From the perspective of material selection, what are the materials used to make the Heaven-Piercing Sword and the Dragon-Slaying Blade?

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This post was last edited by GiantStone_YYVE on 2019-4-5 at 22:49. The latest version of \"The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber\" is currently popular. While watching the drama, I suddenly had a question: from the perspective of material selection, what are the materials used to make the Heaven-Supporting Sword and the Dragon-Slaying Blade? The original novel \"The Legend of the Condor Heroes\" states that the materials used to create the Sword of Heaven and the Dragon Slaying Knife came from Yang Guo’s black iron sword; after Yang Guo retired, he gave this sword to Guo Jing and Huang Rong so that they could use it to resist the Mongol invasions. It was the late Song dynasty, and when the Mongols invaded, Guo Jing and Huang Rong called on all martial artists from across the land to defend Xiangyang to the death, but it was already too late to turn the situation around. Seeing that the city was about to fall, they invited an expert to melt meteoric iron swords together with the fine metals of the Western Regions, thereby forging the Dragon Slaying Sword and the Heaven-Reaching Sword. Yang Guo’s black iron sword weighed only 64 jin; after it was divided into separate parts, the Dragon Slaying Sword alone weighed nearly 100 jin. It seems that quite a lot of alloy was added. However, since there are no documents confirming the quality of these materials, nothing is recorded regarding what alloy elements were used or in what quantities. Guo Jing and Huang Rong hid the Nine Yin Manual, the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, and the Wumu Testament (Yue Fei’s life story and military strategies) in those two weapons respectively. The Sword of Heaven contains the \"Nine Yin Manual\" and the \"Essentials of the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms,\" while the Dragon Slaying Blade holds the \"Wu Mu’s Legacy.\" Rumors were spread throughout the martial arts world that \"the supreme master of the martial arts wields the Dragon Slaying Blade; his orders are obeyed by all, and without the Sword of Heaven, no one can rival him.\" The original novel \"The Legend of the Condor Heroes\" states: \"He wiped the Dragon Slaying Sword clean and examined it closely by the raging fire.\" The sword appeared dark in color; it was neither made of gold nor iron, and it was unclear what material it was made from. Previously, the three birds from Changbai had used fierce flames to temper it, yet the sword remained untouched at all – it was indeed a strange material. He thought, \"Such a heavy sword – how can one use it effectively in battle?\" Prince Guan possesses extraordinary strength, and his Green Dragon Crescent Blade weighs only 81 jin. ” The book also states that in addition to being extremely sharp, the Heaven-Defying Sword and the Dragon-Slaying Blade possess strong magnetism, allowing them to attract projectiles such as iron balls when swung. According to the descriptions in the book, the material properties of the Heaven-Supporting Sword and the Dragon-Slaying Blade can be summarized as follows: 1. They are dark in color with a redish glow on their surface, and they possess magnetic properties (able to attract the enemy’s hidden weapons). This basically rules out stainless steel materials. Although martensitic stainless steel is magnetic, its color is not black. 2. High density. Since the Sword and Blade needed to have a hollow structure in order to house the \"Nine Yin Manual\", the \"Essentials of the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms\", and the \"Wu Mu’s Legacy\", they were still very heavy, which shows their high density. This rules out light alloy series such as aluminum-magnesium alloys and titanium alloys. Moreover, after checking, the Brinell hardness of aluminum alloy is 150 HB, which is similar to that of mild steel. This is clearly inconsistent with the Sword of Heaven’s ability to cut through iron as if it were mud. 3. High melting point. After the Sword of Heaven and the Dragon Slaying Blade were broken, when the Ming Sect tried to repair them by using high heat, even the pliers warped from the heat, yet the Dragon Slaying Blade did not melt. 4. High hardness and high mechanical strength (it can cut through iron as easily as butter after being sharpened) – this is the most surprising aspect. The technician from the manufacturing plant said that the wielder of the Yi Tian Sword could cut through iron as if it were mud with just a single swing; even high-powered plasma cutters or laser cutters do not have such a fast cutting speed. However, considering that iron in ancient times was impure, it seems possible as long as the hardness is appropriate. Based on these characteristics, it is preliminarily inferred that the material of the Heaven-Piercing Sword and the Dragon-Slaying Blade might be some kind of alloy. Baidu states that meteorites are the main source of meteoric iron, which contains large amounts of tungsten, cobalt, and nickel. According to the description of its properties, it has a hard texture, is heavy, emits a faint red glow, and is magnetic. In terms of chemical composition, cast iron and high-speed steel have similar compositions; however, it is unknown where this magnetism comes from, and there are doubts as to whether ancient heat treatment techniques could be used to treat high-speed steel. However, high-speed steel is essentially an iron alloy with specific compositions; as long as the composition is correct, quenching can be achieved with a certain degree of probability. Analyzing the alloys that are currently known, there are many black alloys that can achieve high hardness; for example, tungsten, cobalt, tantalum, and niobium-based hard alloys coated with titanium nitride, titanium carbide, and similar materials. However, few of these alloys have a high melting point, and such properties are found only in certain heat-resistant alloys, such as cerium-tungsten alloys, as well as iridium, molybdenum, and platinum alloys. But if it is a tungsten alloy, tungsten has no magnetism ； Platinum-iron alloys are also magnetic and can be modified through doping, but their melting point is a bit low (under 2000 degrees). As for their color, it can be changed. In summary, as stated in the book: Guo Jing and Huang Rong asked an expert to combine meteoric iron swords with precious metals from the Western Regions, thereby forging the Dragon Slaying Sword and the Heaven-Piercing Sword. The western part of our country is rich in rare earth minerals; the Dragon-Slaying Sword and the Heaven-Reaching Sword are likely to be metal carbide nanocomposite materials with rare earth elements added.