Chapter 555 Blacksmithing Workshop
"War Mother!" It was at this moment that Jolan, the great elder of Winter's Hammer, rushed out of the tent and exclaimed. He was just making final preparations and arrangements before moving in the tent when he suddenly felt two strong magical collisions coming from the sky above the camp.
That was Yarna's flame magic power and an extremely cold magic power. The collision was violent but short-lived. It was short enough for him to react, and the magic power fluctuations had subsided.
Yes, the battle did not even last more than three breaths from the beginning to the end.
Because in fact, what Sunaifa did was to raise his hand to draw the bow twice and shoot three ice-perfect arrows.
How much time will this take?
This process was so fast that the remaining flames in the air were not dissipated, and the battle was already settled.
This seems too exaggerated.
After all, Yarna and Sunaifa are both fourth-level mages. According to common sense, even if Sunaifa is stronger, it should not be such a "one-sided" crushing.
Such a result is more like a dimension reduction attack by a fourth-ring mage against a three-ring mage.
But this is Sunaifa's method.
As early as more than a year ago, she was able to defeat the fifth-ring necromancer with the power of her Zhenbing bloodline and sophisticated extraordinary equipment.
Now that so much time has passed, she has not only consolidated her strength at the peak of the fourth ring, but during this period she even studied the "Green Wood Sutra of Immortality", and her strength has already been further improved.
Wanting to kill a Yarna whose bloodline strength is far weaker than his own, it is not said to be effortless, but it is indeed a piece of cake.
This caused Yang Lan to notice the abnormal fluctuations and rush out of the tent. What he saw was a scene that left him stunned:
Ya Erna's body was wrapped in a layer of crystal ice, like a lifeless ice sculpture, and together with her "Winter Hammer" that symbolized the power of the Winter Hammer, it fell from the air.
Jolan's heart felt like it was being squeezed by a cold hand. He didn't even have time to react, and his body acted before his consciousness.
A mage's hand appeared, firmly holding the fallen ice sculpture and "Winter's Hammer", and placing them gently on the ground.
He regained consciousness immediately, and stood stiffly on the spot, his eyes widened, staring at the tall figure suspended in mid-air:
He was carrying an ice bow, and his long silver hair was fluttering in the night wind. An invisible sense of oppression made it difficult for him to even breathe.
"Su...Naifa..." Qiaolan squeezed out these three words through his teeth.
"Yarna is gone, and you, do you want to inherit her legacy, or surrender to Zhen Bing?" Sunaifa slowly lowered some heights, looked at the other party condescendingly, his tone was calm but with unquestionable majesty.
Jolan's eyes fell on the ice sculpture that Ya Erna had transformed into, and his heart skipped a beat.
Beneath the shallow layer of ice, Yarna’s final expression was perfectly frozen.
His brows are tight, his mouth is slightly open, and his eyes are full of fear and regret, as if he is still annoyed by his original choice and afraid of his upcoming death.
This look was completely different from the proud and powerful war mother she usually was, but it made Qiao Lan feel a biting chill.
Without the slightest hesitation, Jolan suddenly knelt down on one knee and lowered his head heavily: "War Mother Sunaifa, I was a little emotional just now and my voice was a little loud, please forgive me."
Jolan quickly adjusted his attitude and first carefully moved the ice sculpture that Ya Erna had transformed to the side.
Then, Jolan held the giant hammer sealed in perfect ice, the "Hammer of Winter", in both hands and presented it to Sunaifa.
There is still a layer of perfect ice condensed on "Winter's Hammer", which makes Qiaolan have to bear the cold and pain of perfect ice.
The cold air rushed wildly along the hammer body into his palm, turning his arms blue and blue in an instant.
His skin felt like sharp pain, as if countless tiny ice needles were piercing his muscles.
But Qiaolan seemed unaware.
He gritted his teeth and allowed the pain of ice to sweep through his body. His arms trembled slightly due to the cold, but he still held the giant hammer steadily, raised it high, and presented it to Sunaifa:
"This is the family treasure of Winter's Hammer and a symbol of power. Today it is dedicated to War Mother Sunaifa. I hope that Winter's Hammer can be subordinated to the Perfect Ice Demon and contribute to the unification of the North."
Everyone can see that as Zhen Bing's strength continues to grow, unifying the northern border must be a given.
Sunaifa looked at him quietly, his eyes fell on the giant hammer that was frozen in ice, and then glanced at Qiaolan's blue and cold arm, but he did not take the hammer immediately, nor did he speak.
The atmosphere in the air instantly became stagnant.
Jolan maintained the posture of lifting the hammer, and the cold sweat on his forehead was quickly frozen into tiny ice crystals by the cold air.
The pain in my arm became more and more severe, and I even began to lose consciousness.
