Chapter 335: Thousand-Forged Battle Armor

“This 《Thousand-Forged Battle Armor》 is a fine piece that a master craftsman needed three full months to complete. It is the equivalent of forging more than ten thousand-forged weapons! Its market price exceeds eight hundred taels of gold. Ordinarily, only a Deputy Hall Master who has made major contributions is entitled to possess something like this.”

Not without a trace of envy, Old Seven explained just how precious it was to Wangchuan. “Across the entire Caobang, among all twenty-seven halls, only nine Deputy Hall Masters currently enjoy this honor.”

Wangchuan was deeply shaken.

He could not help glancing at Old Seven.

Armor could only be worn on the outside. In all of Sanhe Commandery, he truly was the first to receive such a thing.

Just as he hesitated, Old Seven could not help laughing.

“Wangchuan, you are the Deputy Hall Master responsible for field operations. You frequently go to the front lines and face danger. Surely you don’t expect me, the Hall Master, to wear this thing every day while going out to discuss business with people? That would look ridiculous.”

“Many thanks, Old Seven!”

Hearing that, Wangchuan felt it made perfect sense.

The defense of the 《Thousand-Forged Battle Armor》 exceeded the combined protection of the Golden-Thread Soft Armor and the Silver Thread Garment. He could also redistribute some of his current equipment to the men under his command and strengthen their fighting power.

Under the envious gazes of everyone present, he put away all the rewards, his mood bright with satisfaction.

This meeting had mainly been held to announce Wangchuan’s formal confirmation in office and his rewards.

Afterward, Old Seven instructed the various branch helms to continue recruiting more men, then dismissed everyone with a wave.

When Wangchuan returned to his residence, the various leaders began arriving one after another to pay their respects.

“Hall Master.”

“This is but a token of my regard.”

The Branch Helm Leader of the Leishui Branch Helm quietly brought over two one-hundred-tael gold notes, symbolizing a pair of auspicious blessings. “I hope Hall Master will look kindly upon the brothers of our Leishui Branch Helm in the future.”

After exchanging a few pleasantries, he rose and departed.

Soon after, men from the Main Helm, the Jinhe Branch Helm, and the three island masters all came in succession. Almost every one of them brought two hundred taels in gold notes, as though they had arranged it among themselves beforehand.

“Hall Master.”

“The last time, when you spoke up for us brothers, we were truly grateful from the bottom of our hearts… This is just a small token from the brothers of our branch helm. We ask only for your continued care.”

“This subordinate takes his leave.”

“…”

After that group left, the heads of the Seven Mines came in as the second wave, each bringing one hundred taels of gold.

In a single day, Wangchuan received one thousand taels of gold as a formal reward, plus another one thousand nine hundred taels of gold presented by those beneath him.

The wealth on his person suddenly swelled to twelve thousand taels of gold.

Only now did he truly understand why people spoke of being rich enough to rival a nation.

At this rate of wealth flowing in, even he almost began to think he was somebody important.

Once the courtyard had quieted down, Wangchuan first removed all the equipment he was wearing and had Chen Ergou help him put on the 《Thousand-Forged Battle Armor》.

The arm guards and leg guards of the 《Thousand-Forged Battle Armor》 were integrated into a single structure, and the area they protected far exceeded that of the Fish Scale Inner Armor and the Gold-Thread Inner Armor. But once attached to the body, it felt somewhat heavy.

Thirty-five jin was the equivalent of having several Hundredfold Steel Ingots pressing down on his body.

A speed penalty of -5.

Even so, once it was fastened into place, it did not hinder the flexibility of his hands and feet at all. Instead, it gave him a sense of remarkable security and solidity.

Chen Ergou and Zhao Heiniu each received the Fish Scale Inner Armor and the Gold-Thread Inner Armor. As for the Silver Thread Garment, however, it was far too eye-catching to wear openly, so neither of them dared take it. They still relied on the combination of leather armor and reinforced heart-protecting plates, which already gave them very respectable defense.

