96: Chapter 96 Yellow Clay Mold

They were called boxing gloves, but they were actually completely different from what boxers wear in the real world.

Real-world boxing gloves are padded gloves that, once worn, protect the boxer's wrists and finger joints while also providing cushioning to protect the opponent.

In a boxing ring, boxing gloves are essential equipment, but in actual combat, such gloves are rather unsuitable.

In fact, among the glove Forging techniques Hu Gualing had learned, few involved wrapping the entire hand. Instead, the basic structures were quite simple, consisting of five finger rings joined together. When worn, only the knuckles were covered. Depending on the specific design, they were further categorized as brass knuckles, Iron Lotuses, Iron Four-Fingers, Hand Braces, and so on.

One special type was called "fist blades," which had short daggers attached to the front of the finger rings. They could still be used with fist techniques, but a single punch would immediately leave several bloody holes in someone, so they were also called "Punching Spikes."

This reminded Hu Gualing of a TV show he had watched as a child, which featured a character named Iron Claw Wolf who could extend three claws from between his fingers to fight. It was incredibly sharp and also quite cool.

So, his idea was to forge a pair of claw-like fist blades for himself.

However, as soon as he proposed the idea, Wang Dachui asked a question.

"What fist technique do you use?"

Hu Gualing didn't understand why Wang Dachui would ask that, but he still answered honestly, "Farmers Three Punches."

"Miao Cuihua's Farmers Three Punches... then I don't recommend you forge fist blades," Wang Dachui said after a moment of contemplation.

"Why?" Hu Gualing was puzzled.

"fist blades are powerful, but they are also difficult to use. Without a matching fist or claw technique, you won't be able to unleash their full power at all."

"Furthermore, Farmers Three Punches follows a fierce and vigorous path. If you wear fist blades, you won't be able to bring out the heavy and profound nature of the fist's momentum."

"So I suggest you forge a pair of brass knuckles instead."

After a brief explanation, Wang Dachui gave his suggestion.

Seeing Wang Dachui, who was clearly just a blacksmith, analyze martial arts so seriously made Hu Gualing feel a bit unaccustomed. However, on second thought, the NPCs in this Novice Village couldn't be treated like ordinary people; they all had a few tricks up their sleeves. Just like when he first entered the game and tried to mug the frail-looking Old Village Chief, only to be ruthlessly taught a lesson by the old man...

With that in mind, Wang Dachui's insights regarding martial arts and weapons were likely genuine.

Once Hu Gualing understood, he followed Wang Dachui's advice and prepared to forge a pair of simple brass knuckles.

brass knuckles have a simple design, consisting only of five finger rings. They are held in the hand when used, protecting the knuckles to a certain extent without hindering hand movements. They are very compact and convenient, and Forging them doesn't require too many Materials.

However, there was one point: because brass knuckles are so delicate, the difficulty of Forging them is quite high, so it is best to use the Casting Method.

Recalling the knowledge Wang Dachui had taught him, Hu Gualing took out the steel bar he had saved earlier and placed it into the furnace.

While waiting for it to heat up, he went to a corner of the yard to dig up some yellow clay and mixed it with clean water to make a thin mud.

This was in preparation for making the molds.

When casting ironware, one naturally needs a mold to hold the molten iron, and these molds are generally made of ceramic.

While it didn't need to be like a professional pottery kiln with strict requirements for clay and water quality, it at least had to be somewhat decent. Otherwise, if the fired mold was misshapen, the molten iron would lose its form as soon as it was poured in, and all previous efforts would be wasted.

So, this was not an easy task either.

Furthermore, Hu Gualing had to melt the iron again. Having already gone through it once, he groaned inwardly, exclaiming that blacksmithing was not a job for humans.

Fortunately, having witnessed Hu Gualing forge an excellent-quality longsword with his own eyes, Wang Dachui's attitude toward Hu Gualing had undergone a world-shaking transformation.

"Brother Gualing, this technique of yours, this Carburizing thing, has truly opened Old Wang's eyes!"

"From now on, treat this Blacksmith Shop as your own home. Use whatever you want, and all Materials will be at cost price!"

"As for small matters like firing molds, just leave that to me."

As Wang Dachui spoke, he snatched the pile of mud. With a few movements of his large hands, he began to shape the Ceramic Molds, his face beaming with a look of pure enjoyment.

It was no wonder his attitude had changed so drastically.

The Carburizing method Hu Gualing had demonstrated was simply too miraculous.

He had been stuck at the Level 7 Blacksmith Realm for several years. No matter how many farm tools and basic weapons he forged, his blacksmithing skills hadn't progressed further. After witnessing Hu Gualing's Carburizing process, he actually felt a faint sense of an impending Breakthrough to Level 8 Blacksmith!

More importantly, Hu Gualing hadn't been secretive when he performed the Carburizing. All the steps were carried out right under his nose. After Hu Gualing left, he had also examined the two buckets Hu Gualing had brought; they indeed contained nothing but the most common Soybean Paste and Pure Oil.

This meant that this Carburizing method, including the entire process of preparing Materials, was not very difficult. The hardest part was simply melting the iron, which took nearly twenty hours and required constant monitoring of the furnace to control the temperature.

But that bit of hard work was nothing compared to the time and energy required to forge Hundred-Refined Fine Iron.

Moreover, even if one used Hundred-Refined Fine Iron as a base material, the forged equipment wouldn't necessarily reach excellent quality, whereas Hu Gualing had successfully forged excellent equipment on his first try using the Carburizing method.

In comparison, the preciousness of this technique was self-evident!

...

With Wang Dachui's help, by the time the iron was melted, a pair of brass knuckles molds had already been fired.

Since the mud used was just randomly dug from the yard and the furnace wasn't a kiln specifically for pottery, what came out wasn't proper ceramic. The surface was cracked and the outlines were uneven; even a child like Xie Xiaotian would probably reject them as toys.

When Hu Gualing first glanced at them, his mouth couldn't help but twitch, and a sense of disdain rose in his heart.

However, considering that Wang Dachui had, after all, been a blacksmith for many years, and since firing molds was an essential step in the Casting Method, the molds he made couldn't be so bad as to be unusable, no matter how poor they looked.

Hu Gualing took another careful look.

Only then did he realize.

Although the surface of the mold was rough and appeared full of holes, making it seem like the molten iron would immediately leak out through countless tiny pores upon being poured in...

If one looked closely, they would see that the mold had more than one layer.

To be precise, there were three layers in total.

Aside from the outermost layer, which was indeed unsightly, there were two more layers inside.

Although the inner two layers still looked like low-grade yellow clay, their surfaces were free of bumps, and there were no visible cracks or pores.

If the molten iron were poured into the space between the layers, it seemed... perhaps... it really could cast the rough form of the brass knuckles?

Hu Gualing saw the logic and nodded secretly, only to see Wang Dachui pick up a dried brass knuckles mold, hold it horizontally in his hand, reach into the mold with his index finger and thumb, carefully pinch something, and with a gentle pull, the innermost layer was actually pulled out.