Dong Changliang was stunned by the beating. He climbed up from the ground. When had the Xu Household's weapons workshop ever suffered anything like this?
"You've gone too far! How dare you cause trouble in the Xu Household's weapons workshop!"
The attendants rushed out to reason with the group. Over the years, the Xu Household had earned an excellent reputation in business, yet these men were openly slapping them in the face.
"Fuck! Cripple them! Let's see if the Xu Household's manager comes out!"
The mercenary captain leading them had a long scar across his face. Known as Scarred Tiger, he was vicious and ruthless.
Who had given him the nerve to challenge the Xu Household openly? Their patriarch was in the Spirit Cleansing Realm, and they also had several Xiantian Realm stewards. Something was unusual about this.
All the mercenaries swarmed forward, punching and kicking. The weapons workshop descended into chaos. Weapons hanging on the walls clattered down and scattered across the floor.
Hearing the sounds of fighting, a large crowd of passersby poured in from the street, gathering around and pointing as they talked.
"Has Scarred Tiger taken the wrong medicine? Openly smashing up the Xu Household's shop-is he tired of living?"
Cries of surprise rose from the crowd, who were stunned by the Scar Mercenary Corps' actions. The weapons workshop was in chaos. Several attendants and Shopkeeper Dong lay on the ground, wailing, their bodies covered in injuries from the beating.
"The Xu Household really has fallen on hard times. Almost all the master artificers they trained over the past few years have been poached by the Tian Household. Their business gets worse by the day."
Sighs rose from all sides. Canglan City had its rises and falls. When some rose, others naturally fell.
"They brought it on themselves. I heard the Tian Household was willing to form a marriage alliance with them, but Xu Yilin refused. He honored the promise between the Xu Household and the Liu Household and would rather marry such a beauty to a piece of trash."
Everyone in Canglan City knew of the Xu Household's eldest young lady's beauty. Word of her peerless looks had long since spread throughout the Great Yan Imperial Dynasty.
Such a peerless beauty had married a wastrel who lacked even the strength to truss a chicken and spent all day fooling around. How many talented young men had sighed to the heavens, lamenting the injustice of the world?
After injuring them, Scarred Tiger did not leave. He sat brazenly inside, waiting for the Xu Household's manager to arrive. Someone had already run out to notify the Xu Household and urge them to send someone quickly.
Inside the forging chamber!
The critical moment had arrived. The saber had essentially taken shape. Hu Shi had squeezed every last bit of strength from his body and dropped onto the floor.
Clang...
The final hammer blow landed on the saber, sending a clear ring reverberating throughout the forging chamber.
"For a first attempt, its flaws don't obscure its merits. A few minor imperfections won't affect the saber's quality."
Liu Wuxie was very satisfied with the saber. Its blade was two feet long and three fingers wide, and it weighed seventy jin. Such a small saber weighed so much largely because of the thousandfold forging, which had increased the refined iron's density more than tenfold.
The saber was not particularly long, and its curve made it convenient to wear. Its edge exuded a keen sharpness. He plucked a hair and drew it lightly across the edge. The hair parted in the middle-it could sever a hair blown against it.
"What a sharp saber! Young Master, is this really your first time forging a weapon?"
Hu Shi's eyes were filled with admiration as he stood up. He had gained so much from forging this saber with Liu Wuxie. They had forged the first thousandfold-forged weapon. If word spread, wouldn't it shake Canglan City?
"Hu Shi, do you remember what I told you earlier? Do you want to become a master artificer of your generation?"
Liu Wuxie took out a piece of red cloth, wrapped the saber, and held it in his hand as he asked Hu Shi solemnly.
"Young Master... no, Master! I'm willing to take you as my master!"
Hu Shi dropped to his knees with a thud and took Liu Wuxie as his master. Strangely, Liu Wuxie did not refuse.
"Very good. I accept you as my disciple, but only the two of us will know. Don't reveal what happened today. The Xu Household needs talented people like you right now. When outsiders are present, keep calling me Young Master."
Liu Wuxie, a mighty Immortal Emperor, was accepting a mortal as his disciple. Although it lowered his standing, some things had to be done for the Xu Household.
The Xu Household desperately needed master artificers. Hu Shi was a very suitable choice, and he was loyal as well.
"Yes. I guarantee I won't reveal a single detail."
Hu Shi stood up, his face brimming with excitement. He had already guessed that the young master must have deliberately pretended to be a wastrel to deceive others, when he was actually very formidable. The forging techniques he had just displayed would rank among the finest in the entire Great Yan Imperial Dynasty. Hu Shi simply could not understand why someone so capable kept such a low profile.
"Force out a drop of essence blood."
Hu Shi quickly forced out a drop of essence blood, which floated in the air. Liu Wuxie formed seals with both hands, injecting strange marks into it one after another. The essence blood gave off a faint luster. Hu Shi's expression went from shock to acceptance. What he had witnessed today had overturned everything he knew.
"Go!"
With a whoosh, the essence blood sank into Hu Shi's forehead and vanished. It was utterly uncanny.
