Translator: Myuu Editor: Myuu
Deer Villa spanned over an area of more than 7,600 mu. As a royal garden, apart from the small number of buildings, the place was filled with scenic gardens and forests. Eunuch Liu was the manager of Deer Villa. Under Eunuch Liu was a battalion from the Imperial Cavalry Unit. The other artisans, servants, and maids in the villa totaled up to about five hundred people.
Deer Villa kept many exotic animals. The most commonly seen animals were the sika deer and peacocks. These animals didn’t even require care from people. They lived a leisurely and carefree life at Deer Villa.
The archery range in Deer Villa spanned over an area of four thousand mu in the mountain forest. As the superintendent of the archery range, Yan Liqiang was given a private courtyard right next to the mountain forest. His daily routine involved strolling around the mountain forest and visiting the archery range. As long as there were no forest fires or outsiders partying in the mountain forests, he basically had nothing much to do.
As a place with an archery range, training equipment like bows and arrows were indispensable. Not only would they never run out, but they were also in abundance. In the archery range’s storeroom, there were tens of fine bows, ranging from one-picul war bows to ten-picul powerful war bows. Deer Villa seemed to have everything one could possibly ever need. All those fine bows were Horned Python Bows. Not only that, but they were created by famous bowyers. From the looks of their qualities, they were far superior to the Horned Python Bow that Yan Liqiang was currently using.
Here, his meals would be delivered to him and his dirty laundry would be washed for him. He didn’t need to worry about anything. Not to mention, he was also entitled to receive a high monthly salary in silver as a military officer of the Imperial Cavalry Unit.
The time, venue, and conditions were all offered to him. If he still couldn’t cultivate properly under such circumstances, Yan Liqiang probably wouldn’t be able to forgive himself.
Therefore, after Yan Liqiang was given a tour around Deer Villa by Little Li on his first day. After getting a rough idea about the circumstances here, Yan Liqiang secretly formulated an ‘extreme cultivation plan’ for himself in his mind.
The core of this ‘extreme cultivating plan’ was the Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing. What the entire plan consisted of was to completely deplete his stamina every day, then allow his body to receive the strengthening and cleansing from the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth under the miraculous effects from performing Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing. Based on Yan Liqiang’s past experience, this kind of cultivation would be the fastest way to increase his strength exponentially. It looked like the Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing could only truly bring out its drastic effects under such extreme conditions. It truly made him feel as though he was reborn every time he received the strengthening.
However, as the saying goes: ‘good tools are the prerequisite to the successful execution of a job’. Apart from firm determination, some other necessary tools also needed to be prepared to carry out this ‘extreme cultivation plan’.
Yan Liqiang had made mental sketches of the tools that he needed to wring out his body’s potential when he was making his way here from the Imperial Capital. The night he arrived at Deer Villa, Yan Liqiang found some paper and a brush and quickly sketched out the tools he needed in his room. In the very next morning after completing his morning regime and finishing the breakfast which had been delivered to him by the servants here, he changed into his brand new clothes. With his Yinyang Commandant paiza hanging from his waist, he made a beeline for the artisan’s workshop in Deer Villa with Goldie in tow.
In Deer Villa, which could be considered the royal garden where the Emperor trained, damaged properties required repairs and certain demands had to be met. Therefore, there were many artisans and craftsmen in Deer Villa who were responsible for carrying out these duties.
The artisans in Deer Villa all gathered in the same workshop. There were all sorts of artisans in this workshop, ranging from carpenters, stonemasons, blacksmiths, lacquerers, painters, tailors, and cobblers.
“Ah, Commandant Yan. What brings you here so early in the morning? If you need anything, just let someone relay the message for you!”
As soon as Yan Liqiang walked into the artisan’s workshop, the supervisor of the artisan’s workshop immediately welcomed him with a smile.
The supervisor of the artisan’s workshop in Deer Villa was a chubby man whose surname was Wen. He had a pair of small eyes which disappeared into squints when he smiled. They became acquainted with each other when Little Li brought Yan Liqiang to the workshop yesterday. He knew that Yan Liqiang had been recommended to Deer Villa by one of the eunuchs in the palace. Not only that, but he was also well-received by Eunuch Liu and was hence promoted into Yingyang Commandant as soon as he joined the Imperial Cavalry Unit. Furthermore, he was even allowed to bring a dog with him into Deer Villa. Supervisor Wen had long treated Yan Liqiang as some wealthy child from some influential clan. The only thing he was worried about was not having any opportunities to curry any favors with him. Even without his speculations about Yan Liqiang’s background, his current position as the Yingyang Commandant was enough to deter his negligence. After all, the gap between an ordinary artisan supervisor and a military officer was exceptionally large.
“Good morning, Supervisor Wen. I am here to seek help from a few masters in the blacksmith workshop to help me smith something. Is that too much trouble?”
