In a small courtyard in the southern part of the city.
A young man was relentlessly practicing his punches in the open yard. As his body weaved and shifted, his fists cut through the air, stirring up gusts of wind. Straight punches, uppercuts, hooks… every one of his movements was filled with a palpable sense of power. A faint golden light could be seen shimmering on his arms, as if golden serpents were slithering just beneath his skin.
"Shattergold Elbow!"
At a certain moment, the young man snapped his head around, his eyes locking onto a brick tied to a section of the courtyard wall. His body abruptly accelerated as he unleashed a vicious elbow strike!
Instantly, the brick that had been firmly fixed to the wall exploded under the force of the blow. Shattered fragments flew everywhere, and a small cloud of dust burst from the wall's surface.
"Hah…"
Retracting his elbow, the young man calmed the Dou Qi circulating within his body and let out a soft, cloudy breath. A look of satisfaction appeared in Zhou Changqing's eyes as he surveyed the broken pieces of the brick. Clearly, he was quite pleased with the power of his attack.
"To master the Shattergold Elbow to this degree in just over a month… it seems my talent for Dou Techniques is no worse than my talent for cultivating Dou Qi."
After brushing the brick dust from his sleeve, Zhou Changqing cleaned up the scattered fragments before sitting down at the stone table in the yard. He poured himself a cup of tea to quench his thirst.
It had now been two months since his second visit to the Mitel Auction House. Two months ago, after the reputation of his iron-shaving blades had soared, he had returned to the auction house to sell four newly refined weapons. This time, however, he had opted for an auction instead of a direct sale.
Although the direct sale price for an "Ironshave Blade" had already reached around twelve thousand gold coins, the buzz surrounding the so-called "Ironshave Treasure Blades" was steadily growing as the first three made their way into the world. Countless mercenaries coveted them.
According to Ya Fei, if they were to hold another auction, she was confident she could push the price of each blade to over fifteen thousand. That meant the four blades would fetch a minimum of sixty thousand gold coins, a full twelve thousand more than a direct sale.
Zhou Changqing wasn't one to burn money. He had already lost out on nearly fifteen thousand gold coins the first time around. Why would he make the same mistake twice? He was no fool to be taken advantage of. The first time, he had been in urgent need of funds to purchase supplies. But now that everything on his list had been acquired, he was in no such hurry.
After resting for a while, Zhou Changqing picked up a book from the pile on the table and began to read. These were the books he had tasked the auction house with procuring for him, covering topics like formations and the crafting of medicinal cauldrons. Ever since he had gotten his hands on them, he had added reading them to his daily routine, alongside his cultivation and weapon refinement.
The Ironshave Blades were merely products of nurturing weapons with his Gold-Thunder attribute Dou Qi. Strictly speaking, it could not be considered true weapon forging. This was why Zhou Changqing had always referred to them internally as "common blades"; the "treasure blade" moniker was just a marketing ploy to fetch a better price.
He had long had an idea for how to expand upon the path of weapon refinement.
Formations, in essence, were a method of using special materials or Dou Qi to activate different formation glyphs, thereby achieving various functions. Formation glyphs were, to put it simply, a type of special energy conduction path. It was only because these paths resonated with the natural laws of the Dou Qi Continent that they could produce different effects. This was the same principle as the microchips and circuit boards of the modern technology in his past life.
Therefore, Zhou Changqing wondered if it was possible to inscribe formation glyphs with special functions into a weapon. By embedding a Monster Core as a power source and using Dou Qi as the switch, the weapon could be endowed with a variety of abilities. For example, it could be made sharper, or heavier, or any number of other things. Such a Monster Core weapon would be far more practical and powerful than the simple weapons on the Dou Qi Continent, which were merely embedded with Monster Cores to amplify Dou Qi.
This idea of Zhou Changqing's was not just baseless speculation, because such devices already existed on the Dou Qi Continent.
The medicinal cauldron.
The fire spout of a medicinal cauldron could convert an alchemist's fire-attribute Dou Qi into a tangible flame. Wasn't the principle behind this an application of formation glyphs? It clearly was.
Although the books Zhou Changqing had purchased were only the most basic texts on formations and cauldron crafting, they confirmed that his thinking was on the right track. With his direction validated, Zhou Changqing began to delve deeper into the study of formation glyphs and the techniques for crafting a cauldron's fire spout, seeking to perfect his own art of weapon refinement. While two months of intensive research had yet to yield a breakthrough, he had made significant progress. He was confident that, in the near future, the first true Monster Core weapon on the Dou Qi Continent would be born from his hands.
Of course, Zhou Changqing hadn't spent the last two months solely researching weapon refinement; he had also been cultivating a Dou Technique. This was the Shattergold Elbow he had just demonstrated.
After the auction for the second batch of four Ironshave Blades had concluded, Zhou Changqing had asked Ya Fei to find him a suitable Middle Huang-rank Dou Technique, along with more special metals and books. It wasn't long before he obtained two Middle Huang-rank Dou Techniques from her: Shattergold Elbow and Thunderous Flash. One was an offensive technique, the other a movement technique.
This finally remedied his previous lack of Dou Techniques, allowing him to better utilize his full strength. He would have liked to learn more, but unfortunately, the two techniques had exhausted nearly all the proceeds from his second auction. So, Zhou Changqing had to put the idea aside for now.
After more than a month of practice, he had cultivated both techniques to the point of mastery. For the current Zhou Changqing, they were more or less sufficient. Rome wasn't built in a day; he would take it one step at a time.
…
"Brother-in-law, when are we making our move? We've been watching this place for almost a month."
In a deserted alley, three men were casually keeping an eye on a small courtyard not far away. Just then, the youngest of the trio couldn't help but complain to the only middle-aged man among them.
The middle-aged man's brow furrowed. He shot the youth a displeased look and hissed in a low voice, "What brother-in-law? Out here, you call me Manager Liu!"
"What's your hurry? This is a serious matter, personally ordered by the master. If anything goes wrong, do you think the three of us will get off easy? Have you forgotten what happened to those who failed two months ago?!"
"I… I understand, brother-in-law. But is all this caution really necessary? That kid is just an orphan. What can he possibly do? I bet I could take him down easily by myself." The youth flinched at the scolding. Seeing the smirk on the other young man's face, he felt he had lost face but didn't dare to act out, so he could only mutter under his breath.
"You don't know a thing!" The middle-aged man glared fiercely at the youth, his gaze then shifting back to the small courtyard. He spoke in a low, somber tone, "He may be an orphan, but you must remember, he is the seller of the Ironshave Treasure Blades!"
"An Ironshave Treasure Blade is a treasure comparable to a Tier 2 medicinal pill. How could a mere orphan who has produced thirteen such weapons be simple?"