As a master weapon smith, seeing the legendary 'Purple Light Cold Iron' sent Teng Yongfan’s mind reeling with excitement.
But the clarity returned in an instant.
“Qingshan, come into the room with me.” Teng Yongfan grabbed two pieces of Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron, rushing toward the inner room, while shouting outward, “Alan, Qingshan and I have matters to discuss. You all eat first; don't wait for us. We’ll eat when we come out later.”
And Teng Qingshan followed his father into the inner room.
As soon as they entered, Teng Yongfan immediately bolted the door shut.
“Qingshan,” Teng Yongfan stared intensely at Teng Qingshan, speaking rapidly, “These two pieces of Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron are priceless treasures! If the news that our Teng Family Village possesses Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron gets out and is known by the White Horse Gang or the Iron Mountain Gang, it would be an annihilating disaster for us.”
Teng Qingshan naturally understood the principle that possessing something valuable invites ruin.
“Qingshan, not even your mother or your sister can know about this Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron. Your mother is fine, but your sister is loose-lipped; if she lets it slip accidentally, it will be disastrous. Our clansmen are very united, but they are still human, and facing the temptation of such a treasure, some crooked ideas are bound to arise.” Teng Yongfan said solemnly, “Only three people can know the news of this Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron: you, me, and your maternal grandfather.”
Teng Qingshan nodded; Grandfather Teng Yunlong, as the clan leader, was trustworthy.
Moreover, if this Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron was to be used, his grandfather could not be bypassed.
“Come, let me get the scale and see how heavy they are.” Teng Yongfan walked over to the bedside, behind the grain jar where the scale was kept.
“Thousand Year Cold Iron is valued at two taels of gold per jin. This Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron is worth more than a hundred times the price of Thousand Year Cold Iron. One jin of Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron, at the absolute minimum, must be at least two hundred taels of gold, which is twenty jin of gold.” As he spoke, Teng Yongfan placed the slightly smaller piece of Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron onto the scale pan.
The scale tipped.
Teng Qingshan also carefully observed the markings on the beam. The most expensive ‘Star Pattern Steel’ he had seen at the Myriad Manifestations Tower was only equivalent in price to gold, but this Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron was twenty times the value of gold or more.
“Seven jin and two liang!” Teng Yongfan exclaimed happily, “Just this small piece weighs seven jin and two liang. It truly is Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron.”
“Father, these seven jin and two liang. If we sold it, it could fetch nearly one hundred and fifty jin of gold, which is fifteen hundred taels of gold!” Teng Qingshan marveled. An unassuming piece of black stone could exchange for a small pile of gold. Just imagining a small pile of gold before his eyes was enough to stir the heart.
“You little rascal, you’re making your father tempted too. Come, let’s see how much the slightly larger one weighs.” Teng Yongfan proceeded to weigh the second piece.
The scale tipped.
“Nine jin and one liang!” Teng Yongfan suppressed his excitement as he announced.
This was a massive fortune!
“Qingshan, combined, this is over sixteen jin! Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron is priceless and sells outside the market. If we actually sold it, it could probably fetch an even higher price. However, too much money doesn't benefit our Teng Family Village much.” Teng Yongfan suddenly smiled at Teng Qingshan, “Qingshan, haven't you always wanted to forge a suitable weapon for yourself?”
“A weapon?”
“Haha, with this Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron, your old dad is confident I can forge a divine weapon for you!” Teng Yongfan was brimming with self-assurance, “A divine weapon that is famous even in this world.”
Teng Qingshan couldn't help but be moved. While Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron was valuable, Teng Qingshan, with the memories of his past life, didn't place much value on money. Money was enough if it sufficed. Beyond a certain point, it was just a number. As for a divine weapon—Teng Qingshan deeply yearned for one.
This was because his strength was immense.
With the strength of over a hundred thousand jin in his arms, ordinary fine steel spears could not allow Teng Qingshan to exert himself fully. When executing intricate moves, the fine steel spears would easily break.
“Father, you said use the Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron to make a weapon? But this is so little, it's not enough to forge an entire spear,” Teng Qingshan looked at the two pieces of Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron. “If we need to forge a long spear made entirely of Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron, then I will venture into the Cold Pool one more time. Being careful, it shouldn’t be a big problem.”
“Go again?” Teng Yongfan’s eyes widened. “Listen to me clearly, boy, you are absolutely forbidden from entering that Azure Cold Pool again.”
Teng Qingshan gave an awkward laugh.
If he secretly snuck into the Azure Cold Pool, grabbed the Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron, and fled immediately, the chance of success would indeed be high. However... the Flood Dragon, already enraged by Teng Qingshan, if it discovered him again, bursting out from the underwater passage into the Azure Cold Pool, Teng Qingshan would also be in grave danger.
“What your father means is not to rely solely on this Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron. We also need to rely on that Star Pattern Steel!” Teng Yongfan stated.
“Star Pattern Steel?” Teng Qingshan frowned. “It can’t compare to Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron, can it?” His father had just spoken of forging a divine weapon renowned throughout the world.
Teng Yongfan chuckled smugly, “Qingshan, you are the best in the clan at spear techniques, but when it comes to forging weapons, you are far behind. Remember, forging a weapon isn't about using the most expensive material! Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron is indestructible. But for a spear shaft, while hardness is important, what’s more crucial is toughness—the ability to hold and channel force!”
What is suitable is the best.
For example, there are many hard woods. But for spear shafts, only woods like Green Nanwood or White Waxwood, which possess exceptional resilience, are used.
“Star Pattern Steel has the best toughness and is the finest material known to us for crafting spear shafts!” Teng Yongfan said with a smile. “According to records, this Star Pattern Steel is difficult even for a Grandmaster realm expert to destroy, and once internal energy is channeled into it, it can withstand limitless immense force.”
