73: Chapter 73: Shocked by Cold 73: Chapter 73: Shocked by Cold Clang…
In the quiet cave, the powerful sound of smithing continued throughout the night.
No one in the camp wore a look of impatience; they were all fixated on Xia Hong, watching him hammer the Blade Mold, their faces filled with anticipation.
It wasn’t until the sky started to lighten that Xia Chuan came to his senses and hurriedly instructed others to seal the cave entrance again.
Coincidentally, this was when Xia Hong’s hammering also approached its end.
After the last three hammer blows landed, Xia Hong released the polishing stone in his hand and took a deep breath.
It was only then he realized he was soaked in sweat, his arms swollen, and intense soreness was coming from every joint in his body.
This is several times more tiring than cutting trees!”
Xia Hong sighed inwardly, rubbing his arm, clamping the already formed blade with wood, and looking at the ten exquisite silvery white lines on the side of the blade.
Though his face was full of fatigue, he couldn’t hide the excitement in his eyes.
“According to Luo Ming, although Ten-forged is the most basic weapon, it would take at least three in the Earth-digging Realm to continuously alternate hammering for a whole night.
But with this polishing stone, I can do it alone!”
Xia Hong’s excitement was not without reason.
Before he attempted it last night, he hadn’t expected to succeed at once; he just wanted to see how many Forging Patterns he could make.
But as each Forging Pattern appeared, he discovered his limit was far from being reached, so he gritted his teeth and persisted, wanting to see where his limit truly lay.
Unexpectedly, he really did forge a Ten-forged weapon in one go.
And it was entirely on his own!
Turning his head to look at the polishing stone on the ground, Xia Hong immediately realized the greatest credit should go to it.
During his time at Rogel Camp, Luo Ming had Xia Hong try their smithing tools, which included a hammer weighing over two thousand pounds.
Such a heavy object couldn’t even be swung continuously by someone in the Earth-digging Realm for a whole night.
Yet this system-provided polishing stone, though weightless in hand, did not deform the Blade Mold with each strike.
In fact, judging by the blade-forming speed, its efficiency was far superior to the iron hammer at Rogel Camp.
“The only drawback is that the iron ingot smelted from Iron Ore can only be moved by those in the Earth-digging Realm; the Logging Realm cannot suppress the rebound force of the iron ingot, so for now, I’m the only one who can do the smithing.”
Xia Hong shook his head, showing a trace of helplessness.
Luo Ming had said that only those in the Earth-digging Realm could smith iron, and Xia Hong assumed the issue lay with the smithing tools—a hammer weighing over two thousand pounds is a challenge even for the Earth-digging Realm, let alone the Logging Realm.
But the polishing stone was practically weightless.
Couldn’t Xia Chuan, Yuan Cheng, and others in the Logging Realm also use it for smithing?
However, after making the first strike last night, Xia Hong understood that the problem Luo Ming mentioned about needing to be in the Earth-digging Realm to smith iron did not arise from the weight of the tools, but from the iron ingot itself.
It seemed due to the material’s properties, the iron ingot smelted from Iron Ore produced an intense rebound force when subjected to an external force.
Without exerting a force of over ten thousand pounds, one simply couldn’t suppress this rebound force.
Last night, Yuan Cheng had eagerly come to help.
Xia Hong couldn’t refuse and let him try it—he ended up getting flung back with just the first swing, almost dislocating his shoulder.
While Xia Hong pondered, the others from the camp had already gathered around, their expressions full of excitement as they gazed at the Blade Mold in his hands.
“Chief, why is the blade still so black?”
Hearing Yuan Cheng’s doubt, Xia Hong chuckled and was just about to speak when Yue Feng and Xia Chuan came over with a large wooden bucket filled with water.
Xia Hong gestured for everyone to step back and tossed the black blade directly into the water.
The water in the wooden bucket boiled violently, with thick smoke rising continuously.
It took more than ten breaths before the sound slowly diminished and the smoke gradually dissipated.
Once the smoke had completely vanished, the blade in the bucket had also entirely transformed.
The previously black blade had now turned silvery white.
