Time always passed quickly when comprehending martial arts. Before he knew it, it was time to return to the military camp.
"Phew!"
Li Qing's physique had grown considerably stronger. Traveling between the two worlds no longer placed much strain on him; he merely broke into a light sweat and panted a few times.
The sky outside had not yet begun to brighten when Li Qing stoked the forge fire until it blazed, bathing his face in a deep red glow.
"A Mountain-Splitting Axe weighing over two hundred pounds is truly a massive undertaking!"
The heaviest weapon Li Qing had ever forged was only around a hundred pounds—a refined iron halberd he had made for Centurion Chen Meng some time ago.
The heavier the weapon, the harder it was to forge, and the workload increased by multiples.
A Mountain-Splitting Axe weighing over two hundred pounds was destined to take more than a day or two to complete. Melting the iron ingots and hammering them alone would take a long time.
Li Qing placed the piled-up iron ingots from within the camp tent atop the red-hot forge and began smelting them.
As he struck them hammer blow after hammer blow, the iron ingots began to deform and melt faster.
His gaze was focused, and he barely blinked.
Though it was not his own weapon, he still forged it with utmost care, as though he were treating a work of art.
At first, he had learned ironworking out of necessity after entering the military camp. Later, when he discovered that forging weapons could increase his lifespan, he began to devote himself to the craft.
After that, without realizing it, Li Qing had truly come to enjoy forging weapons.
Even beneath the blazing summer heat, with the forge scorching hot, nothing could dampen his enthusiasm.
Bang!
As Li Qing brought down a powerful hammer blow, the handle portion of the Mountain-Splitting Axe had begun to take shape.
The axe grip, shaped like a long staff, still glowed red-hot. Figures of mysterious patterns had been branded upon it, painstakingly carved by Li Qing for appearance's sake, while also increasing the friction when gripping the axe.
When forging a weapon for another person, a good blacksmith had to put himself in the wielder's place and consider everything thoroughly.
The axe grip had been forged. Next came the axe head.
This was the most difficult part and would consume an extremely long time. It could be said that the vast majority of the Mountain-Splitting Axe's more than two hundred pounds of weight lay here.
The Mountain-Splitting Axe was a single-bladed axe, and its blade had to be broad in order to ensure the greatest possible killing area.
The ratio between the cutting edge and the back of the axe also had to be controlled properly. Otherwise, it would easily become laborious to swing and chop.
Although martial artists possessed astonishing strength, saving some effort during battle was naturally best.
Having forged axes before, Li Qing was very familiar with this. He determined the axe's proportions in his mind, then fell into thought.
"The hardest part is still this piece of Ink Gold. Can this thing really be smelted?" Li Qing said, frowning deeply.
From the very beginning, he had taken out this fist-sized piece of Ink Gold and placed it beside the forge.
Yet to his surprise, the temperature of the Ink Gold had barely changed. It had merely become slightly warm, as though it did not conduct heat at all!
If it were ordinary metal, it would have long since become scalding hot. How could it still be rubbed between one's fingers like this?
Li Qing sighed softly and could only brace himself as he threw the piece of Ink Gold into the hottest area of the forge.
Gurgle, gurgle~!
Li Qing had become completely immersed in forging and utterly forgotten the passage of time. Only when his stomach began to rumble did he suddenly come back to his senses.
"Damn, I forgot to eat!"
Li Qing wiped the sweat from his forehead and hurriedly left the camp tent, only to discover that the sky was already nearing dusk.
Seeing the blood-red afterglow spreading across the horizon, Li Qing carried his food bowl and rushed to the Kitchen Hall, praying inwardly that Fatty Wu was on duty today.
Upon entering the Kitchen Hall, the starving, dizzy Li Qing saw that fat figure cooking, and he was so moved he could barely describe it.
"Quick, Fatty Wu, get me two steamed buns to fill my stomach first! I haven't eaten all day!" Li Qing shouted hurriedly, like a starving ghost.
The busy Wu Chong immediately turned around. Seeing Li Qing in such a state, he could not help mocking him. "You come begging for food and still act so high and mighty? Change how you address me!"
Li Qing quickly said with a grin, "Brother Wu, I was presumptuous. Quickly get me two steamed buns—I haven't eaten anything all day."
Round-headed and round-brained, Wu Chong immediately beamed with joy as well. With a chuckle, he brought out all the large white steamed buns from the top steamer.
"Hehe, hurry and eat. I was wondering why you hadn't come all day. Usually, when it's time to eat, you kid arrive earlier than anyone!"
Saying this, Wu Chong took a steamed bun himself and bit into it, looking as though he enjoyed it immensely.
"Don't mention it. I've been busy hammering iron lately—I was nearly worked to death!" Li Qing waved a hand, then asked, "By the way, I heard that the Wu Li Army's other camps are also coming to the border fortress. Do you know exactly when they'll arrive?"
Fatty Wu shook his head. "I don't know the exact time, but it should be soon. Mobilizing the entire army always takes quite a bit of time."
Li Qing silently chewed on his steamed bun and said nothing more.
At the same time, the gale sweeping across the land with boundless yellow sand gradually subsided, and the sky began to darken.
A golden eagle swept through the sky, moving with incredible speed and leaving behind an afterimage in midair.
On the distant Gobi Desert, under the cover of dust and sand, a cavalry force of roughly five thousand appeared at the end of the northeastern horizon.
The full-fledged golden eagle landed directly upon the arm of a leader at the forefront of the cavalry. His arm remained utterly motionless, as though the eagle's weight did not exist.
He was a fierce-looking man with a face full of flesh, a savage countenance, and a hideous scar at the corner of his eye.
The man wearing a fur vest pulled a strip of cloth from the golden eagle's talons and began reading the information written upon it.
"Chief Tuwahaer, have there been changes in the defenses of Wangyuan City Fortress?" Another man, who looked rather wise, stepped forward and asked softly.
Tuwahaer's mouth split into a broad grin as he said excitedly, "Yes. The defending force has been reduced by nearly half, and the reinforcing army has yet to arrive!"
"This is truly an opportunity bestowed by Heaven! We might even be able to seize Wangyuan City in one stroke!"
However, the wise-looking man shook his head and rejected the idea. "Seizing the city is absolutely not advisable. It would draw Feng Kingdom's fiercest counterattack, and the tribe cannot withstand such a blow. Liang Kingdom must still be left at the front."
Only then did Tuwahaer tie the strip of cloth back onto the golden eagle's leg and release it into the sky once more.
"Yes. Feng Kingdom's troops may be vulnerable to a single blow, but those martial masters are indeed troublesome."
"Proceed according to the original plan. Seize grain, seize cloth, seize iron—and the Ink Gold those Esteemed Immortals in the tribe mentioned. It would be best to seize that as well!"
As the words fell, the burly, savage Tuwahaer fiercely clamped his legs around his horse's belly, and the speed of the horse beneath him suddenly erupted.
Afterward, the more than five thousand cavalrymen behind him all began accelerating as well.