Chapter 170: Sixth-Rank Military Talisman

Two taels of refined gold, valued at eighty thousand taels of silver.

"No wonder divine weapons are priceless. Not to mention the difficulty of forging them, just these two taels of refined gold are beyond the means of smaller factions..."

Inside the Crimson Fusion Cave, Li Yuan's teeth ached.

He tallied his assets; with two windfalls plus some jewelry and such, he could indeed afford the silver.

The problem was, windfalls couldn't be spent openly.

"The silver I can show right now is less than ten thousand taels. Hmm, plus three shops in Fucheng, one large mansion, a thousand mu of paddy fields, and one mine..."

Li Yuan thought of selling his assets.

The sect bestowed considerable estates upon true disciples; just the thousand mu of paddy fields could be valued at eight thousand taels of silver, let alone the mine, the large mansion, and the shops...

"That's only one tael of refined gold."

Li Yuan's teeth ached even more.

For ordinary people, this was simply an astronomical price; no, for him too, it was an astronomical price!

"Sell!"

Under normal circumstances, Li Yuan would never sell the estates of a true disciple, but at this time, if it must be sold, then sell it.

It's just...

"Selling now won't fetch a good price, and the impact won't be very good either."

Li Yuan pondered briefly and decided to leave this difficult problem to Liu Zheng and Wang Wang Peiyao; he himself could not appear publicly.

Selling assets at this critical juncture could only be done by secretly contacting the few great families in the city.

Having made his decision, he picked up the forging hammer again and continued forging the Thousand-Quintal Heavy Hammer.

Liu Zheng acted quickly; the next day he began attending banquets at various households, and in less than three days, he had sold the mine, the shops, and the fields.

Because the sale was urgent, the price was suppressed somewhat.

On the third day, Liu Zheng brought the gold bills and the pills obtained from selling the weapon-forging shop to the Weapon-Forging Valley.

Li Yuan gave a few instructions, tucked the gold bills away, and went to find Jing Jing Shuhu.

"With your current weapon-forging skill, you are not yet proficient even in forging high-grade famous weapons; what do you need refined gold for?"

Upon learning that Li Yuan had sold the true disciple's foundation, Lei Ting would normally have erupted in fury, but at this moment, he merely frowned.

Refined gold is a top-tier auxiliary material usable in forging all kinds of divine weapons; its price is extraordinarily high, and he himself possessed only a few taels.

He was also curious what this young man intended to do.

"This disciple intends to try forging a supreme-grade famous weapon."

Li Yuan didn't blink, giving his reason; using refined gold to forge a supreme-grade famous weapon is extravagant, but there are precedents.

There is a reason refined gold is valued so highly; adding even a little during the forging of a supreme-grade famous weapon greatly increases the success rate.

"Supreme-grade famous weapon?!"

Lei Ting was startled in his heart: "You, your weapon-forging art has already reached the minor accomplishment stage?"

Not yet...

Li Yuan naturally knew his own progress, but with the enhancement of the forging hammer, he dared to boast of the major accomplishment stage.

"About so..."

"Really?"

Lei Ting was both surprised and delighted; in less than a year, the weapon-forging art reached the minor accomplishment stage?

In the fourteen hundred years of the Divine Weapon Valley, it seems only those two ancestors possessed such talent.

"About so, about so."

Li Yuan revealed no flaw; this timing was just right for him. At other times, whether he sold assets or did something else, Lei Ting would not have agreed.

"Hmm... let me test you. If you truly have reached the minor accomplishment stage, it is not impossible to consider."

Lei Ting did not believe him lightly and followed Li Yuan to the Crimson Fusion Cave.

Li Yuan had prepared thoroughly; relying on the enhancement of several forging hammers, he barely passed, paying all his visible silver, yet still fell short by three thousand taels of gold.

"With your ability, three thousand taels of gold are nothing, but rules are rules... hmm, here is the deal: I will advance it for you."

Unable to withstand Li Yuan's pleas, Lei Ting paced with a stern face, thought for a moment, and finally agreed.

