The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 606 In my lifetime, will I also be able to wield the Tang Dynasty's Mo Dao (a type of long-handled sword) and fight?!

"Left leg in front, right leg behind, one step apart."

"Yes, try squatting slightly, then push off the ground to stand up, and feel the power coming from your upper body as your thighs push off the ground—no, you don't need to squat that low, you're not doing a lunge squat!"

"Move your toes a little, don't turn them inward or outward, otherwise your upper body will easily sway when you swing the hammer..."

The bearded man, brimming with enthusiasm, personally instructed Shen Le in blacksmithing. However, no matter how he instructed, Shen Le still felt as if he weren't in a forge, but rather in a gym…

Well, that cat demon from the yoga studio next door might be even better than Professor Zhang at guiding the application of force?
Although the cat demon's strengths might lie in yoga and Pilates, not in strength training, Shen Le had never seen her instructing anyone in the strength training area...

Regardless, under Professor Zhang's guidance, Shen Le first steadied himself, then tried swinging the wooden pole, and finally attempted to swing the hammer. Seeing the row of hammers on the ground, he was startled again:
"Such a small hammer?"

"You can't just look at the size of the hammerhead!" Professor Zhang was furious. He'd wielded both large and small hammers; large hammers for forging, small hammers for shaping—each hammer had been used tens of thousands of times.

The 3-pound hammer needs to be precisely controlled, while the 8-pound hammer needs to be used to strike with enough force to fully and evenly forge the iron block.

Let alone twice as heavy a hammer, even if it's only slightly heavier, try swinging it all day and see what happens. In the latter half of the day, you'll be hitting one without making a sound!

Shen Le picked up a hammer and swung it up and down, then picked up another hammer and swung it again. Neither seemed very heavy; hmm, even without applying heat, they seemed easy to handle?

"Grip the hammer handle with your left hand! Grip the middle of the hammer handle with your right hand! Support with your left hand, control the hammer with your right! Try hitting it once... Wait, your upper body is tilted..."

Professor Zhang, like a meticulous and responsible fitness coach, taught Shen Le how to hold the hammer and how to exert force, step by step.

After watching him swing the hammer more skillfully, he turned on the electric furnace, heated a piece of spring steel until it was red-hot, and personally took it out of the furnace and placed it on the anvil.

"Come on, let's have a round!"

With a clang, sparks flew everywhere.

Shen Le immediately stopped and jumped back. Sparks! Sparks flying from that piece of iron!
It's all splashed into the corner of the forging room!

A large portion of them were there because of the two people closest to the anvil: him and Professor Zhang!
"Professor, are these clothes okay? Should we change them?"

I'm not afraid; I can erect a magical barrier. But won't these sparks burn your clothes and skin?

"Don't stop! Keep going!" Professor Zhang was furious. It's just forging iron; what's a few sparks?
Which blacksmith hasn't watched sparks fly everywhere?
As long as the subordinates control the situation accurately, they definitely won't get burned, not in their entire lives!
"It's nothing! There's no danger! -- Never mind, if you're really worried, you can go change into your fire-resistant suit. This outfit will do!"

These days, who among the men who do hand forging wears fire-resistant clothing?

Those clothes were so stuffy and hot. Wearing that thing and swinging a hammer in front of a furnace with incredible heat, you'd only know if you wore it...

Shen Le was still worried. After thinking for a moment, she greeted Professor Zhang, went back to her residence to fetch the vanity case, placed it in a corner of the forging room, and covered it with a tempered glass cover.
"Lanzhuang, please, just cast a fireproof spell on each of us—just to prevent burns from sparks." He held the makeup box and earnestly instructed:

"Professor Zhang and I are safe from having our clothes burned, our faces damaged, and our burns, all thanks to you!"

With a "snap," Lan Zhuang propped up the mirror, opened the door, and pushed out two rows of drawers.

The powder compact, blush, and eyebrow pencil were all opened at once, and a colorful halo rose from the cosmetics, which was then reflected in the bronze mirror:

Professor Zhang saw the halo descend upon him and then disappear. Immediately afterward, he felt a cool sensation throughout his body, and the heat emanating from the electric furnace and steel ingots vanished instantly.

