Borrowing Money

But when Wu Changkong lifted it with one hand, his brows rose.

This piece of metal weighed less than a third as much as iron of the same volume, as light as a block of wood.

Cloud Titanium.

Lightweight, hard, and exceptionally tough, it was an ideal material for making full-body armor. It was especially suited for large-coverage sections like breastplates and backplates, greatly reducing the wearer's burden so that battle armor could provide protection without affecting movement speed.

Then Wu Changkong rose to his feet and continued scanning the shelves.

On the top shelf near the ceiling, he spotted several even smaller pieces of raw ore.

One of them was dark gold throughout, its surface covered in honeycomb-like pores.

That was an associated ore of Iron Crystal. After refining, it could yield Iron Crystal of extremely high purity.

Iron Crystal was one of the core materials for two-word battle armor, with a capacity for soul power far surpassing Sinking Silver and Demon Silver.

Beside it was an inconspicuous gray-black stone, its rough surface resembling an ordinary river pebble, but Wu Changkong recognized it.

Raw Star Ore. After refinement, it could produce Star Silver, a top-tier material used to create the soul core of two-word battle armor.

In later ages, these metals were strategic resources tightly controlled by all major powers. The mining, circulation, and use of every piece required approval at multiple levels.

Yet today, twenty thousand years in the past, they were casually piled in the corner of a street-side blacksmith shop, ignored by everyone.

Besides those, there were many other familiar iron ores...

"Boss, where did you get all this stock?"

The bald, burly man leaned against the doorway of the forge, arms crossed as he watched the boy wander around in front of his shelves.

He had initially thought the kid was just browsing, but that string of actions earlier—tapping metal ingots to listen to their sound, scraping powder with his fingernail to judge its texture, lifting the coarse cloth to inspect the upper shelves...

Every one of them made this old blacksmith nod inwardly.

These days, there were not many young people who could recognize mineral iron.

"I bought it in Kangxin City."

"Where is Kangxin City?"

"Near the border between the Star Luo Empire and the Heaven Dou Empire. It's also called the Metal Capital."

"I make a trip there every two months and bring back a shipment."

Wu Changkong fell silent for quite a while. Kangxin City. I have to visit it someday.

He gathered his thoughts and took the metal ingots down from the shelves one by one, stacking them neatly on the wooden table beside the anvil.

"Uncle, how much are these per jin?"

The bald man walked over and looked down at the pile on the table. "Sinking Silver and Demon Silver are fifty silver soul coins per jin. Cloud Titanium is forty silver soul coins per jin."

"Thousand-Forged Tungsten Steel is more expensive—eighty silver soul coins per jin."

"Black-Patterned Iron is cheap, thirty copper soul coins per jin."

"As for these two..." He pointed at the dark-gold Iron Crystal associated ore and the gray-black raw Star Ore. "The mine owner threw them in when I last bought stock. I won't set a price for them. Give me ten gold soul coins and take them if you want. Consider it making a friend."

Wu Changkong reached out and touched the storage belt at his waist.

It was a medium-sized storage soul tool, engraved with a simple spatial array and capable of holding roughly thirty cubic meters of items.

He had bought it from the dedicated counter at the Spirit Hall Temple in Heavenwater City half a year ago for a full twelve hundred gold soul coins.

It was the largest expense he had incurred since crossing over, a luxury item he had only barely been willing to buy after saving up six and a half years of Soul Master subsidies.

He closed his eyes and swept the interior of the storage belt with his spiritual power.

Stacks of gold soul coins were neatly arranged in one corner, along with scattered silver and copper soul coins beside them.

Eighty gold soul coins. Not one more, not one less.

Wu Changkong quickly calculated in his head.

Making a complete set of first-grade battle armor required at least sixty jin of Sinking Silver, forty jin of Demon Silver, thirty jin of Cloud Titanium, twenty jin of Thousand-Forged Tungsten Steel, and fifteen jin of Black-Patterned Iron... along with more than a dozen other types of iron ore.

Because Sinking Silver was highly malleable, it was the core material for the main framework of battle armor and required the largest quantity.

If he bought several hundred jin of iron ore, he would be left penniless.

But that was not even the most crucial part.

Spirit Hall subsidies only continued until one reached Soul Ancestor rank. At his cultivation speed, breaking through level forty would happen as soon as this month.

Once he became a Soul Ancestor, the gold soul coins deposited into his account each month would stop abruptly, and he would lose his only stable source of income.

Making battle armor required more than rare metals. There were follow-up auxiliary materials, engraving knife consumption, quenching liquid preparation... every step burned money.

Yet this pile of metals was a combination he could not have assembled even in his dreams twenty thousand years later.

At Shrek Academy, rare metals of this grade had to be exchanged with merit points. A twenty-jin piece of Sinking Silver alone required completing at least three missions to obtain.

But now, they were piled right in front of him, sold by the jin.

"Boss, can you lower the price? I'm buying everything, along with several hundred jin of iron ore."

The bald man raised his brows. Looking at Wu Changkong's serious face, he suddenly grinned. "Kid, are you haggling with me? You should know the market price."

"These things may have been sitting here for more than half a year without anyone wanting them, but good stuff is good stuff. I can't sell them at a loss."

"This price is already very fair."

Wu Changkong was silent for two seconds, then reached for his belt, intending to take out every last coin he had and buy whatever he could.

But before his fingers touched the belt clasp, a hand reached out from behind him.

"How much do you want to buy? I'll cover the difference."

Wu Changkong froze and looked back at Shui Bing'er.

"How can I accept that? It's not cheap."

Shui Bing'er smiled. "I'm lending it to you. Tell me how much you're short, and I'll make up the rest."

Warmth spread through Wu Changkong's heart. "All right. I'll pay you back within a year."

He had already thought it through. Whether it was soul tools or battle armor, the initial investment was indeed substantial, but once finished products gained market recognition, the returns would be several times, even more than ten times, the cost.

As long as he could make the first batch of soul tools in his spare time, repaying Shui Bing'er's loan would be more than easy.

Shui Bing'er nodded. "All right, one year it is."

Wu Changkong looked at the boss. "Make me a list, then calculate the price."

The man grinned broadly. He had not expected to encounter a major customer today, even if they were just children.

"Sure. I'll calculate it now."

The bald uncle sat down in a somewhat dirty, cluttered chair and began writing on paper.

Wu Changkong and the four girls stood across from him, watching as he listed item after item.

Besides the materials from earlier, Wu Changkong added pig iron, gray cast iron, Dark Iron Source Ore, Cold Iron Source Ore, and more...

"One hundred and thirty-three point four gold soul coins total. Check if that's right."

Wu Changkong did the math. The price was indeed correct. "Then give me a discount. I'll keep buying from you in the future."

"Fine. One hundred and thirty gold soul coins will do."

Shui Bing'er took out sixty gold soul coins and handed them to Wu Changkong. "Here."

"Fifty is enough."

"I still have eighty gold soul coins on me. With your fifty, that makes exactly one hundred and thirty gold soul coins, enough to pay."