Gifted a Ring

The steel gleamed with a pure, bright sheen, but within it ran streaks like the blood vessels and meridians of the human body. "He doesn't seem like a man given to cunning or deceit." Hong Yi looked at the ring in his hand and sighed. He couldn't help stepping forward. However, Hong Yi knew of the Heavenly Ladder Patterned Steel, Ice Crack Patterned Steel, and Chrysanthemum Patterned Steel that the owner of the Guan Shi Shop had just mentioned. He had even seen some of them. Weapons forged from these three kinds of steel were all peerless treasures, worth at least several thousand taels of silver, sometimes even ten thousand, and they were so rare that there was no market for them. Hearing the "young master" scold them, the two guards said nothing and immediately stepped aside. After handing Hong Yi the thumb ring, Luo Yun hurried out. From the edge of the building, Hong Yi watched her climb into a carriage and speed off toward the city gates. "All right, I'll remember that. I'll be off first." Blood Patterned Steel was not a kind of fine steel, but the legendary metal used to forge immortal weapons and flying swords. As she spoke, Luo Yun removed the ring from her hand and gave it to Hong Yi. "I study at the Imperial Academy. Where do you live? Could I come find you sometime and chat?" What intrigued Hong Yi wasn't this woman disguised as a man and dressed in the uniform of an Imperial Academy student, but the Blood Patterned Steel she had mentioned. The other person had a fair, clean face and delicate features. Her breath was fragrant, like orchids and musk; her fingers were slender, and on her left thumb she wore a thumb ring. It wasn't made of jade, but iron, with a pattern and a notch. It wasn't for decoration—it was used for archery. Hong Yi had only read about Blood Patterned Steel in the Daoist Classic. He had never seen any himself, and he even doubted whether such steel really existed in the world. Hong Yi also pretended not to hear. He had long guessed that Luo Yun was from a foreign royal family. Hong Yi had once seen Hong Xi, Lady Zhao's eldest son at Marquis Wuwen's Mansion, holding a precious Ice Crack Patterned Steel saber bestowed by the emperor. Hong Yi had been envious of it. Inside the carriage. As the other person sized him up, Hong Yi studied the "young master" before him as well. The reaction jolted Hong Yi, nearly making him stumble backward in fright. Fortunately, he had cultivated his spirit for a long time and had learned to steady himself. He merely stopped, then smiled at the two fierce guards. The moment Hong Yi stepped forward, the two guards beside the cross-dressed "young master" abruptly fixed their eyes on him. Their gazes were chilling, like those of primordial beasts, and both men reached for their waists, as if ready to draw their weapons at any moment. "Young master, do you know where I can buy Blood Patterned Steel?" The "young master" immediately stepped forward, moved close to Hong Yi, and asked anxiously. "Yujing is the largest city in the world, and the Guan Shi Shop is the greatest arms shop in the world. They don't even sell Blood Patterned Steel?" The cross-dressed "young master" sighed again, her brows revealing a deep disappointment she could no longer conceal. "When the princess asks other scholars questions, they're always completely wooden. Apart from trying to ingratiate themselves, they say nothing but 'don't discuss strange phenomena, force, spirits, or gods.' How does this scholar know so much?" another guard said. "Well, thirty li outside Yujing is Yujing Temple, the foundation of Fangxian Dao. Brother Luo, if you can truly afford the price, you could ask the Daoists there. They should have some in their collection," Hong Yi said. "What are you doing? Stand down!" Hong Yi hadn't cultivated his spirit to the level of Object Manipulation, so he couldn't compare the advantages of driving Blood Patterned Steel and ordinary iron with his Yin Spirit. The "young master" seemed to realize she had approached too hastily and impolitely, and quickly took a step back. She cupped her hands and looked Hong Yi over. "You're a scholar, aren't you? You're wearing a scholar's blue robe and have already earned a degree. How do you know about Blood Patterned Steel? My surname is Luo, and my given name is Yun." "A wooden sword seems much less powerful. I'll go to Yujing Temple and see if they have any Blood Patterned Steel for sale," Luo Yun murmured to herself. Then she cupped her hands and said, "Thank you for the advice, Brother Hong. I'll go to Yujing Temple and have a look. By the