in the edge

Chapter 574 Sword or Gold
The following battle was a bit lackluster.

Jiange Town is not really that big, and the county magistrate and the major families behind him are really not very good. Finding two masters with murderous aura is already the limit of what they can do.

After these two masters fell, they no longer had any possibility of resistance.

As for all their wealth, it all fell into the hands of the old blacksmith, or Du Chengfeng.

“It’s really good at shaving…”

Looking at the box after box of money, box after box of gold, silver, and jewelry, and the most important deeds to land and properties, even though Du Chengfeng had seen the world, he was still astonished.

The old blacksmith was almost fainting.

Facts have proved that Du Chengfeng was still a little conservative. These big families plus the county magistrate have already occupied most of the wealth of the entire Jiange Town. With so much wealth piled here, no one knows what they want to do.

"With so much money, why don't you support a few more practitioners?"

Du Chengfeng thought about it and immediately rejected the idea.

It's not that they don't want to, but probably they don't dare. After all, he can get the wealth by killing these people, and those masters of evil spirits can do the same - two evil spirits released may be the limit that these major families can tolerate. If there are more, these major families will probably have trouble sleeping.

"In this world, combat effectiveness is the key to everything."

Looking at these treasures, Du Chengfeng even thought of himself.

If he had chosen not to fight but to escape to the south and become a rich man, would he have ended up like these people?
If you take one step back, you will always retreat step by step, and in the end you will inevitably become timid and afraid to move forward.

Thinking of this, Du Chengfeng couldn't help but sense the old blacksmith's thoughts again.

As the person who forged him and also his first sword-bearer, Du Chengfeng had some friendship with the old blacksmith - although strictly speaking, the old blacksmith seemed to have failed his test, and could not even achieve one-tenth of what he had achieved in Jibei. But as the saying goes, even if the deal fails, the friendship remains, and he would not let the old blacksmith suffer too much loss.

And now, it is time for the old blacksmith to make a choice.

Since the old blacksmith's skills did not meet his requirements, Du Chengfeng no longer forced the old blacksmith to continue with him - if the old blacksmith chose to take the gold, then one tenth of these properties would become the old blacksmith's hard work fee.

Although it is only one tenth, it is already half of a town. For one person, this is enough wealth to last for several lifetimes.

As for the remaining 90%, Du Chengfeng will give 50% to the local people. He will not take it all. Only the remaining 40% will be left as activity funds for the next Sword Bearer.

This is roughly how the properties were divided, with the old blacksmith choosing gold.

“But is choosing gold really a good thing?”

Seeing the old blacksmith, who had recovered from his dizziness, turning his attention to the valuables, Du Chengfeng couldn't help but sigh.

Perhaps in the eyes of ordinary people, this is indeed a good thing, with mountains of gold and silver in hand, which can last a lifetime - obviously, the county magistrate and even several major families in the town think so.

So now they were corpses, scattered all over the ground.

Having wealth without the ability to defend it is undoubtedly like turning yourself into a fat pig walking in a busy city - these big families are even smart enough to ask a few evil spirits to be sent out as military support, but the external force is not your own after all, and may not be really that reliable.

With the old blacksmith's temperament, he is not even as good as those big families. Choosing gold may be a real dead end.

It was at this time that Du Chengfeng vaguely felt something more solid.

Originally, he had thought that in this weird idealistic world, everything could be changed at will. After all, a firm will could change everything, so naturally there was nothing solid and stable in this world. But now, he suddenly realized that it was not that there was nothing solid and stable, but that he had not experienced it before.

It's like the old blacksmith's cowardly character is undoubtedly a very solid thing. If the old blacksmith doesn't want to change his mind a little bit, the present of these big families will be the future of the old blacksmith.

But the old blacksmith just couldn't change, nor did he have any intention of changing.

Even if this way of thinking would cause the old blacksmith to lose his life, it would be difficult for him to change it. In a sense, the old blacksmith's will transcends life and death in another way.

"This is simply..."

At this moment, Du Chengfeng suddenly felt some hope that the old man could choose the sword.

If he had chosen the sword instead of gold, this old man might have lived a little longer. With the basic swordsmanship taught by Professor Du Chengfeng, he is now able to fight against ordinary masters. Even if he faces those with higher levels of evil spirit, as long as he does not back down, he can defeat them.

With personal force as support, money is easier to get. Although it may not be as huge as the current wealth, it is still a relatively stable source of income.

Of course, choosing the sword means choosing to take risks with Du Chengfeng. The old man will have to face the same enemies that Du Chengfeng faces, and those behemoths that he never dared to imagine in the past - but in Du Chengfeng's view, this is not a bad thing.

Although this road can be said to be full of thorns and bloodstains, these countless top enemies are the road to heaven that many masters cannot obtain.

"Then let me see what you would choose."

Du Chengfeng was already prepared. No matter what the old blacksmith chose, he had a follow-up plan.

What Du Chengfeng didn't expect was that the old blacksmith neither took the gold nor put down the sword.

"This, this, this, this..."

The old blacksmith was trembling all over.

"How many lifetimes can this amount of money buy me?"

"..."

The sword blade was stuck in the ground and Du Chengfeng was speechless for a long time.

He had thought that the old blacksmith would take gold, and he had also thought that the old blacksmith would take the sword, but what he never expected was that the old blacksmith would choose nothing - the old blacksmith could be said to be too timid. When he saw the large sum of money, the first thing he wanted to do was not to take it away, but to think that he would die if he took it?

Then what did it matter that they had fought their way in just now? Aren’t all the holders dead?
"This, so much money..."

The old blacksmith sat on the ground, gasping for breath, and was unable to stand up for a long time.

This meant that Du Chengfeng could only control the old blacksmith's hand and lift himself up as a sword.

