The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 785 Shen Le, you're finally in my hands! Get to work!
"You're finally here!"

"How long has it been since you last came!"

"You're finally in my hands! Come on, get back to work!"

As soon as Shen Le stepped into the secret realm of Jingdezhen, he was immediately met with a triple combo from the porcelain demon Mr. Zhao.

Unfortunately, although Shen Le had deciphered the internal talismanic structure of Azi, he still lacked experience in firing this type of porcelain ritual implement.

To succeed on the first try, or rather, to succeed as quickly as possible, Shen Le had no choice but to bite the bullet and make a pilgrimage to the secret mountain in Jingdezhen. Faced with Mr. Zhao's request, Shen Le could only force a smile:
"Please help, please help, I'll definitely help. By the way, how's the development of the production line for making magical artifacts going?"

"Making the porcelain blanks is no problem! But firing them, and controlling the fire, that's something I have to do—since you're here, why don't you take over controlling the fire for me for a bit!"

"Alright, alright, fine, I'll stay here all day and help you tend the fire for two hours each day." When you're in a difficult situation, you have to back down, so Shen Le decisively softened his tone:

"We only have two hours, no more. We have a very important mission here!"

"Aren't our tasks heavy enough?! Two hours is nothing! We work three shifts a day! No, you have to cover at least one shift!"

"One shift? Eight hours?!" Shen Le was completely stunned.

"Eight hours to help you with the fire, eight hours to do research, and then eight hours to sleep—I don't even have enough time to eat! I really only have two hours!"

"Then leave!" Mr. Zhao declared matter-of-factly. Relying on his status as a porcelain demon, he didn't need to eat or sleep, and could work 24/7 without stopping. He truly kept a close eye on one kiln after another—

At its most intense, eight porcelain kilns, operating simultaneously from eight directions, surrounded him. He stood alone in the middle, directing the little porcelain spirits as they busily added firewood, started the fire, adjusted the airflow, and modified various parameters.

For several days straight, he didn't close his eyes, and the pressure was immense—even though "needing to sleep" wasn't part of his routine, the constant mental strain made him feel he needed a complete overhaul.

She needs to be held by a pair of gentle hands, soaked in 30-degree warm water for 30 minutes, and then cleaned from head to toe with a soft sponge dipped in 50 to 60-degree water.

Dry it, place it in a room with constant temperature and humidity, dim the lights to avoid direct sunlight, and let it rest properly. Avoid subjecting it to high temperatures, dust, and vibrations...

"I haven't even asked you to help manage a kiln fire, from lighting it to opening it! I'm only asking you to cover one shift, what can't you do?"

“I really can’t keep up with the shift! -- How about you clear out a kiln for me? I’ve recently mastered a method for firing porcelain quickly using spirit fire. I’ll try and see if I can fire one piece every two hours?”

That's certainly possible. From the start of firing to the cooling of the kiln and the removal of the porcelain, it takes at least five, six, seven, or eight days for a kiln to be filled.

If Shen Le can reduce the porcelain firing time to two hours, then it's equivalent to him working over a dozen shifts at once...

Bargaining, bargaining. Shen Le acquired a kiln and, eager to get started, began using his spiritual fire to help fire the porcelain tower;
Mr. Zhao carefully and attentively looked at the blueprints provided by Shen Le, watching the staff work diligently.

Two groups of people worked together: one group made the pottery by hand, and the other group designed the production line, modeled and replicated the porcelain blank production method, and gradually built up the pottery house.

The group that made the items by hand finished their task first, and carefully pushed them to Mr. Zhao in a cart. Mr. Zhao inspected them, found no problems, and turned to look at the pottery house:

"Ah Zi, did you see what I made? What do you think? Is there anything that needs to be changed?"

"Can't you see me? Can't see clearly? Are you ignoring me?"

"Seriously, Shen Le, how come your child is so unlikable! I'm porcelain, and he's pottery; we should be family. Why doesn't he talk to me at all!"

Shen Le: "..."

He sat cross-legged, his spiritual energy spreading throughout the kiln and the flames, controlling the rudimentary form of the clay as it gradually transformed into hard porcelain, while simultaneously preserving its spiritual essence.

He heard every word Mr. Zhao muttered and complained about, but he didn't reply to a single one.

Sorry, I'm busy firing porcelain. Please let Mr. Zhao dance for a bit; I'll reply once he's finished!
For Mr. Zhao, the most important thing was to speed up the firing of the porcelain tower; all other tasks were unimportant.

Burn one item, failed, it exploded.

