Chapter 115: Rich And Famous

"Taking a break so soon?" Senior Beldon asked, and Claude nodded. "I wasn't planning on pushing my abilities to the limits today. It may be a good strategy to break through a bottleneck and to reach the next rank, but it's simply too tiresome to drain all the spiritual energy, especially with all the high energy draining techniques that I have in my arsenal."

He then stopped for a second, looking at his summoned katana and continued, "That said, I do need to find a way to extend my energy. These summoned weapons drain too much energy continuously."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Senior Beldon asked, and Claude said with a smile, "Of course, by using a real sword!"

"A real sword?" Senior Wilfred Beldon tilted his head and looked at Claude with a confused expression. "You mean a physical sword instead of morphing your spiritual energy into one?"

"That's exactly what I mean," Claude nodded his head and he loosened his grip, and the katana that was present in his hand disappeared in an instant. "I feel like the summoning of the katana as well as maintaining the spiritual energy to fit its physical form utilizes a massive amount of spiritual energy. I think switching to using a real sword that is enhanced by spiritual energy is a much better, and also energy efficient option."

"I understand what you're saying," Senior Beldon placed his hand on his chin and continued, "But a physical sword isn't exactly durable against powerful attacks. Especially high class ones. That was the reason why most cultivators decided to even switch to spiritual energy swords in the first place. As different kinds of attacks and techniques were being developed, their power also began to increase, and after a while, it became unable for a normal weapon to defend against such powerful attacks, and they would often get destroyed in the process. There were simply no materials that were strong enough to create a weapon that could withstand most attacks."

"So it's not practical anymore," Claude nodded his head, understanding why most cultivators switched to spiritual energy weapons. The materials that were used to build these weapons couldn't withstand the fast growing cultivation techniques, and soon they ran out of materials that could take a high level attack, which was what caused the downfall of the physical weapons. The cultivators were growing at an exponential pace, whereas the raw materials were only available in limited quantities. The cultivators simply felt as though it was time to move on from the physical objects to spiritual energy weapons.

'But they're not me. They didn't have a powerful raw material that could withstand any attacks,' Claude grinned subconsciously as he thought to himself.

That's right! Claude had something that no other cultivator had. He had the White Dragon's teeth, which was made up of one of the strongest materials that he has ever seen. He was sure that it could withstand most attacks, although he had no clue of its limits.

However, he also had no idea about how he would be able to turn the seemingly indestructible material into a sword, as it would be incredibly difficult to do so.

'I'm guessing I would need to get in contact with a blacksmith, if they really do exist anymore. But I'm sure that even they couldn't have any idea as to how to create a sword from the teeth of a White Dragon,' Claude folded his arms and thought long and hard about the issue he was facing. 

The White Dragon's tooth was seemingly indestructible, which meant it couldn't be destroyed so easily. But it also meant that it would be nearly impossible to turn it into a weapon, as a blacksmith would need to slice off or bend certain parts in order to create the intended look.

"Are there any blacksmiths remaining who specialise in creating weapons?" Claude turned his gaze towards Senior Beldon and asked. Regardless of whether or not he had a solution to the problem right now, he felt that it would be better to know about any blacksmiths in his vicinity as it would be useful information when he does find a solution. 

"Blacksmiths? These days?" Senior Beldon looked at him with surprise in his eyes before shaking his head. "The profession of being a blacksmith died out many years ago. I doubt there are any blacksmiths remaining who are even alive."

"Alright then, do you know any famous blacksmiths who had it as their family business and are dead now? And did any of them have children?" Claude asked, which confused Senior Beldon. He looked at Claude and asked, "Why do you want to know about that? Are you thinking that they might have passed on their teachings to their children?"

"It's just a guess, but there could be a chance," Claude shrugged his shoulders as he answered Senior Beldon's question. "People usually are keen to pass on their family teachings and businesses to their children. Though I could be wrong as well." 

"And why did you ask if they were famous?" Senior Beldon asked, curious about Claude's words, and he simply answered, "They would have made more money if they were famous. People who had famous businesses would've been prideful about their skills and abilities and it would definitely increase the chances of them passing on their teachings to their children. They would take pride in their past rather than those who have done poorly, who would simply wish to forget about their past instead."

"I see, that makes sense..." Senior Beldon nodded his head as he thought of the names of famous blacksmiths whom he had heard of before. 

"I do remember hearing about a blacksmith family who were pretty famous," After scratching his head for over five minutes, Senior Beldon spoke and Claude began to listen. "Their family name, if I remember correctly, was the 'Richardsons', and if my memory serves me right, they used to have a small shop in Coderton city. That's all I know." He said with a bitter smile as he finished his words, and Claude waved his hands in response. 

"No, no, it's alright… It was just a question. I wasn't planning on looking into it yet." Claude said as he dismissed the situation. He decided to think about that later, as he currently had no solution to solve this problem. And now that he had knowledge about one of the blacksmith families, he could investigate them further afterwards.

"Ah yes, I have one more thing to ask Senior!" Claude snapped his finger and turned to his senior, who simply looked at him and said, "What is it? What do you wish to know about?"

"Does senior know anything about Salvador City?" Claude asked urgently as he remembered the letter that he had found concealed inside Elizabeth's documents. "Has senior ever heard of this place before?"

"Salvador City?" Senior Beldon thought for a few seconds before shaking his head and replying. "I don't think I have. Do you know the Prefecture that it might be located in?"

"I believe it's part of the Shirington Prefecture," Claude responded almost immediately.

"Oh, Shirington Prefecture.." Senior Beldon spoke in a calm voice. "I believe it's to the south of Clawferry Prefecture.. Would probably take you about three to four days to reach there if you do plan on going. I don't know about Salvador City, so it would be better if you ask someone else."

"Oh, no.. It's alright!" Claude shook his head. He had the information he needed right now.

All of a sudden…

"The Headmaster requests his disciples to arrive at his residence as soon as possible!" An announcement was made within the Inner Disciple Division, catching both Claude and Senior Beldon's attention and they exited outside if the training grounds to see two men who wearing the uniforms of Elders reading from a scroll. The two Elders glanced at both Claude and Senior Beldon for a brief second before reading aloud the message once again, repeating everything.

Claude and Senior Beldon looked at each other for a second and nodded their heads, before heading towards the Headmaster's residence.

****************

As soon as they reached the Headmaster's residence, they were greeted with stares from the rest of the disciples. Some were of intrigue, others were of questioning, and a few of them were of anger.

Claude looked around and saw Ian Jefferson standing behind the crowd, glaring at him with an angry expression on his face. 

'I guess this idiot still hasn't learned his lesson yet,' Claude thought to himself. He knew that this could've happened. After all, people weren't going to change so easily. However, he couldn't kill this young man so easily. Not yet. 

'No matter, I still have time.' Claude whispered softly and he grinned at Ian, staring right at him which caught him off guard. 

Claude's stare sent a chill down Ian's spine and he couldn't help but tremble in fear. When he realised that Claude was messing with him, he grit his teeth. But before he could do anything, Elder Kenneth appeared from the second floor and shouted loudly, "Attention! The Headmaster is here!"