The Demon Slayer Martial Saint Begins with Insect Refining

Chapter 5 Bow and Sword
Coming out of the shop on the west side, the faint voices of people talking in the market could be heard.

"A precious plant has been discovered. A young man from some village has found a Yin Chi root."

"Yin Chigen, that wouldn't be more than ten taels of silver, right?"

"More than that? Steward Song has personally checked it out. I estimate it's worth several dozen taels."

"Did you see who it was?"

"I dare not. Manager Song is right in front of us. If anyone dares to go up, I think it might be some old ghost who specially hired a kid to sell him."

Word spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred, and people kept talking about it. Mountain herders, hunters, and woodcutters all looked at them with envy.

One precious plant is enough to change a family's current situation.

However, Su Yan felt a little upset when he heard it. More than seven taels of silver were spread like this.

He ignored the rumors and quickened his pace to the east street.

The street was much wider, and the voices of the mountain people passing by seemed much quieter, and could not even cover up the clanging sounds of iron hammering coming from the Tianfeng Weapons Shop branch on the street.

At this time, all the shops in the city are closed, but there is no saying that customers are God. The mountain people are cautious and vigilant so as not to cause trouble.

This is also the way for ordinary people to protect themselves.

Su Yan first went to buy some daily necessities such as oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and rice, spending about three hundred coins.

Then he bought two pairs of shoes for hiking in the mountains to replace his straw sandals. These were a bit more expensive and cost more than 700 coins.

After purchasing all these, Su Yan went straight to the Tianfeng Weapons Shop branch.

There was a constant clanging sound, and before I even entered the door, I could feel the heat hitting my face.

In the shop, two masters and six or seven apprentices were working with bare chests, revealing their muscular build, hammering away at the iron, sweating profusely without a break.

It is said that the three hardest things in life are rowing a boat, forging iron and making tofu.

Sitting around the stove all day without a break is hard and strenuous work.

But even so, there is still a constant stream of people who want to become apprentices at the Tianfeng Weapon Shop.

"Young man, do you want to fight with farm tools or pick up something handy for self-defense?"

As soon as I entered the door, a worker dressed neatly came up.

He didn't go into battle shirtless, but he was wearing a short coarse cloth shirt and a piece of cloth around his waist for wiping sweat.

The Dali Dynasty respected military power and did not prohibit the use of weapons, nor could it prohibit the use of weapons.

"A hard bow for hunting and a machete for carving mountains."

Su Yan spoke concisely and clearly, stating his purpose.

"A mountain-splitting broadsword costs two taels and three qian of silver. As for the hardwood bow, would you like a fifty-gauge or sixty-gauge hardwood bow?"

The craftsmen directly measured the bow's pulling force in pounds, which saved the trouble of conversion.

"A bamboo bow isn't very accurate. Even with old, tough bamboo, the maximum draw weight is only about 30 kilograms, which isn't enough to hit large prey. With my current strength increasing, I can easily draw 50 kilograms, but I'm afraid 60 kilograms won't be enough."

So he said, "Do you have a 70-jin hardwood bow and a bucket of arrows?"

"Yes, we have it. We at Tianfeng Weapon Shop have no shortage of weapons, and we can even sell you a powerful bow of the sharpest grade."

The guy said this with full confidence, and in fact this was also their confidence.

"A sharp weapon?"

Su Yan became curious and asked casually.

The clerk also wanted to show off: "Those sharp weapons are all fine weapons made by master blacksmiths. They can cut hair and slash iron like mud. If used in a fight, they will add three times more power."

The weapon and the body are relative. Although it is said that a blacksmith must be strong himself, if two similar people take out a dagger and the other takes out a machete, the result will probably be different. Su Yan has always understood this principle. Having a weapon but not using it is the same as having no weapon at all.

"but……"

Before he could reply, the clerk changed the subject: "But not only are the weapons expensive, they cost at least dozens of silver taels each. Their weight and the force required are also difficult for ordinary people to withstand."

He was about to say this when he remembered that Su Yan was a guest, so he took it back and said, "Young man, a 5-jin hardwood bow and a bucket of arrows cost taels of silver. What do you think?"

"I bought them all."

Su Yan did not drag his feet, but he still felt pain in his heart. He had finally earned 10 taels of silver, but after buying a few things, only 2 taels were left.

When the clerk got the silver, he immediately smiled and took out a bow and arrow and a machete from the shop and handed them to Su Yan.

"Here's your bow and sword, little brother. See if you find them useful."

The Kaishan Pudao is about 1.5 meters long, with a medium-short handle. It can be held with one hand or two hands. The blade is not heavy, only about four pounds.

The hardwood bow is completely black, with hardwood interlaced and animal tendons embedded inside. The bow body is completely wrapped up and has a shiny sheen.

Su Yan weighed it in his hand, plucked the bowstring, and nodded, "Thank you."

He had a broadsword at his waist and a bow and arrow on his back. Although he was also carrying a backpack, he looked like a hunter.

After finishing his shopping, Su Yan did not stay long and strode out of Shanji.

We had barely walked half a mile out of the mountain village when suddenly a man jumped out from the grass beside the path.

"Good boy Yan, he is worthy of being Brother Su's tiger son, and he actually found Baozhi."

