Back when Tang San was at the Tang Sect, he had been specifically in charge of manufacturing Hidden Weapons. Before his leap from the cliff, he had already risen to the rank of outer sect supervisor and was extremely familiar with the Tang Sect's production processes. Almost all of the Tang Sect's income had come from the poison and Hidden Weapons crafted by the outer sect. After careful consideration, Tang San decided to bring this approach over to Soul Land. There would certainly be some difficulties involved, but a simple trial run was still feasible.
That was why Tang San decided to use today's holiday to seek out a blacksmith shop for a partnership.
Now that he had entered the Soul Venerable rank, all he had to do was pass a rank reassessment when he went to Spirit Hall next month to collect his stipend, and he would receive a hundred Gold Soul Coins per month. Blacksmiths were a low-tier profession and extremely cheap to hire, so he was confident he could afford it. On top of that, the manufacturing costs of all the Hidden Weapons would be split among everyone. Money was not the issue.
The reason Tang San had made up his mind to find a blacksmith shop to collaborate on crafting mechanical Hidden Weapons was that he intended to produce several more powerful ones. This world was, after all, different from his previous one, and every material had to be gathered by himself. Crafting more formidable Hidden Weapons naturally demanded more time and effort.
Of course, Tang San had no intention of letting the craftsmanship of the Tang Sect's Hidden Weapons leak outside. All he needed to do was outsource the manufacture of individual parts to the blacksmith shop and handle the final assembly himself — that would be more than enough to keep things secret. Forget about the blacksmiths replicating his designs; they wouldn't even be able to guess what the finished products were supposed to be.
After asking several passersby for directions, Tang San finally arrived at his destination: the largest blacksmith shop in Sotuo City. The shop's name was simple — it was just called "The Blacksmith Shop," without any decorative words attached.
Even before stepping inside, Tang San could already hear the dense, rhythmic ringing of hammers. The sounds were rapid and crisp, clearly produced by a multitude of blacksmiths hard at work.
From the outside, the scale of this blacksmith shop was far greater than the one Tang San had worked at in Nuoding City. It was easily five or six times the size of Shi San's blacksmith shop. The spacious reception hall displayed all manner of finished products arranged by category. There were three major sections: everyday utensils, weapons, and armor.
Everyday utensils occupied roughly half of the shop's floor space, with the remainder taken up by weapons and armor. Between the front reception area and the workshop in the back, a long black curtain served as a divider, with an iron character roughly a meter in diameter set into the fabric every three meters or so. It looked quite imposing.
There were six or seven attendants in the reception hall handling customers, each with clearly defined roles. Some greeted clients and took on commissions, while others delivered finished products to buyers. Behind the counter sat a burly middle-aged man who handled all the payments.
Tang San walked straight toward the back of the shop, heading directly for the counter.
One of the attendants hurried over and blocked his path. "Young sir, is there something you need?"
Tang San found it amusing inwardly — "sir" would have been fine on its own, but adding "young" in front of it felt almost mocking. His height was nearly that of a grown man, but his boyish face made it obvious he was still quite young.
"I'd like to discuss some business with you," Tang San said with a smile.
The attendant looked him up and down. Tang San was dressed plainly — a cloth shirt and cloth trousers, nothing out of the ordinary. His features were unremarkable, his build well-proportioned. He looked like just another ordinary person.
"What do you want forged? Just tell me directly."
Tang San shook his head. "I'm afraid you can't make that call. This is a long-term arrangement — if things work out, it'll be an ongoing partnership." As he spoke, he pulled a sheet of paper from inside his shirt. "Can you make sense of this?"
It was a schematic for a set of Hidden Weapon components. Whenever Tang San manufactured Hidden Weapons, he would first draw up detailed plans, performing precise measurements and calculations before crafting anything. Not everything could be committed to memory.
The attendant took the blueprint and glanced at it — only to freeze. The drawing was covered with intricate and complex patterns. Forget about understanding them; he couldn't even tell what any of the things depicted were supposed to be.
"This..." The attendant looked Tang San up and down once more before speaking. "Could you wait here a moment? I need to check with the manager and see whether we can handle this." With that, he hurried off toward the counter.
The burly middle-aged man behind the counter received the blueprint the attendant brought over. In just a short moment, his face was covered with astonishment. He exchanged a few words with the attendant, then stepped out from behind the counter and approached Tang San under the attendant's lead.
"Young man, you brought this blueprint? I can't make out what any of these things are supposed to be either. Could you explain them to me?"