"I dont know what price this gentleman will offer." Teng Yunlong smiled and looked at the leader of the black fox fur.

  The leader smiled lightly and said: "You are responsible for the materials, as for the price, Ill take a whole number, one hundred taels of white silver for one Bihuan knife! I believe you have no problem with that."

  "A hundred taels?" Teng Yuns eyebrows furrowed, although a hundred taels of silver was a large sum, but the Bihanchi... was the Teng familys exclusive skill, and the materials were extremely expensive, with a very high difficulty in refining. If sold outside, it would have to be sold for at least a hundred taels, or even more. If only sold for a hundred taels of silver, the profit would be too small.

  "This gentleman, isnt it a bit less?" Teng Yongfan said.

  The leader sneered: "Alright, dont treat us like fools! If we were to offer a high price, we wouldnt need to personally come to you! One hundred taels of silver, will you accept or not?"

  "Got it!"

  Teng Yunlong forced a smile and said, "This lord, its just 182 Frostbite Knives. Our Teng Family Manor has never taken on such a large order before. The materials stored in the manor are only enough to forge two Frostbite Knives... These materials will require a lot of silver coins... Is the lord going to give us the silver coins first?"

  "The goods havent even arrived yet, and youre asking for payment?" The leader of the Black Fox Fur sneered.

  Teng Qing Shan, who was quietly watching from the side, was shocked in his heart: "Does this leader not want to pay? One hundred taels of silver for one sword, thats a big business worth nearly 20,000 taels of silver. Even if the village takes out all its remaining money, it can barely afford it. Does this leader want to use force?" Teng Qing Shan was already poised and ready to strike, preventing the worst-case scenario from happening.

  "This lord is joking, our Teng Family Village is just an ordinary mountain village, how much money can we have? We cant even afford to buy materials, how can we provide the lords with refined weapons?" Teng Yunlong said with a smile, "Please, lord, understand our difficulties."

  The leaders face sank.

  Teng Yongfan, who was standing beside him, laughed and said: "Sir, with your status, are you still worried that we, a humble mountain village, would embezzle your silver? Our Teng family has been here for generations, we cant escape. Sir, please pay us the silver first, and when the time comes, we will naturally present the Bihandao to you."

  The leader of the Black Fox Fur hesitated for a moment before sneering, "You poor mountain village, Im afraid its hard to gather this sum of money."

  As he spoke, he took out a stack of silver bills from his bosom and threw them onto the table.

  "This is eight thousand taels of silver notes, with the large seal of Yangzhou Qianzhuang on it. You guys carefully verify it." The leader of the black fox fur said.

  Yangzhou Money House?

  Teng Qing Shan carefully looked at it, this was his first time seeing a silver note.

  On the silver ticket, there are two large characters "Yang Yan" with complex numerical codes such as "壹贰叁肆" above, and at the bottom, there is a line of words: "Nine States Eight Great Sects Order, Counterfeiters will be killed without pardon".

  Hong Qing Mountain was shocked at heart: "Nine States Eight Great Sects? In this world of nine states, the strongest sect has eight?"

  "Silver notes? This... "Teng Yunlong furrowed his brow, "Sir, even if we go to the money house to exchange it, we still need to pay a fee. And... this deal is worth nearly 20,000 taels of silver, this little bit of money is far from enough. Our small mountain village, Im afraid..." Teng Yunlong said hesitantly.

  The leader stood up with a loud "huh", his face darkening.

  "Hmph, 8,000 taels of silver notes, not a single copper coin more! Well make a written agreement. When the time comes, youll deliver the goods to Yicheng and well pay the balance." The leader said coldly, his two subordinates behind him also had their hands resting on the handles of their long knives at their waists, while many cavalrymen outside the courtyard were staring intently inside.

  Hong Qingshan took a deep breath, ready to strike at any moment.

  Teng Yunlong and Teng Yongfan exchanged a glance.

  "Since youve said so, well make a written agreement." Teng Yunlong laughed.

  "Thats right." The leader smiled.

  Both parties signed and sealed on the spot, making a written agreement that detailed the delivery location, time, and payment.

  "Huh? Sir, shall we send him to the Yangzhou Chamber of Commerce in Yicheng?" Tian Yunlong said in surprise, "So you gentlemen are from the Yangzhou Chamber of Commerce."

  "You just know, dont play any tricks with us. And those Bihanchi knives, each and every one of them will go through inspection later on. If theres a problem with the quality... Hmph..." The leader said, holding the documents, without saying another word, and walked out of the courtyard in big strides.

  "Brothers, lets go!"

  At a single order, this group of cavalrymen galloped away with a loud whoosh.

  "Dad, whats going on with this Yangzhou money shop?" Teng Qing Shan looked at the silver note in puzzlement.

  Hong Yongfan smiled and explained: "Qingshan, in the nine states of this world, the richest are the salt merchants of Yangzhou and the giant merchants of Yuzhou. After all, Yangzhou and Yuzhou are the two most prosperous places in the nine states. Therefore, in this world, there are only two trustworthy money houses, one is Yangzhou Money House and the other is Yuzhou Silver Number. Only the silver tickets of these two families can circulate freely throughout the world, of course, we generally do not accept silver tickets among the people."

