Legendary Armament Canon Chapter 2

Within Zhou Shu’s mind, a piece of crucial information materialized—the blueprint for forging a standard long saber!

To be precise, it was the meticulously detailed formula for crafting a *sharp* standard long saber!

The precise techniques for quenching and forging…

Every single step was laid out with exacting detail, even specifying the exact angles for each hammer strike.

Zhou Shu felt an immediate surge of profound experience, an overwhelming urge to grab a hammer and forge a sharp standard long saber right then and there!

As Zhou Shu blinked, the Legendary Armament Canon dissolved before his eyes.

With a mere flicker of thought, it reappeared right in front of him.

He attempted to browse through the Legendary Armament Canon, but frustratingly, only the page detailing the sharp standard long saber remained visible. It seemed inaccessible, locked away because he had not yet met the necessary qualifications to view its other contents.

Adopting a cautious approach, Zhou Shu decided to meticulously study the sharp standard long saber’s details.

The standard long saber was designated as the official weapon for the three armies of Great Xia. It was the most fundamental armament, possessing a decent level of sharpness and durability, as expected of a standard-issue weapon for regular soldiers.

Zhou Shu’s brows knitted as he pondered. His predecessor had been a simple, earnest young man, wholly dedicated to his craft and entirely unacquainted with any ranked weaponry. Consequently, Zhou Shu found himself equally in the dark.

Deciding against prolonged overthinking, Zhou Shu resolved to simply roll up his sleeves and get to work.

The forging process for the sharp standard long saber was now so deeply imprinted in his mind that it felt almost like an ingrained instinct.

Without a second thought, Zhou Shu tossed an iron ingot into the fiery maw of the furnace.

This particular iron ingot was a material supplied by the Forging Division. A steady supply was regularly delivered to the residences of Forging Apprentices, ensuring an unlimited resource.

The Forging Masters were known for their considerable generosity in this aspect, especially since Forging Apprentices were expressly forbidden from removing any forged weapons from their division’s premises.

The creation of sharp standard long sabers utilized the exact same base materials as their standard counterparts. The key divergence lay in the forging process, which demanded an unparalleled level of exactitude.

Precise control over the flames, perfect timing, the exact force of each strike, and the specific angles of impact all required stringent regulation.

Had these critical details not been indelibly etched into Zhou Shu’s consciousness, he might have struggled to grasp them even with direct personal instruction.

A profound sensation, akin to flesh and blood becoming one, coursed through Zhou Shu as he firmly gripped the hammer. As he swung it with practiced dexterity, the tool felt like a natural extension of his own body.

Though the hour was late, the persistent clang of hammer against metal echoed throughout the surroundings, conveniently ensuring Zhou Shu wouldn’t disturb anyone’s slumber.

Zhou Shu entered a peculiar state of intense focus as the hammer danced rhythmically in his grasp. With every precise blow, he could distinctly sense the subtle transformations occurring within the iron ingot.

It was as if he could perceive the impurities being relentlessly hammered out, the iron undergoing a remarkable metamorphosis, with every single molecule appearing to radiate a faint luminescence.

Maintaining his focus, Zhou Shu continued to hammer with the established pattern. The hammer traced elegant arcs through the air before descending upon the iron ingot from various deliberate angles. After a calculated period, he plunged the nascent long saber into a basin filled with frigid well water, eliciting a cloud of white steam.

Zhou Shu was utterly spent, feeling as if he could simply cease to exist. His arm throbbed with an intense ache, threatening to detach, and every fiber of his being cried out in exhaustion.

Yet, an expression of pure elation spread across his face as he eagerly drew the newly forged long saber from the water.

Pristine water droplets cascaded down the length of the long saber, and in a mere instant, the blade was spotless, gleaming brilliantly. It seemed to emanate a life of its own, catching the moonlight with an endless circulation of light.

“A truly magnificent saber!” Zhou Shu exclaimed, his voice booming with admiration.

Truthfully, this sharp standard long saber bore a striking resemblance to the standard long sabers he had previously crafted. The sole discernible difference was a subtle increase in its inherent brightness.

