Chapter 267: Ice and Fire

This winter was unusually cold. The harsh wind raged, and everything looked desolate and bleak. The trees had lost all their leaves, and the withered grass shivered in the cold wind. The lake had frozen solid. The world had fallen into silence.

Thin sheets of ice could be seen everywhere in the streets and alleys of Poitou. These were just slightly sunken puddles. Given the industrial level of this era, this was completely unavoidable. Besides, even in Tianchao before the transmigration, even the streets of provincial capital cities had this situation.

The fine gravel was spread widely across the streets and alleys. In the past, they would have caused accidents as usual, but now they helped pedestrians keep their balance. This was a new law issued by George this year. Facing the unprecedented cold wave, this was the only thing they could do.

At Morbihan Port, bundles of ropes were covered in ice chips, and the stone-paved wharves were also covered with fine sand. Even so, porters still nearly fell from time to time. The wooden planks used as buffers to cushion the ships had developed cracks in an unprecedented way under the effect of this cold wave.

Early in the morning, people started selling hot soup along the streets. Of course, such roadside stalls did not have any good ingredients to offer. The ingredients used for the soup were mostly scraps like cattle and sheep offal.

With the freezing of the northern ports in winter, Morbihan Port welcomed another peak in foot traffic during this cold season. The large number of caravans entering and exiting also made the surrounding commerce flourish. Just the food, clothing, shelter, and transportation needs of these outsiders were a huge business opportunity.

Facing these masters who would never treat themselves poorly, the consumption of beef and mutton in the Territory increased greatly. Although people in this era were not as averse to animal offal as the Puritans before the transmigration, it was still considered food that could not be served on formal tables—like dog meat, which may be tasty but is not fit for a banquet.

These cheap scraps, mixed with a large amount of water and dried fish, boiled together, and then a little beef fat and mutton fat were added. For the customers, it was warm, delicious, and full of oil. More importantly, there was no need to wait. The time it took to ladle a bowl of soup was far more convenient than going to a Tavern to eat.

However, in such weather, anyone who could chew on a few bites of mutton offal with hot soup would feel a wave of warmth from their stomach to their heart. So whether they were laborers on the docks or sailors on the ships, they would steal a moment of leisure to buy a bowl to warm themselves. During this slack farming season, this really added extra income for many families in the Territory.

However, even in such weather, there were scenes of bustling activity. In the workshop district of Poitou, in front of three iron smelting furnaces belching thick smoke, a group of Dwarves were sweating as they hammered. The Dwarf closest to the furnace was bare-chested. His dark arms and face, reflected in the red-hot furnace fire, looked like a weathered and heavy bronze statue.

He skillfully used the iron tongs in his left hand to accurately and steadily grab a piece of iron billet glowing red hot from the furnace. He placed the billet on a waist-high, dark iron anvil. With his right hand gripping a hammer like a fist, he struck the red-hot billet with powerful, rhythmic blows.

In an instant, scorching sparks flew in all directions. They splashed onto his body, onto his hands, and even onto his beard, yet he remained completely still. Only the scorching sparks fought against the sweat covering his body, and the sparks always extinguished instantly.

After repeating the hammering process dozens of times, he skillfully grabbed the flattened and blackened iron billet and threw it back into the furnace, then immediately took out another red-hot iron block and continued the cycle. It was obvious that he was using the forging method to strengthen the physical properties of steel. This is a process where raw steel is repeatedly folded and hammered to form steel and its craft. Its characteristic is repeated heating and forging. Multiple repetitions of forging can remove inclusions in the steel, reduce the size of residual inclusions, make the composition more uniform, make the structure denser, refine the grains, and improve the properties of the steel. In ancient Tianchao, this was also called “hundred-refined steel.”

However, the number of hammering times here was not very high because the Dwarves did not need to rely on this method to remove impurities from the metal. The crucible flowing with glowing red molten steel was the biggest secret.

This method involved melting metal materials into molten steel in a graphite clay crucible. The carburized iron material was cut into small pieces and placed in a sealed clay crucible. The crucible was heated from the outside, and the iron material continued to absorb carbon from the graphite and melted into high-carbon molten steel. After casting into small ingots, they were forged into the desired shapes. When the steel melted in the crucible, the graphite carbon also acted as a reducing agent. The oxygen in the steel could be removed, and various inclusions could float up and be removed from the liquid steel, so the quality of the steel could be said to be quite excellent.

This was the best steelmaking process before the invention of the electric arc furnace steelmaking method in the late 19th century before the transmigration. Its improved version was in the hands of the Dwarves in this world. This changed the purpose of the recent forging from just making steel to using hot working methods like forging and pressing to eliminate and improve internal defects such as the material’s microstructure, casting pores, and coarse columnar crystals. This made the internal structure of the material denser and more uniform, thereby greatly improving the strength and toughness of the material.

