Chapter 358: Weapon Forging Workshop — Sparing His Life and Purchasing Magic Materials

Jier strode toward the group of thugs he had been eyeing, flicking his Changdao to shake off the bits of flesh and nearly congealed blood clinging to it.

The thugs opposite him dared not move, remaining frozen in place as Jier walked up and rested his Changdao against a neck.

"You know I'm carrying a lot of Gold Coins; where did you get that information?" Jier asked while scanning the situation around him.

There were two thugs left; one was crawling away on all fours, using all his strength. Even though his legs were fine, he acted as if they had been severed. Jier guessed the man was terrified out of his wits—having nicked his own instep with his sharp knife, he subconsciously felt his legs were done for, so he could only crawl away with his arms in that ridiculous fashion.

The other thug was a youth about his own age, or perhaps even younger, who was sitting blankly by the bushes not far from the riverbank, holding some loose coins he had dropped, staring blankly at the scene.

Jier narrowed his eyes and realized the little fellow wasn't looking at him, but at the ringleader he was currently holding at knifepoint.

He didn't know the circumstances, nor did he care.

Seeing that this thug didn't answer his question, Jier twisted his Changdao and knocked the thick Linen Cloth hat off the man's head: "I'm asking you a question! Answer!"

But the man only chattered his teeth; even though Jier hadn't knocked away the kitchen knife in his hand, the guy seemed to have forgotten he was even holding a weapon.

"Hmph!" Jier snorted coldly, sheathed his Changdao into the scabbard on his left hip without even looking, and used his free right hand to grab the kitchen knife the man was holding.

Jier gripped the man's palm, then exerted force to twist the man's arm, slowly pressing the kitchen knife in his hand against his own neck.

"Spare me, spare me, spare me, spare me. Please spare me. I beg you." Only then did the man snap out of it and begin to beg for mercy; seemingly sensing his impending death, he kept begging even as his teeth chattered.

Jier looked into the man's eyes: "I won't ask any more questions. Let's just deal with the matter at hand."

After a pause, Jier felt the man sinking, so he grabbed the man's cloth belt with his left hand to keep him from collapsing to the ground.

Looking down, a wave of heat rose from the thug's crotch. Jier snorted coldly, gave up on asking anything else, and exerted force with his right hand, driving the kitchen knife into the neck.

With a twist, Jier applied force, and *splat*, hot blood sprayed out as the man's own weapon severed his carotid artery.

Pushing the guy to the ground, Jier ignored him and took the short-handled axe hanging from the leather shield on his left arm, weighed it in his hand, and then threw it with force.

*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh*—the axe spun through the air and directly sheared off the skull of the thug who hadn't managed to crawl very far.

"Actually, I'm quite talented at throwing," Jier muttered to himself, then strode toward the youth who was still frozen in place.

Seeing the little fellow still clutching the coins he had dropped along the way, Jier kicked the boy's hand over.

The coins scattered across the ground.

"Don't kill me, please, don't kill me." The little fellow didn't run; he likely realized there was no possibility of escape, so he simply curled up on the cold riverbank, begging all the while.

Jier grabbed the boy by the collar and lifted him up, discovering he was only thirteen or fourteen, but because he likely hadn't lived well, he was thin and frail; Jier lifted him with just one hand, leaving his feet dangling in the air.

After sizing up the boy's face—he didn't look like the ringleader he had just killed—Jier asked directly: "I saw you staring at that useless guy earlier. What is your relationship to him?"

But the little fellow only kept begging, repeating the same thing over and over.

Jier lost his patience; he switched hands to hold the boy by the neck and shook him, causing the boy to cough incessantly. Then he let go and set him down: "I'll ask you one more time, what is your relationship to that guy?"

"He is my, my father," the boy answered Jier, trembling.

"Father? You don't look alike," Jier asked, rubbing his chin in confusion.

The boy shook his head tremblingly: "Not the first father, the third father. The first father died, and Mother found another, but that guy wanted to sell me and Mother, so Mother found him to be the third father, and the second father didn't dare to sell us anymore."

"Tsk tsk, that's quite complicated. Then let me ask you, do you know where you got your information from?"

"It's spreading on the streets, everywhere, everyone is short on money, really short on money, so they decided to take a gamble. Please, I don't want to die, Mother is still alive, I can't die." Saying this, the little fellow knelt on the ground, grabbed Jier's Boot, and begged him.

After a moment of silence, Jier kicked the little fellow away: "Get lost, and don't look back."

