Chapter 439: Joining Forces

The carriage slowly pulled away, but instead of returning to the mountain, it drove into the Weapon-Forge Shop.

Liu Zheng had been waiting for a long time; upon seeing the carriage, he skillfully took the reins, drove straight into the back courtyard, while Wang Wang Peiyao hopped onto the carriage carrying all sorts of account books and ledgers, reporting as she went.

The Weapon-Forge Shop had long been on the right track; though it had expanded once more since, the profits were quite considerable, though Li Yuan only flipped through them casually.

After the Soldier-Calming Register advanced to the ninth grade, the gold and silver on him were nearly spent, but this surplus of a thousand-plus taels of gold was of no real use to him either.

Recruit a few more cobbler masters; as for the Weapon-Forge Shop, there's no need to expand for now.

Flipping through casually, Li Yuan set it down. To him now, the Weapon-Forge Shop's greatest use was forging the various standard-issue items he needed.

"I've visited every one of the city's best craftsmen one by one, but these masters were already treated very well at their original shops; not many are willing to go elsewhere."

Wang Wang Peiyao reported on recent matters, though there really wasn't much.

Since Li Yuan was promoted to True Transmission, the Weapon-Forge Shop's business had grown smoother by the day—whether purchasing, expanding, hiring, or anything else, they hadn't encountered any obstruction at all.

It made Miss Wang sigh at times: with this kind of network and business, even putting a dog in charge could make it flourish.

"No need to force it. Poaching aggressively easily offends people. Cooperation is the way—silver isn't an issue."

Master Li put on a wealthy, generous air; though he didn't carry much gold and silver on him, given his current status, this truly wasn't an issue.

The True Transmission of Dragon Tiger Temple and the Dao Child of Great Dragon Gate both enjoyed benefits that included no shortage of mines, horse ranches, shops, stores, and estates.

It was simply still being allocated.

"Brother Li grows more and more generous!"

Wang Wang Peiyao pursed her lips in a light laugh, inwardly sighing as well.

From Gao Liu to now, less than ten years had passed in total; the Weapon-Forge Shop apprentice who had sat like a nobody at that small banquet was now the Great Dragon Gate Dao Child, famous throughout the land.

"A dignified True Transmission of Dragon Tiger Temple can't keep being petty, can he?"

Li Yuan smiled. When he had no money, he traded time for money; but now that he had it, efficiency came first.

Given his current status and position, if he insisted on poaching, no one would dare refuse—but why bother?

Mountain City's hundred trades were thriving and complex; which family didn't have someone behind it—either an Inner Gate disciple or a True Transmission, or further up, a Hall Master or an Elder.

"You're the master, you decide."

Wang Wang Peiyao smiled and pulled a ledger from her bosom!

"When the superior has a taste, the inferiors cater to it. The matter of Master Li's fondness for spirit-beast bones, blood, and hides has already spread. In just this one month, over twenty families have indicated they have surplus spirit-beast hides and are willing to do business with us."

"Oh?"

Li Yuan took it and flipped through; his eyes immediately lit up!

Some twenty families—not many, but each one opened with three hundred-plus spirit-beast hides; added together, it was probably close to the batch in Nie Ying's hands.

"Did you accept?"

Li Yuan calculated mentally: seven thousand spirit-beast hides—if all made into spirit-beast boots, even with half lost to waste, there would still be at least four thousand pairs.

Even if they were all unranked boots, it would be enough for him to combine two pairs of seventh-grade boots!

"One of them intended to befriend us with no ulterior motive, so I accepted. The rest, openly or covertly, want to invite you to a banquet. I took the invitations but didn't clearly refuse."

Wang Wang Peiyao had experience handling such matters; she immediately pointed out which families wanted to invite him and introduced the businesses these families ran, as well as the people behind them.

Among them were quite a few familiar names—Shan Shan Qing Song, Fang Fang Qinhu, Xin Xin Wenhua, and so on—either True Transmissions or Elders!

"These few families, I've all accepted."

