Dragon's Origin

Old Tie had initially come just to introduce Old Qian, but now hearing that Wang Sheng wanted to see a batch of weapons, which happened to be his specialty, Old Tie nodded and followed along as soon as Wang Sheng invited him.

That batch of five-hundred-year-old weapons was stored in a special courtyard. Wang Sheng had originally planned to send them to Qian Sheng Yuan soon, but before he could, Old Qian came to his door, which was perfect timing for him to take a look.

The courtyard had dedicated guards. Seeing Wang Sheng and Qiangwei bringing Old Tie and another lecherous old man over, the guards didn't say anything and opened the door.

Upon entering, everyone saw weapons neatly arranged on the ground, categorized by type. The moment Old Tie saw so many weapons, his eyes immediately gleamed with excitement. As for Old Qian, his eyes also shone, but after only a short while, he couldn't help but curse, "A waste of resources! A waste of resources!"

"What's wrong?" Wang Sheng asked, puzzled.

"What's wrong?" Old Qian didn't care whose territory this was and started scolding, "You're leaving so many good things out in the open like this? You couldn't even set up a few protective formations?"

"Old Qian, can you tell me what's so good about these things?" Wang Sheng didn't feel embarrassed at being scolded at all, and instead asked with a smile.

To be friends with people like Old Tie, one must have some real skills. These Grandmaster figures all have big tempers, and those who share their temperament must be the same. Wang Sheng wasn't surprised at all.

"Take a look at this!" Old Qian casually picked up a tattered long saber from the ground and pointed it at Wang Sheng, saying, "This saber, the material is definitely top-notch from hundreds of years ago, the best Jian steel. Although it's still a bit inferior to what we have now, back then it was definitely the most powerful weapon."

Wang Sheng nodded repeatedly as he listened, and even Old Tie was drawn over. "This is Jian steel? Hasn't the technique been lost?"

"It is Jian steel." Old Qian handed the long saber to Old Tie, letting him test the blade's edge with his fingers and feel the unique texture of this alloy steel. "But it's meaningless to have it now. Let the technique be lost! But it's still very useful for those who want to study that period of history."

Old Tie stroked the notched blade, occasionally tapping his finger on the edge, seemingly immersed in the study of the metal.

"The style of the hilt is from the Northern Song Dynasty." Old Qian continued, "Their attack style emphasizes chopping, so the hilt is slightly shorter, and there are several grooves shaped according to the hand, allowing people to grip the hilt tightly for easy attacks."

"These weapons should have been kept in protective formations before, so they haven't rusted at all." Old Qian pointed to the weapons all over the ground and couldn't help but shake his head. "If they continue to be left like this, they'll probably rust in a few months."

"This is just temporary storage. When they are transported to Qian Sheng Yuan, there will be special storage formations." Wang Sheng nodded. Old Qian was right. He was certainly not someone who couldn't accept advice, and he quickly explained.

"The storage time is very long, it should be a long time without seeing the light of day." Old Qian sniffed, seemingly smelling the metal and other odors on them. "The cleanup back then was also rushed. Look, the bloodstains on them haven't been cleaned. After so long, it has probably seeped into the blade."

"Exactly, that's what makes these weapons look like they really saw combat on the battlefield." Wang Sheng nodded, explaining with a smile.

"The forging technique is the ordinary three-fold forging method." Old Qian took the saber back from Old Tie and pointed to the blade, saying, "The edge was sharpened using riverbed stones from the middle reaches of the Hutuo River in the Song Dynasty. That kind of stone is slightly rough, but it has an oily quality, and the sharpened edge has this kind of bright, twilled pattern."

Wang Sheng didn't know if these were right, so he looked at Old Tie. Old Tie had been nodding from the beginning until now, obviously indicating that Old Qian was mostly correct.

"I've heard that Your Grace plans to sell these weapons." Old Qian turned to Wang Sheng after looking at them. "Don't repair this saber, just leave these scars. I suggest using deerskin and at least four-star snake oil to carefully wipe it clean. The luster will become more restrained and steady. Match it with an antique wolfskin sheath, with chicken-wing wood as the base, and the effect will be even better. It's a pity, if there were some older skins, it would be even better."

"Um, Old Qian, I happen to have a lot of older skins here." Wang Sheng touched his nose and said to Old Qian, "I'm afraid I'll need Old Qian's help to think about the style of the antique sheath."

"No problem." Old Qian agreed without hesitation. He was about to continue looking, but Wang Sheng stopped him.

"This way." Wang Sheng led Old Tie and Old Qian away from that small courtyard and to another small courtyard next door.

The second small courtyard was filled with jewelry, gems, and the like. This time, Old Qian didn't say anything about wasting resources, knowing that Wang Sheng was just storing them temporarily and would be moving them to Qian Sheng Yuan, and the storage here was a bit lacking, so he didn't say anything more.

"Amazing!" As soon as he entered, Old Qian saw a jade bead string. He picked it up and examined it for a while, then let out a long breath. "This is the Lin family's style."

"Look at this knot." Old Qian pointed to the knot tied on the bead string. "This is a typical Lin family technique, a thousand knots through a hundred, and ordinary people can't tie this knot."

Wang Sheng wasn't surprised at all that he recognized the bead string as belonging to the Lin family. If Old Qian couldn't tell, Wang Sheng would think he was just a fraud.

"The jade beads were polished using Liu Qianshou's technique from Cuiyutang back then. The beads are not perfectly round, but elliptical." Old Qian held them up one by one for Wang Sheng to see. "The jade is also good jade. This is ten-thousand-year warm jade from Cangshan. Touch it and see, it's still warm."

"This bead string is most suitable for women who are deficient in both Qi and blood, especially postpartum women. Wearing it will be beneficial to their bodies in every way." Once he started talking about it, Old Qian became quite talkative and couldn't stop.

Wang Sheng and Old Tie waited for Old Qian to finish before looking at each other and smiling. Old Tie was truly happy for his old friend. It seemed that he had really found a suitable profession for him. All of this seemed to be thanks to Changsheng Gong, Wang Sheng.

"Old Qian, let's go take a look at the paintings and calligraphy." Wang Sheng also wanted to know what Old Qian didn't know, so he had already instructed Meier to prepare some paintings and calligraphy. They should be almost ready now, just waiting for Old Qian to go and take a look.

"Paintings and calligraphy?" Old Qian was taken aback, then nodded. "Okay, let's go take a look. And see whose skill is deep enough to help me paint a fan and write a few words."