Bronze Embryo

Though he didn't expect them to reach high realms, spending money to buy an entry-level realm was still very possible.

Once they became cultivators, the temptation of eight hundred years of life was no joke—it was a leap to the heavens.

Alright.

It seemed this held no appeal for these blacksmiths.

But in the end, he could still take the opportunity to cultivate some low-grade Spirit Rice as a resource supply.

And like this, without needing to go out and trade with others, he had gathered both major cultivation resources.

At this moment.

Su Yu Niang kept reading, while the blacksmiths worked until noon, and the dormitory was initially completed.

"It's done!"

"We have a house!"

The blacksmiths looked at the fruits of their hard labor, a full sense of achievement swelling in their hearts.

This was the joy of the farming faction—without experiencing it firsthand, one couldn't appreciate the satisfaction of building a work brick by brick.

Next came the eagerly anticipated lunch feast. After they finished this meal, they would head to the dormitory to experience their new home, lie down on the Iron Net for a nap and log off, taking the chance to eat lunch in reality.

At noon, Jiu Cai Rong finally logged on.

He was downcast, no longer so lively.

Ning Zheng didn't know what had happened to him that he couldn't shake off, and worriedly asked a few blacksmiths. They only said cryptically: "Spring has arrived, the green is thick."

Ning Zheng was full of question marks.

But in the end, it didn't affect the work.

Soon he was busy with the others, starting to build the Blacksmith Shop on top of the dormitory.

Calling it a Blacksmith Shop, it was actually an open-air stall—just moving in various forging furnaces and equipment, very convenient. It didn't take long to set everything up.

At one o'clock, work officially began!

Jiu Cai Rong even held a ribbon-cutting ceremony with a sense of ritual.

He also burned three sticks of incense, asked a player who made cakes to sculpt Roast Pig, Roast Chicken, Braised Pork, and other delicacies out of mud.

Finally, he pulled the red cloth off the forging furnace and announced:

"Sword Forging Manor restarts! Bigger and stronger, creating new glory!"

It really lacked any novelty. Jiu Cai Rong looked completely listless, perfunctory, without any passion.

Mining.

Smelting.

Forging.

They began splitting into three groups of willing blacksmiths to start working.

Though as soon as they entered the Blacksmith Shop, they started eating.

They even gave reviews:

"Magic Copper has a soft texture, silky strands, tastes like the finest ham—rich flavor, unique mouthfeel, distinct layers, full-bodied."

Full from eating, they forged iron. Everyone was fumbling around, the little toys forged in the shop were a mess, and the finished products were inexplicable.

Some people held up little toys, gesturing up and down, leering and winking with suggestive looks. Some loli characters saw this and cursed them as perverts, disgusting.

Happy roughhousing.

Chasing each other in play.

In short, it was filled with the unique youthfulness of young people.

If it were the Old Steward from before, he'd have whipped these people: "Not working, what are you playing around for? This isn't a place for you to flirt!"

But Ning Zheng turned a blind eye to it all, continuing to sit on the rocking chair in the distance, cultivating, reading, drinking tea, enjoying a wonderful afternoon tea time.

He felt this was normal for them.

After all, they paid quite a bit.

Thinking that opening the Blacksmith Shop today brought in another 1500, his heart was filled with delight.

This shop was actually quite profitable!

And if they kept this up, he probably wouldn't need to supervise in the future, and could cultivate peacefully at the foot of the mountain.

Sunset, dusk.

Ning Zheng had been cultivating alone, and only went to the Blacksmith Shop when he was about to leave.

The moment he stepped in, a wave of heat hit him, along with the sound of Duang~ Duang~—a bustling, fiery scene, their roars full of passion.

This left Ning Zheng a bit puzzled. Why were they so excited about forging iron, like they were going into battle?

He took a look around, checked the results of their day's work, and found that it actually looked decent.

After all, blacksmithing is easy to learn but hard to master.

Who can't swing a sledgehammer?

Heat it red, pound it into shape, and you're done.

Money Boy had surprising strength and was unexpectedly suited to blacksmithing, unlike these human slaves who gave out after a short while.

And these players had actually put in the effort; they must have logged off yesterday and started studying basic blacksmithing techniques, looking quite passable.

Although the forging community was small, a foreign forging show was explosively popular, and many had stayed up all night binge-watching several seasons.

Modern forging techniques far surpassed ancient ones; there was no such thing as "older is more advanced" or "pure handcrafting produces divine weapons."

With modern tools like power hammers, grinders, and hydraulic presses, modern people could work miracles with brute force, completing forging processes that would have taken ancient blacksmiths dozens of days.

And with all kinds of professional Damascus Steel, High Carbon Steel, and other materials that would have been legendary divine substances in ancient times, along with quenching and tempering processes refined through countless scientific summaries.

Forging had become an art!

Through repeated twisting, forging, and folding, naturally formed, stunningly beautiful patterns emerged on the finished product. By following specific forging sequences and techniques, one could create Twist Patterns, Feather Patterns, Water Drop Patterns, and Rose Patterns as gorgeous and dreamlike as a starry night.

