Translator: Radiant
Editor: Radiant
The purple-robed middle-aged man saw Xue Ying secretly nod to himself. In fact, the citizens of Water Rites had given Xue Ying a nickname: ‘Demon Spear’. It referred to how he trained his spear so much that he seemed to have been possessed by demon! Actually, this nickname wasn’t that malicious, but it wasn’t exactly complimentary either! However, that purple-robed man had experienced many things in his life and could clearly understand that the world was a vast place…
The true rulers were those who were strong, like those unimaginable Legend Rank existences, or even those Transcendent beings.
Only true cultivators who were assiduous on the path of cultivation could even hope of becoming an existence of that rank!
As a result, he wasn’t willing to offend individuals who were extremely diligent.
"Good spears," Xue Ying said as his eyes swept over them. From the faint Qi emitted from the spears, he could sense the spiritual nature of each spear. This was important because he would naturally begin to resonate with the spear after carrying it morning and night.
There were three spears, each divided into two parts. After all, spears were simply too long to be stored in the box. Only by splitting them into two parts would they fit in the boxes and be less of a burden to carry. The shortest a whole spear could be was two meters; anything shorter would simply be too cumbersome to wield.
"My brother Xue Ying, let me introduce these spears to you. All three of these spears were personally purchased by me," said the purple-robed man.
"I’ll have to bother Earl Quan to do so then." Xue Ying said with a slight nod.
Xue Ying didn’t feel inclined to understand the ways of the world; his mind only thought about cultivation! Of course, he would not be too rude.
"This black-colored spear," said the purple-robed man as he pointed at the first spear from the left, "is called ‘Black Cloud’ and is 3.2 meters long. It can be considered a best seller outside of this town, and a lot of nobles wish to buy it. As for its advantages, try it yourself and you will know."
"Oh." Xue Ying’s brows creased slightly. The spear was too long so he didn’t really like it.
He stepped forward, picked up the two parts and rapidly rotating them until they fit together.
"Hu."
With a single hand, he threw it!
With only a single hand, Xue Ying was able to throw a spear weighing more than 50 kilograms perfectly straight! The spear flew into the distance, piercing the air like it was splitting it open. Off to the side, the two maids’ complexions turned pale with fright.
Inwardly, the purple-robed man was alarmed. What great strength! His spear technique is so formidable!
"It’s flexible, too flexible," Xue Ying said as he shook his head. "This Black Cloud is too long, and it’s thin neck causes the spear’s head to dance about. Although a true expert would want the spear’s head to dance about, this movement must be completely controlled! The movement of a spear’s head can’t be due to the spear being too flexible."
"Naturally, those who weren’t adept in spearmanship wouldn’t be able to see the sudden thrust of a three-meter-long spear and its dancing head. All of a sudden, they would have a hole in them. Therefore, only those lords who don’t properly practice the spear would view this as a good weapon."
Xue Ying voiced his evaluation out loud.
At the age of 13 he had already reached the realm of One with the Spear, but now, he had already touched the realm of a Great Spear Master! Xue Ying could determine the strengths and weaknesses of a spear after only briefly testing it.
This Black Cloud Spear was an excellent weapon for those weak in spearmanship. It would even let their strength increase greatly.
But for those adept in spearmanship, they wouldn’t even bother looking at it!
"So amazing, simply so amazing! Haha. I have met some true experts outside before, and they too didn’t even bother to look at this Black Cloud Spear that all those silk trousers nobles are so fond of." The purple-robed man pointed to the dark violet spear on the other side. "This spear is called ‘Amethyst Blood’. This is a true spear for experts. It’s 2.5 meters long and is thick enough for a hand to wrap completely around it. The tip is exceedingly sharp since it’s a spear meant for killing; it’s said that the dark violet color of this spear came from blood settling into it after countless slaughters."
"Your sales pitch makes it sound incredible," Xue Ying said as he picked up Amethyst Blood.
As soon as he held it, a faint fondness grew within his heart.
Then, he began brandishing it as he pleased.