I'm so jealous... Why don't I have such a thoughtful spirit to help me?... Give me a fireproof talisman, even one that I can just tear off and use immediately!

Shen Le hugged the makeup box through the cover with satisfaction, then ran back to the anvil and began hammering.

The art of forging is all about muscle control, ensuring that each strike lands precisely where you want it to.

He had a solid foundation, was willing to work hard, and was patient enough to forge the steel. Before long, he had turned the steel ingots into blades.

After working tirelessly for several days, quenching, annealing, tempering, and learning from the professor how to mix clay into slurry and then carefully cover it with the blade.

Finally, a Tang-style horizontal sword with a central spine, a single-edged blade, a straight body, and a menacing appearance was fully formed:
"Hmm, well done." Professor Zhang flicked the spine of the blade with his finger, listening to the crisp humming sound, and nodded in satisfaction.

Although it hasn't been sharpened, nor is it fitted with a tsuba or handle, it's just a single blade, but the blade is straight, the edge is smooth, and it hasn't bent or crooked.

For a beginner, it's already a passable piece of work.

You know, many veterans, when they first start forging a Tang-style horizontal sword, it's fine while they're forging it, but after quenching it:

Damn!

Why is this knife bent?!

I wanted to fight with a Tang-style horizontal sword, not a Japanese katana!
"Right? I think it's good too." Shen Le nodded happily beside him.

Pause for a moment, then carefully place the blade strip on the table with both hands, one by one, the Tang steel knife fragments onto the blade strip:

"Come on, take a look, is this knife any good? -- Okay, I know you're not satisfied, this is a practice piece, made of pure spring steel -- look at the shape of this knife, is it correct?"

Shen Le carefully pressed each finger onto the fragment of the Tang steel knife, gently channeling heat into it. Professor Zhang watched him speechlessly.
Is this considered being picky?

They've all gotten used to it!
You've already been merciful enough by not throwing these fragments directly into the furnace to melt them down!

However, the professor really had no say in matters of the supernatural. He was slightly bored and waited listlessly, until after a while, he saw Shen Le's face suddenly fall:
"It says no...it says the knife is too thin, too short, not heavy enough, and not the shape it's used to! It needs to be forged again!"

Ah, this Tang Hengdao is already one of the stronger and larger existing Tang swords.

Shen Le stared dejectedly at the blade in front of him. A horizontal sword is for combat; if this isn't strong enough, then a ceremonial sword would probably be even less satisfactory.

The Tang Dynasty's "Six Codes" records that there are four types of swords: the ceremonial sword, the guard sword, the horizontal sword, and the long sword. The long sword is a long sword carried by infantrymen and is an ancient type of horse-slaying sword.

Ceremonial swords, such as the crystal-handled sword with a gold pendant unearthed from the tomb of Dou Hao of the Tang Dynasty, are 84.7 centimeters long and include both the handle and the blade.

My horizontal sword is 80 centimeters long just for the blade. If you think it's too short or not heavy enough, then the ceremonial sword and the guard sword probably won't do.

As for the black lacquered Tang Dynasty straight sword in the Shosoin Repository in Japan, it is 256 cm long overall and 223 cm long with a blade. It doesn't seem like a sword used for combat on the battlefield...

"So you were once a Mo Dao... Are you a Mo Dao? A Mo Dao wielded by heavy infantry with both hands, used to cut down horses?"

Shen Le asked softly. For a moment, Professor Zhang also held his breath, his eyes gleaming with eagerness:
Mo Dao!

The Mo Dao!
The Mo Dao (陌刀) is clearly recorded in documents and historical materials, but it has never been unearthed and no one has ever seen a real one!
Could it be that he will actually see it with his own eyes today?

