Chapter 135: Cool, Domineering, and Arrogant

One hundred low-grade Spirit Stones a month, and that was a buyout price for five design works; any less and money would be deducted.

Heh! Setting aside the design fee, wouldn't copying the blueprints alone be worth more than that?

Facing Facing Cang Luo decisively refused, saying calmly, "Sorry, I cannot accept this remuneration; it is too little..."

Actually, the original remuneration was not just this amount, and there was also a sales commission.

After He Jiu presented the design drawings to the family head and explained the situation, the family head was also quite shocked and praised him endlessly.

Upon learning that Facing Facing Cang Luo's 'Master' was unwilling to come out of seclusion but was willing to serve as a guest forging master, he immediately made a decision: five high-grade Spirit Stones a month and half of the sales revenue for each work.

Although five high-grade Spirit Stones were not many, half of the sales revenue was very considerable.

However, Lu Zheng suddenly appeared and said that Facing Facing Cang Luo's master was actually not a forging grandmaster, but just an ordinary person with some talent for weapon design, not a martial artist.

Moreover, he knew nothing about formation studies and was even somewhat arrogant, actually wanting to design a mechanical carriage!?

Then he said those designs were actually very simple; air vents, mortise-and-tenon structures, movable tail fins—any forging master at the Divine Weapon Workshop would understand them at a glance, so there was no need for the other party to design them.

Furthermore, whether these designs were useful was doubtful; producing and selling them without extensive combat testing, if they turned out impractical and were merely showpieces, it would ruin the reputation of the Divine Weapon Workshop.

The family head also thought this made sense, but did not fully follow Lu Zheng's advice to reject the other party's designs.

Although the other party was an ordinary person, his disciple was a disciple of the Profound Tianmen; even as an outer sect disciple, he had some investment value.

Thus, the family head decided on a buyout price of one high-grade Spirit Stone a month for five design works, treating it as cultivation funds for Facing Facing Cang Luo, in case he might come to work at the Divine Weapon Workshop in the future.

He Jiu thought about these things and smiled indifferently; this remuneration was indeed a bit low, but that depended on who you were talking about.

For a forging grandmaster, it was definitely too little; even if he did nothing and just held the title, it was still too little.

But for an ordinary person who could only design but not forge, it was already an astronomical price.

If it weren't for the fact that Facing Facing Cang Luo was an outer sect disciple of the Profound Tianmen, he wouldn't even get one high-grade Spirit Stone.

One high-grade Spirit Stone a month was enough for a General-level martial artist to cultivate; those with poor aptitude wouldn't even use it all up.

He Jiu sighed, putting on an expression of slight regret and said, "Little brother, this price was set by the family head; I have no choice. If the little brother cannot accept it, then it can only be regrettable."

Facing Facing Cang Luo sneered inwardly; at this moment, he thought that the owner of the Divine Weapon Workshop probably saw the design drawings and felt that although the designs were novel, they were not difficult and easy to imitate.

Air vents, mortise-and-tenon structures, movable tail fins... understood at a glance, so there was no need to spend money to hire a designer specifically.

Hmph! Short-sighted people, shameless plagiarists, showing no respect for originality; with this attitude, how could they expect to make their enterprise big and strong?

Facing Facing Cang Luo did not want to say more, glanced at Zhang Han's side, and said expressionlessly, "In that case, I do not expect much. Manager He, calculate how much my equipment costs."

He Jiu did not say much, took out an account book, and slowly said, "One long spear, using sixteen jin seven liang of Crimson Flame Gold; ten hidden weapons, using eight jin eight liang of Crimson Flame Gold..."

"One set of 'Mechanical Carriage' armor, using thirty-three jin of Black Obsidian Steel, plus various other armors, weapons, and tools..."

He Jiu listed a long string of items and finally reported a number.

Thirteen high-grade Spirit Stones!

That was just the material cost; there was also a forging fee of ten high-grade Spirit Stones, but after a discount, it was calculated as twenty high-grade Spirit Stones for Facing Facing Cang Luo!

