This kind of sponge iron must first be repeatedly forged to form a rough block shape. During this process, it must be repeatedly burned in the furnace until it is white hot, and then struck while it is still hot, and repeated many times.

With the continuous beating, the red sponge iron first became regular and became a square iron block, and then became flat with the continuous beating.

But you can't stop after flattening it. You have to stand it up again, or fold it into a thick piece, and then forge it repeatedly.

During this process, the iron block will be fully exposed to the air inside and out, and the impurities in the iron block that cannot be softened will solidify on the surface along with the oxides of the iron block every time it is beaten, and continue to

Peel off.

Impurities such as carbon that can be oxidized into gases will also escape at high temperatures.

Such repeated beating is the so-called "hundred steel-making" in ancient methods. This is a necessary process and must not be skipped.

Because only through such a tedious process can we ensure that there are not too many impurities in the final product, and the blade will not be easily damaged, broken or rusted.

At the same time, since the carbon content in sponge iron itself is uneven, repeated folding and forging can make the carbon content in different locations uniform, thereby making the quality of the entire knife stable.

During this beating process, iron will also be consumed.

Because as the impurities fall off, there is also an oxide layer on the surface of the iron block, so the more forged, the less iron there is. The craftsman must strictly determine the amount required for forging at the beginning, otherwise the iron produced in the end will not be enough to make a handful.

A sword or a knife would be embarrassing.

Either the final piece was a little shorter and the entire shape changed a lot; or other iron was used to make up for it.

However, if it is repaired, the entire structure will inevitably be incomplete and more likely to break.

…

Finally, after the craftsmen forged day and night, the piece of steel finally seemed to have no impurities.

However, its size had shrunk so much during repeated forging that Li Hongyun doubted whether it could still make a knife of sufficient length.

This is a normal phenomenon. The weight of the final product will be at least half less than the raw material. In ancient China, when crude iron was used to make fine steel, ten times the amount of crude iron was often consumed.

Li Hongyun thought about it, if it didn't work, could he pass the level by making a dagger?

I'm afraid it's enough.

After all, there is a dead pig on the sword testing platform. You have to cut the dead pig in half with a knife to pass the test. The dagger obviously does not have such a length.

Anyway, let’s give it a try first.

Li Hongyun didn't want to wait any longer. He was now eager to see what the first knife he forged looked like.

So, he took the piece of iron from the hand of the tool maker and started beating it again.

Work hard to beat it into the shape of a knife.

This process is also very difficult, and it also requires many times of beating. However, the more times, the better. Once the blade is beaten too much, the entire blade becomes too narrow and long, and it must be folded and re-forged.

In that case, a lot of iron will be wasted.

In the worst case, you will find that the blade is getting shorter and shorter as you hit it, which would be embarrassing.

Moreover, the more times the steel block is folded and forged, the better, because too many times will cause the carbon content in it to be too low, which will turn the steel into soft wrought iron. In modern technology, it can be folded and forged in wrought iron.

Adding carbon to save it, but in ancient times, this kind of mistake was basically irreversible.

"Okay, quenching!

"No matter what kind of thing you make, let's make it first and see."

Li Hongyun thought about how this thing could be regarded as a "fifty-refined" sword.

The so-called "Hundred Refinements" actually refers to the number of times of refining and heating. The Hundred Refinements Sword means that a piece of iron must be repeatedly heated and forged hundreds of times. The consumption is very staggering, and the production efficiency is also very low, but the resulting

The quality of the sword will also be excellent.

In fact, if you want to strive for excellence, you will also need to use a process similar to the "three-piece combination" at this stage.

To put it simply, steel materials with different carbon contents are wrapped around each other to make sharp blades and blades. Different wrapping methods and structures produce different blade characteristics. But in general, this is a kind of

Higher-end craftsmanship.

For Li Hongyun, he has not even understood the most basic things, so naturally he is not qualified to try such high-end operations.

After heating the roughly shaped knife blank again, put it directly into cold water and cool it suddenly.

