Space Ring

As for the table knife in his hand, he did not think it could serve as a weapon.

The short woman saw through his intentions.

She hunched her back and moved with lightning speed to block Su Li's path.

The dagger swept horizontally, forcing Su Li to come to a halt.

Su Li gritted his teeth and threw his entire body weight into a charge.

His shoulder slammed heavily into the short woman's chest.

The woman let out a muffled groan, forced back five or six steps by the immense power, with a trail of blood spilling from the corner of her mouth.

She had underestimated Su Li's brute strength.

But Su Li had also been delayed for those critical few seconds.

The tall woman had already reached his back.

Su Li's ears twitched as he heard the sound of air being sliced behind him.

He turned and raised his left arm to block.

The blade tore through his sleeve, leaving a gash on his arm so deep the bone was visible. Blood flowed freely.

Su Li clenched his teeth.

What on earth were these women?

He stared intently at the rise and fall of their chests.

Two long, one short. Extremely rhythmic.

Accompanying this special breathing pattern, the free-roaming spiritual energy (aether) in the air surged madly into their bodies.

That aether clung to their muscles, providing terrifying explosive power and resistance to impact.

Unlike the silent, nourishing absorption of the Sword Spirit Root, this was an incredibly brutal form of plunder and compression.

Knight Breathing Technique!

Two prostitutes who had just shown up at his door were actually Knights who had mastered the power of aether!

Su Li's heart raced.

He had never been able to find the threshold of this world's power system.

Now, living examples were right before his eyes.

The Sword Spirit Root spun frantically. Su Li tried to imitate that two-long, one-short breathing rhythm.

Inhale.

Aether surged in violently.

Excruciating pain radiated from his meridians.

The battle gave him no chance for trial and error.

The short woman wiped the blood from her mouth and lunged at him again.

Two daggers, one high and one low, coordinated flawlessly.

Su Li suffered a major disadvantage.

He possessed brute strength, but his practical combat experience was zero.

In his previous life, he had spent sixty years blacksmithing in Wading Village, usually only dealing with a few drunken ruffians.

When he fought those bandits earlier, he had relied purely on overwhelming strength.

Now, facing two well-trained killer Knights, the gap in technique was completely exposed.

His defenses collapsed entirely.

He retreated repeatedly until his back slammed hard against the wall. There was nowhere left to go.

The tall woman's dagger thrust straight for his throat.

Su Li tilted his head to dodge. The blade grazed his neck, drawing a line of blood.

The short woman's attack followed immediately.

The tip of the blade slashed upward, aiming straight for his abdomen.

Su Li raised his foot to kick her wrist.

The tall woman flipped her wrist, changing the dagger's trajectory to plunge downward toward Su Li's collarbone.

Pincer attack. There was no way to avoid it.

Su Li watched as the blue-glowing dagger pierced through his long robe.

Squelch.

The sound of metal piercing flesh was piercingly harsh.

The dagger pierced precisely into his left chest.

The blade sliced through muscle and punctured his beating heart.

Agonizing pain flooded every nerve.

Su Li opened his mouth, and a mouthful of blood gushed out.

Strength drained rapidly from his body.

He leaned against the wall, his body slowly sliding down.

Is this how it ends?

Su Li's body collapsed beside a mahogany chest.

The lid was open, and bright Gold Coins were scattered across the floor.

They were stained a glaring red.

Pain.

Excruciating pain.

Su Li watched as that blue-glowing dagger stabbed into his chest. A cold breeze poured straight into the wound.

Those two damned women didn't even bother to glance at him again; they pulled out the blade and casually wiped the blood off on his fine linen clothes.

He fell.

His vision finally locked onto that chest of bright Gold Coins.

The Gold Coins were smeared with his blood.

"What a damn streak of bad luck."

That was the only curse that managed to flash through Su Li's mind.

His consciousness pulled away from his shell.

The surrounding scene changed completely. The room with the burning silver-thread charcoal and the cozy warmth was gone. Those two curvy female assassins were gone, too.

Everything around him was gray and white.

The familiar settlement space.

Su Li plopped down into the void and looked down to check his chest. It was smooth and flat, without even a red mark left behind.

He rubbed his chin, cursing inwardly.

Those two women were definitely cheating knights. That speed of absorbing ether, that inhuman explosive power.

His brute strength, capable of striking sparks from raw iron, was worth nothing in front of them.

What a massive loss!

That was a whole chest of Gold Coins! He hadn't even had time to warm them up!

Before he could finish grumbling, a bright blue light screen popped up in front of him. A cold system prompt smashed directly into his brain.

[Host's vital signs have vanished. This cycle of reincarnation has ended.]

[Commencing comprehensive evaluation settlement.]

A few lines of large text jumped onto the light screen.

[Survival duration: 60 years. Rating: E (White).]

Su Li rolled his eyes.

The lifespan calculation was certainly precise. He had spent his entire life holed up in Wading Village for sixty years.

He hadn't even been out of the village for a few days, and he was slaughtered the moment he reached the Blackstone Fortress.

What was the point of immortality? If someone stabs you, you still have to report here all the same.

[Wealth accumulated: 957 Gold Coins. Rating: C (Blue).]

Seeing this line, Su Li felt even more depressed.

He had spent sixty years smithing in Wading Village, only to save up this little bit of wealth.

As for that chest of Gold Coins from the damn Count at the fortress, because he died too quickly and didn't even get to warm them up, the system didn't count them at all.

Over nine hundred Gold Coins sounded like a lot, but in the eyes of the truly wealthy, it was probably only enough to buy a few decent outfits.

[Social status: S (Dark Gold).]

[Description: The longswords you forged contain an extremely high purity of ether. The supreme commander of the Blackstone Fortress, Count Remington, has secretly confirmed you as a "Magic Forger" among the top military brass. This is a supreme title held by only three people in the entire kingdom.]

"What the hell?"

Su Li's eyes widened, and he nearly jumped up from the void.

Magic Forger?

That was what they called a Magic Forger? He had just been in that dilapidated shed at the Armory, casually tapping raw iron with a small hammer. He hadn't even bothered to sharpen the blades properly; he was just going through the motions.

And this piece of junk actually earned him an S-rank rating?

So, that Count was practically begging to throw money and women at him because he viewed him as a national treasure! Those two female assassins probably made their move to snatch up a talent like him, or perhaps they simply wanted to ensure no one else could have him.

Could it be because of the [Sword Spirit Root]?

Su Li pondered this, as he had indeed felt a sliver of his own spiritual energy flowing into the blade while he was forging it.

If he had known blacksmiths were so highly valued in this wretched world, why had he been hiding away in Wading Village all that time?

He could have just run off to the capital, latched onto the King's leg, eaten and drank like royalty every day, and slept on the softest beds. There would have been no need to suffer the indignity of being conscripted as a laborer.

The text on the light screen continued to flicker.

[Progeny: None. Rating: F (Gray).]

[Legendary Status: None. Rating: F (Gray).]

[Overall Rating: D+.]

Su Li curled his lip.

This was within his expectations. He and Saina hadn't produced any children in this lifetime.

For sixty whole years, the two of them had practically lived in bed, yet Saina's belly had never shown a sign of life.