"Clang clang clang..."

The continuous clanging of blacksmithing echoed from a courtyard in Dafeng Town, eliciting sighs and groans from the surrounding neighbors, who could do nothing about it.

In the courtyard.

A boy of about seventeen or eighteen, shirtless and wearing a black apron, was hammering a red-hot iron block into the shape of an axe, sweating profusely.

His expression was extremely focused.

"Brother Tao, it's almost done."

Beside him, a child not yet ten years old, also shirtless and covered in soot, was diligently pulling the bellows. As the axe gradually took shape, he couldn't help but beam with joy.

"Okay, make the wind stronger."

Young Lu Tao remained calm. Seeing that the iron block had cooled down a bit, he picked it up and put it back into the stove to continue heating it.

Okay.

Whew...

The flames grew larger, and the fire raged.

Gazing at the stove amidst the flickering flames, the boy's expression gradually became hazy, as if he were seeing the technologically advanced city he once knew.

That's right, Lu Tao isn't from this world; he's a time traveler.

Before transmigrating, Lu Tao was an ordinary worker, living a life of leaving early and returning late. Although it was hard work, it was free, and he could rest one day a week.

After transmigrating, he became a blacksmith, forced by the Axe Gang to forge axes for them. He spent at least five of the twelve hours a day forging iron, with no days off.

As for the compensation...

Originally, an axe cost two hundred copper coins, but someone embezzled it, and I only received one hundred. I had no worries about food and drink, but if I wanted to practice martial arts, I basically didn't have any extra copper coins to buy medicine.

Thinking of practicing martial arts, Lu Tao silently recited in his mind, "System."

Name: Lu Tao.

“Cultivation level: Early stage of Skin Refining”

"Techniques: Savage Bull Body Refining Technique (0/5 Minor Success), Thunder Fist (0/3 Minor Success)."

"Skill: Lu's Hammer Technique (0/3 Minor Success)".

"Creation Points: 0".

When Lu Tao transmigrated three days ago, he awakened his cheat system: a stat-adding system and a 1-cubic-meter system space. He originally thought he could rely on the system to get rid of the Axe Gang.

Unfortunately, in the past three days, he tried various methods but still couldn't figure out where these fortune points came from.

Left with no other choice, he could only eke out a living by forging axes for the Axe Gang.

"Lu Tao, you're slacking off again. I think you really don't want to live anymore."

suddenly.

A furious shout came from the courtyard gate. Before Lu Tao could speak, the door was kicked open with a bang, and a burly man with a fierce face barged in.

Lu Tao snapped out of his daze, his expression suddenly changing. He hurriedly said, "Brother Wang, I haven't been slacking off. The axe is almost finished and it's being fired up."

"Still trying to argue? Do you think I'm blind?"

As he spoke, Wang Jinshan made a move to rush up and beat Lu Tao.

Lu Tao sighed silently, skillfully took out ten coins, and presented them with both hands, "Brother Wang, please calm down. The axe will be finished soon and ready later. You... can buy some wine."

"Hmph, if there's a next time, I'll break your legs."

Wang Jinshan casually put away the copper coins, gave a fierce threat, glanced at the axe, nodded in satisfaction, and then leisurely left the courtyard.

They started wandering around Dafeng Town again.

"That bastard, he really doesn't give people a way to live."

Lu Tao gritted his teeth inwardly.

Wang Jinshan had already embezzled half of the payment for forging axes, but this man still came to extort money every day. As a result, the payment for each axe was only seventy coins.

The original owner died from a combination of high-intensity work and being tricked by Wang Jinshan every day, which led to her being consumed by anger and grief, and Lu Tao was able to transmigrate into her body.

Lu Tao had considered resisting, but unfortunately he was not strong enough, while the dozens of members of the Axe Gang were all at least at the early stage of the Skin Refining realm.

Everyone was stronger than him, so he couldn't fight back at all.

Moreover, the Axe Gang members are ruthless. If someone disobeys them, they will be beaten at best, have their arms and legs broken at worst, or even be killed.

Furthermore, according to the original owner's memories, the Axe Gang had committed massacres of entire families, and not just once.

