Chapter 125: The Secret of Ranked Weapons

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Zhou Shu looked at the stack of banknotes in his hand. He didn’t even need to count them to be sure that Yin Changhao wasn’t lying to him. This was definitely worth 50,000 taels of gold!

He wanted to curse in his heart.

Who exactly is Yin Changhao?

Who would run around with banknotes worth fifty thousand taels of gold for no reason?

Does he have to be so rich?!

He had just said that casually. He had thought that Yin Changhao wouldn’t be able to take out 50,000 taels of gold immediately, so he would just give him a few hundred taels of gold and then run away with the Heaven Refining Stone.

Who knew that Yin Changhao would throw out a stack of banknotes without hesitation!

For the first time in his two lifetimes, Zhou Shu felt as though he had been knocked unconscious by money!

Fifty thousand taels of gold!

With Shen Yue’s status, it was very difficult to gather 10,000 taels of gold. 50,000 gold taels was definitely a huge sum to anyone.

He felt as if he had been hit by a hundred lottery tickets, the kind that emptied the prize pool.

I am rich!

Wait, why do I feel like I’ve suffered a loss?

Should I have really given the Heaven Refining Stone to him?

All Zhou Shu knew about the Heaven Refining Stone was what Yin Changhao had just told him.

Zhou Shu had no idea how valuable this thing was.

But recalling Yin Changhao’s expression, Zhou Shu felt that he might have suffered from false information!

“Brother, call me along the next time you do something like this. Let’s go together!” Yin Changhao laughed.

Zhou Shu was speechless. Do you think that I made a living by robbing others?

“Goodbye, I won’t see you off.” Zhou Shu threw the Heaven Refining Stone to Yin Changhao and turned to leave.

“Don’t follow me anymore, or I won’t be polite,” Zhou Shu said fiercely.

Yin Changhao chuckled. He had no intention of investigating Zhou Shu’s identity.

Experts all had their own secrets. The other party had no ill intentions toward Great Xia, so there was no need to anger him to fulfill his curiosity.

Yin Changhao tossed the Heaven Refining Stone up and down with a brilliant smile.

He lifted his feet lightly and transformed into a bolt of lightning, disappearing in the direction of Chang’an.

Zhou Shu circled around Chang’an a few times and used all sorts of counter-surveillance means that he had learned from TV dramas in his previous life to confirm that Yin Changhao was not following him.

He then changed his attire and returned to the baron’s mansion quietly.

He had given the Heaven Refining Stone to Yin Changhao. Although he wasn’t sure whether he had made a profit or a loss, he didn’t regret it.

Even if he sold it cheaply, it was nothing. Anyway, he got it for free.

Obtaining 50,000 taels of gold out of nowhere had far exceeded his expectations. What was there to be unsatisfied about?

…

After returning to the baron’s mansion, Zhou Shu slept until the sun rose.

After getting out of bed, he called over a few of the servants the Mi family had assigned to him and arranged for them to purchase some things that the baron’s residence needed.

Now that he had money, he naturally had to take care of the baron’s residence.

After making these arrangements, Zhou Shu went to the Forging Division’s government office.

The Forging Division was an enormous organization. The workshops outside the city were only a part of it.

In the capital, there was also its headquarters, the office of the Forging Division.

Other than that, the first 36 workshops of the Forging Division were distributed throughout the various prefectures of Great Xia. There were also some departments that were responsible for purchasing and collecting forging materials.

The headquarters of the Forging Division was also where Grand Minister Yin Wuyou and the four ministers were usually.

Zhou Shu did not come to find them.

He came to the Forging Division’s library to look up information.

Yesterday’s experience had taught him that relying solely on the Legendary Armament Canon was not enough for a Forging Master. The Legendary Armament Canon could only let him know how weapons were forged, but it wouldn’t let him know the principles behind it.

In other words, Zhou Shu knew how to forge weapons, but he didn’t know why.

Therefore, he decided to supplement his forging knowledge in order to avoid the embarrassment of not knowing about materials.

Zhou Shu searched through the library for a long time, but he didn’t find anything related to weapons. In the end, he could only go to the bookkeeper in charge of the library. “Excuse me, Sir. Why isn’t there any information on ranked weapons?”

“The information on ranked weapons is on the second floor. Only Forging Masters have access.” The bookkeeper glanced at Zhou Shu. Although Zhou Shu could be considered a famous person within the Forging Division, there were no pictures in this world. The bookkeeper only knew his name and not how he looked, so he didn’t know Zhou Shu.

