The Divine Armory.
The largest chain armory in the kingdom, with branches in every city and even monopolizing most of the weapon trading markets in surrounding countries.
After resting for a night, the next morning, Lu Qinghe, holding three obtained swords, arrived at the bustling commercial area at the center of Qingyuan City - the Divine Armory.
"Welcome, sir. How may I help you?" A beautiful woman immediately came up to greet him, smiling and inquiring.
Lu Qinghe, who was previously a member of the Snow Sword Villa, was not just an ordinary person. With his swords and attire, combined with his extraordinary temperament, the woman's attitude was naturally enthusiastic and respectful.
"Selling swords and buying swords."
Lu Qinghe responded, and handed over the swords of Qin Huailing, Yan Wuchi, Luo Xiao, and his own.
The Sword of the Star Piercing the Moon emphasized speed, the Three Pure Arts of the Sword was unpredictable, and the Antelope Hangs Its Horn was also adept at change. With a length of over 135 centimeters and a width of more than three fingers, the original sword no longer suited his sword style and needed to be replaced.
"Good swords! Sir, all the swords in your hands are extraordinary, especially this one. It is made of Cold Jade Steel. Holding this sword, it feels cool in summer and warm in winter. When night falls, it glows in the moonlight, exuding a cold light and flowing fluorescence. It is very marvelous and would need a top-tier smelter to forge this sword into a high-quality weapon. Please wait a moment; I will make the arrangements for you."
Seeing the swords in Lu Qinghe's hands, the woman's smile became even warmer.
"Cold Jade Steel!"
Lu Qinghe looked at the sword indicated by the woman.
This sword was obtained from Yan Wuchi.
He did not understand much about Cold Jade Steel and similar materials, but the fact that a top-tier smelter was needed clearly indicated the value of this sword, which exceeded his expectations.
Following the woman, Lu Qinghe went upstairs and waited in a private room. After a while, a man in his forties, dressed in a famous brand, walked over to him and bowed before Lu Qinghe, "I am Xiao Nanshan, a top-tier smelter from the Divine Armory. Can I have a look at your swords?"
"Please."
Lu Qinghe placed the four swords on the table.
Xiao Nanshan carefully drew out the sword from Yan Wuchi, with his arm steady as a rock throughout the process. This alone showed that this smelter was extraordinary.
"It is indeed forged from Cold Jade Steel, round and dense, without any gaps. The smith who made this sword is slightly better than me in terms of level. It appears to be from the hands of a top-tier smelter."
Xiao Nanshan looked for a moment, then glanced at the other three swords one by one, and made comments on each of them.
After a while, his gaze fell back on Lu Qinghe: "If the customer wants to sell these four swords, my Shenbing Xiaozhu is willing to offer two hundred and sixty gold, among which, this sword is worth one hundred and sixty gold."
The sword Xiao Nanshan referred to was the cold jade steel sword forged by Yan Wuchi.
"Two hundred and sixty gold."
This price greatly exceeded Lu Qinghe's expectations.
He thought that getting a hundred and fifty gold would be remarkable.
But two hundred and sixty gold, he was already satisfied.
Lu Qinghe nodded: "Thank you, with the loss of this sword, I have no handy weapon, and plan to buy a sharp sword at Shenbing Xiaozhu for actual combat. I wonder if Mr. Xiao has any good swords to recommend?"
"I wonder how much the customer is willing to pay for a sword?"
"A hundred gold."
After saying this, Lu Qinghe added, "I want a light and agile sword."
"Sorry, our responsibility is limited to identification, and we may not be able to help with this, but if the customer is interested in buying, you might as well go to Qianlongge. There are real combat swords, many of which come from the battlefield and have been tempered. Perhaps the customer will find something worthwhile."
"Thank you, Mr. Xiao. I will wait for good news from Mr. Xiao at Qianlongge."
Lu Qinghe stood up and thanked him.
Xiao's advice had been as helpful as possible; asking further would be futile and might even upset the other party, so he said to the woman accompanying him, "Take me to Qianlongge!"
"This way, sir."
The woman respectfully gestured and led Lu Qinghe towards Qianlongge.
A hundred gold!
This was a big deal, and the commission alone was close to half her month's income.
Led by the woman, the two soon arrived at Qianlongge. The swords in Qianlongge were all unfinished sharp swords, primarily designed for real combat and lacked any adornment.
Of course, even for real combat swords, adornment was indispensable, as no one wanted their sword to look unsightly.
"This is Qianlongge. In addition to the swords made by our Shenbing Xiaozhu smiths, it also collects famous swords from all over, and even some renowned martial artists and swordsmen will entrust us to sell their swords. Many of these swords can be the stepping stone to success for those martial artists and swordsmen. Even those who have succeeded in finding a master with these swords are not uncommon."
The woman led Lu Qinghe forward and carefully explained.
Lu Qinghe nodded, constantly looking at these swords.
He wasn't a swordsmith, nor did he understand the forging of weapons or steel refining. Due to his age, he had never learned appraisal, so he judged the quality of the swords based on his intuition alone.
After searching for a while, Lu Qinghe stopped in front of a counter and pointed to a remarkable-looking sword: "How about this one?"