Another one was fired, but it failed. The glaze did not flow evenly, which prevented the array on the tower from perfectly converting power.

Burning another one failed again. There was a passageway inside, but the spiritual energy was misdirected, causing the formation to malfunction...

fall!
This success rate is equivalent to him working an eight-hour shift!

Fortunately, the fourth attempt was finally successful. Shen Le briefly summarized his experience, made a few notes, and leisurely strolled over, touching the pottery house and listening intently to its "speak":

“Azi said that although it became a spiritual artifact relatively late, it was forged much earlier than you! You keep calling it a child, and it's not happy about that!”

Mr. Zhao: "!!!"

Why is it calculated based on the time it was made?
The age of a magical artifact is not always calculated based on the time it took to cultivate into a demon, but at least it should be calculated based on the time it gained self-awareness, right?

"Shen Le, this is your child, you must teach it well!" He was heartbroken, almost wanting to beat his chest in despair.

"You have to tell the artifact how to calculate its age..."

"Oh, that's not how it is in our house." Shen Le spread his hands innocently.
“Our children have their own way of ranking themselves, not based on when I woke them up…”

Mr. Zhao was stunned, his porcelain-white face almost cracking with glaze.

But with the important matter at hand, he could only swallow his anger, muttering "So what if it's an old relic?" while directing the little porcelain fairies to get to work.

"Carry the porcelain blank in! Be careful, make sure it's stable! Don't let it tip over!"

"Raise it! Raise it! No, lower it a little more. This is pottery, not porcelain. The fire required is different!"

"What do we do when we don't have support pins or a sagger? We just have to make do!"

He urged the small porcelain bowls, plates, and bottles to roll around on the ground, fearing that if they were even slightly wrong, they would be subjected to a barrage of scolding.

After finally securing the items, he stuffed in a large pile of pottery blanks to be fired. Mr. Zhao circled the kiln, his handsome face gradually turning serious.
"Let me make this clear first, this is the first time I've ever burned this thing!"

He held a pair of gleaming fire-detecting needles in his hand, constantly probing them into various parts of the kiln:
“I’ve adjusted the clay ratio and controlled the drying process, but pottery and porcelain are a bit different, and this is the first time I’ve seen the magic array inside. I can’t guarantee it will work!” “Do your best and leave the rest to fate.” At this point, Shen Le also stopped joking and nodded solemnly.

“Mr. Zhao, please feel free to do as you please. Just tell me if you need my cooperation.”

"Then... how about some spirit jade first? I don't care about wages for my work, but I'll really be in trouble if I don't have spiritual energy! The spirit-gathering array the Special Affairs Bureau gave me is good, but I have a whole family to support..."

Shen Le generously pulled out a large box. He didn't have anything else, but he had plenty of spirit jade—single-crystal silicon cubes specially refined by the Special Affairs Bureau, placed in Yun Kun's cabin, where Yun Kun absorbed nuclear reactor energy and converted it into spiritual power.

My adorable little Yun Kun is always worried that he will run out of spiritual energy, so I bring him a whole bunch of it every time I go home!

With the supply of spirit jade, Mr. Zhao immediately went all out to work, monitoring the changes inside the kiln 24 hours a day.

Shen Le wasn't idle either. Not only did he sense everything simultaneously, but at crucial moments, he also activated his own spiritual fire, cooperating with the kiln fire controlled by Mr. Zhao to carefully fire the kiln:
Work harder!
Strive for success on the first try!
The first firing lasted for three whole days. Mr. Zhao didn't leave the kiln for a single moment. The little porcelain sprites ran around, throwing firewood, pulling out firewood, fanning the fire, and moving the pottery pieces in the kiln to make up the order. They were extremely busy.

When the kiln was opened, the rising steam condensed into the shape of auspicious clouds and lingzhi mushrooms, while a soft, metallic sound emanated from within. Mr. Zhao clapped his hands and smiled:

"A good omen! A good omen! This time there will definitely be no problem!"

Shen Le couldn't laugh. He didn't even need to probe with his spiritual power to sense that something was wrong inside—the spiritual energy wasn't flowing in the way he needed.

Once the kiln temperature had dropped enough to allow entry, the little porcelain sprites burrowed under the slab and, with a series of rustling sounds, brought out the newly fired pottery house. What came into view was a shockingly huge crack on the side of the pottery house!

It runs straight from the roof to the foundation. Even a complete novice can see that:

This thing is beyond saving...

"Tsk! The internal support is still insufficient; the stress is too concentrated at the corner tower!" Mr. Zhao pounded his chest and stamped his feet, his heart aching so much he could hardly breathe—as if he would suffocate if he didn't breathe...

