He placed the complete rabbit skin fur-side down, spreading it flat on a clean stone slab. Then, he inverted the rectangular wooden piston head onto the center of the rabbit skin.

First, he used some heavy stones to weigh down the piston head, preventing any movement. Then, with a length of steel wire tripwire, he used a cross-stitch method similar to sewing leather boots to pull up the edges of the rabbit skin, wrapping it tightly around the side of the piston head, and folding it over the top.

Once all the tripwires were tightened, the entire side of the piston head was encased in a complete layer of rabbit skin.

The soft, fluffy rabbit fur naturally spread outwards, forming a perfect, self-adjusting sealing "skirting."

A piston head with a perfect sealing ring was now ready.

He moved to the other side of the fishing float box, carefully creating an opening just big enough for the piston rod to pass through using a red-hot steel rod.

Then, he placed the piston head, complete with the rabbit skin seal, into the box interior from the top.

At this moment, the entire structure of the bellows was clear.

An almost sealed box, with a strong outlet on one end and a connecting rod extending from the internal piston on the other.

(Note: Similar structure)

Having completed the piston, he began addressing the large wooden top cover.

He fitted the top cover snugly onto the box's opening, securing it firmly with more nylon rope to form a completely sealed box.

Under the ink-black night, two fires burned tirelessly inside and outside Lin Yu'an's shelter.

One was a campfire providing continuous heat to the "dry distillation tank," and the other was a fireplace bringing warmth and light inside the shelter.

Lin Yu'an hadn't gone to sleep yet, awaiting the cooling of the first barrel of charcoal.

The extreme shortage of fuel meant he couldn't afford any slack; he had to ensure the barrel of charcoal formed all at once!

The next day, when the sun ascended to its zenith, it was already noon.

The charcoal barrel had completely cooled; as he moved the soapstone top away, a dry and pure carbon scent rushed out!

"Black gold!"

Inside the box, the once-full box of birch wood pieces had now transformed into charcoal, retaining the wood's texture but extremely light in weight, completely black and producing a crisp sound upon knocking.

He carefully calculated that the combined production from two boxes was approximately two and a half kilograms.

"Slightly better than expected, but still no room for error."

Then, he didn't hesitate any longer; forging officially began.

He moved the large, flat granite chosen as the "anvil" to the optimal spot, just a step away from the forge's operating mouth.

He also placed the large barrel of ice water for quenching on the other side of the anvil.

Forge, anvil, water bucket—these three formed an efficient work triangle, allowing him to complete the fastest actions with minimal movement in the upcoming operations.

Next was preheating the furnace, and he didn't immediately place the precious charcoal inside. Instead, he first lit a small fire inside the forge using some flammable dry grass and fine firewood.

Then, he steadily and rhythmically pushed and pulled the bellows, using a mild airflow to gradually and evenly raise the furnace's temperature.

"Before officially starting, the entire furnace chamber must be completely preheated."

Lin Yu'an's voice resonated amidst the rhythmic breathing of the bellows, exceedingly calm: "This serves two purposes: one is to completely expel any remaining moisture within the soapstone and clay, preventing structural damage during the subsequent rapid heating."

"The second is to store enough heat throughout the furnace body. A scorching furnace can greatly reduce heat loss when adding charcoal later, ensuring each piece of fuel performs to its maximum value."

Under the flame's toasting, the soapstone liner and outer layer stones began to emit waves of heat, completely expelling the residual moisture inside.

About half an hour later, when the whole forge was scorching hot, he cleared out the remaining firewood ashes.

Now, it was the protagonist's turn—charcoal.

Using wooden tongs, he closely stacked the largest pieces of charcoal at the bottom and sides of the furnace, forming a long, U-shaped bed of charcoal that could perfectly contain the heat.

Then he grasped the bellows' rod again, and this time his actions were no longer gentle.

"Hoo—ss! Hoo—ss!"

The bellows began emitting a heavy and powerful roar! Strong gusts of air were precisely injected into the core of the charcoal pile through the plastic tube nozzle.

The charcoal, originally dark black, activated instantly under the massive influx of oxygen! They began emitting crackling sounds, with their color rapidly shifting from red to yellow, and the light becoming increasingly dazzling.

The entire forge began to emit a low hum.

Light from within the furnace shone through the operating mouth's gap, casting a flickering orange hue onto the snow beneath his feet.

Once the entire charcoal bed reached a stable and dazzling bright yellow, he stopped blowing.

He didn't touch the frigid steel rod directly; he walked to the side and picked up the tool specially prepared for this—a simple long-handled clamp.

He found two birch sticks about a meter long, used the Hunting Knife to carve a groove on one end, and clamped the steel rod in between. Then he used some annealed steel wire tripwire to wrap and bind them tightly together.

Now, the cold steel rod had a long, meter-length, heat-resistant, and sturdy wooden handle.

He grasped the handle's end with both hands, steadily inserting the front 10 centimeters or so of the steel rod into the roaring charcoal bed through the operating mouth.

Then, he started blowing again.

All of Lin Yu'an's attention was focused on the gap in the operating mouth; he squinted his eyes, staring intently through the narrow slit at the small section of steel rod engulfed by the fire.

Time ticked by. The color of the steel rod began to change, heating swiftly from a cold gray-black to a dark red. As he continued blowing, the red became increasingly bright. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Not yet."

He continued operating the bellows stably, and finally, the red faded away, replaced by a brighter cherry red color.

"The temperature is approaching."

He didn't stop; the bellows' roar grew louder, and the light inside the furnace became too bright to look at directly.

Finally, at a certain moment, the heated tip of the steel rod blossomed into an orange-yellow glow akin to the noonday sun!

"Now!"

Without hesitation, he let go of the bellows rod, tightly grasping the long handle's end and pulling the sizzling steel rod out through the operating mouth!

The scorching heatwave hit him, but he was far enough not to be affected.

Without pausing, he dashed to the work site's center, to the large, flat piece of granite he chose as the "anvil!"

He pressed the heated tip of the steel rod firmly and solidly against the cold granite surface of the anvil.

As the hot metal contacted the cold stone, a faint "ssss" sounded, and slight steam rose.

His left hand pressed the long handle firmly, holding the glowing metal stably on the anvil, precisely adjusting its angle.

Meanwhile, his right hand lifted the hefty Forest Axe, using its flat back to strike hard at the glowing orange metal, as if still in the middle of flowing!

"Thud!"

A dull, heavy, and deafening noise boomed across the silent snowy plains!

This sound was no longer the slightly crisp metallic clatter of earlier but a powerful resonance born from the communion of steel and anvil!

Countless sparks, like fireflies, sputtered from the metal caught between the axe back and anvil, some landing on the surrounding snow, instantly melting into small black spots.

The anvil stood firm like Mount Tai, absorbing and rebounding every hammering strike's immense power perfectly.

He didn't pause, his arm muscles bulging, and with a forceful, rhythmic cadence full of power, he began a series of continuous strikes!

"Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!"

Each strike hit the precise spot, with his left hand continuously readjusting the long handle, making the steel rod roll slowly on the anvil to ensure each strike could uniformly act on the entire circumference.

The circular steel rod began to yield and deform under his sledgehammer-like blows.

The originally round cross-section, supported by the hard, flat surface of the anvil, was gradually hammered flat, expanding sideways.