Immortal Refiner

After dealing with the three thugs who had tried to rob him, Li Qing finally managed to move the over three hundred pounds of iron ingots to the front of his courtyard with great difficulty.

Looking at the three men lying exhausted on the ground, unable to even get up, Li Qing gained a new understanding of his current martial prowess.

He realized that he could easily handle five or six people like these, who were chronically underfed and armed with weapons, without much trouble.

If it were strong and robust men without any martial skills, he could take on two or three without difficulty.

This progress was quite satisfying for Li Qing.

Once he tempered his body and developed Outer Strength, officially becoming an Outer Strength expert, he planned to forge a suitable weapon and protective armor for himself.

By then, his combat power would multiply.

With such strength, even if he returned to his former Frontier Army camp, he was confident he could sneak away from the heavily guarded granary.

”Tell me, what are your names, and why did you target me?” Li Qing asked coldly.

”Sir, my name is Qi Jinxiong. This time, we brothers were blind and didn’t recognize your strength. Please be merciful and let us go. We promise to avoid you in the future!”

The speaker was the tall, thin, and gloomy-looking man, who seemed to be the leader of the trio.

After some questioning, Li Qing learned about their backgrounds.

The more cunning and slick second brother was named Qi Jinbao, while the impulsive third brother was called Qi Jinniu.

Interestingly, the three were not blood brothers but had sworn brotherhood after meeting each other, even changing their surnames together.

In a world where people struggled to get enough to eat, there was no such thing as unwavering loyalty to one’s name. No one placed too much importance on their surname. Today they might be surnamed Qi, and tomorrow, due to some twist of fate, they could be surnamed Yan.

Additionally, Li Qing was surprised to learn that all three were part of an underground organization called the Righteous Gang.

This was the first time Li Qing had heard of any other power in Blackrock City besides the Yan Family.

However, after some inquiries, he couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

It turned out that the members of this organization were mostly small-time thugs like the Qi brothers, who spent their days engaging in petty theft and bullying honest people.

What was amusing was that this gang of thugs, the Righteous Gang, actually had a motto: ”Rob the rich to help the poor, with righteousness as vast as the sky.”

”Rob the rich to help the poor? The wealthiest power in the city is the Yan Family. Why haven’t you robbed them?” Li Qing sneered disdainfully.

Qi Jinniu, the third brother, immediately retorted, panting, ”We have! The market is run by the Yan Family. We go there every day to rob people coming and going, making sure no one dares to visit the market. Isn’t that indirectly striking at the Yan Family?”

Hearing this, Li Qing’s expression grew even colder.

This Qi Jinniu was clearly a simple-minded person, and it was unclear who had taught him this line of reasoning, but he had taken it as gospel and truly believed it.

Little did he know that the Yan Family was the largest landowner in Blackrock City, a parasitic force that sucked the blood of everyone in the city. As long as one lived in Blackrock City, they could not escape the Yan Family’s exploitation.

It seemed that the Yan Family had never even glanced at this so-called Righteous Gang. The gap between their levels was too vast; they were not even in the same league.

Li Qing spoke with disgust, ”So you’ve been doing these dirty deeds for so long. Has the business of the Yan Family’s market declined? Has the Yan Family been truly affected?”

Upon hearing this, Qi Lao San suddenly froze. His brain, which he rarely used, began to think.

That’s right, the Righteous Gang had existed for quite some time, but the Yan Family’s power seemed unaffected, still as imposing as ever. As he pondered, Li Qing coldly added, ”Cowards who only wield their blades against the weak, get lost! Don’t dirty my courtyard gate!”

With that, Li Qing turned and walked into the courtyard, slamming the gate shut with a loud bang. Once inside, he sighed and shook his head.

Originally, he had intended to control the three of them, using their strength to help gather information in the city and keep track of daily events.

But just thinking about their actions filled Li Qing with immense disgust.

If he hadn’t practiced martial arts, his fate after leaving the market today would have been truly grim.

Losing an arm or a leg might have been the least of his worries. If they had discovered the stash of food he had hidden in the cellar, it could have meant certain death.

”Strength is still necessary.”

The Blood Moon hanging high in the sky gradually elongated Li Qing’s shadow.

At this moment, he finally understood the importance of strength and found the true purpose of practicing martial arts.

That day, the notorious Qi brothers, infamous around the market streets, became famous once again.

The three of them were simultaneously defeated by an unarmed man, causing a stir within the city.

”Ha ha ha, finally, someone has taught those three scoundrels a lesson!”

”Not long ago, I lost two pounds of Dark Wheat Mushroom that I had exchanged for my entire fortune. I almost starved to death. Why didn’t that person just kill them all!”

”They’re all just scum, never doing anything right, always stealing and cheating. They got what they deserved!”

”It would be best if that so-called Righteous Gang was wiped out along with them. They’re truly a cancer.”

Many of those complaining had been victims of the Righteous Gang. They had long harbored dissatisfaction with this group, even more so than with the Yan Family.

However, Li Qing, the instigator of this incident, was completely unaware of it.

After bringing the iron ingots home, he lit the forge fire, preparing to forge a new hammer for both combat and daily blacksmithing.

After his strength had greatly increased, the blacksmith’s hammer he usually used was no longer suitable.

”The weight should be around two hundred pounds. That should be my current limit.”

Soon, the rough outline of a war hammer appeared in Li Qing’s mind. He had been thinking about the style and weight of this hammer for a long time.

Two hundred pounds was still a bit of a burden for him now.

Being able to carry three hundred pounds of iron ingots didn’t mean he could wield a three hundred-pound weapon.

There was still a significant difference between arm strength and the body’s endurance.

With his current arm strength, wielding a two-hundred-pound hammer was even somewhat strenuous, and he often felt inadequate.

However, Li Qing had a premonition that it wouldn’t be long before he cultivated Outer Strength.

By that time, his strength would increase significantly, and a two-hundred-pound hammer would undoubtedly become effortless for him! But he still faced a challenge: how to melt and infuse the Ink Gold into the hammer?

(End of the Chapter)

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