Chapter 96: Another Year, Another Year's End Arrives

"Wailing as they hit the ground, mother and child safe!"

Hearing the crying within the room, and the midwife pushing the door open to come claim her reward, Li Yuan also breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

These days, without even an obstetric aid, if the fetal position was off, it was easy to have a difficult labor, and twins were even more dangerous.

He had already prepared himself to go assist with the delivery.

"A dragon and a phoenix bring auspiciousness—congratulations, congratulations!"

"Many thanks to you, ma'am!"

Only then did Li Lin set his mind at ease. He let out a long breath, took out three qian of loose silver and stuffed it to the midwife who had delivered the baby, then tiptoed into the room.

Li Yuan went to stew chicken soup, and carried it in.

On the bed, Wang Juan's face was slightly pale; the couple huddled together, teasing the wrinkled little thing.

"Sister-in-law, have some chicken soup."

Setting down the bowl, Li Yuan also leaned in to look at the two little fellows who hadn't opened their eyes, and teased them a couple of times.

"It's gotten cold, second brother—remember to be careful when opening and closing the doors and windows, and keep an eye on the charcoal fire in the room at all times…"

Li Yuan instructed.

Gao Liu County had distinct four seasons; deep autumn already carried quite a chill, so keeping warm naturally had to keep up.

"Mm, mm."

Li Lin held the chicken soup, blew on it gently, then fed Wang Juan.

Not wanting to disturb his brother and sister-in-law, Li Yuan went out and busied himself in the kitchen.

He loved his food and drink, and his cooking was not bad either—mainly because he was willing to add plenty of ingredients, so the flavor was naturally good.

After the meal, Li Yuan returned to the Weapon Forging Shop and, as usual, began to craft superior grade weapons.

With the interval between wieldings halved, he changed his wielded weapon every day. During the day it was mostly the Great Craftsman's Hammer and the Jade Essence Copper Hammer, used to assist in forging weapons and raise his forging skill.

At night it was the Green Snake Spear Art fundamental diagram, to alter his bone structure.

The progress of forging skill and bone-structure alteration did not interfere with each other; both were advancing and improving.

"Hiss!"

Beneath the billowing thick smoke and steam was a crimson hammer-type weapon.

During this period, with the improvement of his forging skill, Li Yuan's speed in crafting weapons had further increased. After the Autumn Water Sword, he had forged a total of four superior-grade blades.

Hammer-type weapons were much harder to sell than blades and swords; everything Li Yuan had forged before were blades and swords, and only on the fifth did he try forging a hammer-type weapon.

【Pure Steel Tiger Head Hammer (Tier 2)】

【The first superior-grade blade-level hammer-type weapon forged by the Weapon Master…】

【Wielding condition: Any hammer technique to Completion】

【Wielding effects: Hammer-type Talent, Force of a Thousand Jin, Armor-Breaking Horizontal Training】

Three wielding effects—a fairly standard hammer-type weapon. Li Yuan glanced at it, yet was very satisfied.

"Hammer-type Talent!"

Li Yuan nodded slightly. With this wielding effect, he wouldn't need to forge another hammer-type weapon.

These past days, he had acquired quite a number of weapons; if he hadn't filtered out the unranked ones, even that incense burner would have been piled full.

The various weapons in the inner storehouse of the Weapon Forging Shop, he could borrow at any time.

With more weapons, and the reduced switching time between wieldings, he naturally tried all sorts of different weapon combinations.

He discovered that when the same wielding effect was stacked to three, there would be an immediate, striking improvement. This feeling was hard to articulate, but Li Yuan was very certain of it.

"There's a gap between talents too."

Li Yuan felt some anticipation in his heart.

The higher the talent, the faster he could practice martial arts, which was an enormous help to him in digesting the fundamental diagrams and the technique-type wielding effects.

"The stacking of different wielding effects still needs constant experimentation…"

Li Yuan was in a very good mood.

The blacksmiths in the forging room, however, were under tremendous pressure. Although the man was still the same man and his attitude hadn't changed, whenever Li Yuan was around, they couldn't help but feel nervous.