Even in the water, everyone seemed to perceive the cold gleam radiating from the blade, with the ten silver Forging Patterns on its side clearly visible, adding a touch of mystery.
Xia Hong, too, was somewhat thrilled.
He retrieved the blade from the wooden bucket, took the leather handed over by Xia Chuan, carefully wiped away the water stains on it, and finally fitted it with the grip that had been prepared in advance.
Finally, a complete saber, only missing the final touch, appeared in Xia Hong’s hand and in front of everyone at the Great Xia Camp.
“The blade is 1.3 meters long.
Including the grip, it totals 1.5 meters.
The thickest part of the spine is about two centimeters, with a net weight of 620 pounds.”
Upon hearing Xia Hong’s detailed assessment of its specifications, everyone gazed at the saber with heated eyes and excited faces.
“Hold on, there’s still the final step!”
Naturally, Xia Hong noticed the anticipation in everyone’s eyes and signaled for them to wait as he leisurely brought over the polishing stone again.
The final step is sharpening the blade.
This part was much easier and didn’t require Xia Hong to do it himself.
Xia Chuan, Yuan Cheng, and the others, who had been itching to try it since watching earlier, didn’t even need to be called over.
They all eagerly gathered around, letting Xia Hong go to rest, while Xia Chuan led the other nine in taking turns sharpening the blade, lost in their enthusiasm.
Perhaps because this saber was the first weapon crafted by Great Xia, Xia Chuan and the others sharpened it with exceptional seriousness, changing the water in the wooden bucket again and again.
Xia Hong checked several times, thinking it was enough, but they insisted it wasn’t, saying it needed more sharpening.
Xia Hong, helpless, had no choice but to let them continue.
Just like when Xia Hong was smithing the night before, the sound of sharpening from the group carried on for over four hours, stopping only when night fell.
“Chief, it’s sharpened, come and try it!”
As night fell, the cave entrance was already open.
Xia Hong was practicing his boxing outside when he heard the call from inside, prompting him to rush back.
After the ten of them spent four hours sharpening the saber, almost everyone was soaked through, yet their faces still beamed with excitement, showing no sign of fatigue.
Xia Hong took the longsword, looking at its sharp and keen edge, a flicker of excitement flashed in his eyes as he walked over to the wood storage.
Knowing he was about to test the sword, everyone enthusiastically followed behind him.
Xia Hong chose a Vermilion Frost Tree over three meters thick, raised the longsword, and used roughly half his strength to strike a powerful blow.
The sharp blade cut straight through the wood, slicing more than half a meter deep.
Moreover, after pulling out the blade, there was no damage or curled edge on it at all.
Xia Hong breathed a long sigh of relief and looked back at everyone, raising the longsword with a face full of smiles.
“The first iron weapon of Great Xia is completed!”
Upon hearing Xia Hong’s words, everyone in the camp erupted into cheers.
“Hahaha, it really worked; from now on, we can forge weapons.”
“As long as there’s Coal, we’ll have weapons from now on.”
“From now on, not only the Rogel Camp at Redwood Ridge, but we at Great Xia can also forge weapons.”
“With weapons, we’re no longer afraid of those Cold Beasts, hahaha!”
“Long live the Chief!”
“Chief, since this is the first weapon our camp has crafted, you should give it a name!”
The jubilant confetti was breaking up with a suggestion from Xia Chuan.
Everyone lifted their heads to look at Xia Hong, waiting for him to name the sword.
Hearing the suggestion, Xia Hong was initially taken aback.
According to Luo Ming, as long as someone is in the Earth-digging Realm, they can forge a Ten-forged Weapon.
So, in essence, this sword is a basic iron tool that any camp with Earth-digging Realm can forge, thus its value is not considered rare.
But as Xia Chuan pointed out, this is the first weapon crafted by the Great Xia Camp itself and carries extraordinary significance for Great Xia.
Even if it’s just to commemorate it, it deserves a name.
Xia Hong lowered his head in contemplation for a moment, then lifted the sword with a gentle stroke, reflecting a cold light that shot towards the direction of Redwood Ridge outside the cave.