72 The Divine Arms Mill! (2/2)

“The big weapons are not my type, so I shall not take any. Give me two knives and two sword. I want the best. The ones that can chop iron like it was mud. And… those small ones like throwing knife and needle… give me some. Those that can also chop iron like mud.” Ye Xiao waved his hand.

The shopkeeper couldn’t help twitching his mouth. In his mind, he had a desire of kicking this guy out.

[Are you capable of purchasing or not?

Even though you are a moron, you are not supposed to let yourself be easily overcharged.

‘Chop irons like mud’, do you even know any sayings other than this? Do you think it could be used to describe the tiny throwing knife and needle? If those expendable weapons are not custom-made, do you think we would use special materials to make them?]

Suppressing the anger in his heart, he brought up two middle-class swords.

[He must be a foppish useless lord… It would be a waste to give him any real precious swords.]

“What the hell are these?” Ye Xiao picked up one sword. He held the nose of the sword with two fingers of one hand and the blade of the sword with two fingers of the other hand, and then he casually folded it.

The sword became bent. When the blade was bent, it started to make cracking sounds. Ye Xiao immediately loosened his grip and said, “This sword sucks! The other one must be of the same quality. The elasticity and the ductility are both below average. I just bent it slightly, and it turned out like that. What garbage!”

The shopkeeper was stunned.

[The swords I just took out are some middle-class swords indeed, but ordinary people can never do something like what he did. Bend the sword using only four fingers? He’s actually a superior master?]

Thinking about that, the shopkeeper became flustered and started sweating. He then brought up some top-class weapons in a hurry.

Ye Xiao looked at one and shook his head, and then another and shook his head again. One after another, he kept rejecting the sword with disappointment on his face.

“More?”

“No.”

“The name of the Divine Arms Mill shocks the capital. However, as I see today, you are not deserving of such a great reputation. Yet you claim to be the Divine Arms Mill?” Ye Xiao frowned and looked at him asquint with disdain, “Such scrap metal… they are only a little bit better than the kitchen knife of my house… They really dishonor the word ‘divine’!”

The shopkeeper was a bit pissed when hearing that, “Sir! All the weapons in my shop are made by the true Divine Arms Mill. Even though you are aiming very high and cannot appreciate them, my weapons have never disappointed anyone except you.”

The shopkeeper’s words were neither humble nor pushy. He didn’t offend Ye Xiao, but also didn’t depreciate himself. He was truly open-minded!

Ye Xiao curled his lips and picked up one sword casually, “Proper goods for distinguished

guests. There are some words I didn’t want to say. Let’s talk about this sword. There is the pattern of clouds engraved on it and spiritual lights hidden inside. It is made from well-tempered steel. The blade itself gives off a scary aura. It shines in the light. To speak of the appearance of a weapon, it looks as if it is the king of weapons. I guess that this must be the favorite work of your shop, right?”

The shopkeeper raised his head and answered proudly, “Yes. The sword is named ‘The Sword of King’!”

“Pah!” Ye Xiao made the sound of spitting and said, “This sword holds too much focus on the appearance. Yet, its essence is flawed. It has been tempered hundreds of times, so it is very sharp indeed, but it has lost its essence and connotation as a sword. Against someone with an ordinary weapon, it would be fine to use this as it would be able to chop through iron as if it was mud. However, if facing off against some real cultivators… the weapons of the cultivators, especially those well-known cultivators, could they be ordinary weapons? Within less than three times of crashing, this sword of yours will be rolled up on the edge. This is its first failure. Seeking sharpness recklessly has lead to its thin blade.”

“Second, seeking the pinnacle of lightness makes it too light. It nearly has no weight. Lightness is good for a sword, but even ‘four ounces yields 1000 catties’[1] requires four ounces at least. This sword obviously fails. When it is pushed to a certain extent, it will break. The sword is too fragile. That is its second failure.”

“Third, after too much tempering, there has been many impurities mixed into the metal. It looks perfect on the outside, but in fact, the impurities contained inside are impossible to be removed. How could such a sword be called a divine weapon!”

Ye Xiao sneered, “A sword with impurities, with the impurities completely mixed into the material of the sword, will never respond to the owner’s mind. No matter how much blood it will be fed, it will still be nothing!”

“This sword is nothing but a ‘pretty’ ordinary metal, yet you actually call it a divine weapon…” Ye Xiao smiled blandly, “It really is unqualified! Every cultivator, especially a superior cultivator, when he wants to buy a weapon, prepares to carry it for his entire life. It will become his vital partner… because they will grow bonds with their weapons…”

“That’s why there is a saying ‘to live when the sword rises; to die when the sword falls’.” Ye Xiao spoke, “That is… when a sword grows a bond with the soul of the man who holds it, if the sword could not bear the strike, neither could the man; he would die! So, it is not a simple oath, it is a fact!”

Ye Xiao smiled coldly with his hands on his back, “I have talked that much. I just want to tell you that if this sword is your best work… Then I can be sure that cultivators at the Sky Origin Stage carry no weapons of yours!”

“Because at that very level, they no longer seek for the sharpness of the weapon, they seek for the bond between the weapons and their souls.”

Ye Xiao sighed disappointedly, “It turns out the well-known Divine Arms Mill is just of this level… It seems I have come to a wrong place today.”

After speaking, he shook his head and turned, preparing to leave.

“Hold on a second, sir!”

…

[1] ‘four ounces yields 1000 catties’（四两拨千斤), means a huge return for a very small investment; a big payoff for a small effort.