Chapter 35 – No Problem at All

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read more at Nineheavens.org

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Chapter 35 – No Problem at All

Having taken his eyes off the White Fang, Cheol Ryu-heun surveyed the remaining swords in the armory.

"Quite pathetic."

Indeed, it was as he said.

Among the approximately one hundred swords currently stored here, there were virtually none that could be called high-grade.

Most were mid-grade or low-grade.

The quality was embarrassing even to give out as training swords for new disciples, let alone for personal use.

About twenty of them looked fairly decent, but still fell short of being completely high-grade.

In truth, compared to the sword at Cheol Ryu-heun's waist, they might as well be scraps.

Of course, the Gan Jiang he owned was a treasured sword belonging to the ultimate tier throughout all of history.

But even so, this wasn't acceptable.

A sword is still a sword.

The overall quality was far too substandard.

Replacement was urgent.

For a martial sect to develop, the quality improvement of weapons was just as important as the quality improvement of its members.

Especially for swordsmen belonging to a time-honored place like White Peak Sword Sect – shouldn't they at least have swords of similar quality to other prestigious major sects?

'I should just use what's here for educational materials and replace all the current members' combat swords with higher-strength ones.'

Recreation of the Mountain Martial Association, the martial world's premier ultra-elite swordsman group.

In keeping with that grand goal, he intended to mass-produce high-quality swords.

The old saying goes that a true martial artist doesn't rely on weapon power, but that was closer to an aphorism emphasizing the spiritual aspect. For any martial sect, securing excellent weapons was an essential element in building a solid foundation.

This was even more crucial for White Peak Sword Sect, where the Divine Martial Sword itself now resided.

Since the wanderer's true identity and martial level were still unknown, improving the environment here was not something to delay.

It was a task that needed to be resolved as quickly as possible for combat power enhancement.

If that wanderer commanded a large force or was secretly in league with others, the possibility of large-scale combat in the future couldn't be ruled out.

Calculating all possibilities was impractical, so thorough preparation in advance was proper.

Though finding any trace of him was the immediate hurdle…

Anyway, thinking of the future, any visible deficiencies now had to be addressed swiftly and decisively.

To replace the sect's swords with higher-strength ones, good materials had to be selected first.

That was fundamentally the first factor determining a weapon's grade.

Just as the skills of first-rate swordsmen aren't all the same, weapons that fall in the high-grade category weren't all the same either.

There was clearly a hierarchy.

Even Divine Weapons at the very top of all weapons in the world were graded – all the more so for categories below them.

Therefore, materials for common iron swords were naturally excluded.

Preferably, it should be at least the level of minerals mainly used by mid-tier powers and above.

When discussing sword materials, the most frequently mentioned was White Steel Stone.

It was a white iron ore mainly buried inside or beneath rocky mountains, a mineral that anyone with money could obtain through merchant guilds.

Despite its abundant reserves, the price was somewhat expensive, but manageable for any mid-tier power without much strain.

Iron swords refined with White Steel Stone as their main material were more durable than the standard iron swords on the market, making them the most popular item among orthodox and unorthodox swordsmen alike. Even minor martial sects would stock a certain amount if their finances were decent.

In other words, whether large or small, it had practically become a necessity for a sect's leadership.

Comparable materials to White Steel Stone included Azure Shadow Stone and Black Silk Stone.

However, due to their somewhat smaller reserves, those two were more expensive and had become luxury items in current times.

So wealthy swordsmen sometimes carried iron swords made of Azure Shadow Stone or Black Silk Stone.

They existed here too.

Swords made with Azure Shadow Stone and Black Silk Stone.

None other than the White Fang that Gul Ma-hun had used.

As if proving his exceptional ambition and desire for ostentation in life, Azure Shadow Stone was used in the blade and Black Silk Stone in the scabbard.

In crude terms, showing off with money.

He had wasted expensive minerals – enough to make two swords – in such a manner.

The White Fang's completeness itself was definitely splendid, befitting the money spent.

It was a weapon boasting the quality of a high-grade item that any swordsman would envy.

However, from Cheol Ryu-heun's perspective, White Steel Stone, Azure Shadow Stone, and Black Silk Stone were all just common-tier materials with nothing special about them.

What he was currently considering as materials were rare minerals.

At minimum, Meteoric Iron grade or above.

Rare minerals, as the name suggests, were uncommon in the world. Even having lots of money didn't mean you could easily obtain them – great fortune had to accompany you.

Like a fortuitous encounter.

Among rare minerals, Meteoric Iron – relatively common among them – was divided into several types, with Dark Iron being the most representative.

When forged into a weapon, its pure hardness surpassed White Steel Stone, Azure Shadow Stone, and Black Silk Stone.

Strange Iron and Ink Iron, in the same category, were at similar levels to Dark Iron.

Any ordinary swordsman would be satisfied with just a sword made of Meteoric Iron… but not Cheol Ryu-heun.

Because Meteoric Iron was merely the minimum baseline for materials needed to forge swords.

The rare minerals he had in mind were different.

They could be precisely categorized into three types.

First, Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron.

Iron ore buried in one of the few extremely low-temperature strata in the Central Plains, aged at least ten thousand years.

The solidity of Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron was tremendous beyond description.

Even Meteoric Iron, which was clearly in the rare mineral category, couldn't even be considered for comparison.

In other words, it was a different class.

Weapons refined from Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron showed absolutely no wear no matter how long they were used, requiring no separate maintenance. And if the owner was a peerless master, through the monstrous hardness harmonizing with their deep internal energy, ordinary iron weapons would be treated like twigs.