“Plip, plip” sounds came from the churning pool water. This was the final step being performed by a Dwarf doing local quenching. He held a much smaller hammer in his hand, and the one standing beside him holding a large iron hammer, who was clearly a bit shorter, was probably his apprentice.

Meanwhile, another Dwarf standing nearby was adding fuel to the kiln, intently observing the internal temperature through a small opening in the kiln. What was being done here was tempering. The size of the ventilation opening and the amount of fuel were the keys to controlling the temperature.

In the outermost room, a Dwarf held the handle of an Adamantine guillotine. Under the blade, thin sheets of iron were cut into slender wires. This was actually the preliminary production of Chainmail.

In the past, people made Chainmail by first drawing iron rods into wires and then linking the rings. However, this method of making Chainmail was completely different, but the efficiency was definitely much higher. Moreover, all these iron rings were forged, so their strength was much better than drawn wires.

Of course, making Chainmail could not be completed in a day or two. Although the initial forging of the iron rings was finished, there was still a lot of work to do. Those iron rings had to be linked one by one, and the gaps on the rings had to be fixed to make them complete circles. This was all very time-consuming work.

To be honest, this was quite a tedious job. In the past, a skilled Craftsman could complete a 10 to 20 centimeter square piece of “iron cloth” in a day, which was already amazing. With twelve craftsmen working together, it took a whole day to make the fabric for one set of Chainmail.

After the iron cloth was cut into the specified shapes and sizes according to the pattern drawn using the clothing-making method, the Master carefully connected every part with iron rings. To make movement easier, the armor was generally made slightly larger than the design. Then, leather was wrapped around the collar, cuffs, and other places to prevent scratching clothes and skin. The armor was then completed.

In fact, whenever there was an order at the weapon workshop in the city, they used to recruit a large number of short-term workers from nearby villages to do some simple work. At least one or two hundred people were recruited each time.

However, these Dwarves had special binding tools. With the help of tools similar to conical tubes, tweezers, and iron tongs, the efficiency of the Dwarf craftsmen was truly scary. The amount of work one person could complete was at least the level of 20 people before. This could be said to be a huge leap in productivity. Just because of this point, taking in the Dwarves was worth it.

Suddenly, the door opened, and a fierce cold wind rushed in. A Dwarf wearing a leather jacket entered from outside. As soon as he entered, he asked, “When can this order for 600 pieces of Chainmail be completed? There are many tools here, but none feel as smooth as the ones underground. I hope the schedule won’t be delayed.”

“Although the newly made tools are not very smooth to use, this small matter cannot stump us. It looks like delivering a day or two early is not a big deal!” said that Dwarf, putting down the Chainmail he was shaping. “If it weren’t for the raw materials being a bit behind schedule, we could probably go even faster.”

It seemed that these Dwarves were living quite well here. Of course, the metal ore resources here could not compare to the Underground, so there was nothing they could do about it.

At this moment, George was handling daily routine affairs in the City Hall. However, a roar came from his office: “Damn it! If the sewers are frozen, you can find people to clean them yourself. Why are you still reporting this? Do you want to slack off?”

Finally, after finishing the busy work, George began to create the “Equilibrium” manual after his lunch break. In fact, George had already spent about two months completing the preliminary preparations for this. The most important thing now was to copy the text of “Equilibrium” from his mind onto specially made blank paper.

The copying here was not ordinary writing. When copying, one must be in a special meditative state. The pen, ink, and paper used for copying were all specially made. At the same time, the person writing would be infused with magical power and resonate strongly with the book itself.

However, this was a hard task. Although speed was not required, the writing had to be neat and beautiful, and one could not break the meditative state during the process. Because once the meditation was interrupted, the effort on the entire page would be completely wasted. Not only would one have to start over, but valuable raw materials would also be wasted.

The pen George was using now was not ordinary. The tip shone with gold but had a purple halo, as if it were made of coral gold. The feather shaft was straight, and the quill emitted an air as light and agile as the wind.

Then he opened the wooden box in front of him. The box was made of the finest nanmu wood. The grain of this wood was very fine. It was only coated with a layer of clear varnish, yet it revealed a metallic luster.

Lifting the lid, he saw a stack of paper neatly placed inside. These papers were quite ordinary, at most slightly whiter than normal paper. The only special thing was that this paper seemed to make people feel relaxed in body and mind. In fact, it was incredibly tough, even comparable to metal.

All objects composing the book had to undergo material reinforcement. This temporarily used supernatural abilities to reinforce an object, making the paper sharp like a blade and tofu hard as steel. Of course, the materials consumed were not small. Amber and agate powder were important ingredients in this formula. Rose essential oil was also indispensable.

