The Hall of Heroes" prompts: "Soul Coins - one million, summon forging talent, Madam Xu!"
"Madam Xu?" When Zhou Yan heard this name, he thought it was a woman. However, when a man appeared and came before him, calling out "Greetings, my Lord," Zhou Yan was completely stunned.
The name was truly misleading.
Zhou Yan checked the person's detailed information, and only then did he understand who this person was.
"Madam Xu" was surnamed Xu, given name Furen, and was a full-fledged man.
Although the name was strange, ancient China had countless strange names.
Madam Xu was born in Handan, Zhao State, and was a renowned sword-making family. He was famous for forging sharp daggers. The dagger used by Jing Ke to assassinate the King of Qin was obtained from Madam Xu.
Zhou Yan looked at Madam Xu's profile and found that the person had a great bonus for forging daggers. From now on, he would be specialized in forging daggers. Anyway, the territory still needed daggers of this type of weapon.
"The Hall of Heroes" prompts: "Soul Coins - one million, summon forging talent, Zhang Jiuyuan!"
Zhou Yan naturally did not know this person, but he was the most skilled sword-maker of the Tang Dynasty. Bai Juyi even wrote a poem about Zhang Jiuyuan.
"A thousand years after Ouyezi's death, spirits secretly passed on to Zhang Yayiu. Yayiu forged swords in Wushan, blessed by heaven and earth, with divine assistance. The essence of gold and iron soared, flames surged, eager to become a Mo Ye sword."
"The sword was forged but untested for over ten years, when a guest offered gold to admire it. Who knew that when sheathed, it longed to be used, and the three-foot blue snake refused to coil. The guest had intent, the sword had no voice, the guest spoke for the sword to Yayiu."
"Do not boast that my jade can be cut, do not brag that my bell can be pierced. Better to hold me to cleave the floating clouds, lest they obscure the white sun. For your sake, let my selfless light reach all things, awaken insects and sprouts."
"The Hall of Heroes" prompts: "Soul Coins - one million, summon forging talent, Tao Hongjing!"
"Tao Hongjing!" Zhou Yan looked at this talent in surprise. He knew a little about this person; he was a versatile talent.
"Tao Hongjing pays his respects to the Lord." Tao Hongjing was very refined, even possessing a somewhat immortal aura.
And this person was indeed very capable, a famous physician, alchemist, and writer, known as the "Prime Minister of the Mountains."
This was a versatile talent. After summoning Tao Hongjing, Zhou Yan felt it would be a waste of his talent to have him only forge weapons.
"From now on, the management of blacksmiths will be entirely entrusted to you." Zhou Yan made a decision.
Although Jerry was a blacksmith, he was not very suitable for management. Ouyezi and the others were indeed skilled in forging, but not very strong in management.
However, Tao Hongjing was different. He could excel in whatever he was assigned. While it might be an overqualification to have him manage blacksmiths, it was the most suitable arrangement.
"Thank you, my Lord." Tao Hongjing quickly responded.
Zhou Yan planned to summon ten top-tier blacksmiths this time. Seven had been summoned, with three remaining. Next, Zhou Yan continued to summon.
"The Hall of Heroes" prompts: "Soul Coins - one million, summon forging talent, Liu Wuming!"
"Liu Wuming? Who is this person?" Zhou Yan was baffled again, having no idea who this person was.
After looking at his profile, he was very surprised. He didn't expect Liu Wuming to be a reclusive master blacksmith, little known in history.
However, the three weapons he forged were household names, known throughout the land. He was the one who forged the weapons for Liu Bei's three sworn brothers during the Three Kingdoms period.
Liu Wuming's first act was to forge three top-tier weapons of the Three Kingdoms.
Furthermore, the three weapons were custom-made with distinct styles: Liu Bei, as a commander, had the Shuanggu Sword forged, emphasizing defense over offense; Guan Yu, as a general, had the formidable Azure Dragon Crescent Blade forged; Zhang Fei, as a general-slayer, had the Bazhang Snake Spear forged, capable of taking down enemy generals in the midst of a thousand troops.
It should be noted that ordinary people could not forge weapons of such caliber for the three of them. Without this person, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei would likely have had to fight with broadswords and spears, not with the divine courage that allowed them to overcome countless enemies. At Hulao Pass, how could they have matched Lu Bu's Fangtian Huaji?
Therefore, although Liu Wuming did not leave much of a name in the world, his ability to forge these three top-tier weapons was enough to demonstrate his high level of forging skill.
"The Hall of Heroes" prompts: "Soul Coins - one million, summon forging talent, Li Pingsheng!"
Zhou Yan did not recognize him. After looking at his profile, he found it to be decent.
Zhou Yan intended to summon the last blacksmith.
"The Hall of Heroes" prompts: "Soul Coins - one million, summon forging talent, Tao Angong!"
Zhou Yan was taken aback, very surprised that this person was also summoned!
This person was incredibly impressive. Legend has it that Tao Angong was a metal smelter from Lu'an County. He often used fire, and one day the flames suddenly flared up, with purple firelight shooting straight into the sky.
Tao Angong, terrified, prostrated himself beneath the smelting furnace and begged the heavens for mercy. After a while, a vermilion bird landed on the furnace and said to him: "Angong! Angong! Your smelting furnace connects with heaven. On the seventh day of the seventh month, a red dragon will greet you."
At that time, Angong rode the red dragon and departed from the ground in the southeast. Tens of thousands of people in the city had previously offered sacrifices to the road gods for Angong and bid him farewell, each one saying goodbye.
From this, it can be seen that Tao Angong's smelting was by no means ordinary mortal fire.
A treasured sword can be tempered through a thousand blows and a thousand refinements. However, it is difficult for a smelting furnace to connect with heaven.
Tao Angong's furnace was able to connect with heaven, indicating that the fire within was heavenly fire, even comparable to the fire in Laozi's alchemy furnace.
Such fire could smelt all things in the world and, of course, should not exist in the mortal realm. For this reason, Tao Angong was also crowned the progenitor of smelting.
Ouyezi was the progenitor of sword forging, while Tao Angong was the progenitor of smelting.
"Tao Angong pays his respects to the Lord." Tao Angong was slightly plump, but not excessively so. He merely appeared more robust compared to others.
Moreover, this Tao Angong also had a title, which further increased the number of titled individuals in the territory.
Furthermore, Tao Angong's quality was also excellent, clearly at the same level as Ouyezi, a divine-grade blacksmith.
A total of ten blacksmiths: Qiwu Huaiwen, Gan Jiang (not Mo Ye), Ouyezi, Pu Yuan, Madam Xu, Zhang Jiuyuan, Tao Hongjing, Liu Wuming, Li Pingsheng, and Tao Angong.
After Zhou Yan leveled up the latter individuals to level 80, he summoned twenty more forging talents of SS quality, fifty forging talents of S quality, and one hundred forging talents of SSS quality, and then leveled them all up to level 50.
Finally, Zhou Yan brought them to the "Divine Weapon Workshop" and "Forging Manor." He also informed Jerry about their strength, and Jerry was overjoyed to see so many blacksmiths.
Moreover, Jerry did not show any dissatisfaction that Tao Hongjing would take over his management duties. Instead, he was very happy, as Jerry himself knew he was not very suitable for management.