Worker Training

Creak!

Pushing open the Earth Fire Chamber's heavy bronze doors, Chen Daoxuan turned and said, "Come in, all of you."

At his words, everyone filed inside.

The moment they approached the Earth Fire Chamber, a wave of scorching heat rushed over them.

Before long, everyone was drenched in sweat.

Chen Daoxuan glanced at these clansmen around his own age. Most were Mortal Realm cultivators at the fourth or fifth level of the acquired stage. Faced with the Earth Fire Chamber's blistering heat, they inevitably found it difficult to endure.

"So this is the clan's Earth Fire Chamber?"

Chen Liangyu surveyed the several-hundred-square-meter chamber and muttered to himself.

As one of the Chen Family of Twin Lakes Island's most important locations, the Earth Fire Chamber had never been open to ordinary people. Other than Chen Daoxuan and Chen Xianhe, no one else in the entire clan had the qualifications to set foot here.

Yet Chen Daoxuan had now brought them to this legendary place. How could they not be excited?

Chen Liangyu was somewhat better off. After all, he had once been the overseer of the Red Copper Mine and had seen a bit of the world.

But the group of sixteen- and seventeen-year-old youths he had brought did not possess such composure.

Though they repeatedly tried to restrain themselves, waves of hushed whispers still rose among them.

Glancing at the crowd, Chen Daoxuan walked straight toward the silver-white Spirit-Melding Furnace standing in the center of the Earth Fire Chamber.

Ahem.

He gave a light cough, suppressing their discussion.

Once the room had quieted, Chen Daoxuan continued, "This is one of the clan's former core locations—the Earth Fire Chamber."

The attentive Chen Liangyu noticed Chen Daoxuan's choice of words.

Former!

He suppressed his impatience and continued listening.

"The Earth Fire Chamber is where cultivators refine Magic Artifacts. Today, I will teach you how to use this Spirit-Melding Furnace to assist cultivators in refining Magic Artifacts."

"What's a Magic Artifact?"

"Is it some treasure used by immortals?"

"I don't know. Chen Yunsheng, do you know?"

The youth named Chen Yunsheng was the oldest among them, already eighteen years old.

From his appearance, he bore some resemblance to Chen Liangyu, the former overseer of the Red Copper Mine standing at the front of the group.

Hearing his clansmen's question, Chen Yunsheng pondered for a moment before saying, "Magic Artifacts are weapons used by immortals. Did you hear what the Young Clan Leader did yesterday at the Stone Processing Workshop? The thing the Young Clan Leader used in his hand back then was a Magic Artifact!"

"Ah? So that Immortal Sword was a Magic Artifact!"

"Brother Yunsheng, you're amazing. You know so much."

"..."

As the crowd's discussion rose again, Chen Daoxuan had yet to speak when Chen Liangyu's face darkened beside him.

"What are you all making such a racket for? Listen properly! And you, Chen Yunsheng—say another word and just wait until I get back and teach you a lesson!"

Chen Liangyu reprimanded them in a low voice.

Chen Daoxuan did not mind this scene too much. They were youths, after all. If every young member of the clan were as mature as he was, that would be the truly abnormal thing.

Under Chen Liangyu's scolding, the room fell silent once more.

Once everyone had quieted down, Chen Daoxuan began explaining the operating principles of the Spirit-Melding Furnace.

Fortunately, Chen Liangyu had selected intelligent and gifted youths, and everyone quickly grasped how the Spirit-Melding Furnace worked.

Just as Chen Daoxuan finished explaining its principles, he saw one youth raise his hand.

"Do you have a question?"

He pointed at the youth with his hand raised.

"Young Clan Leader,"

Though he had prepared himself again and again, being called on by the Young Clan Leader still made Chen Yunsheng feel immense pressure.

Bearing that pressure, Chen Yunsheng took a deep breath and said, "What you mean is that we send Spirit Mine ore into the furnace through this Feed Port, then use the Control Lever to adjust the temperature inside the furnace and refine the Spirit Mine ore that way, correct?"

"You understand correctly."

Chen Daoxuan nodded.

"Then in that case, at most two people are needed to operate this Spirit-Melding Furnace. Why do you need so many of us now?"

That question voiced the thoughts in every youth's heart.

Being able to work under the Young Clan Leader was not only an honor to them personally; they also carried the expectations of their elders. If they were eliminated in less than a day, they would not be able to hold their heads high in the clan after returning.

Seeing their expressions, Chen Daoxuan understood their worries and reassured them, "Don't worry. There is far more than just this one Spirit-Melding Furnace. The clan will only have more and more Spirit-Melding Furnaces in the future."

"However,"

Chen Daoxuan shifted the subject. "Don't think that having more Spirit-Melding Furnaces means you can muddle through. If your performance is poor, you will still be eliminated."

At this warning, the crowd's relaxed mood immediately tensed again.

Seeing everyone focus anew, Chen Daoxuan continued, "Someone just said that operating one Spirit-Melding Furnace requires no more than two people. He was basically right."

He paused. "Each Spirit-Melding Furnace will be staffed by two workers: a feeder and a Furnace Operator.

"The feeder is responsible for sorting, weighing, and proportioning the Spirit Mine ore before placing it into the Feed Port. The Furnace Operator is responsible for controlling the Spirit-Melding Furnace's temperature, refining the Spirit Mine ore, and promptly removing the refined finished product from the furnace."

"As you can see from the process, a feeder's work is relatively simple. Just about anyone can do it. The difficult role is that of the Furnace Operator.

"A Furnace Operator must not only adjust the Spirit-Melding Furnace's temperature according to the time at every moment, but also seize the right opportunity to remove the finished material from the furnace. Otherwise, if the Spirit Mine ore is refined in the furnace for too long, it will turn into waste as well."

After hearing Chen Daoxuan's explanation, everyone immediately understood the importance of the Furnace Operator.

As expected, no one wanted to become a feeder. Every one of them set their sights on the Furnace Operator position, especially after hearing that a Furnace Operator's monthly pay was a full three taels of silver—twice that of a feeder.

Seeing them all eager to try, Chen Daoxuan smiled. "Don't celebrate just yet. Watch me operate the Spirit-Melding Furnace once first. These three taels of silver are not so easy to earn."

With that, Chen Daoxuan took the two kinds of Spirit Mine ore needed to refine the Crimson Shadow Flying Sword—Dark Iron and Red Copper Mine—from his Storage Bag.

After skillfully placing the two properly proportioned ores into the furnace, Chen Daoxuan began operating the Spirit-Melding Furnace.

The fifteen youths gathered around him, asking Chen Daoxuan questions from time to time. Chen Daoxuan did not hold anything back and answered every one of them.

Time passed swiftly as they learned.

In the blink of an eye.

Four hours had passed.

As a cultivator, Chen Daoxuan did not feel hungry, but these youths were different. They were mortals and needed to eat.

Though their hearts burned with enthusiasm, each of them was already so hungry that their chests clung to their backs.

Seeing that the lesson had ended.

Chen Liangyu, temporarily serving as logistics personnel, brought everyone meal boxes and said softly, "Young Clan Leader, let them have a bite to eat before continuing?"

"Uh..."

Hearing this, Chen Daoxuan finally realized that everyone had been studying for an entire day.

He immediately said apologetically, "My oversight. Everyone, eat first. After you finish, I'll continue teaching you the techniques for using the Control Lever to control the temperature."

The youths' eyes lit up at these words, and they nodded eagerly.