45: Chapter 45 Forge it for me, and I'll pay you.

Qin Lie looked over in surprise.

Gu Changming pointed in the direction of where the stall had been. "I was over there just now and heard you."

Qin Lie realized what happened, and then his eyes lit up as he asked, "Then, do you have one?"

Gu Changming didn't directly answer whether he had one or not.

Instead, he asked back, "What do you want that thing for?"

Qin Lie scratched the back of his head and grinned. "I heard people say that killing those Shadow Devourers drops this thing. I've never seen one, thought it was curious, and wanted to get a look at it."

Looking at the other man's playing-dumb expression, Gu Changming also smiled.

He could see that the other person wasn't telling the truth, but he didn't plan to probe further. Other people's business had nothing to do with him.

He had just asked casually; after all, if it hadn't been for that shout, he wouldn't have followed him here.

Gu Changming continued to ask, "How did you get these blacksmithing skills?"

At the mention of this, the smile on Qin Lie's face faded slightly, and he let out a sigh. "Speaking of which, it's quite... inexplicable."

He leaned against the anvil. "After the first Assessment ended, didn't everyone get a hundred points? I originally thought about exchanging them for a more powerful ability."

“But as soon as I stepped out, I ran into a strange, burly man carrying a large hammer. That man blocked my path, sized me up from head to toe, and said something about my skeletal structure being extraordinary, and that I was a one-in-a-ten-thousand blacksmithing genius..."

“He insisted on selling me a manual, asking for a hundred points. I was out of my mind at the time and felt like I was the chosen one." Qin Lie's tone was full of helplessness as he pointed to his simple shop. "And then... I ended up like this."

He had originally planned to be the protagonist and show off his skills in this new world, but now he had become a Blacksmith.

Although he was complaining about his misery, Gu Changming actually felt his luck was quite good after hearing it.

The burly man the other person encountered was likely an NPC providing a special item, just like the Druid Jiang Shu had met.

From the looks of it, he should have obtained a complete legacy of some kind of Blacksmith, which was very rare in the early stages. No wonder his forging ability was much stronger than the half-baked ones he had seen before.

Of course, the other person's ability couldn't be fully demonstrated yet. Perhaps that legacy even gave him some kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder, requiring every forging to be perfect, to the point where his ordinary weapon forging couldn't keep up with others for now.

It was like having the knowledge level of a university student, but currently taking tests on addition and subtraction; no matter how much knowledge and ability one possessed, a gap couldn't be widened yet.

After Qin Lie finished his rambling, he raised his hand to wipe his face and finally remembered the main business.

“Right, what material did you say you wanted to fuse into the weapon?”

Gu Changming didn't answer immediately, but reached out and opened his hand over the nearby wooden table.

With a soft 'clack,' a sharp-edged black crystal with a dark luster landed on the tabletop.

Qin Lie's gaze was instantly pinned to that crystal, his eyes going wide.

Gu Changming took in his reaction, his eyebrows twitching slightly.

“You've seen this thing before?”

He had just said he hadn't seen it and thought it was curious. Did this expression look like someone who hadn't seen it?

Qin Lie snapped out of it, knowing he had lost his composure and exposed himself. He scratched his head and spoke with some embarrassment, "That... I have one myself."

Now it was Gu Changming's turn to blink in surprise. "You've also killed a Shadow Devourer?"

Then he added, "But since you already have one, why do you want to buy another? The market price for this thing isn't low right now, is it?"

“It's not low,” Qin Lie replied almost immediately. “It's around five hundred points.”

After saying that, he explained, "The one I have was bought with points. I wanted to use it to refine a special item..."

That was a blueprint he had accidentally obtained during the Assessment. The special item in the blueprint had very strong abilities, and the most important material required was the shadow crystal core from a Shadow Devourer.

So after coming out, he immediately spent almost all his savings to buy a shadow crystal core.

But after buying it, he felt a bit uncertain.

He was afraid that during the forging process, because he wasn't familiar with the characteristics of the shadow crystal core, something would go wrong and he would destroy it.

That was why he thought about getting another one to increase the success rate.

Because his points were all gone, he was even prepared to 'sell himself' to the seller or a team, acting as logistics to forge weapons and other tools for several months.

He didn't mention the blueprint but couldn't help glancing at the shadow crystal core on the table.

Gu Changming didn't speak, just quietly watched him. He wasn't interested in other people's secrets; his own secrets were even bigger.

As soon as Qin Lie stopped speaking, he spoke up again, "Leave the crystal core with me for forging, I won't charge you!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he himself was stunned.

This sounded as if he wanted to use someone else's precious material for practice.

Realizing this, he quickly corrected himself, "No, I mean... I can give you money!"

But after saying it, Qin Lie felt it sounded even more wrong. His face turned beet red, and he stood there at a loss.

On the side, Gu Changming could hardly bear to watch.

“No need. I came to your place for fusion forging anyway. Just charge me whatever you're supposed to charge.”

This could be considered as both of them getting what they needed.

He couldn't find a suitable candidate for a Blacksmith, and the other party wanted to forge a weapon related to a shadow crystal core.

Hearing this, Qin Lie clearly breathed a sigh of relief.

But after hesitating for a moment, he still insisted, "No, let's stick to the free of charge agreement."

By having this shadow crystal core to practice and familiarize himself with its properties, he was already getting a huge bargain.

Gu Changming shrugged and didn't force the issue of paying.

“How long will it take to finish the fusion forging?” Gu Changming asked.

Qin Lie's gaze fell on the Tang sword on his back. “I need to look at the weapon to be fused first, then use a skill to judge the required materials and the forging process.”

Gu Changming casually took the Tang sword from his back and laid it flat on the table.

Qin Lie walked to the opposite side and looked at Gu Changming with an inquiring look in his eyes.

After receiving Gu Changming's nod of approval, he reached out and slowly drew the sword from its sheath.

The sharp edge of the Tang sword was exposed to the air. Qin Lie's eyes instantly lit up, and he couldn't help but praise in a low voice, "Good sword."

A high-quality weapon from the Mall was indeed far beyond the weapons they could forge at this stage.

After fully drawing the sword, Qin Lie looked up at Gu Changming and asked tentatively, "Is this that Tang sword from the Mall that costs a hundred points?"

“Yeah.” Gu Changming nodded casually.

The amazement in Qin Lie's eyes grew even stronger. What a tycoon, to actually spend a hundred points to buy a weapon from the Mall.

One should know that with a little more saving, one could exchange for a decent magic or special skill.

“Then... the shadow crystal core, did you also get it by killing a Shadow Devourer?” Qin Lie couldn't help but ask curiously.