Shen Le silently stepped forward, his fingers tracing the cracks as he meticulously examined them with his spiritual power. In his mind, he rapidly calculated every change brought about by the flames during the pottery firing process:
"It's not just stress; when the clay shrinks, the flow of spiritual energy is also obstructed, creating a blockage point here. We need to make some adjustments when we're making the clay body..."

The two immediately huddled together, studying the blueprints and the patterns on Azi's body, and began tense modifications and calculations. A group of staff members assisted them.
"Do we need to conduct an experiment?"

"Do you need some spirit soil or spirit jade fragments sent over?"

"Do we need to call upon the supercomputer?"

After three days of adjustments, they began the second firing. This time, they adjusted the clay formula, optimized the internal rune circuit, and Shen Le even went to great lengths to carefully nurture the key points with his spiritual power before the clay was placed in the kiln.

This time, after the kiln was opened, the pottery house was intact, with no visible cracks.

Mr. Zhao had just shown a hint of joy when Shen Le frowned. He reached out and stroked the pottery; the surface showed no shimmering light or fluctuations caused by spiritual energy.

"The form is there, but the spirit has not." Shen Le sighed.
"The spiritual energy pathway is open, but it hasn't been 'pushed' up and can't circulate on its own. This thing is useless."

After a careful examination, Mr. Zhao nodded helplessly:

"The firing temperature is still a bit off, or perhaps our method is wrong? I feel that this pottery house is different from the porcelain tower I'm firing; we need other methods to control the fire..."

"Perhaps it's not just a matter of methods." Shen Le had a sudden inspiration:
“I understand! It’s not that the fire is wrong, it’s that the ‘intention’ is not there! When firing, we only focused on the technique and energy, but forgot to give it a core intention!”

Unlike when firing the porcelain tower, Shen Le had already fired it hundreds or thousands of times in the porcelain tower's memory, firing it until it was perfectly cooked and flowable. When it came to making the blanks and controlling the fire, he didn't even need to think about it; he could do it with his eyes closed and even while dozing off.

This time, since it's a completely new creation, a completely new approach is necessary. For example, while crafting the ritual implements, the pottery house must also understand the meaning behind its creation…

Before the third firing, Shen Le was in a sleepwalking-like state throughout the entire process.

As he carved the talismans layer by layer and made the vessel blank, he recalled the process of observing, descending upon, and fighting on behalf of the head of the Shen family, and the rise and fall of this family.

While reminiscing, he incorporated fragments of his memories of "home"—its warmth, peace, protection, and the idea of ​​returning home—as well as the connection to the deceased, into the clay body of the house.

"Come on, Mr. Zhao, let's try one more time together!"

Shen Le sat down cross-legged, unleashing his spiritual power to draw upon spiritual fire in the void, enveloping the interior of the kiln. Mr. Zhao nodded solemnly, directing his little porcelain spirits to fully activate the kiln fire.

This time, the kiln fire was no longer just intense heat, but rather carried a warm and vibrant vitality.

The flames licked the clay, gradually nurturing its life and stimulating its transformation.

Inside the kiln, mysterious runes faintly rose, swirling and shimmering in the firelight, echoing the runes carved on the clay body.

This time when the kiln was opened, there was no soaring light, nor did steam condense into various strange phenomena; only a deep, peaceful atmosphere permeated the air.

The three-section pottery house, which is more than a meter square, stands quietly on the kiln bed, with a calm color and simple, unadorned appearance.

However, even without infusing spiritual energy, one can see a barely perceptible halo flowing across the surface of the pottery with the naked eye.

Shen Le smiled and reached out to touch it. A warm feeling, like a mother's embrace, and a sense of weightiness that subtly connected him to the earth beneath his feet, immediately seeped into his spiritual power through his fingertips.

"It's done!" Shen Le and Mr. Zhao exclaimed in unison. At that shout, two Special Affairs Bureau experts rushed over:

"Is it done?"

"Is the firing complete?"

"Is it really fixed? — Can we take it out for testing?"

"Okay, let's test it." Shen Le nodded relaxedly, stretched, and then immediately frowned again:

"It's not over yet—we need to develop a fully automated production line, or at least a fully automated production line capable of manufacturing blanks!"

"The demand for this stuff is huge. We can't just stay here and work all day!"

"By the way... the three-courtyard pottery house is really too big. With such a large pottery piece, it's difficult to arrange everything, and the firing process is twice as difficult. Azi, do you have any ideas on how to make a smaller one?"

(End of this chapter)