Hu!
The spear struck outwards in a sweeping motion, filling the expansive room with a whistling gale. Immediately afterwards, he swung the pike forward and thrust the spear furiously in a flash!
Xue Ying moved as he pleased, the movements something ordinary spear experts absolutely couldn’t replicate. The purple-robed man’s evaluation of him kept growing higher and higher!
"Its power is very gentle," Xue Ying said with a slight nod. "This spear doesn’t have any weaknesses. The tip is indeed sharp enough with the assistance of the refiner formation."
It was a good spear suitable for his use.
"I’ll introduce the last spear to you." The purple-robed middle-aged man said as he pointed to the last spear.
Xue Ying looked at the spear. Just from its appearance, this spear was the one he liked the most. The whole spear was silver in colour and countless snowflakes were engraved into the shaft. He could faintly sense the spear’s sharpness.
"The other two spears are rank 1 refiner weapons, but I obtained this one by accident. When I had it appraised, I discovered that it was actually a rank 2 refiner weapon," said the purple-robed man.
"Rank 2?" Xue Ying and Zong Ling both exclaimed, startled.
There was actually a rank 2 refiner weapon in Water Rites Town?
"Its whole body is ice-cold; this refiner spear is called ‘Flying Snow’," stated the purple-robed man. "Its main advantage is seen when practicing spear techniques. A scene of countless snowflakes fluttering in the wind will appear and confuse the enemy!"
"I’ll test it." Xue Ying picked up the two parts of the spear and assembled it before he began testing it.
The purple-robed man was a little nervous.
Generally, each refiner weapon had its own advantages. For example, it could be faster, sharper, possess fire attribute and so on.
…
As for this Flying Snow Spear, it only caused some snowflakes to appear and confuse the enemy. However, how could snowflakes possibly confuse a true expert? A true expert could easily distinguish the spear’s point from amongst the snowflakes! This was why this rank 2 refiner weapon could appear in this town.
As for the weapon’s origin……
It was during the days when Earl Quan traded outside. He had met an old beggar who he felt was quite extraordinary, so he provided the beggar with food and drink for three years. At the end of those three years, the old beggar started up a furnace and refined a spear for him. He had said, "This is the Flying Snow Spear. It should be enough to repay you for the food and drink you have provided me." After repaying him, the old beggar left.
At that time, he had thought that this spear was an amazing godly weapon. After testing it, he discovered it was a rank 2 refiner weapon, but it didn’t have any amplification effects. Naturally, it still exceeded the value of the food and drink he had provided.
Hu~ Si~
Grasping the silver spear, Xue Ying tested ten moves before stopping. His face wore an expression of tranquility, yet his heart was stirred.
An excellent spear.
This truly was an excellent spear.
Even an expert at the realm of One with the Spear would find it hard to understand the true value of the spear. Xue Ying, on the other hand, had spent these last few years practicing his fist technique to the realm of One with Strength. It was only because of this that he was able to discover the profound mysteries of the spear.
But Xue Ying couldn’t speak of this, he had to haggle for it! He truly didn’t have the money to buy a rank 2 refiner weapon.
"This spear’s not bad. It’s worthy of being called a rank 2 refiner weapon." Xue Ying said as he looked towards the purple-robed man. "But I feel that it doesn’t have any special qualities aside from the snowflake illusion. All refiner weapons have some special qualities. Some increase magic power, some are extremely sharp and so on, but this spear doesn’t have any of that; it only confuses the enemy. Don’t tell me that a true expert wouldn’t be able to distinguish between the snowflakes and the spear’s tip?"
"The reason it’s rated as a rank 2 refiner weapon is because it should be enough to bear a battle between Legend rankers," stated Xue Ying. "In regards to those of us with feeble strength, it would be better to just get a rank 1 refiner weapon."
A rank 1 refiner weapon would be fine for any battles below the Legend rank.
