Chapter 135: Cool, Powerful, Arrogant

One hundred lower-grade Qi stones per month, and that was the lump sum for five design works—less would mean deductions.

Hah! Even if you weren’t paying design fees, copying blueprints alone wouldn’t cost just this much, would it?

Cang Luo refused decisively, saying coolly, “Apologies, I cannot accept such a low fee...”

Actually, the original offer had been higher, with sales commissions included.

After He Jiu presented the designs to the clan master and explained the situation, the master was deeply impressed and praised them endlessly.

Upon learning that Cang Luo’s “master” refused to leave seclusion but was willing to serve as an honorary forging master, he immediately decided on five upper-grade Qi stones per month and a half-percent sales share per design.

Five upper-grade Qi stones weren’t much, but a half-percent sales share was extremely substantial.

Then Lu Zheng suddenly appeared, claiming Cang Luo’s master wasn’t a master forger at all—just an ordinary man with a slight talent for weapon design, not even a martial cultivator.

He knew nothing about array theory and was even arrogant enough to attempt designing a mechanical vehicle!?

He added that the designs were simple—air blood grooves, mortise-and-tenon joints, movable tail fins—any forger in the Divine Weapon Workshop could grasp them at a glance; no need to hire an external designer.

Besides, it was uncertain whether these designs were even practical. Selling them without extensive battlefield testing risked damaging the Divine Weapon Workshop’s reputation if they turned out to be mere showpieces.

The clan master found this reasonable but didn’t fully accept Lu Zheng’s advice to reject Cang Luo’s designs.

Though the man was ordinary, his disciple was a disciple of the Profound Heaven Sect—even an outer disciple held some investment value.

Thus, the clan master settled on one upper-grade Qi stone per month for the lump-sum purchase of five design works, treating it as support for Cang Luo’s cultivation, hoping he might one day join the Divine Weapon Workshop.

He Jiu pondered this, smiling indifferently—this fee was indeed low, but it depended on who you were talking about.

For a master forger, it was certainly too little—even if you did nothing but lend your name, it was still too little.

But for an ordinary man who could only design but not forge, it was already a fortune.

Had it not been for Cang Luo’s status as an outer disciple of the Profound Heaven Sect, he wouldn’t have gotten even one upper-grade Qi stone.

One upper-grade Qi stone per month was sufficient for a General-level cultivator’s training—those with poor talent wouldn’t even use it all.

He Jiu sighed, wearing a slightly regretful expression: “Young brother, this price was set by the clan master—I can’t change it. If you can’t accept it, then I’m afraid we must part ways.”

Cang Luo sneered inwardly, realizing the Divine Weapon Workshop’s master must have seen the designs and thought they were novel but not difficult—easy to copy.

Air blood grooves, mortise-and-tenon joints, movable tail fins... anyone could understand them at a glance; no need to pay a designer.

Hmph! Short-sighted fools, shameless plagiarists, showing zero respect for originality—how could you ever grow your business strong?

Cang Luo said nothing more, glanced at Zhang Han, and said expressionlessly, “Then I won’t press further. Master He, calculate the cost of my equipment.”

He Jiu said nothing, pulled out his ledger, and began slowly: “One spear, forged with sixteen jin seven liang of Crimson Flame Gold; ten hidden weapons, forged with eight jin eight liang of Crimson Flame Gold...”

“One set of ‘Mechanical Vehicle’ armor, forged with thirty-three jin of Black Glitter Steel; plus various other armors, weapons, and tools...”

He Jiu recited a long list, then gave the final figure.

Thirteen upper-grade Qi stones!

That was only the material cost—the forging fee was another ten upper-grade Qi stones. After discount, they charged Cang Luo twenty upper-grade Qi stones total!

Cang Luo was stunned, sweat pouring down—he realized he had at most ten upper-grade Qi stones, and after using one, only nine remained, still eleven short...

Earlier, after confirming the materials, He Jiu had left without quoting a price, going to report to the clan master about hiring Cang Luo’s “master” as an honorary forging master.

Cang Luo hadn’t pressed him—he’d estimated the price by material weight, and it matched He Jiu’s quote.

Though he lacked funds and hadn’t accounted for forging fees, he assumed his “master” would soon become an honorary forging master—surely that status alone would earn him a fifty percent discount, maybe even free service?

But now, by refusing the honorary forging master position due to the low salary...

He’d lost the salary, strained the relationship, and any discount was now impossible.

What should he do?

The gear was already forged—he couldn’t walk away from it.

Could he pay on credit?

“Young brother? Did I miscalculate?”

Seeing Cang Luo’s strange expression, He Jiu wondered if the boy had no money at all.

Hah! He’d sounded so cool and collected refusing earlier—why is he silent now?

If he has no money, he’ll stay and work off the debt.

He Jiu smiled warmly: “Young brother, is the money short? No problem—we can discuss anything. Twenty upper-grade Qi stones...”

“Just have your master design a hundred unique weapons, and it’s settled.”

Cang Luo said nothing, thought for a moment, then decided to pay half now and settle the rest with design blueprints—then immediately raise the rest, either borrowing from Wang Fuhai or hunting beasts in the Beast Forest.

Hmph! You want my blueprints? Not a chance!

