Chapter 53: Crazy Bastard
"What's the point of selling the ore for sect points?" Nie Hanchang said with a sigh. "Yes, I might be able to get a rather significant amount of sect points from selling it, but it still won't be enough to help me reach the next level. Rather than obtaining a supply of inferior items that can grant me a consistent but slow growth, I would rather forge a weapon with which I can earn even more sect points at a consistent pace, at the same time gaining access to more opportunities for improvement!"
"Even then, maybe you should not rush into things," Zhao Yunxiao tried to persuade him further. "If selling the ore for sect points is not what you want, perhaps you can look more into the smithing process, only going through with this when you have greater confidence?"
"I know that my smithing skills are far from adequate. But that's why I have been doing my own share of research on how the smithing process should go," Nie Hanchang explained. "I might have neglected the part on retrieving the metal from the ore. But once that is done, I have a fairly good idea on what to do next!"
Zhao Yunxiao: "..."
How long had it been since Nie Hanchang excavated the rare grimiron ore?
Even if he had been researching day in and day out without sparing a single moment since then, it was still unlikely that he would be able to successfully create a decent weapon.
And that was if he was using a generic metal too.
Now, the high quality of this grimiron here would only make it even more difficult for him!
"No need to persuade me any further, Junior Martial Brother Zhao," Nie Hanchang added. "I am not the studious type anyway, so studying more will not help me much. Even if this failed, I can always mine another one. I signed up to work at the Yellowshell Mine for this sole purpose anyway, so I will keep going until I succeed!"
Most metals were not suitable to be made into bows, but grimiron was different.
Unlike most metals, grimiron possessed the property of elasticity, making it suitable to be used as the main material for a bow.
It seemed that Nie Hanchang knew about this too, which was why he even started working at Yellowshell Mine in the first place.
In that case, it would make sense that he was unwilling to sell the rare grimiron ore that he had finally managed to obtain.
"How about commissioning the Forge to help you with the forging then?" Zhao Yunxiao continued to suggest. "That way, won't the chances of getting a decent bow be higher?"
"I think you overestimate my wealth," Nie Hanchang let out a bitter smile. "The rarer the materials, the higher the costs of commissioning the Forge to make me a weapon. How could I possibly afford to do that?"
"This..." Zhao Yunxiao hesitated.
It was true that Nie Hanchang would be charged quite a fortune if he wanted the rare quality grimiron ore to be forged into a weapon.
"I appreciate the thought, but you really don't have to persuade me any further, Junior Martial Brother Zhao," Nie Hanchang laughed. "In any case, isn't there a chance of spirit resonance if the user of the weapon participated in the forging process? Who knows? Maybe I will get lucky and have that happen to me?"
"Are you really sure about this? Have you really done the proper research?" Zhao Yunxiao asked.
"Yes, take a look at this," Nie Hanchang showed Zhao Yunxiao what could be considered the simplified version of a weapon blueprint. "I have it all thought out, so all I need is help with extracting the metal from the ore. Will you be able to help me with that?"
"I guess I can, as long as you don't tell anyone..." Zhao Yunxiao took a good look at the blueprint before letting out a helpless sigh. "But don't blame me if anything goes wrong."
"Of course not," Nie Hanchang smiled in gratitude. "I appreciate the help, Junior Martial Brother Zhao. I will definitely repay you in the future."
Zhao Yunxiao let out another sigh.
Extraction of the metal from the ore was considered part of the main smithing process too, so he would be going against the rules here by helping with that.
If not because he had known Nie Hanchang for years and knew what he was like, Zhao Yunxiao would never go through with this.
No, that alone was not nearly enough to convince Zhao Yunxiao either.
However, Zhao Yunxiao understood Nie Hanchang's feelings of wanting to get stronger.
Now that there was a chance, even if it was only a slim one, Nie Hanchang was hoping to obtain a weapon good enough to help him obtain resources.
And only with more resources would ordinary people like them be able to compete with others in climbing the ranks!
Sharing his sentiments, Zhao Yunxiao decided that he would take a small risk and secretly go against the rules here.
He would rather do that than to leave Nie Hanchang and watch him completely waste away the rare grimiron ore on his own!
Zhao Yunxiao moved silently across the furnace room, lighting a fire under a huge furnace and kindling it till it became blazing hot.
"All right, throw it in once you have made your decision," Zhao Yunxiao said matter-of-factly.
"I've made my decision long ago," Nie Hanchang picked up the huge piece of grimiron ore and directly threw it into the furnace with a loud thud.
Zhao Yunxiao took a deep breath before narrowing his eyes.
Well then, there was no turning back now!
Be it as a duty disciple at the Forge or when forging his own equipment, Zhao Yunxiao had both seen and done this countless times in the past, just that it was never with such a precious material.
Under his skillful manipulation, the flames continued to grow stronger and stronger.
Before long, both of them were already drenched in sweat from the heat.
Seeing that the temperature was finally right, Zhao Yunxiao carefully sent a wisp of his essence energy into the furnace, using it to speed up the segregation process now that the ore was melting.
Through this process, the heavier molten grimiron separated from the other impurities in the ore, sinking to the bottom of the furnace before being released through a tap hole.
It took a while, but as he saw the bright gold molten grimiron slowly flowing out of the furnace, Nie Hanchang's eyes lit up in astoundment.
"Junior Martial Brother Zhao, you are amazing!" Nie Hanchang praised.
Zhao Yunxiao: "..."
You are the amazing one!
How can you come here wanting to forge a bow when you don't even have any idea how to extract metal from its ore?!
