Li Yuan was very surprised. From the first day Bai Qi ran to the Big Punishment Kiln to observe blacksmiths selecting materials, stoking fires, and forging, he noticed that this young man seemed very enthusiastic about ironworking.
But as the foremost Master Craftsman in Yihai Prefecture, Master Li judged from intuition that Bai Qilang lacked the talent to become an artisan.
In the realm of craftsmanship, innate talent is crucial if one wishes to achieve greatness.
Otherwise, even a lifetime's learning amounts to no more than mediocrity.
When Li Yuan himself was an apprentice, he only needed to assist his master seven times to learn how to forge the cheapest ten-refinement steel knife.
This is talent!
In just three short years, he leaped from apprentice to a registered craftsman who could independently forge standardized weapons with fifty-refinements.
