Chapter 168: Two Pieces of News

After finishing the general craftsmanship, it was already very late, but Old Xie still hadn’t rested; his spirits were high. He first transformed into the White Tiger and cultivated outside the Castle for over an hour, then returned covered in sweat and took a bath. Then, he began another task: refining a Wind Element Magic Sword.

He had given a list to the Auction House Manager last time, and they had long since replied. The items had also been transported here. Today, Old Xie was very excited and couldn’t be bothered to sleep, so he simply decided to refine this sword as well.

Old Xie acted as soon as he thought of it. He pushed open a nearby door and saw the materials brought by the employers. Looking at the floor covered with rare metals, Magic Stones, high-level Magical Beast skins, Magical Beast horns, and Magical Beast blood, Old Xie felt a little embarrassed.

You see, how heavy is a noble’s ceremonial sword? At most, it’s only about ten catties. But the materials before him weighed at least a thousand catties. Even with some consumption, using a hundred catties at most would be sufficient. The rest would all go into Old Xie’s pocket. One could imagine how much he would earn from this deal. Old Xie couldn’t help but sigh: “Sigh, don’t blame me for being greedy. They say science and technology are the primary productive forces. Who told you guys to have no skills? If everyone could make Magic Swords, I wouldn’t be able to be this greedy even if I wanted to!”

After his moment of triumph, Old Xie started on the serious business. He first picked through the ores to find some suitable ones, refined them with Samadhi True Fire, then added a bit of beast horn and beast blood to adjust the strength of the sword body. Then, using the power of his mind, he shaped the sword body in the void.

Then, while the sword body was still hot, Old Xie moved his fingers as fast as flying, carving four Magic Arrays in succession. Even though he was highly skilled and his fingers were steady, after all this tussling, it was almost dawn.

The finished product of this sword looked like the Gentleman’s Sword popular in ancient China, simple and elegant. It was slightly different from the ceremonial swords of this world, but roughly similar. Old Xie carved the Wind Element Acceleration Spell, Wind Shield, and a Wind Blade Spell on it. These were all practical spells for Wind Element swordsmen. Although the grade wasn’t high, it could significantly improve the user’s combat power.

However, if it only had these three spells, although it could barely compare to Legend Rank items, it wouldn’t be as powerful as the Thunder Sword. It would only be at the bottom among Legendary Items. Compared to the huge cost the others had put in, it was somewhat unworthy.

To avoid ruining his reputation, Old Xie had to expend a lot of effort to add a fourth Magic Array: the Sharpness Spell.

As the name suggests, the Sharpness Spell is a spell used to increase the sharpness of a weapon. It has two ways of being released. One is cast by a Mage in the air, which is an ordinary enhancement spell. This kind of Sharpness Spell has average effects. It just makes it easier for you to cut through a Magical Beast’s thick skin, but it lasts a long time. An Archmage can even maintain it for several days.

As for the other way, it uses spellcasting materials as a medium for release. This belongs to the shaping school of spells. The more advanced the spellcasting material, the better the effect. Usually, very precious Mithril is used. Although after consuming Mithril, the spell’s duration is less than an hour, the effect of this spell is extremely terrifying. It can even turn ordinary iron into a divine weapon.

For example, if two ordinary two-handed swords with completely identical strength slash at each other, the result can only be that each breaks with a large notch, or if the force is a bit greater, they might both snap at the same time. But if one of the swords is enhanced with an ordinary Sharpness Spell, it can cut a notch into the other sword while remaining almost undamaged. And if it is enhanced with the high-level Sharpness Spell that requires Mithril, it can easily sever the other sword while remaining completely unharmed.

In fact, although the result is astonishing, it is also normal. After all, Mithril is too precious. Using such a rare material naturally requires achieving a good result. This is the principle of balance.

Old Xie applied the highest level Sharpness Spell. Thus, this sword immediately soared by several grades. Everyone can imagine, when two people are slashing at each other, originally it’s back and forth, very normal, and they have parried each other several times. But suddenly, the weapon in the opponent’s hand is instantly enhanced with a high-level Sharpness Spell and cuts one’s own weapon in half with one strike. How many people can react in time to the subsequent beheading strike?

From this, it can be seen that Old Xie’s sword looks open and aboveboard, but actually, it’s very sinister in secret. So he gave it a name: the Gentleman’s Sword! Obviously, this was ironic. In reality, it was mocking the user of this sword for being a hypocrite.