The sound of hammering went on without pause all day.

Li Yuan knew this, so he knocked off very early every day—as soon as evening came, he cleared out the forging room.

Hammering iron was a grueling task; even veteran blacksmiths, if they didn't spare their strength, would strain their muscles. It wasn't the case that the tighter you pushed, the better—in fact, it could even backfire.

"Rebuilding a forging furnace isn't worth it. From now on, try to come fewer times, and the wages can be raised a bit too."

Building a single forging furnace isn't worth it, so in the future try to come as few times as possible; the labor costs can be raised a bit too.

After locking up the forging room, Li Yuan hadn't left yet when Zhang Ben had already come looking for him.

"You really are acting like a hands-off shopkeeper!"

Zhang Ben glared, mustache bristling. When it came to reconciling accounts, he much preferred staying in the forging room—occasionally hammering some iron—wasn't that more comfortable than flipping through account books?

"Didn't I tell you to find an accountant? Or you could have Sun Hao help you out too."

Li Yuan hurriedly soothed him.

In his previous life, he had only run a small supermarket; he had no experience in reconciling accounts, nor any interest.

"Sun Fatty? Hmph, him reconciling accounts—you may be at ease, but this old man certainly isn't!"

Zhang Ben huffed angrily.

Li Yuan spent quite a while soothing him, took wine to his room for a small drink, and poured out a basketful of kind words before finally calming old Zhang down. Still, he decided to send a few apprentices to help out.

Having just taken over the Weapon Forging Shop, he hadn't made many personnel changes—only stuffing his second brother into the storehouse and Sun Hao into the accounting room.

"This month, business has dropped sharply."

Li Yuan nodded.

Over a dozen factions in both the inner and outer cities were swept away in one wave; ordinary commoners hardly buy weapons.

"With the Cao family gone, our business in the outlying counties is unstable. Yesterday, a guard returned saying the weapons we were escorting were hijacked by bandits from some unknown faction!"

Zhang Ben angrily slammed the table:

"And Fucheng! We finally opened it up, but with this chaos, who knows what state it's in! By the way, there's also the mine..."

Once Zhang Ben started speaking, he didn't stop. Li Yuan listened at first, responding occasionally, but later felt his scalp prickle.

The trouble was far greater than he had imagined.

"Being a hands-off owner is no easy task!"

After Zhang Ben fell into a deep sleep, Li Yuan rubbed his brow and closed the account book.

The weapon forge's business radiated to nearby counties, even reaching Fucheng; outside, there were guards and a mine; inside, over a hundred apprentices and laborers.

It wasn't that he couldn't handle it, but his ambition lay elsewhere.

"Practicing martial arts requires silver; that is why I took over the weapon forge. But since I do it for martial arts, I must never put the cart before the horse."

Closing the door, Li Yuan made a decision in his heart: he would find someone to manage the business.

For now, neither Sun Hao nor Second Brother could support the weight of the weapon forge; a transition was needed.

The next day, at Yizi Wine Tower, Li Yuan hosted Yuan Yuan Pingjun.

This head of the Yuan family had nothing to do with the word 'handsome'; his build was burly, only slightly inferior to Qin Xiong, with a rugged face and a full beard.

The two had met a few times before and got along very well.

Upon learning Li Yuan's purpose, he readily agreed.

"Yuan, the head of the family, can take thirty percent of the profits, both inside and outside the weapon forge."

Li Yuan set the terms without much pain; sharing meat one cannot eat is perfectly normal.

"The weapon forge's business spans six counties, with over four hundred people inside and out, not counting the mine. Brother Li wants to be a hands-off owner, but thirty percent profit isn't enough."

Yuan Yuan Pingjun shook his head, but before Li Yuan could concede, he stated his bottom line first:

"I, Yuan, can take only twenty percent, but there are conditions."

"Brother Yuan, please speak."

Li Yuan was very cautious.

