Chapter 279: Grinding an Iron Rod into a Needle!
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"Young warrior, please, those are our weapons!"
"Young warrior, you can't do this to us! What would become of us without our weapons?"
"That's right, I don't even use a sword, it's just an iron rod! The Sword Spirit wouldn't have any need for an iron rod!"
"That's true. Mine was just an iron baton, why did you have to take it too?"
At that moment, the place was abuzz with clashing noises. Some were upset and crying, some were in fiery fits of rage, whilst a small number of people smiled cynically.
The three cultivators who had obtained the ancients swords suddenly rushed towards Xu Que and surrounded him with sharp murderous intent obvious on their faces.
"Give me back my sword, you bastard!"
"And mine!"
"Return my two swords!"
...….
Xu Que stood there nonchalantly and folded his hands in front of his chest.
"Now, now, calm down everyone," he said. "I must have given the Sword Spirit such a fright that it gave me all of your weapons. Now get in line and come get your weapons!"
"I'm not getting into any line, you knucklehead! Just fling all the weapons you've stolen over here and they'll be returned to their owners, since the weapons are all engraved with the owner's personal stamp!"
And then the crowd erupted again into disgruntled cries.
Xu Que then swept his glance coldly at everyone in the crowd.
"You fools don't know anything," he said. "Don't you know that my storage ring isn't like any other storage rings? It's prone to swallowing weapons, and if you leave something inside it for too short a period of time, something terrible will happen to your weapons. Apart from that, it might even refine your weapons!"
"Stop spewing nonsense, you numbskull!" shouted the cultivator angrily. "No storage rings in the world can refine weapons! I'm warning you, return my weapons now, or else!"
Xu Que raised his eyebrows and laughed coldly.
"So you don't believe me, then, huh?" he said. "Fine, I'll give it back to you, but I won't be responsible for what happened to your weapon! What did you say your weapon was?"
"An iron rod! Also, give back my brother's weapon! It's an iron baton!"
"Fine. An iron rod and an iron stick. Ah, whatever, what's the difference anyway. There you go! Your weapons!"
After searching inside his storage ring for a while, Xu Que suddenly pulled out two identical iron needles and handed it to the cultivator.
Yes, two very thin needles!
Yet they gleamed with a particularly strange light, as if they'd just been polished. Because of that, these needles looked oddly beautiful!
But wait, something was wrong!
This wasn't right!
Hadn't the cultivator said that his weapons were an iron rod and an iron baton?
Then why had he been given two needles instead?
Something had obviously gone terribly wrong!
The whole crowd had been stunned into silence by the scene that had unfolded right before their eyes.
Needles?
Their weapons had been an iron rod and an iron baton before they were taken inside the storage ring. How had they turned into needles when they came out?
What kind of trick was that bastard playing here?
Whilst questions ran through everyone else's minds at that moment, the cultivator in question himself could find no words to say. This was because he'd noticed that on one of the needles, there was indeed his own personal stamp!
"My… my weapon…" muttered the cultivator. "How did it get this way?"
"Haven't you heard of the phrase 'grinding iron rods into needles'?" answered Xu Que. "I told you that my storage ring has a bad habit and you didn't believe me. And as you can see, it has turned your iron rods into needles!"
Xu Que's expression was one of sympathy, as if there was nothing he could do about it. But in truth, he had set the recovery function in the system at 1%, which meant that 99% of anything that was stored inside the storage ring would remain there. Naturally, with only 1% of an iron rod, all you'd get was a tiny needle!
Everyone else in the room was similarly stunned when they realized that the cultivator had confirmed that there was his stamp on the needle, which meant that it really was his iron rod.
But… how had it turned out this way?
How could the storage ring have transformed all those weapons?
Because it had a bad habit?
How could it have such a bizarre defect?
Also, what was that nonsense about grinding iron rods into needles? This guy had to have lost his marbles!
...…
The same cultivator then asked another question after getting struck completely dumb for a few moments.
"Then… then what about my brother's iron baton? What happened there?"
"Simple," answered Xu Que. "because of the phrase 'grinding iron batons into needles'!"
"...…"
At this point the whole crowd was struck dumb at Xu Que's puzzling response while Xu Que himself acted as if his answer made the perfect logical sense.
The crowd had seen people lie through their teeth before, but they'd never seen anyone do it so shamelessly before!
First an iron rod had been ground into a needle, then an iron baton had been ground into a needle as well. How had two different things turned into the same thing in the end?
What if someone had been looking for their sword? Would he invoke another phrase that went 'grinding swords into needles'?
...…
"Now, who else is going to ask for their weapons?" Xu Que asked the crowd. "You know, I'm actually an honest man despite my charms! So if anyone wants to get their weapons then I'll return them immediately. Do I look like a greedy thief who'd keep other people's property? Come on… anyone? Eh? What are you all acting so shy for? Come on now, this isn't the time to clam up!"
Everyone there looked at each other with doubt in their eyes. No one said a word!
They had been so shocked by Xu Que's 'grinding iron rods into needles' that no one dared to ask for their own weapons!
After all, who would want their dearly cherished weapons and instruments, which had been created and obtained through hard work, to turn into a needle?
...…
Seeing that everyone was now wary and speechless, Xu Que's heart was filled with a certain kind of pride and joy—once again, the Act Tough King had wowed everyone with his amazing tough acting!
With a series of notifications about his successful tough acting ringing in his ears, Xu Que cleared his throat loudly and addressed the crowd in a haughty tone.
"Let me be honest with you," he said, "if you take your weapons now, you'll find that they've all turned into needles. You must wait for 49 days before retrieving them. By then, you'll find that not only are your weapons the same size and without as much as a scratch, they will also have improved in quality at least twofold! Hmm? What's that? How will you get your weapons after 49 days, you ask?"
The corners of Xu Que's lips curled up slightly. He then looked directly into Zhang Li Yun's eyes and patted his own chest.
"Just ask for my name at Jade Sword Sect and you'll get your weapons. As for the collection method— just take one and run!"
"Is this true?" someone asked. "Will my weapon's quality be improved after 49 days?"
"Good heavens! That's amazing! Many thanks, young warrior!"
"My humblest apologies, young warrior! I regret my disrespectful treatment to you earlier!"
"We'll collect our weapons at Jade Sword Sect when the time comes. Thank you, young warrior!"
"Jade Sword Sect is a renowned school after all! Why would they steal our weapons? This young warrior had been brought here by Zhang Li Yun himself, I'm sure we can trust him…"
By that point, many cultivators erupted into jubilant exclamations. It seemed that no one was doubtful of Xu Que anymore. After all, the truth had been proven in front of their eyes, the two iron rods had actually turned into needles. That must mean that the young man's storage ring possessed a special weapon-refining function!
And since the Jade Sword Sect themselves could guarantee the safekeeping of their weapons, surely there would be no problem, right? Jade Sword Sect was such a reputable school, they wouldn't risk their good name by scamming everyone, would they?
All of a sudden, the entire crowd was overjoyed and relieved that their misfortune had turned out to be great luck!
Well, except for the group from Jade Sword Sect, of course. Especially Zhang Li Yun, whose eyes had widened to the size of saucers in confusion about how things had taken such a bizarre turn. He looked as if he would split out blood any second now.
You awful bastard, since when did you become so intimate with Jade Sword Sect?