"Teng Qingshan, you're back!" The great gates of Teng Family Village opened, and the guarding clansmen greeted him warmly.

Carrying two wild pheasants, Teng Qingshan smiled back, "Yep, I'm back. Uncle Fang, we actually brought back quite a catch today. You’ll have something good to go with your drinks tonight." This trip into the mountains was primarily for fetching water, but of course, they had taken the opportunity to hunt some game along the way. Each family in the village would get about a pound of meat from this.

"Hmm?" As soon as he entered the training ground, Teng Qingshan's brow furrowed.

Faintly visible on the ground were the deep ruts left by wagon wheels. This training ground was perpetually trodden hard, so the weight of any vehicle capable of leaving such marks must have been immense. Teng Qingshan turned to question a nearby youth, "Sanzi, did anyone important visit the village today?"

The youth replied, "Brother Qingshan, just a little while ago, a contingent of nearly a hundred people passed through, escorting carts loaded with heavy cargo pulled by one or two horses. They’ve all gone over to the armory now."

Hearing this, Teng Qingshan immediately guessed. That escort must be the group delivering the ore materials needed to forge the 182 Azure Cold Blades.

"Brother, Brother!" A clear, sweet voice called out.

Teng Qingshan turned to see his mother and younger sister, Qingyu. Qingyu was running quite sprightly now, rushing straight to hug Teng Qingshan, then fixing her wide eyes on the pheasants in his hands: "Brother, we get chicken tonight! Two of them!"

"Mother, take these pheasants back home. I'm going to see Father now." Teng Qingshan handed the two wild pheasants to his mother, Yuan Lan.

"Alright. Your father will have a tough time ahead, so he needs to eat well and build up his strength." Yuan Lan took the two pheasants.

The village distributed food based on each family's contribution. Of course, even the least contributing families received a minimum amount of meat. As for the Teng Qingshan's family, Teng Yongfan was the village's foremost blacksmith, and his son, Teng Qingshan, was currently the clan's top expert and leader of the hunting team.

Naturally, their food allocation was more substantial. These two pheasants were what Teng Qingshan had planned to take straight home after the general distribution.

"Brother, I want to come with you too!" Qingyu held tightly onto Teng Qingshan's arm.

His mother, Yuan Lan, chuckled nearby, "Qingshan, take your sister with you to see your father, but make sure you both come back here for lunch later." Teng Qingshan acknowledged this and led his sister by the hand, along with Teng Qinghu and Teng Qinghao, toward his father’s forge.

"Brother Qinghu, Brother Qinghao," Teng Qingshan said as he walked. Seeing the wagons and the large crowd outside the armory from a distance, he instructed, "You two take a detour, enter through the back door of the armory, and deliver the water containers inside."

"Understood." Although it wouldn't matter much if outsiders saw the water containers, Teng Qinghu and Teng Qinghao knew it was best to maintain secrecy as much as possible.

The armory was quite bustling at that moment. Many apprentices were moving various materials around. In a corner of the armory's main yard, four people sat around a wooden table: Teng Yongfan, Teng Yunlong, and two unfamiliar men. One was tall and robust, appearing powerful. The other was exceedingly portly, sporting a bulging belly, clad in a yellow fox fur coat, with a glittering gold thumb ring prominently displayed on his right hand.

"Qingshan, you're here," Teng Yunlong, seated near the center of the courtyard, greeted him with a smile.

Qingyu, however, chirped brightly, "Father, Grandfather!" as she ran over to them.

"Yongfan, this is your daughter? Truly adorable," the stout man said cheerfully.

Teng Yongfan smiled and nodded, reaching out to lift Qingyu onto his lap. The fat man continued, "Elder Clan Leader Teng, Yongfan, we haven't been doing business for just a year or two. You both know that the price I offer is definitely not high. Thirteen thousand taels of silver! I even rounded down the odd bits."

"Li Er," Teng Yunlong smiled, "We are old friends. I, Teng Yunlong, never lie. Moreover, you should understand. Anyone capable of entrusting us with such a large commission cannot be ordinary folk. Those people came to Teng Family Village in person specifically to press the price down. We at Teng Family Village had no choice but to accept. If you lower your price just a little more, it will allow us a small profit margin."

The stout man considered this.

"Fine." The fat man’s right hand, adorned with the gold thumb ring, slapped the table with a hearty sound. "Seeing as we've been friends for so many years, I understand your predicament. No more nonsense. Twelve thousand five hundred taels of silver. That is the absolute lowest. Not a single copper coin less."

Teng Yunlong and Teng Yongfan exchanged a look.

"Agreed," Teng Yunlong nodded.

"I’ll have someone fetch the silver!" Saying this, Teng Yunlong nodded to Teng Yongfan, who personally rose to retrieve the money.

Teng Qingshan glanced over at the sturdy man sitting beside the fat man. "This man has piercing, spirited eyes, and his physical strength is exceptional; he is quite a master. However, he is far inferior to the commander of the cavalry team that arrived yesterday." Just then, Teng Yongfan returned, carrying a chest personally.

"Thump!" The chest landed on the ground.

"Li Er, there are four thousand five hundred taels of silver in there! And this," saying which, Teng Yunlong handed over the bank notes, "is eight thousand taels in notes!"

