieced the two broken mirrors together, and a real-time image of the seal at the bottom of the Bone Mountain in Beiju Luzhou appeared on the mirror surface.
With Emperor Jun's main body sealed and the seal on the surface of Bone Mountain reinforced by an additional layer after the old domain's balance period stabilized, the reinforced law structure became denser than before.
The crystals of laws from the three demon emperors' heads, after being exorcised, were embedded in the tip of the demon emperor's spear, reflecting a faint golden light on the mirror surface.
He turned the shattered mirror toward the human warrior.
"The crystals on the tip of the Demon Emperor Spear will slowly release the residual law of the bones of ten thousand demons left over from the exorcism during the quenching process. The residual law has a more thorough quenching effect on mortal metals than the law slurry."
"When sharpening knives, temper several kitchen knives. After tempering, the knives are automatically registered in the sealed archives of Bone Mountain in Beiju Luzhou. The blade of each knife is synchronized with the frequency of the laws of the Bone Mountain seal."
"If someone uses the knife you forged to cut vegetables in the future, the sealed archives on the Bone Mountain will automatically record a law fluctuation. The fluctuation frequency is extremely low and will not trigger any alerts, but it will let the Bone Mountain seal know that someone is using the knife it forged to cut vegetables."
"Di Jun's remnant soul was sealed under the Bone Mountain for three thousand years. He couldn't hear the sound of chopping vegetables, but the sealed files would hear it for him."
The human warrior slammed the Demon Emperor Spear against the city bricks, the butt of the spear wedging three inches into the bricks.
He paused for a moment, then pulled the gun out of the city bricks, placed it across his knees, and touched the three demon emperor crystals on the tip of the gun with his finger.
"Alright. Every knife in my weapons shop is recorded in the Bone Mountain Sealed Archives. Di Jun can't hear the sound of chopping vegetables, but the archives can."
"When he wakes up after his three-thousand-year seal is broken, he'll open the file and see how many kilograms of vegetables the kitchen knives in my shop have chopped during those three thousand years."
"The three Demon Emperor heads piercing the tip of the Demon Emperor's Spear were once the strongest beings of the ancient demon race. Now, their crystals are used to temper kitchen knives. I wonder if Emperor Jun will be furious after seeing the files."
Sun Wukong squatted on the edge of the battlement, his golden cudgel resting on his knees. He took out a peach from his pocket, took a bite, chewed it several times with his cheeks puffed out, and swallowed it.
"If Di Jun were to wake up three thousand years later and read the records, he might not necessarily be angry enough to come back to life. But if Tathagata knew that his core fragment of Mount Sumeru was guarding the city wall for me, and that the fragment of Buddhist law next to it was marked by the Path of All Beings, he might laugh."
"The Buddha suppressed me for five hundred years, so I went to the Western Paradise to ask him for the title of Victorious Fighting Buddha."
"Now his fragments are guarding my city walls, my mother is counting the patterns on her scales in the ruins, and I'm eating peaches on Flower Fruit Mountain. All things considered, I haven't lost out in this round."
Su Fan took the Pangu Axe off his waist and stuck it in a crack in the city bricks at his feet.
He sat cross-legged on the city bricks, took his phone out of his pocket, opened the live streaming app, and pointed the camera at the law monitoring station that was operating stably in the direction of Guixu.
The influx of comments was much slower than before, but a few familiar comments appeared right on time.
One comment kept getting pushed to the top, and it contained only one sentence.
"Boss, when will the weapon shop next to the fried dough stick stall open?"
He leaned his phone against a brick next to the core fragment of Mount Sumeru and said something to the camera.
"Open for business tomorrow. The first kitchen knife sharpened by a human warrior will be quenched live."
The live chat exploded.
He put down his phone and took out the wooden axe that A Dou had given him, placing it on his lap.
The two crooked characters "Pangu" carved on the axe handle were extremely faint in the golden light of Mars. The green mark painted with a highlighter on the wooden axe blade had faded by most of its original color, but it was still faintly glowing.
He looked down at the wooden axe and remained silent for a long time.
Then he stood up, stuffed the wooden axe into his clothes, slung the Pangu axe over his shoulder, and turned to walk towards the edge of the battlements.
"I'm going to the mortal world. The shop next to the fried dough stick stall needs to be cleaned first. Old Zhang said that when Master Wang left, he left a bunch of bicycle parts in the shop. The chain and gears are all rusted, so they need to be removed first."
"The tip of the human warrior's Demon Emperor Spear can be quenched, but a quenching tank is needed before quenching. Gongsun Bao's chipped axe can be used as a quenching tank."
"The bluestone slabs at the entrance of the shop are shiny when you step on them, but there are still oil stains left by Master Wang when he repaired cars back then. It can only be cleaned by the residual power of the laws of the core fragment of Mount Sumeru."
