Qi Ling transmigrated by chance into one of the Seven Swords in Sword Conquers the World. What made him want to spit blood was that he was the weakest of them, the Shadow Sword.
Born from a sword embryo, he hadn't even outgrown his infancy before he had to start training.
Human babies drank milk. He drank searing-hot liquid metal.
Human babies had bubble baths. He bathed in lava.
Human babies grew up surrounded by love and care. He stood tall in the snow, burned in the furnace, and was hammered and tempered by giant rocks.
At last, he stood out among the swords and became one of the Seven Swords. Before he could celebrate, he had to take part in the "Choosing the King Ceremony."
Qi Ling, who had read Sword Conquers the World, grumbled to himself.
What "Choosing the King Ceremony"?
It was clearly a "selling-yourself ceremony"!
The sword chosen by the king had to be loyal to him, assist him, and fight for him.
Simply put, when the king lived, the sword lived. When the king died, the sword died!
In the original story, he was chosen by the tyrant King Qi and became a bloodthirsty sword that helped evil prevail, eventually being broken and dying.
To change this terrible fate, Qi Ling seized the initiative at the Choosing the King Ceremony and chose the State of Di.
The tyrannical King Qi was furious and swore to destroy Di.
Qi Ling remained unfazed, because in the original story, although the Seven Swords had not chosen the State of Di, it was the most powerful and prosperous country in the world.
However, when Qi Ling followed the king to the State of Di and saw its desolate, impoverished, backward state, with its people living in misery, he cried out in shock.
This isn't what I was promised, aaah!
Where's the most powerful and prosperous country in the world????
And is this idle King Di, who only loves to paint, really the same King Di who fought the Seven Swords for dominion over the world in the original story???
Shadow Sword: My king, you should practice swordsmanship!
King Di: My beloved consort, don't rush me. I can practice after I finish painting this beautiful landscape.
Shadow Sword: = =+ I'm a sword, not your beloved consort!
King Di: The Seven Swords can serve as ministers or generals of a nation. So what's wrong with making a sword my consort?
Shadow Sword: ...
Heh, I don't need this king anymore!
Forget waiting for the king to die. I'll break myself first!
Later...
Qi Ling hefted a hoe and dragged King Di off in indignation to reclaim wasteland, farm, build infrastructure, train soldiers, enrich the country, strengthen the people...
They could at least struggle on until the State of Qi invaded Di.
[All my senior brothers are strong. I'm the good-for-nothing one!]
[My king doesn't practice swordsmanship, he only sleeps with his sword?]
[Senior Brother! Spare me your blade! Think of how I washed your diapers when you were little...]
[Senior Brother! Don't hit me on the butt! I'm all grown up now!]
Bound by the same master, serving different rulers, dragons battling tigers, swords deciding the fate of the world.
[Farming + infrastructure building + political intrigue + transmigration into a book]
[Unbreakable, tenacious uke vs. deeply guarded, reborn seme]
Also known as: I Became a Sword Spirit and Farmed and Built Infrastructure for a Lazy King
[Notes]
1. The Seven Divine Swords are the Firmament Sword, War Sword, Sun Sword, Moon Sword, Star Sword, Kun Sword, and Shadow Sword.
2. This is a story about a king and the divine swords, with a somewhat large cast.
3. The Seven Swords each have both a human form and a sword form.
4. Cover art used with permission: Chong Ao, Fan Zhou, Chen Zhou
5. The blurb was screenshotted on December 9, 2018.
Theme: Through countless trials, steel is forged; through unyielding perseverance, talent is cultivated.