...
Finally, after the craftsmen labored ceaselessly day and night to forge, this piece of steel appeared to finally be free of impurities.
However, its size had shrunk too much after repeated forging, making Li Hongyun seriously doubt whether it could still be crafted into a knife of adequate length.
This was a normal occurrence, as the final product's weight would be at least half that of the raw material, and in ancient Huaxia, the production of fine steel from coarse iron typically required ten times the amount of coarse iron.
Li Hongyun pondered whether, if push came to shove, a dagger would suffice to pass the trial?
It seemed highly unlikely.
After all, there was a dead pig on the sword-testing stand, and one had to cleave through the dead pig in one stroke to pass the trial; clearly, a dagger lacked such length.
In any case, it was worth a try.
Li Hongyun didn't want to wait any longer; he was eager to see what his first forged knife would look like.
