hapter 34: Learning Smithing, Purifying Metal, and Folded Forging
The young man turned to the backyard to find someone, while Tang Shan remained calm, his gaze carefully examining the various weapons.
Walking up to a long saber, he reached out to touch it, a cool sensation traveling from his fingertips. He took the saber from the rack and held it under the sunlight to examine it intently.
The blade was a dull gray and did not reflect light, exuding a hard and piercing chill. Holding his finger an inch away from the edge, the hairs on his fingertips suddenly stood on end as a bone-chilling cold vaguely struck him.
This blade was indeed sharp.
Putting the long saber back in its place, Tang Shan strolled over to a set of armor. The fact that armor was sold on the Douluo Continent was somewhat beyond his expectations, but upon further thought, his confusion vanished.
Ultimately, it was because of the Spirit Masters. Their destructive power was too overwhelming, far beyond what a set of armor could withstand. Even if an entire army were equipped with armor, they would only face death when confronted by truly top-tier Spirit Master powerhouses.
In the ancient times of his previous life, possessing blades in private was not a big deal, but possessing armor was a capital offense. In modern times, even in the "freest" nation, the United States, where "gunfights happen every day," individual possession of bulletproof vests was also prohibited.
But on the Douluo Continent, what use could a mere suit of armor have? Unless one had the ability to gather hundreds of sets of eight treasures ruyi soft armor forged by a Divine Craftsman and then use these top-tier armors to form an army, only then might it pose a slight threat to high-end Spirit Masters.
Tang Shan's ears twitched as two sets of footsteps, mingled with the roar of clashing metal, gradually approached. A moment later, two figures emerged from the shop's backyard. One was the young man, Tie Qian, who had just greeted him, and the other was a middle-aged man.
This middle-aged man bore some resemblance to Tie Qian, clearly a close relative; he was nearly the same height as Tie Qian but significantly more robust in build.
The middle-aged man had a calm expression. As he walked up to Tang Shan, his burly frame exuded a strong sense of pressure. "I am Iron Bell, the owner of this shop. I heard you are a Spirit Master and want to learn blacksmithing?" His voice was deep and steady, truly living up to his name, sounding like a resonant great bell.
"That's right. Hello, shopkeeper. My name is Tang Shan, and I indeed want to learn blacksmithing," Tang Shan responded with a nod.
Iron Bell scratched the back of his head, voicing his confusion: "Little brother, since you are a Spirit Master, why do you insist on learning blacksmithing?"
A faint smile appeared on Tang Shan's face. "I am a Spirit Master, but I don't think I've ever heard that a Spirit Master cannot be a blacksmith."
"That's one way to put it..." Iron Bell shook his head. "Forget it, I won't worry about it. You're a Spirit Master, so there's naturally no problem with you being an apprentice. But let me be clear: there's no salary, only room and board. Can you accept that?"
Tang Shan nodded. "I can accept that. I just wonder, roughly how long will it take to learn?"
Iron Bell thought for a moment and held up one finger. "You're a Spirit Master, so your physical fitness is certainly beyond reproach. Pulling the bellows, quenching, forging, and shaping—all these processes combined will take about a year."
Tang Shan's brows furrowed slightly. "Is there any way to speed up the progress? I can pay tuition."
Iron Bell's face darkened. "It's not that I'm withholding secrets, but if the basic processes aren't learned well and mastered solidly, the subsequent techniques are out of the question, and it's even harder to grasp the essence."
"Shopkeeper Tie, that's not what I meant." Tang Shan felt a bit awkward, but his time was indeed very tight.
"I only have about ten days to learn. Do you think you could teach me the basics? As long as I master the foundation to the point where I can practice on my own later, that will be enough."
Under Tang Shan's persuasive tongue and the influence of many gold coins, Shopkeeper Iron Bell finally reluctantly agreed to his request. "Follow me. In ten days, how much you can learn will depend entirely on your own Comprehension Ability and effort." Iron Bell threw the bag containing ten gold coins to Tie Qian and then led Tang Shan to a separate forging room.
Ten gold coins made the extra time worth it. As for how much Tang Shan could learn, Iron Bell made no guarantees—he would teach everything he knew, but how much Tang Shan could ultimately absorb would depend on his own ability... Clang! Clang!
The iron hammer was raised high and then brought down with great force.
Clang!
Amidst the loud bang of clashing metal, sparks flew in all directions.
At this moment, Tang Shan had already possessed his Spirit. Bare-chested, his left hand gripped the iron tongs tightly, firmly holding the iron billet, while his right hand raised the iron hammer and struck down fiercely. His legs were rooted to the ground, steadily absorbing the recoil of the hammer strikes. His gaze was as sharp as an eagle's, locked onto the block of iron.
The blazing firelight reflected on his body, turning it red. Despite the rolling waves of heat before him, Tang Shan still didn't shed a single drop of sweat.
Iron Bell stood with his two thick arms crossed over his chest, highlighting his well-developed pectoral muscles. He watched in stunned silence as the iron billet continuously shrank and gradually took shape under the hammer strikes, his heart filled with shock.
What an astonishing forging talent! In just three days, Tang Shan had already mastered the techniques of pulling the bellows and quenching, and was now starting to forge the iron material. At this rate, he might be able to start learning shaping in another two days.