The morning sun shone on Yan Liqiang’s face, instantly making the smile on his face a lot more dazzling.
Supervisor Wen was taken by surprise. “No problem at all! Just let us know whatever you need, Commandant Yan! All the blacksmiths happen to be in right now. Let me show you the way!”
“Haha, thank you!”
Under Supervisor Wen’s lead, Yan Liqiang chatted with him while they made their way to the blacksmith’s workshop.
The blacksmith workshop in Deer Villa was half a size bigger than the one back in Yan Liqiang’s home, and there were more than ten workers in it. When both of them arrived, the group of blacksmiths had already started smithing away noisily inside the workshop. The blacksmith workshop usually prioritized serving Deer Villa. If there was nothing much going on in the Deer Villa, these blacksmiths would then be tasked with smithing some weapons for the soldiers of the Imperial Cavalry Unit.
Upon noticing Supervisor Wen’s arrival at the blacksmith workshop with Yan Liqiang, the master who was directing the other blacksmiths inside the workshop immediately came over. “Is there a problem, Supervisor Wen?” he asked respectfully.
“This is Commandant Yan, superintendent of Deer Villa’s archery range. Commandant Yan would like your help in smithing something…” Supervisor Wen explained and cast a glance at Yan Liqiang. Without any delay, Yan Liqiang took out a sketch from his chest and handed it over to the blacksmith. “Take a look at this, master. This is what I need. Do you think you can build it for me?”
His father was a blacksmith and he could be considered half a blacksmith himself. Therefore, Yan Liqiang was extremely polite to the blacksmiths here.
When Supervisor Wen saw the piece of paper Yan Liqiang took out, he couldn’t help but lean his head in from the side to take a look at the diagram on the paper too.
The diagram on Yan Liqiang’s paper was very clearly sketched out, with the appropriate measurements indicated. Some of the finer details were even supplemented with larger diagrams and written descriptions. Even so, both of them still couldn’t quite determine the purpose of the object in question while observing the diagram.
If that object was a weapon, then it would be a little too bulky and unwieldy. Neither of them had ever seen such a weapon before. Besides, that object had no blade attached to it. It was just thick and solid. A few of the finer details and mechanisms gave off the impression that it was some sort of tool instead. If this was a tool, both of them still couldn’t figure out its purpose.
The blacksmith frowned as he studied the object that Yan Liqiang had drawn for a good while before he raised his head. “Well… Commandant Yan, we can make this object and it isn’t that complex to build either. However, without knowing what exactly this object is for and what purpose it serves, it would be hard for us to grasp the appropriate heat control when we smith this…”
“Well, this object is something I have designed for martial arts and stamina training!” Yan Liqiang patiently explained while pointing to the diagram. “This pole is six feet long. The depression here will make it easier to hold and fit better into my grasp, so make sure it is firm enough. The grooves and protrusions on the surface and top of this iron column form a locking mechanism which can be fastened to a metal bolt, so focus on the precision here…”
“So this thing… can be assembled together?” The idea suddenly clicked for the blacksmith.
“That right. As long as we make more of this, they can be assembled together to make it thicker or longer…”
“Well then, how heavy should this pole be?”
“350 jin!”
“Make it five?”
“Let’s make five first for me to try it out. How long will it take?”
“You may suspend the other ongoing work in the workshop first. Prioritize completing the object Commandant Yan needs first…” Supervisor Wen interrupted from the side with an order.
“Then we will be able to get this ready before tomorrow evening!”
“Great, I will leave this to Supervisor Wen and all the masters here! I will come to pick it up tomorrow night!”
“Hahaha, how can we possibly make Commandant Yan take a trip here? When the blacksmith workshop is done with this, I will send someone to deliver it to Commandant Yan!” Supervisor Wen informed with a smile at the side.
……
After leaving the artisan’s workshop, Yan Liqiang returned to his residence. He immediately carried the Horned Python Bow on his back with a quiver of arrows and went off to ‘patrol’ the archery range…
On the evening of the next day, as soon as Yan Liqiang returned with Goldie from his ‘patrol’ drenched in his own sweat, he saw Supervisor Wen driving a carriage with a few strong-looking blacksmiths in tow. The carriage stopped at the entrance to his courtyard outside and they were carefully unloading some goods from the carriage…
“Be careful, be careful! Take care not to slip and drop it…!” Supervisor Wen stood next to the carriage as he instructed a few shirtless blacksmiths who were unloading the things Yan Liqiang needed.
The things Yan Liqiang needed were currently on the carriage. There were five of them in total. Each of them was pitch-black, thick, solid, and two meters long. From their exteriors, they looked like cannon barrels. But the difference between them and cannon barrels was the fact that they were solid and easier to create…
Each of them weighed 350 jin. It took two of those burly blacksmiths to barely move them from the carriage…