"Thank you, Elder!"

Li Yuan was overjoyed at once, thanking him repeatedly.

Although he had planned to borrow before arriving, he had also prepared for the possibility of refusal.

After all, three thousand taels of gold, at market price, equals thirty-six thousand taels of silver; this is an astronomical number even for some small families in Fucheng.

"Don't thank me yet; I am lending it to you, not giving it to you."

Lei Ting glared:

"Don't look so glum. I don't want you to repay the silver. After your weapon-forging art reaches the major accomplishment stage, you must forge one for me...

Hmm, two supreme-grade famous weapons!"

Supreme-grade famous weapons are the best below divine weapons and also among the finest blades used by elders and sect masters across the provinces.

In a sense, they are even more sought-after than divine weapons, since divine weapons must choose their masters, whereas supreme-grade famous weapons can be passed down through generations.

"What are you saying, Elder? Even without these three thousand taels of gold, if you command me, how could this disciple not obey?"

Li Yuan agreed without blinking, and the heavy stone in his heart was lifted.

Old Lei is still reasonable.

If it were Old Jing, not to mention whether he could obtain two taels of refined gold, even if he could, the conditions would not be so lenient.

"Enough!"

Lei Lei Jingchuan waved a hand, and as he turned around, a satisfied smile inevitably appeared on his face.

This refined gold isn't mine, but the favor is; given this young man's talent, this is a surefire profit with no loss.

"Thank you, Elder."

Li Yuan was also very satisfied.

He cherishes everyone willing to lend him money; an old Lei, such a good creditor, must be cherished even more.

Supreme-grade famous vessels are precious, and materials are hard to find; if someone is willing to provide materials for him to practice on, that is mostly a wonderful thing.

With the transaction concluded, Lei Lei Jingchuan went to fetch the refined gold; while Li Yuan waited, he didn't idle, but calculated his own assets.

The "gifts" left by Ding Zhi and Sun Zan still amounted to nearly forty thousand taels of silver, eleven Soul-Storing Small Return Pills, and over four bottles each of medicines like Blood-Enhancing, Bone-Strengthening, and Leopard-Fetus Sinew-Changing Pills.

After selling the weapon forge, he exchanged for three more Soul-Storing Small Return Pills and over twenty bottles of ordinary medicines.

"This batch of medicines, if used sparingly, is enough for me to last two and a half years."

Counting his assets, Li Yuan felt quite secure in his heart.

With this foundation, even if there were further turmoil later, it wouldn't affect him in the short term.

Life is only one; no matter how cautious one is, it is never excessive.

"Hah!"

Exhaling a long breath, Li Yuan threw himself back into the ironworking; the forging of the Thousand-Weight Heavy Hammer had reached its conclusion.

Hiss~

Smoke steamed up.

Six days later, Li Yuan forged the third Thousand-Weight Heavy Hammer.

"Only by forging it with one's own hands can the control effect be so similar."

Taking out the heavy hammer, polishing and shaping it, Li Yuan nodded inwardly; three identical Thousand-Weight Heavy Hammers meant his weapon-casting art had become quite proficient, and he was not far from minor mastery.

High similarity represents a higher success rate when merging weapons, and for weapons tempered by the Blood-Infusing Spirit-Channeling Art, he fully met the control conditions.

"Junior Brother Li."

While Li Yuan was doing the final finishing touches, Niu Jun had already brought all the various iron materials he needed.

"Thank you, Senior Brother Niu!"

Li Yuan's eyes brightened slightly; he took out a silver note and handed it to Niu Jun.

Promoting the Weapon Command Talisman requires ten thousand jin of Hundred-Refined Steel and one thousand jin of Cold Iron, but for the Weapon Casting Valley, these materials are insignificant.

Ten thousand jin of Hundred-Refined Steel is worth at least eighteen thousand taels of silver, but he had started purchasing them in batches half a year ago, so it wasn't conspicuous.

Ding Zhi's gift was mostly used to purchase Cold Iron and Hundred-Refined Steel, of course, and also Red Gold.