Every forging session was like opening a blind box, full of anticipation for the pattern!

But after entering, they found many modern forging techniques couldn't be used here, forcing most to resort to the most primitive method of swinging a sledgehammer.

In just one afternoon, the blacksmiths were miserable and full of complaints. A group of tech-savvy engineering geeks had already started studying how to slack off, huddled together discussing how to build the three big items: a power hammer, a grinder, and a hydraulic press.

Their plan was to find blueprints for these machines outside the game, then find a friend majoring in mechanical design to tailor a solution for them.

If they didn't start building auxiliary tools now, when would they?

After all, humans were creatures of the mind. What was the difference between not using tools and being a beast? A modernized mechanical blacksmith shop, even semi-automated DIY operations, was their future.

Soon, a group was crouched at a table in the distance, already sketching various parts with dense, intricate lines, discussing furiously, spittle flying.

At that moment, Jiu Cai Rong also brought over a few of the players' proudest works.

A Copper Hammer, a Bronze Sword, a Copper Knife, a Copper Bow.

They looked rough, admittedly.

But Ning Zheng didn't have high expectations. The first step in forging a magical tool was shaping, just making a blank.

As for firearms?

They'd thought of making those first, but once they started, they realized the imagination was beautiful; the parts were so precise that handcrafting them was pure torture.

"Huh??"

Ning Zheng picked up a Bronze Sword with a distinctly different style and examined it.

What was this thing?

Had these blacksmiths really forged this?

On this copper blade, strands of ethereal, fluffy, slender feathers were infused into the bronze-colored body, as delicate as silk. Its otherworldly, elegant, and unique quality was like a sword fit for an immortal, so beautiful it was heartbreaking!

Ning Zheng, an inexperienced blacksmith, was instantly stunned.

It took him a moment to snap out of it. Looking at the players' pleased expressions, he gave his approval: "This Bronze Sword is surprisingly good."

He had never seen such a magnificent technique, not even from those Demon People in the Mountain Villa.

Good thing he had just been half-heartedly dealing with them and hadn't shown off his own forging skills; that would have been too embarrassing.

"I made it. My family has been blacksmiths for four generations. My father used to be a village blacksmith, making farm tools."

A player named "Dao Jiujiu" quickly stepped forward to take credit:

"It's called a Feather Pattern. It's not carved on by hand, but folded and forged through a specific technique during the process. Luckily, Magic Copper is very soft, easy to fold and forge multiple times, and simple to polish. If it were a hard material without a forging press to help, it wouldn't be done in a few days."

Clearly, he was the real blacksmithing enthusiast drawn to the game, a genuine lover of the craft in real life.

Speaking of which, this game was pretty ridiculous.

A whole group of people, and only one was a real blacksmithing fan.

But this guy was an engineering nerd, not very good with words, so he'd been overshadowed by two people with social superpowers, even though one of them had inexplicably turned into a social phobe.

"Kid, keep up the good work." Ning Zheng patted Dao Jiujiu on the shoulder. "I'll remember you."

Back in our Mountain Villa, with this skill, you'd be a first-class slave. You'd get to eat at least two meals a day, and at most one lash of the whip. If I'd had his blacksmithing skills back then, why would I have run so fast?

"I will." Dao Jiujiu was moved, his fighting spirit blazing.

"Good spirit. Keep it up." Ning Zheng felt a bit relieved. There were still normal people around. If only there were more diligent little blacksmiths like this.

"Just making a shape, can this cultivator really use it?" Jiu Cai Rong also came over. To be honest, he was all thumbs. After working all afternoon, the things he forged were so ugly he couldn't bear to look at them.

"Of course. You've seen the files too."

Ning Zheng nodded and put down the Bronze Sword. "This is taking advantage of the material. Magic Copper, in essence, is about storing spiritual energy. Even if you just have a copper ingot, you can store spiritual energy in it, and when you fight, you can activate it and use it to smack people. The shape doesn't matter."

Jiu Cai Rong understood.

A brick-shaped piece of Magic Copper and a sword-shaped one were no different.

Using these rough blanks just to store energy and hit people was a waste of a heavenly treasure.

"Then how do we forge them?"

Jiu Cai Rong was somewhat curious.

"I've read books—magical artifacts come with self-triggerable spells like fireball, shield, lightness, stone skin, clairvoyance, and so on, usable a few times a day. Isn't that the real essence of a magical artifact?"

Ning Zheng shook his head, speaking with some regret: "That's not something we can covet right now. Even during the Mountain Villa's heyday, we only exported batches of artifact blanks. Aside from a few Refine Artifact masters, no one could forge a true finished artifact."

"A pity. Those few Refine Artifact masters were killed before."

Yes.

The Mountain Villa's several Refine Artifact masters had been cursed to death by Ning Zheng, but their deaths were not worth regretting.