368 Legendary Ironsmith, Heartless Iron (1/2)

The level of a forgemaster determined their success rate when they wanted to increase a weapon's echelon.

For example, beginner-level or middle-level forgers could not be known as forgemasters. At most, they could only be considered as ironsmiths, and they could only create normal equipment. They did not have the right to refine masterpieces. Only people who were high-level forgemasters could increase the echelon of a masterpiece!

However, normal weapons would also have a certain effect on the echelon.

If the materials used to create the weapons were not good, the failure rate to increase the echelon would grow higher than 80%. Hence, only masterpieces created by master-level ironsmiths could be used for refinement.

Only high-grade ironsmiths could refine weapons and make them reach the first echelon.

To increase the levels of their forgemasters but also not waste ingredients as well as lose a huge sum of money, sects could only use low-grade masterpieces to accumulate experience.

It was a publicly known process among forgemasters.

Mu Clan had attacked the market with a force as great as a thunderbolt! They did something that all merchants in the game found unbelievable, and they earned a large sum of money from that.

The remaining masterpieces and the ingredients in the clan storage were enough to push dozens of forgemasters into Skilled Level.

Once they managed to make a weapon reach the second echelon, they were considered to be real forgemasters!

Everyone knew that as long as an ironsmith managed to become a forgemaster, no matter what they refined, an additional 5% success rate would be added, thereby increasing their capital to refine weapons and armor. Whoever was lucky enough to reach that stage would be showered with love and attention by Mu Clan, and they would receive the right to refine high-grade masterpieces to the third echelon.

They could also use the resources that were reserved for the third echelon in the clan storage, such as the unakites that cost millions, obsidians, and Vajra Stones, which were all items required to make three-echelon weapons.

All forgemasters were filled with pride once they managed to create a three-echelon masterpiece, since that was the greatest glory for ironsmiths.

*****

Reaching the second echelon might not be something major, but having many ironsmiths challenge refinement in one go and spending nearly one hundred million taels of silver still made Thunderous Battle slightly nervous. Once he gave an order that his most outstanding men could obtain more resources and priority to them, he personally supervised the hot workshop.

Clang… clang!

Clang… clang!

The sounds of metal clashing against metal could be heard nonstop. Thirty or so forgemasters held different weapons and armor while holding red metal hammers to do their work with all their heart and soul.

Thunderous Battle's eyes sparkled. While he walked, he paid attention to everyone's level of progress.

In the beginning, everyone's progress was the same, and no one was ahead of anyone else. However, as time passed, different results gradually showed.

Some people were fast, and some people were cautious.

Refinement was meticulous work, and the forgemasters were working on getting rid of impurities from a masterpiece while leaving it in perfect condition. At the same time, they fused higher-grade metal ores into them to increase the quality of those masterpieces.

But even if someone was fast, it did not mean that their abilities were great!

The five people who completed their refinement first saw their first-echelon weapons or armor shattering.

However, refinement was in itself a very dangerous gamble. The forgemasters needed patience and tolerance. With their newfound experience, those who failed recomposed themselves and brought out their second set of ingredients.

Thunderous Battle nodded in his heart.

Since they were capable of standing out from the large group of ironsmiths, it meant that they had potential and a great level of comprehension. On their second try, all of them became steadier and much calmer.

Even though the sounds of weapons and armor shattering often appeared in the workshop, the atmosphere inside was pretty good.

After half a day, with the success rate of 40%, the forgemasters destroyed more than one hundred and twenty first-echelon low-grade masterpieces in exchange for more than eighty second-echelon low-grade masterpieces.

Thunderous Battle could still accept this result.

However, what caught his attention was that not everyone's results were the same among his people.

Some of them were better than the others.

There were a few people who had slightly inferior results. Their success rate was only around 30%. The overall results had been dragged up by someone who had a slightly higher success rate than the others.