Little Jiang's Residence

"Wow, why do you two look so ragged?" The Goddess watched as Zhang Ruofeng and Xin Mu returned to the shop, the latter carrying a flowerpot. Xin Mu had already recovered, though her expression remained poor, and her body was stained with grass and mud. While Zhang Ruofeng lacked the greenery and dirt, his cheap, coarse-cloth work tunic was torn in several places, and the surrounding fabric was stained red with blood.

"Hey, hey, don't tell me you two went to the outskirts..." Zhang Ruofeng heard Perman's unscrupulous voice ring out. Given her teasing expression and ambiguous tone, he already knew what she was going to say. "Wild... Ouch!" Evan, the Goddess sitting beside her, was quick to strike her on the head, stopping Perman's crude joke while letting out a sigh.

"Greetings to you both today." Zhang Ruofeng and Xin Mu politely greeted the Goddess Evan. Naturally, Zhang Ruofeng ignored Perman, as he was truly ill-equipped to deal with this eccentric woman who held the title of Witch among the gods. Perman, having no interest in Zhang Ruofeng, immediately latched onto Xin Mu and began chattering away.

It was just past noon, and since Xin Mu and Zhang Ruofeng had already eaten before returning, Zhang Ruofeng watched as the four women started their tea party mode. He retreated three paces, strapped his weapon onto his hand, and announced, "I'm heading out!" before leaving.

"How was it? How was it?" Perman asked eagerly once Zhang Ruofeng had left, showing great interest in the skill she had seen for the first time, Boiling Dragon Blood. After all, she was the one who had crafted that skill.

"Hmm, Ruofeng seems a bit softer than before," Fura recalled his performance. "But he doesn't seem to like this change himself. I even heard him grumbling to himself in a low voice once."

"What is he doing now?" Evan asked, watching Zhang Ruofeng leave equipped only with that red arm guard.

"I heard he commissioned a new right arm guard," Fura said, looking at Xin Mu, who nodded slightly in confirmation.

Holding the iron business card, Zhang Ruofeng relied on his memory of the town's streets, wandering around and asking others for directions. He finally made his way from the familiar northeast district to the southeast district, where he had never been before. Unlike the northeast, this area had fewer civilians and was densely populated by adventurers working as craftsmen. He saw many carriages passing through the streets, delivering fuel or hauling carts filled with farm tools and weapons. Although the building density was sparse and many areas were overgrown with unkempt trees, Zhang Ruofeng felt the temperature here was significantly hotter than in the densely populated area where he lived. It was mid-afternoon, yet thick black smoke billowed from the chimneys of many houses, and the sound of metal clashing was constant.

"This must be the place." Zhang Ruofeng arrived in front of a small, dilapidated-looking house. Standing outside, he could feel waves of heat rushing out, suggesting the ventilation inside was poor. "Kalisejiang! Are you home?" Zhang Ruofeng knocked on the door, and Kalisejiang opened it while wearing a gray headscarf. A wave of heat surged out, and Zhang Ruofeng felt the temperature rise by several degrees.

"You're here. I've been waiting for you for a day." Seeing it was Zhang Ruofeng, Kalisejiang complained as he dragged him into the house. "The 5,000 Faris deposit you gave me was used up long ago. The detailing on your weapon was incredibly tedious. Even using the molds made by my predecessor, my skills as a craftsman aren't quite there yet, and I don't have as much mana as they did. I've been on the verge of mana exhaustion every day trying to forge this for you. Do you have any idea how hard that is?"

Zhang Ruofeng followed Jiang into the house, where dry, hot air swirled incessantly. Even in late spring, Zhang Ruofeng felt an intense, scorching heat. Directly in front of him, a large black-iron furnace was burning fiercely, and the floor was cluttered with tools scattered in every direction. There was another room in the back, presumably Jiang's bedroom. Zhang Ruofeng's gaze was fixed on an iron arm guard resting on a large wooden workbench beside the furnace, reflecting the sunlight.

"That's your stuff." Jiang pointed to his workbench. As Zhang Ruofeng expected, the weapon before him was his order. "Stop staring at it with those longing eyes. I still have other processes to finish. Besides your new weapon, didn't you have other questions for me?"

"Yes." Zhang Ruofeng removed his red arm guard and placed it in front of Jiang. "The second reason I came to see you today is this. You should have seen this red arm guard of mine before."

"Yeah, I've seen it once. After all, I modeled the shape and size of your new weapon after that one. Since the weight on both hands should be similar, it should be easier for you to use. Check if the weight is appropriate first; if not, I'll add another layer of iron plate to the guard's baffle. I only made it based on memory, after all." Jiang noticed Zhang Ruofeng's interest in the new guard. Since he wasn't sure if the weight of his creation balanced with the one he had seen, he let Zhang Ruofeng try it on. It hadn't been polished yet, so it might scratch his hand, but Jiang didn't care if Zhang Ruofeng—a man who could trade blows head-on with a Guard Bee—got hurt. He began to observe Zhang Ruofeng's red arm guard intently.

"Hmm?" As expected, Zhang Ruofeng was scratched by an edge when he reached into the arm guard. Kalisejiang hadn't polished the edges or sharpened the spikes on the back of the hand yet, so it looked quite rough.

"Can 5,000 only get me something made of crude iron?" Zhang Ruofeng complained casually that his weapon was too expensive. Jiang, on the other side, jumped up.

"What do you expect? Do you know how many daggers could have been forged with the materials used for your weapon?" Seeing Zhang Ruofeng still complaining, even the usually grinning Jiang felt annoyed due to his lack of sleep over the past few days.

"Alright, alright, thank you for your hard work, Master Craftsman." Zhang Ruofeng brushed him off and put on the right arm guard. He noticed that this crude iron guard was more than two sizes larger than his red one, appearing somewhat bulky, yet it was lighter in weight. This made Zhang Ruofeng even more suspicious about what material his original weapon was made of.

"Hmm?" At that moment, Zhang Ruofeng heard a puzzled sound from Jiang, who seemed to have discovered something.