Gifting the Ring

Chapter 23: Gifting the Ring

This type of steel was bright and pure, yet within its substance ran streaks of blood-red veins, resembling the meridians and blood vessels of a human body. She is certainly not a person with a cunning or deceitful mind, Hong Yi thought, sighing as he looked at the ring in his hand. Hong Yi could not help but step forward to speak. However, Hong Yi knew of the Heavenly Ladder Patterned Steel, Ice Crack Patterned Steel, and Chrysanthemum Patterned Steel mentioned by the owner of the Guan Shi Shop; he had even seen some of them. Weapons forged from these three types of steel were divine implements, each worth at least several thousand taels of silver, sometimes even ten thousand, and they were items that had a price but no market. Hearing the "young master's" reprimand, the two guards remained silent and immediately retreated to the sides. After handing over the thumb ring, Luo Yun walked away quickly. From the edge of the building, Hong Yi watched her board a carriage and speed off toward the outskirts of the city.

"Understood, I have noted it. I shall take my leave now." Blood Patterned Steel was not a type of high-quality refined steel, but rather the legendary material used to forge the flying swords of immortals. As she spoke, Luo Yun removed the ring from her hand and handed it to Hong Yi. "I am studying at the Imperial Academy. Where do you reside? Perhaps I can find time to visit and chat with you?"

What piqued Hong Yi's curiosity was not the woman dressed as a man in the robes of an Imperial Academy student, but the Blood Patterned Steel she spoke of. The person had a fair complexion, delicate features, and a fragrance like orchids and musk. Her fingers were slender, and on her left thumb, she wore a thumb ring. It was not made of jade, but of iron, etched with patterns and grooves—not for decoration, but for archery. However, Hong Yi had only read records of this "Blood Patterned Steel" in the Daoist Classic; he had never seen it himself and even doubted whether such steel existed in the world. Hong Yi pretended not to hear, having long guessed that this Luo Yun was a member of a foreign royal family. Hong Yi had once seen with his own eyes that Hong Xi, the eldest son of Lady Zhao of the Marquis Wuwen residence, possessed a saber with ice-crack patterns, a gift from the Emperor. Hong Yi had felt quite envious at the time.

Inside the carriage. While the other party was sizing him up, Hong Yi was also observing this "fake young master" before him. At this reaction, Hong Yi felt a jolt in his heart and nearly retreated. Fortunately, having practiced his soul for a long time, he possessed enough composure to simply stop in his tracks and smile at the two fierce guards. Just as Hong Yi stepped forward, the two guards beside the cross-dressing "young master" suddenly fixed their eyes on him. Their cold, piercing gaze felt like that of a prehistoric beast, and their hands moved to their waists, as if ready to draw weapons at any moment.

"This young master, do you know where one might purchase Blood Patterned Steel?" The "young master" immediately stepped forward, closing the distance to Hong Yi, and asked urgently.

"Yujing City is the greatest city in the world, and this Guan Shi Shop is the world's premier weapon store. How can it be that they have no Blood Patterned Steel for sale?" The cross-dressing "young master" sighed again, and the deep disappointment could no longer be hidden from her brow.

"Other scholars, Princess, are usually numb when you ask them such things. Aside from trying to curry favor, they only speak of how one should not discuss strange phenomena or supernatural powers. Only this scholar—how does he know so much?" the other guard remarked.

"Well, thirty miles outside of Yujing City lies Yujing Temple, the foundation of the Fangxian Dao. If Brother Luo can truly afford the price, you might go and ask the Daoists there; they should have some in their collection," Hong Yi suggested.

"What are you doing? Step back at once!" Her soul cultivation had not yet reached the realm of telekinesis, nor could she compare whether this "Blood Patterned Steel" was superior or inferior to ordinary iron when driven by a Yin Soul.

The "young master" likely felt that her sudden approach had been a bit rash and impolite, so she quickly stepped back and cupped her hands in a salute, her eyes scanning Hong Yi. "You are a scholar, aren't you? Wearing the green robes of a xiucai, you already hold a scholarly rank. I wonder how you came to know of 'Blood Patterned Steel'? My surname is Luo, given name Yun."

"Using a wooden sword seems to have much less power. I suppose I shall go to Yujing Temple to see if there is any Blood Patterned Steel for sale," Luo Yun muttered to herself. She then cupped her hands and said, "Many thanks for your guidance, Brother Hong. I shall head to Yujing Temple first. By the way, Brother Hong, you have a bow but no thumb ring; it is very easy to cut your fingers. I shall gift you this one as a token of my gratitude for your advice."