Afterwards, this paper needed to be dyed with a special magical liquid. The production process of this liquid was called “Holy Water Fusion” in “Equilibrium.”

The fragrance and aura in nature could enhance human spiritual power. Using Alchemy, this effect could be condensed and refined. This forging process required one hour of continuous work and consumed one kilogram of natural spice materials.

Afterwards, the creator needed to resonate with their spirit every ten minutes. If there was a mistake within the next hour, the refining would fail. If successful, the material would be condensed into 10 grams of gem-colored liquid, emitting a pleasant fragrance.

It could be sealed in a small airtight glass bottle. In this case, it would not be consumed. At any time, it could be placed in a portable incense bottle that slowly releases the fragrance. This would make the wearer more sensitive and mentally firm. If done this way, it would continue to emit for 24 hours before being exhausted.

It could also be sprinkled to evaporate naturally in the air. This would cause all the potion to immediately evaporate into the air, granting this benefit to all natural creatures within a 2-meter radius for 1 minute.

Only paper treated with this incense method could become the carrier for the manual’s text.

The ink was a translucent golden liquid, constantly swirling. Inside the bottle, the surging supernatural power was faintly visible, but these powers were all blocked by the seal at the bottle’s mouth, so they did not spread outside.

This liquid was the product of the “Magic Water Fusion” formula in the manual. When Alchemists distilled “water that can burn” from wine, they named it “Magic Water,” thus opening the era of distilled spirits.

But for true Alchemy, the so-called Magic Water was not just alcohol. The user needed one hour of continuous work and consumed wine worth at least 150 pounds. At the same time, their own energy essence was needed for necessary guidance.

When time ended, you obtained a small amount of amber gem-colored, very unstable liquid. It must be stored in a sealed small bottle, otherwise it would burn out within 1 minute. One portion of such liquid could be divided into ten drops. Just one drop could ignite any substance that can burn in the air. An entire bottle of Magic Water could serve as a thrown weapon, creating a flame 3 meters high and 1 meter in radius. Using this as ink was more like branding than writing.

Taking out 5 sheets of paper from the box based on previous experience, George sat on the chair. He picked up the pen and dipped the tip into the ink bottle. However, he did not write immediately. Instead, he held his wrist suspended and silently recited the content he needed to copy in his mind.

I don’t know how much time had passed. George’s mind became empty, and his surroundings turned into a blur. The whole world seemed to have only the paper in front of him, the pen, and the bottle of ink. He had entered the state. This was his long-term…

George’s handwriting was initially a bit stiff, and he wrote very slowly. But gradually, the tip became smooth, and the speed increased. Although he was only reciting the text in his mind, it seemed as if there was a low voice from somewhere whispering, echoing the words falling on the paper. The whole process had an indescribable harmony.

George copied the scriptures without any distracting thoughts. A strand of extremely pure Soul essence spread from the ink to the pen, and then gradually to his body. Every character he wrote seemed like gold, inlaid on the paper, with faint golden light flowing between the lines.

However, finishing these 5 sheets was not an easy task because the text used had to be characters that had never appeared in this world, so writing them was extremely laborious.

One hour passed, and another hour passed. The sun had already set to the slanting west. George finally stopped writing. When he wrote the last period, he felt a wave of relaxation all over his body, and his mind became exceptionally clear. It felt as if something had flowed directly from his fingertips into his body and was constantly circulating within him.

A new kind of connection had formed between him and the completed pages of the book. It was like refining an artifact with one’s own blood.

After finishing, he looked at the sky and found that he had spent a full 3 hours copying. Satisfied with the result, he placed these 5 sheets of paper into another box prepared in advance and kept them separate.

However, at present, no one else could see the text on these papers. But in George’s eyes, the fluorescent flashing text had a unique charm.

But the biggest problem now was that George’s whole body was aching, and an indescribable sense of fatigue hit him. Because he was actually using his own energy to write. This was the same as consuming one’s own flesh and blood to nourish a Ben artifact. It could be said to be an alternative method of refining a cultivation treasure, just that the style, function, and refining process were particularly special.

This could be said to be the second artifact George had refined since his transmigration. Unfortunately, the first artifact, the Deep Sea Pearl, hadn’t even passed the initial nurturing stage! On the contrary, this “Equilibrium” manual, according to the current progress, could be completed before the end of winter.

However, the consumption of his own Spiritual Qi and energy would inevitably delay the improvement of his realm to some extent. But George, whose strength had improved too fast this year, also decided to take this opportunity to stabilize himself—to solidify his current foundation. Only when the accumulation was sufficient would he proceed to the next stage of sprinting. This was what was meant by “thick accumulation and thin release.”