"After it's cleaned, the patterns of laws on the bluestone slabs and the frequency of the aftershocks of the calamity at the entrance of the fried dough stick stall will be completely synchronized. When you step on it, it won't just be the bluestone slabs that shine, it will be the entire street."
After Su Fan finished speaking, he stepped on the golden law membrane and flew towards the mortal realm.
The golden light of Mars shone brightly behind him, and in the direction of that narrow street in the mortal world, the steam from the fried dough stick stall's steamer was rising in the morning light.
Old Zhang, the stall owner, was bending over adding coal briquettes to the stove, which was burning very brightly.
The oil in the pan was bubbling, and the dough on the cutting board had already risen.
Master Wang's shop is right next to the fried dough stick stall. The roller shutter door is closed, and the bluestone slabs in front of the door are covered with oil stains and rust.
Su Fan landed on the bluestone slab, put the Pangu Axe off his shoulder, and stuck it with the blade facing down at his feet.
He stood on the bluestone slab for a moment, then squatted down and placed his left hand on the surface of the slab. The golden line in his palm activated itself the moment it touched the oil stain. The will of all beings surged out from the line and spread along the texture of the bluestone slab to the entire street.
The oil stains evaporated on their own in the torrent of willpower, and the rust disintegrated on its own in the torrent of willpower.
The patterns on the bluestone slab changed from extremely faint to extremely bright, and the brightness was exactly the same as that of the newly filled broken brick on the South Heaven Gate city wall.
The aftershocks of the great calamity at the end of the alley were still pulsating, their frequency perfectly synchronized with the heartbeat of the larva deep within the foundation of the Ruins.
He withdrew his right hand from the stone slab and stood up.
The shop next to the fried dough stick stall had its shutter door closed, but a very faint golden glow was already seeping through the crack.
Tomorrow the weapons shop opens, and A Dou will come with his schoolbag to pick up his custom-made little axe.
The axe was made of refined iron from the mortal realm. It had been quenched in a tempering tank with the law crystals from the tip of the Demon Emperor's Spear. A very faint dark red law pattern remained on the axe blade, and the direction of the pattern was the same as that of Qingfeng's broken sword.
A Dou said his wooden axe had a light, and after the green light from the highlighter faded, the quenching patterns still shone through.
The steam from the youtiao stall's steamer still rises precisely every morning, Old Zhang still wipes his hands on his apron, and the aftershocks of the calamity at the alley entrance still dance with faint white arcs of electricity on the bluestone slabs.
From the first axe that Pangu cleaved the nest to the final palm strike that Su Fan laid out the will of all living beings on the bluestone slab, thirty thousand years passed, and the act of guarding transformed into maintenance.
What needs to be maintained is no longer the boundaries of the rules, but the bluestone slabs on this street.
The light on the bluestone slab is more stable than the golden light of Mars.
The next morning, someone knocked three times on the roller shutter door next to the fried dough stick stall from the inside.
Old Zhang was bending over adding coal briquettes to the stove when he heard a knock on the door. He put the fire tongs down by the stove, went over to look, and saw a head pop out from under the roller shutter door—it was Nezha.
Nezha pushed the roller shutter door up, and the hinges creaked, releasing a rusty smell mixed with the smell of machine oil from the shop.
The human warrior sat on a low stone platform in the center of the shop, the old scars from his two broken legs resting on the edge of the platform, the Demon Emperor Spear across his knees, the three Demon Emperor Crystals on the tip of the spear shining brightly in the morning light.
Gongsun Bao squatted in the corner, placing his blunt axe on the makeshift brick stove. The blunt edge of the axe blade was wedged between two firebricks, and coal briquettes borrowed from Old Zhang were burning in the stove.
At the far end of the shop, Su Fan sat cross-legged on a bluestone slab, leaning the Pangu Axe against the wall, removing the last few bicycle chains from the gears.
The chain was covered in rust, and the rust chips fell onto the bluestone slab and evaporated on their own from the residual will of all living beings on the slab.
When A Dou ran in with his schoolbag on his back, he almost tripped over the threshold.
The backpack strap slipped off his shoulder. He grabbed the strap with one hand and held onto the door frame with the other to steady himself. He looked up and saw the Demon Emperor's Spear lying across the human warrior's knee. His mouth was agape for a long time.
Nezha peeked out from behind the brick stove, grabbed a red-hot iron billet with fire tongs, and pressed it into the quenching tank. The law slurry in the quenching tank exploded into a tiny dark red law spark on the surface of the iron billet. After the spark dissipated, a very faint dark red law pattern was left on the surface of the iron billet.
He took the quenched iron billet out and placed it on the stone platform, then took off his gloves and waved to A Dou.
"Hey kid, your custom-made little axe, the blank was just quenched. Come take a look."
A Dou threw his schoolbag onto the bluestone slab at the door, ran over, and stood on tiptoe to look at the still steaming axe blank on the stone platform.
