Return

For the past two years, the two of them had wandered through the streets and alleys of Gengxin City every day.

Of the three items the Duke had ordered them to find, they had so far located only that piece of yellowed, cloudy crystal.

They had bought it from a vendor while wandering through an inconspicuous alley a month after arriving in Gengxin City, and it had cost them just five Copper Soul Coins.

They had thought that if they found one of the three items within a month, the remaining two would be easy enough to find.

The other two items might even be in the hands of the same vendor, allowing them to complete the Duke's task before long.

Yet reality proved that they had been thinking too simply.

Gengxin City, the City of Metal, might lack many things, but metal was not one of them.

Any large or small vendor selling metal in Gengxin City possessed an enormous stockpile of it.

Even the mobile vendors held no small amount of scrap metal, and the goods displayed on their stalls changed almost every day.

This situation caused them considerable trouble in their search.

They were not major clients purchasing metal in bulk, capable of making those vendors lay out their entire inventories for them to choose from.

Moreover, if the remaining two items happened to be in the hands of mobile vendors, and they made a grand fuss of demanding that the vendors bring out all their scrap metal for inspection—

It might be possible to bluff their way through with one or two vendors, but with so many vendors in Gengxin City, if they did that one by one, anyone would know something was off about the two of them.

Thus, all they could do was wander through Gengxin City's streets and alleys every day, trying their luck.

Who would have thought that this attempt at luck would last two whole years?

East Gengxin City, an old tavern.

The brothers Old Wang and Old Li drank strong liquor and took a brief rest.

"We still haven't searched that alley in the north of the city today. Once we finish this pot of wine, let's go take a look!"

"Yeah. There was a light rain yesterday, and a rainbow appeared early this morning. Hopefully, we'll have some good luck!"

One month later.

Heaven Dou City, Lin Duke Mansion.

"So, when you two left Gengxin City, Tang San and his group were still there and had not departed?"

"Reporting to the Duke, the Strength Clan's carriage remained parked at the Blacksmith Association. Even when we had found all three items and were ready to leave, it had not moved."

Listening to the two Shadow Guards' report, Lin Rong leaned back in his chair and pondered Tang San's intentions.

Tang San had gone to Gengxin City for no more than two reasons: to purchase metal and recruit Lou Gao.

He had chosen to go neither early nor late, but specifically a few months before the Single Attribute Four Great Clans' gathering.

It seemed Tang San had no small ambitions for this trip!

Tang San could not "reason with" the other three clans of the Single Attribute Four Great Clans, so was he planning to "overpower them with force" instead?

And among the Tang Sect Hidden Weapons, only three could accomplish that: Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus, Rain of Pear Blossom Needles, and Peacock Plume.

In the world today, only Tang Chen, Tang Xiao, and Tang Hao had the ability to forge Deep Sea Silver.

Now, Tang Chen had fallen into depravity in Slaughter City, Tang Xiao had secluded himself within the Clear Sky Sect, and Tang Hao was injured.

Therefore, of the three great hidden weapons, the Rain of Pear Blossom Needles could be ruled out immediately.

That left two hidden weapons: Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus and Peacock Plume.

Tang San had personally succeeded in crafting the former in his previous life, while he had no such experience with the latter. Anyone with a functioning brain would choose the former.

"So Tang San intends to work overtime and rush the Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus out before the Single Attribute Four Great Clans gather?"

"But does he have enough time?"

"Four months—just returning from Gengxin City would take nearly a month at the very least."

"To craft a Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus within three months... was Tang San overconfident in himself, or did he have too much faith in Lou Gao?"

From the standpoint of his own interests, Lin Rong did not want Tang San to acquire a great killing weapon on the level of Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus so soon.

That was why Lin Rong had sent people in advance to obtain the three items Ning Rongrong had discovered in the original story.

Without that several-hundred-kilogram piece of Cold Heart Iron Essence, Gengxin City's limited reserves would be enough to make, at most, one or two Buddha's Fury Tang Lotuses.

And Tang San would certainly use one of them to intimidate the other three clans of the Single Attribute Four Great Clans. That would leave at most one Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus, perhaps none at all.

As for the Rain of Pear Blossom Needles, there was no need to even think about it without that bonus piece of Cold Heart Iron Essence.

If Tang San wanted to obtain Deep Sea Silver, there was only one place: Sea God Island, where the Deep Sea Silver Pillars used for the Tidal Body Tempering trial stood.

Lin Rong did not believe that Tang San in the original story had no designs whatsoever on those Deep Sea Silver Pillars.

Tang San only learned that crafting the Rain of Pear Blossom Needles required its maker to sacrifice his own life in the quenching process after Lou Gao's death.

Before that, Tang San must have hoped to personally craft the Rain of Pear Blossom Needles as well.

Yet even as the inheritor of the Sea God, Tang San had failed to get even a tiny bit of Deep Sea Silver from Bo Saixi.

Much less the current Tang San, who did not even know what Sea God Island was.

Tang San had no experience making the Peacock Plume.

With Lou Gao researching it alone and without Tang Xiao's assistance, it would take at least several years to produce the Peacock Plume.

With those years as a buffer, even if the Peacock Plume was successfully made, it would remain within a controllable range.

"Enough. I understand the matter."

"You two handled this mission well. Go collect your rewards!"

Lin Rong waved the two Shadow Guards away, then turned his gaze back to the four items before him.

First were two cloudy crystals the size of human heads.

One had been bought by a Shadow Guard from Flender for two hundred Gold Soul Coins, while the other had been bought from a vendor in Gengxin City for five Copper Soul Coins.

The two pieces of Crystal Clear Quartz were roughly the same size.

In the original work, Tang San had extracted over twenty thousand Dragon Whisker Needles from Flender's piece of Crystal Clear Quartz.

Now that Lin Rong had two pieces of Crystal Clear Quartz, he was guaranteed to obtain more than forty thousand Dragon Whisker Needles.

Dragon Whisker Needles were as fine as hairs and about three inches long.

They ranked eighth in the Hundred Solutions for Hidden Weapons of the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record.

The stronger the user's Soul Power, the stronger the Dragon Whisker Needles' power.

Naturally, Lin Rong intended to keep such good things for himself.

Although his accuracy would certainly not compare to Tang San's, who had trained with hidden weapons since childhood, as long as he had enough Dragon Whisker Needles, why would accuracy matter?

Next, Lin Rong turned his attention to the Cold Heart Iron Essence and Deep Sea Silver.

These two items were completely useless to him, but to Tang San, they were peerless treasures that could only be encountered by chance.

Thus, if necessary, he could use Tang San's desire for these two items to hold the ore hostage and command Tang San.

As for whether Tang San would add him to his list of those who deserved death, Lin Rong did not care.

If Tang San wanted his life, he would first have to see whether he had the ability to take it.