Chapter 36: Mo Wuhai

The clerk’s eyes sparkled with a keen glint. He invited Yu Qi to sit aside, poured him a cup of tea, and then said, "Sir, I wouldn't dare boast elsewhere, but here in Fenghua City, the weapons crafted by our Forging Pavilion are absolutely second to none."

Seeing the clerk so confident, Yu Qi took a small sip of tea and asked curiously, "You can actually forge weapons here?"

To forge a weapon, one must possess the art of smithing, and those who can do so are known to the world as weaponsmiths.

Throughout the world, those proficient in this craft are few and far between. If the base number of martial artists were one hundred, there would be only one person capable of smithing—one in a hundred.

This is because the requirements to become a weaponsmith are extremely rigorous; one must have advanced their state of mind into the realm of "Micro-Perception" before they even have the opportunity to study the craft.

After all, only after entering Micro-Perception can one observe things with increasing detail, allowing them to detect impurities in materials and remove them while crafting.

Because weaponsmiths are so rare, their status is highly esteemed, and they are often honored guests of noble families. Yu Qi had not expected to find a weaponsmith here in Fenghua City.

The clerk smiled from the side and said, "Sir, the name of our shop is the Forging Pavilion, so naturally, we can forge weapons. Would you like to come with me and meet our smith?"

"Lead the way." Yu Qi stood up. If there were truly a weaponsmith who could craft a weapon for him, that would be ideal, though he knew the price would certainly be steep.

The clerk led Yu Qi into the courtyard at the back.

In the courtyard stood a large tree, under whose shade a middle-aged man with a full beard lay, waving a fan gently and looking quite content.

"This is our Pavilion Master, Mo Wuhai, who is also a master smith. You can go over and talk to him." After the clerk finished speaking, he headed back to the front hall, his face full of excitement. After all, he had brought a customer to Mo Wuhai, and if the deal went through, he would earn a handsome commission.

Yu Qi’s eyes fell upon the fan in the man's hand. It was a deep, tranquil blue, each rib of the fan remarkably smooth, and hidden at the tips of the fan leaves were flashes of cold light—it was clearly a very expensive, lethal weapon itself.

"Junior Yu Qi wishes to ask Senior Mo to help forge a weapon." Yu Qi walked up to him and cupped his hands in a salute.

Mo Wuhai, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them and glanced lazily at Yu Qi. "Starting price: three thousand taels."

The man had demanded an astonishing price the moment he spoke.

Yu Qi nodded slightly; the price was reasonable enough.

"You provide the materials yourself," the man added before Yu Qi could even react.

Yu Qi frowned. Three thousand taels was already expensive, and that was just the labor fee. If he included the materials he had in mind, the total would be nearly four thousand taels.

"Senior, do you have any Frost Essence Iron here?" Yu Qi asked, naming the material he had been thinking of.

Mo Wuhai waved his fan and said, "I do, but there isn't much left. If you are looking to forge something like a large hammer, I'm afraid it won't be enough."

"I need a long sword. If I take the materials from you, how much in total?" Yu Qi asked.

"Five thousand taels," Mo Wuhai replied nonchalantly.

"Five... five thousand taels? Senior, your asking price is too exaggerated!" Yu Qi was dumbfounded. The price Mo Wuhai had set far exceeded the value of the sword he intended to forge; the man was clearly trying to fleece him.

Mo Wuhai watched Yu Qi’s expression and realized the young man probably couldn't afford it, so he quickly added, "Kid, this Frost Essence Iron is only produced in extremely cold, icy regions. It took me a great deal of effort to acquire it; you have to consider our troubles."

He was indeed trying to fleece Yu Qi; in reality, he had acquired the piece of Frost Essence Iron from somewhere else.

He had encountered many young people like Yu Qi who had just started their travels. Most lacked experience, and usually, after he explained how difficult it was to obtain such materials, many would accept the price. This was how Mo Wuhai made his profit.

However, this time he was likely to miscalculate. Yu Qi came from a top-tier family, the Yu family, and was naturally well-versed in the world's commodities. Although the icy regions were dangerous for someone of his cultivation, he could go and fetch it himself if he were careful.

The reason Frost Essence Iron was worth eight hundred taels on the market was that the icy regions were far from most counties, making transportation difficult. If one were near the icy regions, the iron would only be worth four or five hundred taels.

Yu Qi gave a bitter smile. "Frost Essence Iron only costs eight hundred taels on the market. Senior, your price is too high; I cannot afford it. Farewell."

With that, he turned to walk away.

"Four thousand five hundred taels." Hearing this, Mo Wuhai realized that Yu Qi had much more experience than the other youths he had encountered, so he quickly lowered the price.

Yu Qi did not stop; he continued walking out. The price was acceptable, but unfortunately, he did not have that much silver on him.

Seeing that the man still didn't stop, Mo Wuhai became anxious. Although he was a weaponsmith, his high prices meant he only received commissions rarely. Now that a customer had finally arrived, he didn't want to let the deal slip away.

