Wandering Sword Seller's Life in the Qin Dynasty

Of course, the boy never addressed Xu Qing as "elder brother" in the end.

He used a more colloquial form of address, "Sir, such a fine sword, are you really willing to sell it to me?"

He had witnessed the sharpness of the Broken Mountain Sword firsthand.

Although he didn't know how it compared to the famous swords in the sword manual, it was definitely a top-tier divine weapon he had ever seen. The swords of those assassins were as easy to cut as if they were made of wood.

What he found even more unbelievable was...

The person before him was actually willing to sell his sword.

I just don't know how much it will cost.

You should know that he and his junior sister had just escaped from Puyang and didn't have much money on them.

Of course, even if I don't have money, I can still ask.

"Didn't I already show you?"

"You're not thinking of backing out, are you?"

Upon hearing the boy's words, Xu Qing frowned, seemingly somewhat angry.

"Of course not!"

The boy quickly shook his head, then scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly and said, "But, sir, I'm a little...short on the money."

"I'm short of money!"

Xu Qing stroked his chin. "This is a bit tricky."

"How about this, let's write an IOU."

He proposed a solution.

"IOU?"

The boy looked at Xu Qing in surprise.

Xu Qing seemed to have been prepared for this.

He took out a piece of animal hide from his pocket, on which some words were written.

The opening words are "Sword Contract," followed by the text: "I give you a famous sword, and the recipient of the sword is willing to give something of his own in exchange for the famous sword changing hands!"

"Something within oneself?"

Upon seeing this line of text, the boy immediately thought of his junior sister beside him.

After his master died defending Puyang City, his junior sister became the most important thing in his life.

Why are you looking at her?

"She's not something that belongs to you."

Xu Qing noticed the boy's gaze and scolded him.

"You don't need to worry too much. What I want is not your hands and feet, nor do I need you to recite martial arts manuals. All I need is for you to sign this sword contract, and then I will have gotten what I want..."

"And you will also obtain this precious sword!"

These words sounded strange to the boy, as if the contract possessed some kind of mysterious power, but such an inconceivable thing didn't exist in this world.

Perhaps the person in front of you has some peculiar quirk.

After carefully examining the "sword contract" again and confirming that there were no problems,

The boy could not suppress his longing for the sword.

If he had been fighting with that sword from the beginning, he wouldn't have fallen into this predicament.

He gritted his teeth.

He dipped his hand in the blood from the wound and then wrote his name.

"Jing Ke!"

Naturally, the girl following him was his junior sister, Gongsun Liji, who was also the mother of the protagonist Tianming in the original novel.

In the novel, she is known as the most beautiful woman in the world, which leads King Ying Zheng of Qin to send people all over the world to find her. In the end, they successfully captured the pregnant Gongsun Liji and brought her to the Qin Palace, whereupon she became a father.

Upon arriving at this point, Xu Qing's identity becomes self-evident.

He is a time traveler, and he also possesses the standard equipment for time travelers, namely a "system". The system is called the "Famous Sword System". When the system is first activated, the system holder can choose one of two identities: a swordsman or a swordsmith.

Not long after arriving in this world, Xu Qing figured out where he was.

At the end of the Warring States period, the seven states were constantly at war, but this was not the Warring States period in history, but the world of the anime "Qin's Moon". He was so sure of this because he determined it from some special organizations.

Like the net of the Qin state.

A blood-soaked alliance among the seven kingdoms, bearing the label of "trust and loyalty."

And the night sky over South Korea.

These "familiar" organizations, coupled with his own exploration, finally confirmed that he was in an anime world.

The world of Qin Shi is a world of swords.

Logically speaking, choosing swordsman as your main profession is a pretty good choice.

But after thinking it over, Xu Qing finally chose the profession of swordsmith.

In this world, there are many swordsmen, but very few are famous. On the contrary, there are many famous swords.

The Feng Hu Zi Sword Manual is renowned throughout the world.

Okay, the real reason is that people always like new and novel things.

Xu Qing had a moment of madness and chose swordsmith as his main profession.

Fortunately, he had a cheat code.

Because of the system, Xu Qing's sword-making process was very convenient.

After all, this era is too backward. There are no power hammers, no high-carbon steel, and the materials and equipment are extremely rudimentary. If swords were forged according to ancient methods, it would take months or even years to complete a good sword. But with the help of the system, Xu Qing doesn't have these worries.

He only needed to collect the materials, and then his consciousness entered the system's space.