He did not dare to raise his head and could only stare at the ground, waiting for Sunaifa's "judgment".
This stalemate lasted for about thirty seconds, but it seemed as long as a century.
Just when Joran thought his arm was about to freeze off, Sunaifa suddenly let out a chuckle, but there was a hint of recognition in his voice: "It's better than Arna knows the current affairs."
What really touched Sunaifa was that Joran had just learned that Arna was no longer alive, but still maintained awe of her body.
She stretched out her hand, and the ultimate ice mana condensed in her palm, gently covering the ice layer of the giant hammer.
The hard ice, under the touch of her magic power, instantly turned into fine ice mist and dissipated in the air, revealing the original appearance of the Winter Hammer.
The hammer body made of fire copper is engraved with ancient flame runes. Although it has lost the nourishment of magic power, it still exudes a faint burning aura.
ifier ∣ ∣
ifier ∣ ∣ ifier ∣ ∣ ifier ifier ∣ ifier ifier ifier ∣
Sunaifa did not say the consequences, but no one should make this choice.
When Qiaolan heard this, he stood up quickly as if he had been granted amnesty, showing great respect.
“Inform your people to stop migrating and stay in the camp. They are not allowed to leave. Zhen Bing’s army will arrive soon, waiting for us to take over the camp.” Sunaifa nodded.
“Yes!” Qiaolan agreed quickly.
The army that set off from Phoenix finally arrived at Winter's Hammer on the afternoon of the third day after Sunaifa defeated Yarna.
The team's march was not slow, but the road conditions in the ice field were complicated, they needed to carry supplies, and the strength of the team was uneven, so they were delayed for a day.
Although this "war" has been ended by Sunaifa alone, the arrival of the army is by no means in vain.
In the conquest between tribes, victory is only the beginning. The real test is how to digest the fruits of victory:
Incorporating the opponent's resources, technology, and manpower into one's own system can victory truly be transformed into strength.
"War Mother." Aisha was riding a snow wolf at the front of the team. When she saw Sunaifa, she immediately got off the snow wolf and stepped forward quickly. "Jolan has stabilized the people of Winter's Hammer. Let's count the supplies first." Sunaifa nodded and stepped aside to make way to the station.
At this time, the Winter's Hammer camp no longer had the panic of the previous two days.
Although the tribesmen looked sad, they all maintained restraint under Qiao Lan's restraint.
Even children are held by their parents and do not dare to cry at will.
This "superficial cooperation" is enough to allow the inventory work to proceed smoothly.
With this level of cooperation and Aisha’s already familiar command, the entire inventory work was quickly over.
The content of the inventory is mainly divided into three parts. One part is the inventory of food and living supplies, and the other part is the registration of the population and craftsmen.
The last part is to take stock of Winter's Hammer's workshops, ore, and equipment warehouses.
This is the highlight.
Winter's Hammer, as the only tribe in the north that masters the power of fire, is famous for its forging.
The most abundant supplies among the tribes are various extraordinary ores and extraordinary materials, as well as the extraordinary equipment they have created with the characteristics of the North.
Aisha quickly counted the results and summarized all the harvests, made a clearly visible table with pictures and text, and presented it to Sunaifa.
But Sunaifa just glanced at it casually and handed it back to Aisha.
Because these are nothing in her eyes.
In the final analysis, they are just some external things.
What she really values is the complete forging heritage and system that the Winter's Hammer, as a forging tribe, has mastered, as well as the perfect forging facilities that they have managed for dozens of generations.
Aisha also knew this very well and quickly got to the point: "War Mother, if you want to incorporate the forging system of Winter's Hammer into your own system, this station cannot be abandoned."
"You follow me." She led Sunaifa to the "forging workshop" located in the center of the Winter's Hammer station, which is also their foundation.
The entire area is composed of seven connected stone workshops, with passages connecting the workshops.
· There is a tall piece of bacon standing on the roof. Although it is not lit at this moment, you can see the black fire marks remaining on the inner wall of the bacon. It is obviously that it has been in use all year round.
"The reason why we chose this place as our base is not only because there are hunting grounds and water sources nearby, but more importantly, it is very close to the "Fireheart Volcano" which is thirty miles away." Qiaolan was already waiting in the forging workshop and immediately came up to him, explaining respectfully.
"It took our ancestors hundreds of years to dig out the ground channel from the foot of the volcano, introduce the underground fire under the camp, and then distribute it to these seven workshops. This is the hard work of dozens of generations of our family." Speaking of this, Qiaolan couldn't help but feel a hint of pride on his face.
Sunaifa also nodded slightly, recognizing the ability of Winter's Hammer.
The "Winter's Hammer" from the melting plain is just an opportunity in the final analysis. What can make the Winter's Hammer rise again with the power of fire depends on the wisdom and hard work of their people.
