Blast Furnace

Biodata

Construction and Development

Appearance

• Height: The mountain installation stands thirty meters tall 21.
• Structure: An earthen furnace reinforced with numerous firebricks and refined iron 21 24.
• Chimney: A thick chimney releases rolling black smoke 21.
• Base: A winch-operated tapping gate releases molten iron into refractory-clay channels 21.
• Operating conditions: Its bellows roar loudly enough to shake the surrounding ground; intense heat and industrial smoke fill the worksite 21 24.
• Manifesting form: The real-world counterpart initially appears translucent, with golden patterns and a flickering view of its internal structure 24.

Operation and Capabilities

Iron Smelting

The furnace provides molten iron without requiring Soul Power 12 21.

• The initial prototype feeds clay channels used during Lin Fan’s attempts to forge crude iron gun barrels 12.
• The mountain operation draws on nearby high-purity hematite and exposed coking coal 21.
• Lin Fan orders an upstream river dam, a large waterwheel, and an array of air ducts to improve the furnace’s inadequate airflow 21.
• Refugees operate auxiliary bellows when additional airflow is needed to reach the required temperature 24.

Steelmaking Support

The large furnace works alongside a separate steelmaking area rather than completing the entire process by itself 21.

• Workers transfer molten iron using refractory crucible carts 21.
• Lin Fan controls carbon content through crucible decarburization, producing tougher, pressure-resistant steel instead of brittle pig iron 21.
• The improved metal addresses the barrel failures of his earlier weapons and enables stronger artillery 20 21 24.

Limitations

• The smithy prototype explodes several times during the early experiments 12.
• Excessive carbon makes the early metal brittle; Lin Fan predicts that a makeshift gun barrel would burst after twenty consecutive shots 15.
• Insufficient furnace temperature and ore supply delay production of steel suitable for machining cannon barrels 22.
• The large installation requires sustained mining, extensive construction labor, and repeated airflow adjustments 21 22 24.

History

Establishment in Tack Town

Lin Fan purchases a failing smithy and recruits A Mu, Little Nail, and Stone, offering food, shelter, and training. Rebuilding its furnace becomes part of his demonstration that ordinary people can forge weapons through practical knowledge rather than Soul Power. Repeated failures eventually lead to a functioning crude firearm 12.

After defeating Spirit Hall’s first enforcement squad, Lin Fan learns that a Soul Saint will lead the next attack. Recognizing that his cracked cannon cannot reliably penetrate a Martial Soul Avatar, he moves civilians and supplies into the mountains to seek better materials. His discovery of hematite and coking coal leads to the thirty-meter furnace and its accompanying steelworks 19 20 21.

Manifestation and Factional Contest

Heaven Dou’s Royal Dragon Soul Guards discover the furnace’s glowing counterpart ten zhang beneath real-world Tack Town. As it absorbs nearby earth and rock, an attempt by their commander to touch it triggers a Space Law force that throws him back and shatters his finger bones 24.

Emperor Xue Ye orders the site held at any cost. Yue Guan and Gui Mei arrive to claim it for Spirit Hall, while Chen Xin and Yu Yuanzhen oppose them. Xue Ye secures Yu Yuanzhen’s cooperation by promising to return the imprisoned Yu Xiaogang, while privately threatening his life if Yu Yuanzhen changes sides 24.

When Lin Fan’s mortar kills the level-seventy-one Soul Saint, the furnace becomes fully solid and weapon blueprints and gunpowder formulas appear beside it. The rush to seize them stops after a Spirit Hall Soul King triggers a landmine that has also crossed over from the Firmament. Fear of further buried weapons prevents the assembled forces from advancing 25 26.

Industrial Expansion and Survival

By the steam-engine breakthrough, Lin Fan’s Thunder base contains hundreds of earthen kilns and blast furnaces. He orders continuous feeding of hematite and coking coal to support round-the-clock mechanized arms production. After defeating Qian Xunji, he again orders every furnace fired as he announces plans for tanks, aircraft, and further artillery development 27 33.

The thirty-meter real-world furnace does not disappear with Lin Fan’s departure. It is still roaring on the wasteland near Tack Town after the Firmament’s light fades 38.