Volume 1: Spring in Wulong Town Chapter 169 Practice!
Lu Huang looked at Tang Zheng and did not answer.
But Tang Zheng didn't need an answer - of course it's now, only now!
His heart suddenly tightened.
You have to know that this is an opportunity . If you tell others about it, I'm afraid even the foundry lecturers from the top academies of the major families will be scrambling to get a head start!
Tang Zheng immediately stopped being pretentious and put away the casual smile on his face: "Master, please give me some advice."
Lu Huang smiled and nodded, and continued speaking one sentence at a time...
"You should be familiar with the stone crushing method. It is a process of removing mineral impurities, separating the effective raw materials, and then purifying them."
"The entire crushing process is divided into four steps: selection, grinding, purification, and crushing!"
"Selection is the process of using star power to sense the type and internal structure of the ore, and figure out which part of the ore you want to extract in the end."
“Grinding is a rough process that removes the outer part of the ore with the most impurities, leaving only the part where the essence needs to be extracted.”
“Purification is a finishing process that further removes all useless impurities from the mineral, leaving only the essence.”
"Crushing is the final step, separating the mineral essence and transforming it into the material you ultimately need."
"Among these four steps, the first step, selection, is very important. It determines your final goal and details of the whole crushing process. Many people ignore this point and think that only the last three steps require higher skills and deserve more attention. This is not the case... Of course, selection is a step that requires a lot of experience and cannot be achieved overnight."
"Now, watch me demonstrate the whole crushing process for you."
Lu Huang briefly explained to Tang Zheng the process of crushing the stone, and randomly picked up a palm-sized piece of gravel from the ground.
"Let's start the selection first. I will use the star power to continuously explore the inside of this stone, to feel its density, structure, and its resonance characteristics with the star power..." Lu Huang said as he used the star power to extend it to the ordinary stone in his hand.
I saw the star power slowly sinking into the stone, and very faint star power lines gradually lit up on the stone, just like the capillaries in the human body, small and complex, scattered all over the surface of the stone.
The inside of the raw material was uneven, and even when Lu Huang extended his star power into the raw material, he was very careful...
"Affinity for the moon, amorphous porous structure, many impurities, high refractoriness... I want to crush out the moon elemental iron in this stone." After Lu Huang used his star power to select the stone, he came to the conclusion that it could be crushed.
Then he clenched his fist!
I saw that the stone was held in his hand, and with a slight twist of his five fingers, debris fell from the stone.
Soon, the stone became much smaller.
The originally irregular shape turned into a smooth, small goose egg shape!
"The grinding process requires three key points: fast, accurate, and ruthless. The movements must be fast, the impurities must be removed accurately, and the grinding must be ruthless. After Lu Huang demonstrated the grinding, he also explained the key points of grinding to Tang Zheng."
"The next step... is purification. The purification must be precise and precise, condensed and not dispersed." Then, Lu Huang's star power continued to extend out, and the star power veins on the cobblestone lit up again.
However, this time the light was much brighter than before, and the veins were thicker and denser, having evolved from capillaries to the level of the aorta.
The star power slowly flowed over the stone, and the pebble seemed to swell up...
Lu Huang opened his mouth and blew gently, and a puff of stone powder smoke floated up from his hand, leaving only the veins that were still flickering with the faint light of star power.
Lu Huang moved his fingers slightly, and those veins slowly merged, and the star power slowly faded away.
Then, a small piece of silver-black metallic luster shimmered slightly was left in his hand.
"The last step is to crush it. Under high pressure, good materials will emerge!" Then, more and more star power surged out of Lu Huang's hands, gradually completely enveloping the entire stone that was left with only a small piece.
The star power that enveloped the stone became more and more dazzling, as if it was going to completely crush the tiny piece into the palm of the hand.
Finally, Lu Huang withdrew his star power.
What remained in his hand was only an iron particle as big as a grain of rice, flashing with a sharp cold light!
"Tayin Yuan Iron, it's done." Lu Huang showed the iron pellet to Tang Zheng and continued, "This is indeed the polar region of the main star. Most of the stone mines around here have been contaminated by the star power for many years, and their properties have changed. Even the stones that could only purify ordinary cold iron can be pressed into Taiyin Yuan Iron. This small pellet is worth half a purple gold coin."
"..." Tang Zheng looked at the small iron pellet in Lu Huang's hand, feeling a little jealous.
Such a small piece of Taiyin Yuantie is worth half a coin of Zijin Tongbao, it is truly "turning stone into gold"!
If I could master the "Stone Pressing Method", I would be able to make a fortune every day...
"Fuck, why are you thinking about making money again? Cut off your hands!" Tang Zheng said with contempt to himself.
"Okay, you can try to crush it yourself." Lu Huang signaled Tang Zheng that he could start trying.
Tang Zheng picked up the stone in his hand and silently went over Master Lu Huang's explanation and demonstration in his mind.
