Chapter 297 Solar Flame Iron Plating Powder

Upon returning to Rivervale Town, the first and most important thing for Xia Nan to do...

...was naturally to head to the White Chickadee Tavern for a steaming, fragrant bowl of creamy mushroom soup.

As the sweet, rich broth, laced with the fresh scent of minced mushrooms, lingered on his tongue before sliding down his throat to spread a comforting warmth throughout his body...

...did Xia Nan finally feel that the mission was truly over.

He didn't waste much time. After sitting in the tavern for only twenty minutes or so, he rose again, making his way to the various general stores and apothecary shops in town to offload the materials gathered from his short journey.

The most precious petrification gland from the back of the lizard's head had to be saved for "Rockhammer" Barn to reforge the Decapitating Longsword, so naturally, it couldn't be sold.

Thanks to Xia Nan's clean and decisive method of dispatching the creature, the Petrification Lizard's heart and stomach sac suffered no extra damage that might affect their value, and he had extracted them whole.

He had originally planned to sell them to the Association. After all, he had checked right before leaving town a few days ago, and the Association was in dire need of this type of material, offering a very high acquisition price.

To his surprise, after carefully comparing several shops, he found the prices offered by the town's merchants were much higher than the Association's.

Since he was selling them either way, and the Association didn't offer extra points or exchange quotas, Xia Nan shopped around and naturally chose the highest bidder.

In the end, he sold both the heart and stomach sac of the Petrification Lizard to Lady Edwina at the Verdant Crucible.

The plump, gentle lady with long curly hair did not skimp on gold coins for the materials her shop desperately needed.

She simply adjusted the Rimless Glasses on the bridge of her nose, judged the materials to be intact and of excellent quality, and then extremely generously offered the highest price in the entire town:

525 gold!

Keep in mind, when he had custom-ordered the [Bone-Bound Iron Greaves] leg armor at Rockhammer, excluding the main materials, he had spent roughly that exact amount.

Undoubtedly, this was a massive replenishment for his nearly depleted little treasury.

Lacking much eloquence, Xia Nan wasn't adept at haggling, but his outstanding Perception allowed him to keenly detect the other party's hidden emotional fluctuations, thereby judging whether he was being deceived or severely ripped off.

Moreover, since he already understood the market prices for these materials and had compared several shops, he didn't counteroffer much, making the entire transaction go extremely smoothly.

This put Lady Edwina in a very good mood.

Seeing that he was also carrying two large bags of Petrification Lizard bones, she simply waved her hand and bought them all.

Her offer was equally fair.

Xia Nan wasn't carrying a large quantity; even with Adeline's help, they had only brought back a few intact large bones of relatively high hardness and quality.

But she still offered a purchase price of 58 gold.

That was equivalent to a whole Healing Potion.

525 + 58.

Adding it all up, the loot materials alone from this mission brought Xia Nan a profit of 583 gold coins.

If he had been able to bring back the entire Petrification Lizard, he might have been able to sell it for nearly four figures.

This made Xia Nan covet the legendary spatial storage items even more.

He wondered when he would be able to own such a piece of equipment himself.

It didn't need to be massive; just being able to hold a few cubic meters of items would already be immensely convenient for him.

The fact that the materials from the Petrification Lizard could sell for so much money vastly exceeded Xia Nan's expectations.

However, he was equally aware that this was not the norm.

It was just like how monsters of the same Challenge Rating could have varying practical combat abilities due to various factors.

Not every creature with a Challenge Rating of "3" yielded materials that could sell for this many gold coins.

The reason Petrification Lizard materials were so expensive was ninety percent due to its special "Petrification Gaze" ability.

The hindbrain gland, heart, stomach sac, and even the bones were all related to it.

If it were an Owlbear instead, slicing its body up and selling it as sashimi wouldn't earn this much money.

On the other hand, it was also because creatures like the Petrification Lizard mostly appeared in mountainous regions or the subterranean Underdark.

They were exceedingly rare around the Misty Forest.

Naturally, the prices of the corresponding materials rose due to their scarcity, becoming much higher than those of other materials in the same tier.

This was what allowed Xia Nan to score such a windfall.

If he had been in Rockshadow City or Thousand Emerald Peak, even half of the current price would be an overstatement.

