Chapter 104: Crowdfunding a Blade Replacement

He kept repeating these words, his eyes full of obsession; Ye Zhangqing even wondered whether this guy still had any consciousness.

He waved his hand in front of the guy's eyes, but there was no reaction at all; he just kept muttering.

"Give me a bite, just a bite, just one bite............"

Saying that, this guy somehow found strength, shoved Ye Zhangqing aside in one push, yet he somehow stayed on his feet and then staggered toward Zhao Zhengping's big pot.

Seeing this, Ye Zhangqing was completely speechless: you're about to die, and you're still thinking about eating.

With difficulty he reached the big pot; Zhao Zhengping saw this, perhaps out of his duty as Senior Brother, and painfully tore off a shrimp shell to give to this disciple.

The meat had long been eaten, leaving only a thin, transparent, dry shrimp shell.

Even so, Zhao Zhengping wore a solemn expression, first helping the disciple sit down, then handing him the shrimp shell and saying:

"Junior Brother, as Senior Brother I can only do this much—eat well, and after you finish, take good care of your wounds."

Such a touching scene moved the surrounding disciples deeply, and they all gave praise to the Senior Brother.

"Senior Brother is awesome."

"This is what a Senior Brother of our Divine Sword Peak should be like."

"This act of the Senior Brother truly bears the spirit of the ancient sages who cut their flesh to feed the hawks."

Listening to everyone eat while mumbling their praises, Ye Zhangqing no longer wanted to say anything.

"That's just a shrimp shell—how can you even compare it to cutting flesh to feed the hawks? Do you think the meat cut for feeding hawks isn't better than this shrimp shell?"

He picked up the large tea vat and strode straight toward the side courtyard, where ingredients were stored.

Arriving beside the corpse of the Flood Dragon Clan, he intended to first process it; after all, it was his first time, and although the system had taught him how to handle dragon meat, he had never actually done it before.

He drew the kitchen knife strapped to his back in one motion.

"First remove the scales, then pull out the tendons and extract the bones..............."

He murmured softly, then swung the knife at the dragon's scales; as a spark flew up, the scales remained completely unharmed.

"Damn it."

After trying a few more times, Ye Zhangqing finally concluded that this kitchen knife simply wouldn't work.

After all, it's not a divine weapon; cutting through dragon scales is indeed difficult even for a very strong blade.

"Looks like I'll have to forge a new knife."

As the ingredients improve, the knives must also be updated and replaced.

Just as a true swordsman possesses a peerless sword of his own,

a true chef must also possess a peerless kitchen knife of his own.

Just as Ye Zhangqing was pondering where to get a new knife, Zhao Zhengping, Xu Jie, and the others, having finished their meal and washed the pot, walked in.

Seeing him standing alone before the flood dragon's corpse, Xu Jie asked strangely:

"Changqing Junior Brother, what's wrong?"

"This flood dragon corpse is too hard; my knife can't handle it—I need to switch to a higher-grade blade."

"Change a knife?" Hearing this, Zhao Zhengping and the others immediately slapped their chests and said:

"I thought it was something serious—just changing a knife; let Shī xiōng go to the Weapon Refining Peak and forge another one for Junior Brother."

"You're stupid—you can't go to the Weapon Refining Peak; you definitely have to go outside to get it made."

"How could you go to the Weapon Refining Peak to forge a knife?" After Zhao Zhengping's reminder, Xu Jie also realized this, nodding repeatedly.

"Right, right, right—can't go to the Weapon Refining Peak, so let's go to Blacksmith Valley."

"Don't let the name sound lowly; Blacksmith Valley is the largest weapon-refining sect in Dongzhou, a gathering place for countless weapon refiners."

"In terms of technique, it even surpasses the Weapon Refining Peak of the Dao Yi Sect."

Hearing this, Zhao Zhengping nodded.

"Blacksmith Valley is not bad, but the prices those old-timers charge are not low."