Facing Facing Cang Luo was startled, cold sweat streaming down; he realized that in total he only had ten high-grade Spirit Stones, minus the one already used, leaving only nine, still short by eleven...

Previously, after confirming the materials, He Jiu left without quoting the price to go report to the family head about hiring Facing Facing Cang Luo's 'Master' as a guest forging master.

Facing Facing Cang Luo did not rush to ask; he estimated the price based on the weight of the materials, which was about the same as the price He Jiu quoted.

Although he did not have enough money and the forging fee was not included, he thought that since his 'Master' was about to become a guest forging master at the Divine Weapon Workshop, not to mention the salary, even the identity of a guest forging master should warrant a fifty percent discount, or even be free?

But now, because he disliked the low salary offered by the Divine Weapon Workshop, he refused to be a guest forging master...

As a result, the salary was gone, the relationship was strained, and a discount was impossible.

What to do?

The items were already forged; it was impossible not to take them.

Could he get credit?

"Little brother? Did I calculate wrong?"

Seeing his strange expression, He Jiu thought in his heart: Could this kid be out of money?

Heh, his tone of refusal just now was so calm; why is he silent now?

If he has no money, then he can stay and work to pay off the debt.

He Jiu smiled and said, "Little brother, is the money not enough? It doesn't matter, everything can be negotiated. Twenty high-grade Spirit Stones..."

"... as long as your master designs one hundred unique weapons."

Facing Facing Cang Luo remained silent, thought for a moment, and decided to pay half first, agree to use design drawings to cover the remaining half, and then immediately raise the money; he could borrow from Wang Fuhai or hunt demonic beasts in the Demon Beast Mountain Forest.

Hmph! Wanting the design drawings? No way!

Right, he still had a Rank 3 long sword that could be exchanged for some money; let's see if he could take the items first.

Facing Facing Cang Luo regained his composure and said calmly, "I only brought nine high-grade Spirit Stones, but I have a Rank 3 long sword here; Manager He, see how much it is worth?

If it is not enough, I can go back to get money, or use design drawings to offset the price."

Saying this, Facing Facing Cang Luo handed Feng Qingyun's Rank 3 long sword to the other party.

A dead person's belongings; better not to take them!

He Jiu took the long sword, looked at it and weighed it, then smiled, "Forged from sulfur silver, a Rank 3 metal, weighing about seven jin... Little brother is welcome to use it to offset the price.

However, weapons we acquire will only be melted down and reforged; we do not sell second-hand weapons, so we can only pay for the material itself, seven high-grade Spirit Stones."

Facing Facing Cang Luo nodded; that still left a shortfall of four... four hundred low-grade Spirit Stones, or eighty second-order demon cores.

Forget it; he had just come out of the Demon Beast Mountain Forest not long ago and did not want to go back in, nor did he want to borrow money from Wang Fuhai; he would just give the design drawings directly.

Weapon design drawings would be simpler; only twenty of them, and if he worked fast, he could finish drawing them in one night.

"Very well, for the remaining four high-grade Spirit Stones, I will use weapon design drawings to offset the price."

After speaking, Facing Facing Cang Luo took six high-grade Spirit Stones from his bag and handed over a bag of second-order demon cores worth three high-grade Spirit Stones to the other party, then added, "Manager He, can I take the already forged items first?"

Manager He took the Spirit Stones and demon cores, counted them, and seeing the large bag of second-order demon cores, immediately formed a plan in his mind, knowing this kid was truly out of money, even using demon cores to make up the difference.

He smiled and nodded, saying, "Of course; you can come to pick them up after the formations are engraved."

Facing Facing Cang Luo nodded, said no more, bowed, and walked over to Zhang Han, exchanging a few words with him.

He told him that in a while he would first send him a design textbook to study; if he didn't understand something, he could come find him at the War Wolf Gang in Xuan Tian Town.

