" Dachui, this is a Heavenly Silkworm Treasured Garment that I obtained by chance twenty years ago. It is impervious to swords and spears, and immune to water and fire. It accompanied me on the battlefield for twenty years and saved my life several times."
After this battle, I will request the court to grant me this item, and I will retire to my hometown. I will no longer need it. So today, I will give you this Heavenly Silkworm Treasured Garment."
After drinking the tea offered by Zhao Dachui, Li Xiongxin immediately took off a set of light and delicate clothes from his own body and handed them to Zhao Dachui as a wedding gift for the newlyweds.
He then had someone fetch his Jade-Carved Bow and three Wind-Chasing Arrow, and solemnly handed them to his niece, Sun Ruonan, saying in a deep voice, " Ruonan, you don't have much Roshi. Even if you have this set of armor, don't engage in close combat with others. I'm passing this Jade-Carved Bow and Wind-Chasing Arrow on to you."
Don't underestimate this bow and arrow set. This Jade-Carved Bow is a rare, high-strength bow made from a hundred stones. It took most of the Li Household's wealth to forge it. These three Wind-Chasing Arrow are made entirely of refined Thousand-Forged Refined Steel, with a small piece of Profound Iron incorporated into the arrowheads, making them exceptionally sharp.
There were originally nine in total, but unfortunately, over the past few decades, they have killed six Admiral of the nomadic tribes of the grasslands and failed to reclaim them. Now only these three remain. I hope you... Why are you unhappy? Don't you like them?"
Li Xiongxin was about to boast about his great achievements, but halfway through his sentence, he suddenly noticed that his niece was pouting and looking at the bow and arrow he was handing her with a look of disgust.
Zhao Dachui, standing to the side, also looked conflicted, clearly not very satisfied with the gift either.
To be honest, Zhao Dachui wasn't very satisfied with this gift. First of all, the Heavenly Silkworm Treasured Garment was directly taken off by Li Xiongxin, and his uncle hadn't bathed for days, emitting a strong smell of sweat that made Zhao Dachui's eyes sting.
Furthermore, he already possessed the Purple Gold Cloth personally crafted by Wang Hao, which was equally impervious to blades and fire, and several levels stronger than that so-called Heavenly Silkworm Treasured Garment. There was simply no comparison between the two.
This thing is practically useless to him; it's tasteless to use, but a pity to throw it away!
As for his own wife, needless to say.
"Uncle, the person doesn't like this bow. Could you get them a different gift?"
Sun Ruonan was much more direct, grabbing her uncle Li Xiongxin's arm and acting coquettishly.
"Didn't you always ask for this bow and arrow set? Why don't you want it now?"
Li Xiongxin was puzzled. His niece had been eyeing this bow and arrow set for a long time, but he had indeed needed the precious bow at the time, so he hadn't sent it to her. However, he had passed down his family's secret technique Wind-Chasing Arrow Technique.
Why did this girl change her mind today?
"They have better ones, of course they don't need your precious bow. Look, this is it, they can only pull it a little bit now!"
Sun Ruonan manipulated the Purple Gold wings on her back, removed the two Purple Gold curved strips attached to the wings, and forcefully pulled them inward, instantly revealing a huge longbow ten feet long.
As she spoke, she reached out and pulled, but she only managed to draw the bow less than half a foot apart, which was already her limit.
When Wang Hao was crafting this war bow, he considered that it would be difficult to carry, so he designed it to be detachable from the middle and could be easily put into use by simply overlapping the two pieces and locking them together.
"Hiss!"
Li Xiongxin couldn't help but gasp. He knew all too well how terrifying his niece's strength was, yet even so, he could only pull her away by a tiny bit.
It's important to know that the force required to draw a bow increases exponentially as you draw it. Right now, even with Ruonan's superhuman strength, she can only draw it a tiny bit. It's unimaginable how terrifying the force would be needed to draw it fully.
Which Grandmaster forged this?
Looking at the Purple Gold- gold bow in his niece's hand, and then at the Jade-Carved Bow in his own hand, he suddenly felt that the precious bow that had been with him for decades had become quite worthless.
How could you possibly give such trash as a gift?
