Chapter 501: Dust to dust, earth to earth

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Metalworking, an extremely ancient craft, originated even before recorded history.

Until thousands of years ago, human knowledge about iron, the most abundant metallic element on Earth, was almost non-existent.

The Ancient Egyptians and Sumerians both believed iron could only come from meteorites, a gift from the gods in heaven.

Even after civilizations discovered methods of iron-smelting, entering the so-called Iron Age, they still didn't know how to consistently produce iron that was both strong and not prone to brittleness.

Iron tools were too fragile, too soft, and not sharp, far inferior to copper.

Until a great nation discovered steel, they swung their hammers again and again, sweating and bleeding as they forged the sufficiently stable Hundred-refined Steel.

This piece of black metal finally took center stage as the protagonist.