After the little fellow tumbled to the side and scrambled up, he ran frantically toward Bingxun Pass without looking back.

Jier picked up the scattered coins on the ground, then went to the riverbank littered with corpses to collect the thugs' weapons and the money on their bodies.

Honestly, it was too little, even less than the money he had dropped along the way to lure them, and that Silver Coin he used to attract attention wasn't found—could it have been taken by that little fellow?

Shaking his head, Jier thought it unlikely; after all, one Silver Coin could be exchanged for a thousand Iron Coins, which was quite a lot for these thugs who were even worse off than ordinary people; it was unlikely he would let a child hold onto it.

All in all, these people's greed had thoroughly killed them; with the employment situation in Bingxun Pass being so good right now, why not just work hard to earn money? They had to be like those Bandits, doing this kind of bloody business.

And they dared to rob him—please, why didn't others dare to come? It was because those who knew Jier's strength didn't dare; only these bottom-tier thugs who didn't know any better dared to risk coming to trouble him.

Given how brainless these people were, even if they had really robbed the money, it was questionable whether they could have kept it in Bingxun Pass.

Jier shook his head again, put the useful items he had scavenged into the Backpack hanging on his horse, and then decapitated the thugs' corpses and threw them into the Kendall River, hoping this great flowing river could wash away their ignorance and greed; if there was a next life, don't be human—living hard is just suffering.

Just right, they could also feed the fish in the river; usually, Humans eat them, but today, let's turn the tables and let them taste what Humans are like.

Jier returned to Kendall City in the evening; he had found a place on the road to wash off the blood on his body, and when the cold wind blew, the water on his coat froze into ice, which he rubbed off with his Glove until it was dry.

Except for being a bit cold, everything else was fine.

Outside the city, he first retrieved the money he had hidden, and returned to Kendall City with all the Gold Coins he possessed.

He felt much more at ease back here; he knew several of the guards. Moreover, he knew many high-ranking people in the city with power, whether in terms of force, religion, or the Merchant circle—hey, when others asked, he could say he had people in high places!

It was a bit late today, so Jier returned directly to the Hunter Stronghold.

As soon as he entered, everyone was eating; Jier had no appetite at all, having ridden a horse all day, he just wanted to lie on his bed and have a good sleep.

The next morning, the wooden door sounded with a *thump-thump*.

Jier squeezed out from under his bedding, opened the door, and saw the old Hunter standing at the entrance.

"Jier, since you're back, come practice archery! If you don't practice for a day, your hands will get rusty, let alone a greenhorn like you. Pack up and come quickly! By the way, dress warmly, it's snowing outside." Seeing Jier wearing only his undergarments, he didn't wait for him, finished speaking, and waved his hand before heading downstairs.

Jier poked his head out the door and saw that everyone else was already up. Unable to worry about what came next, Jier got up quickly, put on thick clothes, threw on a new wolf-fur Cloak, kicked the money bag from his Backpack under the bed, and then locked the door and went downstairs.

Bread bought yesterday was being toasted by the fireplace; Jier picked one up and poured himself a large cup of warm water to drink. Afterward, he tucked the warm Bread into his chest to keep it hot, went to the front yard to use the Toilet, and then fed his horse.

Although they were kept in the Hunter Stronghold and other Hunters would help Jier feed them when they saw them, if you want to make friends with these smart guys, you have to feed them yourself.

He chopped some hay, poured some ice water into the trough, and Jier used a Pig Hair Brush to brush the horses, stepping on the parasites that fell to the ground. Seeing the satisfied look on the horses, he wiped his hands and walked toward the backyard while eating his Bread.

The Bread was kept warm inside his clothes against his chest, so it hadn't gone cold; he tore off small bites of the surprisingly tough Bread, which often required repeated chewing for a long time before he could swallow.

"Why did it take so long?" The old Hunter was waiting there with his arms crossed; other young Hunters were also mostly present, and they were taking turns speaking before practicing archery.

"I went to feed the horses. And I brushed them too, they had horse lice," Jier said while taking a big bite of Bread.

"Who doesn't have a few parasites on them? We're considered clean here. Alright, let's start!" He saw Jier still eating: "Practice while you eat. Archery doesn't use your mouth anyway!"

"Mmph," Jier responded vaguely, his mouth full of hard-to-chew Bread.

He took the bow body and Bowstring from the old Hunter Tuosite.

