Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 366 - 233: The New Craftsman Challenge_2

Chapter 366: Chapter 233: The New Craftsman Challenge_2

The difference is that Cui Huowang’s guide also included various pictures and descriptive texts, detailing the key memory points of each stage.

For example, during smelting, the approximate ratio of iron sand, limestone powder, charcoal, the specific layout method, how to gauge the furnace temperature by the flame’s color, how one should add a small amount of material, how the rough steel should be sorted, which part of the sponge iron could make the blade, the precise timing for quenching, and so on.

Players who were initially disheartened saw Cui Huowang’s guide and couldn’t help but feel revitalized.

Alright, Old Cui is reliable!

Many players instantly got the delusion, "I can do this!"

It’s like other games where everyone is confused when they first get to grips with a new system, totally clueless about how to clear it. That period is the most aggravating.

But once a detailed guide appears, along with decent finished products, players will instantly get the illusion, "So that’s how it is," "Looks like I could also handle it with no issues."

Li Hongyun felt even more encouraged.

On one hand, he discovered that his progress was on par with many real-life blacksmithing veterans. Could this mean he was exceptionally gifted?

On the other hand, comparing Cui Huowang’s guide to the content in his memory, Li Hongyun actually came up with several guesses about which specific step in his sword crafting had gone wrong.

"Continue researching during the day, keep struggling at night!"

Li Hongyun cheered himself on, waiting for night to come.

...

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.

Li Hongyun took a deep breath and tossed aside the sword he had just finished crafting.

On the empty ground beside him, there were already more than ten swords of various designs; some were broken, some bent, and some didn’t even make it to the testing platform, discarded by Li Hongyun as soon as they were forged.

He knew that swords of such quality would definitely fail the test, so it was better not to disgrace oneself.

However, after so many failures, the network of various experiences in Li Hongyun’s mind had finally begun to take shape.

At this point, his mind was filled with a myriad of details, and he had committed the key points of each step to heart.

What type of sponge iron was best for crafting swords, when to quench, how to rectify certain problems...

All these were painstakingly built up from vast amounts of resources.

If this had been the Ancient Era, the iron sand and charcoal Li Hongyun wasted would have been enough to bankrupt hundreds of ordinary families.

But in this trial, he could forge as much as he wanted, without worrying about bankruptcy.

Because the raw materials were provided in unlimited quantities.

"Try again!

"I hope this time, my dumb luck will take effect!"

After getting most of the details right, what a swordsmith needed most was probably luck.

Because ancient metallurgy was affected by so many factors, the emergence of a Divine weapon often resulted from a combination of the right time, place, and people, with a lot of mysterious elements involved.

No wonder in ancient times there were superstitious practices of casting swords with human blood.

Of course, with modern perspective, there was some rationale in the ancient practice of "sacrifice for the sword."

Because the human body itself contains large amounts of fat, which, in times of insufficient fire power, could make the temperature rise rapidly. The carbon in the body could also help the carbon content in the swords reach a more suitable range.

Actually, using livestock or animals for sword offerings would have had a similar effect.

But the ancients believed in the spirit of all things and thought sacrificing animals was disrespectful; human sacrifice displayed greater sincerity... There’s no way to judge that.

In any case, in ancient times, those with poor luck really couldn’t become outstanding swordsmiths.

After some time spent smelting, another batch of rough steel was produced.

Li Hongyun, now experienced, immediately directed his craftsmen to use hammers and chisels to break the still-hot rough steel into small pieces, then cool and sort them.

He picked out a few pieces of sponge iron that looked of decent quality to prepare for forging the sword.

Heat, hammer, heat, hammer...

After many such tedious cycles, Li Hongyun finally took action.

He took the chisel from the blacksmith’s hand: "Alright, I’ll take it from here!"

Now it was time for some relatively delicate operations, no longer trusting these tool craftsmen.

Li Hongyun examined the red-hot piece of iron carefully, feeling that its quality seemed better than anything he’d seen before.

Fewer impurities, and when struck, it had a soft yet firm quality.

It seemed to be a good base.

Li Hongyun closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to use his intuition to pound the sword base into the shape he envisioned.

The blade was elongated, with a perfect curvature, and the two ridges raised slightly.

With the rough shape in place, he took another elongated piece of iron and wrapped it around the blade to form the edge.

Then, the two pieces of iron with different carbon contents were heated and forcefully hammered and fused together.

The process was tedious, but fortunately, he could fast forward.

Li Hongyun controlled the fast-forwarding time with caution, and during the more precise operations, he carefully managed the force in his hands, afraid that too much power might cause irreversible damage.

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