"Fine, I concede. Four thousand taels. That is the lowest price. If you can accept it, come back." Mo Wuhai looked at Yu Qi’s back and stated his lowest acceptable price.

Hearing this, Yu Qi stopped immediately; this price was within his means.

"Senior, could you please wait a moment? I don't have that much silver on me right now." Yu Qi looked pleased and turned back to ask.

"Fine, fine, hurry up and go get the money." Mo Wuhai was unhappy that he hadn't gotten his initial asking price; he waved his hand impatiently and closed his eyes, ignoring Yu Qi further.

Yu Qi returned to the Mu family residence without stopping. He went straight to his room, intending to pawn a few remaining night-luminescent pearls to make up the four thousand taels.

"Big Brother, where have you been all afternoon? I couldn't find you anywhere." Mu Qingnan ran over from the side.

"I went out to look for a suitable weapon," Yu Qi said, walking with him toward the room.

Mu Qingnan scanned his surroundings, looking puzzled. "Where is it? Where is it? Why don't I see anything?"

Yu Qi smiled. "It hasn't been forged yet. I came back to get money to buy the materials."

"Forged? Big Brother, you didn't go to that guy Mo Wuhai, did you? How much did he ask for?" Hearing this, Mu Qingnan quickly stopped Yu Qi.

Yu Qi turned to look at Mu Qingnan, confused. "Four thousand taels. Why?"

"Big Brother, let me tell you, Mo Wuhai is incredibly greedy. Ever since my father saved him ten years ago, he has stayed in this city, and he’s fleeced quite a few people during that time." Seeing that Yu Qi had truly gone to see him, Mu Qingnan warned him immediately. He reached out to pull Yu Qi away. "He dares to fleece my Big Brother? I don't think he wants to stay in this city anymore."

Yu Qi had not expected the Mu family to be Mo Wuhai's benefactors. He didn't stop Mu Qingnan; if the boy could get Mo Wuhai to lower the price, he could save quite a bit of money. Why not?

Arriving at the Forging Pavilion again, Yu Qi walked straight to the back and called out to the still-reclining Mo Wuhai, "Senior."

Mo Wuhai did not open his eyes and asked nonchalantly, "Did you bring the silver?"

"Mo Wuhai, get up, young master!" Mu Qingnan suddenly roared.

Hearing this familiar voice, Mo Wuhai, who had been so relaxed, felt a jolt in his heart. It was that brat Mu Qingnan again.

Clearly, his extortion schemes had been thwarted by Mu Qingnan many times before. Although he was very annoyed, he stood up immediately and said with feigned respect, "I didn't know Young Master Mu was coming. Please forgive my lack of a proper welcome."

"You’ve got a lot of nerve, daring to fleece my Big Brother," Mu Qingnan said, acting furious as if he were there to settle a score.

Yu Qi, however, could tell that he was just putting on an act.

But it was different for Mo Wuhai. Seeing that Mu Qingnan was angry, he quickly said, "It is because I didn't know he was your brother, Young Master Mu. Please forgive me."

"Seeing as you don't seem to be lying, I'll forgive you this time. You should know what to do now, right?" Mu Qingnan crossed his arms, looking at Mo Wuhai with the smug expression of someone who had successfully pulled off a scheme.

"I know, I know. I'll only charge for the materials," Mo Wuhai said with a fawning smile.

"That's more like it. I'll come to collect it in three days. Big Brother, let's go." After saying this, Mu Qingnan left with Yu Qi.

On the way back, Yu Qi felt a bit embarrassed, as the man was, after all, a weaponsmith. "Qingnan, isn't that a bit harsh?"

"Big Brother, don't pity him. He doesn't know how many people he's fleeced; he's earned more than enough. Fortunately, I've stopped him a few times before, so he's been a bit more restrained, but I didn't expect him to start fleecing you today. If you're going to do business, do it properly. People like him need to be taught a lesson." Since Fenghua City was the territory of the Mu family, he, as the future heir, naturally did not want such behavior to occur within the city.

Yu Qi smiled. It was true; Mo Wuhai had already earned so much silver that making him bleed once in a while was not an injustice.

***

After the two had left, Mo Wuhai trembled all over. He suddenly flung the fan in his hand toward a nearby tree; the blades on the ribs pierced straight into the trunk.

"Damn that Mu Qingnan, he’s ruined so many of my plans. If it weren't for Mu Wenfeng, you would have died countless times already." Mo Wuhai was filled with rage, but he could not retaliate and had to swallow his anger.

"Xiao Wu!" he shouted toward the front hall.

Hearing the Pavilion Master calling him, the clerk in the shop ran out quickly. "Pavilion Master, is something wrong?"

Mo Wuhai calmed himself and asked the clerk, "How is the matter I asked you to handle going?"

Xiao Wu replied, "Pavilion Master, the asking price of the other party is too high—a full one hundred thousand taels."

"One hundred thousand taels? Their appetites are truly huge," Mo Wuhai couldn't help but curse. "Counting all our assets, how much can we come up with?"