Similarly, Dali Ben also needed to forge Damascus steel, so after removing the spring steel, he also took a few pieces of high-strength screw steel from under the engine cover.
Compared to Dali Ben and Brother Liu, who had already completed their material collection, Hu Jixi was still drawing the blueprint, and his first step was designing the knife.
On the commentary seat, Nelson’s gaze lingered on the spring steel in Dali Ben’s hand, and he said to Beck next to him, "Honestly, if it were me, I would also choose spring steel."
Beck nodded, "Indeed, the performance of spring steel is definitely the best you can find on this car."
Dog, who did not understand forging, stood near them and commented, "You two are right, but the final results will only be known after testing if it’s Q or not."
By the time Dali Ben had already gotten his steel, Li Younan finally began to act.
The judges’ words naturally reached the ears of every contestant, and Li Younan walked to the car and said seriously to the judges’ bench, "I disagree with your viewpoint... the best performing steel is spring steel."
Upon hearing this, Nelson and Beck both showed expressions of surprise.
Compared to Nelson’s relatively mild temperament, Beck was a rather arrogant swordsmith, and he laughed, "You’ll have to forge it to convince us, so which part’s steel are you planning to use?"
Li Younan opened the car hood, looking at the complex pipe structure in the engine cabin, and said, "No one understands cars better than I do."
"He talks like Trump..." Beck commented.
Next, Li Younan planned to disassemble a part of the car that was relatively hard to dismantle.
And unless one really understood cars well, one likely wouldn’t think of using the steel from this part, which was the crankshaft connecting rod.
Upon seeing the engine cabin, others would first notice the aluminum alloy casing of the cylinder block, and wouldn’t think about the connecting rods nestled between pistons and crankshaft, one end connected to a piston, the other to the crankshaft, which was the most suitable part for Sword Forging in this car.
Of course, disassembling the crankshaft connecting rod is a troublesome task.
But what do these swordsmiths know about cars?
The tools in the Sword Forging workshop were truly comprehensive, even including professional disassembly tools.
Li Younan swiftly removed the engine guard, drained the oil, and took off the oil pan, before finally reaching the crankshaft connecting rods.
At that moment, Hu Jixi had already finished designing his knife and came over to dismantle steel.
Upon seeing this, Li Younan directly called Hu over to help him, and unabashedly said, "You’re really lucky, sticking with me, I’ll give you the best materials."
Hu Jixi was someone who loved learning a lot; he learned many skills on the spot while forging. He was a bit curious about Li Younan’s disassembly work, but it didn’t take him long to make a decision, and he decisively came over to help Li Younan.
With Hu’s help, the disassembly steps of the engine proceeded smoothly under Li Younan’s command.
Soon, the two of them extracted six crankshaft connecting rods from this high-performance engine.
The number of cylinders determines the number of connecting rods.
The six connecting rods were arranged neatly; although collecting materials took some time, handling such complete steel was more time-saving than dealing with spring steel and screw steel.
Li Younan didn’t care at all about the oil on his hands, took three connecting rods, and gave the other three to Hu Jixi, then said to the three guys at the judges’ bench, "This crankshaft material is 4340-grade alloy steel, which is a nickel-chromium-molybdenum medium-carbon alloy steel that combines high strength and high toughness."
Seeing Li Younan’s achievement, both Nelson and Beck couldn’t help but laugh.
Though the two of them didn’t understand cars, they certainly understood 4340-grade alloy steel.
This type of steel’s fatigue and impact resistance are very excellent, suitable for making tools that can withstand complex stresses. Its toughness is stronger than shock-absorbing spring steel, and its strength surpasses screw steel. Indeed, as Li Younan said, the crankshaft connecting rod steel is the best.
So, all four of them acquired their materials and started the official forging process.
Li Younan placed the acquired crankshaft steel on the table; next, he also needed to conduct rough processing on the steel.
He cut the connecting rods into sections, then used a grinder to remove oil stains and oxide skin, followed by a series of hydrochloric acid soak, cleaning, rinsing, and wiping to ensure purity.
During this hiatus, he continued to watch the other people’s forging with great interest.
Li Younan wasn’t in the least bit hurried.
Three hours seemed short, but actually, it wasn’t short at all.
However, as possibly the most prestigious Sword Forging master of all time, Li Younan could almost predict how long it would take him to forge this knife.
So others’ frantic rush didn’t impact his calm and skillful pace.
After handling the steel, Li Younan took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and once more pondered the weapon he was going to forge.
Even the upcoming steps, down to how temperatures should be controlled, how forging should be arranged, and at what temperature quenching should be done, were exhaustively detailed in his mind before he reopened his eyes.
And the first round of forging didn’t require the use of the Damascus forging method; Li Younan chose the traditional Chinese Sword Forging technique—Baolian steel forging method!
...
Because of the sensational popularity of the Sword Forging Competition show, the Damascus Sword Forging technique became famous worldwide. However, very few people know that China not only has techniques comparable to the Damascus Sword Forging process, but also four major technique systems that can rival the Damascus forging method.

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