Shen Le diligently channeled heat into the fragments of steel blade before him, attempting to communicate with them. Ten seconds, thirty seconds, one minute, two minutes…

He finally let go and let out a long sigh:

“No. It’s too fragmented and too weak… Its consciousness isn’t clear enough yet to answer me… It can only express very simple things: yes, no, too small, too short, too thin…”

"Then let's start over!" Professor Zhang's eyes blazed with fury. He stepped forward and quickly began examining the steel ingots:

“Forge a new sword and ask it again! I’ll design it. I remember designing a Mo Dao before. Let me pull up the blueprints…”

Before Shen Le could speak, he pounced on the workbench like a tiger and began typing rapidly. While typing, he muttered to himself:

"The information I found states that the blade of the Mo Dao is three feet long, the handle is four feet long, and it weighs 15 jin... The Biography of Zhang Xing in the New Book of Tang mentions that Xing, wearing armor and wielding a Mo Dao weighing 15 jin, was on the city wall... I've got it!"

He was confident and animated as he presented his design to Shen Le:
"Look, the blade is three feet long, which is one meter long; the thickness at the base of the blade is 10 millimeters, and the thickness at the tip is 4 millimeters; the width of the blade is 8 centimeters at the base and 4 centimeters at the tip..."

I even made a counterfeit! Give me some time, and I'll have someone bring it over for you to see!

Shen Le looked at the thick thesis and felt a little dizzy. Even if he had the ability to conduct the research and design himself, a few days of research couldn't compare to Professor Zhang's years of dedicated work.

All he could do was look at Professor Zhang expectantly.
"Then I'll leave it to you! Once the Mo Dao you forged arrives, I'll ask if the design is suitable. If it is, I'll make another one!"

The Zhang-edition Mo Dao arrived in just one day. Shen Le placed the Tang steel blade fragments onto the Mo Dao, diligently channeling heat into it and concentrating on sensing its power. After a long while, he shook his head helplessly.

"Ugh……"

"What? Is this design incorrect?"

"It's not a matter of right or wrong..." Shen Le's smile was extremely stiff:
"The ones you made can't communicate with each other, I don't know if that's right... It seems I'll have to forge one myself..."

Fight again, fight again, fight harder. The Mo Dao is a little longer, a little wider, and a little thicker than the Heng Dao: little by little, the weight is more than just a little heavier, and the difficulty of forging it is also more than just a little greater.

Shen Le worked up a sweat, his hands and feet weak, and after repeatedly breaking, bending, and quenching three swords, he finally forged a decent-looking Mo Dao blade.
"Come on, you guys try it... What? It doesn't work? The back of the blade needs to be thicker? Wider? The blade needs to be longer? Then tell me exactly how long!!!"

I tried again, still no luck. I tried again, still no luck. I've modified this hand-forged knife seven or eight times. You guys are trying to kill me!

"No rush, no rush, don't be too hasty." Professor Zhang quickly came to the rescue. He held out a steel cup about the size of a mug to Shen Le:

“Here, this is powdered steel. Spread it on the knife you forged. Spread it in a circle, then another circle, and see if these fragments can sense its length and width…” Powdered steel was no easier to communicate with than a foreign steel knife. Shen Le gritted his teeth, put the powdered steel in the electric furnace to heat it up, then pretended to swing the hammer a couple of times before spreading it on the steel knife, and only then were the fragments accepted.

He laid down one layer, then another, using up two large cans of powdered steel in one go, and finally obtained permission:

"They said, this is good enough..."

Professor Zhang personally measured the length, width, and thickness of the new knife, collected powdered steel, weighed it again, and then guided Shen Le to make a new knife.

This time, after countless hours of hard work, Shen Le's forged Mo Dao finally received permission from the Tang Dao fragments:
"They said this size is fine... They want me to forge one out using the agreed-upon steel, so they can go inside and live there!"

Oh my god, it's finally done. After all this trouble, not only is Shen Le's back aching and she feels like she could collapse at any moment, but even Professor Zhang looks like he's been skinned alive.

"Alright, let's get started. --By the way, can your furnace melt down engine turbine debris?"

"I..." Shen Le opened her mouth, then closed it again, turned around, opened the drawer, and went to look for the product manual:

"What temperature stove do you need to heat that thing?"

