The Warrior's Broadsword Andera made was lying quietly in the corner.
Lin Feng stood in front of the forging table. He knew perfectly well that Andera's Broadsword was made out of a Grade-2 ore, Iridescent Sand. That material was both extremely malleable and sturdy.
Iridescent Sand was soft, so it was quite difficult to forge it into such a thick and sharp Warrior's Broadsword. Not every blacksmith could accomplish that.
Andera was issuing Lin Feng a challenge.
Lin Feng just smiled and picked up a piece of black iron not far away from him. After that, he took out a few of the Grade-2 cat demon claws he had gotten from Whitewing, laying them out in a row in front of him.
Andera froze when he saw that.
Black iron was a perfectly normal type of forging material, whereas the cat demon claw was a Grade-2 material. It could increase the sharpness of a weapon, but its capability was limited.
For a second there, Andera could not figure out what Lin Feng was trying to do.
'Is he going to forge a sturdy Warrior's Broadsword, just like mine, to compare with me?'
As Andera was lost in thought, Lin Feng began working.
Firstly, he fired up the forge blower to its strongest extent. As the wind roared inside, the flames grew taller and taller.
Lin Feng knew that he should not use his Holy Flame in this battle against Andera.
A match of skills between blacksmiths was a sacred affair.
As such, Lin Feng did not intend to cheat.
The fire in the forge grew brighter, and Lin Feng began to shovel more coal inside. Soon, the empty forge was filled once more with fuel.
He continued to pump the blower, his mind focused to an extreme point.
About two hours later, the black iron ore inside the forge had all been melted down into a liquid.
All that repetition left Andera feeling slightly drowsy.
Most blacksmiths began with these same steps, firing up the blower to increase the temperature in the forge and then letting the ore gradually melt.
After that, however, next came the step that showed the true mark of a skilled blacksmith.
Lin Feng poured the molten black iron into a sword mold.
There was a glimmer in Andera's eyes, and he frowned slightly, staring at the sword mold with some confusion.
'He's making a rapier with black iron ore?'
That was right. Lin Feng had picked up the mold for a rapier.
As he poured more molten black iron into the mold, Lin Feng began rapidly swinging his forging hammer as well.
The clanging of metal rang throughout the smithy.
Lin Feng's forging skills were almost exactly Andera's equal.
After all, both of them were blacksmiths with several dozen years of experience. It would be difficult to determine a victor between them at this stage.
As Lin Feng continued to temper the metal, the blade in the mold slowly took its shape.
Just then, however, Lin Feng's hammer abruptly slammed down on mold, and the lead mold instantly shattered into pieces, leaving the rapier blade on the forging table.
"That technique…"
Andera pursed his dry cracked lips, his eyes instantly turning serious.
To be honest, Andera had harbored his doubts about Lin Feng's previous technique.
After all, different ore required different tempering methods.
Some ore would have condensed as far as they could go after just slightly over a hundred strikes. Hammering such ore even more would only reduce its inner integrity, so any weapon made with it would not be too high in quality.
That was Andera was certain that Lin Feng's so-called 'Milli-forging' was just his way of expressing his perfect understanding of all ores.
Take this black iron ore, for instance.
This ore was exceptionally hard. Since Lin Feng added his newly-powdered cat demon claws, Andera could already see how solid and sharp the weapon he made was going to be.
However, since there was only so much black iron ore could take, Andera guessed that Lin Feng would stop after slightly over a hundred strikes.
After all, if Lin Feng continued hammering the blade, the characteristics of the black iron base would gradually be worn away. If that continued, forget a Grade-2 weapon, Lin Feng would probably end up with a sword that was not even peak Grade-1.
What Lin Feng did next took Andera by surprise, however.
He struck the blade more than a hundred times, but he just went on instead of stopping.
Embers leaped from the metal, and Andera's mouth just fell open wider.
By now, he had absolutely no idea what Lin Feng was trying to do.
Several hours passed. The sun rose to its zenith and then gradually began to fall.
Finally, Lin Feng stopped his tempering.
He sunk the completed blade into cold water to wash off the debris, and then he carefully added a hilt decorated with beast skin to it. Finally, Lin Feng nodded.
The weapon that lay before Lin Feng and Andera now was a long, thin, softsword.
That was right, a softsword!
"You forged black iron ore… into a softsword?"
Andera's mouth twitched. He took the softsword from Lin Feng and looked at it in disbelief.
The powdered cat demon claw made the weapon extremely sharp, so there was a gleam on the softsword's blade that made its razor-edge visible to the naked eye.
Andera twisted the tip of the blade incredulously.
Once he exerted a tiny pressure, though, he actually saw the entire blade lean toward the direction he was pulling it.
"How did you make black iron… so soft and flexible?
"That makes no sense!"
Lin Feng just shook his head and picked up the Warrior's Broadsword Andera had left at the wall.
"Master Andera, the Warrior's Broadsword you made is equally unbelievable to a lower-grade blacksmith.
"It's just as how you made Iridescent Sand so hard. Black iron ore may be a common metal, but if I keep tempering it with my Milli-forging, I can also change its very core traits.
"There is no such thing as an unchangeable trait or quality in this world. I have always believed just that."
As soon as he spoke, he suddenly swung the Warrior's Broadsword at Andera.
Instinctively, Andera tried to block his attack with the softsword he was holding.
What unfolded next left Andera in even more open-mouthed shock.
The tip of Lin Feng's softsword in his hand actually pierced right through the Warrior's Broadsword he had made as though it was nothing.
At the same time, Andera did not feel any resistance at all behind the sword he was holding.