Limitless force, of course, wasn't truly limitless. It just meant the ceiling was incredibly high.
“And Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron is best suited for the spearhead! The spearhead requires absolute indestructibility, it requires sharpness!” Teng Yongfan smiled. “However, we cannot afford Star Pattern Steel, so... we must trade the Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron for it! Qingshan, you will take this seven jin and two liang piece of Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron to the Myriad Manifestations Tower to trade for Star Pattern Steel.”
Teng Qingshan’s heart burned with excitement.
Star Pattern Steel for the shaft, Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron for the tip—this divine weapon that would emerge would be one that could fully unleash his power.
“Father, how much Star Pattern Steel do we need?” Teng Qingshan inquired.
“Qingshan, how long does your ideal long spear need to be?” Teng Yongfan countered.
Teng Qingshan considered. His height was about seven chi and four cun (1.85 meters), and his physical development phase had pushed his bones and sinews to their limit; his height wouldn't increase much more now. The optimal length for the spear would be around nine chi and six cun (2.4 meters). So, Teng Qingshan replied, “Father, the optimal spear length is nine chi and six cun. Of course, being an inch shorter or an inch longer won’t be a major issue.”
“What do you mean not a major issue? If your father forges a weapon for you at nine chi and six cun, that’s exactly what it will be!” Teng Yongfan mused briefly before speaking. “Then this spear will require just over one hundred jin of Star Pattern Steel. Here’s the plan: you purchase one hundred and five jin of Star Pattern Steel, to be safe!”
“Understood, Father.” Teng Qingshan nodded.
“When do you plan to go to the city?” Teng Yongfan asked.
“Father, I plan to go to the city right after breakfast today. However, Father… for precious materials like Star Pattern Steel, I suspect the Myriad Manifestations Tower might not have that much stock,” Teng Qingshan said. In his previous life, Teng Qingshan knew that even many jewelers only had limited stock of gold.
Yicheng was just a small city.
How much stock could a branch of the Myriad Manifestations Tower in a small city hold of such rare material?
“Right, you thought further than I did. It’s true, the Myriad Manifestations Tower might not have inventory,” Teng Yongfan realized, jolted. He was, after all, a commoner from the mountains; the Myriad Manifestations Tower was a towering entity in their eyes, and he hadn't considered this point. Only when Teng Qingshan mentioned it did Teng Yongfan understand.
“So, Father, when I go to the city today, I probably won’t return the same day. I plan to wait in the city until the goods arrive before coming back,” Teng Qingshan explained. By doing this, Teng Qingshan was also preventing anyone from tracking him.
Teng Yongfan became alert then and said, “Right, wait until you buy the goods before returning. Also, Qingshan, you must be very careful in the city.”
“Don't worry, Father.” Teng Qingshan chuckled lightly. As a super assassin in his past life, the stealth and assassination techniques of the assassins in this era were hardly worth his attention. If anyone truly followed him, in Teng Qingshan’s view, it would be like the God of Longevity drinking arsenic—courting death.
That morning, Teng Qingshan tucked a piece of ‘seven jin and two liang’ Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron into his embrace, along with several tens of taels of silver and some copper coins, wielding a large broadsword, and headed into the city.
Upon entering the city.
Teng Qingshan first visited a cloth shop and spent three taels of silver to purchase an outfit for himself. Spending three taels of silver on clothes and a sheath was extravagance for ordinary folk. For an Inner Strength expert, it only qualified as ‘low-key.’ What Teng Qingshan intended was to be completely unrecognizable.
As the saying goes, clothes make the man. After donning an exquisitely tailored cyan robe and shouldering a sharp saber, he indeed possessed the bearing of a martial artist venturing out into the world.
Afterward, he enjoyed a lavish lunch at a tavern.
By the afternoon, Teng Qingshan finally headed toward the Myriad Manifestations Tower. At this moment, Teng Qingshan’s face was cold, and passersby felt instinctively that he wasn't a good person.
“To enter my Myriad Manifestations Tower, please disarm,” the two sword-wielding women guarding the entrance blocked his path simultaneously, raising their hands to stop him.
“Hmph.” Teng Qingshan’s gaze turned cold as he swept his look over the two women.
“Get lost.”
Teng Qingshan surged forward, directly slamming the two women, who possessed Inner Strength, backward. Immediately, several Inner Strength masters within the Myriad Manifestations Tower gathered around—all of them guards. The man leading them carefully sized up Teng Qingshan and cupped his fist, “Brother, disarming upon entering the Myriad Manifestations Tower is the rule!”
Teng Qingshan’s gaze swept over him, cold and sharp, the killing intent in his eyes causing those men to inwardly flinch.
Teng Qingshan had crawled out of piles of corpses in his previous life, and in this life, he had slaughtered wolf packs at the age of ten. Teng Qingshan was inherently a killing god; intimidating these Inner Strength masters was effortless.
“This small Yicheng, no one here is qualified to make me disarm.” Teng Qingshan stood, holding his saber, aloof. “Send your managing (Tower Master) over! I have important business with your today, and I don’t wish to kill anyone!”
“Eldest Senior Brother,” one of the guards looked towards the leader.
“This person, with a single collision, rendered the two junior sisters utterly defenseless. We cannot afford to offend him. Hurry and invite Tower Master Martial Uncle,” the guard leader said in a low voice.
Teng Qingshan glanced at these men and gave a cold smile.
The so-called rules were for ordinary people. Disarm? True formidable masters consider their weapons their life; how could they let a mere Myriad Manifestations Tower command them to lay them down?