It was worth mentioning that long before setting out on the mission, he had looked up the relevant information and knew that the Petrification Lizard's body contained no toxins, falling into the category of edible monsters.

On the way back, Xia Nan took advantage of setting up camp for the night to try roasting a few pieces of lizard meat.

As for the taste...

He could only say the texture was similar to chicken, with hardly any fat or moisture inside. A single bite was drier than the toughest chicken breast. Without the right spices for seasoning, it was barely any different from chewing tree bark.

However, it was also possible that his cooking method was flawed. After all, the book where he previously found the information recorded that in a certain remote region in the southern part of the continent, there were specialty dishes made specifically from Petrification Lizard meat.

If he ever had the chance to pass by there in the future, he would have to give it a try.

Walking along the bustling streets of Rivervale Town, Xia Nan pondered this.

Unknowingly, he had arrived at the all-too-familiar Rockhammer blacksmith shop.

With the crisp sound of a forging hammer striking an anvil ringing in his ears, he adjusted the backpack on his shoulders and walked through the front door.

...

The moment Barn, the burly dwarven man with braided reddish-brown whiskers, caught sight of Xia Nan and recognized him, his gaze instantly shifted to the Plate-Chain Composite Armor worn on his upper body.

With an indescribable expression, he inspected it several times over.

Finally, after using his decades of forging experience to confirm that the armor had no obvious damage, he visibly heaved a sigh of relief.

Casually picking up a linen cloth from beneath the counter to wipe the sweat from his forehead, he asked with a relaxed expression, "How come you returned from the mission so early? Did you run into an emergency along the way?"

"My luck was pretty good. I ran into that lizard right after reaching the target area." Xia Nan shook his head slightly and took out a small wooden box from his backpack. "This is the gland I extracted from the back of its head. See if you can use it."

Taking it with both hands, Barn's expression instantly turned focused.

He placed the box gently on the counter and carefully opened it.

Without touching it, he simply narrowed his highly concentrated eyes to carefully observe the small, palm-sized petrification gland inside, which was entirely dark purple with grayish-white edges.

A moment later, he closed the lid again and slowly nodded. "The completeness is very good, and the quality is absolutely excellent. Based on the amount of condensate inside a gland of this tier, it will definitely be enough for the reforging."

"Rest assured, just leave it to me."

"If I mess it up, I won't take a single copper coin, and I'll compensate you for everything."

With the final puzzle piece for reforging the Decapitating Longsword acquired, Barn appeared extremely confident.

In response, Xia Nan merely waved a hand, gesturing for him to proceed normally as planned without feeling too much pressure. He trusted this outstanding blacksmith whom he had worked with many times before.

"Speaking of which, there's one more thing I need to verify with you."

As if recalling something, Barn waved at Xia Nan, leading him into the back room of the shop.

He pulled out the blueprint sitting at the very top of a broad, solid wood desk and unfurled it in front of Xia Nan.

What met his eyes was an uncolored forging blueprint sketched entirely with intricate lines, its margins filled with dense supplementary notes.

It had clearly been altered many times, the surface covered in visible revision marks.

But one could still tell that it was meant to be a longsword.

A greatsword with a completely different design from the Decapitating Longsword—much more slender and aggressive.

Consuming so many precious materials, the forging of enchanted equipment naturally couldn't be accomplished overnight.

Even before the formal hammering process began, it required repeated discussions.

From the approximate grade of the finished product to the length and weight of the blade, and even the texture on the grip, Barn carefully communicated and confirmed every single detail with Xia Nan.

Now, based on what Xia Nan had gleaned, this would be a longsword tailor-made for his combat style, suited for high-mobility warfare while maintaining razor-sharp performance.

The specific enchantment affixes had yet to be determined, but in every aspect, it would definitively be stronger than the Decapitating Longsword.

As for the grade, he had probed Barn about it. The blacksmith might not grasp the concepts of "white gear" or "green gear," but he had explicitly stated that it would at least be on the same tier as the [Darkscale Coiled Guard].

That meant it would at least be a "Rare" blue-tier weapon. With a bit of luck, bumping it up to purple "Unique" wasn't impossible.