No need to look through it anymore; this furnace definitely won't do. When Shen Le ordered a set of blacksmithing tools, he wanted something that was suitable for home use and small in size; most of the small workshops in Yangjiang had similar products.

As for the fragments that the Alloy Master brought:

"Do you have a vacuum induction furnace here? A small one, lab-grade will do! No? -- What about a plasma arc furnace? You don't have that either?"

Sorry, we don't have any. Professor Zhang himself doesn't possess such expensive items.

After all, a laboratory-grade vacuum induction furnace costs at least 200 million, and can easily reach 500 million if you're not careful.
The price of plasma arc furnaces is even more attractive, ranging from 800 million to 2000 million.

Professor Zhang's main profession is archaeological restoration; he usually runs a small studio where he makes his own armor, so he can't afford such luxury items.

He needs to access project funds, but he can't get approval for projects that require this kind of equipment...

"I didn't..." Shen Le shrugged matter-of-factly.
"I really don't have any here. Otherwise, I'll place an order for one right away?"

I'm really sorry, it's not that Shen Le can't afford to buy a set, it's just that production and stocking take time. This kind of thing isn't something you can get immediately after you place an order.

Shen Le asked the Special Affairs Bureau to inquire at several companies, and even the one with the fastest delivery time indicated that it would take at least half a month...

"Ah, well, I'll think of another way." Shen Le sighed. Beside him, the alloy tycoon was rubbing his hands together, eager to get started.

"I'll borrow it for you! I'll help you borrow it! I'm on good terms with those metal smelting research institutes. If I ask them to lend me a furnace, they'll lend it to me without even looking!"

"I think it's better not to," Shen Le gently shook her head. They're all very busy, each with their own assigned tasks, and they're practically working non-stop when it comes to experiments.

Besides, why would we occupy someone else's lab for three to five days, or even seven or eight days, just for a furnace, only to come back after we've finished fighting the Mo Dao?
Shen Le felt that if she could solve a problem at home, she wouldn't really want to go out...

He thought for a moment, then stretched out his palm, and a ball of flame rose gently from his palm. It changed from deep red to orange-red, then to bright yellow, and quickly jumped to bright white.

Professor Zhang opened his mouth, looked around, but didn't say anything:
Let's not even talk about what kind of clamps were used to hold the turbine fragments in and put them in; can your furnace withstand that?
How do you heat these turbine fragments in a flame?

Before he could finish his thought, Shen Le twitched his finger, and the turbine fragment floated up on its own, sliding and landing in the fireball. It was heated, scorched, tossed and turned, yet remained unmoved.

"Ah... this flame seems too cold..."

Shen Le lowered his eyes and remained silent, beads of sweat gradually forming on his forehead.

The fireball swayed back and forth, growing larger and smaller, then growing larger again. Professor Zhang retreated step by step outside the room, fearing that the fireball would explode and hit him directly.

Fortunately, the fireball gradually took on a light blue tinge from its bright white color until it turned completely light blue, and it remained stable without exploding.

The turbine fragments floated motionless within the fireball, showing no signs of turning red or softening...

Shen Le looked around, but could only disperse the fireball and turn on the electric stove. As soon as the stove heated up, the temperature in the room rose sharply.

He then pointed to the electric stove, where a fireball quickly lit up, changing from yellow to white, and from white to blue.

"Great, the flame temperature is finally set!" Professor Zhang finally breathed a sigh of relief and slipped in:
"Alright, alright, take it out while it's still soft and start forging!"

Forging is impossible, it's never going to happen in this lifetime. All the hammers in the forge—completely destroyed.

Turbine fragments, which can only be softened by flames exceeding two thousand degrees Celsius, begin to deform and soften after being struck with an iron hammerhead and a wooden handle, even after only five or six blows.

Shen Le looked at Professor Zhang with a helpless expression. Professor Zhang responded with a helpless shrug:

"Why are you looking at me? This kind of thing isn't handmade! It's forged using specialized machines!"

"Then... there's no other way." Shen Le took a deep breath and began to sense the red-hot, soft fragment. After a while, he clenched his fist and struck the air with it:
boom!
boom!
boom!
The fragments moved effortlessly. To Professor Zhang's astonishment, they began to fold, roll, and deform.