"Since you possess this precious bow, I will keep the Jade-Carved Bow. However, you shall accept these three Wind-Chasing Arrow; such a fine bow deserves worthy arrows."
Helpless, Li Xiongxin could only put away the Jade-Carved Bow and send out the three Wind-Chasing Arrow instead.
You can have a good bow, but without good arrows, it won't do!
"No need, they have better options!"
To everyone's surprise, Sun Ruonan shook her head slightly again, and with a backhand motion, removed an arrow that was stuck in her armor.
The arrow was nine feet long and as thick as a child's arm, made entirely of fine steel. The arrowhead was shaped like a spiral cone, which could be rapidly rotated by the wind when it was shot out, enhancing its armor-piercing ability.
only...
Li Xiongxin stared blankly at what was in front of him... well, let's just assume it was an arrow.
He had noticed the nine enormous arrows lodged behind his niece earlier, but initially he mistook them for short spears.
This method of carrying short spears on one's back was favored by some fierce generals. When charging into battle, they could take the short spears off their backs and throw them, causing tremendous damage.
He just hadn't expected it to be an arrow!
"This must weigh at least two hundred pounds!"
After examining the arrow held in his niece's hand, Li Xiongxin estimated that if it was made of fine steel, it would weigh at least two hundred pounds.
He had never seen arrows of such weight before; even the arrows used in siege crossbows were not this exaggerated.
"It weighs three hundred jin. Every arrow here weighs three hundred jin, and the blacksmith said that its hardness is no less than that of Ten-Thousand-Refined True Steel."
Shaking her head slightly, Sun Ruonan handed the arrow in her hand to her uncle for his appraisal.
The previous draft provided a detailed explanation of the entire Xun Feather Cloth, which naturally included these nine arrows.
Although these nine arrows were not actually made of Ten-Thousand-Refined True Steel, Wang Hao used the forging techniques of Japanese swords to sacrifice toughness and maximize hardness, making them comparable to Ten-Thousand-Refined True Steel.
Anyway, arrows don't need to be tough; as long as they are sharp enough and have the strongest armor-piercing ability, that's enough.
" Ten-Thousand-Refined True Steel!"
Li Xiongxin was so shocked he almost dropped the arrow in his hand; it was truly awe-inspiring.
The Ten-Thousand-Refined True Steel" only exists in legends; no one has ever achieved it, at least not in this day and age.
Now, a divine weapon comparable to Ten-Thousand-Refined True Steel has appeared—how could he not be shocked?
Although he was incredibly shocked, Li Xiongxin did not doubt that his niece was lying, after all, the weight of the arrow could not be faked.
" Ruonan, who made this armor for you? Could you introduce it to your uncle?"
With a quick glance, Li Xiongxin became interested in this armor, and especially in the person who had created it.
If their Da Ming army could all be equipped with such precious armor and divine weapons, they would surely be invincible.
Even if we can't equip the soldiers, if we do equip the generals, everyone will become an unparalleled warrior, and the complete eradication of the scourge of the grasslands will be just around the corner.
"Forget about it. This kind of armor can only be worn by someone with superhuman strength like Ruonan. Moreover, it would take a lot of gold to make it. It's not that I look down on you, but with your meager wealth, you wouldn't even have enough to buy a single bracer."
As for the blacksmith, forget about it. That kid doesn't forge things for just anyone. He only got this set for Ruonan because of my old face and my friendship with Dachui."
Before Sun Ruonan could speak, Zhao Fengxue, who was sitting to the side, spoke first, and gave her a disdainful look without any attempt to hide it.
He had learned about Wang Hao's recent actions from Tie Niu and knew that it had cost tens of millions of taels of gold to create this Xun Feather Cloth.
Such a large amount of gold is far more than any individual could possess, and even the Da Ming Dynasty could not possibly hold that much.
It's simply impossible to create a second set. Moreover, Wang Hao's current identity is very sensitive; he's already being watched by the Confucian School. He's too busy hiding to risk creating any armor or divine weapon for Li Xiongxin.
"Yes, Uncle, this Xun Feather Cloth is really heavy! It weighs nearly 10,000 jin (5,000 kg), and it's quite difficult for me to wear it."
Sun Ruonan added that the Xun Feather Battle Armor was indeed too heavy; even with her innate superhuman strength, she still found it somewhat difficult to wear.