“Only Forging Masters have access?” Zhou Shu frowned. “I can’t access it even though I’m a workshop superintendent?”

“No,” the bookkeeper said firmly. “Unless the grand minister permits it.”

“I need permission from the grand minister?”

“Of course!”

Zhou Shu had no choice but to leave the library to find Yin Wuyou.

Yin Wuyou wasn’t as idle as Zhou Shu. She had already arrived at the Forging Division Headquarters early to work.

Zhou Shu soon saw Yin Wuyou, who was engrossed in her work.

Yin Wuyou had a strand of long hair hanging down from his forehead. She was deeply engrossed in her work, and her perfect side profile emitted a charming glow.

Some people are really favored by God. It’s as if all good things belong to them, Zhou Shu thought.

Yin Wuyou looked up at Zhou Shu. “Is there something you need me for? I have business to attend to today, so I can’t accompany you for a field survey.”

The veins on Zhou Shu’s forehead twitched. Did you really take the field survey seriously?

“No. Grand Minister, I want to ask you for approval.” Zhou Shu changed the topic. “I want to go to the library to look up some information regarding ranked weapons. The bookkeeper said that only Forging Masters have access to them. Otherwise, I require the approval of the grand minister.”

“You want to check the information on ranked weapons?” Yin Wuyou put down the document in her hand and looked at Zhou Shu in surprise. “Are you going to advance to Forging Master?”

“No…” Zhou Shu said. “It’s not that easy to become a Forging Master. I just want to learn more about forging and accumulate experience for becoming a Forging Master in the future.”

“I see,” Yin Wuyou said. “There’s nothing good in the Forging Division’s library. The real good stuff is in the small library of the first thirty-six workshops.”

The institutional setup of Great Xia’s Forging Division was in the first 36 workshops. They were almost independent existences under the Forging Division.

If one had to describe it, the Forging Division was equivalent to an alliance, and the first 36 workshops were the various large sects.

The first 36 workshops not only took on forging tasks, but they were also the cultivation system for Great Xia’s forgers. Each workshop had its own forging inheritance.

Most of Great Xia’s Forging Masters were trained there. The workshops after the first 36 were just simple factories.

Of course, it was much more complicated in reality.

“If you want to know more about ranked weapons, let me think of a way,” Yin Wuyou said. “After I finish with these things, I’ll go get some information for you. Go back and wait for me!”

Yin Wuyou decided everything and then kicked Zhou Shu out of the Forging Division. This made Zhou Shu feel like he was a freeloader…

Yin Wuyou was very efficient. In the afternoon, she had Haitang deliver a pile of books to Zhou Shu.

“Sir, Her Highness borrowed these from the imperial library. You must not damage them. Otherwise, Her Highness will get into trouble too,” Haitang instructed worriedly.

“Got it. Say, Haitang, why are you naggier than Her Highness?” Zhou Shu waved his hand. “Don’t worry. I won’t spoil them. I’m just reading them, not eating them!”

After sending Haitang away, Zhou Shu impatiently plunged into the sea of books.

It was indeed easy to depend on others.

Ordinary people wouldn’t be able to see the treasures in the imperial library!

Zhou Shu continued to read until the sky gradually darkened. He lit a lamp and continued to flip through the pages, even skipping meals.

It was not until midnight that he lifted his head from the pile of books and let out a long breath.

So, these are ranked weapons. Zhou Shu sighed. I really don’t know who invented ranked weapons. They’re amazing!

Zhou Shu sighed from the bottom of his heart.

Only now did he know what ranked weapons were.

Previously, he had always thought that the weapons in this world were not too different from those on Earth. At most, one would use better materials to make the weapons sharper and sturdier.

Only now did he realize that he was wrong, ridiculously wrong!

Whether a weapon was ranked or not was related to the forging materials, but this was not the most fundamental.

Ranked weapons were considered ranked weapons because they had meridians!

That’s right, meridians!

There were also meridians in this world. The human body had 12 principal meridians and 8 extraordinary vessels. It was similar to the Traditional Chinese Medicine Theory that Zhou Shu had come into contact with in his previous life.

According to this theory, the human body had 720 acupuncture points.

It was unknown which mighty figure had used the human body as a reference to create ranked weapons.

The so-called ranked weapons were existences with veins, which were similar to the human body’s meridians, in the inner part of the weapon. In the terminology of forgers, it was star paths!

Forging star paths for weapons was called fixing stars!