From the twisted semi-circle, fold it in half to form a whole piece, then into a rectangle, and then into a square;
It is forged and kneaded back and forth. Although each deformation is very small and looks very strenuous, it is truly and continuously deforming!

"Is this okay?!"

Professor Zhang's voice cracked. "This is void forging!"

If you're this skilled, why were you swinging that hammer so relentlessly before?!

This really isn't going to work. Shen Le struggled to keep going, ignoring the sweat streaming down his forehead and blurring his vision, focusing all his energy on that piece of steel.

Use the power of fire to smelt, and the power of metal to sense and shape. If the connection cannot be made, summon lightning to link the pieces together.
Transform! Transform for me!
Forge me into the shape of a blade, make me thin and sharp, and transform me into a long, straight blade!
Without an anvil, forging it entirely with mental power was incredibly difficult to control the shape. Shen Le failed five or six times in a row before finally forging a perfect blade.

Take a break, then go back to working on the shell steel. Bend the shell steel, which has a slightly lower melting point, slightly lower hardness, and slightly higher toughness, and tightly coat it around the turbine steel.
"Alright, now I really need to take a break..."

He swayed twice and then slumped down. Professor Zhang quickly came over to give him water and biscuits, helped him to a chair, and then turned around to look at the knife strip with obvious delight.

"It's so beautiful... This is really so beautiful... So hard, so sharp, with a layer of spring steel wrapped around the blade, it's the best Mo Dao!"

"Really... but it doesn't have any patterns..."

Shen Le answered listlessly. Professor Zhang suddenly turned his head:

"Modern steel knives with patterns are just for fooling novices! The steel used in ancient times was of poor quality, with many impurities, and required repeated folding and forging to create the patterns of refined steel."

The steel used nowadays is of such high quality! With so few impurities, why insist on welding it together, then heating and forging it, pressing out patterns? Isn't that just gilding the lily and reducing the knife's performance?

Ah, well, that makes sense. Shen Le closed his eyes and breathed for a while before propping himself up, turning on the furnace, heating the spring steel, and hand-forging it:
Forge it into a square shape, then into a long strip, and finally into a rectangular steel plate. Bend it from the middle, with the blade sandwiched in the center.

Professor Zhang was about to instruct Shen Le on how to forge the blade to maintain its straightness and sharpness when he saw Shen Le extend his hand, hovering it horizontally above the blade:
"Come--"

In an instant, specks of silver light flew out from the spring steel, powder steel, artillery shell steel, and all sorts of high-grade steel on the shelf by the wall, seeped into the blade, and disappeared.

When Professor Zhang finally realized what was happening and rushed to the shelf to touch the steel, he casually poked it, and the steel crumbled and collapsed, turning into a piece of rusty sponge iron.

Looking back, the spring steel and the blade have become so tightly bonded that they appear to be a single, complete piece.

"Okay, that should be fine..."

Shen Le announced in a hoarse voice. He patiently waited until the blade had cooled completely, then picked up the fragments of the Tang sword and laid them out one by one on the blade:

"How is it? Is it okay now?"

A feeling of joy came almost immediately.

Compared to forging by hand, Shen Le personally condensed a fireball to scorch the steel, personally shaped it with metal-elemental magic, and then personally used metal-elemental magic to fuse several pieces of steel into one, giving the steel knife more spirituality:
Such spirituality allows it to resonate more easily with the steel blade fragments. Without even a warning, they sink directly into the blade, and then begin to incessantly chatter:

【OK! 】

【Can! 】

【that's all!】

Install the knife handle. Install the knife handle. Install the knife handle.

[Wave it! Chop people! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!]

Killing is impossible; it's a society governed by law, and no one is asking you to kill.

However, after Shen Le, under Professor Zhang's guidance, fitted the blade with a guard, carefully selected jujube wood for the handle, and meticulously wrapped it with anti-slip silk thread, giving it a new lease on life—

The moment Shen Le grasped it, it eagerly dragged him into a fierce battle!
(End of this chapter)