"I've sealed some forging techniques inside that drop of essence blood. Strive to forge your first weapon containing spirituality within three days."
Liu Wuxie spoke meaningfully. He still had to cultivate and could not spare time to forge weapons, so he could leave it to Hu Shi. With Hu Shi finding a few trustworthy people to train, the Xu Household's weapons workshop would soon rise.
Liu Wuxie had seen the Tian Household's weapons. They contained no spirituality whatsoever and still used the Xu Household's forging methods.
Once weapons containing spirituality reached the market, people would scramble madly for the Xu Household's weapons. They would soon reclaim all the market share they had lost.
Incorporating spirituality greatly improved a weapon's grade without requiring expensive materials. It only involved adding a few spirit runes, yet Canglan City did not have a single spirit rune master.
"Yes, Master! I'll begin studying them right now."
Overwhelmed with excitement, Hu Shi sat straight down. A wealth of forging knowledge appeared in his mind.
"Then stay here and study at your own pace. Make me a scabbard when you have time. You know all the dimensions."
With that, Liu Wuxie turned and left. There was actually another secret: among the hand seals he had infused into the essence blood was a contract seal. If Hu Shi dared betray the Xu Household, Liu Wuxie could take his life instantly through that mark.
This was a precaution, and Liu Wuxie had not mentioned it. He still trusted Hu Shi.
The clamor in the main hall grew increasingly intense. Someone from the Xu Household had already arrived. Seeing the weapons scattered across the floor and the injured Xu Household shopkeeper, the steward's face darkened.
Steward Lan had been attending to business nearby. Someone else accompanied him: a woman with an exquisite figure and a light gauze veil covering her face. She was none other than Liu Wuxie's wife, Xu Lingxue. She had come too.
"Scarred Tiger, you have some nerve, injuring people in the Xu Household's weapons workshop!"
Steward Lan barked furiously. These people were far too overbearing. They truly held the Xu Household in no regard.
"The weapons your Xu Household sold us had serious quality problems. They got two of our brothers killed in the Sunset Mountain Range. Tell me, how should we settle this debt? Your Xu Household wouldn't dare refuse to own up to it, would you?"
Scarred Tiger took out the broken saber in his hand and tossed it before Steward Lan for him to inspect.
News of problems with the Xu Household's weapons had long since spread throughout Canglan City. People had been returning purchases over the past few days, and the Xu Household had refunded the full purchase price. No one had come to cause trouble.
Steward Lan frowned. If things really were as Scarred Tiger said, they were in trouble. Deaths caused by the Xu Household's weapons would deal a fatal blow to their reputation. They might never recover.
"If our Xu Household's weapons truly caused casualties, we will investigate thoroughly and give you a satisfactory answer. But injuring our people was going too far."
The Xu Household did not want the matter to escalate and hoped Scarred Tiger would give them an explanation. The matter had yet to be investigated thoroughly. Whether their weapons were actually responsible still required examination.
"My brothers died, and all we did was injure a few of you. Everyone, do you think we went too far?"
Scarred Tiger stood up, his gaze sinister as it swept over Xu Lingxue. He had heard she was the greatest beauty in the Great Yan Imperial Dynasty. Few had seen her true face, as she always wore a veil when she went out.
"Not at all! The Xu Household must give an explanation!"
Someone echoed him. A weapon was a second life, something one's life depended on. There was no room for mistakes.
Steward Lan's face turned ashen, and his body trembled with anger. Scarred Tiger had stirred up the crowd, claiming the moral high ground and leaving the Xu Household riding a tiger they could not dismount.
"Don't say I'm not giving your Xu Household a chance. As long as your eldest young lady is willing to remove her veil and let everyone have a look, we can let bygones be bygones over the weapons."
Scarred Tiger spoke sinisterly. He actually wanted Xu Lingxue to remove her veil in public. The crowd erupted. So many people wanted a glimpse of her true face, and countless people immediately stepped forward to agree. Every word Scarred Tiger spoke was inflammatory.
Liu Wuxie walked out of the forging chamber just in time to hear Scarred Tiger demand that his wife unveil herself in public.
A thread of killing intent shot from his eyes. Xu Lingxue was his wife. Though they had not consummated their marriage, she was still his lawfully wedded wife, and he would not allow her to be defiled.
"Let bygones be bygones, indeed!"
Liu Wuxie strode forward, sweeping his gaze around. His eyes met Xu Lingxue's, and they briefly exchanged looks. Xu Lingxue wondered why he was here.
His gaze finally settled on Scarred Tiger. Merciless killing aura filled the entire weapons workshop.
Steward Lan froze. He had not expected Liu Wuxie to be at the weapons workshop either.
"The Xu Household's live-in son-in-law? What's he doing here?"
Cries of surprise rose from the crowd. There was far too much talk about Liu Wuxie: wastrel, prodigal son, trash...
"Steward Lan, what happened?"
He had been busy forging a weapon earlier and did not know what had happened in the weapons workshop, so he asked.