Before officially heading to Brooklyn, Li Younan naturally wanted to wander around New York, and truly experience this globally renowned super metropolis.
After staying at the hotel for a day, Li Younan strolled through many famous locations in New York. Of course, this didn’t mean he was very familiar with the city; such sightseeing was mostly a fleeting, surface-level exploration.
He visited quite a few places, such as Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and the Brooklyn Bridge.
The locals hurried back and forth.
The speed at which New Yorkers walk is indeed world-famous, especially the office workers on Wall Street, all dressed sharply in suits, with the demeanor of city elites, moving so swiftly that once you stop, you become a moving obstacle.
Watching their hurried manner, Li Younan couldn’t help but think of his past self as a corporate slave.
People stuck in cubicles might also yearn for freedom, right?
Li Younan thought so boredly.
However, wandering around, he felt slightly disappointed afterward.
Because even though New York is the United States’ super metropolis, the content that can provide Li Younan with novel experiences is quite limited.
Standing there, he had a particularly strong feeling that after staying so long in Shanghai, there’s not much significant difference compared to New York.
When a city develops to a certain size, it mostly tends to resemble others.
It’s often said that the economic base determines the superstructure, and as these top cities develop, the final state they present, apart from cultural differences, their operational modes are almost indistinguishable.
To put it this way, after staying so long in Shanghai, integrating seamlessly into life here wouldn’t take long, but comparatively, the worse the economy, the more it can maintain its diversity.
This discovery gave Li Younan a very peculiar feeling.
Perhaps someone staying too long under the snow mountains in Tibetan Area and suddenly arriving at a seaside fishing village would marvel at how the aspects of life are vastly different, nearly overturning their life experiences entirely.
However, Shanghai and New York, on opposite sides of the globe, merely give the impression of moving from one city with a majority of Chinese speakers to another city with a majority of English speakers.
But... what kind of nonsensical thoughts am I having, the more places I visit, the more thoughts I have, it’s insane.
He laughed at himself for thinking this way, so these peculiar insights became just thoughts, returning to the depths of his mind.
Next, it was time to find some amusement for himself.
Sword Forging.
The core filming location of the Sword Forging Competition is in a studio in Brooklyn, New York City, providing a professionally safe forging environment.
In fact, when Li Younan turned on the TV in the hotel, it was even broadcasting this program.
The Sword Forging Competition is undoubtedly a very successful and popular show in the United States, having aired for over 10 years with several hundred episodes, and broadcasting on the History Channel, it’s probably the most successful original program on this channel.
Back at the hotel, Li Younan happened to watch an episode of the Sword Forging Competition.
The competition held in the studio was really quite lively.
This episode featured 8 swordsmiths, noisily hammering away.
Of course, the swordsmiths’ forging skills varied, but generally leaned towards clumsiness; at least more than half of them were quite clumsy, which added fun to the show.
Like quenching and breaking the blade’s edge, or during testing when a sword splits into flying pieces, forcing the judge Dali Ben to crouch and dodge awkwardly...
Sword Forging combines physical labor, artistic aesthetics, and technical expertise.
Honestly, in a place like the United States, you can practically purchase any indulgent experience you desire, but those extravagant things have never held any attraction for Li Younan.
Previously uninterested in low-brow entertainment, naturally, he wouldn’t have any interest now.
Sword Forging, however, is different; not only does it offer the joy of creation, but also the spiritual satisfaction brought on by others witnessing the creative process... commonly known as the pleasure of showing off.
Completing the tasks and gaining reputation points is secondary, the main thing is that he is truly interested in Sword Forging.
The first-round questions in the show are filled with entertaining elements; he imagined how he would approach such a question, what materials he would choose, and how the blade would be designed, what material would be used for the handle.
The forged blades, strictly from a practical perspective, are hard to match top industrial products.
However, when the patterns on the blade, the carvings on the handle, and its historical context are integrated, it becomes an artwork, and the value of artwork has never been about its practicality.
Li Younan couldn’t help but think, if he got involved and created a piece of artwork integrating painting, pottery, silversmithing, and other skills, seeing the surprised expressions on those foreigners would definitely be interesting.
So, he searched online for guidelines to participate in the Sword Forging Competition.
The qualifications to participate are quite simple, being able to cooperate with filming, having enough physical strength for timed forging challenges, having no criminal record, and being over 18 years of age.
Looking at it this way, being over 18 years old seems to be the main requirement.

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