Su Mu's eyes narrowed slightly; vaguely, it was as though he heard a death knell sounding for him.
Putting himself in their place, if Su Mu needed to go far away, it would take about five months; he would often say six months to others, just to leave some leeway.
Yet the person responsible for giving him the antidote had given Su Mu six doses before leaving, and now seven months had passed with no sign of return—clearly, something was wrong.
What should he do now?
With his comprehension already at ten points, Su Mu, now Jade-Level, forcibly suppressed the panic in his heart and swiftly pieced together his chaotic thoughts.
"First, watch and wait for a month… then make further plans."
The hope was slim, but he still could not directly rule out the possibility that the responsible person had been delayed on the road.
If that person was currently rushing back, then one month later would be the final deadline. According to normal circumstances, if a month passed and Su Mu still had no antidote, the poison within him would flare up and kill him.
So he must wait this month out; if he panicked and fled blindly to seek medical help for detoxification, only to find the situation wasn't so dire yet, it would be no different from courting death.
Su Mu had imagined long ago about ridding his body of poison and breaking the shackles of being a Death Warrior.
He wanted to regain control over his life and destiny!
But Su Mu was also very aware that the poison in his body was potent and not easily removed, so he had been lying low and growing strong, hoping to manage it slowly.
Unless he was absolutely sure he could detoxify and had gained certain strength, Su Mu was unwilling to act prematurely.
Yet things rarely went as planned; plans could never keep up with change. During this month of waiting, he would remain at the blacksmith shop, but also had to start taking action sooner.
"Su Mu, Su Mu, what's wrong?"
His thoughts were interrupted by a call; Li Xiaohu waved a hand energetically in front of Su Mu's eyes.
"Ah… I'm fine."
Su Mu took a big bite of the steamed bun in his mouth. With a mind in turmoil, he could not taste a thing; it was flavorless to him now.
It was during that very afternoon, as Li Tie kept watch at the blacksmith shop, awaiting a reply, that the letter from Qingyun County Town arrived. Li Tie hurriedly took out the letter and read it.
"Senior Brother wants to test Su Mu… He wants Su Mu to forge a Thirty-Refined Blade Soldier as his trial…"
After reading it, Li Tie's expression was not good. He had described Su Mu's forging experience in great detail in the letter, appraising him fairly, but clearly his Senior Brother did not quite believe it.
To have a newcomer with barely a year of forging experience forge a Thirty-Refined Blade Soldier was truly asking the impossible.
Currently, there was no one in the shop who could forge a Thirty-Refined Blade Soldier.
In the shop, only Li Tie and another master who'd been immersed in forging for over twenty years possessed the skill to create Thirty-Refined Weapons, but the shop's tools and the usual iron ore were insufficient to meet the requirements for forging such blades.
Thus, even if Li Tie himself tried, it would be nearly impossible to successfully forge a Thirty-Refined Blade Soldier.
"But let the boy try anyway… Senior Brother isn't so unreasonable—so long as Su Mu can enter the Forging Workshop, everything will be fine."
"What I can see, my senior brother who stands above me will certainly see as well—Su Mu's extraordinary nature…"
After composing himself, Li Tie went to the forge and called Su Mu out.
"Su Mu, the weapons you've forged these past days have excellent quality and good reputation. Now, the shop has received a special order—a customer has specified you, by name, to forge a weapon."
Li Tie paused and studied Su Mu's expression.
Su Mu was intrigued; what kind of special order would make the shop owner personally call him to announce it?
"The order is special because the customer wants you to forge a weapon above Thirty Refinements. Do you wish to give it a try?"
Forge a Thirty-Refined Weapon?!
Su Mu's eyes shone. Truthfully, he already had thoughts of leaving—all along, Su Mu was not one to wait for death.
Recently his forging skill progress had slowed; for various reasons, but Su Mu believed that a large part of it was because Ten-Refined Weapons no longer challenged him.
Imagine a mathematician forced to perform only addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division every day—how could he ever improve?
Su Mu was much the same; for example, his Alchemy Skill had yet to reach Small Success, because every time he merely handled the same few herbs, boiling them as usual, never delving deeper, and thus made little further progress.
One month left; before departing, it would not be amiss to test his limits as a blacksmith.
Su Mu accepted with no hesitation.
"Shop owner, I'll take this order."
"This order is special—not necessarily required to be finished, so do your best." Seeing Su Mu accept so readily, Li Tie was gratified and spoke earnestly.
He did not want this matter to become too much of a burden or blow to Su Mu.
As dusk fell, Su Mu sealed the furnace and left the blacksmith shop. He arrived at a pharmacy in town; the physician saw Su Mu and greeted him cheerfully. Su Mu had become a regular there over the past months, always spending several taels of silver with each visit.
"Young friend, how many lots of medicinal herbs would you like today?"
"Ten portions," Su Mu replied, then changed the subject. "Today, I'd also like the old physician to examine me."
"No problem, no problem."
The old physician beamed, first calling the medicine boy to fetch the herbs, then taking Su Mu's wrist to feel his pulse, the old physician's fingertips pressing on Su Mu's pulse meridians.
After a while, the old physician raised his brows in surprise. "I find your pulse steady and long, your Qi Blood vigorous and far stronger than most—by the pulse, there is no sign of abnormality."
Hearing this, Su Mu spoke without change of expression, "Physician, lately whenever the weather is gloomy and rainy, I get unbearable itching, as if worms were crawling inside me."
"Hmm?! Such a strange thing!"
The old physician was shocked, scrutinizing Su Mu, seeing that he was not joking; he led Su Mu to his inner chamber, and Su Mu lay on a bamboo bed. The old physician pressed his ear to Su Mu's chest and stomach, examining carefully, but his face grew puzzled.
From his examination, all he found was that Su Mu's physique was robust, and his internal organs stronger than most, but nothing was amiss with the organs—everything seemed perfectly normal.
"Young friend, you said earlier that during rainy weather you itch all over, as if bugs crawl inside… In that case, I'll prescribe a few preparations for dampness and for expelling insects; give them a try?"
"Very well, I'll trouble you, physician."
Su Mu sighed inwardly; it seemed the poison in his body was not so easily dealt with. Still, it was worth trying, so as he rose from the bamboo bed and was about to leave—
The physician called out after him. Seeing that Su Mu bought so many herbs and was earnest in his question, the physician offered a bit of advice.
"Young friend, if these prescriptions show no effect… you might try visiting Pharmacist Lin at Yunhe Clinic in Qingyun County Town. Pharmacist Lin is highly skilled—famous not just in Qingyun County, but several counties nearby. He'll surely cure you with the right medicine."
Qingyun County, Yunhe Clinic, Pharmacist Lin!
Su Mu committed this to memory, offering sincere thanks, "Many thanks for telling me, physician."
Leaving the pharmacy, Su Mu tried several other drugstores in town; not a single physician could detect the poison in his body—most didn't even catch a hint, and all shook their heads in doubt.
In the end, their advice was nearly identical: prescribe several doses for dampness and expelling insects, and see how it goes.
Su Mu was not too disappointed in this result; he'd expected as much.
"At least I gained something… Another day, I'll make a trip to Qingyun County Town."