Having just the sword wasn’t enough. After all, Old Xie had asked for a lot of high-level Magical Beast skins, nominally for making a scabbard. He couldn’t just give them a bare sword, right? So Old Xie also put effort into making a scabbard. Although Old Xie’s crafting skills weren’t very good, and the scabbard’s appearance wasn’t very eye-catching, it was, after all, refined by Samadhi True Fire. Not only was it high in strength and wear-resistant, but it also had some evil-warding properties, which was determined by Samadhi True Fire.

After making the scabbard, Old Xie was also a bit tired. He looked up and saw that it was already bright outside. He was too lazy to rest, so he simply washed up and started his morning training with high spirits. After exercising, he took another bath. Chris Chen had already prepared breakfast.

While enjoying breakfast, Old Xie instructed Chris Chen: “When you go out to handle matters later, remember to take that sword to the Auction House Manager.”

“Yes!” Chris Chen agreed, picked up the sword, and said, “Young Master, I will go find a shop for you right now!”

“Have you eaten breakfast?” Old Xie asked. “If not, come eat with me!”

“I already have! Thank you for your concern, Young Master.” Chris Chen immediately said with gratitude.

“Haha, then go ahead!” Old Xie said with a smile.

“Yes!” Chris Chen then saluted and left.

After sending Chris Chen away and finishing his meal, Old Xie took the things he had written and went to his Castle. He needed to teach the process of making the metal bow to the Imps, so that they could then teach the workers of the Stephen Family.

Arriving at the Castle, Old Xie excitedly wanted to find Lan Fake for a chat. But as soon as he walked from the building where the Transmission Array was located to the square, he was suddenly stunned. It turned out he saw the fountain sculpture on the square; the beautiful Goddess was smiling at him.

This wasn’t the key point. The key point was that this sculpture looked almost exactly the same as the Mithril statue holding the golden scroll, only differing in size and material. Old Xie suddenly realized, thinking to himself, no wonder both he and the old fellow felt that sculpture looked familiar; it turned out to be the same as this one!

Old Xie didn’t rush back to tell the Old Mage about this, after all, the matter wasn’t urgent. He just kept it in his heart, planning to talk about it after returning. Then he went to find Lan Fake. But unexpectedly, he missed him. The Imp serving Lan Fake said that this guy had gone out to play.

Old Xie quickly asked for details and found out that after he left, Lan Fake was like a wild horse off its leash, wandering everywhere, claiming to be inspecting the surrounding situation. Anyway, he often didn’t come back for several days.

Old Xie had no choice. After all, the other party wasn’t his slave, so he could only give a bitter smile and let him be. Then he gathered some experienced Imps and Cyclops and began teaching them how to refine a type of tough steel to be used for casting the bow body.

Actually, Old Xie had planned this long ago. Since it was stuff for ordinary soldiers to use, there was no need to make it too good. Just having a bow body was enough. As for the metal bowstrings and pulleys, forget it. They were really too hard to make. Even refining them himself was troublesome; expecting the primitive craftsmanship of this continent to do it was just ridiculous.

So he planned to simplify it as much as possible, only making the bow body. The bowstrings would still use beast tendons. As for pulleys, he would handcraft a few, but those were for the highest-ranking generals and nobles to use; ordinary soldiers shouldn’t even think about it.

The Cyclops were naturally responsible for the work. No choice, who told them to have great strength? As for the Imps, they could only watch from the side. Old Xie made them remember the steps so they could teach others later. Next, Old Xie began specifically teaching them how to select the raw materials for pig iron, how to judge the heat of the fire, and how to add special minerals. Anyway, after all this hassle, several hours passed, and it was already evening. Since Old Xie wasn’t very familiar with iron smelting either, the process was not smooth. The steel he refined the first time was not qualified; the toughness was always a bit lacking, which made him somewhat depressed.

Just at this moment, Lan Fake’s voice suddenly came from the square outside, “Hey, kid, come over quickly, I have something to tell you!”

Seeing that he had returned, Old Xie simply told everyone to disperse, wash up, and prepare to eat and rest. Then he went out to see Lan Fake.

At this time, Lan Fake, the Cyclops King Shalas, and the human Mage Pars were already sitting at a table full of food, waiting for Old Xie.

Old Xie didn’t stand on ceremony. He sat down on a chair, picked up a wine glass, and drank a cup. Then he said, “You old fellow, when I’m not here, instead of watching the house, you wander around everywhere?”

“Hehe, I didn’t wander for nothing.” Lan Fake laughed. “Let me tell you, there are two pieces of news now, both obtained through my hard work. One good, one bad. Which one do you want to hear first?”