Was the gap between a Spirit Master and an ordinary person truly this vast? Iron Bell couldn't help but fall into deep self-doubt.
Clang!
As the final hammer strike fell, Tang Shan looked at the iron billet, which had shrunk by more than half and taken a preliminary shape. He nodded with satisfaction, stored the forging hammer in his Storage Ring, and then looked at Master Tie. "Master Tie, how do you think my forging is?"
"You are the most talented blacksmith I have ever seen!" Iron Bell was not stingy with his praise, speaking incessantly about Tang Shan's talent until Tang Shan himself felt a bit embarrassed before he stopped.
"If you forge for two more days, you can try shaping. Once you master shaping, you'll have completed your apprenticeship." Iron Bell patted Tang Shan heavily on the shoulder, his eyes full of gratification.
"Master Tie, I don't want to learn shaping for the time being. I want to go a step further and learn other forging methods," Tang Shan said.
Hearing this, although Iron Bell was confused, he did not immediately object. After three days of contact, he had a general understanding of Tang Shan, knowing that the other person acted with clear goals and logic, and was definitely not someone who acted on a whim.
"Master Tie, what do you think of the status of the blacksmith profession?" Tang Shan pulled over two chairs, sat in one, and pushed the other toward Iron Bell.
Iron Bell's burly frame sat down, the chair letting out a groan as if it were overburdened. "It has no status. Or rather, except for Spirit Masters, other professions are probably about the same as blacksmiths." A self-deprecating smile appeared on his face, his tone carrying an unmistakable loneliness.
Anyone who learned that the career they had worked for their whole life would never reach the halls of elegance would inevitably feel a sense of decadence. "I love forging. I love the entire process of refining and shaping metal. But no matter how good my skills are, they are simply not worth mentioning in front of a true Spirit Master."
As he spoke, Iron Bell suddenly patted Tang Shan's shoulder and solemnly advised: "Tang Shan, I am very happy that a Spirit Master loves forging as much as I do. But I hope you don't get too obsessed. Properly cultivating spirit power is the Righteous Path for a Spirit Master."
Facing Iron Bell's sincere gaze, Tang Shan couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. Saying he loved forging was purely to fool the man; what he truly cared about was never forging itself, but the power boost forging could bring him.
Cough, cough.
Tang Shan coughed twice, adjusted his emotions, and responded seriously: "Master Tie, don't worry. I will definitely not neglect my cultivation."
He changed the subject: "Have you ever thought about making the status of the blacksmith profession a bit higher?"
Hearing Tang Shan's "pie-in-the-sky" talk, Iron Bell did not look excited but instead shook his head helplessly. "I've thought about it, but there's no opportunity. We blacksmiths all know that the key to raising our status lies in spirit tools, but we simply cannot figure out the technology for spirit tools."
"It's not spirit tools, but another direction," Tang Shan interrupted him directly. Given the current state of the Douluo Continent, unless those two super Douluo crossed the vast ocean to the neighboring continent and snatched the manufacturing methods for spirit tools, let alone ordinary blacksmiths, even if all the Spirit Masters on the continent were to invest in research, there might not be many results.
"My idea is to continue purifying the metal." Tang Shan's words caused a flash of inspiration in Iron Bell's mind, but it vanished instantly. He suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with burning expectation. "Tang Shan, what do you mean by that?"
Feeling the other's burning gaze, Tang Shan shifted uncomfortably.
The "fish" had finally taken the bait.
"In my view, shaping is merely the process of forging Materials into corresponding models; it doesn't have much technical content, which is why I said I wouldn't learn it for now. Among the four stages of blacksmithing, the one most worth delving into is actually the third stage—the forging process used to purify metal and remove Impurities."
Without waiting for Iron Bell's response, Tang Shan continued to elaborate on his ideas: "When we forge now, we basically start shaping once we confirm the material has reached a certain strength. But can't purification be continued? Or rather, have we really completely removed all the Impurities in the metal?"
"This..." Iron Bell's brain roared as if a brand-new door had been opened. Yes, why can't purification continue? Why can't the strength of the material be further improved? Isn't the core work of a blacksmith purifying metal? When did shaping, which is the finishing touch, become the essence of a blacksmith?
"In fact, perhaps some Seniors have long wanted to develop in the direction of increasing metal strength, but their direction might have gone astray." Tang Shan interrupted Iron Bell's thoughts and stated his guess. "Look, some Seniors like to repeatedly forge a piece of metal, then fold it, and continue forging. Could there be a problem with this direction? Should we not be in a hurry to fold it, but first purify the metal to the extreme?"
"Purify to the extreme, then talk about Folded Forging... Yes! If the metal hasn't been completely purified and one is in a hurry to fold and forge it, the metal elements inside will naturally produce repulsion. It's no wonder the effect of Folded Forging has an upper limit!"
At this moment, Iron Bell was completely dazed, muttering to himself, his expression changing unpredictably—sometimes ecstatic, sometimes annoyed, sometimes indignant... After a long time, Iron Bell recovered from this trance-like state. His gaze toward Tang Shan was full of fanaticism, as if he had seen the legendary Craft God.
"Tang Shan, I really don't know how to thank you... If your suggestion really allows the blacksmith profession to rise, you will be the new generation's Divine Craftsman! No, you are the Craft God himself!"
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