The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 546: In order to repair these bricks, do I have to practice brick-making first?
“You still have to write the application.”

"Yes, boss." Shen Le nodded.

"An experimental plan must also be written. Even if you use that kind of - magic - a detailed experimental plan can help you sort out your thoughts and compare the experimental results."

"Yes, boss!" Shen Le stood straight and continued to nod vigorously.

"But you don't have to leave it to me..."

When he said the last sentence, the old professor sighed slightly, and his back finally hunched. The bright light of the laboratory shone on his face, reflecting the traces of time particularly clearly:
"Teachers are ordinary people after all. Those who review reports, approve funds, and sign off on projects are also ordinary people. They don't understand your magic, and they don't understand..."

He paused, and added with great pain:
"What effect will Song bricks and Tang tiles have after replenishing spiritual energy..."

Boss, you actually can’t bear to part with the bricks from the Song Dynasty, right?
Actually, it is true that Song bricks are indeed a bit expensive in the modern cultural relic world.

I have to use them in batches for experiments, and watch them being sawed in two pieces, sliced, crushed, soaked in water, soaked in medicine...

Still a little sad...

"Boss, you don't have to think about this!" For the sake of his mentor's feelings, Shen Le quickly patted his chest and vowed:

"I'll take care of the experimental materials and stuff!"

He first took a quarter of a Song Dynasty brick from his fellow apprentice - the leftover from an experiment - and then cut off a small half to test the waters.

Take a small box of local clay used to make red bricks, which should be about the same weight as the brick in your hand, or even equal to the brick, and place it next to the brick.

Mobilize the Earth talisman to absorb the earth power from the clay and slowly inject it into the bricks:
“Reinforce, reinforce, reinforce, reinforce…”

He muttered silently in his heart, making sure to inject the earth power evenly and finely, and disperse it in every corner of the bricks.

Once, twice, three times, after the injection was completed, he tried to sense the situation of this Song brick again, and almost immediately frowned:
"This...isn't working?"

He couldn't tell what was wrong, but he felt that the faint resentment on the bricks had become even more severe.

He carefully picked up the tray and placed it on the scale to weigh it a second time, recording the weight after the injection. He found that the weight of the bricks did increase after the spiritual energy was injected;

When the clay from which the earth's force had been extracted was weighed again, it was found that the weight lost by the clay was significantly greater than the weight gained by the bricks.

What does this mean? Is there a loss of weight? Is it that the energy is dissipated during the transfer, or is it that the mass is lost in the process of matter turning into energy?
If it's the latter, it would be terrible...it would be almost like nuclear fusion by rubbing your hands!
However, Shen Le was certain that the energy of the Earth Talisman he activated was absolutely, absolutely, countless orders of magnitude less than that of the artificial sun!
Shen Le wrote down this conjecture and planned to study it later:
I remember that when he was rubbing the fireproof bricks, there was also a group of researchers working on this. You can exchange your research results with them.

He reached out and picked up the brick again, turning it left and right:

Click!

The small brick in his hand broke into two pieces and fell to the ground.

Moreover, there were obvious signs of burning on the broken parts, as if the flames that had burned the house had penetrated into every corner of the bricks.

"Could it be that too much spiritual energy was input into it, causing its resentment to grow?"

Shen Le hesitated and changed a brick to try again. This time, he changed his mind and began to extract the fire power inside:

Since the house was burned down by fire and a lot of resentment has accumulated, then if I drain away the power of fire, should I be able to quell the resentment?
I smoke!

I smoke!

I'm sobbing!

The bricks remained motionless, but the charred color on them became lighter and lighter, closer and closer to the original appearance of red bricks.

Shen Le just gave himself a thumbs up, thinking that his idea was right, when he saw the bricks suddenly turn into brick particles...

Brick particles become brick powder...

Brick dust becomes clay…

"Uh, I overdid it..."

Red bricks themselves are made from clay fired in a brick kiln!

Shen Le was so disappointed that he had to change the third brick and continue working hard.

This time, he carefully controlled the strength, and when the brick surface turned into the normal red brick color, he immediately stopped. He felt it again and shook his head again:

"It doesn't feel right..."

The bricks that had some of their fire power taken away always gave him a very empty feeling. When his mental power touched them, they felt empty and powerless.

Could it be that too much spiritual energy was drawn out and it couldn't be replenished, resulting in a loose structure?
Shen Le carefully weighed the bricks. It was amazing that the bricks that had some of the fire power removed did have some mass loss, although it was tiny, it was statistically significant!
"That doesn't make sense..."

Shen Le muttered quietly. If the earth-type spiritual energy carries the material part of the clay, then where is the weight of the material body of the fire-type spiritual energy?
If no chemical reaction occurs and some substances do not evaporate after a house is burned, how can the mass change?
Oh, never mind. These theoretical physics, nuclear physics, high-energy physics, and God knows what other physics are not for a student of cultural relic restoration like me to learn.