Wangchuan had Chen Ergou try slashing at the armor with blades. Sparks sprayed from the Hundredfold Steel Saber on impact. Although it could still chip away a bit of HP, it was extremely difficult to leave any real mark on the 《Thousand-Forged Battle Armor》.

Zhao Heiniu then tried firing an Armor-Piercing Arrow straight at the heart-protecting plate, only to discover that whatever craft had gone into the plate, even an Armor-Piercing Arrow could not penetrate it.

“A fine treasure indeed!”

“I’ll be wearing this suit of armor from now on whenever I go about my business.”

“It is a bit too conspicuous, though.”

“But there is no denying how safe it feels.”

It truly was worthy of being blue-grade equipment!

Wangchuan was extremely satisfied with his newly acquired armor and decided that, in the future, he would not even take it off while cultivating 《Xuanwu Art》.

Yet as he ran his hand over it, he could not help murmuring to himself,

“Fish-scale structured thousand-forged steel plates…”

“I wonder if it would work…”

“…”

Wangchuan narrowed his eyes slightly, deep in thought.

Then he rose and headed for the Weapon Room.

“Hall Master!”

“Hall Master Wangchuan!”

Along the way, every disciple he encountered greeted him respectfully and bowed in salute.

Wangchuan strode quickly into the Weapon Room and came before the three masters.

“Masters.”

“Take a look at this suit of armor on me. Would you be able to forge something like it?”

At once, the three masters set down their work and came over. They ran their hands over the armor, inspecting it up and down while offering commentary from time to time.

“Not bad.”

“This method is solid.”

“Though the process is a bit complicated, forging it itself would not be difficult.”

“That’s right.”

“If the three of us worked together, we could probably produce one suit in about a month.”

The three masters all said there would be no problem.

Wangchuan’s eyes lit up.

The Weapon Room of Sanhe Commandery could actually produce blue-grade equipment on its own?

That truly was an unexpected delight!

“Masters, would it be possible to place an order for one right now?”

“Right now?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“We still have orders from the weapon shop in hand. We must finish those first before we can free ourselves to forge this 《Thousand-Forged Battle Armor》.”

Master Lin showed a troubled expression.

The other two masters nodded in agreement.

“That’s right.”

“The orders in our hands are already scheduled a month out. We would have to wait at least another month before we could take on this task…”

“And the key thing is that winter will arrive in another month. In past years, the demand for ironware always surges sharply then.”

The meaning of the three masters could not have been clearer:

Forging the 《Thousand-Forged Battle Armor》 was too time-consuming.

Wangchuan felt a slight disappointment.

But his real purpose in coming here had never truly been to forge another 《Thousand-Forged Battle Armor》. Rather, he wanted to forge the scales from the armor and see whether the system would recognize these “thousand-forged scales” and allow him to rapidly increase the experience of 《Hundred Ingenious Thousand-Forging Technique》.

After obtaining the masters’ consent, and under Master Lin’s guidance, he began forging thousand-forged scales.

He needed only a very small portion of Hundredfold Steel Molten Iron before beginning the repeated forging process.

Clang!!!

Clang!!!

One-Breath Fivefold Strike!

Because the amount of material was so small, he simply prepared more than a dozen portions at once and worked on them all together.

After less than half an hour of repeated hammering, he completed the first stage.

Then, under Master Lin’s guidance, he carefully repaired and refined those scales…

That process was a little slower.

But by the third stage, almost no time was required.

Because the thousand-forged scales were so tiny, everything about them could be seen at a glance.

Once the second stage was done, all the third stage required was a rough glance to determine whether any reworking was needed, followed by a few minor adjustments, and the finished pieces were complete.

Out of thirteen thousand-forged scales, twelve were successful!

He summoned his Status Panel and looked:

《Hundred Ingenious Thousand-Forging Technique》: Entry Level, 12/100, next realm Minor Mastery.

Wangchuan’s eyes lit up, and a surge of wild joy rose in his heart.

He had found the shortcut for cultivating the life profession skill 《Hundred Ingenious Thousand-Forging Technique》.