With the sword in his hand, Du Chengfeng could clearly feel the situation of the old blacksmith - it turned out that things were a little more troublesome than he thought. The old blacksmith was not too timid, but he had never seen so much money, and the shock to his brain was too strong.

Simply put, this is what it means to be dumbfounded in the physical sense.

"Ah this."

Du Chengfeng was speechless for a long time.

Turning the sword, Du Chengfeng hit the old blacksmith in the face with the spine of the sword.

The cold sword blade caused severe pain, which woke the old blacksmith up.

"Choose one." Du Chengfeng conveyed his will.

"Gold or the sword?"

"I…I just want to ask one thing."

The old blacksmith came to his senses and was still trembling.

"What exactly is going on?"

"What the hell is going on?"

Du Chengfeng didn't understand what this was saying for a moment.

"What do you want to express?"

"all of these."

Thinking back on what had happened during this period, the old blacksmith was a little dazed for a moment.

"Are you a sword spirit? Or something else? Why did you have to choose me? What did I do wrong? What do I need to change?"

"You...whatever."

Du Chengfeng thought about it and decided to tell the truth.

Although these things might be a bit too scary for an old blacksmith, Du Chengfeng still didn't think of hiding anything - after all, if the old blacksmith was really scared, the worst that could happen was to change the person holding the sword.

After feeling what Du Chengfeng said, the old blacksmith was speechless for a long time.

"Xing, Xingjun? The one who challenged me to a duel with swords is an immortal?"

The old blacksmith broke into a sweat when he thought that the burly man who came to his door was actually an immortal, and that he had killed the immortal with just a few sword strikes and even thrown him into the furnace to burn him.

The origin of the sword in his hand is even more terrifying. He fought against thousands of immortals with his own strength. Although only his body was left, he could still easily kill immortals and destroy Buddhas. Such terrifying strength, such terrifying material... Could this thing really be made by him?

"So what did you do?"

Hearing this, the old blacksmith couldn't help but feel a little confused.

"What on earth did you do to make them hate you so much? Could it be that you were originally a demon?"

"I shouldn't be a demon. As for what I did..."

Du Chengfeng thought about it carefully and it seemed that he really didn't do anything.

He was just practicing his strength as usual, and figured out some new skills, and then the powerful men came, and a group of them were ready to take his life - although the battle was quite fierce, but when he thought about it carefully, Du Chengfeng really didn't find that he had done anything excessive.

"If I must say what I did, maybe it was my presence that made them have a common enemy?"

The old blacksmith didn't understand what Du Chengfeng was saying. After all, the statement was too difficult to understand.

In the old blacksmith's mind, the sword in his hand has become a magic sword, and the sword spirit that communicates with him has become a demon-like figure.

"Ah this."

Feeling the old blacksmith's thoughts, Du Chengfeng was speechless for a moment.

This idea is so deeply rooted in the old blacksmith that even if Du Chengfeng wanted to explain himself, the old blacksmith probably wouldn't believe it - but Du Chengfeng didn't even think about making the old blacksmith believe it. After all, the old blacksmith is really not suitable to be a sword holder.

But to Du Chengfeng's surprise, the old blacksmith did not choose gold like him.

Instead, he simply grasped the hilt of the sword.

Or in other words, hold the hilt of this magic sword.

"伱......"

Du Chengfeng was dumbfounded. Although this path was good for the old blacksmith himself, Du Chengfeng really did not recommend the old blacksmith to choose the sword - simply because the old blacksmith's personality was not that of a swordsman. His timid and cowardly personality made him unsuitable for holding a sword.

So why did this old man suddenly change his temper and even pick up the dangerous magic sword?
"You're not...wait."

Feeling the excitement of the old blacksmith, Du Chengfeng suddenly thought of the time when it was just forged.

Even at that time, when Yaoguang Xingjun came to his door, the old man still looked timid. However, after Yaoguang Xingjun died, when the old man threw the body into the furnace to burn it, he carried out the process with unimaginable decisiveness - just looking at the skilled process of burning the body, selling the shop, and running away with the money, if it were someone who didn't know, they would probably think that the old man had done this kind of thing many times before.

In other words, the old man was never really a coward.

Or perhaps the old blacksmith's cowardice does not come from his personality, but rather a special survival strategy.

Just like after learning the basic sword moves, the old blacksmith would take the initiative to swing his sword to kill everyone around him. Perhaps this old man has never been truly timid. Or, the main reason why this old man is timid is that he cannot win, rather than fear itself.

And now, the old blacksmith, who originally had no fighting ability, is holding the magic sword.

At least in the eyes of the old blacksmith, this is a magic sword.

Compared with a precious sword, a magic sword is obviously more dangerous, but a magic sword often has some advantages that a precious sword does not have - such as the most direct power, which is something that the old blacksmith has never mastered or even touched before.

And now...

The old swordsman finally tasted the feeling of blood drinking from the sword for the first time.

After killing many opponents, after stepping on the corpses on the ground, after seeing the vast mountains of gold and silver, after hearing the secrets that were far beyond the mundane world.

The old blacksmith has realized that he is no longer an ordinary person.

Although he was old, he finally had his own adventure. Even at his age, he could possess the brilliance that was no less than those young swordsmen. After getting over the initial panic, the old blacksmith realized that this extraordinary power and wealth was probably the compensation given to him by fate.

I never had fine clothes and horses, nor did I see flowers and clusters in my youth. Now that I am old, I must live a more brilliant life and become more extraordinary!

As the saying goes, I am old but still have the passion of youth!
"you……"

Du Chengfeng, feeling what the old blacksmith was thinking, was choked and speechless for a long time.

Although it is human nature to think this way, it is a bit too human.

It was at this time that Du Chengfeng vaguely realized where the so-called "ordinary" was.

(End of this chapter)