The melting point of iron is around 1500℃, but the highest temperature that burning wood can reach is only 700℃.
Therefore, in order to melt iron, they must make a Wind Box to provide a constant supply of air to the Furnace, raising the temperature inside up to 1500℃.
But that’s only the first step.
To actually melt iron into liquid form, this temperature must be maintained for about an hour.
All in all, making iron Arrowheads is an extremely difficult process.
***
It was precisely because they understood this that, after breakfast, Qin Tian and Ye Lin immediately got to work.
Refining iron Arrowheads was nothing more than two steps: smelting and casting.
But before that, the two of them had to prepare the Furnace, the Wind Box, and the mold.
The mold was the easiest—it only required carving the shape of the Arrowhead into a slab of yellow clay before it solidified.
This job was fairly light and simple, so it naturally fell to Ye Lin, while Qin Tian was in charge of the rougher task of building the Furnace.
***
The Furnace for refining iron was, in reality, not much different from a Kiln used for firing pottery—there were no special requirements.
Qin Tian spent just an hour to finish making it.
The Furnace was a little over a meter tall, shaped like a volcano, narrowing toward the top.
At the bottom, there was an opening left for feeding in firewood, though this opening would ultimately be sealed with yellow clay to ensure no heat would escape.
After finishing the Furnace, Qin Tian set it aside to dry, and turned to making the Wind Box.
Traditional Wind Boxes are generally of the pull-push variety.
To put it simply, it’s like a syringe: air is forced into the Furnace with every push and pull.
Given the materials they had, making a pull-push Wind Box was the easiest—they just had to hollow out a bamboo tube, make an air intake, and attach a rod.
But a pull-push Wind Box was exhausting to use.
It was fine for a short while, but it was absolutely impossible to keep pumping for a whole hour.
Considering this, Qin Tian finally decided to make a Bellows-type Wind Box.
***
This so-called Bellows Wind Box can be simply understood as a fan—but powered by hand.
Though both require manual labor, the Bellows Wind Box requires much less effort than the pull-push kind; the only downside is that it’s much more complicated to make.
First, Qin Tian used a Stone Axe to split a bamboo tube into three sections, then used the Survival Knife to plane the bamboo pieces smooth.
Next, he cut an opening in the center of each piece, inserted the three bamboo pieces together to form a set of blades.
Then he found a tree branch, whittled it straight, fixed the blades to one end, and secured them with yellow clay—making it look much like a bamboo dragonfly toy.
With that, the fan blades for the Bellows Wind Box were done.
***
All that remained was to make a housing for them.
He collected some yellow clay, and molded a Clay Pot roughly the size of the fan blades, but with an air inlet at the center of the base and, in addition, an air outlet.
After firing the Clay Pot, Qin Tian covered the fan blades with it and gave it a spin.
Wind immediately gushed out from the air outlet.
“Ding—Host has crafted a Bellows-type Wind Box, rewarded with 1000 Points!”
At that moment, the System prompt sounded, clearly indicating that Qin Tian’s Wind Box was complete.
***
But that wasn’t all.
Qin Tian used some tree branches to set up a small stand next to the bellows, fixing the stick that served as the fan’s axle in place.
Then he took the bow for drilling wood, looped it onto the axle, and started pulling.
With the bow added, the wind from the air outlet was even stronger and more consistent.
Most importantly, with the bow, both Qin Tian and Ye Lin could each pull one end and combine their strength.
***
By the time Qin Tian finished the Wind Box, it was already past noon.
Ye Lin had also just finished carving the mold.
After a short break, they began smelting the iron.
Qin Tian took off his Leather Belt, removed the Buckle, and placed it in a fired clay tube.
This clay tube was custom-made, about the size of a brush holder, with two small handles on the sides to make it easier to lift from the Furnace.
“At this rate, I’ll end up running around naked.”
Seeing Qin Tian holding up his pants with one hand and tying them with a hemp rope, Ye Lin couldn’t help but laugh.
“I don’t mind, as long as you’re not the one losing out.” Qin Tian grinned as he fastened the Buckle.
“What are you thinking!” Ye Lin’s face flushed bright red.
“I’m just following your train of thought,” Qin Tian shrugged, silently resolving that once the new camp’s problems were settled, he’d find a way to deal with the clothing issue.
***
Without any more idle chatter, Qin Tian added firewood to the Furnace, then placed the clay tube inside.
He inserted the air outlet of the Wind Box under the Furnace, sealed it with yellow clay, and finally—
Ignite! Pump air!
Qin Tian and Ye Lin took turns pulling the fan blades.
Air rushed in from the intake, feeding into the Furnace.
The abundance of oxygen made the flames roar, surging out of the fire mouth.
If you looked closely, you’d see the color of the flames change from deep red to pure orange, then to golden orange, and finally to gold-white—the color of fire at 1500℃.
At this temperature, even sitting a meter away, both Qin Tian and Ye Lin could feel the searing heat hitting their faces, their cheeks turning red as time went on.
They kept at it, as the shadow on the Sundial moved slowly from the four o’clock to the five o’clock mark.
