Translator: AnubisTL
Maple Country, the frontier lands.
Yellow sand swirled in the air, a place where opening your mouth would fill it with wind and sand.
From within a tent of the Frontier Army, rhythmic metallic clanging sounds continuously echoed.
Ding! Clang! Clang! Inside the tent, the scorching hot furnace illuminated the resolute and upright face of a young man, turning it a deep red.
Bang! With the final hammer strike, the long halberd he had been forging for nearly half the afternoon was finally nearing completion.
"Li Erniu, is my long halberd ready yet?!" A rough shout echoed from outside the tent, the voice unmistakably that of a burly man.
Li Erniu, whose real name was Li Qing, was called "Er Niu" (Second Ox) in the army because his family owned two oxen and he had an older brother.
Li Qing exhaled lightly and responded, "Just need to quench it, Centurion! Give me a moment!"
With that, Li Qing picked up the heavy long halberd with both hands and slowly immersed its sharp end into a water vat.
Sizzle! A large amount of steam rose, and soon bubbles began to gurgle on the water's surface.
After a while, Li Qing lifted the long halberd from the water. Its sharp end now reflected a cold, gleaming light.
[Successfully forged a mortal weapon: Fine Iron Battle Halberd. Reward: Five months of lifespan!]
It's getting less and less... It seems there must be more powerful weapons beyond mortal ones.
Li Qing looked at the line of text only he could see, along with the ever-counting-down numbers, and sighed silently in his heart.
After a quick glance, Li Qing took the newly forged battle halberd and walked out of the tent.
Pulling back the tent flap, he saw a burly man standing outside, with a thick black beard covering his chin and lips.
"Centurion Chen, why didn't you come in to wait? The sandstorm outside is fierce!" Li Qing said with a simple, honest smile, handing over the long halberd.
Chen Meng joked, "Your tent is as hot as a furnace. Who'd want to go in there?"
With that, Chen Meng took the heavy long halberd, feeling its weight and the residual warmth, and then laughed.
"Hahaha, not bad, not bad! With your skills, you'll be ready to graduate soon! Your progress is really fast!"
Chen Meng swung the long halberd a couple of times in the air, exuding an imposing aura.
"Centurion Chen, your martial skills are impressive!" Li Qing praised sincerely, his eyes unable to hide a glimmer of envy.
The long halberd he could barely lift with both hands, Chen Meng could wield effortlessly with one hand. Such strength was truly something to admire.
"Stop flattering me. Work hard and try to learn all of Master Gu's skills. He's getting old, and you'll be taking over his position soon."
After saying this, Chen Meng left Li Qing's tent with the long halberd, though he couldn't help but wear a smug smile on his face.
He almost split his mouth from grinning!
Watching Chen Meng's retreating figure, Li Qing slowly retreated back into the sweltering tent, carefully pulling the flap shut to keep the sandstorm outside.
"Phew... Seventeen years already..."
Li Qing slumped to the ground, leaning against the iron rack holding the weapons. He picked up a long-blackened rag and wiped the sweat from his forehead, letting out a deep sigh.
It had been seventeen years since Li Qing found himself in this world, utterly bewildered. After crossing over, he had initially thought of coming up with some ingenious ideas to make money, marry a few wives, and live a simple, unremarkable life.
But he never expected that at the age of ten, he suddenly found himself able to see a line of numbers.
After several years, he finally confirmed that this line of numbers represented his lifespan.
In Li Qing's previous life, he never thought that slowly aging to death was a terrifying thing. But now, he could clearly see his life counting down, starting from a mere fifty-four.
He panicked! Barely in his teens, he couldn't accept the fact that he was destined to die young.
As the years passed, that number grew smaller and smaller, and he became increasingly certain that it represented his lifespan. Unless something extraordinary happened, he would only live to his sixties! Fortunately, there was still a way to change this. Last year, when he was forcibly conscripted into the army as a blacksmith, he suddenly discovered that forging weapons could increase his lifespan.
At first, simply crafting an iron sword could add a year to his life. Now, successfully forging a mundane weapon only added five months.
Now, the line of numbers before Li Qing's eyes had changed to 142! Looking at the number 142, Li Qing couldn't help but let out a satisfied chuckle.
Yes, that meant that as long as he remained healthy and free from disaster, he could live to nearly 160 years old without doing anything!
What an astonishing number!
In this era, the average lifespan was only around sixty or seventy years, and those who lived to eighty were considered long-lived! Just as Li Qing was basking in the glory of his extended lifespan, a commotion suddenly erupted outside the tent.
"Quick! Doctor, find the doctor! Get the doctor here!"
The once peaceful camp was instantly thrown into chaos by this urgent cry.
Hearing the commotion, Li Qing immediately stood up and hurriedly lifted the tent flap to see what was happening.
Squinting, he saw three or four people carrying wounded soldiers rushing back.
Soon, more and more people emerged from their tents.
"What happened?"
Chen Meng, who had just acquired a new weapon, rushed out from the training ground, his brow deeply furrowed.
"Centurion Chen, bandits! We encountered bandits!" one of the soldiers carrying a wounded man urgently replied.
"Bandits?" Chen Meng's expression changed slightly, and a look of anger flashed in his eyes.
"Damn it! These bandits have some nerve, daring to attack our Wu Li Army!"
Li Qing ignored their discussion and instead focused intently on the injuries of the soldiers.
Several sharp arrows had nearly pierced through their bodies, and large amounts of blood had soaked through the clothing beneath their leather armor, a gruesome sight.
These injuries were almost certainly fatal.
"Gulp!"
Li Qing couldn't help but swallow hard. His face turned pale, and his body trembled involuntarily.
He had been at the frontier for nearly a year and a half, and this was the first time he had seen a soldier on the brink of death.
For such a long time, the borderlands had remained relatively peaceful. Although there were occasional frictions with the neighboring Liang Country, neither side had escalated to full-blown conflict, both exercising restraint.
However, the place he was in was still the frontier.
Even though there had been no war for a long time, could peace truly last forever?
If there were no war, why would so many troops be stationed at the frontier? After all, the bandits and the Frontier Army had generally kept to themselves, not interfering with each other. Today's attack was sudden, and it was unclear whether it carried any other unusual implications.
Li Qing no longer had the heart to continue watching. He silently returned to his blacksmith's workshop and sat down again by the iron rack where weapons were stored, his body still trembling uncontrollably.
No!
Although working as a blacksmith in the army could earn him a lot of lifespan, if war broke out, this would be the most dangerous place!
The lifespan he earned by forging weapons referred to how long he could live, but if he were killed during that time, what use would a long life be?!
He was just a blacksmith. Though he had some strength, his ability to protect himself in the face of war was almost nonexistent.
He had to leave!
He had to get away from the frontier as soon as possible!
This was the only thought in Li Qing's mind now.
"I was too naive."
(End of the Chapter)
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