Braised Dragon with Soy Sauce

Led by Huo Chengde, Mo Yuming and the others walked back along an abandoned passage for about fifteen minutes and arrived at an abandoned mining area.

The open space was piled high with rubble and slag, and near the wall stood several stone houses, filled with tools and household items. The ground was covered in dust, indicating that no one had been there for a long time.

Huo Chengde lit several phosphorus lamps on the wall next to the stone house, and the abandoned mining area was immediately revealed to everyone.

This is a huge mine shaft that is ten zhang wide and nearly twenty zhang long. Above the mine shaft are black rocks with scattered iron ore clinging to them.

The mine shaft was surrounded by a dozen stone pillars supporting the dome above, and there was nothing on the ground except for a pile of abandoned mine.

If no one knew the area, no one would guess that this was the entrance to a rich mine of black iron; they would only think of it as an abandoned mining area due to resource depletion.

"This is the entrance to the rich black iron ore mine. The vein is under this pile of waste slag. Remove the slag and knock off the stones embedded in the ground to see the ore deposit."

Huo Chengde pointed to the pile of slag and said.

"Is the rich mine down there?"

"Yes, we are actually standing on a rich deposit of black iron ore right now."

According to our ancestors' exploration, the entire Xuantian Ridge is filled with black iron ore, and the quality of the ore improves the further down you go.

"For hundreds of years, our Huo family has only been mining the secondary veins above; the real Xuan Iron vein has yet to be mined!"

"Huo Qing, are you really willing to give away such a huge treasure? Don't your family members have any complaints?"

"My lord, to be honest, I struggled with this decision for a long time and discussed it with my family."

In the end, my family all agreed with my idea.

Instead of guarding a treasure in fear, it's better to share it so that everyone can benefit.

Even when our ancestors were powerful, they were still oppressed by others. Now that our family is even weaker, we are even less able to protect the property left by our ancestors.

Having witnessed the Lord's actions and been deeply impressed by His character, the donation of the iron ore is truly a voluntary act for the Huo family.

"I appreciate Huo Qing's kindness, and on behalf of the people of the Great Xia Empire, I would like to express my gratitude to you once again!"

Mo Yuming grabbed Huo Chengde's hand and said.

The group emerged from the mine and arrived at a hillside in the mining area. Looking at the busy miners opposite them, Mo Yuming said to the weapon refiner who had come with him:

"Fellow mages, given the current ore yield, how much would you need to invest to smelt it all into iron ingots?"

"Reporting to the Lord, based on our cultivation levels, a first-level weapon refiner can refine about 100 catties of iron ore per day, a second-level weapon refiner can refine about 300 catties per day, and a third-level weapon refiner can refine about 700 to 800 catties per day."

The refining speed of black iron ore is halved.

However, most practitioners of profound arts do not know how to refine weapons, so the number of weapon refiners is very limited. Generally, weapon refiners do not do the work of refining ores themselves, but instead delegate it to their subordinates or disciples.

An average disciple can usually refine a maximum of twenty catties of ore.

A level-two weapon refiner following behind Mo Yuming explained to him.

"So, if we want to refine 10,000 jin of ore every day, we'll need at least 500 apprentices?"

"This only includes the people who are engaged in the refining process. There are also other people who need to help transport the filling materials and watch the fire. It is estimated that each furnace requires at least three people. If the refining is done on such a large scale, it would require at least a thousand people."

"Isn't there a larger furnace that can smelt hundreds or even thousands of kilograms of ore at a time?"

"Large cauldrons certainly exist. One large cauldron I've seen can refine 800 catties of ore at a time."

However, ordinary disciples simply cannot control the large cauldron; controlling an 800-pound cauldron requires at least a level three weapon refiner!

"Is it that difficult? Has no one ever tried to refine ore in large quantities like an ordinary craftsman?"

Are the iron blanks used in the weapons and equipment of those major powers also refined using this method?

"That's true. They all have specific iron ingot collection points, and we weapon refiners sell the iron ingots that our disciples refine during their practice to them."

In this way, the disciples can earn extra income each day not only by practicing their skills but also by using the iron blanks they forge.

"That's true. The weapon-refining families that bought my iron ore in the past did the same thing."

Of course, the royal family and larger feudal lords also had their own weapon-forging halls, and each employed its own weapon-forging masters.

Huo Chengde then spoke to Mo Yuming.

"May I observe how your blacksmiths forge iron?"

Mo Yuming turned around and asked the level two weapon refiner.

"Well... it's not that it's impossible, but the main problem is that we weapon refiners need to be very focused when we're refining weapons and can't be disturbed. If we're affected, it's very easy to end up with defective or flawed products."

The refining of iron ore is particularly dangerous, with the risk of a furnace explosion being high. Furthermore, the refining chamber is extremely hot, so…”

Mo Yuming frowned slightly after hearing this, but quickly recovered and pretended not to have heard. He took a few steps forward, stood on a boulder, and looked into the distance.

Have any of you heard of Zhangjiabao?

"Does Your Majesty mean Zhangjiabao, a renowned weapons-making family in Yan Kingdom?"

The weapon refiners following behind Mo Yuming all asked in unison.

"Is there another family called Zhangjiabao?"

"No, it's just that I didn't expect the lord to mention Zhangjiabao!"

"Zhangjiabao is the largest weapon-refining family in the entire Tianxuan Continent, and it stands out in the field of weapon refining."

It is said that the lowest-ranking outer disciples of the Zhang family must be at least level three in weapon crafting, and there are several weapon crafting grandmasters, not to mention weapon crafting masters.

In the Tianxuan Continent, only Zhangjiabao can rival the Refiner's Association!

"The Refiners' Association? Do you refiners even have such an organization?"

"Yes, the Refiners Association is the largest organization in our refining industry. It was founded by a group of ninth-level refining masters hundreds of years ago. Its main purpose is to manage and regulate refiners in the refining industry and to evaluate the level of refiners."

All weapon refiners' level assessments must be passed by the Weapon Refiner Association before they are recognized by the community.

"Do we need the Blacksmiths' Association's approval to establish an arms factory?"

"I haven't heard of that, but the Refiners' Association has the right to require its refiners to refuse to serve or trade with a certain organization."

"Looks like I'll need to cultivate a good relationship with the Refiners' Association if I want to recruit some weapon refiners!"

"If our lord were to visit the Weapon Refiners Association, I believe the association would be very excited!"