The waiter saw Lin Ming’s astonishment and explained, “This spear shaft was made from black iron wood. It was carefully selected from several hundred year old high quality black iron wood that was soaked in spring water for 7 weeks, each week 7 days for 49 days to let it be reborn. Afterwards, it was boiled in a giant wok with explosive oil for three days. All the bark was stripped leaving only the hardest and most durable wood core, and then mixed and twisted with the silk from a Golden Silkworm, then wrapped around with cloth from a Golden Silkworm that was soaked for three years in tung oil.
“Whether it is the black iron wood or the Golden Silkworm silk, both are precious materials that are hard for a sword or saber to damage. In addition to special crafting process technologies involved, this spear shaft will absolutely not be cut off in battle, even if it meets a treasure rank sword. This young hero may feel relieved that you will not be disarmed in any way whatsoever.”
Hearing the sales clerk’s passionate explanation, Lin Ming also felt his heart jump. He hadn’t thought that this common spear shaft would unexpectedly have such a complex and advanced crafting process. Golden Silkworm silk was inferior, and cheaper than Sky Worm silk, but it was as an absolutely expensive material. The black iron wood was also very expensive, and it was even from a tree that was several hundred years old.
Moreover, if there was a single mistake in the manufacturing process then it would have been ruined. For instance, if there was a problem in soaking it in boiling oil, then the black iron wood would be ruined. The spear shaft also had to be straight and rigid, like a perfect ruler. If there was even the slightest diverging angle, it would be eliminated. This caused the spear shaft’s value to increase many times.
No wonder it was so expensive. Even if a common person did not eat or drink, and worked hard for his entire life, he would still not be able to afford one. If this kind of spear shaft was given to the normal folk, it would be passed down through generations as a precious family heirloom.
The sales clerk said, “The most expensive part of a spear is the shaft. If a spear is good, then 80% of the reason would be because of the shaft and 20% because of the head. The spear head crafting process is comparatively simple; a good spear head is also only around a few hundred gold taels. This young hero, even if you chose a spear head made from cloud vein wrought iron, it would only be 800 taels of gold. The total price will not be over 2000 gold taels. What does the young hero think of this?
Lin Ming played with the thick shaft as he held it in his hands. He felt a slight sense of something like love towards it and found it hard to put down. Not to mention the shaft’s elasticity and durability, it absolutely felt like a first-rate product.
What a pity it was too light!
“Do you have anything heavier? For instance, a spear shaft that’s several hundred jins.”
“Oh?” The sales clerk was slightly surprised. For a spear shaft that was several hundred jins in weight, to be able to wield it with dexterity like you were dancing, you would need at least many thousands of jins of strength. Did this youth have such a strong body?
But even with his doubts, the sales clerk pulled out another spear shaft that was made from pure darksteel. This spear shaft was quite thick and was seven feet long and weighed more than 400 jins. The sales clerk had obviously practiced moving this, as he strained a bit in taking it out but somehow managed it in the end.
“This spear shaft is 800 gold taels.”