"Sir has a keen eye. This sword is only a step away from being a top-grade treasure sword. The blade is mainly made of Cloud Flame Steel, supplemented by Azure Cloud Steel and Gale Steel, making the sword lightweight and increasing the speed of the wielder..."
"A top-grade treasure sword?"
Lu Qinghe was quite interested in the woman's explanation.
"Uh... when I say top-grade treasure sword, I mean a treasure sword verified by the national swordsmith association, and with a clear ranking of strength and quality."
"Strength and quality ranking? Can you recommend one?"
"If the customer is willing to raise the price to a hundred and fifty gold, I am willing to recommend these six famous swords to the customer."
As she spoke, she beckoned as if to lead him to another counter.
Seeing this, Lu Qinghe nodded slightly and followed the woman to the front counter, which was longer than ten meters and divided into six sections. The swords displayed there were obviously of a higher grade than those at the surrounding counters.
"Sir, these are our backstage's six famous swords: Tianque, Yuehan, Xueli, Longshan, Zhuquan, and Zihua. Each of these six famous swords is close to being a top-grade treasure sword, and they..."
"Do you have the data?"
"Please, sir."
The woman brought a beautifully decorated booklet from the side of the counter and handed it to Lu Qinghe: "Right here."
The booklet was gorgeously decorated and, although it consisted of only nineteen pages, it was quite heavy, indicating that it was no ordinary product.
"Tianque is rated eighteen for strength, fourteen for sharpness, a second-grade treasure sword, five feet one inch two long, four inches six wide, and forty-two pounds and three taels. The Tianque sword was created by the master blacksmith Beimang, using mainly Zique steel, combined with Baishe steel, Xuanzhong steel, Black Copper steel, Bear's Blood, and Mermaid's Tears... Suitable for wide-ranging sword techniques, frontal overpowering, and increasing damage by thirteen percent with powerful strikes..."
"Yuehan is rated twelve for strength, nineteen for sharpness, four feet one inch one long, one inch two wide, and four pounds two taels eight. The Yuehan sword was created by the top-grade blacksmith Xiaonanshan, with a lightweight blade, and an amplification from Tengyun steel, increasing the sword's speed by sixteen percent..."
As Lu Qinghe read through the data on each sword, he gained an understanding of these swords.
The strength and sharpness ratings were a comprehensive evaluation of a sword.
A composite score of ten or less was a lower-grade sword, while a score above ten was a middle-grade sword. After that came the upper-grade, top-grade, and even swords used by those in the Yuanming realm.
The lowest price for a lower-grade treasure sword was twenty gold. Among these six middle-grade treasure swords in front of Lu Qinghe, the lowest price was a hundred and thirty gold for the Xueli sword.
"The Yuehan sword... My main sword technique is called Shooting Stars and Piercing the Moon, and the Yuehan sword does seem most suitable."
Lu Qinghe glanced at the six famous swords on the counter and said, "I would like to purchase the Yuehan sword, made by Mr. Xiao, for a hundred and sixty-five gold."
"The Yuehan sword goes for a hundred and sixty-five gold."
The girl reported the price of the Cold Moon Sword without looking at it.
"Deduct it from the swords I am selling," said Lu Qinghe.
A sword cost one hundred sixty-five gold, which was not cheap.
However, the quality of the sword was indeed a significant improvement for a practitioner's combat power.
With the advantage of the Cold Moon Sword, Lu Qinghe's sword speed would increase by 16%, allowing him to strike eleven times in one second. Even if he were to fight with Yi Yingying again, he would not be in such a sorry state.
"Sir, this is your personal sword, along with the ninety-five gold from the sale of the sword," the girl said, presenting a precious scabbard with gorgeous sword tassels and sheath.
Lu Qinghe not only received a top-grade medium-grade treasure sword that could increase his overall combat power by 20%, but also amassed a staggering two hundred sixty-six gold at that moment.
"I'll go sell those jade pendants."
Since he had already come out, Lu Qinghe naturally wanted to finish what he started.
Jade pendants were symbols of a practitioner's status and identity, and most of them were inscribed with formations that nurtured true qi and could slowly refine it. Good jade pendants nurtured purer true qi and helped to lower the bottleneck difficulty. However, since Lu Qinghe had already reached the peak of the Triple Refining True stage and primarily cultivated true qi through refining essence, the need to nurture true qi was not urgent for him. In addition, his own jade pendant was effective, so selling Qin Huailang and Yan Wuchi's jade pendants was simply a way to exchange them for money.
"Three hundred seventy-two gold."
After selling the jade pendants, Lu Qinghe's wealth had reached a new peak.
"Eating fierce beast meat every meal, I can stay at the Tianhe Swordsmen's Guild for three months..."
With enough money, Lu Qinghe didn't waste any more time and headed straight to the Tianhe Swordsmen's Guild.
Paying an additional twenty gold per month for accommodation and cleaning services at the Tianhe Swordsmen's Guild, Lu Qinghe quickly devoted himself to closed-door cultivation.
Fully matching his physical body and restoring it to the Triple Refining True stage was the first step of cultivation.