Flames and smoke come out, accompanied by the sound of "bah ba ba ba", and the quenching is completed in one go.

The function of quenching is to make the steel knife tough and elastic.

The process of quenching seems easy, but it is also difficult to operate.

The degree of heating, the degree of cooling, the quality of the water, etc., all have a great relationship. If the quenching is not enough, the blade will not be hard and will easily curl; if the quenching is excessive, the blade will become brittle and prone to chipping or breaking.

Moreover, according to ancient craftsmen, the quality of quenching water is also very particular. Some water is "strong" and some water is "blunt". The latter cannot be used for quenching, otherwise it will destroy the knife.

If you study these contents in detail, it is obvious that they involve knowledge of chemistry and materials science. Li Hongyun did not bother about it because he knew that he was not worthy.

The good news is that he doesn't need to determine the water quality of rivers in various places, but only needs to use the water provided in the game.

"That's it, grind!"

Li Hongyun directed the tool makers and craftsmen to repeatedly polish and sharpen the quenched blade, and finally put it on the handle.

In ancient times, the work of a knife maker was only to make the knife blade. After quenching, it would be roughly sharpened at most. The subsequent processes also required other craftsmen to finely grind, make the handle, make the scabbard, and carve various decorative parts.

Inlays or paintings on the scabbard, etc.

Fortunately, these relatively insignificant steps can all be left to other craftsmen.

Li Hongyun fast-forwarded the whole process.

After some more fiddling, this knife, which could basically be said to be designed and forged by himself, finally appeared in front of him.

Thinking about the many procedures he had gone through, Li Hongyun almost wanted to vomit blood.

It’s so difficult!

This trial alone is the first stage, and in Li Hongyun's opinion, the difficulty is already off the charts.

Really curious what phase two will look like.

Of course, to be fair, this trial may not be more difficult than the cavalry trial.

The Cavalry Trial requires talent. If you don’t have talent, you will still be unable to pass the level no matter how hard you try. However, the Divine Machine Trial requires not only talent, but also factors such as experience, memory, and patience.

Li Hongyun took the knife in his hand and weighed it a little.

"Well... I can't say it's perfect, I can only say it's quite adequate."

As soon as he got his hands on it, Li Hongyun immediately felt the shortcomings of this knife.

In the previous trial illusions, he had also taken the standard weapons of Qi Jun and Sheng Jun, and also captured some high-quality barbarian knives.

Therefore, you can feel whether these knives are easy to use or not as soon as you use them.

A good knife must be comfortable to hold, have a suitable center of gravity, and have a graceful arc...and these are obviously not what Li Hongyun can expect at the moment.

He only has one expectation now, that is, this knife, as long as it won't break.

With an anxious mood, Li Hongyun came to the sword testing platform.

First come to the front of the hard bone.

Li Hongyun took a deep breath, shouted loudly, then swung his long knife and slashed hard on the bone!

Just listen to the crisp sound of "clang"!

At first, Li Hongyun thought that he was so lucky to have forged a sword that was as sharp as clay and made a sword sound. However, the next second, he saw some unknown object that seemed to fly away from his eyes.

Looking closer, he saw a shallow wound on the hard bone, and the knife in his hand had been broken into two pieces.

"Depend on!"

Li Hongyun was unable to complain.

It took several months to forge the knife, but it broke in an instant.

Although many steps in the game can be accelerated or skipped, Li Hongyun's actual playing time was only a few hours, but he was still a little crushed when he saw the results of a few hours being reduced to zero so easily in front of his eyes.

“Forget it, come again!

"On my first try, I have already created a rough shape, which is enough to show my talent."

After learning from the experience, Li Hongyun decided to start from scratch.

It seems that the carbon content of this knife is too high, which makes it too brittle, or there are wounds or flaws in the blade, or the temperature of the blade is too high or the water temperature is too low during quenching, so it becomes hard when cutting.

It was broken in the process of transporting the object.

Li Hongyun tried hard to recall the process of forging this sword. Thanks to his golden talent, he could clearly recall those details.

"Which step caused the problem..."
Chapter completed!