Chapter 65 – The Heavy Spear, Penetrating Rainbow
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When they entered the second floor, there was suddenly far less people. There was a huge space with only a few customers milling around. A pessimistic middle-aged man wearing a long, grey robe was sitting behind the counter drinking a cup of tea.
The sales clerk gave a respectful salute to the middle-aged man, then walked over and said a few words in his ear.
“Oh? This young hero must choose such a heavy spear?” The middle-aged asked with interest as he looked at Lin Ming, “How heavy a spear were you looking for?”
“800 jins.”
“800 jins?” The middle-aged man’s eyes flashed a glint of light. “An 800 jin spear would take at least 4000 jins of strength to use. Can you?”
Lin Ming said, “Even if I can’t freely wield it now, I will be able to later.”
“How bold! I will look for a spear for you.”
The middle-aged man stood up and moved to the side. A moment later, he returned, carrying a long wooden chest. Although he appeared as if he was taking light steps, Lin Ming discovered that every step the middle-aged man took on the wood paneled floor would cause a creaking sound. The wood panels were unable withstand the weight of the load that the man was carrying.
The wooden chest in his hands was clearly very heavy!
The middle-aged man placed the wooden case on the counter and flipped open the lid. Inside was an eight foot spear wrapped in a thick cloth.
The middle-aged man unraveled the cloth strip, suddenly revealing a dark purple shaft and a deep red spear head. On the dark purple shaft’s body was engraved two characters that were written in inscription symbols – “Penetrating Rainbow.”
The two plain words combined with the massive spear made it feel as if there was a boundless gas rushing out.
Good spear!
The middle-aged man said, “This spear is named the Penetrating Rainbow. Its shaft is eight feet long and the head is eight inches long. It is a half-treasure.”
“Mmm? Half-treasure?”
The middle-aged man said, “Only the spearhead is a treasure, the spear shaft is not, thus it is a half treasure.”
Lin Ming was suddenly enlightened. The crafting process that went into the spear shaft was complex; therefore it was too difficult to place an array on it. But the spearhead was the same as a sword or a saber, so it was easy to set an array on it and make it into a treasure.
But alas, it was impossible to connect his true essence through the spear shaft due to it lacking an array, so its power was greatly reduced.
The middle-aged man said, “Although the spear shaft is not a treasure, but if comparing the toughness, it could be equal to an ordinary human-step low-grade treasure.”
The difference between a treasure and an ordinary weapon was that that a treasure was inscribed with an array, and thus one could channel their true essence into it. It was not a fact that a treasure would be more durable or solid than an ordinary weapon.
This weapon could not concentrate true essence. During an actual fight, as soon as martial skills were displayed, the disparity between the two would be evident. The treasure would be a step more powerful than an ordinary weapon.
The middle-aged man continued, “This spear shaft was forged with dark purple elastic iron, and the spearhead was made from cloud vein wrought iron. Both sides of the spear’s edge have been mixed with profound gold and are incomparably sharp. The spearhead and spear shaft originally came as a pair, they cannot be separated. The total weight is 820 jins.”
Dark purple elastic iron?
When Lin Ming had attended the lecture, he had heard the elder talk about this strange metal. This wonderful metal was unmatched in weight and also had a high degree of elasticity to it. It was even used to make strong bows. With a bow made from it, combined with the sinews from a high-level vicious beast to make the bowstring, it could easily project an arrow 2000 steps away and pierce fine steel plates!
If this dark purple elastic iron was used to make a spear shaft, even the thick spear shaft would be able to bend into a half-moon and snap back with enough force to crack open a tree. If a martial artist with 5000 jins of strength shook it, even the light vibration from the oscillations alone could kill a person.
However, for all its thousands or tens of thousands of good points, dark purple elastic iron had to be hammered innumerable times during its molding in order to forge it. It was impossible to inscribe an array upon it, as an array could not be hammered. Therefore this metal could not be used to make treasure weapons.
Even so, dark purple elastic iron was cherished and loved by many refiner masters, because it was just too great and fitting a material to make a spear or strong bow with.