The man grinned playfully, cupping his hands in applause, but he looked as skinny as a monkey, with a face devoid of flesh and a tongue as thin as a knife. "Wang San?"

Su Yan's eyes narrowed, and a sneer flashed across his face: "What do you want to do?"

Wang San, a well-known scoundrel in Yunqian Village, is a bachelor in his early thirties and a lazy bastard who likes to eat and do nothing.

Although he inherited his deceased father's business as a mountain herder, the backpack he used to carry was often empty when he went in and empty when he came out.

Apart from stealing and begging for food, he just followed Niu Han and his group of ruffians to make a living.

It's just something that people dislike and abandon.

Wang San heard the dissatisfaction in Su Yan's words, but he didn't seem to care at all. His face was three times thicker than the city wall.

He took two steps forward, rubbed his hands, bowed slightly, and whispered, "Nothing much, I just wanted to ask for a prize with my brother. I'm a little short of money lately."

His eyes gleamed with cunning as he thought to himself, "As the saying goes, we split the profits in half when we meet. I, Wang San, am a righteous man, so it's not too much to just take a small reward."

Su Yan sneered: "Wang San, are you dreaming in broad daylight?"

Wang San looked annoyed and cursed in his heart, saying that he was so tactless.

He could only say, "Brother Yan, wealth should not be flaunted. You don't want everyone to know that you got a precious plant, do you?"

Although Wang San is a scoundrel, he knows that wealth should not be shown off.

Su Yan's parents have all passed away. He is just a teenager. Can he keep this silver?
If the news leaks out, people might come to your house and make you the loser.

"What a pity it's not in the old forest of Yunling Mountain."

A look of regret flashed across Su Yan's eyes. If it were in the old forest, Wang San's grave would be overgrown with grass next year.

This place is not far from Shanji, and I don’t know if Wang Sanxun has been seen by anyone, so it is not appropriate to take action directly.

Moreover, it was only a matter of time before the matter of Bao Zhi became known to the public.

"Then tell me, do you really think this is my precious plant?"

Su Yan looked calm. He grabbed Wang San's shoulder like a chicken with great force, which hurt Wang San.

“Ouch, you…you…”

Before Wang San could even curse, Su Yan swung his broadsword sideways and pushed him to the ground, leaving a red mark on his face and yellow mud all over his body. He looked in a very miserable state.

Su Yan strode forward. Wang San was angry but dared not say anything. Firstly, he was afraid of Su Yan's force. Second, he was worried that Su Yan might have teamed up with some mountain herders and was the one who was pushed out.

"Bah, I want to see who's on your side!"

Wang San was still angry, but Su Yan had already disappeared from the roadside and rushed back to his home.

All the daily necessities such as oil, salt, sauce and vinegar in the backpack were taken out, and the hardwood bow and the mountain-splitting machete were placed into the insect world space.

He took out the Herb Atlas and looked through it. On the yellowed paper, there were simple drawings of various herbs. On the left side were small characters a quarter the size of a fingernail, which recorded the description and efficacy of the herbs.

"It's crude, but it's useful. I wonder what the manager's plan is."

It is said that when you show courtesy to others, you must have something in mind.

How could a mere mountain herder deserve a pamphlet from him? Did he really think he was a big shot?

Su Yan put the booklet away and said to himself, "The gift is not big, and the request is not heavy, which is exactly what I want. In the future, there will definitely be a lot of precious plants and medicinal herbs. If I can get in touch with Baicaotang, it will save a lot of effort."

Song Qi has his own plans, Su Yan has his own strategies, and each gets what he needs.

The reason why I asked for the Herb Chart in the store was initially just to leave an impression, so as to pave the way for finding good medicinal materials and precious plants in the future.

But he didn't expect to gain anything else. This is a good thing. Let's see how he handles it.

Su Yan looked at the sky and saw that it was only noon. He picked up his backpack and strode towards Yunling Mountain.

This time he did not go into the mountains. Instead, he found a secluded direction and walked about two miles along the mountain road until he came to a deserted place.

The trees are tall and their branches stretch out like a curtain. Even at noon, the sunlight can only cast mottled spots of light.

The surrounding bushes were lush, but only about hip-height high, and could not obstruct the view.

He released the Yinshui centipede, and then threw aside the corpses of the two scorpions and the toad from yesterday.

The Yinshui centipede was not polite either, it went up and started eating with big mouthfuls.

After doing this, Su Yan took out a hardwood bow and arrow, and aimed at an old purple birch trunk seventy steps away.

Standing firmly with his feet at shoulder level, Su Yan drew his bow and arrow, aimed at the wrinkled bark on the old tree trunk and shot it with a whoosh.

The arrow missed the target, but Su Yan was not discouraged. He pulled out another arrow and continued shooting.

"My skill in hunting was originally taught to me by my second uncle Xie. It took me a while to improve and finally become a real skill. Although I don't have any archery skills, I think if I practice to a certain level, I will be able to master archery naturally."

Su Yan made up his mind. In his eyes, the old tree trunk looked like a red target.

One arrow after another, thirty arrows were shot. Each time the arrow was shot, it took a lot of effort to draw the bow.

While honing his strength and practicing his archery skills, Su Yan even took out the Hundred Herbs Map and studied it seriously when he was resting.

Repeat this process over and over again, and it will take three to five days to complete the training.

(End of this chapter)