Li Yuan didn't really pick and choose; to him, what schemes these families had weren't that important.

Speaking of backers and thighs, which family in Mountain City could be bigger than his?

Master Li didn't do the thing of bullying others with his power, but if anyone dared come bully him…

"Understood."

Wang Wang Peiyao had a clear picture in her mind.

She lifted the carriage curtain—they had already reached the back courtyard.

Before even approaching, Li Yuan sensed the glow of incense offerings; casting a glance now, the back courtyard was piled with all sizes of incense burners—probably over a hundred of them.

The original back courtyard had been expanded several times over.

"This is—"

Before Li Yuan could ask, Liu Zheng spoke up, his expression subtle.

Over these two years, he hadn't been short on buying incense burners; the trade-in business, he hadn't done little of either. But the temples and shrines in the city weren't easy to deal with, so what he actually bought was very little.

Until that Li Yuanba Ranking spread…

"Gifts from others?"

"Good people."

Li Yuan's expression grew somewhat subtle.

As his fame grew greater and greater, the good people around him multiplied.

Spirit-beast hides, incense burners, iron materials, gold and silver, houses, beauties—things he wanted and things he didn't—all seemed to become within easy reach.

The cost-effectiveness of martial cultivation was just too high.

Li Yuan muttered inwardly; he naturally knew the reason.

"Should we return them?"

Liu Zheng asked.

"Keep them."

Returning them would require stripping off the incense offerings first. Li Yuan stepped down from the carriage; he had to admit, he quite enjoyed this sugar coating—it saved him an enormous amount of time.

"Those batches of boots are all in the warehouse."

Seeing Li Yuan start fiddling with the alchemy furnace, Wang Wang Peiyao, very perceptive, took her leave and pulled Liu Zheng along.

"Incense offerings above fourth grade—there are over thirty wisps."

Below the fourth tier, Li Yuan did not count the incense sticks in detail; as he passed each incense burner, he collected the incense within and made a slight tally.

"Leaving enough for merging troops, the Master Command Seal's promotion should be sufficient..."

Li Yuan glanced toward the courtyard outside.

This warehouse had expanded again and again; the various weapons and iron materials inside had grown ever more numerous, and naturally, the guards had increased as well. One glance revealed at least fifteen men, both open and hidden, all trusted experts recruited by Liu Zheng.

Hmm, everyone here could hammer Cao Yan, the Chief Shopkeeper, to death.

"The number one expert of Gao Liu County, merely guarding a warehouse in Dao City!"

As this thought flashed through his mind, Li Yuan pushed open the door and walked into the warehouse.

"Delete!"

Li Yuan focused slightly, and a vast expanse of weapon light rose before his eyes.

This warehouse was huge, containing countless iron materials and weapons. Li Yuan moved a few piles; at first glance, they were not conspicuous. Most of the weapons here were merely stacked there to mislead the eye.

Over the past year, the weapon forge had crafted thousands of hammers and other hammer-type weapons per his orders, both tiered and un-tiered. He had also gathered many boots and bone ornaments, though these occupied only a small portion of the warehouse.

Moreover, each time he descended the mountain, he would take some away to avoid the piles becoming mountains, which would be too conspicuous when finally collected.

"Truly beautiful."

Li Yuan squinted slightly; this vast expanse of shimmering weapon light was pleasing to the eye just by looking, causing his spirit to become intoxicated.

"It should be enough to merge a pair of seventh-tier boots, with some left over."

After storing the hammers and boots from the warehouse into his Master Command Space, Li Yuan finally walked out, closed the door, and returned to his room.

On the gray stone platform, the Master Command Seal, glowing dimly like a starry sea, hung suspended above, its nine great stars shining brilliantly.

After the Master Command Seal promoted to the ninth tier, the cooldown for changing command effects decreased further, and the combinable command combinations increased significantly; conversely, high-tier weapons were insufficient.

Li Yuan glanced over; on the stone platform, hammers, boots, and bone ornaments were sorted by category, each piled into a heap, the quantities already quite substantial.

Moving the few luck-enhanced incense burners over, he began the weapon merging.

