Chapter 223 – Finding a Weaponsmith to Be My Father-in-Law - Part 1

Portrait after portrait of beautiful women was delivered to Li Yuan.

Rendered in traditional ink and brush, each woman was strikingly attractive.

He hardly bothered to study their faces—anyone chosen to be presented here was bound to be beautiful. Instead, he looked over the family names and the brief introductions of each candidate. His eyes widened slightly when he realized all of them were seventh rank.

Still, he didn’t give an immediate response and just set them aside, saying he would think it over.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

That night, Xue Ning’s condition had improved. She lay quietly in his arms, looking at the portraits. Gently stroking his cheek, she said, “Dearest, it’s best to find a woman with at least some martial cultivation. That way, she can keep up with you.”

Li Yuan, holding her from behind, had already refrained from any intimacy for the sake of her health. Though Xue Ning was capable and dignified, she was ultimately a normal woman, unable to withstand his physique even if he took care to be gentle.

When he heard her suggestion, Li Yuan said, “You’ll never guess. These families sent only seventh rank women.”

“Really?” She gasped softly, then mulled it over and added, “They’re seventh rank, and you’re sixth-rank. There’s not that big of a gap. Maybe they can have your child?”

“Probably,” he replied. “Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many seventh rank candidates. They’re all hoping for another little one like our Ping’an.”

At this, Xue Ning felt an upwelling of pride; she was truly happy that their son was so highly valued. Beaming, she continued, “Even if they can’t conceive, they’d still gain a strong son-in-law, plus our Ping’an as a future powerhouse, and another link to Deputy Gu. There’s no downside.”

Li Yuan nodded. “It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement. If I marry one of them, we’ll have the security of a clan backing us. As for whether they’ll want me doing tasks for them, I’ll make it clear. If I have time, I’ll pitch in; if I don’t, I won’t. If that doesn’t work for them, then no deal. But I doubt it’ll be an issue. What they really want is to form ties, not force me to run errands.

“Another reason is that in this world, certain rare resources and skills are monopolized by these big families. Even though you’ve established the Purejade Merchant Association, you’re still limited to trade in goods at seventh rank or below. If I ally with a powerful clan, it’ll be easier to access those rarer items.”

Xue Ning turned around and hugged him tightly, laughing, “And you’ll also get another lovely bride.”

He said, “But let’s be honest. If it’s basically a political union, real affection won’t be easy to foster. I can only try my best.”

Drawing close to his ear, she teased in a whisper, “With your...capabilities, she’ll soon lose her heart to you.”

Smiling, Li Yuan tapped her nose. “She’ll have her own influential background. If she’s younger than you, just call her little sister.”

Xue Ning laughed. “But she’ll be a ranked martial artist from a prominent clan. She might not take it well if I call her my little sister.”

They continued chatting in hushed voices before finally drifting off to sleep.

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The next day, Li Yuan still didn’t choose any of the portraits. He had plenty of time, after all.

He went out for a stroll and soon found himself back at the blacksmith shop from the other day.

Outside, the shirtless smith was as focused as ever on hammering the metal, paying Li Yuan no mind. Inside, the middle-aged man tending the shop rushed out from behind the counter to greet him. “Lord Li, I was just about to come see you.”

The new form of address caught Li Yuan off-guard for a moment. Then he remembered how much fuss the local families had made, arriving in splendid carriages these past few days, all vying to send him portraits. No wonder people were calling him

Lord Li

now.

He didn’t dispute the title but politely asked, “Might I know your name?”

The man grinned. “I’m Cui Santong from the Cui Clan, and this forge is part of our family’s business. In fact, a couple of days ago, my clan also sent a portrait to your residence.”

“That’s strange,” Li Yuan said. “I recall you mentioning this place belonged to a Master Zhu.”

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Cui Santong chuckled. “Master Zhu? Well, it’s an old story, no secret to our clan, so I won’t hide it from you. The truth is, Master Zhu is actually our clan’s son-in-law. So if he owns it, naturally it’s part of the Cui Clan’s property.”