Of course, the first step was to warm up the bowstring; Jier tucked the icy cold bowstring into his chest to rub it, and after it warmed up, he took it out, hooked one end onto one tip of the wooden bow, and then, after changing the orientation of the bow body, he had to bend the bow to fix the other side of the bowstring in place.

Next, Jier hung two quivers of training arrows at his waist, drew one out, nocked the arrow, extended his arm, aimed, and released.

Swish!

After Jier's precise aim, the soft tip of the arrow struck the animal wooden board on the opposite side of the courtyard.

"Not bad, continue!" Tuosite praised him.

Jier swallowed the last bite of bread in his mouth, did it again, and fired arrows rapidly.

Swish!

It missed.

Tuosite looked at Jier with dissatisfaction: "Aim slowly; beginners should not skip the time spent aiming."

"Yes!" Jier responded once. Then he continued to practice.

Soon, the morning practice was finished; Jier's hit rate was around thirty percent, which counted as a beginner's score. It could not compare to the hundred-percent accuracy level of the young Hunters nearby.

After practicing archery, Jier returned to the house to take out his wooden sword and shield training gear, and found a spot in the corner of the backyard that wouldn't disturb others to practice this.

The young Hunters nearby found it fun, so they asked Jier if he had any other spare protective gear, and Jier went up and brought down another set of wooden training gear.

The young Hunters played very happily, and after Jier practiced for a while himself, he handed the protective gear he was wearing to others to use, gasping for breath, and explained that after they were done, they could just leave it at his door.

Jier returned to the house, counted the coins in his backpack once, then put them into the backpack, and took them all with him.

He went out and headed to the Craftsman District.

The Craftsman District was as bustling as usual, filled everywhere with the scolding of Craftsmen reprimanding their apprentices and the clanging sounds of work. Black smoke, representing human vitality and development, rose from some chimneys, though the streets were sparsely populated.

After all, it had snowed again.

Farmers all liked it when it snowed in winter, as this meant there would be far fewer insect pupae and eggs in the fields the following year. Through the explanations of the Agricultural God Church Pastors, everyone already knew that in the past, whenever it didn't snow in winter, there would mostly be some large or small insect plagues the following year.

So, upon knowing this, the farmers and their wives would go to the Statue of the God of the Winter Lady under the Agricultural God in the church, praying for the great goddess Cuinaisi to send down snow that wouldn't collapse roofs but could freeze the insect eggs and pupae to death.

Perhaps it was useful, or perhaps it was useless; after all, during the Harvest Festival, he had heard the Church Pastors say that compared to the other seasonal goddesses under the Agricultural God, this Lady in charge of winter was not a conceptual deity, but a life god who had ascended to the throne after being a great creature of the Northlands.

Perhaps the physical Lady Cuinaisi was currently gulping down wine, and wouldn't think to look after the believers who had Faith in her.

Arriving at the Weapon Forging Workshop, the tall and strong Craftsman, who was mysteriously both a Pastor of the God of Crafts and an excellent Craftsman, greeted him.

"Talk here, or?" This Craftsman, who had not given his name, saw the backpack Jier was carrying, and just from the sound of the coins rubbing inside, he could tell that Jier had brought all the money he could possibly bring.

Jier smiled: "Inside, perhaps? I brought too much money; of course, you might feel it isn't much, but I feel it is already an incredible number."

The Weapon Forging Workshop was completely different in size from Ganna's Armor Workshop; after all, one could go without armor, but not without weapons. High-level armor could be custom-ordered in big cities, and ordinary Warriors and commoners could get by in normal combat by wearing a few more layers of thick clothing.

But weapons were different; it was absolutely impossible to go without an excellent weapon that could secure victory.

Therefore, ever since Kendall City was established by the First Kendall Baron, the Weapon Forging Workshop here had always been outstanding.

Even now, the forging of ordinary weapons had seen some decline in technique; after all, the best Craftsmen had put their minds into the research and forging of more powerful Magic Material Weapons, and ordinary weapons were just made casually, mostly the work of new Craftsmen.

There was a separate room inside the workshop, and in a place clearly used for storing important items, Jier took out the money bag filled with Gold Coins from his backpack, and then neatly stacked the Gold Coins one by one on the sturdy stone table.

Although this mysterious Craftsman also took a few extra looks at the Gold Coins that covered a third of the table, he focused his gaze more on Jier, who was able to produce this wealth.

"It seems, Warrior Jier, you intend to take all the Magic Materials I can provide? I have to say, you really surprise me."

