Maple Kingdom, the borderlands.
Yellow sand swirled in the air, a place where even opening one's mouth would result in a mouthful of wind and sand.
Inside a tent of the border army, rhythmic sounds of metal clashing echoed continuously.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Within the tent, the scorching hot furnace cast a bright red glow on the young man's resolute and upright face.
Bang!
With the final strike, the long spear he had been forging for nearly half an afternoon was finally nearing completion.
“Li Erniu, is my long spear done?!” A rough voice boomed from outside the tent, revealing the speaker to be a burly man.
Li Erniu, whose real name was Li Qing, was nicknamed Erniu by the soldiers in the camp because his family owned two cows and he had an older brother.
Li Qing exhaled lightly and replied, “Just need to quench it, wait a moment, Captain!”
Saying this, Li Qing picked up the heavy long spear with both hands and slowly immersed the sharp end into a water vat.
Hiss!
A large amount of steam rose up, and soon bubbles began to gurgle up from the water's surface.
After a while, Li Qing lifted the long spear from the water, the sharp end now reflecting a chilling cold light.
【Successfully forged a mundane weapon: Refined Iron War Spear, reward: five months of lifespan!】
It was getting less and less. It seemed that besides mundane weapons, there should be even more powerful armaments.
Li Qing gazed at the line of text that only he could see, along with the countdown number, and silently sighed in his heart.
After a brief glance, Li Qing walked out of the tent with the forged war spear in hand.
Lifting the curtain, he saw a sturdy man standing outside, with a thick black beard on his chin and lips.
“Captain Chen, why don’t you come in and wait? The wind and sand outside are so strong!” Li Qing displayed a simple and honest smile as he handed over the long spear.
Chen Meng joked, “Your tent is hotter than a furnace; who would want to go in?”
As he spoke, Chen Meng took the heavy long spear, feeling its weight and the residual warmth on it, then laughed heartily.
“Hahaha, not bad, not bad! With your skills, it won’t be long before you can go into battle! Your progress is truly fast!”
Chen Meng swung the long spear a couple of times in the air, exuding a powerful aura.
“Captain Chen, your martial skills are impressive!” Li Qing sincerely praised, unable to hide the envy in his eyes.
This long spear, which he could barely lift with both hands, was wielded effortlessly by Chen Meng with one hand, and such strength truly made him envious.
“Stop flattering me. Focus on your work and strive to learn all of Master Gu's skills. Master Gu is getting old now; you will take over his position in the future.”
After saying this, Chen Meng carried the long spear and left Li Qing's tent, but a proud smile could not help but appear on his face.
He almost split his mouth from grinning!
Watching Chen Meng's departing figure, Li Qing slowly retreated back into the steamy tent, carefully pulling the curtain closed to prevent the wind and sand from blowing in.
“Phew! Seventeen years have passed.”
Li Qing slumped onto the ground, leaning against the iron rack where weapons were stored. He casually picked up a piece of cloth that had long turned black and wiped the sweat from his forehead, letting out a long sigh.
He had stumbled into this world for seventeen years. After crossing over, he initially thought of casually coming up with some clever ideas to earn some money, then marrying three to five wives, living a simple and mundane life.
However, he did not expect that at the age of ten, he suddenly began to see a line of numbers.
After spending several years, he finally confirmed that this line of numbers represented his lifespan.
In Li Qing's previous life, he never thought that aging and dying slowly was a terrifying thing until he could clearly see his life beginning to count down, starting from the short number fifty-four.
He panicked!
At just over ten years old, he could not accept the fact that he was a short-lived person.
As the years passed, that number became smaller and smaller, and he increasingly confirmed that this line of numbers represented his lifespan, meaning that if no significant changes occurred, he could only live to his sixties!
Fortunately, all of this could still be changed. Since being forcibly conscripted into the army and becoming a blacksmith last year, he suddenly discovered that as long as he forged weapons, he could gain an increase in lifespan.
From initially forging a simple iron sword to gain a year of lifespan, to now successfully forging a mundane weapon only granting five months of lifespan.
Now, the number in front of Li Qing had become 142! Looking at the number 142, Li Qing could not help but let out a satisfied silly laugh.
Yes, this meant that as long as he remained free from illness and disaster, he could live to nearly one hundred sixty years old without doing anything!
What an astonishing number!
In this era, a normal person's lifespan reaching sixty or seventy years was already quite good, and eighty years was considered a long-lived elder!
Just as Li Qing was feeling pleased with his relatively long lifespan, a sudden commotion erupted outside the tent.
“Quick! Doctor, find a doctor! Call the doctor over!”
The originally calm military camp was suddenly disturbed by this urgent cry.
Hearing the commotion, Li Qing immediately stood up and hurriedly lifted the curtain to see what was happening.
He squinted and saw three or four people hurriedly returning, each carrying an injured soldier on their backs.
Soon, more and more people emerged from the tents.
“What happened?”
Chen Meng, who had just acquired a suitable weapon, rushed out from the training ground, his brows tightly furrowed.
“Captain Chen, horse bandits! We encountered horse bandits!” One of the soldiers carrying an injured comrade answered hurriedly.
“Horse bandits?” Chen Meng's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and anger surged in his eyes.
“Damn it, these horse bandits really have the guts to attack my Wuli Army!”
Li Qing ignored their discussions and focused on the injuries of the soldiers.
Several sharp arrowheads had nearly pierced through their bodies, and large areas of blood soaked through the leather armor, looking extremely shocking.
These injuries made it nearly impossible to save them.
“Gulp!”
Li Qing could not help but swallow hard, his face turning somewhat pale, and his body trembled involuntarily.
He had been in the borderlands for nearly a year and a half, and this was the first time he had seen soldiers injured to the brink of death.
For such a long time, the border had actually been relatively peaceful. Although there had been friction with the neighboring Liang Kingdom, it had not escalated into actual warfare, as both sides had shown restraint.
However, the place he was in was still the border.
Even though there had not been a war for a long time, could peace really last forever?
If there was no war, then why was there such a large military presence in the borderlands?
It was known that horse bandits usually kept to themselves and did not provoke the border army. This sudden attack was somewhat unexpected, leaving Li Qing wondering if there were other unusual implications behind it.
Li Qing could no longer bear to watch; he silently returned to his blacksmith shop, once again sitting beside the iron rack where weapons were stored, his body still trembling uncontrollably.
This was not good!
Although being a blacksmith in the army allowed him to earn a lot of lifespan, if war broke out, this place would be the most dangerous!
The lifespan he earned from forging weapons indicated how long he could live, but if he were to be killed during this time, what good would a long lifespan do?!
He was just a blacksmith; although he had some strength, his ability to protect himself in the face of war was nearly nonexistent.
He had to leave!
He needed to leave the border as soon as possible!
This was the only thought in Li Qing's mind now.
“I was too naive.”
Newcomer, new book launch, seeking collections and follows!
(End of Chapter)