Early this morning, His Blackstone sat in the study, flipping through the letter Molis had sent.
Three days had passed since he handed the gray crystal smelting technique to Molis.
According to the message Molis sent back, the renovations on several blacksmith shops were complete, and the smelting equipment had been built according to the information he provided.
Moreover, thanks to the high salary he offered, Molis had already recruited a group of experienced blacksmiths.
It seemed that before long, his gray crystal industry would be entering the production phase.
“Young Master! Something… something’s wrong.”
The study door was suddenly pushed open, and Molis walked in, panting heavily, his expression grim.
“In your letter you said everything was going smoothly. What’s the problem now?”
His Blackstone put down his teacup and looked at Molis.
“It’s about smelting the gray crystal… Starting yesterday afternoon, several veteran workers took turns trying it multiple times, but none succeeded.”
His Blackstone frowned.
“Are you sure you followed the process I provided?”
“It was exactly as you instructed.”
Molis sighed, pulled a dark, lumpy object from his chest, and gently placed it on the desk in front of His Blackstone.
“Look, the main problem is in the heating step. No matter how we fire it, the gray crystal just won’t melt, and it ends up like this…”
He pointed at the mass on the desk.
“Slag, huh…”
His Blackstone gave a wry smile, picked up the coke-like residue, and turned it over in his hand.
“Alright, go back first. Tell the workers to stop for a few days. I’ll let you know when to resume.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
***
“What did the young master of the Blackstone Family say?”
As soon as Molis returned to the blacksmith shop, a group of workers surrounded him, asking anxiously.
“Young Master Xisi said we’re to suspend work for now and resume when he comes up with a solution.”
Molis faithfully relayed His Blackstone’s arrangements.
“Tch, if you ask me, we probably won’t be resuming at all.”
“Yeah, I thought that young master of the Blackstone family had really found a way to make money from gray crystal after all his recent bravado, but now it doesn’t look like it.”
“I said it long ago—gray crystal has too many impurities and a melting point too high. It’s completely worthless for smelting…”
The workers argued among themselves.
It seemed they had never had much hope for His Blackstone’s so-called “making money from gray crystal” from the start.
“Alright, that’s enough. Dismissed.”
Molis waved his hand and sent the workers away.
“Young Master Xisi also said that even though work is suspended, your wages will still be paid. So when it’s time to resume, you must come back promptly.”
“And if it never resumes?”
“Yeah, we can’t just stop looking for work forever, can we? I don’t believe that young master of the Blackstone family will keep paying a bunch of us that high a salary for nothing.”
“This…”
Faced with the workers’ questions, Molis broke into a sweat.
Though he had been in business for years, he couldn’t make decisions on behalf of Young Master Xisi.
He stood frozen, unsure what to say.
“You don’t have to worry about that. If resumption truly isn’t possible, the Blackstone family will notify you well in advance. If that delays your search for another job, the Blackstone family will provide appropriate compensation.”
A feminine voice, soft yet carrying an undeniable authority, rang out.
Florin had appeared at the entrance of the blacksmith shop, no one knew when.
“For now, all of you go home.”
Seeing the Blackstone family’s housekeeper step forward in person, the workers had no choice but to leave reluctantly.
“Housekeeper Florin, Young Master Xisi never said what to do if resumption wasn’t possible. That promise you made today is going to cost a lot of money. Isn’t that a bit…”
“It’s fine.”
Florin pushed up her glasses, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly.
“I have faith in our young master. This will definitely succeed.”
“Oh…”
Molis agreed verbally, but his heart grew more anxious.
***
Back in the study of the Duke’s Mansion, His Blackstone stared at the familiar font and began cursing the System under his breath.
[Today’s Flash Report! The secret method for smelting gray crystal that has never been passed down… For details, pay 100,000 Gold Coins to unlock.]
He had noticed earlier, when the System provided the information about smelting gray crystal, that the technique was only a rough framework with no specifics.
He had thought that by hiring these blacksmiths, they could fill in the details automatically.
Now it seemed he would have to pay up.
One hundred thousand Gold Coins!
His Blackstone’s mouth twitched.
Thankfully, he and Ni Wei had gone to the Royal Capital earlier and secured partial control over the family funds from his father.
But after shelling out one hundred thousand Gold Coins, he’d have virtually nothing left to run the businesses under him.
“Pay.”
His Blackstone gritted his teeth, feeling his small treasury nearly drain to zero, a pang of pain in his heart.