It can be said that all the members of the Axe Gang had a way of getting themselves killed.

This gang acted lawlessly in Dafeng Town, collecting protection money everywhere they went. The town was filled with resentment, but no one had the power to resist.

As for those who have the power to suppress the Axe Gang and have no conflict of interest with the Axe Gang, they are naturally left to their own devices.

Lu Tao is currently only at the early stage of Skin Refining, so of course he has no room for resistance.

They can't even leave the town.

Thinking about all this, Lu Tao felt a wave of powerlessness wash over him.

As a transmigrator with a stat-boosting system, he was extremely resentful that he was so pathetic.

"Sigh, how exactly can I earn Creation Points?"

Lu Tao couldn't help but ask the system again, but was met with silence once more.

"This system is terrible! I've never seen such an unreliable system before!" Lu Tao almost cursed.

"Brother Tao, the iron block is red-hot."

The child called out cautiously.

When Wang Jinshan came in, he didn't dare to breathe loudly. He could only silently bury his head in his knees and dare not look at anything. Only after Wang Jinshan left did he dare to continue working the bellows.

He was already used to this.

"Um."

Lu Tao calmed down and didn't mention the previous incident. He picked up the iron block and continued forging.

Forging an axe requires several processes, including forging, planing, tempering, and polishing. Forging alone requires tens of thousands of hammer blows to remove impurities and make it suitable for weapon forging.

After three days of forging, the axe is finally taking shape.

Once formed, the subsequent work becomes much simpler.

"Clang clang clang..."

They continued hammering and forging, and soon, a quarter of an hour had passed.

Finally, the axe was completed.

This is an axe with the blade, head, body, and handle all integrated into one piece, made entirely of iron, so there is no need to make a separate handle.

At this point, the axe is mostly complete and can already be used to chop things.

However, to make it more usable and sharper, it still needs to be planed, filed, tempered, and polished...

Just as Lu Tao was about to continue with the next step of planing, a line of words suddenly appeared in front of his eyes.

[Axe: 0/1 (A rough axe, not planed, tempered, or polished; not very sharp. It's okay for chopping grass, but it'll be a bit difficult to chop firewood.)]

"This is……?"

Lu Tao was startled, then delighted, and subconsciously summoned the system panel, just as he had expected.

"Creation Points: 1".

Upon seeing the increased Fortune Points, Lu Tao almost burst into tears of joy.

The turning point, though late, has arrived.

"Finally, I've found a way to earn Creation Points."

Knowing how to earn Creation Points, Lu Tao felt a great sense of relief; he finally saw hope of getting rid of the Axe Gang.

"But what does the number on this axe mean? Could it be... that the axe can be upgraded? Is it done with Creation Points, or through some other method?"

Lu Tao pondered for a moment. He definitely wouldn't have wanted to use his Fortune Points.

Suddenly, Lu Tao thought of something and asked the child, "Xiao Ming, can you see what's on this axe?"

Wu Ming replied blankly, "No."

Lu Tao nodded, thinking that this was indeed the case, and then said casually, "There are still some impurities. I'll try to pound it again."

The text and numbers on the axe made Lu Tao suspect that the axe could be upgraded, so he took the opportunity to forge it a couple more times to try it out.

As a result, the numbers did not change.

"Does it mean it's going to be chopped up?"

Lu Tao's expression shifted. He put the axe into the water to cool it down. Once it was cool, he picked it up and gently chopped at a nearby wooden stump.

Suddenly, the writing on the axe changed.

[Axe: 1/1 (Upgradeable) (A rough axe, not tempered, not sharp, okay for chopping grass, but a bit difficult for chopping wood.)]

Lu Tao's eyes lit up suddenly. He took a deep breath and said, "Xiao Ming, are you hungry? Go buy some food. I'll call you when we need it."

Lu Tao took out three coins and gave them to Wu Ming.

This is Wu Ming's daily wage for helping to operate the bellows.

"Okay, thank you, Brother Tao."

After taking the copper coins, Wu Ming happily ran out of the yard to buy his favorite sesame seed cakes.

After seeing Wu Ming off, Lu Tao carefully closed the door and then silently prayed to himself.

"upgrade."