In layman’s terms, fixing stars was to establish acupuncture points within the weapon. The more acupuncture points one built, the more powerful the weapon would be!

This was the foundation of ranked weapons!

On the other hand, the forging material needed for fixing stars was Heaven Refining Stones!

Without Heaven Refining Stones, one wouldn’t be able to fix stars on a weapon. Thus, one would naturally not be able to create a ranked weapon.

The more star positions there were, the more Heaven Refining Stones needed.

This was also the reason why Heaven Refining Stones were so precious.

Depending on the number of star positions and star paths, the grade of the weapon will be differentiated, Zhou Shu thought.

Weapons have star paths. Once spiritual essence enters them, it will circulate within the weapons as if it was in the human body, allowing people to unleash the power of multiple divine abilities. What a genius idea!

Regardless of whether it was true qi or spiritual essence, when going through different meridians in the body, it would have different effects on the body. This was the principle behind Martial Dao techniques.

The star paths in weapons were similar to the meridians of the human body. When spiritual essence traveled on the star paths, it could stimulate the power of the weapons. The more star paths, the more power the weapons could unleash.

Theoretically, once a weapon had a complete set of 12 principal meridians and 8 extraordinary vessels, its power would reach an unimaginable level.

However, no one seemed to be able to create such a weapon right now.

Even for heaven-grade weapons, the highest record was only 600 stars.

When I fought with Xiao Shunzhi last time, if I could unleash the full power of a heaven-grade weapon, I might not have necessarily lost to him.

Although Zhou Shu had heaven-grade weapons, he didn’t know how to use them.

It was only now that he realized that he had used a rifle as a stick!

But then again, Xiao Shunzhi was the Great Wei imperial preceptor, so he might have a heaven-grade weapon in his hands.

Even if Zhou Shu knew how to use a heaven-grade weapon, he might not be able to gain any advantage.

No wonder it’s said that ordinary Forging Apprentices will never be able to advance to Forging Master unless they receive a legacy. This isn’t just a matter of skill.

Without a legacy, who can comprehend this?

Even if I know that ranked weapons require fixing stars, I don’t know how to do it.

The information Yin Wuyou had Haitang send over was already very detailed, and it even included some of the experiences of Grand Craftsmen in forging weapons.

However, Zhou Shu still had no idea how to fix stars in a weapon.

Every lineage had its own secret techniques for fixing stars into ranked weapons. These were all secret techniques unrecorded or passed to outsiders. They were impossible to guess.

Only if he had enough Heaven Refining Stones would he maybe be able to find a way to stabilize the stars.

But Heaven Refining Stones were incomparably precious. Even the Forging Division couldn’t be so generous.

According to the description in these materials, Heaven Refining Stones should be a non-renewable resource. Now that they’re being mined less and less, they might disappear at any time.

The reason Big Brother Mi’s family is so rich is that they have a Heaven Refining Stone mineral mine!

The Mi family’s ancestors made an agreement with Great Xia’s founding emperor, Emperor Xuan. They gave up on the honor of contributing to the founding of Great Xia and chose to possess a Heaven Refining Stone mine. This choice is truly amazing.

A Heaven Refining Stone the size of an adult’s fist can be sold for a hundred thousand taels of gold. Big Brother Mi’s family has a mine. How much money is that?

Before, Zhou Shu couldn’t imagine why Mi Ziwen was so generous. He had given Zhou Shu thousands of taels of silver as soon as they met, and he had even given him a mansion in the capital.

This was what it meant to have a mine at home, and a diamond mine at that!

Heaven Refining Stones were much more expensive than diamonds!

In the future, when I forge ranked weapons, will I be able to enjoy the benefits of being in a favorable position?

Zhou Shu thought that having a wealthy sworn brother would bring about many benefits.

According to the information, there are divine weapons above heaven-grade weapons. I wonder what kind of existence they are. But it seems that divine weapons are just a theory. They are just like the Divine Craftsmen who can forge divine weapons. The names are recorded, but they have never appeared before.

Forget about divine weapons. Even perfect heaven-grade weapons haven’t been forged before.

What’s the point of thinking so much? I’m still a Forging Apprentice now. Wait until I can forge a yellow-grade weapon first, Zhou Shu thought in a self-deprecating manner.

Yellow-grade weapons contain one to five star paths and at most a hundred and eighty stars. The difficulty of forging this grade of weapon is already quite high. It’s no wonder that the status of a Forging Master is so high.. Forging ranked weapons is really a skill.