Chapter 66: Trident and Spirit Fish (Requesting Monthly Tickets)

Inside Gao Liu County, there were numerous shops where one could purchase daily necessities as well as some rare items, but most towns naturally did not have such completeness.

***, naturally, rose up in response.

Gao Liu County held a grand market once a year before the year-end; merchants from nearby towns and even neighboring county towns would rush over, making it extremely lively and prosperous.

But outside the year-end period, there was also a *** at the end of June each year, before the autumn harvest.

Its scale was not as large as the one during the year-end, but it was equally very lively.

Just as dawn was breaking, Li Yuan heard the chaotic sounds of people; during the grand market, every district of the city was bustling.

Getting up, standing in posture, washing up...

Li Yuan waited until the sky brightened before getting up to go to the market.

Merchants from all sides had set up their stalls early; as soon as the sun rose, the streets and alleys were filled with pedestrians.

Besides the common people of the city, common people from nearby towns also came early, bringing their accumulated silver to buy things needed by the whole family, from elders to children.

Li Yuan found a breakfast stall; the stall owner was a familiar face who, upon seeing him from afar, immediately began to hustle.

As soon as Li Yuan sat down, the small table was already piled high.

Rice porridge, hot soup, steamed buns, meat buns, side dishes, and a plate of twenty or thirty eggs.

Since practicing martial arts, Li Yuan's appetite had been great; after the great circulation of blood and qi, his appetite increased several times over, yet after eating at this table, he was only half full.

However, he did not order more; after settling the bill, he walked toward the inner city, buying snacks along the way from time to time, and he was already full before reaching the inner city.

"Prices have risen quite a bit again."

Li Yuan calculated that along this path he had actually spent two qian of silver; although his appetite was large, he still felt the change in prices.

By the roadside, people were also discussing this; it seemed the imperial court had added a merchant tax?

"Young master, do you still want a sickle?"

Li Yuan heard a familiar voice; turning back, he saw it was the young man from the grandfather-grandson pair whose Three Yuan Blade Sickle he had bought before the New Year.

This time, however, the old man was not seen; instead, he was accompanied by a dirty little boy who was now looking at him timidly.

"Is it you? Where is your grandfather?"

"You still remember me?"

The young man sighed: "A few months ago, bandits from the Venomous Snake Gang fled to our village; my grandfather stepped in to stop them, was slashed by a blade, and could not be saved."

"My condolences."

Li Yuan walked up to the stall.

This stall was much larger than the one before the New Year; it included various old items; Li Yuan glanced over and saw two non-ranked sickles whose control effects were very poor.

Good things are rare wherever they are; Li Yuan did not mind.

"Don't rush..."

Seeing Li Yuan shake his head, the young man gritted his teeth, turned, and ran a few steps; from under a tattered cloth covering a donkey cart not far away, he pulled out a rusty iron rod.

"This is an ancient object left by our village's elders; it weighs at least More than ten jin in weight; you name the price?"

The young man walked over holding the iron rod.

Could there really be something good?

Li Yuan raised his eyebrows slightly, somewhat surprised.

【Iron-Blooded Army Standard-issue Trident (First Rank)】

【The mottled rust was once dyed with blood; its master once wielded it in battle to kill enemies, always leading the charge, and once drank his fill of fresh blood... After breaking, it was abandoned by people, gradually developing rust...】

【Control Conditions: None】

【Control Effect: Anticipating the Enemy】

Half a year had passed; Li Yuan was no longer surprised to see First Rank weapons, but seeing that control effect still made him somewhat astonished.

Anticipating the Enemy?

This seems related to actual combat killing?

However, compared to this, he was more curious about what kind of village they were from.

Three Yuan Army, Iron-Blooded Army... an ancient battlefield?

"Three taels of silver; take this iron rod!"

"Three taels?"

Li Yuan turned back; this trident was somewhat useful to him, but not to others; a More than ten jin in weight piece of scrap iron was not even worth one qian of silver.

"Two taels, two taels."

Seeing Li Yuan frown and prepare to leave, the young man kept lowering the price; in the end, Li Yuan took this long rod and two other non-ranked broken items from the stall for two qian of silver.

These two items were quite peculiar: a tattered bamboo hat and a rain cape, both broken beyond recognition, but their control effects were quite interesting.

【Water Affinity *2】

A two-piece set for a fisherman?

"Fangjing Village? Maybe I can go take a look when I have time..."

Carrying the three broken weapons, Li Yuan felt that perhaps those nearby towns and villages were also worth visiting.

Perhaps truly good things would not remain there, but for him, broken weapons could still be controlled; the effects were just often somewhat less.

Broken weapons, compared to intact ones of the same rank, would have at least half the control effect less.

"So people are still watching?"

After circling the inner city, Li Yuan discovered that even at this time, Tongda Money House and several pawnshops still had people watching; he was somewhat astonished.

Qin Xiong has been dead for several months; I heard Qiu Da has even gone missing; are these government office Runners this dedicated?

"This dedicated?"

Li Yuan frowned in his heart.

But he had prepared long ago, felt no great disappointment, circled once, and then left the inner city.

On the way back to Chaiyu Ward, he saw Liang Liang Ashui looking extremely healthy.

The man wore short work clothes, had a burly build, rough skin, and a cold, hard face, giving off an aura that kept strangers away; as he strode forward, his momentum already bore some resemblance to Qin Xiong's former bearing.

"His blood qi is strong, but still not as good as Qin Xiong's..."

Glancing at the fish basket he carried, Li Yuan felt a slight stir in his heart and stepped forward to meet him.

"Who are you?"

