Chapter 18
Six in the morning.
Su Wangchuan hastily stuffed a couple of bites of bread into his mouth and logged on.
“Log on, log on.”
“Make money, make money!”
Now, the moment Su Wangchuan thought about earning two taels of silver a day, he became so excited he could hardly contain himself.
Converted into RMB, that was six thousand a day!
What sleep was there to talk about?
A beast of burden had no right to sleep!
When he returned to the blacksmith shop, he did not see his master.
Only after stepping outside did he discover that Blacksmith Sun, his eyes bloodshot, was standing with the village chief and several hunters. All four hunters had quivers filled with arrows fitted with Hundredfold Steel arrowheads. Cold light flickered along them, their sharpness pressing forward like a threat.
Su Wangchuan immediately understood.
His master had probably not closed his eyes all night, sharpening those arrowheads.
When Blacksmith Sun saw Su Wangchuan, he walked over and said, “If you have rested enough, go forge. Your master will need to nap for a bit later.”
“Yes!”
“Master, you rest. I will go forge right away.”
Su Wangchuan could feel it—his master was doing everything he could to reduce the village’s losses, almost to the point of exhausting himself for the cause. Su Wangchuan shared that feeling and did not dare to slack off. He hurriedly ate two flatbreads to clear his Hunger, then, with the high-temperature furnace burning without pause, began another day of a beast-of-burden’s life.
At the village entrance, the village chief spoke earnestly to the four best hunters in the village.
“These last two days, the wild boars have ruined a great deal of our grain and injured our people. Today, you must eliminate every wild boar that has been trampling our crops! Blacksmith Sun has not slept through the night in order to forge the finest arrows for you. You must not let him down.”
“Yes!”
“Village Chief, rest assured!”
“With armor-piercing arrows, we will definitely deal with every one of those pests.”
“Just watch us.”
With that, the hunting team set out.
In addition to the four elite hunters, sixteen more hunters followed behind them.
A full twenty men marched out first to search for the wild boars.
Only after all the hunters had taken their positions did the village miners finally begin trudging out with baskets on their backs to rush the rice harvest.
To everyone’s surprise, good news came quickly from outside.
“Those damned wild boars actually spent the night in our rice fields…”
“When we got there, they were still asleep. We dropped seven or eight on the spot!”
“Haha…”
“The armor-piercing arrows forged by Blacksmith Sun really are effective! A huge boar took one shot through the throat, ran only a short distance, and collapsed!”
“Another two hit!”
“They are finally afraid—now they are running!”
“What a pity about the rice fields they ruined overnight.”
As reports of victory came one after another, miners carried the carcasses of large wild boars back from outside, all of them beaming with delight.
In a single morning, more than a dozen wild boar corpses of various sizes were laid out in the village, keeping Wang Dalang so busy he was nearly frantic—boiling water, gutting and dressing them.
The village chief was all smiles as he hurriedly arranged for people to contact the restaurants in the county seat to come purchase the meat.
Su Wangchuan heard all of this, yet he did not dare relax. He continued forging Hundredfold Steel arrowheads.
There were far more boars coming down from the mountains than merely a dozen or so.
Moreover, many of the armor-piercing arrows had not struck lethal locations and had been carried back into the mountains by the boars.
His experience continued to grow.
By the end of the day, he had rushed out forty-eight Hundredfold Steel arrowheads without pause, pushing the experience of the Hundredfold Steel Forging Technique to 91/300.
When Blacksmith Sun returned from outside, he was practically glowing with excitement, clearly satisfied with the armor-piercing arrows’ results.
“Wangchuan.”
“Good disciple!”
“Today, the armor-piercing arrows killed sixteen wild boars in total. The village chief said he will allocate two wild boars to our blacksmith shop. Wang Dalang will process them into cured meat and store it in the cellar. When winter comes, we can eat cured meat all winter long.”
“Also.”
“After the village sold the remaining wild boars, they rewarded our blacksmith shop with ten taels of silver. This is your share.”
Blacksmith Sun directly tossed over five taels of silver.