Simply put, it was an undisputed ultimate-grade mineral – make it into a sword and it becomes a peerless treasured sword or famous sword; make it into a saber and it becomes a legendary treasured saber or famous saber.

But the problem was that obtaining Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron was as difficult as finding a needle buried in sand.

Unless truly blessed by heaven, acquisition was impossible.

The fact that only three masters in the current era possessed weapons made of Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron clearly demonstrated its rarity.

Moreover, those three hadn't obtained and made them personally but inherited them through generations.

Thus, Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron was exceptionally rare even among the world's rare minerals.

Second, Adamantine Unbreakable Iron.

A rare mineral that could truly be compared to Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron.

Weapons refined from Adamantine Unbreakable Iron also displayed overwhelmingly superior hardness – it was named as such because it evoked the ultimate realm of external martial arts, the Adamantine Unbreakable Body.

This too was equally difficult to obtain.

In the current martial world, only two masters owned weapons made of Adamantine Unbreakable Iron – one in the orthodox faction and one in the unorthodox.

Third, Crimson Crow Iron.

A rare mineral with a dark red tint, which might be discovered in minuscule amounts perhaps once every hundred years.

While the pure hardness of weapons refined from Crimson Crow Iron wasn't comparable to the previous two, when wielded by a renowned master, the difference was imperceptible due to its solidity. Thus, it had been established as an ultimate-grade mineral since ancient times.

Strictly ranking, it was below Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron and Adamantine Unbreakable Iron, but for those who had reached high realms of martial arts, this was a meaningless distinction.

Its rarity was somewhat lower than the previous two.

Therefore, the number of owners of weapons made from Crimson Crow Iron was naturally greater.

Of course, that was compared to Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron and Adamantine Unbreakable Iron.

Since it was still an ultimate-grade rare mineral, finding a location where it was buried was just as much of a hurdle.

Anyway, the only things Cheol Ryu-heun had in mind were Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron, Adamantine Unbreakable Iron, and Crimson Crow Iron – just those three.

But… there was a reason rare minerals were called rare minerals, wasn't there?

How could he secure enough to forge about a hundred swords? Could he even get a small amount of just one of those?

If someone else could read his thoughts, they would naturally have such doubts first.

But there was no problem at all.

For Cheol Ryu-heun.

Well, the reason was simple.

He already knew the locations where Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron, Adamantine Unbreakable Iron, and Crimson Crow Iron existed.

The only problem, if any, was that the geographic distance was too far and he lacked manpower.

'This is what money is for.'

Right, he just needed to borrow others' hands.

In an instant, a perfect solution flashed through his mind.

Smirk.

A soundless smile appeared at the corner of Cheol Ryu-heun's lips, then quickly disappeared.

Honestly, if he could have his way, he wanted to also secure the materials used in Divine Weapons, but that was realistically absolutely impossible.

Why?

Because things called Divine Weapons were each refined using unique materials that existed only once in history.

It meant that the same materials could never be obtained again.

That was why the status of Divine Weapons was so precious and their prestige so unrivaled.

There were no objects of comparison.

No matter how high the rarity value of weapons made from ultimate-grade minerals like Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron, Adamantine Unbreakable Iron, or Crimson Crow Iron might be.

If so…

Just how precious were the materials used for the Divine Martial Sword, the pinnacle of Divine Weapon class?

Even he, reincarnated as Cheol Ryu-heun, suddenly became curious about that.

In truth, other Divine Weapons had clear production histories, but only he himself was unclear.

Soon, Cheol Ryu-heun's gaze rested on his waist area.

Gan Jiang – which, together with Mo Ye, had once reigned as the supreme, strongest treasured swords in the era before the martial world was born.

The production history of this legendary sword was equally unclear.

There were only fragmentary records that the great ancient master swordsmith Gan Jiang had made it.

Various theories existed about what it was refined from.

Some said that along with some iron that was one of a kind in the human world, jade from the immortal realm was used; some said bones of divine mystical creatures were ground into it; some said the head of an evil demon was cut off and melted; some said Gan Jiang and his wife Mo Ye jumped into the cauldron themselves…

Though many tales circulated, no one knew what was true.

There was no way to know unless Gan Jiang came back to life and told them.

'I do feel a bit of regret. If only I could imbue it with divine energy, this too would be in the Divine Martial Sword tier.'

With that thought, Cheol Ryu-heun looked around the armory and picked up an empty scabbard.

"This will do."

He intended to use it as a scabbard to sheathe the Gan Jiang.

Click!

Just as he sheathed the sword, a person appeared outside the armory door.

"Sect Master, so you were here. Did you ask for me?"

It was Ye Woon-rang.

Cheol Ryu-heun turned his head and soon walked over to stand before him.

"I have something to ask."

"Ah, please go ahead."

"You've been a wanderer for over ten years, right?"

"Yes, exactly twelve years as of this year."

"Then among the martial world people you've seen during that time, were there any impressive wandering swordsmen? For example, overwhelming martial power, or an obsession with Divine Weapons, or anything at all."

Cheol Ryu-heun didn't hold much expectation even as he asked the question.

In truth, he was convinced that the wanderer he sought was most likely the type who avoided public eyes and acted covertly.

At that moment, Ye Woon-rang's gaze deepened.

"There is. Exactly one impressive wanderer… A wanderer who possessed truly terrifying swordsmanship."