Chapter 20 Refining! Everything can be refined! It's just that I can't refine it! The first batch…

After the dwarf boss Stone Fist's "Smelting Crash Course" successfully started, Lin Yue felt like he was walking on air—mainly because he was so excited he was almost floating.

With his mind crammed with knowledge about ores, furnaces, and flames, and his hands clutching densely packed class notes, Lin Yue had only one thought: Practice! Immediately! Right now!

No matter how well you learn the theory, if you don't actually make one yourself, it's all just empty talk.

He's going to smelt iron! He's going to make tools! He's going to lead Lin's Restaurant into the Iron Age! He's going to give Boss Gray an axe that can cut through iron like mud! He's going to give Uncle Stonefist a custom-made... uh... prosthetic leg? Stonefist: My legs should still be intact, right?!

In short, he wanted to create something made of iron.

However, no matter how brightly the flame of an ideal fire burns, it still needs firewood to sustain it. And the first firewood problem they now face is—building a qualified smelting furnace.

According to Uncle Shi Quan's "brief guidance," a reliable rudimentary smelting furnace requires refractory materials. The first choice is a certain type of volcanic rock found only deep in the mountains, and the second choice is refractory bricks made by mixing special refractory clay with quartz sand and firing them.

Refractory clay? Lin Yue recalled the place where he had dug ordinary clay to build houses before; there seemed to be a patch of soil that was darker in color and finer in texture. Quartz sand? There was plenty of shiny sand by the stream.

"Gray! Let's go! Let's dig some more dirt!" Lin Yue called out, hoisting his precious stone shovel.

Gray followed silently, seemingly already used to Lin Yue's tendency to jump to conclusions and act on a whim.

The two of them, along with the mischievous Xiao Fen, returned to the clay pit from before. Lin Yue pointed to the area with a darker reddish hue: "That's it! Uncle Stone Fist said this kind of soil might be more heat-resistant! Dig up more!"

Without a word, Gray picked up his stone hoe and got to work. Lin Yue assisted him with a stone shovel.

As he was digging, Lin Yue suddenly cried out "Ouch!" as if the stone shovel had hit something hard.

He dug away the soil and found it to be a dark, unremarkable stone, but it was unusually heavy when he picked it up.

"Huh? What's this?" Lin Yue asked curiously, tapping it with a stone shovel, which produced a crisp metallic clanging sound.

[System Scan: High-quality magnetite detected! Main component: Iron(III) oxide. Iron content approximately 65%-70%! Also contains trace amounts of rare associated elements (currently unanalyzable). Evaluation: Excellent smelting raw material! Far superior to the previously discovered hematite! Congratulations, host, your luck has struck again!]

Holy crap! High-quality iron ore?! And magnetite?!

Lin Yue was so excited he almost dropped his stone shovel! It was like his wish had come true! He was just dreaming when someone delivered a perfect solution! He even managed to dig up top-grade ore while digging for refractory clay! He truly was the chosen one! He was blessed with incredible luck!

He carefully dug out the precious rock and searched the surrounding area, where he found several more pieces of the same type of ore of varying sizes!

"Gray! Look! This is good stuff!" Lin Yue excitedly showed Gray the ore. "This stuff can definitely be smelted into good iron!"

Gray leaned closer to take a look, nodded, and a hint of joy appeared in his eyes. Clearly, he also recognized the value of this ore.

Their unexpected discovery of top-quality ore fueled their enthusiasm even more. After digging up enough refractory clay, they went to the stream to sift out a large amount of quartz sand, returning home laden with their spoils.

Next, it was time to build the smelting furnace.

Lin Yue took out his class notes and, combined with the "basic vertical furnace structure optimization suggestions" provided by the system, began his architectural design.

Site selection remained crucial; it needed to be far from residential areas and flammable materials, and wind direction had to be considered. Ultimately, they began this monumental project on an open space a few dozen meters downwind of the small restaurant.

