After consuming a Qi Blood Pill, Lu Yu changed into ordinary clothes and walked out of Jimin Hall.
Seeing the two people following him, he said, "Don't follow me. I just joined the Han's residence not long ago, and the people in town don't know me. Following me will expose my identity, making it inconvenient to investigate the matters assigned by Steward Zhang."
The two exchanged a glance, stopped, and returned to Jimin Hall.
The real reason Lu Yu didn't want them to follow was because he didn't want Steward Zhang to know he wasn't genuinely investigating the mastermind behind the scenes.
He was just strolling around town, looking to see if he could buy a weapon suitable for practicing the Edgeless Blade Technique; he wasn't intending to investigate deeply.
If he found nothing, it would be fine, but if he stumbled upon any clues, that would be truly disastrous.
Walking on the bustling street, his ears were filled with the shouts of vendors at stalls, occasionally spotting a few Martial Cultivators, none carrying weapons.
Because regulations state that no one is allowed to carry weapons in the town, especially Martial Cultivators.
Unless a special permit is obtained, carrying weapons in town will lead to immediate imprisonment by the authorities.
Though civilians are forbidden to carry weapons on the streets, there are still many shops selling weapons openly; most weapon types can be bought, except for a few prohibited ones.
Lu Yu, of course, carried a weapon, only he had stored it in his backpack.
Windmill Town isn't that big, nor too small, with a width of five li in both directions. With Lu Yu's pace, he could quickly traverse from one end to the other, even just by walking normally.
Not long into his walk on the street, he spotted a three-story shop, with its sign visible from afar — Divine Weapon Pavilion.
The majority of Windmill Town's structures are only two stories, making the three-story Divine Weapon Pavilion the tallest building and exceptionally conspicuous.
Furthermore, the glowing "Divine Weapon Pavilion" characters during broad daylight were even more eye-catching.
They also attracted Lu Yu's attention.
Looking up at the glowing characters, Lu Yu was a bit curious about how they were illuminated.
"Welcome."
The hostess standing at the entrance of Divine Weapon Pavilion said to Lu Yu.
Lu Yu entered the Divine Weapon Pavilion.
The first floor of Divine Weapon Pavilion was simple yet elegant; the decor suggested that the costs were undoubtedly high here.
The spacious hall had walls full of weapons on display; patrons could directly take down any desired weapon for a trial, with prices and levels marked below each weapon.
Lu Yu briefly scanned the first-floor weapons and found all to be Hundred Refinements weapons, priced at 300 gold or more, a cost beyond his reach.
Though unaffordable, Lu Yu took pleasure in merely looking.
Hundred Refinements weapons quickly revealed their difference from ordinary weapons, being visibly more durable and sharper, with naturally formed patterns from forging, far more pleasing to the eye than regular weapons.
After a few glances, Lu Yu left the Divine Weapon Pavilion; the items there were far too expensive for him to afford.
Upon exiting, he immediately noticed Tang's Blacksmith Shop across the street from Divine Weapon Pavilion.
Only one story tall, Tang's Blacksmith Shop appeared much less grand from the outside compared to Divine Weapon Pavilion, yet its business seemed better.
While Divine Weapon Pavilion had just a few customers, Tang's Blacksmith Shop was surrounded by crowds, with the sound of hammering filling the air, and a steady stream of customers coming and going.
Lu Yu walked to the entrance of Tang's Blacksmith Shop, realizing they sold weapons as well as farming tools, explaining the constant influx of people. Tang's Blacksmith Shop even offered customized weapons.
Upon learning about the custom weapon service, Lu Yu approached the shop owner to request a weapon.
Considering his unique needs for weapons compared to ordinary people, it was typically very difficult to find ready-made ones suitable for him.
The shop owner appeared quite young, bearing a bare chest with taut muscles built from years of forging.
Upon hearing Lu Yu's request, he wiped his sweat with the cloth tied around his waist, handed the hammer to someone beside him, and said to Lu Yu, "Follow me."
The shop owner led Lu Yu to the warehouse in the backyard, filled with many completed weapons, with a few Hundred Refinements weapons hanging on the walls, well-maintained.
Walking to the very back of the warehouse, the shop owner opened a large wooden box on the ground. Lu Yu peeked inside, seeing an oversized flat-headed sword lying within.
Looking at the sword adorned with memories, the shop owner said, "This sword is called the Hundred Refinements Sword, cast using the Forging Remnants my father created."
"My father was the most skilled blacksmith in town, never creating anything but Hundred Refinements weapons. He never allowed a weapon to leave the forge without meeting his standards, no matter how perfect it seemed."
"However, after Divine Weapon Pavilion emerged in town, the blacksmith shop's business declined. Although my father's Hundred Refinements weapons weren't inferior and were cheaper, Divine Weapon Pavilion's reputation was far spread, none could match it. Moreover, where it took months for my father to craft a Hundred Refinements weapon, it only took days for Pavilion's blacksmiths."
"After my father's passing, Tang's Blacksmith Shop stopped crafting Hundred Refinements weapons, focusing only on the low-end market, gradually improving business."
