Volume One, Chapter Nine: The Blacksmith's Shop

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Inside Jiyin City, Lin Xuan looked at the building blueprint handed over by Ningxia, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

[Blacksmith Shop Building Blueprint]: Constructible with a cost of one thousand copper coins, one thousand units of iron ore, and five hundred units of wood. Once completed, as long as the lord recruits a blacksmith and possesses equipment forging blueprints, equipment can be crafted.

Although Ningxia’s luck wasn’t as good as his, this blacksmith shop blueprint was exactly what Lin Xuan needed.

“I won’t take your blueprint without giving something in return. You probably know that to upgrade the village chief’s hall to level one, besides building the refugee camp and the basic barracks, we also need to train fifty soldiers.”

“These gold and silver coins together add up to at least twenty-five thousand copper coins. Later, I’ll also bring you one thousand units of grain and five hundred units of iron ore.”

After some thought, Lin Xuan decided to offer Ningxia some compensation.

Although what he offered didn’t match the value of the blacksmith shop blueprint, these were precisely the resources Ningxia needed at the moment.

Besides, even though he was the true bandit here, it was only because Ningxia’s people had tried to rob him first!

Hearing this, Ningxia was momentarily stunned as she looked at the money pouch Lin Xuan handed over.

Was this guy really so kind?

Though Ningxia was still angry and wanted to give Lin Xuan a good thrashing, she knew she was at fault from the start—it was her people who had made the first mistake—so she never expected Lin Xuan to willingly propose compensation.

After confirming he wasn’t joking, Ningxia accepted the pouch from him.

She then noticed Lin Xuan instructing Jiang Feishang to open the warehouse door behind them, and soon Huang Sheng and Jiang Feishang began to carry out bags of iron ore.

Five hundred units of iron ore weighed a hefty five thousand jin, piled up as high as a grave mound. Even though Jiang Feishang and Huang Sheng had combat values of ninety and sixty respectively, they still had to make several trips to haul all the ore out.

“The grain isn’t here. Later, send a few people with me to get it.”

After Ningxia stored all the iron ore into her virtual panel, Lin Xuan’s voice sounded again.

“Forget about the grain. I’m already satisfied with this. After all, my people were the ones who offended you first!”

After some deliberation, Ningxia decided to refuse Lin Xuan’s grain.

Knowing when to stop was wise—lest this guy’s mood sour and she’d have to give back everything she’d just accepted.

Lin Xuan was momentarily taken aback.

What was going on? She didn’t even want free stuff?

He couldn’t understand Ningxia’s thoughts, but if she didn’t want it, fine. “Alright then, I’m eager to get back to the village, so I won’t keep you. Fate will bring us together again someday!”

“Well... how about we add each other as friends?”

Just as Lin Xuan turned to leave after saying “fate will bring us together again,” he heard Ningxia’s voice from behind, and his foot paused mid-step.

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“We’re friends now. I’ll be off then!”

After saying this, Lin Xuan really left this time. Leading Jiang Feishang and Huang Sheng, he headed toward the city gate of Jiyin.

“All the materials are ready. We should be able to upgrade the village chief’s hall to level one today.”

“I wonder what changes will come with upgrading the village chief’s hall to level one…” Lin Xuan muttered to himself as he left Jiyin City.

Without wasting a moment after exiting the city, the three arrived at the entrance of Lin Family Village just over an hour later.

Once inside, Lin Xuan brushed off the weeds from his clothes and retrieved the blacksmith shop blueprint from his virtual panel.

Before training soldiers, Lin Xuan decided to build the blacksmith shop.

“Right here.”

He found an empty plot beside the basic barracks and placed the blacksmith shop blueprint in the center.

Then, with a tap on his virtual panel, the blueprint transformed into a dazzling light.

[Congratulations, the blacksmith shop construction is complete. As the second lord in this region to build the blacksmith shop, you have received a top ten reward.]

[Reward: Common-tier Equipment – Spear Forging Blueprint.]

As the blacksmith shop took shape, a notification sounded in Lin Xuan’s mind.

“Common-tier equipment, spear forging blueprint... top ten reward, interesting!”

[Common-tier Equipment – Spear Forging Blueprint]: Requires 500 copper coins and 10 units of iron ore to forge. When equipped by a general (excluding strategists) or soldier, their combat value increases by one.

[Note: To forge common-tier equipment, the lord must have built the blacksmith shop and recruited a blacksmith.]

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Lin Xuan took the extra spear forging blueprint from his virtual panel, glanced over it a few times, and smiled softly: “I already have both the blacksmith shop and a blacksmith, so I can have Wang Yan start forging right away!”

With that, Lin Xuan handed the spear forging blueprint to Huang Sheng, instructing him to take it to Wang Yan.

Watching Huang Sheng leave, Lin Xuan suddenly remembered something and slapped his thigh.

“If the first ten lords to build the blacksmith shop get a reward, then the first ten to upgrade the village chief’s hall to level one should also get a reward.”

With that thought, Lin Xuan didn’t hesitate and headed toward the basic barracks nearby.

[Kind Reminder: Training fifty soldiers requires 25,000 copper coins, 1,000 units of grain, and 500 units of iron ore. Confirm training?]

“Confirm!”

Without hesitation, Lin Xuan pressed the confirmation button on the virtual panel.

Time waits for no one; Lin Xuan didn’t want to be the eleventh or twelfth.

As time passed, five minutes later, fifty soldiers clad in well-crafted armor and bearing tall, imposing figures emerged from the basic barracks.

[Basic Infantry]: Unnamed

[Territory]: Lin Family Village

[Loyalty]: 100

[Combat]: 50

[Battle Power]: 55 (Basic unit, battle power bonus of 10%)

[Equipment]: Weapon none / Armor none / Protective gear none / Accessories none / Mount none

All with identical attribute panels.

Seeing that all fifty soldiers shared the same information, Lin Xuan finally realized the difference between soldiers trained at the barracks and villagers provided by the refugee camp.

These soldiers’ attribute panels were entirely different from those of villagers and the general Jiang Feishang.

On the soldiers’ panels, there were no politics, leadership, or intelligence stats, nor any specialties, professions, or mounts.

Apart from combat and loyalty, their panels included a battle power stat and an equipment section containing weapon, armor, protective gear, accessories, and mounts.

P.S.: Here’s a quick note: Battle power is the final effective strength, influenced by equipment and other factors, thus it is always higher than combat value.