Bulma was also quite pleased and said, "You guys are pretty skilled, aren't you? Your village must be quite strong, right?"
Ma Lin quickly replied, "Our village has over sixty dog-people, and only five of them are skilled warriors, with Na Du being the strongest. The other four are all slightly weaker than him. We also have one powerful archer and one spellcaster."
"Your village has someone who can cultivate magic, right?"
"Yes, we have just enough food."
"Are there many game animals around?"
"Yes, there is a lake to the south with plenty of fish, and twenty li to the northwest, there are a great number of wild buffalo. The mountains where the village is located also have a fair number of giant sheep and wild boars."
"Understood. I definitely won't starve. When should I go over?"
So they immediately started heading back to Big Bone Village.
Bulma could talk a great deal and eat even more, and his snoring while sleeping was as loud as thunder.
But his hunting skills were quite formidable; otherwise, he wouldn't have come here to forge on his own.
The journey was truly easy; there was nothing to fear at all.
The three of them each carried a sword on their backs, all of them substandard, but definitely much more powerful than stone axes and spears.
In less than a day, they returned to Big Bone Village. Wasn't the village in a mountain hollow? Just a few steps into the mountains and the open-air iron mine was already in sight.
Bulma was very satisfied. Then he followed them into the village, first visiting the brewery, and then having a glass of chilled beer.
Bulma said, "Alright, I'll settle here. I think I should build my forge next to that iron mine."
Ma Lin said, "That place is outside the mountain pass. You can be spotted from the main road to the east."
Bulma said, "'No problem, I think that spot is great, close to the main road and near the water source, very convenient."
"What if wild beasts attack you?"
"Wild beasts are afraid of the flames from the forge."
"What if demons go there to attack you?"
"I can protect myself, and you guys can come check on me often."
No matter how much they tried to persuade him, Bulma was adamant about building the blacksmith shop right next to the small open-air iron mine.
They had no choice but to let him be. Everyone prepared to build him a very sturdy stone house, and find him one or two apprentices. Ma Lin also moved into the house. Under normal circumstances, there should be no safety issues.
The villagers had seen the several flawed swords that Bulma forged and were full of praise.
With such weapons, the security of the village had increased significantly.
It took five days to finish building a house and furnace for Bulma. Then it was time to mine for iron ore. Everyone understood the value of the ore; it could fetch a good price in Snake Town, so they mined with great enthusiasm.
Bulma was quite sure of himself, first making new farming tools, including spades, shovels, hoes, sickles, harrows, axes, saws, etc. After using them, people were moved to tears.
People who knew how to mine and forge were indeed too few in such a place.
Then came the making of spearheads, arrowheads, pig-killing knives, vegetable knives, and scissors.
He truly had the skills.
Next, he went to look for magic iron ore, to make swords.
Ma Lin copied the design of the katana from the "Book of Slaves" and showed it to Bulma, asking if such a sword was easy to forge.
"This is called a sword? Its structure is quite interesting, it should be quite powerful in combat. Let me give it a try."
So he began to try forging swords.
First, he used ordinary iron to refine the steel, and then to forge the katana.
The process was slow, taking a month in total including hardening the blade and grinding, but considering the practicality of the steel sword, it was worth it.
After a little more than a month, the first sword was made and given to Na Du to try out.
In fact, these swords aren't as sharp as Ma Lin's Magic Dagger fangs, but the Magic Dagger was a reward given to Ma Lin by the great demon chicken egg. Ma Lin himself was formidable with it, but others were completely unimpressive.
The same went for his leather shield.
Firstly, the villagers of Big Bone Village now had iron tools, which made farming and hunting much easier, and then they began to develop a certain sense of crisis.
Iron tools were indeed treasures, so would having iron tools in the village attract trouble?
Luckily, the population of the village had increased, the number of warriors had grown, and with Old Hu's big orange helping in battles, there was no need to worry too much for the time being.
No matter what others thought, Ma Lin felt uneasy whenever he saw the blacksmith shop at the crossroads.
Toxic Snake Town was four hundred li away, and there was a main road outside the mountain pass, which meant the demons from the town might learn about the existence of a blacksmith shop here, producing very fine weapons.
Thus, it was essential to think of ways to protect the safety of this place, but he didn't understand how.
He discussed his concerns with Na Du and Bulma.
Bulma assured him there was no need to worry at all.
As for the reason, Bulma said, "You don't understand how good my craftsmanship is. I can use weapons to hire one or two powerful warriors to settle here, and they can take care of any problems for me."
Ma Lin was skeptical.
Lately, he had been living quite happily. Every week, he would hunt a wild buffalo in the northwest and have the villagers haul it back to the village, and his job was done. He was free to do whatever he wanted with the rest of his time.
With a sword, he no longer needed the Magic Dagger to easily kill a wild buffalo, and sometimes the buffalo would be dead before they even knew what hit them.
He hadn't finished his three barrels of beer yet, often inviting Bulma, Na Du, and other dog-people to drink together.
There was a lake to the south for fishing, but the dog-people didn't know the tricks of the trade.
So Ma Lin, following the diagrams in "The Servant's Book," taught the dog-people to make fishing nets, fish traps, harpoons, and net bags, and then took them out in boats to cast and pull in the nets.
The catch was naturally very plentiful, and the fish tasted incredibly fresh.
And the quality of life for the villagers of Big Bone Village improved significantly.
Ma Lin now had several sets of clothes, and his furnishings were quite complete. He had a hot water kettle, an iron pot, a chest, and a mirror. It was much more comfortable than the initial cave dwelling.
That day, "The Servant's Book" gave him a new task.
"A lion-headed demon has appeared in Toxic Snake Town and seems to be in urgent need of a fine weapon and a good place to practice martial arts. Why not invite him to live in Big Bone Village?"
The reward for the task was a free bodyguard.
Ma Lin thought, could it be that Bulma's words were coming true?
Bulma had a dagger forged from Magic Iron to display his true forging ability, so Ma Lin, with this dagger in hand, went to Toxic Snake Town with Na Du.
Having been there once before and being more familiar with the road, combined with Ma Lin's ability to speak the dog-people language, the journey was very easy.
They arrived at Toxic Snake Town by the evening of the second day. They discovered that the place had indeed gotten a new boss, a one-horned demon that had moved into the mouse demon's former residence, with about twenty assorted monsters as subordinates.
Upon inquiring, they indeed found that a lion-headed demon had come here, living in a shack next to the rotten fruit garden, seemingly injured and wanting to buy an outstanding weapon.
They quickly found him, introduced themselves, and then said, "Leader, I know of a place where very fine weapons exist, but you'll have to come with us."
The lion-headed demon said, "Don't try to trick me."
Ma Lin then showed him the dagger crafted by Bulma. The lion-headed demon inspected it several times and asked, "Do you know the recluse blacksmith?"
"That's right."
"Good, I'm willing to go with you."
After trading for some goods in the town, they took the lion-headed demon back with them.
It was evident that although the lion-headed demon was injured, his skills were quite formidable, almost unfathomable to Ma Lin.
If it hadn't been for "The Servant's Book" telling Ma Lin to find him, he wouldn't have dared to bring him back to the village.
After another two days, they returned to Bulma's blacksmith shop and brought the lion-headed demon inside.