Studying at Western University starts with a knife-forging competition

Lin Yuan stood up from the bar stool. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, "Professor, I will do my best in the match."

"I know." Robert turned back to the old chair, picked up the journal again, and gestured with his chin toward the door. "Go ahead. Send me a message after the match."

"it is good."

Lin Yuan picked up his backpack and walked to the door, pausing for a moment as he placed his hand on the doorknob.

"professor."

"Um?"

Thanks.

Robert didn't look up, but simply turned a page of the magazine, his voice as calm as ever: "You're welcome. Remember to bring me a souvenir t-shirt from the show; my wife loves watching it."

Lin Yuan smiled and opened the door.

January sunlight streamed in through the high windows, cool but bright.

He stood at the door, took a deep breath, tightened the backpack strap on his shoulder, and strode towards the dormitory.

The plane took off at 3 p.m. from Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport to Atlanta, a flight of less than an hour.

Matt drove him to the airport, and unusually, instead of playing those noisy game streams, he played a classical rock album that he'd somehow found, with the volume just loud enough to hear without having to shout.

"Let me know when you get there." Matt gripped the steering wheel, his eyes fixed on the road ahead, his tone as casual as if he were discussing what to eat tomorrow.

"OK."

"Can I bring my phone to the game?"

"I don't know. Probably not."

"I'll send it after the competition." Matt parked the car on the side of the road at the departure level of the terminal, pulled the handbrake, turned to look at Lin Yuan, and said, "Send it to me after the competition. I can send it whenever I want, even at three in the morning."

Lin Yuan unbuckled his seatbelt.

"You weren't asleep at 3 a.m. to begin with."

"That's why I said I could see it." Matt grinned. "Alright, go ahead."

Lin Yuan opened the car door, took his backpack from the back seat, and slung it over his shoulder. South Carolina winters aren't cold at all; the sun shines on the tarmac, and there's a faint smell of aviation fuel in the air.

He glanced back at the security checkpoint. Matt's car was still parked on the side of the road, the window rolled down, and an arm was draped over the window frame. Seeing him turn around, Matt raised his hand and waved.

Lin Yuan waved and then turned and walked into the terminal.

It was already dark when the plane landed in Atlanta.

Looking out the porthole, the city lights stretched into a golden net in the twilight, extending all the way to the horizon.

Lin Yuan walked out of the terminal with his backpack and waited for a few minutes on the arrival level. A black van with the program crew's logo pulled up on the side of the road.

The driver was a Black man in his forties, wearing a black polo shirt from the show with the "Sword Forging Competition" logo printed on the chest. He helped Lin Yuan put his backpack in the trunk, and grinned as he opened the car door, revealing a set of white teeth.

"Is this your first time on TV?"

Lin Yuan was taken aback.

"You can tell?"

"Sure." The driver started the car, glancing at him in the rearview mirror with a smile. "Every contestant who comes for the first time has this expression—their eyes are always looking out the window, but not at the night view."

The car drove out of the airport and turned onto the highway leading to the city.

Lin Yuan leaned against the car window, watching the streetlights and GG license plates flash by outside, without saying anything or taking out his phone to check.

He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and calmed his breathing.

The tension is still there. But his father once said that being nervous before going on stage is a good sign; it means the body is preparing for something important.

Once you're actually on stage, hammer in hand, and the fire in the furnace is lit, the tension transforms into something else—focus, precision, and ensuring every hammer blow lands in the right spot.

The van stopped in front of a hotel outside Atlanta. The driver helped him with his luggage and pointed towards the hotel lobby.

"Just give your name at the front desk. The production team has already checked you in. A car will pick you up at 2 PM tomorrow to take you to the film and television base."

Thanks.

"You're welcome. By the way—" The driver paused before opening the car door, and Chong Linyuan smiled, "I've driven contestants through several seasons. Those who were nervous actually went further. Because they cared. Good luck."

Lin Yuan walked into the hotel lobby with his backpack and looked around under the soft, warm lighting.

Several fiddle-leaf fig trees were placed in a corner of the lobby, and black-and-white photographs of downtown Atlanta were hung on the wall.

He went to the front desk, gave his name, and the receptionist handed him a room key and a note left by the production team—it had the meeting time and precautions for tomorrow written on it, and the handwriting was so neat that it looked like the line spacing had been measured with a ruler.

The elevator went up to the seventh floor. The corridor was covered with dark gray carpets, and the wall lamps emitted a lukewarm orange light.

Lin Yuan swiped his card to open the door, put his backpack on the luggage rack, and checked the room first—the window faced south and could see the Atlanta skyline in the distance; the air conditioning was at a comfortable temperature and was quiet; the hot water in the bathroom came on quickly.

He was used to going through these details, just like he would check the condition of the equipment and tools before each forging process. He would control what he could control first, and leave the rest to his improvisation.

Then he sat on the edge of the bed and opened the system panel.

[Forging (Approx. Master Level): 1/100000]

Main Quest: Trial of Fire. Objective: Win the regular season of the "Forging Competition". Reward: Unlock proficiency, fully unlock Master-level forging skill, and receive 1 random special forging blueprint.

The proficiency level is still locked.

But that doesn't matter—over the past week or so, he has figured it out. In his near-master level state, he can use all the abilities a master should have. His feel for the game is there, his vision is there, and that feeling that his father called "knowing what he's doing" is there too.

The only difference is that the system is not fully unlocked yet; it will have to wait until he wins the regular season.

He turned off the panel and took the leather bundle containing the apprentice forging hammer from his backpack and placed it on the bedside table.

The weight of the hammer could be felt even through the leather of the rolled-up bag, like a hand firmly resting on his shoulder.

He pulled back a corner of the blanket, went to the bathroom to wash up, lay on the bed facing the ceiling, closed his eyes, relaxed his mind, and began to mentally rehearse the process of the competition.

First, there are the materials.

The question may provide a limited set of materials, or the student may choose the materials themselves. If the student chooses the materials themselves, they should use 1084 high-carbon steel as the base and add 15N20 for composite forging if necessary.

The forging temperature needs to be precisely controlled so that the change in flame color can be clearly seen; if it is a composite forging, the edge perception of the superimposed heat forging can ensure that the bonding surface between the two steels does not oxidize or contain inclusions during forging.

He knew the quenching cooling rate curve well, and the quenching spirit could control the stress distribution inside the material to an ideal state during the quenching process.

The tempering temperature and holding time can be flexibly adjusted according to the purpose of the knife. He has found his own set of judgment criteria for the balance between hardness and toughness in the past few days of practice - not the standard parameters taught in books, but the judgment experience obtained after combining the perception of the changes in the internal structure of steel by tempering.

The final step is blade polishing. From coarse grinding to fine grinding, he follows the principles emphasized by Robert when switching between each grit, ensuring that each grit is done properly, so that the blade surface will naturally present its proper texture.

After completing this mental rehearsal, Lin Yuan turned over, pulled the blanket up to his shoulder height, and closed his eyes.

He could feel himself moving forward. It wasn't the system's proficiency numbers that were changing; it was that after the three threads—theory, craftsmanship, and system skills—were twisted together, a stronger force emerged from within, like the crisp sound of a forged composite steel billet being hammered at its first impact after being reheated.

Registration is tomorrow afternoon. The competition starts the day after tomorrow.

He is ready.