Great Yue Dynasty · Central Continent Armaments Bureau.
Giant furnaces dozens of meters tall stood beside the broad Whitewater River like rows of houses.
Great flames burned continuously within the furnaces, and crimson tongues of fire would occasionally burst from the chimneys at their peaks.
Below, cartloads of coal and other fuel were constantly dumped into the furnace mouths.
The craftsmen sweated profusely as they bent over rows of worktables, grinding components.
On a metal platform nearby, several burly, white-haired old men watched the many working furnaces from afar.
Among them was Chen Chaogang, the current head of Great Yue's Armaments Bureau and a Royal Grand Craftsman of immense renown both within and beyond the nation.
Chen Chaogang had long since passed two hundred. His hair and beard were snow-white without a trace of any other color, and among the old men, his status was also the highest.
He had witnessed the Great Yue Dynasty's rise step by step, back when it had still been Great Wu. Now, he was Emperor Dingyuan's most trusted master craftsman, the foremost in the world.
A grand craftsman was an honorific for one who held a status equivalent to a grandmaster within the trade of craftsmanship.
It was not a title outsiders could casually bestow. The Great Yue Dynasty had an official conferment for it.
"Was the sample successful?" Chen Chaogang unconsciously tugged at his beard and asked in a deep voice.
"It was. This is now the fifth repeat trial," another old craftsman beside him answered respectfully.
"If this method proves viable, then Blood Artifacts will raise all of Great Yue to a higher level." Chen Chaogang spoke with feeling and sighed.
Ever since it had still been Great Wu, the Great Yue Dynasty had been exploring methods to strengthen the True Blood