"Bank notes?" The face of the fat man named Li Er changed slightly, his brow furrowing. He glanced at the notes, and only after seeing the large seal bearing the characters 'Yang Salt' did his expression soften a little. "Elder Clan Leader Teng, if I take these eight thousand taels in notes to the Yangzhou Bank, I’ll have to pay an eighty-tael handling fee."

One in a hundred was the standard commission rate for the Yangzhou Bank.

Teng Yunlong sighed mournfully, "Li Er, when does our Teng Family Village typically possess bank notes? This is only because the client who placed the order gave us these notes for that portion. I was worried that they might not pay the remaining balance later. Alas, it’s because we are a small settlement, easy to bully. Li Er, please bear with us this one time."

The fat man Li Er stood up and sighed, "Forget it, I won't quibble over it. We need to deposit silver in the bank for our business anyway, so it evens out. Now, did you count it clearly?"

"It is four thousand five hundred taels," the sturdy man confirmed after counting the silver in the chest.

"Very well!" Li Er the fat man looked at Teng Yunlong. "Elder Clan Leader Teng, Brother Yongfan, then this business deal is settled. I shall take my leave now."

Teng Yunlong immediately rose to escort the group out.

Once the group departed, the armory became noticeably quieter. Teng Qingshan turned to his father, Teng Yongfan, "Father, did we lose out significantly on this transaction?"

"If we receive the final payment, it won't be a loss," Teng Yongfan replied. "One hundred and eighty-two Azure Cold Blades. Their value is eighteen thousand two hundred taels of silver. Our costs, just for the raw materials purchased right now, amount to twelve thousand five hundred taels of silver. Including some other special materials within the village, the material cost nears two thousand taels of silver. Then there is the water from the Azure Cold Pool! Not to mention the labor costs."

Teng Qingshan nodded.

The material cost alone was fourteen thousand five hundred taels of silver. The water from the Azure Cold Pool is worthless to the Teng Family Village, but to those unaware of the Pool's location, it is an invaluable treasure. Added to the month-plus of continuous, arduous forging work by Teng Yongfan and Teng Yunlong.

Even if they secured the final payment, this transaction would yield only a marginal profit.

"Those salt merchants, while they flaunt their wealth, are incredibly tight-fisted when it comes to business. Otherwise, why would they personally travel here to place an order?" Teng Yongfan scoffed.

"Will we get the final payment?" Teng Qingshan frowned.

Teng Yongfan pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "Although I have some worries, perhaps not. Firstly, the client is a Yangzhou salt merchant with considerable standing; they likely wouldn't stoop to cheating us out of money. Secondly, given their martial strength, they wouldn't need to resort to tricks against us. They could simply threaten to kill us if we refused to forge the weapons. Wouldn't that be more straightforward?"

Teng Qingshan nodded.

What his father said made sense, but since the other party held the absolute advantage, the Teng Family Village still harbored concerns that they might default.

"Qingshan, starting today, until all 182 Azure Cold Blades are forged, I must stay here in the armory every night. You need to help your mother with household matters. Qingyu is still young and doesn't understand, and your mother has chores to do while looking after her; she gets very tired," Teng Yongfan instructed.

Teng Qingshan nodded.

His sister Qingyu was only six years old, after all, and unlike him, she possessed no memories of a past life. It was normal for her to be mischievous and (ignorant of propriety).

In the following days, his father, Teng Yongfan, and the Clan Leader, Teng Yunlong, essentially lived entirely within the armory. Sometimes they were so busy they didn't even have time to go home for meals, relying on family members to deliver food.

...

In the blink of an eye, only five days remained until the Ancestral Offering Ceremony.

"Qingshan, the Clan Leader wants you at the armory." As soon as Teng Qingshan led the hunting party back, a clansman immediately delivered the message.

"Got it." Teng Qingshan handed his catch to Teng Qinghu. "Qinghu, you all divide this game." Saying this, Teng Qingshan, clutching his Damascus steel spear, hurried toward the armory. Midway, he could already hear the distant 'ding-ding-dang' of blacksmithing hammers ringing out from the structure.

Entering the armory, he was met with greetings. "Qingshan is here," several apprentice clansmen called out with smiles.

Teng Qingshan noticed his father, Teng Yongfan, was bare-chested, swinging his hammer vigorously.

"Qingshan, come over here." Teng Yunlong, sitting in the courtyard clad only in a robe, his face slick with sweat, gasped for breath. Seeing Teng Qingshan approach, he laughed self-deprecatingly, "I'm getting old. After just half an hour, I'm exhausted. We really have to rely on your father."

Teng Qingshan sat down with a smile. "Grandfather, most young lads in the clan don't have the arm strength required to forge the Azure Cold Blades. You are already quite formidable."

His words made Teng Yunlong laugh heartily. "You, you only know how to speak sweet things. By the way, Qingshan, I called you here to tell you! These 182 Azure Cold Blades should all be successfully forged by late tonight. Tomorrow is the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth lunar month—an auspicious day, suitable for travel! Your hunting team is to disguise yourselves as merchants going to the city to sell animal furs and transport the 182 Azure Cold Blades there. Your father will accompany you."