The axe blank was very small, only as long as his palm. The axe blade had not been sharpened, and the axe handle was still a bare iron bar.
He reached out to touch the axe blade, but pulled his fingers back halfway through.
Nezha placed the fire tongs on the brick stove, picked up the axe blank, turned it over, and showed the back to Adou.
The direction of the quenching pattern on the back is exactly the same as that of Qingfeng's broken sword, and the dark red law pattern flows on the surface of the iron billet.
"What words should be engraved on the axe handle? The human warrior said that this axe is made of refined iron, and it has been quenched in a quenching tank with the law crystals from the tip of the Demon Emperor's Spear. After the axe blade is sharpened, it can cut through iron like mud. The words on the axe handle must be engraved while it is still hot, otherwise it will be impossible to engrave them."
"Carving Pangu".
A Dou took out the wooden axe from his schoolbag and pointed to the two crooked characters on the axe handle.
The green glow from the fluorescent pen on the wooden axe blade had faded to almost invisible, but the two characters on the handle were still barely legible in the morning light.
Nezha took the wooden axe, looked down at the two crooked marks on the handle, remained silent for a moment, then stuffed the wooden axe back into Adou's hand, picked up the fire tongs, and put the axe blank back into the stove to heat it.
"Alright. Carve Pangu. After the axe blank is heated red-hot again, I'll carve it for you with the tip of my spear."
Nezha slammed his fire-tipped spear into the ground, the tip of which shone brightly in the morning light.
A Dou squatted beside the stone platform, watching the axe blank slowly turn red in the stove. In his schoolbag, on a crumpled piece of draft paper, was the axe design he had drawn with a pencil the night before.
The shape of the axe blade was drawn according to the Pangu axe, and the length of the axe handle was measured according to his arm.
A line of words was written crookedly next to it.
"My axe shines."
Su Fan stood up from the innermost part of the shop, placed the last bicycle chain in his hand on the pile of parts in the corner, and patted the rust off his hands.
He walked to the door, picked up A Dou's schoolbag that he had left on the bluestone slab, hung it on the hook by the door, and then leaned against the door frame to look into the shop.
Gongsun Bao squatted beside the brick stove, turning coal briquettes with fire tongs. The human warrior sat on the stone platform, wiping the law-marked marks on the shaft of his spear with sandpaper. Nezha took the red-hot axe blank out again and placed it on the stone platform, carving the first stroke on the axe handle with the tip of his spear.
Steam from the youtiao stall's steamer wafted in from the doorway, mingling with the subtle aftertaste of the quenching liquid evaporating inside the shop.
Old Zhang carried in a plate of freshly fried dough sticks and placed it on the stone platform; his apron was covered in oil stains.
"On the first day of opening, fried dough sticks are free. Sharpening knives will also be free from now on, and there's plenty of fried dough sticks to go."
The human warrior put down the sandpaper, reached for a fried dough stick, took a bite, chewed it twice and swallowed it, then slammed the Demon Emperor Spear onto the stone platform.
"Alright. Sharpening the knife is free, and you can have as many fried dough sticks as you want. The dark red law patterns left on the blade of that brat Adou's axe after it was quenched are from the same source as Qingfeng's broken sword. From now on, if he takes this axe to school and encounters any monsters bullying him on the way—"
"The monsters have all been killed long ago."
Su Fan leaned against the door frame and said.
"Then let's cut down something else. Cut down trees, cut firewood, cut down summer homework."
The human warrior took another bite of the fried dough stick.
Nezha lifted the spear tip off the axe handle, where two characters were now carved.
Pangu.
He looked down at the two words, slammed the fire-tipped spear on the ground, and handed the axe blank to A Dou.
"It's finished. Leave the sharpening of the axe to your dad; I only know how to carve with a spearhead, not how to sharpen a knife."
A Dou ran to Su Fan with the still-warm axe blank in his hand and held it above his head.
Su Fan looked down at the two engravings on the axe handle, took the axe blank, and pulled the Pangu Axe from his waist and placed it beside him.
There was no light on the blade of the Pangu Axe, and no law patterns on the handle, but when he held the handle, he could feel the extremely complete law of the Dao of All Beings sealed inside the axe head pulsating slightly.
He placed A Dou's axe blank on the stone platform, took the sandpaper from the human warrior, and began to sharpen the axe blade.
The sandpaper rubbed against the axe blade, producing a very fine metallic scraping sound.
A Dou squatted beside the stone platform, resting his chin on his hands as he looked at it. The design drawing in his schoolbag peeked out from the hook, gleaming slightly in the morning light.
The steam from the fried dough stick stall's steamer was still rising, and the aftershocks of the catastrophe at the alley entrance were still dancing with faint white arcs of electricity on the bluestone slabs.
On the first day of the weapons shop's opening, the first small axe, tempered with the Demon Emperor's Crystal, was being sharpened.