In an extremely cold place like the North, as an Iceborn, borrowing the power of fire is quite commendable in itself.
Led by Qiao Lan, the two came to a stone workshop.
Jolan pushed open the heavy stone door.
The interior of the workshop is wider than expected, with a huge circular furnace standing in the center, made of blue-black rocks.
There was a half-meter-wide passage at the bottom of the furnace. Sunaifa took a closer look and saw orange-red flames rushing upwards below, and a stream of hot air rushed towards his face.
"This is the earth furnace," Jolan explained: "It is the core of every workshop. Every time an earth furnace is built, we at Winter's Hammer can add a new workshop."
"Over the years, we have only built a total of seven workshops, and this is the first workshop of our clan."
Around the earth furnace, there are more than twenty independent stone houses.
Each room has a half-meter-wide stone door, with a thick and tough animal skin curtain hung on the door, with fire-resistant asbestos grass sewn around the curtain;
The smoke exhaust pipe on the roof is not a simple pottery pipe, but a composite pipe made of clay mixed with volcanic ash. The pipe body is engraved with spiral guide patterns to allow the smoke to drift away in the direction of the wind and avoid choking the craftsmen.
“The reason why our ancestors chose this location is not only because it is close to the underground fire of Yanxin Volcano, but also because the rock material here is special and can withstand high temperatures.” Qiao Lan explained in time.
Sunaifa nodded and walked towards the stone house on the side.
Jolan pushed open the stone door diligently.
The interior of the house is more regular than expected:
The stone furnace is embedded in the ground, the edge of the furnace mouth is polished smooth, and three layers of runes are carved on the furnace wall, which can gather the temperature of the earth fire;
The forging table next to the furnace is made of a whole piece of blue steel stone, and a thin layer of copper is spread on the table to prevent the metal from sticking to the stone surface;
There is a wooden frame standing next to the forging table.
It is not a wooden frame made of traditional wood, but made of precious magic plant vines and animal bones.
There are forging hammers of different sizes hanging on the rack, including "heavy hammers" with hammer heads covered with hot copper, "hammers" with sharp tips, and "thin hammers" used for trimming textures. The handles of the hammers are all wrapped with non-slip animal skins, giving them a firm grip.
Sunaifa's eyes swept across the stone house, and finally landed on the furnace in the center of the stone house that was exactly the same as the one outside, but was much smaller.
Jolan squatted down and lifted up the animal skin next to the furnace, revealing a channel underneath. Three thin copper bars were embedded in it. One end of the copper bars was connected to the bottom of the furnace, and the other end extended to the large underground furnace outside the house.
"This is the fire control switch. Press the copper rod down to block part of the fire, and the fire will be weak; lift it up, and the fire will be strong. Skilled craftsmen can judge whether the fire is sufficient by relying on the temperature of the copper rod."
As he spoke, he gently pulled up the copper rod. As expected, the flames in the furnace began to light up and darken, with orange-red tongues of flame licking the furnace wall. The temperature stabilized within a range suitable for forging.
There is also a quenching tank in the corner of the hut, which is filled with water mixed with ice steel stone powder.
After seeing the independent forging room, Jolan led Sunaifa and Aisha to the east side of the workshop area.
There are three significantly larger rooms there.
"These three are auxiliary workshops, mainly responsible for doing some preliminary processing and chores for the craftsmen, and cooperating with them in forging." Qiaolan pushed open the stone door of the westmost room, and a wave of heat with the smell of sulfur hit his face.
ifies in the processing of magic impurities in raw ores..：：：
Extraordinary ores also have impurities, and these impurities need to be processed. The refining workshop is specialized in doing this.
And although these impurities cannot be used to forge extraordinary equipment, they can also have some uses, such as being used as fuel or other things, and need to be collected.
The other two auxiliary workshops are: material workshop and repair workshop.
The material workshop is like a classification and pre-processing room for extraordinary materials, adjacent to the refining workshop.
There are many piles of processed fire copper sheets, ice steel ingots, crystal jars packed by size, and various pre-processed earth vein biological materials.::::
As the name suggests, the repair workshop is used to repair equipment. There are several repair stations in the workshop, each with a set of repair tools, and is also equipped with a constant-temperature furnace.
"We may not be as good as the forging workshops of outside city-states, but after dozens of generations, we have still figured out a lot of things, not all of which are native methods." There was a hint of pride in Yanglan's tone.
Aisha quickly recorded with a pen and paper, then walked to Sunaifa and whispered: "War Mother, people and materials can be taken away, but this workshop cannot be taken away."
"Without this workshop, even if we bring all the craftsmen of Winter's Hammer back to Phoenix, it will be useless."