To get into that threshold, you must at least win the first prize in the provincial high school physics competition and be specially recruited by the school competition. If you challenge these majors based on your college entrance examination scores, you will most likely end up asking for trouble...

Shen Le rolled up his sleeves obediently and focused on his research. He took another portion of clay and filled the brick with earth-based spiritual energy.

Very good, the filling is complete, the bricks are visibly shiny and have become strong and firm. Weighing them found that the mass has increased, but the increase is less than the last time the spiritual energy was filled...

It may be a control problem during the casting process. The amount of spiritual energy transferred during the two castings is inconsistent.
It may also be that the bricks that have been drained of fire energy have a reduced ability to accept earth energy...

“Why do I feel like the more I study, the more questions I have…”

Shen Le sighed silently and reached out to touch the next brick - nothing.

They had brought few bricks from the scene to begin with, and when they cut them into pieces and took samples for experiments, the only bricks Shen Le could get were a tiny handful.

Even though he cut very carefully and tried to make the bricks as small as possible, he only got these few pieces.

If you want more, you can either go and steal the experimental materials from your junior brothers and sisters, or go to the ancient house and draw a few more bricks, or...

Shen Le decisively called the local special affairs bureau:

"Here's the thing...Anyway, can I get a batch of Song bricks to do a restoration experiment?"

"how much do you need?"

The voice on the other end was very polite, just a little shaky.

Any Song Dynasty building is under the management and protection of the Cultural Relics Bureau; not to mention removing a brick, even repainting the wall requires reporting.

Shen Le opened his mouth with “a batch”... In order to realize this request, how many smiling faces would they have to put on and how many tables would they have to bang their heads on in front of the Cultural Relics Bureau?
"For now, let's start with thirty or forty..." Shen Le turned his head to look at the bricks scattered on the table, the table he had scratched all over, and the pile of questions next to it, and changed the topic smoothly:

"About 70 or 80 yuan?"

"Ah... OK, OK, let's try to ask..."

It's a headache. I don't know if Kaiyuan Temple has any bricks from the Song Dynasty, and if they're willing to give some away...

Communication between practitioners is the most convenient... It is much more convenient than communicating with ordinary people, and resource exchange is also simple...

He gritted his teeth and made a few phone calls. No, no, the Cultural Relics Bureau said there were no existing Song bricks, and it was impossible to take them out of museums or dismantle them from buildings.

Kaiyuan Temple was willing to cooperate, but they didn't have the Song bricks that were removed and put aside during the restoration process.

All that was still usable was built back into the wall, and those that were unusable were basically stuffed into museums and respectfully displayed;

The Tianhou Temple is also willing to cooperate, but the same problem exists:
“There’s really nothing ready-made!”

"So no? Have you asked them all?" Shen Le was a little disappointed. On the other side of the video, the young man from the Special Affairs Bureau nodded desperately:

"Really? No! We have asked everything we can! You are also engaged in cultural relic restoration work. You know best how difficult it is for those Song Dynasty architectural components to survive until now..."

"Have the monsters asked this too?"

"Ah this..."

I've never asked that question before. The young man looked embarrassed: The Special Affairs Bureau's management principle for monsters is to ensure that they abide by the law and try not to disturb them.

In particular, many monsters have all kinds of good stuff hidden in their hands. Things from hundreds of years ago are now considered cultural relics:
Some monsters are particularly sensitive about this. If you ask them, they will worry that you want to infringe on their property, and they may attack you or run away...

Shen Le didn't want to make it difficult for them. If they hadn't asked, then they hadn't asked. He also didn't want to make it difficult for the people who were in charge of the matter.

After hanging up the phone, I turned around and called Lao You:

"It's like this, help me get some Song Dynasty bricks... preferably from the southern Fujian region, made from local soil... it would be even better if they were burned after the house was built..."

Shrimps have their own paths, crabs have their own paths, and peregrine falcons have their own paths.

Mr. Lao You, a famous traveling merchant, the authorized agent of Shen Le's spiritual practice auxiliary products, and a courier for express delivery, agreed immediately and found a source of goods for Shen Le that day:
"This is what I'll use to build my cave!" A fat little monster held his head high and stood in front of Shen Le, with two small mustaches on his lips twitching:
"At that time, there was a war in Citong City. Yes, when the Tartar invaded, many houses were burned down. I took the opportunity to pick up some bricks to build a cave!"

Very good, very good, if this is the source, the brick in your hand does meet my requirements. Shen Le squatted down and looked at the brick carefully, then twitched his nose and sniffed:

"Where is your cave?"