The shop owner turned towards the wall of weapons, saying, "Those are the last Hundred Refinements weapons my father crafted before passing. It's a shame suitable owners couldn't be found for them. If you want one, it's 200 gold each, feel free to choose."
Having said so much, Lu Yu was almost moved by him, but then he tried to sell something, making Lu Yu feel like he couldn't even grip the steering wheel.
"No need, I just want this heavy sword." Lu Yu took the large sword from the box, and as soon as he grabbed the hilt, he felt its weight.
Reaching out both hands to grip the hilt firmly, he managed to lift the sword, barely able to swing it, the weight was sufficient.
Seeing he had no intention to buy the Hundred Refinements Sword, Boss Tang was a bit regretful, but still earnestly introduced it to Lu Yu.
"This heavy sword was forged from weapons my father had discarded, though not a crafted weapon, the materials were tempered by my father over a long time, making the texture very close to that of a Hundred Refinements weapon."
"Theoretically, even the hardness of a Hundred Refinements weapon can't compare to this sword; however, it is still brittle due to the forging process and could easily break if colliding with a harder object."
"But don't worry, I used a special Fault Melt Casting Method to somewhat mitigate the drawbacks brought by the sword's oversized body and the hard yet brittle nature due to casting."
"During the casting process, nearly a hundred discarded weapons were used, considering the loss in casting, this sword's weight is roughly six hundred pounds."
After hearing this, Lu Yu couldn't help but gasp, he could actually lift a six hundred pounds heavy sword as a weapon.
This sword, if swung down, could crush a Martial Cultivator at the fourth stage of Body Refinement just by weight alone.
But Lu Yu wanted to swing this six hundred pounds heavy sword, which wouldn't be easy.
The Hundred Refinements heavy sword has no point or edge, resembling a sword in shape only; it couldn't even be called a sword, more appropriate to say it's a sword-shaped hammer.
Boss Tang understood this too, when initially casting the Hundred Refinements sword, he didn't think of selling it; he just didn't want to waste his father's broken discarded weapons.
After all, even discarded weapons cost his father a lot of effort, so he melted them all into a large sword to keep as a memento.
Now having an opportunity to sell it, Boss Tang dared not set too high a price.
"How about this! Give me 500 gold, and this large sword will be yours. Although it's not a Hundred Refinements weapon, it used a lot of materials!"
Lu Yu silently put down the large sword, without saying a word.
Boss Tang immediately grew anxious, estimating that besides Lu Yu, no second person would buy this sword, even if the materials used exceeded those of a Hundred Refinements weapon greatly, it would only gather dust in the warehouse.
"400, at least 400 gold, can't be less, just the material costs exceed this amount."
"Boss Tang, besides me, who else would want this sword? Can you sell it as scrap metal for 400 gold? It's just gathering dust in the warehouse, might as well process it cheaper for me, I'll take it for 100 gold."
Upon hearing Lu Yu directly quote 100 gold, the old face, tougher than cowhide, couldn't help but twitch.
"300, at least 300."
"150 gold, that's the highest price I can offer!"
...
After a bout of bargaining, Lu Yu finally got the large sword for 230 gold, spending all the money he had.
Though Boss Tang wasn't satisfied with this price, he was still glad to have sold the large sword, personally escorting Lu Yu out of the blacksmith shop.
Lu Yu carried the wooden box containing the large sword as he left the blacksmith shop.
Holding weapons on the street is forbidden, but for weapons bought from the weapon shop, wrapped in a layer of packaging and affixed with the shop's exclusive mark, it wouldn't lead the authorities to arrest for publicly carrying weapons.
Although Lu Yu trained in blade techniques, the focus of the Unedge Blade Technique isn't on the blade itself. As long as conditions are met, other weapons can be used for training; however, the closer the shape to a blade, the better the effect.
That's why Lu Yu decided to purchase the Hundred Refinements sword.
More crucially, customizing a blade of the same weight wouldn't necessarily match the quality of the Hundred Refinements sword, but the price would certainly be much higher.
When asked why a youth uses a sword to train blade techniques, there's only one reason.
Poverty!
Entering a deserted alley, he put the Hundred Refinements sword into his backpack before heading to other places.
He was out to gather clues, returning too early would just tell others he wasn't putting effort into finding clues, hence Lu Yu decided to wander around the town first, experiencing the ancient cultural atmosphere.
Wandering for an hour before going back to train, that way no one would suspect he wasn't diligent.
After all, in another hour, it would be dark, returning to Jimin Hall then was within normal bounds.
Unknowingly, Lu Yu arrived at a scarcely populated area; the environment here was very poor, with often unidentified black objects on the roadside, and the drainage ditch emitted a foul smell.
Upon entering this place, Lu Yu was immediately hit by the stench in the air, turning to leave.
"Catch him, don't let him escape! That kid was previously in the Wild Wolf Gang; now the gang has been wiped out by the Han Mansion. Watch how I'll deal with him for daring to steal my money."
A group of people rushed out from the stinky alley, chasing a foul-smelling child in tattered clothes running towards Lu Yu.