Immortality: Raising an Ant Queen to Cultivate by increasing stat points - Chapter 30

Chapter 27 The Living Treasured Sword_1

Translator: 549690339

Qin Niu wanted to buy a blade, one that could chop wood, hunt, and kill enemies—all in one.

He entered a shop with the most extensive selection of blade weapons.

The shop assistant, with bare and robust upper arms, was muscular all over, especially his pectorals, which were particularly strong.

“Looking to buy a weapon?”

“Do you have blades of this style forged from Hundred-Tempering Fine Steel?”

Qin Niu pointed at a Thick-Backed Chopping Knife.

The blade was of medium length, appropriately wide and narrow, with a slight curve to the belly of the knife, suited for both chopping and slicing — exactly the type of weapon he wanted.

“Are you sure you want the Thick-Backed Chopping Knife made from Hundred-Tempering Fine Steel? It won’t be cheap. The price of Hundred-Tempering Fine Steel is almost three times that of silver now; a knife this size will cost at least a hundred taels of silver.”

The assistant sized up Qin Niu twice, suspecting that this country boy had no idea how expensive Hundred-Tempering Fine Steel was.

“That is indeed too expensive for me to afford. The books say that good steel should be used on the blade. What if I ask for an iron blade with a layer of Hundred-Tempering Fine Steel sandwiched in the middle for the cutting edge?”

Qin Niu liked to read in his spare time, and his intellect and wisdom truly were exceptional.

In the face of insufficient funds, he proposed a scientifically rational cost-saving plan.

“This… I am merely an apprentice, please wait a moment.”

The assistant turned to look towards the inner forging room.

In the dim light, one could see the forge glowing red hot as a man around fifty tirelessly hammered at a weapon.

“Master, this customer wants to buy a special kind of blade.”

After a while, the old man emerged from inside.

The old man was not particularly tall, but he appeared exceedingly sturdy and muscular.

His completely bare upper body showcased muscles as hard as ironstone.

“Young brother, what kind of blade would you like to buy?”

The old man’s voice was somewhat hoarse, like a broken gong.

“I’d like to buy a Thick-Backed Chopping Knife of this style, but since I don’t have enough silver money, I would like to ask you to forge it with fine iron and sandwich a layer of Hundred-Tempering Fine Steel in the middle to enhance the knife’s sharpness and durability.”

Qin Niu seemed quite professional.

“No problem. The knife will weigh about three jins, with about three liang of laminated steel. The price of fine iron is one tael per jin, which comes to three liang of silver for three jins. Hundred-Tempering Fine Steel costs three times that of silver, making three liang equal to nine taels. My labor charge is five fen of silver.”

The old man provided a rough estimate of the cost.

A labor charge of five fen was not cheap, but most skilled blacksmiths demanded this rate.

Top blacksmith masters could command even more astronomical fees.

Moreover, don’t think that the weapon store made only five fen of hard-earned money. They could refine fine iron and Hundred-Tempering Fine Steel themselves, and the profit margin on those was usually where the real money was.

“I don’t have enough silver! Do you think the price could be reduced any further?”

Qin Niu had not expected buying a weapon to be so costly.

It was only because he had sold the bear skin for a good price that he even dared to consider purchasing a Hundred-Tempering Fine Steel weapon. Otherwise, a fine iron weapon would have been a very good weapon for him already.

According to the old man’s calculation, it would cost at least twelve taels and five fen of silver.

He was short by two taels and five fen.

And he wanted to save one tael of silver to buy a low-grade Contract Charm.

“What’s the most you can offer?”

The old man asked him.

“Eight taels.”

Qin Niu stated a price that made the old man nearly jump.

“No, no, that’s too low, it doesn’t even cover the cost,” the old man shook his head repeatedly.

These ironworkers were stubborn by nature, not particularly adept at haggling.

“If that’s the case, never mind.”

Qin Niu turned and walked towards the exit of the store.

“Come back!”

The old man called out to him again.

“If you can only offer eight taels of silver, then we’ll use one liang less of the laminated steel. I’ll take a loss on the labor charge.”

“I’ll add one more tael, to make it nine taels, without skimping on material. In the future, if I need any weapon that you can forge, I’ll come to you.”

Qin Niu bargained with surprising adeptness, quite unlike his silent and foolish demeanor back in the village.

“That’s… too little, add a bit more. My apprentice and I won’t even make enough for our meals,” the old man’s eyes already showed compromise, but he was making a last effort to earn a bit more.

“Take it as looking after me this once! Next time, I won’t haggle and let you earn more. Once I have money, I’ll definitely want to switch to a better weapon.”

Qin Niu tempted the old man with future prospects.

After a battle within himself, the old man might have figured out that, after costs, he could still make a tiny profit.

With a pained expression, he nodded in agreement.

“Alright, alright!” The old man fetched a basin of wet clay from under the shelf.

Qin Niu didn’t know what he was up to.