Why is there such a bad smell! It is so ingrained into the bones. It would take decades for it to be so ingrained!
"I...we..." The little demon immediately shrank back. Lao You answered for him: "Of course the rat demon's nest is underground. It's just that with the rapid development of the city in recent years, it can no longer be hidden, so he applied for another house - and he had to take these bricks out and take them with him!"

I see. They have built their nest in the sewer for hundreds of years. Shen Le nodded, trying hard not to twitch his cheek muscles and make a weird expression.

If there is another choice, it is better not to use these bricks.

If this thing is placed in the laboratory, it won’t take more than a day for his fellow apprentices to escape successfully—

Moreover, even if he threw a hundred or eighty cleaning spells at these pickled bricks, he might not be able to clean the smell off them?

Such a large interference term will affect the experimental results!

"Ah... I can lower the price... I can give you a discount!" Seeing his weird expression, the little monster immediately backed off:
"I can give you a 30% discount... 40% discount... 50% discount! 50% discount should be fine! One brick, only 2,000 yuan!"

"Ten bucks, thank you." Shen Le finally took out his phone: "I'll contact you if I need it later!"

Alas, I am afraid that if I miss this opportunity, I will miss it. The southeast coast is densely populated, so the living space for monsters is relatively small.

In order to live a more comfortable life, people desperately go out to sea, go to Southeast Asia, occupy land, and do business. As for the monsters, Shen Le suspected that they also went to Southeast Asia in large numbers...

Fortunately, Lao You was very capable. The local monsters passed the information to each other, and indeed got him a lot of Song bricks.

There is a tomb chamber built with bricks in the past, which was occupied by a snake demon as its own cave;
There was a time when there was a war in the city and the house was burned down. The fox demon picked up the bricks and built a cave in the mountains.

There was also the country villa back then, which had fallen into disrepair and was occupied by a country demon...

"Boss, I got a large batch of Song Dynasty bricks!" Shen Le just spent money to get things. After collecting three to five hundred yuan, he thought it was enough no matter how he acted, so he announced to stop the transaction.

He sorted all the bricks into different categories, arranged them into seven or eight small piles, and respectfully invited the instructor to look at them:
"Boss, do you want to take some for research? Boss, boss, don't get too excited, take it easy!"

Professor Han made several consecutive noises in his throat, and his face turned from red to purple, from purple to white, and from white to blue. Song Brick!
Song Dynasty bricks!

No matter where the Cultural Relics Bureau dug it out, even if it was used to build a road, it had to be respectfully covered with a glass cover and then a bronze plaque embedded on it, clearly stating the whole story.

Shen Le just piled up a few piles and let him take whatever he wanted - if he wanted bricks and tiles from the Tang Dynasty later, he could just ask him and he would take out a pile for him.
He bought it himself!
It wasn't obtained by the Cultural Relics Bureau! It wasn't a public-to-public transaction!

"I'll let it go..." The instructor was shaky, and after a long while, he finally recovered his breath under Shen Le's patting of his chest and back, and the infusion of warmth. He stood up straight and looked around the bricks on the ground reluctantly:

"If it's convenient for you, I'll give two pieces of each to your junior brothers and sisters, and let them study them. They have free time these days anyway, so see if they can write a related paper..."

"No problem! Don't worry, boss! We can provide more if you want!"

In the laboratory next to Shen Lezhuxi Town's mansion, fellow junior and senior students take turns to write papers all year round. Accommodation is provided, but food is not, and equipment is provided, but consumables are not provided.

This is true for my fellow junior colleagues in the same department and major, not to mention my own supervisor’s students, who are my own close junior colleagues!

Shen Le is of course willing to be a good party A and provide them with research conditions in exchange for their hard work while he does his own research:

For example, the phosphorus content in the bricks of the old house was too high. These things that needed to be confirmed by experiments bit by bit, he could just leave it to his junior brothers and sisters, and he wouldn't have to work so hard himself...

After the two sides agreed on the research plan, Shen Le plunged into his work. First, there was a batch of bricks that were dug out during the war in Quanzhou and brought to the mountains to build nests:
"Hmm... these bricks don't seem to have much resentment on them..."

Could it be that even if they were in the same war and had been burned by the same thing, the flames would still be different?

In other words, when the house was burned down, there were few people around and no resentment was accumulated?

"Alas...it's so difficult to do experiments...it's so difficult to replicate the experimental conditions 1:1..."

Complaints aside, work still needs to be done. Shen Le muttered, directing his fellow apprentices to help:

Measure volume!

Weigh in!

Photograph!

Close up shot of the brick detail!
Cut the bricks in half, take photos of the internal details, and use a variety of instruments to analyze their internal structure, analyze their composition, and speculate on their firing materials and process...