Here exists a "sword-forging workshop," where he can forge and cast swords at will, and in reality, it only takes a moment. In addition, he can embed various properties into the sword in a way that is like "enchanting," making the sword transcend the mundane and possess all sorts of strange abilities.

Of course, due to Xu Qing's level as a swordsmith (each level up grants access to various forging techniques), the properties of the materials, and the compatibility between swords with similar characteristics, the quality of the forged swords varies.

As for swords, according to the system's summary of swords in the current world, they are divided into five levels: "inferior", "excellent", "famous sword", "legendary", and "divine weapon"!

The five levels can be identified simply by their literal meanings.

A crude sword is the most ordinary kind of sword. Its durability and sharpness are average. Its only advantage is its low cost, making it barely usable.

A fine sword is the masterpiece of an old swordsmith.

According to the standards of this world, a famous sword is one that is listed in the sword register.

However, there are many swords in the sword manual, and even if a sword is ranked in the hundreds, it can still be considered a famous sword.

A legendary sword is a further sublimation of a famous sword, not only renowned in its own time, but also destined to be passed down to future generations and make a name for itself.

As for the final divine weapon, if we take the swords of this world as a reference, it is roughly the "Chi You Sword" from that theatrical version.

Chapter 3 Next Stop Xinling

Xu Qing's swordsmith level determines the upper limit of the sword, but it is not the only factor.

The materials and properties also truly affect the quality of a sword.

Swords forged from ordinary iron can never compare to those forged from supernatural iron. What sets a famous sword apart from ordinary swords is not only its toughness and sharpness, but also its unique "special effects."

The famous swords in the sword manual all have their unique features—Tai'a sword has a vast and powerful aura, Ganjiang and Moye swords have overwhelming killing intent, Shuihan swords can freeze all things, and Qiuli swords contain abundant vitality... The reason why these swords are extraordinary is due to the perfect combination of materials and characteristics.

Xu Qing possesses a system that allows him to integrate special properties into swords. If the materials and properties have extremely high compatibility, even if his level is still low, he can forge swords of the "famous sword" level.

For example, the Broken Mountain Sword he sold to Jing Ke.

This sword is made of meteorite iron and incorporates the two major characteristics of "toughness" and "sharpness". Although it looks ordinary, it can easily cut through the weapons of the assassins of the Luo Wang. If this sword becomes famous in the future, it may be included in the sword manual.

Of course, to consistently forge high-grade swords, you still need to increase your swordsmith level. The method is simple—you gain experience by forging swords, with double the experience gained from forging swords of higher grades, and you can also exchange old swords for a small amount of experience.

However, forging high-grade swords is no easy task. Materials are rare, and special attributes are even harder to acquire. With each upgrade, Xu Qing gains a few attributes, while the rest must be purchased from the system shop. The shop refreshes weekly, and common attributes include "Resilience" and "Sharpness." During the forging of the Broken Mountain Sword, he incorporated level three attributes into these attributes.

However, once the special properties are incorporated into the sword, they will disappear.

It cannot be retrieved unless it is melted down and reforged. But Xu Qing will not do that—he prefers to find a suitable master for the sword.

The reputation system is another way to acquire resources.

Every battle his sword fought, every person he killed, and every time he gained fame throughout the world, it would bring him reputation points, which could be used to exchange for special attributes, experience packs, and so on.

Therefore, he chose to sell the Broken Mountain Sword to Jing Ke.

If Jing Ke becomes famous with this sword, Xu Qing will be able to gain prestige.

In exchange for the sword contract, Xu Qing would automatically receive something of equal value from Jing Ke—perhaps martial arts skills, aptitude, or comprehension.

"Thus, the sword contract is established."

Collect the animal hide and roll it up.

Xu Qing said this to Jing Ke and his sister.

"Now, we can talk a little."

He changed his previous attitude and spoke to the two of them.

So, in the following time, Xu Qing chatted briefly with Jing Ke and Gongsun Liji, mainly exchanging names. During this process, Xu Qing also took the time to deal with the broken swords of the dead Luo Wang assassins.

This surprised Jing Ke and his sister, who didn't understand what Xu Qing meant.

Xu Qing's explanation for this was, "Making use of waste!"

Although these swords have been broken, taking them to the system for recycling will still yield a little experience, and most importantly, materials.

Where is Mr. Xu planning to go next?

After learning Xu Qing's name and age, Jing Ke naturally couldn't continue to address Xu Qing as "senior" but instead addressed him as "sir." Because of his confusion about the future and not knowing where to go, he subconsciously asked Xu Qing some questions, hoping that perhaps he could come up with some ideas.

"me?"