Chapter 5 Black Market

After simply washing his face, Shen Cong quickly went to the blacksmith shop, ate some meat buns, and started forging iron embryos.

He found that his appetite had also increased a lot. He used to eat up to five or six large meat buns in the morning, but now he could eat eleven, and his stomach didn't feel bloated at all.

This should mean that his internal organs have also been strengthened.

From this point of view, the introduction of spiritual energy into the body itself strengthens the entire body. It is just a gradual cycle from the outside to the inside. The skin is the outermost, so it is the first to benefit.

"Master Shen, today a customer ordered a sword and was rewarded with ten taels of silver. If the job is done well, there may be additional rewards. Look,"

Over the past month or so, Shen Cong's blacksmithing skills have improved so rapidly that even the old masters in the blacksmith shop are ashamed of themselves, and even the stewards have to call him Master Shen.

Therefore, he can also take on some more difficult jobs with high reward.

"Okay, leave it to me."

Shen Cong took the other party's order, which had detailed graphics and requirements.

"Thank you for your hard work."

The steward bowed his hands and left with a smile.

Blacksmithing is different from other types of work. It is one of the few types of work that has a relatively high status. Especially a good blacksmith, even if he is in charge, he must be respectful, otherwise he will be poached, and the boss can hack the person in charge. .

After Shen Cong took a careful look at the order, he asked his apprentice to go to the warehouse to take out the materials and start heating and forging.

The handle is one foot and five inches long, the sword is seven feet long, and it weighs no less than ten kilograms.

The length is not a big problem, the problem is the weight. Under normal circumstances, a sword of this size is no more than two or three kilograms. The other party requires no less than ten kilograms. Then enough impurities need to be removed and the iron block is hammered into fine steel. The higher the purity. , its weight will be higher.

To make such a sword, even a master craftsman would have to spend several days of effort. Thousands of forgings would not be enough to meet the employer's requirements. It would take at least thousands or even tens of thousands of forgings.

But since Shen Cong broke through to the ninth level, his strength far exceeds that of ordinary people. His forging speed is incredible. The hammer turns at an alarming speed. The red-hot iron blocks are like soft dough under his hammering. Knead.

At ten o'clock in the afternoon, before dinner started, Shen Cong had finished forging the sword, quenching it and consecrating it.

"knock off."

Shen Cong placed the sword on the board, and the other blacksmith masters gathered around him, Zizi was amazed.

"Good fellow, Master Shen has produced another treasure."

"The whole body of this sword shines like clear water, illuminating a person's face without leaving a trace. The smoothness of the forging is shocking. We may not be able to master this kind of skill in less than thirty to fifty years."

A master tried to pick up the sword and was even more surprised and said:

"It's so heavy. This sword weighs at least ten pounds! Master Shen, you must have hammered it tens of thousands of times, right?"

"It's not that exaggerated. It's only about seven thousand times."

"Hiss~!"

Everyone took a deep breath and couldn't help but marvel.

Being able to hammer out seven thousand times in half a day is not something ordinary people can do!

For a moment, he praised Shen Conghao again.

During lunch time, Song Taiping carried his own food to Shen Cong's table, sat at the same table with Shen Cong, and pushed a pot of good wine in front of Shen Cong.

"Drunk with red blood, good wine."

This wine is Yuncheng's famous shochu. It's not cheap, and it's not prepared by the blacksmith shop for the blacksmiths. It's bought from outside. A jar costs at least half a pound of silver, which is equivalent to half a tael of silver.

"Haha, Master Shen, give it a try."

Shen Cong smiled and said:

"No reward for no merit, and I won't dare to drink it until Master Song makes it clear."

Master Song smiled sarcastically.

"As expected of Master Shen, you can tell at a glance. I've been tight on money recently and want to make some money from you."

"If I remember correctly, Master Song's monthly silver this month is eighty-two-three cents. Isn't that enough?"

"Isn't it true that my son has entered the martial arts gym and started practicing martial arts, but his foundation is too weak and he can't keep up with others, so I want to go to the black market to buy him some spiritual liquid to strengthen his body."

"Black market? Where is that place?"

"The black market is the market where warriors trade. Under normal circumstances, warriors must pay taxes when purchasing various cultivation supplies, such as exercises, martial arts, weapons, and elixirs. Even if our blacksmith shop sells swords, we must also pay taxes. The tax is paid to Daxia. The tax money is included in the money spent on shopping.

But there is no need to pay taxes on the black market, so all kinds of items are relatively cheaper. For example, the spirit liquid in the medicine shop costs five taels of silver a bottle, but on the black market, it only costs three and a half taels, and some even cost only three taels."

“So cheap!”

Shen Cong was quite surprised. Isn't the price difference too big?

"It's cheap, but the quality is not guaranteed. You need to take the trouble to check it yourself."

"I see."

This is roughly equivalent to a place without official supervision.

However, since the black market can exist, it has its rationality.

Warrior training costs too much money. If poor people want to train a warrior and change the fate of the entire family, they have to make careful calculations and get the greatest results at the smallest cost.

"Where is the black market?"

I am lacking in martial arts, so I might give it a try. In addition, it would be a good deal if I could buy some cheap spiritual liquid.

"It's two miles east of the city. It starts at midnight and ends at Yin every night."

Shen Cong nodded.

"Then how much are you going to borrow?"

"Twenty taels."

Shen Cong raised his eyebrows slightly, twenty taels, this is close to the annual income of an ordinary formal blacksmith, even he needs it now.

But Master Song is a nice person. When I first came here, he was the master who guided me the most. I can't make such rapid progress without his early help.

In addition, he earns a lot of money and has the ability to repay, so he can borrow a little bit.

"Master Song also knows that I have just become an official blacksmith. My monthly salary last month was four taels and seven taels. I may get more this month, but I haven't got it yet. Let me lend you ten taels."

"Okay! Thank you very much, Master Shen. I will give you a written receipt."

"You're welcome."

Soon, Song Taiping set up a document for Shen Cong and received ten taels of silver from Shen Cong. He left happily and stopped all work for the afternoon.

Shen Cong shot a few more fine steel swords in the afternoon and left just after dinner.

When night fell, he disguised himself again and headed towards the black market.

Although the black market is cheap, the risks are also huge. Use a disguise to avoid being targeted by interested parties.

Although there is a law enforcement team and a court here, he has no relatives or friends and is alone, so his death will be in vain.

Out of caution, he did not go there at the beginning, but waited until he was ugly. At that time, there should be more people, and there would be many eyes, so he would not be stared at.
Chapter completed!