Jier shrugged: "It wasn't easy; I can only say that I was surprised myself. I didn't expect that among the things seized from the Bandits previously, there were some valuable treasures. I can only call it good luck."

The mysterious Craftsman shook his finger: "Luck only lingers with those who have strength, and besides, that elusive Lady seems to prefer some unexpected young people."

"Who?" Jier didn't understand what he was talking about.

"Nothing. Let's calculate the money. Wait a moment." After saying this, the Craftsman left the place, used a key and some magical means to open a metal door, and after waiting for a while, he came over carrying the tray he had shown Jier before.

Placing the items on the stone table, this mysterious Craftsman told Jier the prices for each Magic Material; they were all the same prices as last time, with no changes.

Then, Jier paid the Gold Coins for each item according to the type of Magic Material.

The most expensive was the metal sheet blessed by the Sun God Church; a tiny piece actually cost over one hundred Gold Coins.

Next was the Fire-Absorbing Gold; this thing was also very expensive, and according to this mysterious Craftsman, their church didn't have much of it either, and the share allocated to his Weapon Forging Workshop was even less.

When asked where Jier intended to use this, Jier answered the Craftsman: "I intend to use it on my new Metal Armor; after all, it seems a bit strange to have fire-prevention effects on a weapon or a Shield. Especially since my Shield is a bit peculiar and not very convenient. And the Shield has to actively resist the opponent's attacks; I am afraid of it being scraped off after being hit by an enemy's weapon."

"Haha, that makes some sense," the Craftsman said with a laugh.

Then there were the Tree Heart from the Agricultural God Church and the Spherical Moonlight Iron made by the newly promoted Pastor of the Moon God. Since there was only one of each item or Jier only used one, although the unit price was high, the total price was still cheaper than the Fire-Absorbing Gold.

As for the Black Iron and Red Copper, Jier bought the maximum amount he could.

Even so, if one ignored the unpleasant expression on the Craftsman's face, Jier's Gold Coins had not yet been spent.

The Craftsman repeatedly took the Magic Materials Jier purchased from the storeroom, weighed them, Jier paid, and then he packed these precious materials into bags and handed them to Jier.

The bag was even the same one Jier had used to hold his Gold Coins earlier.

Finally, Jier asked carefully: "Um, for you to forge and modify my Long Sword, do you charge a fee for this?"

The Craftsman shook his head: "I won't charge for this time; after all, I didn't expect you would intend to apply five types of Magic Materials to that contaminated Long Sword. Actually, I am also quite interested in what can be forged."

"Thank you for your support." Jier put the remaining Gold Coins into the largest money bag, then put it into his backpack, and then placed the piece of Sun God Church blessed metal sheet, the spherical Moonlight Iron, the piece of Agricultural God Church blessed Tree Heart, and the bags containing Red Copper and Black Iron, one by one onto the stone table.

"Please accept the materials."

"Let me see, this thing, this thing, this thing—one of each is enough." The Craftsman accepted the metal sheet, the Moonlight Iron, and the blessed Tree Heart, then took Jier's Hunting Longsword from the cabinet in the room, drew it out, carefully judged the contamination of Jier's Long Sword, as well as the length, thickness, and material of the sword blade, and then weighed out the required amount of Magic Materials from the bags of Red Copper and Black Iron Jier had provided.

He used exactly the right amount, taking only one-sixth from each bag.

Seeing what Jier wanted to say: "Young man, don't look at the small amount of Red Copper and Black Iron used; their weight is not light. If you were to forge a weapon entirely out of these two materials, it wouldn't be impossible, but your arms are too thin and weak; you wouldn't be able to use it. If you were a Knight, it might be okay."

The Craftsman mocked Jier's arms, and then gestured with his own powerful arms: "Even my arms, as thick as they are, wouldn't be enough. After all, using a weapon is not like blacksmithing; the range of motion is not only large but also varied, and the stress and force exerted on the arms are not something an ordinary person can withstand."

He put away the materials Jier had given him again, placing them together with Jier's Long Sword: "The forging starts tomorrow and will take a whole day. If you are free, you can come and watch. This opportunity is very rare; the apprentices in the workshop don't even have the chance to observe. If other Craftsmen want to help me, I have to see how their forging skills are. Those who can only forge ordinary weapons simply don't have the qualifications, you know?"

"Okay, I will come first thing tomorrow morning!" Jier agreed readily; he didn't care how the Craftsmen divided themselves into different ranks. He just wanted to hurry to tomorrow and witness his weapon being reforged and reborn with his own eyes.