Settling Down

'You solemnly recited the Highest Good is Like Water Heart Mantra once. A sudden flash of insight appeared in your mind; you tried to seize it, but gained nothing. Lin Character Secret proficiency increased.'

'A vague figure suddenly appeared in your seemingly empty yet not-empty mind. It seemed illusory and sluggish, vanishing in the blink of an eye. You seemed to have grasped one or two crucial points of the Lin Character Secret.'

'...'

After roughly the time it took to drink two cups of tea, Xu Yunfan opened his eyes. His expression revealed fatigue, but his gaze was filled with contemplation.

When cultivating the Lin Character Secret today, the Attribute Panel's system prompts seemed somewhat different. Moreover, he had actually visualized an illusory figure in his mind.

It seemed that this figure was what left him utterly exhausted every day when he cultivated the Lin Character Secret.

He had a feeling that if he maintained this state, he would soon gain an entry-level grasp of this method.

No longer dwelling on it, he turned over and fell into a deep sleep.

Early the next morning, Xu Yunfan instructed the innkeeper not to enter his room. Combined with his build and icy tone, the innkeeper naturally recognized him as a martial artist of the jianghu and hurriedly nodded in agreement.

After leaving the inn, he found a real estate broker. Once he explained his purpose, the broker's owner revealed a troubled expression.

"Hero, if you've lost your household registration documents, it'll be rather difficult to purchase property in North Ye City."

Xu Yunfan's expression did not change as he took out a silver ingot from his robe, one he had pinched into a round lump with his fingers.

"Then I'll have to trouble you to put in more effort."

Those in the real estate business naturally had connections and knew how to grease palms at every level. So long as the money was sufficient, they ought to have channels.

Sure enough, the moment the broker's owner saw it, the difficulty on his face vanished. He broke into a broad smile, swiftly accepted the silver, weighed it in his hand, and slipped it into his pocket.

There had to be at least fifty taels there.

The owner was overjoyed. He would earn at least twenty taels from this transaction. As expected, these jianghu heroes were the truly generous sort. Spending money was no different from tossing away dirt. As long as he flattered them properly, making money would be easy!

"Of course, of course. Hero, simply write down your name and age, and leave the rest to me. I'll expedite it for you. Shall we go look at houses now?"

Most jianghu elites like this had grown weary of killing and wished to conceal their identities. Though such cases were not common, he had seen quite a few.

As for the authorities, as long as the money was in place and they were not wanted criminals, they welcomed anyone.

In the broker's owner's words, this was all revenue generation!

Seeing Xu Yunfan nod, the owner called over a young clerk and said, "Hero, I need to handle the household registration matter personally. Little Zhou here is the sharpest fellow in our shop and knows every house in the city. He'll take you there."

"Lead the way."

Xu Yunfan had no objection.

After following Little Zhou around North Ye City, Xu Yunfan could not help but marvel. Although North Ye City was considered a small city in Northern Border Qing Province, it stood against Accumulating Cloud Mountain, with mountain goods and game plentiful and trade thriving. Its population was large, and the city itself covered no small area.

Unfortunately, there were still many beggars and displaced refugees along the streets.

In such harsh conditions, it would be difficult for them to survive the winter.

At last, Xu Yunfan found a two-courtyard residence in the southern part of the city. Most importantly, its courtyard had a broad open area, a well at the side, and bordered Clear Water River, which flowed into North Ye City. Daily life would be very convenient there.

"The former owner called this residence Clear River Residence. He was also a martial artist, so he laid Blue Stone Bricks in the courtyard for practicing martial arts. Look, there's even a weapon rack by the wall. He wants to study in the provincial capital and take things a step further, so he's selling his property to raise silver. This courtyard only came onto the market recently."

Xu Yunfan looked over the inside and outside of the residence and found it quite satisfactory. Most importantly, one side of the courtyard wall faced the river, so he could build a flushing toilet.

As a modern man, he especially valued this. He simply could not accept the dry latrines of ancient times.

He nodded slightly. "How much?"

"Three hundred and fifty taels of silver."

"I'll take it."

After efficiently settling the matters at hand, Xu Yunfan hurried toward the most renowned blacksmith's weapon shop in the city.

The moment he stepped inside, a wave of heat carrying the pungent smell of smoke and fire rushed into his face.

The walls and racks of the shop were filled with weapons of every kind.

Deep within the shop, a blacksmith stood bare-chested, his muscles knotted and bulging. He raised his arm high, and the iron hammer in his hand carried a whistling gust as it smashed heavily into a red-hot iron block. Sparks flew in every direction, while the rhythmic clanging of metal rang out brightly.

When he saw a customer enter, the blacksmith set down his hammer, washed his hands with a bucket of clear water beside him, and asked, "Here to buy a weapon?"

A blacksmith at Minor Accomplishment in Skin Tempering.

"Boss, you don't have any hammer weapons here?"

"Hammers?"

The blacksmith repeated the question instinctively, then turned his head and finally noticed Xu Yunfan's tower-like, powerfully built body.

Now that he had reached Great Accomplishment in Skin Tempering, Xu Yunfan's arms were thick and powerful, his muscles bulging high. His broad, solid waist and back in particular could truly be described as tiger-backed and bear-waisted.

A man with such a build was surely well suited to wield heavy weapons.

"I don't have any ready-made ones, but if you want one, I can forge it for you."

The blacksmith replied enthusiastically. The selling price of a heavy weapon could match that of four or five weapons of the same quality.

Xu Yunfan was not overly surprised.

Hammer weapons were indeed rare among jianghu folk. First, few people used them. Second, forging a heavy hammer consumed a great deal of refined iron; the materials used for one heavy hammer were enough to forge three or four ordinary swords or sabers.

Xu Yunfan immediately picked up paper and brush, carefully drawing the weapon design he wanted and writing down its required dimensions in detail before handing it to Lu Tiejang.

Lu Tiejang took the drawing and pondered for a moment, silently calculating.

After a long while, he slowly said, "A refined steel warhammer as tall as you are and as thick as a baby's arm would weigh at least one hundred and twenty jin."

"Only a truly mighty warrior could wield a weapon of that weight."

A weapon of such weight could barely be swung, but using it to fight enemies would likely be difficult to sustain.

After all, lifting such a heavy weapon alone was no easy task. To wield it freely, one needed the strength of a thousand jin; otherwise, there was no way to handle it with flexibility.

"Just make it according to the requirements."

Xu Yunfan remained calm.

Hearing this, Lu Tiejang did not hesitate, his expression brimming with confidence.

"In all of North Ye City, only I can forge a High-Grade Mortal Weapon. You came to the right person!"

For a frontier city like this, having a blacksmith capable of forging High-Grade Mortal Weapons was already quite impressive.

To forge a weapon at the Sharp Blade grade required rare materials as well as a rare blacksmith, so Xu Yunfan had not held out any hope.

More importantly, a weapon that reached the Sharp Blade grade would cost at least a thousand taels of silver.

Xu Yunfan readily paid the deposit, agreed with Lu Tiejang on the delivery date, then turned and strode out of the blacksmith's shop, swiftly returning to the inn.

He still had money to guard and could not stay away for too long.

Two days later, with the real estate broker's owner acting as his introducer, Xu Yunfan successfully signed and stamped his documents at the yamen, registered his name, obtained an identity, and received the property deed and household registration.