[Gray crystal ore contains a large amount of impurities that cannot be separated by ordinary methods. A special decomposition agent is required, formulated as follows…]
After reading the information provided by the System, His Blackstone suddenly understood.
So that’s it.
Then why didn’t you say this earlier?!
He wrote down the decomposition agent formula on paper.
‘Well… it’s time to go there and see for myself.’
***
Early the next morning, the workers received notice that the blacksmith shop was resuming operations, and they all gathered at the shop.
By now, every blacksmith was curious about how the young master of the Blackstone family would handle the gray crystal.
That curiosity even overshadowed the joy of continuing to earn high wages here.
“Who’s in charge here?”
His Blackstone stood in the middle of the shop, facing the workers.
The crowd stirred for a moment, and an old man with white hair and beard but a robust, muscular build stepped forward.
“Young Master, I am.”
“Good. What’s your name?”
“Huo Ke.”
“Huo Ke, I want you to add this decomposition agent when smelting the gray crystal.”
As he spoke, His Blackstone pulled out the decomposition agent he had prepared in advance and handed it to Old Huo Ke.
“Young Master, will this… work?”
Old Huo Ke took the agent, looking skeptical.
“Try it first.”
A moment later, crushed gray crystal ore was poured into the huge furnace.
Old Huo Ke stood in front of the furnace, both hands gripping the bellows lever, his eyes fixed on the state of the gray crystal inside.
He didn’t miss the slightest nuance in color change.
His Blackstone stood nearby, showing no emotion on the surface, but inwardly he had no confidence either.
Though the System’s intelligence had never been wrong, the investment this time was still too massive.
If it failed, not only would his tiny nest egg be gone, but he might even lose the authority to manage the family funds he had just obtained from his father.
But he had to try.
If he could really use gray crystal to forge weapons capable of fighting the Demon Race, the returns would be astronomical.
“Almost there!”
Just as His Blackstone was lost in thought, Old Huo Ke shouted to alert his assistant.
“Now!”
The assistant immediately poured the decomposition agent supplied by His Blackstone into the furnace.
The instant the agent contacted the high-temperature gray crystal, a sharp hiss erupted, and a cloud of white smoke billowed up.
The originally dull gray surface of the crystal began to glow a faint dark red, like a star about to awaken.
Everyone present held their breath.
Old Huo Ke didn’t slack off; he maintained his rhythm on the bellows, eyes locked on the changes inside the furnace.
A few seconds later, the white smoke gradually dissipated.
A thin layer of gray-black dross appeared on the surface of the gray crystal inside.
At Old Huo Ke’s signal, the assistant gently poked the crystal with a shovel.
Beneath the dross, a faint silver-gray luster flickered.
That was successfully melted gray crystal.
“It… actually worked!”
Old Huo Ke’s voice trembled with emotion.
“It worked! Haha, I did it!”
The workers crowded around, chiming in:
“Heavens, the impurities are really separated!”
“So if you just separate the impurities, the gray crystal can be melted?”
Molis stared blankly at the melted crystal, hardly daring to believe it.
“Young Master… we really can make money from gray crystal from now on?!”
His Blackstone let out a long sigh, his tense shoulders finally relaxing.
“Old Huo Ke, quick, pour out the melt.”
“Right away!”
Old Huo Ke carefully tilted the furnace mouth and slowly poured the molten gray crystal into a pre-prepared mold.
The silver-gray liquid flowed through the mold, making a faint sizzling sound, its surface shimmering with a warm luster.
As the temperature dropped, the gray crystal liquid began to solidify.
After about fifteen minutes, a palm-sized gray crystal ingot lay quietly in the mold.
His Blackstone stepped forward and picked up the ingot.
It was lighter than he had expected.
He casually grabbed a chisel made of fine steel from nearby and struck the corner of the ingot with force.
Clang!
A crisp metallic sound echoed through the blacksmith shop.
The gray crystal ingot was completely undamaged, but the steel chisel had snapped in two.
The workers exchanged stunned looks.
The hardness of this material surpassed any metal they had ever seen.
“Old Huo Ke.”
His Blackstone looked at the still-dazed old blacksmith and tossed the ingot to him.
“Can you use this to forge a short sword?”
Old Huo Ke was startled, then a blazing light ignited in his eyes.
For a blacksmith, the chance to personally forge an unprecedented new metal was a dream come true.
“Young Master Xisi, absolutely no problem!”
Old Huo Ke nodded heavily.
“But the forging method for gray crystal might be different from ordinary metals. I think I’ll need some time to figure it out…”