Chapter 24: Zhang Ben's Gift

The inner courtyard is naturally a better place than the forging hall, but for Li Yuan, the latter's importance is no less by half.

When Zhang Ben led him to the warehouse gate, his conviction grew even stronger.

"Old Zhang, just say what you need; why come in person?"

The four guards stationed at the warehouse, whom Li Yuan had seen a few times while passing by before, wore long knives at their waists and had an air of keeping strangers away; yet now, all four forced smiles onto their faces.

"Bring this young man to choose a good hammer; register him. His name is Li Yuan."

Zhang Ben hummed and told Li Yuan to register.

The warehouse is a restricted area; even if the three Shopkeepers came to requisition something, they too must enter the register. This is the rule.

"Li Yuan? The apprentice who ranked first in the assessment?"

"Reached minor accomplishment with the Bai Yuan Cloak in just over four months?"

"Come, register."

The guards exchanged glances; they had obviously heard of Li Yuan's name. Achieving minor accomplishment in Wu Gong in four months was extremely rare in the two-hundred-year history of the Weapon Forging Shop.

"No wonder you value him so highly and made the trip yourself."

That guard accompanied Zhang Ben, then turned back to glance at Li Yuan:

"I am Wang Hu. I followed Old Zhang forging iron for a few years back then. If you need anything later, don't trouble Old Zhang; find me!"

"Why the extra chatter?"

Zhang Ben glared at him, while Li Yuan climbed the pole, smiling and striking up a friendship.

"What a slippery fellow!"

Old Zhang glared at him too.

"Old Zhang, registered. Please come in..."

The guards scattered; Wang Hu stepped forward and opened the warehouse's great door. A heavy scent of iron rushed to meet them.

Li Yuan instinctively clenched his fist; his right palm throbbed wildly. "Such a strong reaction?"

"Mm."

Zhang Ben nodded. "Follow me."

Suppressing his excitement, Li Yuan hurried after him into this warehouse, which occupied quite a large area.

Upon entering the warehouse, the first thing seen was various iron ingots piled into small mountains, the worst being ten-refined refined iron; beyond that were rows of wooden racks,

upon which lay various weapons, mostly common-style blades and swords.

"That is the Bi Shui Blade and the Qing Steel Sword, our Weapon Forging Shop's two most famous weapons; they also sell well in the Zhe Long Mansion..."

Zhang Ben paced, seeing Li Yuan looking around with eyes shining, and grew wary:

"That blade and sword are priced at three taels. If you want them, buy them at the front shop. This old man only permitted you one hammer."

"Three taels is far too expensive."

Li Yuan wore a look of regret; his heart went 'thump-thump' wildly, and his palm grew even more numb.

There must be tiered weapons here, and certainly more than one!

"Three taels is for internal use. For outsiders, these fine blades and swords? Forget it without five taels."

Zhang Ben snorted lightly; Li Yuan's look of someone who had never seen the world pleased him greatly.

"Don't touch!"

Li Yuan instinctively withdrew his hand.

"This Bi Yu Blade was forged by this old man back in the day. Three hundred and fifty taels each for outsiders. Of the thirty forged then, only these few remain."

That was a separate rack holding only four blades, green as jade; even someone unversed in the trade could spot their uniqueness at a glance.

"This blade is quite sharp; one careless move, and your finger is gone!"

Zhang Ben scolded, then reached up, took down a Bi Yu Blade, and drew it.

Voom~

The blade body held a lustrous glow. Zhang Ben lightly wiped the blade surface with his hand; a drop of blood instantly seeped out, flowing down the blade face, not only not sticking but revealing ice-crack patterns.

"What a fine blade!"

Li Yuan blurted out, his eyes shining.

This blade must have entered a tier, and it was well-maintained; a true killing instrument.

"What do you know about what makes a fine blade?"

Zhang Ben glanced at him and continued speaking on his own:

"Those who understand weapons best in this world are not those so-called swordsmen or blade-wielders, but us blacksmiths! Every inch of pattern on this blade was bestowed by me..."

After wiping the blade surface, Zhang Ben sheathed the blade and gently returned it to the wooden rack.

Li Yuan, burning with desire, took advantage of Zhang Ben turning around to quickly reach out and touch it once. When the latter noticed and glared, Li Yuan merely offered an apologetic smile.

