The Song Dynasty was the king for thirteen years before he knew that he was Tianlong.

Chapter 415 Searching for the Weapon (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

As Zhao Ti left Xinghua Lane, he pondered where he should buy iron sheets and bars after school.

Yuzhou is the capital of a prefecture, so it naturally has no shortage of various craft shops and workshops. However, because blacksmith shops make too much noise from their daily blacksmithing and forging business, they are mostly not located in the city center.

Zhao Ti remembered that there seemed to be a shop on the outskirts of the south city that mainly made plows, hoes, and other farm tools, rather than selling weapons.

However, I just wanted to buy a piece of iron or metal, and maybe there will be a suitable option.

If all else fails, he remembered there was a blacksmith shop in the west of the city that could forge weapons and make bows and arrows, but it was too far away, and it would take almost half an hour to walk there.

He decided to try his luck at the blacksmith shop in the south of the city after school. If there was a suitable one, he would buy it directly. If not, he would have to wait until his day off to go to the west of the city. As for other blacksmith shops, they were either further away or located outside the city, so he would not consider them for the time being.

Nothing much happened at the state school that day. After school, he made an excuse not to go with Mo Xun and instead carried his book bag straight to the south of the city.

Yuzhou South City has many workshops, which are divided into Southeast City and Southwest City. Southeast City is mostly a place for making heavy materials, such as furniture workshops, lumberyards, mills and oil mills, while Southwest City has silk workshops, cloth workshops, embroidery workshops, and so on.

The blacksmith shop that made farm tools was located in the southeast of the city. Zhao Ti quickened his pace and arrived in about 15 minutes. He saw people coming and going and the noise was deafening. Many of the shops had large chimneys behind them emitting thick smoke. Even though it was closing time, the place was still bustling with activity.

He had no interest in watching the commotion and went straight to the blacksmith shop. After a short while, he arrived at the front and saw that the blacksmith shop had a very large and spacious facade, but it was all black and charred, with a special smell of quenching wafting out. The clanging and banging sounds from the backyard were incessant, obviously indicating that they had not stopped working.

Zhao Ti entered through the gate and saw that the walls were covered with various tools, mostly farm implements, but also some household items, all made of cast iron, but no weapons or similar items.

Behind the counter stood an elderly man dressed in coarse cloth. Although his temples were gray, he was tall and strong, looking powerful and imposing. He looked the man up and down and hesitated before saying, "Young master..."

Zhao Ti smiled and said, "I've come to buy something."

The old man hurriedly went out to greet him: "Seeing your scholarly attire, I thought I had come to the wrong place. My shop mainly sells ironware, mostly agricultural products. May I ask what you would like to buy?"

Zhao Ti then expressed his idea: a piece of iron about three feet long, or even an iron bar if necessary.

The old man was taken aback for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "To be honest, young master, I don't have any finished or half-finished iron materials here."

Zhao Ti asked in bewilderment, "How could there not be?"

The old man said, "Young master, look at these utensils. Aren't they all made of iron with wooden handles? They weren't made in a long, narrow shape because they were never used. So there are neither finished products nor semi-finished products as you mentioned."

Upon closer inspection, Zhao Ti realized that the plow, hoe, and pick were indeed all single-headed and required a wooden handle to be attached and nailed before they could be used.

The old man said, "These farm tools cannot all be made of iron. Firstly, the cost would be too high, but they would be of little use. Secondly, if they were all made of pig iron, they would be too heavy to carry for planting and tilling the land."

Zhao Ti thought about it and realized that this made sense. Even household appliances were like this, requiring separate handles to be used.

The old man continued, “I see that what you want, young master, looks like swords. Why don’t you go to the weapon forging shop? They have many similar items there. Moreover, my method of forging farm tools is different from that of forging weapons. If you want to use them for practice, you should ask for the ones they forge.”

"Different methods?" Zhao Ti hadn't expected this. "Indeed, they are different. The tempering process is different. How can farm tools be compared to weapons? I was just guessing what you intended to use them for. Otherwise, why not just have someone forge an iron bar and sell it to you? But if it bends or breaks later, it will ruin the reputation of our shop," the old man said.

"I see, I understand now." Zhao Ti nodded. The old man was right. The method of forging weapons must be different from that of agricultural tools. Weapons must not only consider their sharpness, but also the point where the blade can generate and bear force. Agricultural tools, on the other hand, only need to be sturdy and able to move the soil.

"Then I won't bother you any longer..." he said as he walked out of the shop, feeling a sense of loss, realizing he had made a wasted trip.

The blacksmith shop in the west of the city was too far away, and it was difficult to go there even after school, for fear that it would be closed by the time I arrived. So I could only go during my days off or holidays.

Zhao Ti walked back home, and when he entered Xinghua Lane and opened the courtyard gate, he heard the sound of "huffing and puffing" and the cheers of little Zhao Ling.

Upon entering, they found Zhao's father making a bed. The bed frame and legs of a large bed were already finished, and Zhao's father was polishing the wood with animal hide, producing a rough, scratchy sound.

This bed isn't as heavy as the previous one, but it's still quite large. However, it can be carried into the room separately and wedged together. If it's not sturdy enough, you can drive in a few iron nails.

"Why are you back so late today? Hurry up and help me bring this bed into the room so we can eat properly," Zhao's father said without looking up.

Zhao Ti responded, and the two carried the items into the house. After a short while, they were assembled. Zhao Ti tried it out and felt it was okay, so he went out to have dinner.

During the meal, Zhao's mother asked about the events of the previous night again. Zhao Ti gave a vague answer and brushed it off. Zhao's mother instructed, "If you hear any noise, just shout immediately. If it really is someone from the Yang family of Huazhou, they won't harm the younger generation."

Zhao Ti agreed, got up and went back to the room. He tidied up inside and out, moved the items that were originally on the table from the box back, and then began to read.

He read until the moon was high in the sky and the stars were everywhere. He got up and went to the door. He saw that the lights in his parents' room were off. He closed the door and went back to practice.

Because he had no weapon, his swordsmanship was not effective, so he focused on practicing the Four Illuminations Divine Skill.

He has now achieved a minor success in this skill, and can concentrate his internal energy into his palms, legs, and external objects to launch attacks with considerable power.

To achieve the ability to project internal energy outwards from the divine skill, he would need to cultivate diligently for a period of time. However, he felt that it wouldn't be too strenuous; he could simply cultivate and accumulate energy step by step.

The manual states that it takes approximately three to sixty years to complete the Four Illuminations Divine Skill.

In other words, a peerless genius might master the divine skill in about three years and be able to release their internal energy, while those with slightly less talent might take up to sixty years, or even a full cycle of sixty years.

This period is purely for practicing skills, without the use of various elixirs or the transmission of skills from elders; otherwise, it might be earlier.

However, Zhao Ti felt that it wouldn't take him that long at all. Judging from the current increase in his internal energy during cultivation, he would reach the intermediate level of this technique in at least seven days and at most a month.

While it takes three years for an unparalleled genius, he only needs seven days.

(End of this chapter)