The Divine Fire Weapon Merging Furnace glowed dimly.

The piles of hammers and boots, once mountainous, quickly ran low. Li Dao Ye, rich and bold, no longer cared about the consumption of incense below the third tier. Soon, most of the weapons on the stone platform had been merged to the fourth tier.

"Eighty-three fourth-tier hammers, thirty-three pairs of fourth-tier boots, twenty-nine fourth-tier bone ornaments; belts are the least, only sixteen."

Li Yuan tallied and calculated.

He liked the feeling of merging a large quantity of weapons in one breath; it brought him mental joy.

"If all goes well, I can merge three seventh-tier heavy hammers, one pair of seventh-tier boots, and one seventh-tier bone ornament..."

Once the weapons reached the fourth tier, Li Yuan grew cautious; he was still somewhat short on incense at this tier.

He first selected those with identical or similar command effects; the success rate for merging them was as high as ninety-nine percent. The Divine Fire Weapon Merging Furnace flashed multiple times, failing only once.

He first picked out those with identical or similar Weapon-Control effects—combined, the success rate was as high as ninety-nine percent; the Divine Fire Weapon-Merging Furnace flashed several times, and only failed once.

The merging furnace emitted a dull thud, and a wisp of black smoke rose.

"The command effects differ too greatly; the success rate is less than fifty percent."

After merging all items to the sixth tier, Li Yuan felt a sting; he would never merge incompatible sixth-tier weapons any higher!

After merging all the items up to the sixth tier, Li Yuan felt a twinge of heartache; sixth-tier weapons with incompatible attributes—he would never merge them higher again, even if you beat him to death!

Calming his emotions, Li Yuan continued merging weapons.

Soon, with a hum, a faint golden light rose within the merging furnace. Li Yuan skillfully shed blood and channeled his true qi; quickly, three seventh-tier heavy hammers were merged out one after another.

The hammers he used for merging were forged from the same blueprint, yielding a high success rate. The Long Jun Tian Hammer shimmered with faint golden light. Li Yuan breathed a sigh of relief in his heart and then focused to examine them closely.

The base materials used for these three merged divine hammers were the same as the previous Lei Long Jun Tian Hammer; naturally, the results were much the same. The only difference lay in his true qi.

The command effects remained the Ten Thousand Ton Force Hammer Technique and the Heaven-Splitting Talent, both seventh tier.

"Nine strands of seventh-tier incense remain; only four strands of eighth-tier incense."

There were still some sixth-tier heavy hammers left, but Li Yuan did not continue merging; he could not afford a fifty percent failure rate. With seventh or eighth-tier incense, he could not bear even a single failure.

There were still some sixth-tier heavy hammers, but Li Yuan did not continue merging; he could not bear a fifty-percent failure rate, and for seventh or eighth-tier incense fire, he could not stand even a single failure.

A wisp of pure golden incense drifted down. The merging furnace trembled slightly; the next moment, the three Long Jun Tian Hammers were engulfed in flames.

Moments later, accompanied by a slight tremor, golden light rose from the furnace bottom.

A moment later, accompanied by a soft tremor, a golden light glimmered at the bottom of the furnace.

Li Yuan breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

The Long Jun Tian Hammer, irrigated by the Master Command Owner's vital blood and merged into existence, possessed a slight spiritual quality!

Command Condition: Master Command Owner's Bloodline. Command Effect: Eighth-Tier Hammer Technique Talent, Momentum Like a Mountain Collapse. Sixth-Tier Splitting Sea Dark Whale (Incomplete).

The Dragon-Majestic Heaven Hammer, nurtured with the Weapon Master's heart's blood, merged forth from the furnace, faintly imbued with spiritual wonder!

After examining them for a while, Li Yuan did not hesitate. Seizing the momentum, he pushed the three pairs of sixth-tier boots into the divine

"Not bad luck."

After examining them for a while, Li Yuan did not hesitate. Striking while the iron was hot, he pushed those three pairs of sixth-rank boots into the divine—