He took a deep breath and let the star power flow through his fingers, trying to extend it into the ordinary stone.
It seemed so easy when watching Master Lu Huang demonstrate it, but when Tang Zheng actually tried it himself, he found that even just the selection step was extremely difficult.
This ordinary stone has absolutely no star power resonance at all!
As soon as Tang Zheng's star power extended to the surface of the stone, it immediately encountered tremendous resistance and could not advance at all.
"No wonder the saying goes, it's harder to get a stone to nod than to climb to the sky." When Tang Zheng encountered obstacles in his first attempt, he just laughed at himself and was not discouraged at all.
He recalled the flow of star power when Master Lu Huang used it to select it. He had an idea and no longer used brute force to forcibly extend the star power inside. Instead, he turned the star power into a trickle.
"Water has no fixed shape. Turn the star power into flowing water. Try slowly and soak it in slowly..." Tang Zheng changed the way to extend the star power and finally achieved good results.
Although it is not comparable to the speed of Master Lu Huang's selection, it is a huge improvement compared to before.
Slowly, under Tang Zheng's patient infiltration of star power, his star power gradually penetrated into the stone.
"It's still Taiyin-friendly. Hmm, it seems to be a crystalline structure, not metal..." With the entry of star power, sensing the route and speed of the star power flow, the structure inside the stone and the distribution of impurities, a prototype gradually formed in Tang Zheng's mind.
Finally, just as Master Lu Huang demonstrated, a tiny star power vein lit up on the surface of the stone in Tang Zheng's hand, flashing with faint star power light.
"Huh..." Tang Zheng's forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat, but he didn't bother to wipe it off. He was already thinking about the next step of grinding the ore in his mind.
…
According to Master Lu Huang 's demonstration, the two steps of grinding and purification did not cause much hindrance to Tang Zheng due to his powerful control over star power.
The only problem is that Tang Zheng is now like a layman who is peeling fruit for the first time and his movements are very unskilled.
Therefore, in the process of grinding and purification, many originally useful minerals are discarded.
Looking at the fingernail-sized pieces of essence stone left in his hand, Tang Zheng smiled and began the last and most difficult step - crushing.
In Tang Zheng's understanding, compression means using star power to create a high-pressure environment, changing the internal structure of the material, and ultimately changing the properties of the material.
"Tsk, this is the process of turning carbon into diamond!" Tang Zheng recalled the key points of crushing and couldn't help but complain.
Just like Lu Huang, a large amount of star power surged out of his hand, completely enveloping the essence of the stone in his palm.
Tang Zheng used his star power, constantly contracting the star power in his palm...
Shrink, shrink, and shrink again!
Tang Zheng clenched his teeth and focused all his attention on the fingernail-sized spot in the palm of his hand.
Beads of sweat the size of beans flowed down his face.
However, he clearly felt that the pressure was still not enough. With just a finishing touch, he could transform the essence of the stone in his palm into a high-quality crystal material with a tighter structure and more orderly arrangement.
pity……
Tang Zheng used all his strength, but still failed to complete it.
"Strength is a fatal flaw!" Tang Zheng once again felt that the quality and total amount of star power were not enough, and even the casting was greatly affected.
what to do?
Give up and pick up another stone that is easier to crush?
Tang Zheng felt a little confused...
Giving up halfway is definitely not Tang Zheng's style. He gritted his teeth and suddenly an idea flashed in his head.
"The magnitude of pressure is related to the area under force and the pressure itself. When the pressure is constant, the smaller the area under force, the more significant the effect of pressure will be..." This introductory physics knowledge flashed through Tang Zheng's mind.
Tang Zheng decisively gathered the star power, gathered it like a needle, and began to press it towards the essence of the stone in his hand from all directions at the same time.
It really works!
Feeling that the stone essence that had been motionless was finally compressed a little bit in volume, Tang Zheng felt relieved. He then patiently compressed the volume of the stone essence little by little. He could clearly feel that the nature and texture of the stone essence were changing.
"Ha, it's done!" After an unknown amount of time, Tang Zheng's heart moved and he retracted his star power. A small transparent crystal lay in the palm of Tang Zheng's hand, sparkling.
"Perfect cut, eight hearts and eight arrows, flawless under the mirror..." Tang Zheng said intoxicatedly as he looked at the crystal in his hand that was as fine as a grain of sand.
Holding the sand-like crystal in his hand, Tang Zheng handed it to Lu Huang: "Shall I start processing the Fu Bi broken stone now?"
"..." Lu Huang glanced at the crystal in his hand, then looked at Tang Zheng, "I barely know the basic method of crushing..."
"Huh?" Tang Zheng was stunned. He thought he was a genius who would learn it quickly. However, before he had the chance to feel proud, he was poured a bucket of cold water on him - after all this time he could only be considered to have "barely understood".
"Well, you have taken the first step in the Crushing Method, very good." Lu Huang threw a few more broken stones over, "You have a good foundation, keep practicing!"