Oh—he still had a third-rank longsword. Maybe he could trade it for some cash and take the gear first.

Cang Luo regained his composure and said coolly, “I have only nine upper-grade Qi stones on me, but I have this third-rank longsword—Master He, how much is it worth?”

“If it’s not enough, I can go get more money, or use design blueprints as payment.”

Saying this, Cang Luo handed over Feng Qingyun’s third-rank longsword.

A dead man’s belongings—no need to keep them.

He Jiu took the sword, examined it, weighed it, and smiled: “Forged with sulfur silver, third-rank metal, about seven jin... You can use it as payment.

But we only melt down acquired weapons to reforge them—we don’t sell secondhand gear—so I can only pay you the material value: seven upper-grade Qi stones.”

Cang Luo nodded. Four more needed—four hundred lower-grade Qi stones, or eighty second-rank beast cores.

Forget it—he’d just come out of the Beast Forest, didn’t want to go back, didn’t want to borrow from Wang Fuhai—just hand over the blueprints.

Weapon blueprints were simpler—only twenty designs; he could finish them in one night if he worked fast.

“Alright, the remaining four upper-grade Qi stones—I’ll pay with weapon design blueprints.”

Saying this, Cang Luo took six upper-grade Qi stones and a pouch of second-rank beast cores worth three upper-grade Qi stones and handed them over. Then he added, “Master He, can I take the forged gear now?”

He Jiu took the Qi stones and beast cores, counted them, saw the large pouch of second-rank cores, and immediately understood—the boy truly had no money, even using beast cores to make up the difference.

He smiled and nodded: “Of course. Come back later to collect the gear once the arrays are engraved.”

Cang Luo nodded, said nothing more, bowed slightly, then walked toward Zhang Han and spoke with him.

He told him he’d send a design textbook soon—let him start learning, and if he had questions, he could come to the War Wolf Clan in Xuantian Town to find him.

Zhang Han bowed in return, helped Cang Luo tie up the “Mechanical Vehicle” armor and ten triple-edged throwing daggers—the armor’s array was already sealed, and the daggers needed no array engraving, so they could be taken immediately.

Cang Luo thanked him, tucked the triple-edged daggers into his pack, scanned the pile of external gear, found the simple air pump and screwdriver, then shouldered the steel armor and hurried off, eager to assemble it.

Sigh—if only I had a space ring.

Back at the inn, Cang Luo didn’t rest—he sent a WeChat message to Zhuge Qing, instructing Feng Lin Huo Shan to send twenty cold weapon designs, then dismantled the electric motorcycle, installed the Qi-power battery, and assembled the armor.

Installing the Qi-power battery and assembling the armor went smoothly—he finished in just three hours—but one problem remained.

The armor’s array had no Qi stones—activating it required infinite Qi charging, which was slow and cumbersome.

If he wanted to activate the array anytime, anywhere without exposing his infinite Qi, he absolutely needed to embed Qi stones.

Unfortunately, Cang Luo was now penniless—his only upper-grade Qi stone was already embedded in the Qi-power battery.

Cang Luo chuckled bitterly, unconcerned—he’d just hunt more beasts if he needed money, or return to Xuantian Town and he’d have funds.

He’d been away from the Profound Heaven Sect for over half a month—had the War Wolf Barbecue grown well? Made good money?

Scanning with satellite surveillance, though he couldn’t see inside the shop, he noticed frequent customers entering and leaving the War Wolf Barbecue, and spotted several members of the War Wolf Clan—all smiling broadly.

“Looks like it’s doing great! Business is booming!”

Cang Luo felt hopeful and relieved—he no longer worried about money, adjusted the armor, and began inflating the tires...

After more than ten minutes, the once-ruined secondhand electric motorcycle had become a fusion of cultivation civilization and technological civilization.

Cang Luo felt “Steel War Vehicle” was inappropriate. He thought—since array-engraved weapons were called Rune Weapons...

Then an array-engraved vehicle should be called a Rune Vehicle!

It could also be called a Mechanical Vehicle, since Mo Family’s Mechanical City’s mechanical vehicles and beasts were also array-engraved machines—but the difference was huge.

The Mo Family’s Mechanical Vehicles relied entirely on arrays for all functions, including movement.

This Rune Vehicle, however, moved via electric motor—its core was still electrical energy; the arrays only provided defense and attack capabilities.

“Whatever—it’s just a name.”

Cang Luo nodded, didn’t dwell on the name, stared at the Rune Vehicle, and beamed with excitement!

The chassis was pitch black, gleaming with a subdued metallic luster under candlelight.

The armor had sharp edges, radiating a technological aesthetic—quietly imposing, with a slightly arrogant look, its helmet-like front echoing Iron Man’s design.

If he added external gear—like two long spears mounted on the front and a tail fin at the rear—it would be absolutely dazzling!

Cool!

Powerful!

Arrogant!

These were the three labels Cang Luo gave this Rune Vehicle.

It was already dark—the headlight was broken; otherwise he’d have ridden out for a spin. He needed a substitute for the headlight and had to solidify the tires.

Cang Luo planned to stay up all night drawing the twenty design blueprints, then head to the Divine Weapon Workshop the next morning to repay his debt—he hated owing others.

He’d also ask Zhang Han if there was any array that could replace the headlight or solidify the tires.