Purchasing Steel

Yang Ning came to the Bei Family's stall. The one watching over it was a young man holding a book, his face clouded with worry. He looked to be barely over twenty.

"Hello, are you here to buy ore?" the young man asked. "My name is Bei Qiu Ming. You can just call me Xiao Bei!"

"Uh, I'm twelve. Wouldn't it be inappropriate for me to call you Xiao Bei?" Yang Ning asked.

"Oh, you're one of this year's Immortal Seedlings?" Since he did business outside Ascension Academy, Bei Qiu Ming naturally knew what was going on inside. "You should be a first-year, right? Why are you already out buying materials?"

"Oh, we're entering Demon Subduing Valley in two months. I'm buying materials to forge some equipment!" Yang Ning said with a smile.

"First-years, entering Demon Subduing Valley?" Bei Qiu Ming froze. "How could that be? Isn't that sending you to your deaths?"

That was what I thought too, but I couldn't say it like that.

"They said we'd only be active around the outskirts, and teachers would be watching over us. Nothing will happen!" Yang Ning said with a smile.

"All right!" Bei Qiu Ming nodded. Though still somewhat doubtful, he said, "Then you've come to the right place. You're only a first-year, and time is limited. You probably won't be able to learn ore refinement in time. We happen to sell finished steel, so if you don't mind, you can just buy it ready-made and process it when you get back!"

"So according to you, the other stalls all sell ore?" Yang Ning asked.

"That's right!" Bei Qiu Ming nodded. "They say that as an Artifact Forging Master, one must deeply master every single step of artifact forging, naturally starting with refining ore!"

Yang Ning was speechless. Wasn't that insane? What scientist had to breed their own lab mice before running an experiment? Didn't they all just buy them?

Still, that seemed to be the mainstream way of thinking in this world.

"You don't agree with it?" Yang Ning asked.

"It's not really a matter of whether I agree or not!" Bei Qiu Ming said with a smile. "I've heard that Yiyuan Pill Cauldron Sect doesn't forge artifacts that way. They divide the work: some people specialize in refining ore, some specialize in researching steel, and some specialize in casting steel!"

"You can't cultivate masters through artifact forging like that!" a nearby ore seller casually remarked.

"But you have to admit that doing so lets them rapidly forge huge quantities of weapons with comparable quality!" Bei Qiu Ming said with a smile. "Taeheng hasn't done well enough in this regard. There is little exchange between Artifact Forging Masters, so things later generations spend decades researching may very well have already been done by their predecessors. And different Artifact Forging Masters have different ideas and different levels of skill, so the weapons they make vary wildly in style, while their quality is uneven as well. I remember the Haiyun Army has protested many times, hasn't it?"

"Hmph, I think you've been influenced by Yiyuan Pill Cauldron Sect's crooked heresies!" The man was unable to refute him and could only keep a stiff upper lip. "If they're so amazing, why don't they forge a Dao Artifact or an Immortal Artifact?"

Bei Qiu Ming opened his mouth, wanting to say that which Dao Artifact or Immortal Artifact wasn't something that took tens of thousands of years to develop? Yiyuan Pill Cauldron Sect had been founded for less than twenty thousand years—how were they supposed to forge one?

Besides, how did he know they weren't already making one?

"Enough of that!" Bei Qiu Ming shook his head and looked at Yang Ning again. "Take a look at our steel. We have quite a few varieties!"

Yang Ning pointed at a piece of gray-silver steel. "What kind of steel is this?"

He recognized it. His Magic Sword had been made from this very material!

"Oh, this is Snow Bright Crystal Iron." Bei Qiu Ming said, "This kind of iron can only be refined from Snow Bright Crystal Iron ore produced within the southeastern territory of the Man Family. Output is extremely scarce, so naturally the price is very high as well!"

The Man Family—wasn't that the lineage where Lin Jingyun's adoptive mother came from?

"Snow Bright Crystal Iron ore..." Yang Ning now understood why he had been unable to create metal with the same properties in the Spirit Realm using the same elemental ratios. So it was naturally formed.

Many times, an alloy's properties did not depend solely on its composition ratio. The way its atomic crystals developed over long periods of time could also affect the final result.

"What about this?" This was a dull gray-black steel ingot. On Earth, it would have been called high-carbon steel.

"This is called Ink Gold. It is suitable for cultivators who practice lightning-element martial arts techniques." Bei Qiu Ming introduced it.

"Did your family invent this?" Yang Ning asked.

"Yes!" Bei Qiu Ming nodded.

"Then why hasn't the price of the ore used to make Ink Gold at the stall next door gone up?" Yang Ning asked.

"So you noticed that too!" Bei Qiu Ming was taken aback, then hurriedly explained, "Unlike Crimson Flame Steel, Ink Gold is low-end steel. As long as you have iron, you can make it. But Crimson Flame Steel can only be made from Cherry Red Iron. Though the Eight Great Families are powerful, they cannot control the circulation of all iron ore. They can only use Cherry Red Iron to restrict our development!"

Yang Ning nodded, then asked, "I see. So what do you plan to do? Can you break through this restriction?"