"Do you have a mould for your bow?" Zhao Yunxiao calmed himself before asking.
"Mould?" Nie Hanchang was caught by surprise. "No, but I do have a good idea of how it should look like. Leave the rest to me, I can hammer it into the perfect shape for a bow!"
"If you say so..." Zhao Yunxiao took a step back and focused more on maintaining the fire.
Or at least, that was what he wanted to do.
Unfortunately, he could not help but stare uneasily at Nie Hanchang, wanting to see what he would do next.
The grimiron cooled quickly on a special plate, hardening enough for Nie Hanchang to pick it up with a pair of tongs and place it on the anvil.
Nie Hanchang raised the forging hammer and slammed it down without hesitation.
Clank-! Clank-! Clank-!
With the hammer in hand, Nie Hanchang rained strike after strike down upon the piece of grimiron in a relentless manner.
From the side, Zhao Yunxiao watched on with mixed feelings.
While Nie Hanchang's unrefined hammering strokes showed obvious inexperience, they were at least adhering to the very basics of smithing. Not just that, but he also knew how to reheat the piece of grimiron whenever it cooled, making sure to keep it softened.
Thanks to that, the piece of heated grimiron was started to transform, slowly taking on the shape of a long bow.
It would appear that Nie Hanchang had indeed looked up on what should be done during this part of the smithing process.
Not just that, but he was fully focused as well, putting all of his heart into each and every hammer strike.
All of that came as a surprise to Zhao Yunxiao, who honestly had not expected this much.
Unfortunately, this kind of last-minute research was never going to be enough to make a good bow, and that was regardless of how much heart and determination one had.
In fact, if Nie Hanchang kept going at this rate, the eventual fate of this rare grimiron ore would be nothing but an inferior quality bow.
Zhao Yunxiao silently lamented in his heart as he thought about how this rare quality grimiron would be completely going down the drain!
But just as he was thinking that, Zhao Yunxiao's eyes widened in shock.
The grimiron had yet to reach the ideal shape, but it had already thinned quite a bit from hours of repeated hammering.
If Nie Hanchang continued to hammer like this, it was definitely going to break!
Grimiron was much more precious than ordinary iron because it possessed a special property that made it easier for essence energy to pass through it.
However, there was a condition for that.
This special property of being a greater energy conductor would only be there if the final product was made from a single piece of metal.
If it was made from two separate pieces of metal, there would be a break in between which would drastically reduce the ability of the grimiron to conduct energy.
And if Nie Hanchang were to break the piece of grimiron, he would have no choice but to form the bow by reconnecting two separate pieces.
That would mean the resulting bow would be just barely better than one made from ordinary iron, and that was only if he managed to reconnect two separate pieces in the first place.
Otherwise, there would not even be a bow to speak of!
"Wait!" Zhao Yunxiao hurriedly shouted just as Nie Hanchang raised his hammer once again.
Clank-!
Nie Hanchang did not seem to have heard him, bringing the hammer down once more.
At this point, Nie Hanchang was completely out of breath, exhausted from the repeatedly hammering.
If it was just simple hammering, it would never have tired him out this much.
However, grimiron was much harder than ordinary metal, and Nie Hanchang had to imbue each strike with essence energy.
After hours of doing so, he was fast approaching his limit.
He was already barely holding on while forcing himself to continue hammering the grimiron to completion, so how would he have the time and energy to bother with Zhao Yunxiao?
Zhao Yunxiao saw Nie Hanchang raise his hammer again, and felt his heart skip a beat.
"Stop!" Zhao Yunxiao shouted again.
Clank-!
Once again, his words fell on deaf ears.
Seeing that Nie Hanchang had raised the hammer once more, Zhao Yunxiao finally could not hold it in anymore.
"Damn it!"
For the very first time since he took on this job at the Forge, Zhao Yunxiao stepped out from his post without being told, rushing forward to grab Nie Hanchang by the wrist.
"Huh? What... what is it?" Nie Hanchang looked at him in surprise.
"What are you doing? You are going to break the grimiron!" Zhao Yunxiao found himself shouting at Nie Hanchang.
He knew just how hard Nie Hanchang had worked over the years.
Seeing that he was about to completely waste away this rare opportunity that he had obtained in the form of the rare quality grimiron ore, Zhao Yunxiao was overcome with agitation.
For some reason, it felt as though he was looking at a mirror – seeing how his hard work over the years amounted to nothing significant.
Initially, he thought that he could still stand by and watch since this was ultimately a choice made by Nie Hanchang – an illogical choice that Zhao Yunxiao believed he would never make if he was put in the same situation.
However, when Zhao Yunxiao saw how Nie Hanchang was about to end up with absolutely nothing, he could not help but feel indignant for the latter.
As long as he could help it, he was not going to let Nie Hanchang end up with nothing to show for his efforts!
"Is...Is it breaking...?" Nie Hanchang shot a worried look at the grimiron on the anvil while trying to catch his breath.
Zhao Yunxiao took another glance at Nie Hanchang.
It was obvious that Nie Hanchang was spent, and for good reason too.
Not only had he been expending his essence energy for hours, he had done so in a completely inefficient manner.
Otherwise, the hammering process might be tiring but would not have drained him this quickly!
In any case, there was no way that Nie Hanchang could complete the hammering process in his current state, especially since there were now huge adjustments to be made in order to salvage the grimiron from its current state of near breaking.
"Step aside if you don't know what you are doing, you crazy bastard!" Zhao Yunxiao berated before steeling his resolve. "If you really want it done this way, I will be crazy with you for once and do it for you instead!"
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