Chapter 10: Masterful Weapons

When returning to the game, Kai Xin had an extra small stack of silver coins—the result of a night-long struggle against the ferocious wild wolves.
These ferocious wolves, with their fangs and claws, could be used to craft excellent hidden weapons or ground into powder for medicine. Their value was twice that of ordinary adult wolves. While they might be difficult for ordinary players to handle, experts who knew their attack patterns found them not fierce enough! Under the power of Shaolin boxing, they couldn’t even hold out long enough to use healing potions.
It was daytime now…
The ferocious wild wolves had disappeared, leaving only ordinary wolves wandering outside Hanshan Temple.
These ordinary wolves could hardly help Kai Xin anymore. His Shaolin boxing at the seventh level had reached a state where he could lift heavy weights with ease. His punches carried astonishing force, capable of crushing a wolf’s bones in just a few strikes. The value of their fur was less than a quarter of what it was at night. Continuing the fight was merely a waste of time.
Without hesitation, Kai Xin took the silver coins and went to a weapons shop in Gusu City.
…
There was also a comprehensive system for weapons in “Jianghu”!
The earliest iron-based equipment only increased attack power slightly but wore out quickly and was highly consumable. After a fierce battle, it usually needed to be remade or repaired.
Iron weapons were relatively inexpensive, costing between fifty and a hundred silver coins…
Slightly more durable were bronze weapons. Although their attack power didn’t increase significantly, they were strong and sturdy, thick, and easy to handle. Swordsmen preferred bronze swords over iron ones—no one wanted to constantly repair their weapons or risk losing them at critical moments.
However, bronze weapons were much more expensive, usually costing over two hundred silver coins. Those of higher quality, crafted by renowned masters, were even sharper and cost twice as much!
Beyond bronze came refined steel, red copper, and cold iron—all of which required mastery by skilled craftsmen. Almost every sword had a famous name.
As the name suggested, weapons forged by masters became brands. Naturally, these branded weapons came at much higher prices… beyond what most people could afford.
Ranging from the lowest-grade ninth-tier weapons, costing a thousand silver coins, to top-tier first-class masterpieces worth hundreds of thousands of silver coins…
Above these masterpieces were the legendary divine weapons, said to be unattainable by anyone!
Ganjiang! Moye!
Yitian! Tulong!
Yuchang (five swords: Zhanlu, Chunjun, Shengxie, Yuchang, Juque)…

Each divine weapon possesses extraordinary abilities, but no one truly knows the truth.
…
With only 500 taels of silver, it was naturally impossible to buy famous weapons or treasures. After browsing through the armory, he remained hesitant. Bronze swords started at 240 taels, yet what he wanted was a pair of gloves. There were only three types available: one with iron rings that reminded him of villains in movies—straight out of the question; another made of soft silver scales, which provided protection for the hands, allowed contact with weapons, increased lethality, and had an attractive appearance. Its durability surpassed that of bronze, and it was hard to damage unless it came into contact with top-tier treasures or divine weapons.
But its price was exorbitant! 2,000 taels…
As for the last type, needless to say—it was a top-tier treasure, the Jade Silkworm Gloves, luxuriously decorated and emitting a cold aura. It was clearly a masterpiece, so there was no need even to consider it.
Frustrated, Happy had no choice but to turn away.
“A pawnshop?”
Noticing the character “pawn” on a nearby shop, Happy suddenly had an idea. Although pawnshops were places where people pawned valuables for larger loans, they often contained good items. Things ended up as pawns frequently, and their prices were much lower than market rates in regular shops. If you had sharp eyes and good luck, you might find some decent items.
With a quick decision, Happy entered the shop with 500 taels of silver. Unlike pawnshops in the Qing Dynasty, this one had a separate, spacious room filled with items that had already been pawned, sold at prices higher than their original value. The items were varied—swords, pills, clothes, jade artifacts, and even martial arts manuals—everything under the sun.
Happy scanned them all…
Useless jade artifacts were ignored, as were clothes. He wasn’t interested in pills either. He only looked at weapons and martial arts manuals, but still found nothing suitable. Some items were valuable, but after accounting for repair costs, their prices were roughly equivalent to normal market rates, offering little profit.
Just as Happy planned to leave, two players rushed in from outside, dressed as laborers. They passed by him quickly, glancing at the items and prices on the counter. Without lingering, they took a quick look around and left swiftly.
It was a seemingly unremarkable scene, but pawnshops were not often visited by players, and such a hasty inspection clearly wasn’t very clever.

He paused, and after the two left quickly, he glanced at the spot where one of them had stayed a bit longer. Finally, an emotional expression appeared on his face.
Jade!
Inside the counter was a piece of old jade, which looked quite ordinary. Among so many jades, it was very unremarkable. If not for the strange behavior of the two people, which piqued Kaixin’s curiosity and suspicion, it would have been hard to notice the faint inscriptions on the jade…
Jade talismans!
In the martial arts world, some senior practitioners, worried that martial arts techniques might be lost or forgotten, often recorded these techniques or formulas on small, portable jade pendants. These pendants would only reveal their secrets under specific conditions, and this jade was clearly one of them.
“So that’s how it is.”
Kaixin smiled slightly, turned away, and left.
Although the value of the jade talisman was average and he could easily afford it, buying it would leave him with no money left. Instead of purchasing such an insignificant piece of martial arts knowledge, it was better to do something more meaningful.
Kaixin didn’t think that a pawnshop, with its sharp eyes, would fail to recognize the value of such an obvious skill-transmission jade talisman…
There were only two possibilities. Either the value of the talisman wasn’t high, or the formulas were incomplete!
It seemed the previous two players had already set their sights on this “bait” at the pawnshop. But Kaixin had no intention of being that foolish fish and promptly left the pawnshop.
“That kid actually didn’t fall for it!”
Around the corner of the pawnshop, the two players walked out, frowning.
Looking at Kaixin’s retreating figure, they exchanged worried glances.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“We finally got the owner to assign us a slightly more advanced task, with a reward of 100 taels of silver. Yet we failed to complete it. That kid is too stingy.”
Kaixin had no idea that what had happened earlier was actually a task planned by the pawnshop owner. His experience had saved him from trouble.