A close quarters battle between Legend ranks could frighten the heavens and move the earth. Most rank 1 refiner weapons would break under such circumstances! At the moment, Xue Ying could increase his strength to the rank of a Silver Moon Knight, and not too long into the future, he would definitely achieve the might of a Legend rank! If it was a rank 1 refiner weapon, he feared that he wouldn’t be able to use it for too long. This was the reason he wanted to obtain Flying Snow.
Of course, the most important thing was the profound mysteries contained within the spear.
"It’s a rank 2 refiner weapon when all's said and done, and I can see that you really like it," said the purple-robed man.
"Name your price," said Xue Ying.
"30,000 gold coins!" The purple-robed man readily said.
Xue Ying smiled.
In fact, he felt helpless within his heart. This was because the Dong Bo Clan only had 15,000 gold coins left! Furthermore, this money was from Uncle Zong. Including their debts, they hadn’t had any money since two years ago! The reason for this was the medicinal baths Xue Ying had been taking since he was six years-old. He had bathed away all of the money!
One year of medicinal baths was the equivalent of 5000 gold coins, and 10 years of baths was the same as spending 50,000 gold coins! Originally, the Dong Bo couple had assumed that Xue Ying would become a knight at around ten years-old and that he wouldn’t need any more medicinal baths then. He would have been able to use Dou Qi to both nourish and restore his body. Who would’ve thought that Xue Ying wouldn’t break through until he was 16-years-old!?
"Then what about the Amethyst Blood?" Xue Ying immediately turned his head towards the Amethyst Blood Spear.
"That one is only 5,000 gold coins," said the purple-robed man. "That one can’t even compare with Flying Snow. Although Flying Snow doesn’t possess an auxiliary effect, it’s still a rank 2 refiner weapon."
Haggle, only the results matter.
Xue Ying said, "The highest I can pay is 10,000 gold coins."
…
Both sides continued haggling.
"18,000 gold coins! I can’t sell it for any lower," said the purple-robed man. The reason why he was selling it for such a low price was because this spear really was mediocre and had nothing strange about it. Secondly, it was something the old beggar had given him in exchange for feeding him. Thirdly, this spear had met the hands of dozens of experts, but none of them had wished to buy it for such a high price. Previously, someone had wanted to buy it for 18,000 gold coins, but he didn’t want to sell it then. Now that he had returned to Water Rites Town… he couldn’t sell it for 18,000 gold coins even if he wanted to!
"Fine then." Xue Ying didn’t want to continue haggling because he understood how precious this spear truly was. "But I can only pay 8000 gold coins right now! For the remaining 10,000…… I’ll pay it three months later!"
He really didn’t have anymore money!
"Selling on credit?" The purple-robed man stared blankly at Xue Ying.
"I didn’t bring that much today. After all, I wouldn’t have thought that you would have a rank 2 refiner weapon." Xue Ying said with indifference. Now that he had such extraordinary strength, it wouldn’t be hard for him to earn ten or twenty thousand gold coins. Especially once he obtained the spear, he would be like a tiger that had grown wings!
"Alright. We’ve reached a deal then! Haha. I trust the Dong Bo Clan’s strength. Let us write a certificate of debt first," said the purple-robed man.
"Do you need collateral?" Xue Ying asked.
"No need." The purple-robed man was very brave; he still wished to befriend Xue Ying.
"Uncle Zong," Xue Ying called.
From start to finish, Zong Ling hadn’t said a single word and simply followed Xue Ying’s decision. At that moment, Zong Ling took out a big stack of gold notes and handed two of them over to the purple-robed man.
Afterwards, Xue Ying wrote a certificate of debt worth 10,000 gold coins.
Soon after… Flying Snow was in his possession!
You obviously haven’t encountered a Great Spear Master before, otherwise how could you possibly let this fall into my hands? Xue Ying thought with a heart full of excitement as he picked up the box containing the spear. What he wasn’t aware of was that in the whole Azure River County, there wasn’t even a single Great Spear Master! Although there were many great weapon masters, there weren’t many that trained with the spear. It was already considered amazing if they reached the state of One with the Spear, but to become a Great Master?
It was simple too difficult!