Chapter 239: The competition is fierce Part1

Kosa stood next to Tang Yue and eagerly awaited for her to practice and drill the technique she had grasped thoroughly.

But with every move she made, the old man looked worse and worse.

He blinked his eyes as if he couldn't believe whatever was happening in front of his eyes.

Within a span of 30 minutes, they had harvested the entire first floor of the quarry.

30 sacks filled to the brim with shining chunks of Nebulum stood majestically near the entrance.

Tang Yue was just about to head downstairs, when the dwarf held her hand, his own hand trembling and stopped her.

"Child, come with me. I want you to do something at home first."

Leaving the sacks full of ores back at the mine, Kosa dragged Tang Yue and the duo hurried back to the house in the middle of the night.

After they left, Xander materialized inside the cave and rejoined with his clone.

He then ran his hand over an empty node, from which Tang Yue had already extracted the ores.

His finger circled the spot at which she had struck and cracked the ores open.

Heh. A smug mischievous smile appeared on the small child's face.

After reaching the house, Kosa immediately dragged Tang Yue to the small workshop in the backyard.

He didn't say anything to her and directly cranked up the blast furnace. 

A few seconds later, a waft of hot burning fumes swept across Tang Yue's face.

While she was standing wondering what the old man was up to, Kosa was busily scurrying about here and there.

After fanning the furnace, he threw some uneven iron ore chunks inside. 

The old dwarf then took a second to catch his breath and added a few other materials to the molten ore.

Every time he added something, loud crackling sounds echoed and after a few minutes, a separate layer of dirty grimy substances floated on top of the molten ore.

Seeing that this part of the process was almost done, Kosa opened up a vent at the top of the furnace.

The molten ore poured out of the sides and into a trough underneath the furnace.

He then quickly added a few more ore chunks that looked different than the iron ore to this molten mess.

The dwarf hurriedly mixed everything together and sighed in relief, wiping the sweat off of his forehead.

"Come here, child." He called over Tang Yue.

"Huff. Come here and take over for father from this step onward."

Tang Yue nodded and walked over. 

Even though she hadn't done any of this before, it was a fairly simple process and she had already read Yana's detailed and explanatory, albeit scribbled notes.

So Tang Yue fully understood what was going on and was quite confident in her capabilities.

She lifted the bucket containing the molten ore mixture and carefully poured it into a mold at the center of the workshop.

Though the mold looked ordinary, it had a rune formation on it that instantly allowed the molten ore to solidify in the shape of the mold.

Tang Yue then carefully removed the item from within the mold.

It was a medium-sized, dull, and lifeless looking sword.

"Take it to the anvil, child." Kosa reminded her seeing that the girl was still looking at the sword.

Tang Yue nodded and walked over to the anvil on the right side of the workshop.

As far as she had understood, this part right here was the most important step in the blacksmithing process.

This is what differentiated an ordinary steel sword from a strong and powerful 'graded' sword.

And it looks like, this is why the old man had currently dragged her over to the workshop in the middle of the night.

Having been completely surprised by his daughter's sudden talents in mining, the old dwarf wanted to urgently test her abilities in smithing as well.

No matter how talented she was at mining ores, it didn't really matter.

But on the other hand, even a small amount of talent in smithing mattered a lot.

Kosa knew this well. This was why he had brought her here. This was her real test and her real hurdle!

Anyone can mix a bunch of ores together, melt it in a furnace and pour it into a mold.

But a weapon made this way is only good for dealing with common-grade beasts, if at all.

A true weapon requires a cultivator to hammer the elemental essence within the weapon from top to bottom; attune the weapon with the elemental essence on a more molecular basis.

And the elemental essence which worked best with the weapons providing the maximum strength and defense, imbuing the weapon itself with an intangible life, soul, and mind was the earthen essence.

Tang Yue smiled. 

The second she skimmed through Yana's notes, she knew that this day would eventually come.

This was why she began cultivating an earthen core.

Tang Yue calmly placed the half-baked sword onto the anvil's surface.

She then used a hammer from the workshop and rhythmically banged on the metal's surface.

CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.

Loud metallic sounds reverberated from the workshop as Tang Yue continued hammering that piece of metal carefully and patiently.

Even though she had read about the technique and understood the basics from Yana's notes, actually executing it felt much more complex and difficult.

No wonder the original daughter of the chieftain had suffered so much at this step.

Not everyone could do this. 

It required a lot of control and intricate mana management from the start to finish, not to mention a very high affinity with the respective elemental essence.

A strike with too little or too much force could completely ruin the entire hard work.

Tang Yue continued hammering at the sword with beads of sweat dripping down her forehead.

The hot air in the workshop and the earthen essence coalescing around the anvil made her feel strangely comfortable and in sync.

She didn't even notice the night slipping by silently around her. 

Kosa, Charlotte, the housemaid, and of course, the 'little kid' had all gathered in the workshop and were gazing at the young dwarven girl in awe.