It’s quite possible that even Zhou Shu himself would find it difficult to distinguish this particular saber from a batch of ordinary standard long sabers.

Nevertheless, such minor details held no consequence. This creation was undeniably his own. Could it be considered excessive to shower it with such praise?

Zhou Shu felt the weight of the sharp standard long saber in his palm. His gaze drifted to a standard long saber he had forged earlier, and a palpable eagerness arose to test his new creation against it.

However, after a prolonged moment of internal debate, he ultimately refrained from making a strike.

Considering the immense time and painstaking effort invested in bringing the sharp standard long saber into existence, the mere thought of potentially damaging it brought a pang of sorrow so intense it verged on despair.

Zhou Shu carefully secured the sharp standard long saber, locked the courtyard gate, and proceeded towards the workshop a few moments later.

The night echoed with resounding impacts. Nearly every apprentice was diligently extending their working hours to fulfill their assigned tasks, as the physical reprisals for failure were simply unbearable.

Observing the apprentice residences, which were akin to flimsy blocks of tofu, Zhou Shu’s longing to escape his current predicament intensified dramatically.

He felt an overwhelming certainty that he would ultimately perish from sheer exhaustion within this slum-like apprentice workshop if he didn't find a way out!

His grip tightened on the standard-issue long saber, a tool that held the key to potentially altering his circumstances!

***

Within the apprentice workshop's confines lay an expansive area designated for weapon testing.

The armaments meticulously crafted by the Forging Apprentices were subjected to a rigorous series of tests before their eventual deployment with the military. These crucial trials convened in this dedicated testing ground.

Despite the advanced hour, a number of Forging Apprentices were still actively engaged in experimenting with the weapons they had recently forged.

They possessed no alternative; the Forging Division maintained exceptionally stringent quality controls, and any apprentice whose forged weapon proved inadequate faced inevitable whipping.

A palpable drabness permeated the expressions of the Forging Apprentices, and they registered no discernible reaction upon noticing Zhou Shu's presence.

Zhou Shu, unfazed by their apathy, proceeded towards a wooden effigy shaped like a human, retrieved two sets of armor from a nearby basket, and carefully positioned them onto the target.

A fundamental requirement for standard long sabers was their capacity to penetrate armor. In simpler terms, a saber was deemed qualified only if it could successfully cleave through an entire set of armor.

The greater the number of armor layers a weapon could breach, the sharper the saber was considered to be.

According to the memories inherited from Zhou Shu's predecessor, sabers capable of piercing through two layers of armor were already considered the pinnacle of standard weaponry.

His predecessor, in all his experience, had never once witnessed a standard long saber possessing the ability to slice through three layers of armor.

Zhou Shu mused on this as he brought the saber down with fierce, two-handed force upon the wooden stake after gripping the handle tightly.

A dull thud resounded, followed by a momentary sensation of his hands going soft after encountering a faint resistance. He stumbled forward, narrowly avoiding a painful strain to his waist.

His action drew the attention of the surrounding Forging Apprentices, who were in the midst of testing their own creations, causing them to turn their heads and observe.

“Apologies, my mistake,” Zhou Shu offered a contrite apology to everyone present.

Before his words fully registered, another muffled sound echoed. As if in slow motion, the wooden stake behind him was cleanly severed in two.

A perfectly smooth gash became visible, with the upper section tilting downwards, and the two layers of armor affixed to the stake simultaneously tumbled to the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust.

The apprentices in the immediate vicinity widened their eyes, their faces a mask of utter disbelief.

“Breached two layers of armor?” one of them gasped.

“Are you blind? He cut through the wooden stake itself. How many layers could that possibly be?”

“Is it even possible for a standard long saber to cut a wooden stake?”

“Could this possibly be a ranked long saber?”

“Quickly, go inform Superintendent Xiao!”

“…”

A fervent discussion erupted among everyone on the testing ground, with several individuals even bolting from the scene in haste.

Meanwhile, the cause of this commotion, Zhou Shu, remained rooted to the spot, stunned, his gaze fixed upon the bisected wooden stake.