"Ah, it's great to have someone to help with the work." Shen Le followed beside him, giving instructions and sighing. By the way, he also reminded his junior brothers and sisters:

“Go back and follow Lao You. Go wherever they tell you to go. Don’t take one step further than they tell you to go. Otherwise, don’t be too careless about what you touch.

——Yes, I know that the people who sold the bricks to me will cooperate with you and tell you where the bricks were obtained, the relevant house structure, and the current storage conditions, but..."

"But they are not persons?—Ouch!"

Ma Xuanyu bent over, holding his ribs. Next to him, his senior brother who had elbowed him looked straight ahead:
You just talk too fast!

Brother Shen has some inhuman channels, isn't that normal?

Some things are enough for everyone to know, why do we have to expose them?
Shen Le pretended not to hear this question. He watched his juniors finish their work, sent them out of the lab, let them work on their papers, and then -

"Let's do it again! Let's see how effective it is to use magic to repair these red bricks! Draw out the fire element, the first test, begin!"

Shen Le set up all kinds of experimental instruments and was ready to fight. He aimed his own spiritual power meter at the spiritual power meter of the target brick;
Two electronic balances were placed side by side, with bricks on one tray and rigorously weighed clay on the other;
There are two tripods set up next to it, and the two cameras are shooting and recording all the numerical changes from different angles.

A faint red gas floated out from the bricks, and Shen Le dispersed it with a thought. Shen Le stared at several display screens, noted the changes in the values, and cast the spell again:
"Filling the earth power, the first test, begins!"

The feeling of filling the bricks with soil is similar to adding water when there is too much flour, and adding flour when there is too much water. Shen Le patiently added earth power little by little until it was full and could not be filled any more:

"I feel like I added a bit too much... It's dissipating outwards, and it seems uncontrollable... Maybe I should burn it?"

Shen Le's mind moved, and he summoned the power of fire to penetrate the bricks and stones, simulating the burning of bricks. With a click, the bricks cracked in front of him, cracked, cracked...

"Too much spiritual power? Then maybe a little less next time?"

Shen Le tried again. This time, he injected less than half of his earth power before starting to inject fire power.

The power of fire brushed past gracefully and subtly, and Shen Le could feel the bricks becoming denser and firmer little by little. However, when he tried to inject a little more——

"Click."

It cracked again...

Shen Le picked up the broken brick, gently brushed his fingertips across the surface of the brick, and felt the restless anger.

Well, to make bricks out of clay, it seems that you need to dry the slightly damp bricks little by little to let them take shape naturally, rather than just starting with a strong fire...

So I should inject a little more water power into it?
Shen Le tried again. Inject the power of earth and water!

Very good, they slowly moisturize the red brick, making it rich and soft, so that it can better absorb the power of fire...

strength……

boom! ! !
The explosion happened in a split second. Shen Le watched as cracks appeared on the bricks, growing larger and larger, breaking into pieces and ricocheting outwards.

No!

My instrument!!!

How can I explain the explosion of the instrument? Even if I can explain it and even if I can afford the compensation, it will take time to buy a new instrument. Where is my experimental progress?
At the critical moment, Shen Le slapped the table hard. With a bang, a silver wall condensed out of thin air, blocking him and stopping all the bricks that were shooting out in all directions.

He breathed a sigh of relief and turned his head:

"Hey……"

All the metal trays, scrapers, scissors, paper clips, and tin cans on the surrounding tables were full of dents and pits, as if they had been rusted for a hundred years.

Obviously, he had summoned the gold element to form a wall in a hurry, and it had indeed come, but the source of the summoning was inside the laboratory...

"You...you guys go back..."

Shen Le wanted to cry but had no tears. He waved his hand gently. The silvery wall quietly dissipated and turned into mist, floating in all directions.

Some metal trays were restored to their original state, two scrapers were missing a blade, a pair of scissors was missing half an edge and then grew back from the other side, and the tins became brand new and bright, but a few holes were not repaired...

Shen Le: “…”

He walked around the laboratory carefully. Fortunately, all the instruments were intact and still working properly.

Should we say that although he was nervous before, he still retained basic rationality and subconsciously chose low-value, non-dangerous objects to extract elements?
Otherwise, if the entire map was opened and indiscriminate extraction was carried out, not to mention the destruction of a large number of high-value instruments, even the faucets and water pipes in the laboratory would be destroyed...

That's all!

But now it's too late. Alas, the reaction is still not fast enough, I might as well summon a few trays!

Shen Le sighed and made a list of the damaged items, preparing to go out and buy them after work. He turned to look at the bricks and sighed again:

Repairing red bricks is much more difficult than repairing stone bricks, especially considering the balance between resentment and spiritual power.

How do we master the balance of fire, water and earth spiritual powers?
Do I have to do it myself and bake a furnace of bricks to practice?

(End of this chapter)