Liang Liang Ashui frowned first, sized him up a few times, as if recognizing something: "Are you Li Yuan?"

"You know me?"

Li Yuan didn't mind much, simply looking at the fish basket: "Are these spirit fish?"

Li Yuan was very curious about spirit fish.

In the books, he had read that so-called spirit fish were a strange breed among fish, extremely rare, and often possessed extraordinary effects.

"Two horn-bream, each over four jin. Hmm... these two fish I forged for an elder; I cannot sell them."

As Liang Liang Ashui spoke, he paused slightly:

"I heard you are the apprentice with the best forging talent in the Blacksmith Shop in recent years; forge me one superior-grade sharp blade, and I will forge you two spirit fish,

the iron material, I will prepare myself!"

A superior-grade sharp blade?

Li Yuan thought for a moment and agreed: "Two? If they are four jin, that works."

Horn-bream are spirit fish that greatly nourish blood and qi; a little over one liang and one jin per fish, two fish totaling four jin would be nearly nine taels of silver; this deal was not a loss.

After all, spirit fish were extremely rare, and the Blacksmith Shop had more than just him who could forge superior-grade sharp blades.

"If they are not enough for four jin, I'll give you three!"

Liang Liang Ashui agreed very decisively, lifted his fish basket, and departed.

One fish was worth several taels of silver; Li Yuan felt somewhat emotional; if it were last year, he wouldn't have dared even to think of it.

"Spirit fish, I wonder how they taste? Hmm, when I have time, I'll also go take a stroll by the shores of Bishui Lake; perhaps I can forge a few spirit fish too."

Carrying the broken weapon, Li Yuan walked toward Shengjin Ward:

"First, cash out the banknote!"

Gao Liu County had tens of thousands of households; the urban area alone had sixteen districts; with a two-hundred-tael banknote and two hundred taels' worth of jewels, there were naturally various ways to cash them out.

Even though many were being watched, Li Yuan felt no difficulty.

That the money house wouldn't do, the pawnshop wouldn't do, the jewelry store, the goldsmith shop, the silk shop... and so on all wouldn't do, counted for nothing.

Banknotes and jewels were always hard currency.

The Blacksmith Shop controlled the ironware trade across several nearby counties, but beneath it, naturally, there were also some small-scale blacksmith shops.

In Shengjin Ward, there were quite a few small blacksmith shops.

During the annual grand market, the common people from nearby towns and villages all

would drive ox-carts here to sell the ironware and iron materials that the Blacksmith Shop looked down upon.

There were also merchants with solid foundations who, after purchasing, came here to sell.

Many of them could absorb his four-hundred-tael business.

Li Yuan had long since figured out the channels; before noon, he had already purchased a thousand jin of refined iron, with pearls and agates discounted to two hundred and twenty taels, and casually cashed out one banknote.

Then, after watching the merchant with a large haul leave the city, he turned back.

"This single deal lost at least eight or nine taels of silver, but the advantage was convenience, and there were no aftereffects; it wouldn't lead the government office to my door."

Stacking the refined iron under the bed, Li Yuan felt a bit of heartache, yet was somewhat satisfied.

At least, the materials for promoting the Weapon Register had been solved for more than half.

Holding the hammer, Li Yuan took a pill and stood in a stance, his heart filled with expectation:

"Tomorrow, I'll go to Master Zhang to exchange ten taels of gold; then I'll just wait for Shopkeeper Cao Da to return to acquire the red gold, and the Weapon Register can be promoted three ranks!"

Early the next morning, Li Yuan went to Zhang Ben's place, preparing to exchange ten taels of gold; Old Zhang had always taken good care of him, and at a ten-to-one exchange rate, he could save at least twenty taels of silver.

But there were conditions.

"You must forge another superior-grade jade knife!"

Old Zhang did not change his tune, acting as if he wouldn't make the exchange unless Li Yuan agreed.

"This... I can forge it, but I won't forge a jade knife."

Li Yuan felt somewhat helpless.

These past few days, Zhang Ben had brought it up who knew how many times; Li Yuan didn't want to keep refusing, which was also why he had agreed to Liang Liang Ashui's request.

"As long as it's superior-grade, I'll do it; if you can forge an unusual weapon, old man, I'll be even happier!"

Seeing his beloved apprentice agree, Zhang Ben finally showed a smile on his face:

"Don't blame your master for pushing you; if you don't hurry to accumulate experience and skills, in what year and month will you be able to forge an exquisite sharp blade?"

"You're right; this disciple has been lax."

Li Yuan spoke nothing but sweet words to coax the old man; at least he had to secure the gold first.

"You little rascal!"

Zhang Ben scolded with a laugh, yet truly couldn't bring himself to be angry.

"Rest assured, at most one or two years, this disciple will definitely forge one for you!"

Li Yuan spoke with solemn seriousness.

With the Great Perfection-level Smithing Art integrated into his being, his smithing improved daily; within at most a year, he was confident he could fully assimilate this Great Smith's Hammer and break through his smithing to Great Perfection!

"One or two years? If you can forge it within ten years, old man, I'll be content."

Zhang Ben did not believe a word of this.

Hammer techniques do offer some boost to smithing, but forging is not just hammer techniques; from ore selection to quenching, even the water temperature and water type have requirements—how could one master all that in a year or half a year?

"What if I forge it?"

"If you forge it..."

Zhang Ben almost blurted it out, then snapped back to his senses and slapped him:

"All you care about is this old man's little trinkets! No ambition! Go forge iron!"

"Got it!"

Having taken the hit, Li Yuan felt no pain or itch; he smiled and turned back to the smithy.

He truly liked this old Zhang.