Chapter 40: Chapter 38: Crafting a Crossbow! 1

Translator: 549690339       —

Leaving Ginseng Town, Su Changkong returned all the way back to Black Iron Manor.

The thirty sets of medicinal materials for Vital Qi Spread he had purchased were enough for Su Changkong for some time.

Having returned to Black Iron Manor, Su Changkong didn’t delay and practiced martial arts as usual.

In the morning and afternoon, he cultivated the Five Animal Frolics; during the day, he practiced blade techniques; at night, he cultivated the Turtle Breath Technique. His time was fully scheduled!

Several days later, in the courtyard, Su Changkong was practicing blade techniques!

Su Changkong stood motionless when a breeze blew through, making the branches of the large trees in the courtyard shake and a leaf to fall.

“Clang!”

It was at that moment, Su Changkong suddenly opened his eyes, and the Iron- Cutting Sword at his waist unsheathed without warning, drawing a perfect arc as it cut through the air.

Swish!

The leaf was split in two and then shattered into pieces by a powerful force that scattered them all over the ground!

“This Waist Strike Style really suits me well. Integrating it into my Iron Cutting Blade Technique means I can take the lethality of the Iron Cutting Blade Technique to the next level!” Su Changkong’s eyes shone.

He had learned this Waist Strike Style from Yan Song, a sword drawing technique. Its crux lay in storing energy – it may seem motionless, but was actually like an arrow on a bowstring. Before the sword had left its sheath it was already in the rhythm of attack, unsheathing abruptly for a lethal strike!

Even if the enemy was extraordinary and prepared, blocking the lethal strike they would inevitably be put in a passive position!

The difficulty of this Waist Strike Style was not low, but for Su Changkong, who had a potential value as high as 12 points, mastering it was a breeze. It would take an ordinary person ten days to half a month to get started, but Su Changkong at most half a day to a day!

While practicing the blade, Su Changkong integrated the Waist Strike Style into his Iron Cutting Blade Technique, making the technique’s level advance by leaps and bounds. Reaching the pinnacle of the technique was merely a matter of a short time.

In the mornings and afternoons, Su Changkong’s cultivation of the Five Animal Frolics was equally rapid. As his inner strength became more refined and he developed his body’s potential, he made quick progress with the Five Animal Frolics.

As for the Turtle Breath Technique, with its immense difficulty of cultivation and the aid of Vital Qi Spread, combined with time and relentless hard work, a breakthrough was only a matter of time!

“What I lack the most… is money!” Su Changkong frowned. The Vital Qi Spread medicinal materials he had bought at Ginseng Manor were only enough for a month or so. Without the assistance of Vital Qi Spread, advancing further in the Turtle Breath Technique would have to be measured in years. He had to get hold of more money.

Su Changkong’s ability to make money wasn’t slow. At Black Iron Manor, he was the best at forging swords, capable of earning over ten taels of silver in a month. For ordinary people, this was unimaginable, but for Su Changkong, who was cultivating martial arts, it was like a drop in the bucket!

“If I want to earn enough money in a short time, I can’t go about it in a quiet, orderly manner.” Su Changkong understood this, “Previously helping White’ Jade Gang forge armor, I could earn a hundred taels in a month. I can start from there…”

A different color flashed in Su Changkong’s eyes. Rarity made things precious, especially items that were expressly forbidden – they were even more valuable!

For instance, despite their high-quality materials, swords were not forbidden in the Great Flame Empire, and one could buy them anywhere. Unless it was a truly treasured sword, it wasn’t possible to sell it for an exorbitant price.

If Su Changkong were to forge a set of armor and sell it, that would be worth more than ten, even dozens of swords combined!

Of course, that’s assuming he could sell them. Su Changkong had no plans to forge armor and sell it. Firstly, forging a set of armor by himself would take too long; it might take over a month to forge one set. Besides, such an item used a lot of materials, the cost was high, and it would easily attract attention.

“I can forge some ‘crossbows’…”

Su Changkong quickly had an idea in mind.

In the Great Flame Empire, to prevent rebellion, armor and crossbows were banned, while regular bows were not.

Bows and crossbows, while bow usage was not restricted, a good archer required a long time to train, and it could take several years to train an archer with superb skills!

But crossbows were different; their operation was simple-one only needed to learn how to pull the crossbow string and then aim and pull the trigger. Mastery of the crossbow could be achieved in just a few days, and crossbowmen could be trained en masse! This was a huge threat!

Therefore, the laws of the Great Flame Empire prohibited armor and crossbows.

The forging of armor required even more materials and was more complex Even for someone like Su Changkong, forging armor was time-consuming and strenuous, while crossbows were more compact, took less time to forge than armor, yet their value was not lower than that of armor.

Therefore, Su Changkong felt he could forge crossbows, find a place to sell them, and should be able to fetch a high price, using the proceeds for cultivation!

As to whether this would violate the laws of the Great Flame Empire… it would be fine as long as no one knew.

“First, draw the diagrams!”

Su Changkong, with his characteristic decisiveness, immediately began to sketch the schematics for making crossbows.

There were many types of crossbows: Qin Crossbow, Zhuge Crossbow, bed crossbow, siege crossbow, and so on.

Bed crossbows and siege crossbows, for instance, were too huge, far more powerful than bows and arrows, and could pierce through metal from hundreds of steps away, but they were more complicated to craft and required more time and materials.

Su Changkong was more inclined towards personal crossbows. The designs for the Qin Crossbow he had seen in his previous life surfaced in his mind, and he began to sketch them out.

After several hours, the schematic for a crossbow lay before Su Changkong.

It was a personal crossbow, primarily composed of parts such as the crossbow arms, bow, bowstring, and so on.

The materials, mainly flexible woods, were complemented by metal and cowhide, among other things. These materials were not rare, but the craftsmanship required was intricate, something ordinary people could not accomplish. Su Changkong’s forging skills had reached tier 5, so it should be no problem to devote some energy to this task!

No sooner had he thought this than Su Changkong immediately purchased some materials.

For the wood, Su Changkong bought some jujube wood, while the components and mechanisms of the crossbow were mainly made of copper. These could easily be obtained within Black Iron Manor. Cowhide for the bowstrings could also be bought without much difficulty.

Once he had gathered the materials, Su Changkong quickly set to work. Like armor, crossbows were prohibited items. Su Changkong could only forge them in secret, without anyone else knowing.

The components and mechanisms of the crossbow were highly intricate and crucial, with a high technical content that ordinary blacksmiths simply couldn’t produce and also required a furnace for forging.

Therefore, Su Changkong approached Director Liu with a request: “Director

Liu, I’d like to use the workshop in the evenings to work overtime and forge more weapons…”

He definitely couldn’t forge these components during the day when the workshop was busy. He made an excuse to Director Liu, saying he wanted to work overtime to craft more weapons and earn extra money.

This request was against the rules, making Director Liu hesitate. However, Su Changkong was the most skilled Forging Master at Black Iron Manor, and he had never asked for a raise. His request carried weight-his talents were such that he would do well even if he left Black Iron Manor. Naturally, Black Iron Manor needed to do its best to accommodate his request, to prevent any dissatisfaction that might cause him to leave.