Wanshan Refines a Magic Tool

Lu Wanshan immediately started cleaning up the courtyard. After all, the place was a complete mess.

Now that he was the shopkeeper, he naturally needed to present a new image. At the very least, once the workshop reopened, it needed a fresh face and a completely new look!

He had been in this marketplace for over a year, and now he was eighteen. Managing a new workshop was certainly no easy task.

It was all thanks to his Eldest Brother's trust in him. He couldn't let his brother down; he had to work hard.

After all, he was also helping lay the foundations for the future of the Lu Family's cultivation path.

Three days later, Lu Wanshan was exhausted. At last, he had cleared out all the clutter in the rooms and courtyard. He had also put the workshop's sign back up, this time with the name changed to "Lu Family Artifact Refining Workshop." The name could be seen from far away, and he had painted it on the courtyard walls as well.

This was something his Eldest Brother, Lu Wanyuan, had specifically instructed him to do. He called it a marketing strategy—the first step toward building a brand.

Over the past few days, Lu Wanshan had also used the channels Shopkeeper Liu left behind to purchase some raw materials, which he planned to use for a trial run.

With all that taken care of, he began refining artifacts.

The workshop had stopped refining artifacts for a long time. If he didn't get production going and make some products soon, the old sales channels might fall through.

Fortunately, his year-plus of working at the workshop hadn't been for nothing. Everything felt as natural as reaching out for his own hand!

He began by starting the furnace. He put coke and charcoal into it, lit the fire, and then pulled the bellows beside it!

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

The bellows pumped air into the furnace again and again. Before long, the charcoal inside caught fire. The coke and charcoal gradually burned hotter and hotter, until waves of heat rolled off the furnace walls even from a distance.

Lu Wanshan kept yanking the bellows with one hand, pumping air in with all his might. Each pull sent flames leaping several meters above the furnace, while sparks scattered through the air.

Seeing the flames climb higher and higher, he knew the furnace had reached its peak temperature. He grabbed a shovel and scooped several loads of black first-grade Mysterious Iron Stone ore from a nearby pile, tossing them into the fire.

After adding the ore, he shoveled in several scoops of coke and charcoal to cover it. Then he kept pulling the bellows, forcing air into the furnace to make the fuel burn faster and raise the temperature, melting the Mysterious Iron Stone!

This stage prepared the materials for refining: the ore was melted, and the waste, dirt, and stone were separated out.

For two hours, he repeatedly added coke and charcoal to the furnace to keep its temperature steady.

Watching the Mysterious Iron Water melt inside the furnace, Lu Wanshan immediately opened the furnace valve and poured it into a mold.

The glowing red iron liquid flowed into the mold.

Sizzle, sizzle!

White steam rose in continuous waves!

Once it had cooled, he immediately hammered the solidified block of Mysterious Iron.

This step was called hammering. Its main purpose was to purify the Mysterious Iron by removing impurities. The purer the iron, the better its ductility and toughness, making it more suitable for blade-type Magic Tools.

He rolled up his sleeves, gripped a hammer in one hand, and held iron tongs in the other to clamp the Mysterious Iron block on the anvil.

Clang!

Clang!

Lu Wanshan repeatedly swung the hammer against the Mysterious Iron, sending sparks flying.

Before long, sweat poured down his back, but he couldn't stop. The harder it got, the more he had to keep hammering.

This was the art of striking while the iron was hot. The block had to be hammered while it was still at a high temperature, when it was soft enough to knock out the impurities. He repeatedly reheated it in the furnace as he hammered, keeping the iron at the right temperature.

Before long, he was drenched in sweat!

His clothes were soaked through, wet enough to wring out.

Once the hammering was nearly done, he finally began shaping the block!

After a clanging flurry of blows, he had to hammer it repeatedly, slowly shaping it into the form he needed. The Mysterious Iron had to be molded little by little as he worked, since it couldn't be shaped all at once. Its length and thickness varied from one part to another, so he couldn't simply cut it to a uniform size.

