Xiao Lin, the new factory director of Longquan Sword Factory, is superstitious about German laser cutting machines and forces out Zhao Tiezhu, an veteran craftsman of thirty years. Before delivery, the machine-made sword snaps instantly upon touching a solid pig iron pillar, and a ten-million-yuan order is on the verge of cancellation. Letting go of past grievances, Old Zhao brings back the quenching old mud discarded as garbage, and leads his fellow workers through day and night of hammering, tempering, and clay-tempering to forge a real sword that cuts iron like mud and cleaves the iron pillar with a single stroke. Completely won over, Xiao Lin kneels to take him as his master, declaring from then on that assembly lines make products while iron hammers forge sword souls, as traditional craftsmanship and new technology walk side by side.