100 Standardized Light Spears

Zhan Xiaobai placed the weapons in the courtyard. Below was the current list of main weapons used by players: iron saber, iron sword, iron spear [two-handed polearm], small wooden shield [one-handed, durability 20], wooden shield [one-handed, durability 50], and heavy wooden shield [shield warriors’ one-handed, durability 200, +6 defense, -40% movement speed].

Zhan Xiaobai pointed at the iron spear and asked the veteran soldier, the carpenter, and Li Asan, “How much iron ore and time does it take to make a heavy, sturdy iron spear like this?”

Li Asan replied, “This iron spear is made entirely of iron. It consumes a large amount of ore—about 50 jin of low-grade iron ore for the shaft and 5 jin of mid-grade iron ore for the spearhead. If you calculate strictly by market prices, just the cost of iron ore materials makes the spear shaft worth 125 copper coins and the spearhead worth 31 copper coins.”

Zhan Xiaobai nodded; the cost indeed seemed quite high.

However, for a village like Tiger Leopard Village, which had an open-pit mine, there was essentially no cost for raw materials. As far as he knew, Tiger Leopard Village sold a quality +4 attack iron spear for only 80 to 90 copper coins. That price was still too expensive for most ordinary players; only a few wealthy players who liked to show off with good weapons would buy them. Tiger Leopard Village sold roughly one iron spear per day.

“Veteran, how many iron spears like this can you make in a day?”

The iron soldier replied quickly, “My lord, although the craftsmanship of this iron spear is simple, the shaft must be exceptionally tough. It requires repeated quenching to forge a spear with good performance. I can make three iron spears like this per day.”

Three iron spears? That was a very small quantity.

Zhan Xiaobai asked again, “What about iron swords and iron sabers? How many can you make in a day?”

The iron soldier said, “I can forge five rough iron swords and eight rough iron sabers per day. Any more than that and the tempering won’t be right. Even if I force it, the quality will be poor, and the durability will be very low.”

Zhan Xiaobai shook his head slightly.

It seemed that with so few blacksmiths, mass-producing weapons was impossible. That was why Tiger Leopard Village only sold a small number of high-grade, high-profit +3 to +4 attack weapons instead of mass-producing low-grade weapons. Their village could never produce a large number of blacksmiths—at most one to three—and producing a few quality weapons per day was already considered strong and impressive.

“What if you only make spearheads and spear shafts? How many can you two make in a day?”

The iron soldier said, “Spearheads are simple. I can make 30 in a day, maybe more with skill. Each spearhead uses 5 jin of low-grade iron ore, so the cost is very low.”

The carpenter added, “Spear shafts are even simpler. With skill in working hardwood, I can make 50 shafts in a day.”

Zhan Xiaobai nodded. The attack power and durability of a light spear were inferior to those of an iron spear, but its low cost made it suitable for widespread use among warrior players. The overall benefits far exceeded those of a level 20 iron spear. If a thousand-player group formed a dense spear phalanx, their collective lethality would be far more terrifying than an equal number of sword or saber formations.

He smiled and said, “So, including your apprentices, mass-producing 100 level 10 spears a day should be no problem. Alright, let’s first produce a batch of spears to supply our village’s warriors. After our thousands of warriors are equipped with spears, we can supply other villages.”

The NPCs all nodded in agreement.

Everyone began to work busily, preparing to mass-produce level 10 light spears.

Since the blacksmith’s workshop was too small, Zhan Xiaobai had Li Asan and the carpenter organize dozens of farmers to build a simple weapon workshop next to the smithy, enclosed by a fence and covering about 10 acres.

Inside the weapon workshop, they worked day and night researching spear production. Li Asan didn’t understand much about this and had little to do there, so after consulting Zhan Xiaobai, he returned to medicine-making.

Sword Overlord, Autumn Water, Young Hero Chunqiu, Afly, and others came to check the weapon workshop but were not very interested in weapon making and returned to their own tasks—regulating player trade, patrolling for security, and fighting for territory. Afly had been eager to make a spear himself but lost interest after failing and went off to find someone to spar with the young hero.

In the weapon workshop, the carpenter experimented with various hardwoods for spear shafts to test durability.

Spears, designed primarily for throwing and piercing attacks, are the predecessors of the spear family. Therefore, the shaft must be made of hardwood to facilitate fierce stabbing. The best material for spear shafts was white ash wood—a precious timber—known for its extreme flexibility, making it ideal for blocking, catching, stabbing, and vibrating, earning the title “king of all weapons.”

The carpenter said, “Jujube, ebony, beech, and pear wood are most suitable for spear shafts. They are extremely sturdy and durable, even suitable for level 20 light spears. Ordinary wood has much lower durability, but for level 10 light spears, the durability is sufficient.”

Jujube wood was a mid-grade material—solid and heavy. But jujube groves were scarce around Xiaobai Village, making the price two to three times that of ordinary wood.

Zhan Xiaobai thought it over and decided to use ordinary wood for the shafts for now, saving the premium wood for advanced weapons.

As for iron spearheads, they did not pursue excellence but only reasonable cost, so they used low-quality iron ore for forging.

The iron soldier and his apprentices aimed to make spearheads to standard specifications.

Under Zhan Xiaobai’s leadership, the nine of them worked intensely for two days and finally developed a standardized mass production method for light spears, producing two versions of level 10 light spears at different price points.

One: Level 10 light spear, +1 attack, +1 piercing, weight 10 jin, durability 100. Light iron spearhead + ordinary wood shaft. Counters light cavalry. Priced at 15 copper coins.

Two: Level 10 light spear, +1 attack, +1 piercing, weight 15 jin, durability 200. Light iron spearhead + jujube or pear wood shaft. Counters light cavalry. Special effect: +1% critical strike. Priced at 25 copper coins.

Following standard procedures, seven blacksmiths and carpenters could easily produce 100 level 10 light spears per day in the weapon workshop.

Besides these two spear models, they also standardized the production of small wooden shields and wooden shields.

Since many villages had carpenters and wood was easy to obtain, the raw material cost was low—one unit of wood could make 20 wooden shields. Small wooden shields and wooden shields were common in the market and not valuable. Therefore, Zhan Xiaobai did not plan to develop wooden shields as a major weapon product but rather as a secondary product to complement weapons for sale.