Seeing Barn specifically bring him to the back room looking so solemn, Xia Nan's face showed no obvious change in expression, but his heart couldn't help but tighten as he asked, "So... is there a problem with the forging?"

Realizing Xia Nan might have misunderstood him, Barn hastily added, "No, no, no. Although I haven't officially started the process, I've practically finished studying the compatibility of all the materials and the heat control required for each during forging. There won't be any problems in that regard."

He then pointed at the blueprint and explained in detail to the black-haired young man, "The main materials for this longsword are set. They are Gray Steel from Flameforge Peak and the special molten-form silver ingot you provided.

"This will be supplemented by the Petrification Lizard's gland condensate as a harmonizing material, with that wooden staff serving as the grip.

"This is the part we already discussed, and it won't change, right?"

Seeing Xia Nan nod, Barn continued.

"The problem mainly lies with the auxiliary materials."

According to "Rockhammer" Barn, having previously considered the special nature of both the Gray Steel and the molten silver ingot being saturated with the fire element, he had planned to add some "Molten Fire Ash" from the Dwarven Clans as an auxiliary material. This would fully bring out the characteristics of the two metals, fusing the flame into the longsword itself, and the forged product might even gain a constant additional fire damage effect.

This was certainly good, and the blacksmith had communicated this idea to Xia Nan, who had agreed to it.

But a few days ago, when Barn spotted the hunting quest for the Petrification Lizard on the Association Second Floor, his thoughts changed.

The Petrification Lizard's gland mucus could perfectly neutralize the elemental conflict between the silver ingot and the Gray Steel. It allowed two materials of the same nature to fuse and cover each other's flaws, achieving an effect where "1+1 was greater than 2."

Under these circumstances, if "Molten Fire Ash" were still used as the primary auxiliary material, it naturally wouldn't produce any side effects. In fact, the outcome would be even better because of the Petrification Condensate.

But it was no longer the most perfect choice.

"Solar Flame Iron Plating Powder!" Barn's excitement was practically overflowing. The inspiration that surged during forging was far more thrilling to him than the gold coins in the counter.

"I plan to replace the original 'Molten Fire Ash' with 'Solar Flame Iron Plating Powder' as the primary auxiliary material for the reforging."

"The specific elemental changes involved are extremely complex and hard to explain clearly in a short time. If you're interested, we can talk about it in detail later."

"To sum it up, if we can use the Petrification Condensate as a neutralizer, the 'Solar Flame Iron Plating Powder' will become the ultimate auxiliary material for this longsword."

"It can provide the finished product with excellent toughness and thermal conductivity, fully drawing out the fire elements hidden inside the Gray Steel and the molten silver ingot. With a bit of luck, bumping the equipment grade up by another tier isn't impossible."

Understanding what he meant, Xia Nan showed a thoughtful expression and asked, "So, do you have this 'Solar Flame Iron Plating Powder' in stock at your shop?"

"I do!" Barn nodded vigorously, causing the braided whiskers on his chest to swing. "And in ample supply."

As soon as he spoke, his expression suddenly slipped from the excitement of his newfound inspiration, turning somewhat awkward.

"But this is exactly where the problem lies, which is why I specifically brought you back here to discuss it."

"The price of the Solar Flame Iron Plating Powder... uh, is a bit on the high side. It will exceed the budget we discussed earlier."

'As expected...'

Xia Nan sighed inwardly. The other party had built up so much earlier, even going as far as to say there was hope of increasing the finished product's quality.

When he finally got to the point, it simply meant the new plan required more money.

"How much over budget? How many gold coins are we short?"

As long as it didn't exceed the nearly six hundred gold coins he had just earned, Xia Nan didn't plan to pass up the opportunity to increase the weapon's strength, even if his newly acquired lifeblood was quickly drained.

Barn could clearly see the black-haired young man's thirst for combat power and weapon strength. Sticking out three thick, stubby fingers, he gestured, "Three hundred gold coins!"

"In truth, if we strictly calculate it, it would be even more than that. But since I am the commissioned blacksmith, I should naturally bear some responsibility for my newfound inspiration and the change in plans."

"You only need to make up the material price difference of three hundred gold coins. Furthermore, I swear on my reputation as a blacksmith that if the finished product fails to reach the Unique grade, I will refund the difference in full."