Chapter 1198: Mithril Refining Workshop, Pure Silver Extraction

Very quickly, Xia Duo walked through the general layout of the Leisen Territory's Mithril Mine, especially the more typical mine shafts, and collected echo feedback data of the ore veins.

After leaving the mine, he was led by Pite and Stern to visit the ore crude refining workshop; in fact, this was an experience he had never had on Earth, and it all felt very novel to him.

Of course, this did not mean that Xia Duo had absolutely no understanding of ore smelting, only that his knowledge existed more in the form of text.

After finishing the tour of the ore crude refining workshop, the mine manager Pite left first, while Stern continued to lead Xia Duo on the tour:

"Lord Xia Duo, next we will head to the territory's newly built Mithril Refining Workshop!"

"Oh? Leisen Territory has already completed a Mithril Refining Workshop?"

Hearing Stern say the next stop was the Mithril Refining Workshop, Xia Duo immediately became interested; this was different from a general crude ore smelting workshop, which both Leisen Territory and Savile Territory had.

The Mithril Refining Workshop that Stern mentioned was very likely the first Mithril Refining Workshop on the surface in Netheril!

How could he miss this!

Xia Duo had indeed obtained Mithril Refining Technology in the 【Projection Plane: Arcane Empire】, and it even included the ritual spell 【Element Extraction】 used for refining High-Grade Mithril.

But at that time, when he was in the Projection Plane, he had indeed never seen a Mithril Refining Workshop; it was all textual material.

From textual material to implementation, if it were a spell, it wouldn't be a problem; as long as the spell details were not lost, there would be no deviation.

But for a refining method without Magic involvement, from technology to physical reality, there were at least two difficult hurdles to overcome: engineering and craftsmanship.

Now that such a Mithril Refining Workshop was placed before Xia Duo, even if it did not involve purification and was merely crude ore refining, and even if this was just the technology provided by the Seventon Council and differed from the Arcane Empire version.

It was still very much worth a look!

Perhaps because the Seventon Council had already unlocked and opened the Mithril Refining Technology to the public, this Mithril Refining Workshop in Leisen Territory was not placed in some hidden location.

Like inside a Mage Tower, or wrapped in some special Protection Spell.

Instead, it was not far from the mine, merely within the support range of a Mage Tower, without any extra protective measures.

Even the density of ordinary soldiers was no higher than at the mine, and was even lower.

Because unlike the mines and crude refining workshops visited earlier, which had a large number of Gnome slaves, the vast majority of those working here were humans, along with a few Dwarves.

Outside the workshop, from a long distance away, Xia Duo saw a pillar of gas with ghostly blue flames at the base shooting straight into the sky; the scene behind the gas pillar was fragmented.

Walking closer, he felt waves of heat constantly assaulting him; although it was only early spring, it felt even hotter than midsummer!

The weak Element Balance Domain inherent in the 【Crimson Shelter Robe】 on Xia Duo's body could not withstand such an "extreme" environment at all.

Just then, Stern began to introduce it again:

"Lord Xia Duo, this was originally a workshop for refining pure silver; it was just converted into a Mithril Refining Workshop the day before yesterday, because pure silver is needed during the Mithril refining process, so it was changed here."

"Pure silver?" Xia Duo was thoughtful.

If the Mithril Refining Technology released by the Seventon Council required pure silver, then it was very likely the same as the Arcane Empire version.

"Yes, it is pure silver."

Stern replied with this, but did not explain further, then reached out to gesture inside, "Lord Xia Duo, please come this way."

Following in Stern's footsteps, Xia Duo quickly toured the entire Mithril Refining Workshop, which had been converted from a pure silver refining workshop.

The workshop did not occupy a large area, about the size of half a football field, and most of it was occupied by facilities for pure silver refining.

The only thing related to Mithril refining was a gray-black cylindrical smelting furnace in the corner of the workshop.

The structure of this smelting furnace was not complex, but the design was quite ingenious, unlike the smelting furnaces for crude copper and silver that Xia Duo had just visited.

It was divided into three layers from top to bottom—

The bottom layer was the combustion layer, where the fuel was coal mixed with Ruby Powder; the layer above it was the reaction layer, the interior of which was entirely made of Adamantine, similar to a large Adamantine cup.

Above the reaction layer was the Energy Gathering layer, with an opening that gradually narrowed to concentrate heat.

Of course, these three layers all had openings on the sides for adding fuel, Mithril ore, and collecting crude Mithril lumps.

Xia Duo stood in front of the smelting furnace for a long time, watching with his own eyes as shovel after shovel of Mithril ore was sent into the furnace through the opening in the Energy Gathering layer.

He also saw piece after piece of crude Mithril lumps being fished out by craftsmen from the molten metal liquid in the Adamantine cup of the reaction layer.

After these crude lumps cooled, the Mithril ore that had not yet fully reacted was picked out and thrown back into the furnace through the opening in the Energy Gathering layer; the rest also had to be sorted to remove impurities, and only true Mithril lumps would be collected for further refining.

Just seeing these processes, Xia Duo felt he had gained a lot; the Council version of the Mithril Refining Technology was indeed very similar to the Arcane Empire version.

Both used pure silver in a molten, boiling state to soak the Mithril ore, dissolving the Mithril within to generate 【Silver-Mithril】 lumps.

A key step in this was keeping the pure silver in a molten, boiling state for a long time, which required extremely high temperatures.

The Mithril Refining Technology Xia Duo obtained from the Projection Plane did not mention a specific plan for how to achieve this state, only that this state was required.

After all, the Mithril Refining Technology he obtained was merely a "popular science" version shown to students in the Magic Academy, not an engineering and craftsmanship plan truly used for industrial production.

Although Xia Duo had not yet purchased the Council version of the Mithril Refining Technology from the Seventon Council, he could imagine that it certainly could not have a complete production process.

It should just be a simple introductory manual!

As for specific implementation, the lord who bought the technology would have to find a way themselves.

With the so-called "industrial strength" of the Savile Territory, it was not enough to build a Mithril Refining Workshop; to say nothing else, the fuel alone was very difficult to handle.

Ruby Powder could indeed be converted into fire elements at high temperatures to continue increasing the temperature, but the ratio was each family's secret.

Even if one knew the fuel ratio, it was not easy to start a furnace; first, one needed a lot of ore, otherwise it was not worth it at all.

As for Ruby Powder, that was secondary; the smaller the Gemstone, the lower the price, and Netheril was not short of various Gemstone powders, as many inks originally required the addition of Gemstone powder.

Now, even with one more use, the price might not necessarily rise much.