way, you have a bow but no thumb ring. The string could easily cut your finger, so I'll give you one as thanks for your advice." "My surname is Hong, and my given name is Yi. I've only read a few more Daoist Classics, that's all. I was just curious when I heard you wanted to buy Blood Patterned Steel. You seem to be a student at the Imperial Academy, Brother Luo. Why would you want to buy something as wondrous as Blood Patterned Steel?" Hong Yi asked. Seeing the thumb ring on the other person's thumb suddenly reminded Hong Yi that he would need one when he began practicing with the bow to build his strength. Otherwise, the bowstring could easily cut his finger. Though he thought this, when he looked into the woman's eyes, he saw a certain innocence there. Recalling some passages from the Daoist Classic, Hong Yi said, "The books say Blood Patterned Steel is made by using alchemy to transform the steel, refining it until it develops blood vessels like those in the human body. If you can't produce it, you can use a wooden sword instead, because wood has its own grain. If you use something else without any grain, it's ten times harder to drive the sword with your spirit. I don't know the specific methods for refining and tempering a sword, though. I've only read about them in a few Daoist books." "What makes it so special?" Luo Yun asked. Though Hong Yi had seen that the other person was a woman, he didn't point it out. He continued to address her as "Brother." When Luo Yun mentioned her father, she seemed to realize she had let something slip, and her voice immediately faded to a whisper. "So that's how it works!" Luo Yun suddenly understood, her eyes lighting up. "Brother Hong, we're both scholars, yet you know so much. No wonder Father... wanted me to come to Yujing to study, read more books, and ask other people more questions." It was said that this steel had a spirit of its own. When practitioners of Buddhism and Daoism used it to forge flying swords, the swords were far more nimble to control and much more powerful than those made from ordinary steel. The swords forged from these three kinds of steel could all cut hair and slice through iron like mud... Ice Crack Patterned Steel came from the Great Gan Dynasty, while Chrysanthemum Patterned Steel came from the southern island nation of Divine Wind Kingdom. These three kinds of swords were known as the Three Great Divine Weapons. The two guards sighed. A disguise was only skin-deep; once exposed, there was no point in keeping it up. It could easily offend people or even make an enemy. "Brother, may I ask your surname?" Hong Yi asked with a smile. "Blood Patterned Steel is forged by Daoists in alchemy furnaces. According to legend, it must be heated a thousand times and mixed with many ingredients, then quenched in human blood to form the veins, like the meridians and blood vessels of the body. Wang Jiuyue, a great Daoist master of Fangxian Dao in the previous dynasty, once spent ten years forging a piece of Blood Patterned Steel no bigger than a palm. In the end, he exhausted his own blood and essence and died. How could you find this legendary immortal steel in an ordinary shop?" "Uh..." Luo Yun paused. "I was only asking casually." "Princess, that scholar is no ordinary man!" one of the guards said to Luo Yun. "Want to forge a flying sword? If you don't have Blood Patterned Steel, what should you use instead?" Hong Yi heard her and thought, Is this woman a complete greenhorn? Who just comes right out and asks something like that? Scholars aren't supposed to talk about strange phenomena, force, spirits, or gods—at least not in public. Could this woman also be a practitioner? I wonder what level she's reached. Since she speaks so openly, perhaps I should test her. Is she a practitioner, or just someone who read a few Daoist Classics and grew interested? "I live at Marquis Wuwen's Mansion," Hong Yi said. "Yujing Temple, Fangxian Dao..." Luo Yun mused, then raised her head. "Since you've read the Daoist Classics so widely, Brother Hong, have you ever read what makes the best substitute when you don't have Blood Patterned Steel?" The cross-dressed "young master" was delighted by Hong Yi's words. But when she saw how her guards were behaving, she grew furious, her brows drawing sharply together. "Father always said the scholars of the Great Gan Dynasty had knowledge that encompassed the four seas. What's so strange about that?" Luo Yun asked. Heavenly Ladder Patterned Steel was a specialty of the western Huoluo Kingdom. It was named for the ladder-shaped patterns on the blades forged from it.