This was exchanged by Liu Zheng along the way; among the hundred or so families, big and small, in Fucheng, one hundred taels of Red Gold was not conspicuous.

"Junior Brother Li is too polite; it was just a trivial effort."

Niu Jun accepted the silver note, feeling satisfied in his heart, and casually handed over several ceramic jars:

"Speaking of which, the spiritual beast blood you need, Junior Brother, was not easy to gather, but fortunately, I did not fail in my mission."

"

"Is this all gathered now?"

Li Yuan hurriedly took the jars, inspected them carefully, and set them down.

Ten ceramic jars, containing the blood of the Spiritual Ox, Spiritual Sheep, Spiritual Pig, Spiritual Dog, Spiritual Chicken, and Spiritual Elk, Spiritual Deer, Spiritual Muntjac, Spiritual Wolf, and Spiritual Rabbit.

The Weapon Casting Valley does not lack spiritual beast blood for quenching, but the few types he needed were unsuitable for quenching, so they were rare and took a long time to collect.

These were materials he had prepared to attempt the "Heaven's Bestowal Talisman" again after promoting the Weapon Command Talisman.

The blood sacrifice mentioned in the Bone-Structure Theory still influenced him to some extent.

"Is the blood of the Five Spiritual Livestock useful?"

After seeing Niu Jun off, Li Yuan opened the ceramic jars; the blood inside was enough for him to use twice, so he didn't hesitate at all.

He took five types, paced the four directions in the corner of the Red-Melting Cave, and performed the ritual.

"Disciple Li Yuan..."

Chanting in his heart, he splashed the blood of the Five Spiritual Livestock onto the designated positions; after a long time, he opened his eyes with some disappointment.

"These five won't work."

Li Yuan sighed inwardly, quickly and skillfully tried another set of Five Spiritual Livestock blood, but in the end, there was still no reaction.

"Is the rank of the Weapon Command Talisman still too low?"

Li Yuan hadn't held out great hope to begin with, so he wasn't too disappointed; he calmed his mind and polished the Thousand-Weight Heavy Hammer.

After a long time, estimating that it was already pitch black outside, he finally took out the materials needed to promote the Weapon Command Talisman and arranged them.

"Ten thousand jin of Hundred-Refined Steel, one thousand jin of Cold Iron, thirty thousand taels of silver, one thousand taels of gold, one hundred taels of Red Gold, two taels of refined gold..."

Li Yuan took out the refined gold last.

Two taels of refined gold, roughly the size of a silkworm bean, looked no different from Red Gold from the outside, both slightly reddish.

However, when he placed the refined gold on the iron ingot, its color instantly turned gray-black.

The characteristic of refined gold is to harmonize conflicts between various iron materials; it can perfectly match with any iron material; this is an extremely superior material.

"If I don't get a few windfalls, when in the monkey year or horse month will I be able to gather so many materials?"

Arranging the various materials neatly, Li Yuan still felt a bit of heartache; his income from hard ironworking for over half a year was all invested here.

"Hah!"

Muttering in his heart, Li Yuan didn't hesitate; he extended his hand:

"Promote!"

Buzz!

The familiar roar exploded once more. Li Yuan, who had prepared in advance, sat against the wall, gritted his teeth, and endured it.

"Where exactly is this sound coming from?"

Boom!

Damn, there's a second wave?!

Li Yuan, who thought he had endured it, was caught off guard. In an instant, his vision went black, and in a daze he felt as if he were falling into a bottomless abyss.

Hmm~

He forced his eyes open and felt streams of interwoven radiance flowing around him, as if unknown murmurs kept exploding in his ears.

A chill beyond words spread out, seeming to pierce straight into the depths of his soul, making him shiver uncontrollably.

"Whoosh!"

After a long while, Li Yuan opened his eyes and, still shaken, looked past the grey stone platform at the churning darkness.

He almost fell down...

【Sixth-Order Weapon Master: Li Yuan】

【Number of Weapons Controllable: Six】

【Activated: Divine Fire Weapon-Fusion Furnace】