After an hour of pulling, both their arms were numb.
At last, unable to go on, they stopped.
***
“I’ll handle the rest.”
Seeing how tired Ye Lin looked, Qin Tian said, then picked up the Stone Axe and broke open the Furnace’s fire mouth.
He grabbed a stick, doused it with water, then threaded it through the two handles of the clay tube and lifted it out.
By this point, the Leather Belt Buckle inside had already turned to molten iron.
Before it could cool and solidify, Qin Tian poured it into the finished mold.
Ye Lin had made two molds, and Qin Tian had expected to make two Arrowheads, but in the end, the molten iron was only enough for one.
Feeling as if his whole body was falling apart, Qin Tian poured the iron, tossed aside his tools, and lay straight down.
And once they lay down, they didn’t get up again until dusk, when the System prompt sounded and Qin Tian sat up.
“Ding—Host has crafted an iron Arrowhead, rewarded with 500 Points.”
***
Knowing what that sound meant, Qin Tian got up and pried the Arrowhead out of the mold.
“How is it? Is the Arrowhead okay?” Ye Lin also sat up.
“Thanks to your handiwork, it’s perfect.” Qin Tian smiled.
Ye Lin’s craftsmanship was truly excellent—the Arrowhead was perfectly symmetrical, with no need for further adjustment.
All it needed was to be sharpened, but that wasn’t urgent.
Qin Tian stored the Arrowhead away and immediately began preparing dinner.
He’d already grown used to the darkness after more than twenty days on this deserted island.
Now, keeping watch at night no longer left him feeling so tired.
Taking out the Arrowhead he’d made that day, Qin Tian began sharpening it on a rock, his expression solemn.
It was only natural—whether he could seize that stretch of open ground all depended on this Arrowhead.
***
The Arrowhead was soon sharpened.
Qin Tian tested it by tapping it with his finger—a drop of blood immediately appeared.
He took the prepared Arrow Shaft and bound the Arrowhead to it.
This Arrow Shaft was one Qin Tian had specially made; for the Arrow Fletching at the end, he’d used the feathers of the Bamboo Partridge.
It’s worth noting, not all the feathers from a Bamboo Partridge can be used for Arrow Fletching—only the tail feathers from its rump are suitable.
After finishing the Arrow, Qin Tian was very pleased with it.
It was just a pity there wasn’t enough iron.
If he’d had enough to make a hundred Arrows and combined them with his innate talent, Qin Tian dared say he could take down that Panda in a single day.
Putting the Arrow away, Qin Tian summoned the System.
When he’d crafted the Sundial and refined Sea Salt, he’d earned 1000 and 2000 Points, respectively.
Adding the 1500 Points he’d gained recently, he now had 4700 Points—enough to buy a book from the Mall.
He’d already decided on his target.
***
Opening the Mall, Qin Tian directly searched for the Wild Animal Encyclopedia and clicked to buy.
Unexpectedly, the System popped up a prompt:
“The Beast Taming Encyclopedia and Wild Animal Encyclopedia are a bundled product.
Purchase together for only 4500 Points.
Would the Host like to purchase only the Wild Animal Encyclopedia?”
“There’s such a good deal?”
Qin Tian was skeptical when he saw the prompt.
Sensing Qin Tian’s doubts, the Mall’s Mysterious Items section popped up, filled with various bundles.
There was a set called ‘Beast King’ which included both the Beast Taming Encyclopedia and the Wild Animal Encyclopedia.
It was as if the System was saying: “Yes, there really is such a good deal.”
The Mysterious Items section had always been a question mark.
This was Qin Tian’s first time seeing anything there.
He’d thought there might be some amazing items, but it turned out to be just these bundles.
Still, he didn’t mind.
Rather than fuss over it, he cared more about the task at hand.
Qin Tian knew about the Beast Taming Encyclopedia—its original price was 3000 Points.
In other words, buying the two books separately would cost 5000 Points, but as a bundle it was only 4500 Points, saving 500.
Five hundred might not seem like much, but it was definitely not a small sum either.
Qin Tian naturally wouldn’t miss out—he immediately bought the ‘Beast King’ bundle.
***
Soon, both books poured into Qin Tian’s mind.
Enduring the wave of pain, Qin Tian actually felt no suffering at all—rather, he was excited, eager to see what help these two books could bring him.
“Ding—Items delivered successfully.”
***
Letting out a breath, Qin Tian dismissed the System and began sorting through the knowledge he’d just received.
The Wild Animal Encyclopedia was an expansion on the Common Animal Encyclopedia, while the Beast Taming Encyclopedia taught how to tame wild beasts.
Comparatively, Qin Tian was more curious about the Beast Taming Encyclopedia and focused his thoughts on that.
‘Secret techniques for handling all kinds of wild animals! Become the new King of the Wild!’
Such a chapter appeared in Qin Tian’s mind, leaving him momentarily speechless.
The title of the chapter was just a bit too much.
But judging by the name, the contents should be about dealing with wild animals.
For this, Qin Tian was very much looking forward to it.