Chapter 776: Harvest and Return Journey

In the morning, only a few days were left until New Year’s Day, and the weather in New York was somewhat cold.

But in the workshop, the furnace was burning intensely, making it so warm that people had to strip down to their shirts.

These past days have been quite tormenting for Winslow. His love for sword forging is not just for the final product but for the enjoyment of watching a piece of steel being forged little by little into its final form.

Though there were several high-speed camera positions in the studio, the footage from these cameras was stored locally. Only a few monitoring points could offer a rough view of the forging process, but watching through them didn’t provide much feeling and instead ruined the joy of observing the final forging process, so Winslow always held back, waiting for the last day to see the finished product.

Over the past few days, he took the time to visit a steel mill. His purpose was to observe the forging process of powdered steel.

While he had two powdered steel collectibles, those small knives were industrially heat-treated and mass-produced. He wasn’t sure whether such steel could be forged into a decent weapon.

Through his research, he learned that once powdered steel has completed heat treatment, re-heating it through forging can easily damage its inherent strength.

Of course, the steel mill was not in the United States.

He provided Li Younan with high-end powdered steel imported from Switzerland, so he spent these past few days in Switzerland.

After thoroughly understanding the properties of powdered steel at the manufacturer, he felt even less confident about the test this time.

In a word, the reason is: forging powdered steel indeed has its challenges, with the most difficult part being the heat treatment.

According to the experts there, even the best swordsmith, attempting to forge a sword comparable to industrial powdered steel is nearly impossible. Forget about forging a weapon of such strength; controlling the temperature during the forging process is already quite an achievement if it doesn’t break the tool.

The quenching after heat treatment also imposes extremely stringent temperature requirements. A single mishap can make the internal stress of the tool render the blade very fragile.

After obtaining this information, Winslow transitioned from anticipation to worry. He was concerned that he wouldn’t even see a sword ready for testing by the tenth day.

However, upon returning to the studio, Li Younan showed him a completely baffling scene: like picking up trash, he randomly picked up a sword from the ground and said, “We’ll use this one for the competition.”

If Li Younan hadn’t already proven his skills, Winslow would have thought he was being messed with.

“So, is this the best sword you’ve crafted?”

“No, in fact, this is the ugliest sword I have forged.”

“?”

Li Younan handed it to Winslow.

It’s a Qinggang sword from the Three Kingdoms period, forged using the Damascus method—also a famed sword historically. However, Li Younan felt the Damascus pattern on this sword was somewhat of a failure, not because of a stacking failure or because the Damascus method reduced the strength of powdered steel, but because, aesthetically, the patterns appeared too intricate, like a dessert with too much sugar, which he found cloying.

If he were to use this sword for the competition, no matter how much it was cut, he wouldn’t feel bad. But with the other swords, if the show planned some extreme testing leading to slight flaws, it would be somewhat unpleasant.

Upon hearing Li Younan’s words, Winslow’s expression was odd. He held the sword handle, raised the sword to his eye level, and murmured, “The ugliest sword…” His throat instantly choked up, his eyes glued to the Damascus pattern on the blade.

“Such a magnificent work of art…”

Upon hearing this, Li Younan’s expression turned a bit odd and then he thought, oh, Americans love sugar.

Ignoring the sword’s overall shape, just the pattern alone—Heavens, Winslow swore he had never seen such exquisite Damascus patterns, as if designed by a computer.

He doubted his hearing. If this was the ugliest sword, how astonishing would the others be?

Then he turned his attention to another sword, but the next moment, he felt a slight disappointment. Although he hadn’t seen the other swords, comparing just this one to the sword in his hand, it was clear that the one in his hand was more exquisite and ornate.

“How did you craft it?” Winslow asked, unable to take his eyes off the Qinggang sword in his hand.

Li Younan briefly explained the general forging process and the order of stacking used in the Damascus forging method, adding, “In fact, this is the only sword I’ve forged using the Damascus method.”

Admittedly, powdered steel is not very suitable for the Damascus forging process. Heat treatment is quite troublesome, making this sword’s forging time the longest.

Winslow then asked, “What is the name of this sword?”

“This sword is called the Qinggang sword. During the Three Kingdoms period in China, there was a warlord named Cao Cao, and this was one of his swords.”

Li Younan then recounted the tale of Zhao Yun seizing this sword from Xiahou En, effortlessly killing more than a dozen generals from Cao Wei and chopping down two banners, which left Winslow wide-eyed: “It’s a perfect warlord’s sword, truly a masterpiece!”