Saving Silver or Owing a Favor?

"What do you think?" Mo Li still wanted to tease his curiosity.

Mu Xiangli reached out. "Let me see your sword for a moment."

"Here," Mo Li replied readily.

Mu Xiangli had assumed this sword would be of extraordinary quality, but when it entered his hand, the light flashing upon the blade was merely white.

"It is indeed exceedingly ordinary." He looked at Mo Li.

Mo Li snorted softly. "Of course it is ordinary. Do you not understand the principle that an ordinary man incurs guilt by harboring a jade? I only possess the strength of the Cangtian Realm. Carrying a fine sword that does not match my strength would not only fail to increase my chances of victory in combat, but would instead arouse the greed of others, inviting greater danger."

Seeing her speak with such sound reasoning, Mu Xiangli was about to reply when a hearty laugh echoed from afar, and a man stepped into the room.

"That my niece still remembers my words truly brings me great joy, haha."

Hearing this, Mu Xiangli suddenly understood. He observed Mo Li's sword once more, realizing that the jade pendant carved with the character 'Mo' on the hilt was the true key.

"This is my Third Uncle, currently the chief weapon-smith of this Tianbing Workshop," Mo Li explained with admiration.

She then turned to her Third Uncle, Mo Zhuo. "This is my friend from the Longwu Academy."

Mo Zhuo looked at Mu Xiangli and smiled. "So, you have passed the examination? Your father sent me a letter long ago saying you were coming, asking me to look after you. I waited and waited but saw no sign of you, until the eve of the examination when your servant came to inform me that you had gone straight to participate."

Mo Li hastily explained, "Third Uncle, you cannot blame me for this; it was all because of my father. He refused to let me come earlier, almost causing me to miss the examination."

Mo Zhuo, likely imagining the scene she described, laughed heartily. "Hahaha, your father simply could not bear to let you go. A young lady wandering all over the world—your father must be worried to death."

"What of being a young lady?" Mo Li muttered softly. "By the way, did you not say before that every time I break through a realm, you would reforge this sword for me? I have now broken through to the Cangtian Realm. Third Uncle, you must not go back on your word."

"How could I deceive my own niece? Give it to me." Mo Zhuo reached out to take the sword, his gaze falling upon Mu Xiangli's chipped blade. "Since you are Mo Li's friend, you may choose any blade from the bottom three rows in this room and take it with you."

"I fear that would be inappropriate," Mu Xiangli hesitated slightly.

He had only intended to be polite, but Mo Zhuo did not play along, replying, "Then you shall pay for it."

Mu Xiangli: "Ah, this..."

Mo Li, amused, chimed in, "Just do as Third Uncle says and choose. It is not because my Third Uncle is stingy that he only lets you choose from the bottom three rows. Just like the reasoning I mentioned earlier, you would not be able to control the blades above."

Mu Xiangli no longer stood on ceremony. "Then I shall not be polite."

He was not ignorant of the truth that "favors are hard to repay," but when one was poor, saving whatever silver one could was always the wiser choice.

"Once I thoroughly study the Qi apertures and open a teaching shop, I will not charge much—just nine hundred and ninety-eight taels per lesson," Mu Xiangli thought to himself as he walked over to the rack to select a suitable blade.

He picked up one, set it down, picked up another, and set it down again.

Mo Zhuo had originally intended to let Mu Xiangli choose first while he took Mo Li to the back to talk. However, seeing Mu Xiangli merely pick up and put down the blades without even trying a swing, his curiosity was piqued.

"What is the background of this friend of yours?" he asked Mo Li.

"He is the disciple of Master Qi Beihang."

"Oh?" Mo Zhuo had naturally heard of the events in Tan City. Since Mo Li had been present, he had learned a bit more from the Mo family's letters. Consequently, he grew even more interested in which blade Mu Xiangli would choose.

Mu Xiangli picked them up and put them down simply to make a preliminary assessment of the quality of all the blades. The bottom three rows were not necessarily all of white quality. If there was a higher quality, he would undoubtedly choose it without hesitation.

According to his experience, at lower levels, one only needed to focus on quality without worrying about compatibility.

After touching all the blades, Mu Xiangli indeed discovered three of green quality.

One was shaped like a Xiuchun blade with a curved body; another had a very long blade and hilt, resembling a Miao Dao; the last one had a black hilt and scabbard, with black hammer patterns on the blade, shaped similarly to a Tang Hengdao.

Choosing one of the three, Mu Xiangli took a liking to the black Hengdao at first glance. Holding the blade in his hand, he looked toward Mo Zhuo. "I choose this one."

Mo Zhuo was the chief weapon-smith of the Tianbing Workshop, but not the only one. The weapons in this room were not all forged by his hand, especially the bottom three rows, of which no more than five were his creations. As it happened, this Hengdao was forged by him.

"Your eyes are keen. This blade was forged by my hand using the leftover materials from forging 'Bugui' last year. Among the weapons in these three rows, it is considered the finest."

"Bugui?" Mu Xiangli was curious. According to the rules of the Tianbing Workshop, only precious weapons were given names.

Mo Zhuo nodded. "A sword gifted to a friend, named by him personally."

Mu Xiangli nodded and asked no further. He looked at the Hengdao he had chosen; pity it was made from the scraps of 'Bugui' and did not even have a name. "When was it forged?"

Mo Zhuo remembered clearly, "The eighth of September last year."

"Jiuyueba?" Mu Xiangli was pleasantly surprised. "When autumn comes on the eighth of September, my flowers shall bloom and overshadow all others. There is no need for me to trouble myself with a name; the name Jiuyueba is already excellent."

Mo Zhuo was no scholar, and his poetic appreciation was not deep, but coming from the Mo family, he was not entirely uncultured. Hearing these two lines and repeating them in his mind twice, he felt deeply moved. The grand spirit of the words made him feel that giving this blade any other name would instead be unfitting.

"Are you truly not charging me?" Mu Xiangli asked.

Mo Zhuo smiled and said, "Please look after my niece in the Longwu Academy."

"Naturally." Mu Xiangli indicated his understanding; a debt of favor would naturally be repaid with a favor.

Hearing their conversation, Mo Li grumbled in dissatisfaction, "I am in Group 1, and he is in Group 2. It should be me looking after him!"

Mu Xiangli reminded her, "I passed the examination on the very first day, whereas you took... one, two, three... how many days to pass?"

"I told you the difficulty of the examinations was different!" Mo Li snapped angrily.

Mu Xiangli realized that Mo Zhuo and Mo Li likely wished to speak privately. Thus, he stopped bickering with her. "You and your Third Uncle have not met for a long time and must have much to discuss. Having received a blade for no reason, I dare not intrude further. I shall take my leave first."

Mo Li nodded. "Very well. See you in the Longwu Academy in a few days."

"See you in the Longwu Academy." Mu Xiangli took his leave of Mo Zhuo and departed from the Tianbing Workshop.

He caressed the newly acquired 'Jiuyueba' in his hand, unable to put it down.

As he walked, he did not expect that he would constantly run into acquaintances in this vast Imperial City.

"Brother Mu!"

Hearing someone call him, Mu Xiangli turned around and found Hou Yuhong.

Hou Yuhong was not alone; beside him were several other candidates from Group 2 who had also passed the examination. Mu Xiangli had been looking for an opportunity to get acquainted with everyone, and he had not expected the opportunity to seek him out.

He approached them with a warm smile. "I went to look for you all at the Longwu Academy earlier, but none of you were there. To think we would meet here. How about we go and have some wine together tonight?"