Social Etiquette, To the Blacksmith's Shop

Tang San's home was the only blacksmith's shop in Holy Soul Village.

Although Tang Hao's character left much to be desired, even Old Jack had to admit it.

Tang Hao was an exceptionally skilled blacksmith. Not only were the iron goods he forged of superior quality, but they were also remarkably cheap! That, coupled with Tang San being so obedient and sensible that Old Jack was quite fond of him, was why Old Jack had not long since driven Tang Hao out of Holy Soul Village!

Still, although Tang Hao's skill at forging ironware was astonishing, he generally only made farming tools.

Lin Ye had never heard of Tang Hao forging weapons for anyone. At most, he made an axe or two.

But forging a longsword was certainly far more difficult than forging ironware like axes.

Lin Ye was naturally unwilling to give up, since this concerned his cultivation.

He still wanted to gain powerful strength as soon as possible so he could travel the continent in the future! Although he had never heard of Tang Hao forging weapons, if he could forge farming tools so well, forging weapons like longswords should not pose much of a problem.

If all else failed, Lin Ye planned to roughly draw the appearance of the Xuanyuan Sword Martial Soul and have Tang Hao forge it according to the design.

With a blueprint to follow, it would be a problem if he still could not forge it.

And this way, when he practiced the Nine Swords of Dugu with the longsword modeled after the Xuanyuan Sword Martial Soul in the future,

when necessary, replacing the longsword with the Xuanyuan Sword Martial Soul to execute the Nine Swords of Dugu should feel more natural as well.

Lin Ye found several sheets of blank paper left over from when he had attended the village school.

He selected one sheet, summoned the Xuanyuan Sword Martial Soul, and used charcoal to sketch its rough appearance onto the paper.

Then Tang Hao could forge it according to the drawing.

After finishing everything, he folded the paper and slipped it into his pocket.

However, Lin Ye did not immediately head to Tang San's home. Instead, he planned to go somewhere else first.

Ever since he was young, his grandfather Old Jack, as the village chief of Holy Soul Village, had been responsible for many village affairs.

So people often came to bring Old Jack things like pheasants, rabbits, or large fish,

asking Old Jack to help them handle certain matters.

As far as Old Jack was concerned, whenever villagers asked for help, he would generally do his utmost to assist them.

But the villagers would still bring him gifts, making Old Jack more diligent in handling the matters they sought his help with.

Old Jack called this Social Etiquette.

When asking someone to help with something, even if they were a very warmhearted person, if one wanted the matter handled beautifully, one still had to give a gift.

Even if the gift was not particularly valuable, it was the thought that counted, and it could make the other person take the matter more seriously.

That was exactly what Lin Ye intended to do.

Since he was unsure of Tang Hao's skill at forging weapons, Lin Ye decided to give him a gift as well, so Tang Hao would take the matter more seriously.

Tang Hao loved drinking most, so Lin Ye naturally catered to his tastes. That way, he could achieve twice the result with half the effort.

In any case, the ale sold in the village was not very expensive—just a few Copper Soul Coins.

With Lin Ye's savings from all these years, he could afford that much.

He pulled out a small wooden box from beneath his bed. Opening it, he found some toys from his childhood, as well as an embroidered pouch.

When he opened the pouch, more than twenty Copper Soul Coins lay neatly inside. They were the New Year's gift money Lin Ye had saved over the years.

After taking out five Copper Soul Coins, Lin Ye put them away.

He pushed the small wooden box back beneath the bed, then headed straight for the village tavern.

Holy Soul Village's tavern was located on the eastern side of the village, in a small wooden house.

Inside the wooden house, a counter stood directly across from the entrance. Behind it, various wines sat on a sturdy shelf.

There were not many varieties, though—only rice wine, fruit wine, and ale.

Outside the wooden house stood many wooden barrels.

A barrel-shaped sign hung from the roof of the wooden house, marking it as the tavern.

Lin Ye soon arrived in front of the tavern.

Seeing Lin Ye, the tavern owner—a middle-aged man with a beer belly and a balding head—could not help but smile. "Little Lin Ye, what brings you here today?"

"I'm here to buy some ale. Uncle Max, please fill a small barrel of ale for me!"

Without saying much else, Lin Ye took out five Copper Soul Coins, placed them on the counter, and said.

"Huh? Little Lin Ye, at your age, you mustn't sneak drinks!"

Max did not immediately take the Copper Soul Coins. Instead, he gave a surprised exclamation and advised him.

"Uncle Max, I'm not buying it to drink. I'm buying ale as a gift!"

Lin Ye shook his head without concealing anything.

"A gift? For whom? Don't tell me it's for that drunkard Tang Hao?"

Hearing Lin Ye's words, Max burst into laughter.

"Yes. I want Uncle Tang Hao to forge something for me."

Facing Max's teasing, Lin Ye nodded, his expression calm as he replied.

"What do you need forged? And you're giving Tang Hao ale for it? There's no need for that. Although Tang Hao likes his drink a bit too much, he's always very attentive when forging things. The quality of what he makes is usually not bad. There's no need to give him ale."

Upon hearing Lin Ye admit it, Max found it rather strange instead.

"It's fine. I want Uncle Tang Hao to make it a little better. There's no harm in giving a gift."

Lin Ye shook his head.

"Fine! You little fellow really are like a little adult. Since you insist, Uncle Max won't say anything more."

Seeing that Lin Ye still intended to persist, Max shook his head somewhat helplessly.

He took Lin Ye's five Copper Soul Coins, then picked up a small barrel of ale from the shelf behind him and handed it to Lin Ye.

"Here, Little Lin Ye. Your ale."

"Thank you, Uncle Max!"

After thanking him, Lin Ye turned and left the tavern, heading toward the blacksmith's shop on the western side of Holy Soul Village.

Holy Soul Village was not large.

Not long after leaving the tavern, Lin Ye arrived near the blacksmith's shop.

He only needed to climb a flight of steps to reach Tang San's front door.

Walking up the steps, Lin Ye held the small wooden barrel filled with ale in his arms.

Before he even reached the blacksmith's shop, Lin Ye could already hear the repeated clang!, clang! of hammering from inside. Tang Hao should have been forging iron right now.

"Tang San!"

Upon arriving at the blacksmith's shop, Lin Ye called out as he walked inside.

But when Lin Ye entered the blacksmith's shop, he discovered something that surprised him.

The one forging iron inside was not Tang Hao, but Tang San. This left Lin Ye somewhat astonished.

The forging hammers used in the blacksmith's shop were extraordinarily heavy, weighing at least three or four hundred jin. They were not something an ordinary child could lift, much less wield as easily as an arm!

"Lin Ye, why are you here?"

As Lin Ye stood in surprise, Tang San heard his call and happened to turn around. Seeing Lin Ye enter the blacksmith's shop, he wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and smiled at him.

"I want Uncle Tang Hao to help forge something for me. This is a small token of my appreciation. Please have Uncle Tang Hao accept it!"