A flash of Bai Guang passed through his eyes.

【Bi Yu Blade (Tier One)】

【Crafted by a craftsman determined to become a Divine Artisan, using hundred-fold mixed steel assisted by cold iron and hammer-forged; it severs hair blown upon it, kills without blood clinging, and may be called a 'sharp instrument'.】

【Command Condition: Veteran Craftsman, Ren Yi Dao Fa at minor accomplishment】

【Command Effect: Blade Mastery, Force Erupts as Blade Light, Forging Initiation】

White Tier One, three effects!

Reluctantly glancing once more at those four Bi Yu Blades, Li Yuan felt as if a hundred claws were scratching his heart, wishing he could immediately take out silver and buy them.

"With your talent, if you learn blacksmithing from this old man, within at most a few years, you might well forge a sharp instrument!"

Sensing Li Yuan's restlessness, Zhang Ben smiled.

He could have had someone bring the hammer with a single word; why make the trip in person? For this very effect.

Li Yuan's root bone was not strong, but his hammer technique talent was astonishing. The few shopkeepers in the shop might have felt it was a pity that Li Yuan's root bone was slightly lacking, yet he himself was very satisfied, even pleasantly surprised.

Li Yuan was distracted, the throbbing of the Palm-Troop Register in his palm coming wave after wave. Entering a treasure mountain yet unable to take anything made him so uncomfortable he wanted to spit blood.

"Where are the hammers you mentioned?"

"Over there."

Zhang Ben pointed.

Li Yuan swept a glance — the place where the hammers were piled was just inside the warehouse entrance, not far at all. This old Zhang must have led him in a big circle around the warehouse.

"You deliberately wanted me to look at the Jade-Green Blade, didn't you?"

Li Yuan gave a wry smile, his heart warming slightly.

This old Zhang before him valued him more than that Second Shopkeeper did.

"Ahem, a blacksmith's hammer must feel right in the hand. Go pick one."

Zhang Ben coughed lightly a few times.

Li Yuan had already walked quickly over, his peripheral vision sweeping the other weapon racks, his heart itching terribly.

If I can't take them away, at least let me touch one?

"Sooner or later I'll touch every single one!"

Li Yuan gritted his teeth inwardly, reached out and gripped a hammer, a grey light flashing in the depths of his eyes.

Unranked, unranked…

Forging hammers were heavier than practice hammers — roughly twelve or thirteen jin — but their quality was not necessarily better than the practice hammers, since they were all lumps of iron after all.

Still, Li Yuan touched them one by one, squinting slightly as he observed the mastery effects of these hammers.

"Three at Forging Entry, six at Forging Mastery, this one — is it Small Success?"

Li Yuan patiently searched through them, everything before his eyes a sheet of grey.

"The hammer is the blacksmith's soul, the swordsman's sword, the sabreur's saber — you must choose carefully…"

Zhang Ben stood to one side, watching with a smile:

"Some of these hammers are newly forged, some were left behind by former apprentices. Among them there is one that belongs to old me. If you can pick it in one go, old me will give it to you…"

Glancing at the hundred-plus hammers piled there, Zhang Ben's smile suddenly stiffened.

Li Yuan looked up with a smile:

"What will you give me, old sir?"

"You're not choosing anymore?"

Zhang Ben narrowed his eyes slightly.

Li Yuan lifted the hammer he had chosen — a handle over a metre long made of black wood, with an equally black hammerhead, looking almost identical to the other forging hammers.

"This one."

Li Yuan played with the hammer, forcefully suppressing the excitement in his heart, and asked:

"You still haven't said what you'll give me, old sir?"

"Are you certain this hammer is mine?"

Zhang Ben's eye corner twitched slightly, his face expressionless.

"Close enough, right?"

Li Yuan lowered his head, the white light in the depths of his eyes fading, replaced by a streak of azure blue, like the sky.

【Hammer of the Grand Craftsman (Second Grade)】

【…Forged through a fire cycle of sixty years, it has hammered ten thousand kinds of iron. Originally cast of common iron, it gradually grew spiritual and strange…】

【Mastery Threshold: Forging Method at Small Success】

【Mastery Effect: Perfection-level White Ape Cloak Hammer Technique, Familiarity with All Weapons, Great Perfection-level Forging Method, Weapon Talent】

(End of this chapter)