Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 46: Foreign Trade

Continuing upstream along the creek for about five or six li, Penny, who was leading the way ahead, suddenly turned left. They passed through a wooded hill and arrived at another valley blocked by shrubs. This was a path that had been forcibly hacked out with short knives.

Following this valley for several more li, another mountain stream appeared before them. Here, they could clearly see the small iron deposit Penny had discovered—a small exposed ore vein that wasn't very conspicuous.

Anyway, throughout this journey, Li Wei had no idea how he would have found this iron deposit if it were up to him.

Only someone as relentless as Penny, combined with the boost from her professional card, could have found it. But the cost involved, tsk tsk!

"This is the iron deposit. Mining it isn't difficult—use the pickaxe to knock the ore down, break it into pieces, load it up, and that counts as successful mining. The hardest part is transporting it back."

"Also, we need to be careful of the beasts in this forest. A few days ago, I heard wolf howls again. And don't provoke those wild boars. No larger beasts like bears or tigers have been spotted so far."

Penny spoke rapidly. Near the open-air ore vein, Li Wei also saw a crude stone shelter. Looking around, the scenery was beautiful, with dense forests everywhere. Some leaves had already turned slightly yellow, but most trees remained lush and green.

This was the best season, the season of harvest.

Setting down the carrying basket, Li Wei, Penny, and Mixi each took a pickaxe, placed their iron spears within easy reach by their feet, and began their daily mining.

The small blast furnace Penny had built required about one hundred jin of iron ore on average each day, yet the steel output was minimal. In every aspect, it seemed like a backward, obsolete product. But in their current environment, it had instead become quite advanced.In another three to five days, Penny and Mixi would focus on smelting iron and forging steel tools and weapons. The task of mining ore would then fall solely to Li Wei. One hundred jin of iron ore counted as one unit. He would need to work continuously for ten days to complete this month's main storyline task.

It was going to be quite challenging!

——

After an autumn rain, a chill naturally arose. The rampant lush greenery that had persisted since midsummer finally couldn't hold on any longer, transforming into mountains covered in red.

It was now the twenty-fifth day of the month. Over the past twelve days, Li Wei had mined a total of 12 units of iron ore, earning him 120 mining experience points and 2 Family Contribution points.

Ten units of that iron ore were required to complete the monthly main storyline task. The extra two units could either be donated to the family or carried over to the main task. Either way, each unit earned one Family Contribution point, so there was no difference.

However, today was an important day because Penny planned to lead a team to begin foreign trade. This was definitely one of the most significant events for the family.

So, several days ago, Fila had started preparing: preserved meat jerky, flour ground from new wheat, grayish, unappealing-looking bread made from it, and various ready-to-eat dried fruits—a whole large bundle.

This was the food.

As for weapons and armor to carry, Penny had finally produced a recurve bow of uncertain quality, but its draw weight was much stronger than the hunting bow's.

Additionally, she had forged five extra steel-tipped conical arrows for Li Wei. So, at this point, he considered himself to have no significant weaknesses.

However, for this trip, besides carrying that recurve bow, Li Wei also brought the hunting bow along because the recurve bow was too delicate, whereas the hunting bow was hardy and reliable, making it excellent for hunting.

Also, over the past few days, Mixi had shown her skills by actually crafting a small chainmail vest. Well, given the short time, it fit her perfectly. Worn under the wolf-skin robe, she looked quite like a tank ready to charge into battle.

The weapon Mixi prepared for herself was a small mace, and she had also made a wooden shield from oak wood.

Judging by how she could swing a hammer for blacksmithing, was she aiming to become a warrior?

Under the pretext of completing the monthly main storyline task, she had armed herself quite thoroughly. She really knew how to scheme.

As for Penny, she only prepared an iron spear, a short knife for herself, and then a large carrying basket containing the goods they intended to sell or trade this time.

There wasn't actually much: two steel daggers that seemed quite exquisite and very sharp in Li Wei's opinion, and one cloth-wrapped object that wasn't very large in shape.

Hmm, just these three items. This was what their family had managed to accumulate after a month of hard work. Whether it seemed shabby or not, he didn't know, but the forging success rate hadn't been as high as imagined.

Just those two fine steel daggers alone had been remelted who knows how many times?

But Li Wei had an intuition that the main attraction of Penny's foreign trade venture this time was that mysterious cloth-wrapped object.

Could it possibly be a crossbow?

A ripple of thought passed through his mind. Most likely, probably, it was that thing.

With all this secrecy, could it be that the world's background was really similar to medieval Europe, where crossbows were forbidden items? That would make it even more profitable, wouldn't it?

Without much delay, Li Wei, Penny, and Mixi set off silently in the faint light of dawn.

Penny led the way again, as only she knew the route.

They headed south along the creek the whole way. The stream gurgled, and peace prevailed near and far, but the dew was heavy. As the morning light grew brighter, the mist around them thickened, even obscuring the distant mountains.

But like magic, before they knew it, the mist dissipated, and golden sunlight shone down, making Li Wei feel somewhat dazed.

Around 8 a.m., the trio had already traveled over twenty li. The mountain peaks that had accompanied them on one side began to lower and gentle out. Ahead was an open mountain pass. After bypassing it and crossing several more low, gentle hills, the view suddenly opened up before them, allowing them to see dozens of li into the distance.

In this vast field of vision, they could see a river, plains, forests, and even, faintly, a fortress with low walls. Was that Castle Kahe?

Li Wei was excited, and so was Mixi. But Penny, expressionless, led them in another direction. This wasn't flat wilderness but rugged paths. The mountain terrain became steeper. The only good news was that the paths here seemed frequently traveled.

Li Wei didn't quite understand but didn't ask further. Penny certainly wouldn't harm him and Mixi; that was a core rule of the game. But they still had to guard against unexpected incidents.

So, while frequently observing his surroundings, he took the bowstring from his inner clothing and also took out the similarly wrapped recurve bow limbs. This was to avoid moisture—the morning dew was too heavy, and it was very damaging to the bow limbs and string.

Precision and stability were his pursuit, so he absolutely couldn't be careless about these details. Otherwise, the error caused by a tiny flaw could mean the difference between life and death.

But in reality, the surroundings were very quiet. Even in places that looked perfectly suited for ambushes, there was no sign of danger.

Continuing on like this, after crossing one ridge after another, it was already noon. Li Wei estimated that since they had changed direction earlier, they had covered thirty to forty li of mountain paths. He was just about to suggest resting and having some food when he suddenly spotted a wisp of cooking smoke faintly visible in a hollow ahead.

A household?

In this godforsaken place where even rabbits wouldn't poop, there was a village?

Or—bandits?

It couldn't be!

Li Wei was shocked. Even Mixi's face showed uncertainty. Only Penny remained calm.

"Penny, we need to understand your plan."

Mixi couldn't help but ask. Although she was a veteran player who had already cleared the game once, she still couldn't figure out Penny's strategy now. Instead of going to the castle market, they were coming into the mountains looking for bandits and robbers? Were they joking?