"I have a son with average-to-good bone structure who has loved practicing martial arts since childhood. Unfortunately, his talent isn't strong; next year, he likely won't get into the Divine Weapon Valley."

Yuan Yuan Pingjun was very frank:

"The Divine Weapon Valley has rules: every inner disciple may recommend one person to enter, either as a menial disciple or to join the Divine Guard Army."

"Given the relationship between the Yuan family and the Divine Weapon Valley, can't you even secure a menial disciple spot?"

Li Yuan frowned.

Menial disciples of the Divine Weapon Valley don't just do menial work; they must also pay silver annually to support inner disciples. Such spots aren't considered precious.

"I, Yuan, have more than one son..."

Yuan Yuan Pingjun sighed:

"I won't hide it from Brother Li. I have one wife, nine concubines, thirteen mistresses, and nearly forty children..."

"..."

Li Yuan thought for a moment; he indeed had no one to recommend, so he immediately nodded and agreed.

Ten percent of the weapon forge's profits, though small, still amounts to over a hundred taels; this deal is doable.

"Brother Li is straightforward!"

Yuan Yuan Pingjun raised his cup for a toast:

"In that case, I, Yuan, will take over the weapon forge business. The profits will not be a single fraction less than when Cao Yan was here!"

"Thanks to Brother Yuan!"

Li Yuan raised his cup and drained it in one gulp.

In his heart, he once again felt the status of the Divine Weapon Valley in Panlong Prefecture, or rather, the status of Han Han Chuijun.

At the same time, he set his mind at ease.

As long as he remains in the Divine Weapon Valley, the weapon forge business will not decline.

Giving up twenty percent of the profits but shedding trivial matters and potential future troubles, Li Yuan felt quite relieved.

After the banquet, he returned to the weapon forge. These days, he often stayed there; first, it was convenient for practicing, as the soreness and aches penetrated his bones, and he feared shouting out loud.

Second, it was for Cao Yan's secret chamber.

"Where could the secret chamber be?"

Pacing in the backyard, Li Yuan pondered in his heart.

These days, he had gone through everything on Cao Yan's person and everything left in the room countless times, yet still found no clue regarding the secret chamber.

"With any weapon within five meters, I can see its treasure light. Cao Yan's secret chamber..."

The weapon forge occupies a large area; digging up the ground three feet deep is clearly unrealistic. Li Yuan believed the mechanism for the secret chamber must be in the backyard.

Sighing in his heart, Li Yuan was not in a hurry.

"After the Commanding Talisman ascended three ranks, the range to sense treasure light increased to five meters. After ascending four ranks, it will likely increase even more."

Frequently tapping the walls and stomping the floor tiles, Li Yuan felt the secret chamber couldn't be buried too deep:

"If I still can't find it after the Commanding Talisman ascends, I'll dig up the backyard first!"

These days, he hadn't touched the weapon forge's silver, but the materials had accumulated nearly enough. He decided to withdraw a sum of silver tomorrow first, then ascend the Commanding Talisman.

As for Cao Yan's secret chamber, his interest was far too great.

"Hah!"

Tilting his head back and swallowing a Vital-Supplementing Pill, Li Yuan pushed the door open and stepped out, only to feel the night's chill grow heavier; amid the howling north wind, flakes of accumulated snow drifted down.

In the light snow, Li Yuan lightly shook his wooden spear, enduring the bone-piercing ache and itch, circulating his qi and blood, mobilizing his internal force, accelerating the remodeling of his bones and tendons.

After a moment, he still couldn't help but let out a muffled groan, then jumped into a large vat in the corner filled with irregular iron sand, pushing frantically to relieve the ache and itch.

……

Yuan Yuan Pingjun handled things cleanly and decisively; in just a few days, he had already sent people over, the leader being the steward who had previously come to help Li Lin move house.

Although Zhang Ben was displeased and wary, he still picked some people to stay.

With the Yuan family's help, the weapon-forging shop's business stabilized; Li Yuan, with no worries at the rear, immersed himself in ironwork and martial practice.

In the blink of an eye, it was already around the New Year.