Suddenly, Sun Wukong stopped, his hammer no longer swinging.
Fang Er walked over and looked at the forging platform. With just one glance, he was shocked!
The once perfectly round meteorite bead, which even the drilling machine couldn't scratch, was now a glowing red semi-fluid after Sun Wukong's hammering, as if it were jelly!
This completely defied Fang Er's understanding. To put it simply: this was utterly unscientific!
Sun Wukong used the tools Fang Er had given him earlier to divide the semi-fluid into several portions, leaving only one on the forging platform. The excess portions were picked up with tongs and thrown back into the furnace.
Even with this simple contact, all the tools he had used turned glowing red from the semi-fluid!
"Duke, his hammering technique is not simple!" Yan Shuangying whispered into Fang Er's ear.
"How so?"
"Duke, with every hammer strike, he mobilizes every muscle in his body. At the moment of unleashing power, he uses the force to make the prayer beads tremble."
"I just counted, there were seventy-two strikes, and each strike caused the prayer beads to vibrate at a different frequency!"
Fang Er was stunned!
Vibration? Resonance? And extreme power?
This, was the chaotic striking hammer technique passed down by Ou Yezi?
Pigsy had just said he had only learned the first thirty-six strikes, meaning the seventy-two strikes were actually seventy-two different resonant frequencies!
At this moment, Sun Wukong raised his hammer again, but this time, he switched to a smaller hammer.
Using the big hammer to soften and the small hammer to shape?
How interesting!
The small hammer rose and fell in his hand. With his other hand, he used tongs to hold the workpiece and flip it back and forth. Every time he flipped it, he would release the workpiece, dip the tongs into the quenching pool to cool them.
His hand speed was so fast that Fang Er's eyes could only see afterimages, along with the rising steam from the quenching pool.
Before long, that small piece of workpiece was hammered by Sun Wukong into a regular rectangular shape.
He threw down the hammer in his right hand, picked up another pair of tongs, and with the tongs in his left hand holding both ends of the rectangular workpiece, he twisted them with all his might.
Roar~~!
With a shout like a great bell, the workpiece was instantly twisted into a spiral!
After finishing, Sun Wukong placed the workpiece on the bluestone slab beneath his feet, unbuttoned his clothes, and poured a stream of yellow liquid onto it.
Hiss~~~~!
A pungent smell of urine instantly filled the entire workshop.
Holy cow!
This quenching method is too disgusting!
Everyone stared at Sun Wukong in shock, completely stunned by the overwhelming smell.
"Hehehe, Duke, please don't mind. It was supposed to be quenched with horse urine, but there wasn't enough time, so I made do."
Sun Wukong, while tidying his clothes, said to Fang Er with a hint of embarrassment.
"Let this be the last time!"
Fang Er did not show any disgust. As long as he could do the job well, he didn't care what method was used for quenching.
Stepping back outside the workshop, after the smell dissipated, he ordered someone to retrieve the twisted drill, wash it clean, and put it on the machine tool to test!
Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth; whether it works or not can only be known through testing.
The new spiral drill was installed, and the machine tool was started.
Sizzle sizzle~~~!
A steel ingot quickly had a round hole drilled into it.
Liu Eryang, who was operating it, excitedly approached Fang Er: "Duke, it works! It works great!"
"It's much faster than the previous drill bits!"
"Excellent craftsmanship!" Fang Er said with approval, looking at Sun Wukong.
"From now on, you will stay here! Utilize your skills to the fullest, and I will surely not mistreat you!"
"Duke, may I ask how you plan to settle my two junior brothers?" Sun Wukong did not flaunt his achievement but inquired about the whereabouts of Bajie and Sha Seng.
"Looking at Bajie's physique, I presume he has considerable experience with eating, drinking, and gaining weight. Therefore, I will send him to Chang'an to work in a pig farm."
"As for Sha Seng, he was originally a Tibetan herdsman, so he will remain in Shenyang and work in the sheep pens. You brothers can visit each other frequently."
The four disciples were all taken aback!
Passing down Buddhist scriptures, forging iron, raising pigs, and tending sheep – the four of them were assigned completely different tasks.
"Duke, I don't know how to raise pigs!" Pigsy said with a wronged expression.
"Just raise pigs the same way you got so fat; there's no such thing as not knowing how."
Sha Seng had not fully understood Fang Er's intentions, but seeing his second senior brother speak, he reflexively said:
"Eldest Senior Brother and Second Senior Brother are right!"
Fang Er: ......
He wondered how this fellow managed to get by. Following Tang Sanzang and his two senior brothers for so long, yet he had only learned this one sentence!
He had someone find Li Tai.
"This is Sun Wukong. His hammering technique is quite good. If there are any smelting difficulties, you can have him strike a few times to try."
Seeing Li Tai looking confused, he asked Mo Ming to explain what had just happened.
Li Tai's eyes instantly lit up as he looked at Sun Wukong. His expression was more excited than if he had seen a peerless beauty.
"Thank you, Master!" After thanking Fang Er, he grabbed Sun Wukong: "You're called Sun Wukong, right? You've come at just the right time! Come, come, I have some tricky items at my place. Go and strike them a few times, let me have a look!"
Sun Wukong was taken away.
His staff was kept by Fang Er. In addition, Pigsy's and Sha Seng's weapons were also shamelessly requisitioned by Fang Er.
Such excellent items were too wasteful to be used for fighting; it was better to keep them for later use.
Pigsy was arranged that same day to leave with the logistics convoy heading to Chang'an for delivery.
Tang Sanzang was sent to the shipyard, awaiting his departure with Li Xiaogong to spread the Dharma in Wa Country.
Sha Seng was led by Yelü Tianying to the sheep pens, to resume his former life as a herdsman.