"If you want Blacksmith Valley to forge weapons, you definitely have to pay a price, and it's not a small one."

"Moreover, not everyone has the standing to ask for that."

"But these naturally aren't a problem for Zhao Zhengping and the others; soon, several people began raising funds to replace Ye Zhangqing's knife."

"Let's do this: we'll each chip in, see what good refining materials we have, and help Junior Brother Changqing replace his knife."

"Sure, I have a piece of thousand-year-old mystic iron, an excellent material for forging weapons."

"Good, I have a tiger tendon of earth-demon grade, also usable for refining."

"I have golden-pattern sand..........."

"I have the horn of a black-horned demon ox."

"I have a black chicken claw."

Everyone produced the treasures they had kept hidden, placing them on the table before them; for a moment the treasures' radiance burst forth.

Obviously valuable at a glance, yet atop this pile of treasures suddenly appeared a pitch-black chicken claw.

Zhao Zhengping, Liu Shuang, Xu Jie, Lu Youyou, Wang Yao, and the others were all stunned—where did this black chicken claw come from?

Turning their heads, they saw that other disciples had also slipped in at some point, and an Outer Door Disciple happened to toss the black chicken claw onto the pile of treasures.

Facing the gazes of the various personally transmitted senior brothers and sisters, this Outer Door Disciple gave an embarrassed smile and said:

"I also wanted to contribute my modest effort."

"Get lost."

"Fine."

"Come back."

"Shī xiōng, anything else?"

"Take your black chicken claw with you."

"Oh."

"How dare you take out such trash and show it off? This is preparing materials to change Junior Brother Ye Zhangqing's sword, right? What's the point of adding a black chicken claw? Are you trying to forge a black chicken sword?"

"Taking a deep breath, Zhao Zhengping and the others continued to calculate the materials needed to forge the treasure sword."

"After some discussion and matching, the few finally nodded in satisfaction."

"It should be about enough; although we can't forge a Divine Weapon yet, forging a Treasure Weapon should be sufficient."

"The grades of weapons are divided into Mortal Weapons, Spiritual Weapons, Treasure Weapons, and Divine Weapons, with each grade further divided into upper, middle, and lower three ranks."

"So who will go to Blacksmith Valley?"

"With the materials ready, the only question left is who will make the trip."

"Upon hearing this, among the disciples, an Inner Door Disciple stepped forward and volunteered."

"Senior Brother, I'll go."

"Looking at this person, Zhao Zhengping nodded."

"Junior Brother Chen Mu, are you willing to make the trip? That would be excellent."

"Chen Mu's strength is not weak; among the Inner Door Disciples, he could rank in the top ten."

"Senior Brother, rest assured; Junior Brother guarantees to complete the mission—the sword stays with the person."

"Good, then no more delay; Junior Brother, set off immediately. Right, Junior Brother Ye Zhangqing, let Xiao Bai take Junior Brother Chen Mu—make haste along the way."

"Watching them decide on their own to replace their swords, Ye Zhangqing nodded dumbfounded—this efficiency is too fast, huh? I only said a sentence; has it even been a quarter hour?"

"Summoning Xiao Bai, I had it take Chen Mu to Blacksmith Valley. At first it was unwilling, giving Chen Mu a disdainful glance, but in the end Ye Zhangqing said, 'Without a sword you can't eat dragon meat,' and Xiao Bai reluctantly agreed."

"But in the end, Chen Mu didn't ride Xiao Bai; instead, Xiao Bai grabbed Chen Mu with a claw and flew off directly."

"All Shī xiōng, please..."

"While he was still speaking, a claw grabbed Chen Mu's body, shot up into the sky, instantly disappearing beyond the horizon, and only after a moment did a loud shout come through."

"Heart.............."

"Watching the person and crane disappear, Ye Zhangqing couldn't help but feel worried."

"Nothing will go wrong, right?"