The Forge Fire

As a boy, Fang Jin is left to tend the abandoned, out-of-favor sword forge of the Xuanyang Sect on Mount Cangwu, after his father vanishes mysteriously, leaving behind only a dead fire and a pile of ordinary iron. The forging elder Huo Yan and his disciple are determined to reclaim the forge, and only Huo Lingxi senses that the old furnace hides a secret. Fang Jin labors at his tempering and, to everyone's astonishment, forges a spirit-linked ancient sword from common iron. As the secret unravels, he discovers his father did not abandon the forge and flee—he was betrayed by a traitor within the sect. With the power of the sword spirit, Fang Jin fights his enemies, ultimately guarding the old forge and restoring to the sect the art of forging spirit-linked blades from ordinary iron.