Jiang Xuan handed a piece of tin to Chi Shao, another piece to Gou Teng, and a piece to Nan Xing.
The tin, silver-white in color, had beco very beautiful after being slted and refined to remove impurities, shimring in the firelight.
"This... this is tal!"
Nan Xing turned over the tin, marveling at the unique allure of the tal, dispelling the doubts in his heart.
The others were equally stunned because this object initially looked like crushed stones, later beca a big dirty mass, but now had a smooth surface and a silver-white tallic sheen, looking very beautiful.
The two warriors responsible for fanning the fire were even more excited, as they had participated in the tal refining process and witnessed its transformation firsthand.
For them, it was a source of pride.
Chi Shao showed great interest in this magical change, eager to understand what was happening.
As a witch, her thirst for knowledge was intense.
However, Jiang Xuan couldn’t clearly explain it to her, as he himself understood the phenonon but not the underlying reasons.
Gou Teng held a tin piece and asked, "Leader, you ntioned earlier that tal can be made into sharp weapons and tools. This... tin, can it be made into a spearhead?"
Jiang Xuan shook his head and said, "No, because tin is too soft. Look..."
Jiang Xuan picked up a tin piece, and with a little strength, the rectangular tin piece imdiately bent.
Gou Teng felt a bit disappointed and pointed to the uneven lump of copper on the ground, "Can this be made into a spearhead?"
"No, copper is a bit harder than tin, but still too soft for weapons, even softer than ordinary stones."
The group felt a sudden loss, as copper couldn’t make weapons, and tin couldn’t either, what was the point of expending so much effort to refine them?
Seeing the disappointed expressions on everyone’s faces, Jiang Xuan decided not to keep them in suspense.
"Pure copper and pure tin are relatively soft, indeed not suitable for making weapons."
"However, rging them together creates bronze with high hardness. Bronze can be made into weapons and various tools, much sharper and sturdier than the stone tools we use now."
Upon hearing Jiang Xuan’s words, everyone’s eyes lit up, filled with anticipation for the advent of bronze.
"at has to be eaten bite by bite, things need to be done one by one. Let’s call it a day here; tomorrow, we’ll strive to forge a bronze hamr first."
By then, the night had fully set in and the moon had risen.
Jiang Xuan and others left the wooden house, holding torches as they took a boat across the river, returning to their own hos to sleep.
Due to the lack of entertainnt activities, and relying solely on firelight at night, the tribe’s people were accustod to early sleep.
The next morning, Jiang Xuan washed up briefly, had breakfast, and then took a boat across the river to the wooden house outside the cave, beginning to re-slt that lump of copper.
He similarly broke the lump of copper into smaller pieces, placed them in another pottery jar, and put them into the furnace for re-slting.
The lting point of copper is much higher than tin, so the slting ti was longer.
Todat Chi Shao and others didn’t co over, as they had many other tasks to do and only needed to wait for the final product.
The two warriors, however, were stationed there early in the morning. Jiang Xuan planned to teach them the entire operation process so they could specialize in tal refining later.
After all, as the leader, he had many responsibilities and couldn’t work here daily.
A few hours later, the pottery jar was turned red hot, and the copper inside had all turned into molten copper.
Jiang Xuan, as before, used a hooked wooden stick to lift the pottery jar.
However, due to the high temperature, the hooked end of the stick caught fire as soon as it was inserted into the jar’s handle.
"No, no, if this breaks when lifted, the molten copper will spill everywhere."
Jiang Xuan had to cut two fresh, sturdy, forked branches, then lift the pottery jar out of the furnace.
"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle..."
The fresh branches smoked white, their moisture rapidly evaporating.
Jiang Xuan knew the fresh branches wouldn’t last long, so he had to move quickly, otherwise, once the branches burned through, the molten copper would spill.
He quickly placed the pottery jar on the ground, then poured the molten copper into the grooved pottery mold.
While pouring, Jiang Xuan noticed that the molten copper solidified quickly once out of the furnace, pouring it felt like pouring jelly, not like pouring water.
Fortunately, the molten copper still poured smoothly into the mold.
When the molten copper had cooled, Jiang Xuan obtained three thick, rectangular, purple-red copper bars.
"Next cos the most important step."
Extracting copper and tin from ores is only the first step, rging them together to form bronze is crucial.
However, Jiang Xuan faced a critical issue: he didn’t know the copper-tin ratio needed for bronze.
This kind of knowledge is only known by people who have worked or studied in related fields.
"Copper-tin alloy, copper cos first, surely copper takes a larger proportion while tin a smaller one."
Jiang Xuan pondered for a while, finally finding a new double-handled pottery jar, placing two pieces of copper and one piece of tin inside, planning to attempt crafting a tool to see the result.
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