Uncle Shi Quan, leaning on his crutches, personally supervised and guided the work. His leg injury had healed considerably, and although he still couldn't do heavy work, his verbal skills remained sharp.

"Idiot! The foundation needs to be dug deeper! Otherwise, the furnace will easily collapse!"

"The clay and sand ratio is wrong! Too much water! Do you want to make mud?"

"The furnace should be made in a conical shape! That way the flames will be concentrated! Don't you even have this basic common sense?"

"The vent is too small! Are you trying to fan the mosquitoes?!"

Uncle Stone Fist's roars echoed almost throughout the entire construction process. Lin Yue and Gray were verbally abused mercilessly, but they could only endure it. After all, he was a technical authority. And... what he said did seem to make sense.

Under Shi Quan's "kind" guidance and the hard work of the two, a clay smelting furnace that looked much more professional and uglier than the previous clay stove finally rose from the ground, much like a bumpy earthen mound!

The furnace wasn't very tall, only reaching about Lin Yue's chest. The inside of the furnace chamber was conical, with an iron tapping port and a slag discharge port at the bottom, and a blast vent on the lower side. However, for now, it could only be ventilated by natural air and by blowing air through the furnace.

[System Notification: Construction of the [Basic Crude Smelting Furnace] is complete. Structural Rating: C- (Multiple flaws exist, thermal efficiency is low, and stability is average). Estimated maximum temperature: 800-900 degrees Celsius (under natural ventilation conditions). Note: Although it's a bit ugly, at least it's usable. A small step towards the Industrial Revolution!]

"Great! The furnace is done!" Lin Yue looked at the ugly-cute furnace, feeling an immense sense of accomplishment. "Next step: start the fire! Smelt the iron!"

Starting a fire requires fuel. Following Stone Fist's advice, charcoal made from hardwood is the best choice.

So, Lin Yue and Gray began their new life as lumberjacks. This time, they specifically selected trees that looked particularly sturdy and robust (System identification: Iron Birch, an otherworldly species with extremely high density).

He used the [effortless lever stone axe] to chop down a few trees, then cut them into sections, piled them together, covered them with soil, lit them, and burned them in an oxygen-deficient environment to make charcoal.

This process took several more days. When the first batch of dark, shiny charcoal was freshly made, Lin Yue felt like he was almost turned into charcoal himself.

Everything is ready, except for the east wind... oh no, it's just that it's just waiting to be lit and started!

The first smelting must be done with the utmost ceremony!

Lin Yue instructed Gray to break the charcoal and the high-quality magnetite ore that had been dug up into small pieces and carefully fill them into the furnace according to the proportions taught by Shi Quan.

Shi Quan stood to one side, leaning on his cane, his expression solemn, as if he were participating in some sacred ceremony.

Xiao Fen curiously circled around the stove, occasionally trying to get closer to smell it, but Lin Yue picked her up and pulled her away.

"Danger! Stay away!"

"Alright! Ready to light it!" Lin Yue took a deep breath and took out the treasure he had obtained from Old Tom—an obsidian flint!

He gathered some dry, withered grass and fine wood shavings as kindling, then picked up a flint and a piece of flint and struck them together with great force!

This is truly a high-quality flint! It produces bright sparks in just a few strokes!

The ignition source has been ignited!

Lin Yue carefully placed the embers into the charcoal at the bottom of the furnace.

The flames began to burn, licking the black charcoal.

"Gray! Blow the air!" Lin Yue shouted.

Although they didn't have a bellows yet, they made a simple substitute—sewed together several large animal hides into a large bag, leaving a small opening at the front for the air vent, and then... Lin Yue and Gray took turns squeezing the animal hide bag with their hands, or blowing air into the air vent with their mouths!

The effect of the air blowing is simply moving... mainly because it makes your lungs hurt.

[System notification: Extremely low blast efficiency detected, insufficient oxygen supply in the furnace. Current furnace temperature: 300 degrees Celsius, slowly rising.]