He paused and looked a bit uncomfortable before adding, “But, Lord Li, Master Zhu won’t meet with you, no offense intended. He’s just particular. He only meets with fifth rank martial artists or those who specifically want to discuss forging spirit weapons.”

Li Yuan thought for a moment, then pulled a gold ingot from his robe and pressed it into the middle-aged man’s hand. “I need some information,” he said.

Surprised, Cui Santong tried to push it back. “Lord Li, please, I can’t take this.”

But Li Yuan simply tucked the gold into his arms. Realizing there was no refusing him, Cui Santong offered a polite thanks, then led Li Yuan outside the noisy forge to a quieter spot where they could talk.

“Go ahead,” he said with a laugh. “Ask me anything.”

Li Yuan’s expression turned pensive. In this land, many weapons, both for external and internal cultivation, were easy to buy. But anything on an industrial or advanced level, such as puppet-making or alchemy...was basically impossible to find. Even forging spirit weapons fell into that category. It was a skill fiercely monopolized at higher levels. If he wanted such weapons, he had to become someone with significant backing, and he certainly couldn’t commission them in secret.

For Li Yuan, hiring a weaponsmith to craft him a spirit weapon would mean revealing that he was on the verge of breaking into the fifth rank. That would draw attention to the powerful, hidden inheritance he possessed, and thrust him into a volatile web of lies and dangerous politics—an unpredictable mess, possibly one of life and death.

The only solution was to become a weaponsmith himself so he could craft his own spirit weapon.

Over the past few days, Li Yuan hadn’t been idle. Using the human-skin manacles, he’d taken control of the Black Wolf Gang’s leader and instructed him to investigate the smithing masters inside Holy Tree Temple’s city stronghold. He discovered there were only two recognized weaponsmiths in the entire Holy Tree Temple—one

inside

and one

outside

.

The one inside was renowned for his skills, treated as a revered guest within the third gate. The one outside was none other than Master Zhu. His abilities were supposedly decent enough to qualify as a weaponsmith, but he had once failed at forging a crucial spirit weapon, ruining all the expensive materials in the process. Afterward, he seemed to exile himself beyond the city walls.

The Black Wolf Gang’s leader also heard a rumor that Master Zhu was a son-in-law of the Cui Clan, a once-prominent clan with three elders serving in the Holy Tree Temple. However, during a fierce clash in the Jade Capital against the Red Lotus Rebels, one elder had been gravely wounded, and another had died when the rebels joined forces with the undying husks. And So, the Cui Clan had lost significant manpower, leaving them severely weakened...though still far from powerless.

Now, given Cui Santong’s confirmation that Master Zhu was indeed tied to the Cui Clan, Li Yuan was certain the rumor was true. Cui Santong’s cordial attitude only reinforced that the Cui Clan wanted an alliance with him.

Noticing Li Yuan’s silence, Cui Santong said, “Don’t hold back. Whatever you want to know, just ask.”

After a pause, Li Yuan asked, “Does Master Zhu have a daughter?”

That question startled Cui Santong. He stared at Li Yuan for quite a while before answering, “He does. And she’s...well, she isn’t married. But there are some...special circumstances.”

“I’ll be honest,” Li Yuan said, regarding the man with a calm gaze. “I’m interested in forging weapons myself. Would you mind relaying a message to your clan for me?”

Cui Santong’s face flickered between joy and worry. Eventually he nodded and said, “Yes, of course.”

Li Yuan called after him, “And about Master Zhu’s daughter, what’s so special about her?”

Cui Santong hesitated, looking apologetic. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to speak with my clan first. But rest assured, she’s very beautiful, and...and not yet betrothed.”

Li Yuan replied, “Then pass this on to the Cui Clan. If their proposed match is Master Zhu’s daughter, I’ll pay them a personal visit right away.”

After all, if he was going to marry for alliances, he might as well get what he needed out of it, too.

Li Yuan hadn’t been able to find the skills of a weaponsmith, nor had he managed to meet one in person. So, he figured the best solution was to marry into a clan that had one, essentially making a smithing master his father-in-law.