Su Wangchuan fumbled and caught it in a panic.
This was the first time he had ever seen silver.
The gleaming white metal was dazzling.
“Master, this… I already receive plenty of pay on ordinary days. I cannot take this extra share,” Su Wangchuan said. He truly felt that his wages were already high, and taking an additional portion made him uncomfortable.
In that moment, he even forgot that this was a game.
Blacksmith Sun was in high spirits. He waved a hand decisively.
“Your efforts these past few days have not escaped your master’s eyes. The profit from Hundredfold Steel arrowheads cannot compare to ordinary iron arrowheads, and forging Hundredfold Steel arrowheads consumes strength—it is exhausting work. Do you think your master does not know that? Consider this compensation for the choice you made. Take it and keep it.”
With Blacksmith Sun’s unquestionable tone, Su Wangchuan could only accept it.
“Thank you, Master.”
Su Wangchuan’s heart burned hot. At this moment, the silver in his hands already exceeded ten taels.
“But we still cannot relax,” Blacksmith Sun continued.
“The armor-piercing arrows forged yesterday have already all been consumed. Even though some were recovered, they still need to be melted down and reforged.”
Blacksmith Sun instructed him, “We must continue to seize every moment to forge Hundredfold Steel arrowheads.”
“Yes.”
Su Wangchuan also hoped to keep forging, to quickly raise the Hundredfold Steel Forging Technique to the realm where practice makes perfect.
He wanted to know whether advancing a life skill to the next realm would grant attribute point rewards again.
In the blink of an eye, three days passed.
Relying on the armor-piercing arrows forged by the blacksmith shop, the hunters of Blackstone Village gradually shot and killed more than fifty wild boars. This greatly protected the miners rushing the rice harvest, and it also drove the remaining boars away to other places.
The rice-harvesting work in Blackstone Village entered its final stage.
That afternoon, five escort leaders arrived at the village gate.
It was time again for the weekly submission of silver.
The profit from rushing the rice harvest was not as stable as mining, and because the process had been so nerve-wracking, most people submitted relatively little silver.
When it was Su Wangchuan’s turn, he took out two silver ingots.
Ten taels of silver.
Escort Leader Wang’s eyes widened. He stared at Su Wangchuan for a long time in disbelief before finally lowering his brush to record it—Su Wangchuan, ten taels.
Of course, that was not all of Su Wangchuan’s earnings for the week. He still had seven taels of silver on him.
He was simply worried that if he revealed too much, it might invite trouble.
What he did not know was that after Escort Leader Wang left, he reported this matter to the company at once.
A phone call came in from the company shortly afterward.
Su Wangchuan temporarily logged out of the game and answered.
Instructor Yu’s voice came through from the other side.
“Wangchuan.”
“I heard from Old Wang that you submitted ten taels of silver this week. Can you explain the details to the company?”
Instructor Yu’s tone was gentle.
“Rest assured. We will evaluate the value of the game information you provide, and then reward you accordingly. The higher the value, the more generous the reward.”
The moment Su Wangchuan heard there would be a reward, he did not hesitate. He told them that he had become Blacksmith Sun’s formal disciple, changed his profession to a blacksmith, and received the life skill ‘Hundredfold Steel Forging Technique.’
He explained that these earnings had been accumulated from forging arrowheads during this period.
Instructor Yu immediately understood and began to analyze in a low voice.
“So that is how it is.”
“In fact, our studio also has people who have changed professions to blacksmiths, but they are in the county seat. They are still in the stage of assisting with forging farming tools and ordinary crude iron equipment, and their income is not as high as what you described. It seems that because of this autumn harvest, you triggered an emergency task for forging arrowheads…”
“Blackstone Village has a major geographic advantage. It is close to an iron mine and rich in resources. Unlike the city, where iron ore and pig iron are overpriced, and profits are naturally diluted.”
“But no matter what, this information is quite valuable. At the very least, it provides us with a better path to strike gold. The company should give you a decent bonus.”
“Then thank you, Instructor Yu,” Su Wangchuan said, delighted.
Another bonus.
Who would not like that?