The old man twisted a stick of mud about as thick as a forearm and then said to Qin Niu, “Hold it with both hands and apply a slight force.”

“You guys are pretty professional here!”

Qin Niu hadn’t expected that forging a weapon would actually involve taking a mold of his hand.

“My master is a descendant of the Ou Family, and every weapon he forges is imbued with his painstaking effort. Everyone who has used them speaks highly of them.”

The apprentice awkwardly boasted on the side.

Ou Yezi was indeed among the top master smiths in weapon forging.

This elder must be a descendant of the Ou Family, so he surely couldn’t be too inferior.

Actually, any weapon shop that can operate in the Cultivation Market for three years without closing must have decent craftsmanship. This weapon shop looked like it had been around for many years.

After measuring the hand mold, Master Ou also measured Qin Niu’s arm length, height, and his customary motions when swinging a weapon while bending over, among others.

Seeing how professional their service was, Qin Niu felt a bit embarrassed.

After all, he had bargained quite fiercely, slashing the price by two taels and five silver money.

After taking the measurements, Master Ou drew up a design on the spot, allowing Qin Niu to confirm the style and shape of the weapon and wrote down all the data just measured.

“According to your blade swinging habits, the tip of the knife is slightly uptilted at a 45-degree angle. The blade will be thickened at this section to increase the weight, which can enhance the explosive power of your slashes. The length of the blade is one foot and four inches, which will harmonize very well with your height and arm length. The handle will be thickened too, as your hands are quite large and you seem to prefer a tight grip on the handle when swinging the blade…”

Master Ou gave him a detailed explanation.

“For sandwiching steel, plan to use more of the front edge of the blade and less as you approach the handle, because the main action when chopping usually involves the front edge and the middle section.”

His professionalism was evident in every aspect of the design, showing extensive forging experience.

In Qin Niu’s presence, they weighed three jin of fine iron and three taels of Hundred-Tempering Fine Steel, and then the master and apprentice went inside to forge the weapon together.

Qin Niu didn’t rush to leave; caution was necessary.

He was somewhat worried about receiving an inferior substitute or having the material reduced.

Most people would stay and supervise when ordering such an expensive custom weapon.

It took nearly six hours before his weapon was finally forged.

Earning this money was indeed very hard work.

The trousers of both master and apprentice were soaked through, leaving a wet print on the ground with each step.

“Come, try and see if your custom Thick-Backed Cleaver suits you!”

Master Ou excitedly handed over the just-finished work to him, his expression tinged with a bit of nervousness.

He was clearly concerned that the customer might not be satisfied.

Qin Niu took the knife, and as soon as he gripped it, his eyes lit up, and his face revealed a thick look of surprise.

“This sword… It’s as if it has a life of its own, as though it can recognize its master.”

Qin Niu’s words actually made the master and the apprentice burst into laughter.

“This knife was custom-made for you. If it doesn’t fit your hand, then my master wouldn’t be able to make a living,” said the apprentice with pride and arrogance in his voice.

Qin Niu swung the knife, finding the balance perfect and the explosive power excellent; his Blade Technique seemed to have grown much stronger as well. It just didn’t feel satisfying without testing it on something.

“Just chop this iron stump here,” said Master Ou, pointing to an iron stump covered in knife marks.

“I’m a bit worried about the edge curling,” Qin Niu said, not willing to chop recklessly with it, as it was a high-quality weapon crafted with no less than nine taels of silver money.

“Don’t worry, if you really curl the edge with a chop, I’ll give it to you for free,” Master Ou said with full confidence.

Seeing that he didn’t appear to be joking, Qin Niu tightened his grip on the treasured sword in his hand and fiercely chopped it towards the iron stump.

Thump!

The edge sank more than two centimeters into the iron stump on the first chop, unexpectedly producing an Explosive Slash Effect.

This was an iron stump, after all. A chop that deep suggested that ordinary iron armor would be as fragile as paper before Qin Niu’s Treasured Sword.

Ordinary iron armor was thick if it measured three millimeters.

If it were any thicker, the weight would be astonishing, and ordinary people simply could not bear it.

“Young man, your Blade Technique is quite refined! Take a look, is the blade damaged?”

Master Ou saw the power of his single chop and could not help but reveal a hint of admiration.

It’s not common to see a country lad with such strong blade skills.

But he didn’t know that Qin Niu had just happened to produce the Explosive Slash Effect.

Qin Niu inspected the blade carefully and found it undamaged, not even a hairline notch to be seen.

This Treasured Sword truly had the power to slice gold and break jade, extraordinary in its might.

The nine taels of silver money were well spent.

With it, whether hunting in the mountains or fighting with bullies in the village, he would be invincible.

Using a chopping knife, he could succeed in a sneak attack on Wang Haikun.

If he used this Treasured Sword, it would probably be no different from slaying a chicken or duck.

Even if the man was wearing leather armor, it would be useless; a direct chop would easily slice him in two.