  "Why?" Teng Qing Shan was puzzled.

  Isnt silver ticket convenient for storage?

  "This silver note is actually a remittance certificate obtained by storing gold and silver in a money house or silver number. This silver note has a special serial number and is made with special craftsmanship to prevent counterfeiting. Since the money house helps you store your money, it will naturally charge a certain amount of money. So, this looks like an eight-thousand-tael silver note, but when I go to withdraw it, I wont be able to get that much."

  Teng Qing Shan understood in his heart.

  In modern society, saving money earns interest, but in ancient times, saving money actually required paying a fee.

  This can also be understood that in ancient society, businessmen doing business, carrying a large amount of gold and silver was troublesome. Silver notes were more portable and easier to hide, safer.

  "Isnt there anyone who can forge a silver note?" Teng Qingshan retorted.

  The old man beside him, Teng Yunlong, burst out laughing: "Haha, who dares? Didnt you see the sentence below... The Nine States and Eight Great Sects Decree, those who forge silver notes will be killed without pardon."

  "What is the Eight Great Schools?" Teng Qing Shan asked back.

  Hong Yongfan explained: "Qing Shan, I told you before that in my Yangzhou, the strongest sect is Qinghu Island, and in other eight states, there are also super sects. In this world, there are eight most powerful forces, known as the Eight Great Sects. Their common decree is that if someone disobeys, they will have nowhere to hide in this world!"

  Nine Provinces, but there are only eight.

  It seems that one of the states has no super factions, or rather, a single super faction controls two states.

  "These eight major sects are simply eight overlords!" Teng Qing Shan thought to himself.

  Sects are the worlds most powerful forces, each with their own strong armies. It is said that even the Guiyuan Sect has 6,000 Black Armor Troops!

  What about those eight super sects?

  "The salt merchants of Yangzhou are incredibly wealthy and have many skilled people at their disposal. Theyre not afraid of us embezzling this money." Teng Yunlong let out a snort, then turned his head to look at Teng Yongfan, instructing him, "Yongfan, tonight, sneakily go find that Old Wang San and place the order! Tell their boss that we want to purchase those materials. Have their boss hurry up and send the materials over."

  "Dont worry." Teng Yongfan nodded.

  "Whats most troublesome now is the time!" Teng Yongfan frowned, "Master, theres still more than a month to go, and we have to refine 182 Bihuan knives. Its really difficult. And the other brothers havent even grasped the craftsmanship of the Bihuan knife. Theres no one else in the clan who can help."

  "Its all right, once the materials arrive, Ill refine them with you." Teng Yunlong said.

  "Master......" Teng Yongfan was shocked.

  "Whats wrong, you think Im too old for this?" Teng Yunlong laughed.

  Hong Yunlong is now over sixty years old, his physical strength and energy are declining, while the forging of Bihanchao requires high arm strength and technique.

  "Dont worry, Ill just lend a hand. The 182 Blazing Ice Knives will still need you to forge them in the end." Teng Yunlong said.

  "Hmm." Teng Yongfan immediately turned his head to Qing Shan, "Qing Shan, I have a task for you. Tomorrow, lead your hunting team into the mountains again and fetch water from Bihantang."

  "Where is Bihanchuan?" Teng Qingshan asked in puzzlement.

  However, Bi Han Dao and Bi Han Tan, Teng Qing Shan also guessed that there might be some connection.

  "Dont worry, the old members of Qinghu, they all know. Tell them and theyll take you there. The tempering of Bihanchao requires the water from Bihanchuan as the quenching agent. Bring two water tanks over and fill them up completely." Teng Yongfan said with a sigh, while Teng Qingshan nodded: "Dont worry, Dad."

  ******

  This deal has a great impact on the clan.

  After all, the value was nearly 20,000 taels of silver, so Tengs family did not dare to be even slightly slack. The next day at dawn, Teng Qing Shan led the hunting team into the mountains.

  "Green Mountain, our Teng family clan can eat well and dress well. It all relies on this Bihanchi knife." In the Da Yan Mountains, Teng Qinghu smiled and explained, "As for the forging of this Bihanchi knife, first, outsiders dont know the technique, second, its the water from the Bihanchi pool. Green Mountain, you have no idea... that water in the Bihanchi pool is incredibly cold."

  Hong Qingshan was somewhat surprised.

  "Its just summer, but the water is icy cold, even colder than winter snow. Whats strange is that it doesnt freeze!" Another tribesman chimed in, "Using this water to temper fire and forge weapons makes them sharp and resilient."

  "If you put your hand into an icy pool, it will immediately go numb."

  "Last time a wild chicken was chased by me and fell into it. Once it fell in, it froze to death. It simply couldnt climb out."

  The people around us were speaking in turns, apparently they had all witnessed the miracle of Bihuan Pool.

  "Is it really so wonderful?" Teng Qing Shan was astonished.