Bei Qiu Ming nodded solemnly. "Of course we can. No matter how powerful the Eight Great Mine Merchants are, they can't cover the sky with one hand!"

He actually had no confidence at all. He was merely putting on a brave front, but Yang Ning saw through him.

Yang Ning did not ask further. He merely picked up a piece of the so-called Crimson Flame Steel.

It was called Crimson Flame Steel, yet it was neither red nor aflame. When held up to the sunlight, it instead revealed a faint hint of blue.

After looking over the description, he learned that Crimson Flame Steel was not only tough, wear-resistant, and impact-resistant, but could also withstand temperatures close to 3,000°C. Its enhancement effect on fire-element techniques was extremely obvious.

And among martial arts techniques, fire-element techniques were also the most widespread.

First, because they were the simplest. Layering force fields was enough to raise the temperature.

Second, because the sea was right beside them. Fire-element techniques were highly effective against Sea Monsters and sea beasts.

Because of this, Crimson Flame Steel had an enormous market. The Bei Family, which had invented Crimson Flame Steel, had practically dug up a gold mine!

Unfortunately, the Bei Family had no Cherry Red Iron mine of its own and could only endure suppression from the Eight Great Mine Merchants.

"Tank cannon barrels and gears can all be cast from Crimson Flame Steel. Then there'll be future gun barrels, even future engine casings and turbofan engine blades!" Nightmare Energy could protect them too, but his mental power was not infinite. If he could save it, he should save it.

Moreover, the better the material's inherent properties, the less mental energy it would consume.

"The Bei Family is a lineage, yet it has still been suppressed by the Eight Great Mine Merchants to the brink of collapse. I'm all alone. If I develop more materials, I'll be even more powerless against their suppression. Better to get the source of Crimson Flame Steel ore—and even the Bei Family—under my control."

"That would give me a front man. Second, it would give me a channel for secretly purchasing materials. Third, the Eight Great Mine Merchants' manner of eating is rather ugly—they fleece their customers far too severely, and I don't want to cooperate with them. And fourth, the Bei Family is one of the few lineages in Taeheng with research and development capabilities. Who knows whether they might come up with other materials in the future? That could save me quite a bit of time!"

Yang Ning's thoughts churned, but he did not bring it up on the spot. To outsiders, he was merely a little brat at the second level of the Body Refinement Realm. What qualifications did he have to subdue such a vast lineage?

Besides, Yang Ning still did not know what kind of character the Bei Family had. Everything he had heard about the conflict between both sides had been only one-sided accounts. What if both sides were lying?

For instance, it was not impossible that the Eight Great Mine Merchants and the Bei Family were actually one and the same!

It was like a vendor opening liangpi stalls on both sides of a road. One sold for ten, the other for fifteen. Customers who bought the ten-yuan bowl thought they had gotten a bargain, but in truth, the same owner made money either way.

After studying the stall for a long while, Yang Ning handed over a list. "I want these things."

Just as that Nangong Family shopkeeper had said, the Bei Family's goods really were cheap. Finished steel cost only a little more than the ore next door.

Although it would still need further processing once it reached Yang Ning's hands, it had already saved him a great deal of trouble.

"Delivery is included! But... are you sure about this much?" Bei Qiu Ming looked at the supplies listed. This much stuff would be more than enough for forty people, let alone four. Did he have some small group behind him?

"I still need to experiment." Yang Ning smiled. "I've prepared something special for this trip to Demon Subduing Valley. When the time comes, I'll definitely leave everyone stunned!"

"Really? Then I'll have to go watch when the time comes!" Bei Qiu Ming said with a smile.

"You can watch?" Yang Ning was startled. "Are you participating too?"

I thought this was a school event?

"Demon Subduing Valley is a secret realm completely controlled by Ascension Academy. Not only was the environment inside and out arranged by the academy, even the Demon Beasts within are caught by people carrying out missions issued by the school!" Bei Qiu Ming nodded. "So every Demon Subduing Valley secret realm trial is opened to the public through the Round Light Technique and Water Mirror Technique!"

"There's even a livestream?!" Yang Ning immediately became excited. "The day I make my name and establish my might is right then! Oh, right—if my results are excellent and I give you an advertisement while I'm at it, can you give me a discount on this ore?"

"If you truly become the focus of all eyes then, and our Bei Family is still around, I'll return half the money you spend today!" Bei Qiu Ming replied just as seriously.

"You have the authority to make that decision?"

"You may not know this, but I'm the Bei Family's young master!"

"Then good. Watch my performance when the time comes. Oh, right, does all this come with delivery?" Yang Ning had bought quite a lot.

"Yes, we'll deliver it right to your room!"

"Then deliver it to Room 1275 of Kangjinlong Courtyard, addressed to Yang Ning!" Yang Ning took out his identity card again. "Can you accept payment from this?"

"Yes!" Bei Qiu Ming hurriedly nodded.

"Good!" Yang Ning paid by swiping his card. He had not bought many types of goods, but the quantities were large. One transaction drained 250,000!

But he was not finished yet. Besides metal materials, he still had not bought wood, biological materials, or fuel.