"It's not working! The temperature isn't going up!" Lin Yue was dizzy and her face was flushed from blowing on it.

Shi Quan, watching from the side, shook his head: "Idiots! I said we'd use the bellows! Are you guys just tickling the furnace?!"

But we can't build a bellows right now, so we have no choice but to grit our teeth and keep blowing!

The flames in the furnace gradually grew stronger, the burning charcoal crackled, and the furnace walls glowed slightly red.

The furnace temperature is rising extremely slowly... 400 degrees... 500 degrees... 600 degrees...

[System notification: Furnace temperature has reached 650 degrees Celsius. The ore has begun to undergo preliminary chemical reactions (some oxides are being reduced).]

"It's responding! It's responding!" Lin Yue's spirits lifted when he saw the system notification, and he blew even harder!

Gray put all his strength into it and blew hard into the blower!

However, the furnace temperature rose more and more slowly, and eventually, when it approached 800 degrees, it seemed to have reached a bottleneck and could not go any higher!

The ore in the furnace was glowing red-hot, but showed no signs of melting!

Time passed slowly, and the charcoal was consumed. Lin Yue and Gray took turns blowing air, their mouths almost swollen from blowing, but the furnace temperature remained around 800 degrees Celsius.

Shi Quan, watching from the side, stamped his feet in frustration: "Not hot enough! Not hot enough at all! Iron's melting point is at least over a thousand degrees! With your heat, you can at most cook a stone!"

Eventually, the charcoal in the furnace burned out, and the flames slowly died down.

The first smelting attempt ended with the furnace temperature not meeting the standard and the ore showing no change.

It failed.

Lin Yue looked at the furnace, which was gradually cooling down and was now just ashes and a pile of red-hot ore, and felt a sense of frustration.

He worked so hard, digging soil, burning charcoal, blowing air, and getting scolded, and in the end... this is it?

Gray sat silently on the ground, wiping his sweat, a hint of disappointment on his face.

Only Shi Quan, though still grumbling, "I told you it wouldn't work! What a waste of my breath!", didn't show much surprise in his eyes. Instead, there seemed to be... a hint of barely perceptible approval?

He walked over with his cane and poked the ore in the furnace with it: "Hmph, although it failed, at least... the furnace didn't collapse, and the fire was started. It's... a little bit better than I expected."

He glanced at Lin Yue's dejected face, and unusually refrained from further mockery. Instead, he said in a muffled voice, "...Iron smelting is not something that can be accomplished on the first try. It's normal to fail ten or eight times."

[System Notification: First smelting attempt failed. Reasons for failure: Insufficient furnace temperature (low blast efficiency), excessive heat loss (poor furnace insulation). Gained +50 experience points (failure is the mother of success). Unlocked the [Smelting Failure Experience Summary] report. Recommendation: Prioritize resolving the blast issue, improve the furnace structure, and increase thermal efficiency.]

Lin Yue looked at the system's summary report, then at Shi Quan's face, which was still arrogant but seemed less angry. The sense of defeat in his heart slowly dissipated.

Yes, what's there to be afraid of in failure? This is metallurgy! It's a technical job! There's no such thing as succeeding on the first try.

Although they failed this time, they gained valuable experience, learned where the problem lay, and saw hope for success. At least the furnace didn't explode and the ore quality was good enough.

Moreover, Uncle Stone Fist's attitude seemed to have become more harmonious because of this shared experience of failure? At least he was willing to admit that Lin Yue and the others were slightly better! This was a historic breakthrough!

"It's okay! Failure is the mother of success!" Lin Yue rallied, clenching his fist. "We'll learn from our experience, improve the equipment, and we'll definitely succeed next time!"

He looked at Gray and Stonefist: "Our goal is—the stars and the sea… oops, I mean, the torrent of steel! For better axes! For faster hoes! For a future where we can eat stewed goose in an iron pot! We'll fight again next time!"

Shi Quan snorted and turned around, but the corners of his mouth seemed to... curl up slightly?