Zhang Han clasped his fist and nodded, then tied Facing Facing Cang Luo's "Mechanical Vehicle" armor and ten three-edged flying daggers securely with rope. The formation on the armor had already been sealed; the three-edged flying daggers required no formation engraving and could be taken away immediately.

Facing Facing Cang Luo offered a word of thanks, placed the three-edged flying daggers in his bag, glanced at the pile of external equipment on the ground, found a simple air pump and screwdriver for inflating the tires, then hoisted the Steel Chariot armor and departed swiftly, eager to return and assemble it.

Sigh! It would be good to have a Spatial Ring.

After returning to the inn, Facing Facing Cang Luo did not rest. He sent a WeChat message to Zhu Ge Qing, requesting that Feng Lin Huo Shan send twenty cold-weapon design schematics. Then he completely disassembled the electric motorcycle, installed the Yuan Power Battery, and began assembling the armor.

Installing the Yuan Power Battery and assembling the armor went smoothly; it was finished in just three hours. However, there was one problem.

The armor's formation lacked Yuan Stones. To activate the formation, one could only use infinite Yuan Power for charging, which was very slow and very troublesome.

If one wished to activate the formation for use anytime, anywhere, and did not wish to expose the infinite Yuan Power, embedding Yuan Stones was highly necessary.

Unfortunately, Facing Facing Cang Luo was currently penniless. The single High-Grade Yuan Stone he possessed was already used, embedded in the Yuan Power Battery.

Facing Facing Cang Luo let out a bitter smile, took it lightly, and thought nothing of it. If he had no money, he would simply go hunt demonic beasts again. Or, once he returned to Xuan Tian Town, he would have money.

He had left Xuan Tian Gate for over half a month. The War Wolf Barbecue must have been developing very smoothly, hadn't it? Hadn't it earned quite a bit of money?

With a sweep of satellite surveillance, although he could not see the situation inside the shop, he saw people frequently entering and leaving the War Wolf Barbecue shop, and spotted several members of the War Wolf Gang, all beaming with joy.

"Looks like it's developing well! Business is so good!"

Facing Facing Cang Luo felt quite expectant and also breathed a sigh of relief, no longer worrying about money. After adjusting the armor, he began inflating the tires...

After more than ten minutes, the originally dilapidated second-hand electric motorcycle finally transformed into a product combining the Cultivation Civilization and the Technological Civilization.

Facing Facing Cang Luo felt that calling it a "Steel Chariot" was somewhat inappropriate. After thinking, since weapons engraved with formations were called Rune Weapons...

... then a chariot engraved with formations should be called a Rune Chariot!

Actually, it could also be called a Mechanical Vehicle, since the Mechanical Vehicles and Mechanical Beasts of the Mohist Mechanical City were machines engraved with formations. However, there was a difference between the two, and a very large one.

Every function of the Mohist Mechanical Vehicle, including movement, was driven by formations.

But this Rune Chariot moved via electric motor drive; essentially, it still used electrical energy. The formations merely provided defense and attack capabilities.

"It doesn't matter. It's just a name."

Facing Facing Cang Luo nodded, did not dwell on the name, looked at the Rune Chariot with an expression of excitement, and was overjoyed!

The body was entirely black, shimmering with a low-key metallic luster under the candlelight.

The armor had sharp, distinct angles, full of technological feel. Low-key yet carrying a hint of domineering aura. The front, designed after an Iron Man helmet, looked somewhat arrogant!

If external equipment were installed, such as inserting two long spears at the front and mounting tail fins at the rear, it would simply be dazzling!

Cool!

Domineering!

Arrogant!

These were the three tags Facing Facing Cang Luo summarized for this Rune Chariot.

By this time, night had fallen. The headlights were broken; otherwise, Facing Facing Cang Luo would have planned to drive it out for a spin. He must find a way to replace the headlights and also solidify the tires.

Facing Facing Cang Luo planned to stay up all night drawing the twenty design schematics. First thing tomorrow morning, he would go to Shen Bing Fang to repay the debt. He did not like owing people things.

He would also ask Zhang Han to see if there were any formations that could replace the headlights and solidify the tires.