Upon hearing the commotion, a dry voice quickly sounded from the back of the smithy. "Who is it? What do you want? Don't you know that afternoon is my resting time?!"
Shortly, a ball-headed old man with a dirty, unkempt beard revealed himself. He was muscular, short, and bare-chested, with a thick layer of smelly sweat coating his bronze-colored body.
Mu Suyin asked, "You are the rumored blacksmith, Derrick Henford?"
"That's me. I'm Derrick, the owner of this place." He dully replied, then placed an emptied bowl of congee onto the nearby table.
"What do you want? Make it short. My time is limited."
In Yellow Town, Derrick was recognized as one of the best blacksmiths. However, rumor has it that he is quite an oddball. But that's not all. He would habitually lose temper and chase people away—the reason was unexplained. Hence the place hardly has any customers despite its quality product.
From the rumors, Mu Syin decided to come here.
The other smithy was packed, and she didn't want to wait nor make a scene out of nothing.
Suddenly—
"I want a spear! And, and my time is limited too!" From behind Mu Suyin, the inconspicuous Myah raised his fist and said boldly. While hiding behind his grandma, the little guy doesn't afraid of anything.
"..."
"Heh," The old blacksmith, Derrick, raised his brows.
His gaze fell on Myah, and he questioned with a smirk, "Then, what spear do you want, kid? My workshop has everything. Come on, tell me what you want."
"I...I don't know, grandma, help me." Myah grumbled and tugged her sleeve, pleading. "He thinks I don't know about weapons. Show him, grandma, do the talk for me! Show him how knowledgeable I'm."
Saying so, he speedily darted outside.
"Don't make trouble or go anywhere." Mu Suyin warned, then looked at Derrick.
"I will order a spear, five and a half feet long, including the spearhead.
"There is not much particular requirement. It just needs to be sturdy and forged fully out of Dark Iron, included the pole. Oh, and add in a basic weight inscription."
The old blacksmith Derrick walked to the nearby table, sat down on a chair, and poured himself a cup of tea.
"You sure?" He probed and appeared somewhat unconvinced.
"Dark Iron itself is heavy, and with the addition of basic weight inscription, once it's forged, the spear will be over 600 pounds.
"The kid is young and is only a One-star Warrior. But even as a One-star Warrior, his body is not fully developed. He won't be able to handle it for a long time. And, even if he uses it for mere weight training, it's easy to get injuries if not handled skillfully."
Mu Suyin casually remarked, "You mind too much into other people's business. Tell me, how long will it take?"
Neighuff!
"Huh?"
At this moment, the noises inadvertently caused him to glance outside and spotted Myah playing around with Bumpkin.
"A Grass Horse, huh? Hum, so that's it, no wonder. With the acquired talent
"Understandable." He took a sip of the hot tea and agreed, "Although this place is empty, I won't sell my work for cheap. The spear will cost 100 low-grade Spirit Stones total. I still need to restock the materials to create an inscription sometime later. You can come and pick up the spear tomorrow."
Mu Suyin gave the untidy smithy one last impression responded shortly after, "Very well then, I will come back tomorrow. Here is the upfront payment."
After leaving half of the required Spirit Stones on the dirty table, she walked out of the door and left the smithy.
...
A while later, Old Derrick eventually stood up from his seat.
Seeing no one else coming, he closed the workshop and walked to the back of the smithy.
There, inside a large furnace, one can see a snail-like beast over four meters tall with its rough shell glowing like a piece of smoldering charcoal.
With red flame occasionally flaring through the holes on the exterior of its shell, the creature appears to be resting with its eyes closed.
After picking up his forging hammer, Old Derrick tossed a large piece of Dark Iron inside the furnace. He raised his voice and spoke to the snail, "Wake up and put up the flame. I have to work!"
Gura!
"Oh, come on, do your job." He said, dully smacking the furnace with the forging hammer, making it tremble.
Gura—Gura Gura!
Accompanied with a low grumble of the creature, a stream of red flame gradually filled the furnace. The air in the room quickly distorted as the heat increased to a terrifying level.
Clang!*
The rhythmic sounds of hammering metal resounded from the smithy.
—
"Grandma, what do we do now?" Outside of a place called Yellow Town's chamber of commerce, Myah asked in confusion. In his hand was a half-eaten candied apple.
The crunchiness was gratifying and sweet.
Mu Suyin silently stared at the plaque on top of the entrance and replied, "We are at the town's chamber of commerce.
"Many things can be sold and bought here. Besides cultivating and training, there are many things you need to learn. Common sense is also essential. This time, our purpose here is to sell healing balm."
"Why?"
"To get more Spirit Stones, of course. Without them, how will you cultivate?!" She poked his cheek and stated the obvious.
Since Myah has become a One-star Warrior, his ability to sense the world's spiritual energy has fully recovered.
Compared to before, when he could barely absorb one low-grade Spirit Stone a month, he could now fully absorb one Spirit Stone a week.
As he becomes stronger and stronger, the speed at which he refined spiritual energy will also improve. Inevitably, he will burn through even more Spirit Stones at an even faster rate.
Talent is essential, but resources are just as necessary!
The Spirit Stones Mu Suyin obtained from selling the severed arm of the Rank 3 Alpha Dire Wolf was limited in the first place. Tomorrow, after she paid the rest of the Spirit Stones for the spear, there won't be many remaining.
Cultivators can live anywhere, but without any resources to aid the cultivation, their strength will stay dormant and deteriorate.
Mu Suyin has decided to stay in the town for a few more days and trade for adequate resources before returning to the village.
The particular healing palm she created is comparable to some of the best types of Rank 1 Healing Potions and pills on the market. Hence she wasn't apprehensive about money.
After storing the complained Bumpkin into the Moon Shrine Bracelet, they walk into the Yellow Town's chamber of commerce.