"I knew it wouldn't be that simple!"
With a sigh, Li Xiongxin couldn't help but feel disappointed, but he also gave up on that idea.
He had witnessed the power of this armor before; when Sun Ruonan covered Zhao Fengxue and the others' retreat, the grassland army used siege crossbows to shoot them down.
Even siege crossbows couldn't penetrate it, not even leaving a scratch, and its body didn't sway much, which shows how terrifying this suit of armor is.
Such divine armor would naturally be incredibly difficult to forge, and the materials required would certainly be precious and rare.
I just tried it out of curiosity, but I didn't expect it to actually fail.
"Boom!"
"Bang!"
Just then, two deafening roars suddenly came from the city gate, causing the entire city wall to tremble violently.
"Oh no, those are Hongyi cannons!"
Li Xiongxin, as a Admiral of the army, was the first to react, and his face turned very ugly.
The Hongyi cannon was an extremely fierce siege weapon, far more ferocious than siege crossbows and catapults, and could even blast down city walls.
Even within the Da Ming, there weren't many Hongyi cannons; how could the nomadic tribes of the grasslands have them?
While artillery was indeed used among the nomadic tribes of the grasslands, it consisted of ordinary cannons, far inferior in power to the Hongyi cannons.
What exactly is going on here?
Although he couldn't understand it, Li Xiongxin rushed out immediately to gather his generals and make arrangements.
"They're bombarding the city gates!"
Zhao Fengxue, who possessed the highest cultivation level at the scene, immediately identified the source of the attack based on the vibrations: the sealed city gate.
" Dachui, lead Tie Niu to the north gate of the city to assist the soldiers there in defending the gate to the death. We must not let the grassland army break into the city."
Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Zhao Fengxue decisively gave orders. After arranging things for her son and Tie Niu, she instructed 9527, who had been standing behind her, "9527, lead your assassins to various key locations within the city. If anything seems amiss, take immediate action."
Now is the most critical moment, and we cannot afford to make any mistakes.
With their son protected by Purple Gold soft armor and Tie Niu also clad in heavy armor, neither of them needed to worry too much about their own defense. They were perfectly suited to go to the city gate and confront the grassland army head-on.
After all, the city gates of the citadel weren't very big; two people could hold them off for a while.
What about me?
Seeing that her father-in-law was not looking at her, Sun Ruonan became a little anxious.
She didn't come here to watch a show!
" Ruonan, with your current strength, can you pierce through the Hongyi cannon, which is forged from Thousand-Forged Refined Steel?"
Zhao Fengxue turned her serious gaze over and asked in a deep voice.
This is very important!
"You should be able to do it if you use both hands to pull the strings!"
After some thought, Sun Ruonan decided she could give it a try.
"You come with me to the city wall!"
Slightly relieved, Zhao Fengxue decisively led Sun Ruonan to the top of the north gate using her lightness skill. There, the main force of the grassland army, numbering 50,000 men, was stationed.
Behind the enemy's formation stood a colossal object over two zhang long—the Hongyi Cannon.
Just as Zhao Fengxue and his companion arrived at the city wall, the Hongyi cannon fired another shot. By the time they reached the city wall, the Sanpao was fired, completely blowing up the blocked north gate. The gate was wide open, and the grassland cavalry charged in.
Fortunately, Tie Niu and Zhao Dachui, who were prepared, arrived in time and, relying on the strength of their protective armor, managed to block the grassland cavalry inside the city gate.
Cavalry that has lost its speed is no threat at all, and its combat effectiveness is far inferior to that of infantry.
The Vanguard of cavalry was partly killed by Zhao Dachui and Tie Niu, and partly killed by a general who led a formation of spearmen and shieldmen.
Long spearmen are naturally effective against cavalry, especially in confined spaces like city gates. If the cavalry could move, they could break through with their speed and momentum. However, with Zhao Dachui and Tie Niu causing such a ruckus, the best opportunity had already been lost.
"Move quickly! They're trying to fire at the city gate again!"
Zhao Fengxue, whose eyesight was the best on the city wall, suddenly narrowed his eyes and his expression changed drastically. He shouted to Sun Ruonan beside him.