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chapter 5 prototyping

Ling Chen POV:

I was currently in the process of discussing with Master Zhuang how we were going to sell the steel. "I think we should start by making some prototypes of weapons and armor made out of steel," I said. "That way, people can see how strong it is and we can start charging more for it." Master Zhuang nodded his head in agreement. "That sounds like a good idea. I'll get started on that right away."

With that settled, I decided to focus on helping Master Zhuang with the prototyping of new steel weapons. We spent the next few days working on that and finally managed to create a few swords, shields, and pieces of armor that were made entirely out of steel. The results were impressive, to say the least. Not only were they much lighter than their iron counterparts, but they were also significantly stronger.

Now that we have finished testing them I had to discuss with Master Zhuang the details about the contract and us selling the weapons we agreed that I would take 30% of the profits as Zhuang was the one providing all the materials and would be transporting the weapons to Qingshui City which is the closest city to Village We discussed the price and decided to sell goods at a slightly lower price the mortal grade weapons this means on average Ling Chen will make 10 spirit stones per item sold.

After discussing the terms Master Zhuang approached me and said "you are the smartest kid I've ever seen if only you could cultivate I'd take you in as my disciple but if you want to learn how to forge I can teach you" I was surprised by his offer but I didn't hesitate to agree "Thank you, Master Zhuang, I would love to learn from you"

I was elated to hear this offer even though I won't be considered his official disciple it means I will be able to learn the basics of immortal blacksmithing with this knowledge it will be able to greatly fill in a lot of gaps in my knowledge about how to utilize qi to create weapons this will be the catalyst I need to be able to properly start developing new creations that mix my worlds science and technology and this worlds mystical powers.

Master Zhuang POV:

I met this strange kid back over 5 years ago he was completely different than the usual village rascal he was incredibly smart and was always asking me about how I forge things and the process behind it. I was first truly shocked when I saw him working on developing a new alloy metal I asked him what he was doing and this kid only 13 years old replied "I'm trying to create a new metal that is lighter and stronger than steel by infusing them with low amounts of qi" I was completely blown away by his words not only did he have the basics of metallurgy down but he also had a grasp on how to utilize qi.

I kept an eye on him over the years as he continued to grow more and more talented in both science and engineering even making some gadgets that greatly increased my efficiency when forging. When I found out that he had no talent for cultivation I was surprised but not too shocked as it's not that rare for people to be unable to cultivate but I sighed as this meant it will be impossible for him to become an immortal blacksmith as it is necessary to be able to use qi to forge immortal weapons.

A few days ago he came to me and asked if I could help him make a furnace that can withstand the temperatures necessary to melt steel which is some alloy the kid created that I thought was infeasible to use as it required too high a temperature to forge weapons with without using a lot of qi so there was no point in using it as. But when I looked at his blueprints for the furnace I realized that boy is a genius more than a genius even his blueprint was layed out in such a way that was highly organized and standardized it was easy to read and highly precise it left no room for the misunderstanding but that was just for the blueprint the actual design was more so incredible it had was made using techniques that I have used before but the design was highly efficient with what looked like no room for improvements everything had a purpose and every inch of the design was perfect.

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I was able to complete the furnace in only 4 days which is an incredulously short time. The only reason why it was so quick to build was that the blueprint so perfectly explained everything I didn't have to problem solve anything I just had to do what it said and be careful to be precise with my measurements. Once the furnace was built I got Lin Chen to help me create the prototype steel weapon and while working with him I was once again shocked by his genius everything he has done was so standardized and repeatable that he made sure to time everything and measure everything he could so he could find ways to optimize the process. The advantages to this way of forging became obvious to me immediately it was much easier to produce high-quality weapons in large quantities and with less waste. But I also felt somewhat sour about this method of forging it took a lot of the art form out of forging as instead of using experience and instinct when forging you just made sure everything was standardized and you followed the measurements instead of instinct it went against everything I was thought about forging.

When creating the prototypes I saw his unusual method of designing weaponry instead of focusing on making the swords as good as possible he instead focused on making them as efficient as possible with standardized screws across different weapons so they could be easily swapped out and repaired he also had different molds for different parts of the weapons so they could be mass produced quickly and easily it was a level of efficiency I have never seen before.

The prototypes turned out better than I expected not only were they incredibly light and strong but they were also very aesthetically pleasing with sleek lines and intricate designs. After we finished testing them, Ling Chen and I discussed the terms of our contract and how we were going to sell the weapons. We agreed that he would take 30% of the profits as he was providing all the materials and would be transporting the weapons to Qingshui City, which is the closest city to our village. We decided to sell them at a slightly lower price than mortal-grade weapons, which means on average Ling Chen will make 10 spirit stones per item sold.

After discussing the terms of the contract I felt stuck between a rock and a hard place I wanted to take him in as my apprentice as he was the greatest genius I have ever seen but at the same time, I wouldn't be able to teach him true immortal forging as he had no spirit roots although what he is doing could be considered revolutionary compared to true high level forging it would be just seen as Childs play so with an exacerbated sigh I decided to ask him if he wanted me to teach him about immortal forging although he could never be a true immortal forger it might help him develop new ideas for weapons and alloys at the same time he could help me with my work.