Determining the precise length and thickness all depended on the Artifact Refiner's experience. Otherwise, the next step would be affected.

Once the Artifact Embryo had been shaped well enough, it had to be quenched to set its form for good.

Quenching was also a crucial step. The quenching liquid contained many minerals and medicinal ingredients, all meant to prevent the Artifact Embryo from cracking and being ruined, which would cause the entire refining process to fail.

The next step after quenching was to carve Forbidden Seal patterns onto the shaped Artifact Embryo. These were commonly called Magic Patterns, or Forbidden Seals and formations.

The Forbidden Seals had already been fixed into patterns—in other words, they had been made into diagrams. The reason a Magic Tool worked at all was precisely because of these Forbidden Seals.

The grade of a Magic Tool was determined by how many Forbidden Seal patterns were carved onto its Artifact Embryo.

There were four grades in total, from lowest to highest: Low-grade, Mid-grade, High-grade, and Top-grade.

A Magic Tool with one to three Forbidden Seal patterns was a Low-grade Magic Tool;

a Magic Tool with four to six Forbidden Seal patterns was a Mid-grade Magic Tool;

a Magic Tool with seven to nine Forbidden Seal patterns was a High-grade Magic Tool;

and a Magic Tool with ten to twelve Forbidden Seal patterns was a Top-grade Magic Tool.

Spirit Tools, which ranked above Magic Tools, were graded the same way, except their grades were determined by the number of Spirit Patterns. The more patterns they had, the more precious and higher-grade they were.

At this moment, the Artifact Embryo was still scorching hot. Its ductility was better when it was hot, so this was the best time to carve the Magic Patterns.

Lu Wanshan then secured the Artifact Embryo in place and leaned his face close to it. The scorching heat rolled toward him.

He had no choice but to endure it. Fixing his eyes on the Artifact Embryo, he focused intently. Carving Magic Patterns required the utmost care: even the slightest mistake could ruin the entire pattern—and, of course, the Artifact Embryo along with it.

The more complicated the Magic Pattern, the greater the need for care and focus.

Once everything was ready, he took out the small carving knife he used for Magic Patterns. Holding it in his hand, he carefully carved a pattern into the Artifact Embryo!

After more than a year of practice, the carving knife plowed across the surface like a plow through a field. Wherever it passed, tiny scraps fell away, and the Magic Pattern gradually emerged.

Slowly, one hour passed, then two.

His right hand began to ache. He blew across the carved Artifact Embryo, scattering the scraps from its surface.

At once, a complete Magic Pattern appeared flawlessly on the Artifact Embryo.

Seeing it, he smiled with satisfaction. All that hard practice over the past year had truly paid off.

Now he could carve a flawless Magic Pattern without error. He still couldn't manage two or three, but he firmly believed that if he could carve one, then he could carve two or three as well. He just needed more time.

It was only a matter of carving them more often until practice made perfect. Besides, now that he was the shopkeeper, he would certainly have plenty of chances, so he wasn't in a hurry.

For now, he just needed to lower the failure rate.

First, he had to keep the workshop running!

Once the Artifact Embryo was carved, the next step was adding the accessories, such as a handle or a scabbard.

Only then could the Magic Tool be wielded more effectively. He also had to stamp it with the workshop's own seal to prove it was genuine—and, of course, to build the brand.

After all that was done, there was just one final step: polishing.

By repeatedly grinding it, he removed the grime from the surface and brought out a gleaming sheen. One look was enough to tell it was a razor-sharp Magic Tool.

This was the Sword Magic Tool Lu Wanshan had refined.

Now it was a complete Magic Tool. After placing it in a box and packing it up, it would be ready for sale.

That was the entire process of Artifact Refining: melting the ore, shaping the mold into an Artifact Embryo, hammering the embryo to remove impurities, hammering it into shape, cooling it to set its form, carving Magic Patterns, adding accessories, stamping it, polishing it, and packing it.

It was an incredibly complicated process, and not a single step could go wrong. Otherwise, all the work would be for nothing, and the Artifact Refining would ultimately fail!