Section 020: The Artisan Workshop

As soon as Crooked Radish finished speaking, her figure began to fade away, and within just a few seconds, she had vanished completely.

Li Zhan stood there in a daze for a moment. He’d felt an unexpected connection with Crooked Radish: first, she had come to his rescue, then, despite her abdominal pain, she’d forced herself to listen to his alliance plan, only logging off now that the plan was fully realized.

A friend like this—what more could one ask for?

Li Zhan sighed.

Though she did have a rather sharp tongue.

He shook his head with a smile and made a few inquiries of passersby. Not long after, he arrived at the official joint workshop.

After leaving the county magistrate’s office, the first place that came to Li Zhan’s mind was the joint workshop, a clear sign of how much it concerned him—especially since his own craftsman, Wang Hui, had been brought here by Ruoyan for a tour. According to Xiao Zhang, a long spear guard from the docks, the workshop often produced military equipment for the government. Li Zhan wondered what they were making at the moment—military gear or ordinary civilian tools.

The joint workshop was a large courtyard-style building. Entering through the main gate, he saw the comprehensive workshop first—about five meters high, over thirty meters long, and more than ten meters wide. The two massive wooden doors stood open, and the constant clangor of metal rang out from within. Near the entrance, several burly men worked shirtless, sweat pouring off them as they toiled.

On either side of the main workshop were rough-processing rooms, smaller than the main hall, with heaps of iron ore, coal, timber, and animal hides piled up outside their doors. These raw materials underwent simple processing to become semi-finished goods before being sent on to the main workshop for further refinement.

As the tribal chief of Danyang County, Li Zhan could freely tour the county's joint workshop, as could his craftsmen. Ordinary townsfolk or wandering players without a tribe, on the other hand, weren’t allowed within a step of the place.

After glancing through the rough-processing rooms and not spotting Wang Hui, Li Zhan made his way into the main workshop. As soon as he entered and looked up, he saw Wang Hui at a forge, swinging a hammer, apparently working on something. Like the other craftsmen, Wang Hui was stripped to the waist, covered in sweat, but his expression was one of excitement as he labored earnestly under the guidance of a master craftsman by his side.

Li Zhan found it odd—he distinctly remembered telling Ruoyan that Wang Hui was only to observe, not to get his hands dirty. Was there a fee to visit, he wondered, and was Wang Hui “selling his labor” to pay his way in?

Curious, Li Zhan walked over. Wang Hui was so absorbed in his work that he didn’t even notice Li Zhan standing beside him.

Drawing closer, Li Zhan could see that the object on the forge was an iron sword. Wang Hui held the sword with heavy tongs in one hand, continually turning it, while wielding a hammer in the other, striking it in targeted spots as the master craftsman directed him.

"Put some force into the tip—flatten that out first..."

"Make sure your blows along the blade are even and steady, or the sword will be a reject..."

"Good, but don't hit the edge too hard, or it'll curl easily in combat..."

Watching Wang Hui pour his energy into forging the sword and seeing the craftsman’s patient, meticulous instruction, Li Zhan realized that Wang Hui didn’t seem coerced—on the contrary, he looked willing, even eager.

With that in mind, Li Zhan checked Wang Hui’s stats. He remembered that before entering the city, Wang Hui’s research skill was at intermediate, with 74% experience. He wondered how much it had improved now.

Opening Wang Hui’s status panel, Li Zhan was momentarily stunned—not by the intermediate research skill, now at 76%, but by the new, greyed-out box labeled "Basic Swordsmithing." Below it was a green progress bar showing 7% experience.

Li Zhan recalled that with the recent Chaos Continent patch, the developers had added not only new maps and heroes but also many new features and skill branches. Skill branching meant that villagers’ basic skills could be split into specialized sub-skills, making them better suited to their particular jobs. For example, because Wang Hui had been forging swords, his research skill had branched into swordsmithing. As his swordsmithing level increased (branch skills could be leveled up to advanced), he’d have a higher chance of crafting high-quality swords.

Branch skills also worked in tandem with the base skill. For instance, a craftsman with basic research and advanced swordsmithing would have a far better shot at making high-grade swords than one with both skills at basic. A craftsman with advanced research and advanced swordsmithing would fare even better, with a chance of creating extraordinary swords—though still a ways off from the superlative results of a craftsman with expert research and advanced swordsmithing. Still, it was a welcome relief for most players, since villagers with expert-level skills were incredibly rare. Before skill branching was introduced, only those with advanced research skills had even a minuscule chance of crafting extraordinary weapons. (Equipment tiers: Inferior, Common, High-Grade, Extraordinary, Masterwork, Supreme [newly added].)

There was no limit to the number of branch skills, either. Take Wang Hui as an example: if Li Zhan later assigned him to make military or civilian equipment, two new branches—"Ordnance" and "Civil Tools"—would appear under his research skill, without affecting "Swordsmithing." In a sense, this reflected the old saying: "Master your trade by doing it." The more a villager stuck to a single job, the more skilled and refined he would become—a clear attempt by the game to mimic reality.

Li Zhan thought back to his prediction about Wang Hui: based on Wang Hui’s potential and performance, he was 80% confident the man could reach expert-level research.

What would happen if Wang Hui achieved expert research and advanced branching skills?

Just imagining it filled Li Zhan with excitement.

The hiss of a sword being quenched snapped Li Zhan out of his reverie. In the main workshop, Wang Hui had just plunged the iron sword, held fast in his tongs, into a trough of water. White steam billowed up, momentarily obscuring Li Zhan’s view of Wang Hui.

When the steam cleared and Wang Hui drew the sword from the trough, he finally noticed Li Zhan standing there and greeted him with delight:

“Chief, when did you arrive?”

Li Zhan smiled. “I’ve been here for a while, watching you work.”

Wang Hui apologized, “I’m terribly sorry, Chief—I had no idea you were right beside me. I fear I’ve neglected you.”

Li Zhan waved it off. “Think nothing of it. By the way, I told Ruoyan to bring you here just to observe—how did you end up rolling up your sleeves and working yourself?”