"My surname is Hong, given name Yi. I have simply read a few more Daoist books than most, and hearing Brother Luo wish to buy Blood Patterned Steel, I felt curious. Seeing that Brother Luo is a student at the Imperial Academy, why would you want to buy such an immortal object as Blood Patterned Steel?" Hong Yi asked.

Seeing the thumb ring on the other's thumb, Hong Yi suddenly remembered that he needed to buy one to practice drawing his bow, otherwise, the bowstring would easily cut his fingers. Although he thought this, he looked into the woman's eyes and sensed a certain innocence. Recalling some records from the Daoist Classic, Hong Yi said, "Books say that Blood Patterned Steel is created by using alchemy to alter the nature of steel, forging it to have meridians like a human body. If one cannot forge it, one can use a wooden sword instead, because wooden swords also have veins. If one uses something else without veins, it is ten times more difficult to drive the sword with one's soul. However, I do not know the specific methods for forging or harvesting the sword; I have only read about it in some Daoist texts."

"How is it not ordinary?" Luo Yun asked. Although Hong Yi saw that the other party was a woman, he did not point it out, continuing to address her as "Brother." When Luo Yun mentioned her royal father, she seemed to realize she had let something slip, and her voice became instantly faint.

"So that is the logic behind it!" Luo Yun realized with a start, her eyes shining with brilliance. "Brother Hong, you and I are both scholars, yet you know so much. No wonder my royal father... wanted me to come to Yujing to study, to read more books, and to ask others more questions."

Legend had it that this steel possessed a spirit. Practitioners of Buddhism and Daoism used it to forge flying swords, which were far more agile and powerful than those made of ordinary steel or iron. Because these three types of steel were used to forge blades that could truly sever hair and cut through iron like mud... The Great Gan Dynasty had the Ice Crack pattern, and the Divine Wind Kingdom on the southern islands had the Chrysanthemum pattern. These three types of blades were collectively known as the three great divine weapons.

Both guards sighed. The cross-dressing was merely a thin veil; exposing it would be meaningless and easily cause resentment or even create an enemy.

"May I ask this brother's honorable surname?" Hong Yi asked with a smile.

"This brother, Blood Patterned Steel is refined by Daoists in a furnace. Legend says it requires over a thousand firings and many materials, finally quenched in the blood of a human to forge the blood-like patterns that resemble human meridians. The great Daoist Wang Jiuyue of the Fangxian Dao from the previous dynasty spent ten years to forge a piece of Blood Patterned Steel the size of a palm, and in the end, he died from the exhaustion of his own vital essence. How could you expect to buy such legendary immortal steel in an ordinary shop?"

"Uh..." Luo Yun paused. "I was just asking casually."

"Princess, this xiucai is no ordinary person!" one of the guards said to Luo Yun.

"To forge a flying sword? If there is no Blood Patterned Steel, what can be used as a substitute?" Hong Yi heard this and thought, Is this woman a complete novice? How can she just blurt out such questions? Scholars do not discuss strange phenomena or supernatural powers, or at least they shouldn't do so in public. Could this woman also be a practitioner? I wonder what realm she has reached? But since she speaks so openly, perhaps I should probe her background? Is she truly a practitioner, or just someone who became interested after reading a few Daoist books?

"I reside at the Marquis Wuwen residence," Hong Yi said.

"Yujing Temple, the Fangxian Dao, is it?" Luo Yun pondered, then looked up again. "Since Brother Hong is well-versed in the Daoist Classic, have you read about what is best to use as a substitute if there is no Blood Patterned Steel?"

"Did my royal father not say that the scholars of the Great Gan Dynasty possess knowledge that encompasses the four seas? What is so strange about this?" Luo Yun wondered aloud.

After hearing Hong Yi's words, the cross-dressing "young master" was immediately very pleasantly surprised. Turning to see the attitude of her guards, she became instantly angry, her eyebrows arching.

"Princess, you are too naive. Your father sent you here to learn the shrewdness of the Great Gan people, but you..."

Heavenly Ladder Patterned Steel was a specialty of the Huoluo Kingdom in the Western Regions; it was called the Heavenly Ladder pattern because the blades forged from it bore ladder-shaped textures.