The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 641 Mr. Zhao, your robe is much more valuable than the yellow robe you wear!
Upon discovering that the porcelain tower was an old acquaintance, Mr. Zhao displayed even greater enthusiasm than Shen Le, who had personally restored the tower.

At a command, the low-level porcelain demons in the secret realm swarmed forward, some clinging to the base of the tower, others to the body. With a shout, they carried the porcelain tower away like ants moving house.

Shen Le followed closely behind, watching them carry the porcelain tower to a large pool (he didn't know if it had been moved there temporarily), and then walk down the edge of the pool, stopping briefly as the water churned and boiled.

Watching the fish maw glue that was sticking to the fragments of the tower slowly soften and separate in boiling water;
Watching the low-level porcelain demons jump into the pool, carrying out pieces of porcelain tower fragments, scrubbing and washing them to remove all the fish glue, and then applying porcelain powder to the joints...

According to Shen Le's experience, it is absolutely impossible for these porcelain powders to fix the fragments in place—after all, they are not the glue commonly used in the restoration of cultural relics.

Besides, even with glue, you have to fix it piece by piece slowly, allowing it to harden and change. It doesn't solidify immediately after being brushed on!
However, it is unclear whether the porcelain powder used by Mr. Zhao had a special formula, or whether these raw materials exhibited special properties under the influence of spiritual energy.

In short, after a flurry of activity, the porcelain tower, pure white and with all its cracks repaired, actually stood before Shen Le. Then, a group of low-level porcelain demons lifted the tower and marched in a grand procession towards the kiln…

Shen Le only had time to ask one question:
Is this operation reversible?

If the fire burns too long and its spirit hasn't awakened yet, and it realizes it needs to be disassembled for other operations, could you disassemble the porcelain tower and remove the porcelain powder that you applied and then fired?

"Don't worry, there won't be any problems!" Mr. Zhao waved his hand and strode forward, his previously unmoved white porcelain robes billowing high, almost level with his back.

Shen Le quickened his pace to catch up, then suddenly braked. He saw a porcelain jar rushing towards him from the side, bowing in front of him, and then crashing to the ground in pieces.

Look closely, the edges of those cracks are snow-white and silvery, unlike any other glue; they are clearly made of fired kaolin. Yet, they cracked and disintegrated just as easily…

Okay, so you mean your porcelain powder has a special formula that allows the porcelain to control itself or be controlled by external force to return to its original position?
Shen Le breathed a slight sigh of relief and followed Mr. Zhao through a maze of turns until they arrived in front of a porcelain kiln.

Unlike the porcelain kilns I'd seen before, which meandered down the hillside like a long dragon, this kiln was shaped like an inverted bowl, lying upside down on the ground, and was at least three meters high. It was clearly used for firing large porcelain pieces.

The kiln door opens, revealing shelves arranged layer upon layer around the kiln walls, reaching all the way to the top. Some shelves are high, some low, some wide, some narrow; one can imagine how dazzling the display would be when a kiln full of porcelain was fired.

Mr. Zhao stopped and pointed, explaining to Shen Le:

"This is the oldest porcelain kiln around here. All the best kids around me were trained here. Don't worry, the energy and firepower here are at their peak, there won't be any problems!"

As they spoke, the lower-ranking porcelain demons got to work. They cleared away part of the frame, carried the porcelain tower in, and swarmed in, securing it in the center of the kiln.

Then, some of the bottles and jars were removed, while others, holding the porcelain tower, were positioned in a fixed, stationary position...

"Hey! There are still people inside!" Seeing the kiln door slowly closing and the furnace beginning to spew flames, Shen Le shouted urgently. Mr. Zhao remained unmoved, grabbing his hand and pulling him back:
"It's alright. They need to be burned every now and then, otherwise their spirituality won't be preserved."

Shen Le: "..."

Can this be done?
No wonder these porcelain dolls don't leave the secret realm; they need to be recharged every few days—it's really too much of a drain on their energy...

Mr. Zhao was very helpful, personally tending the fire. He stretched out his arms, and immediately a low-level porcelain demon came over with a gaudy robe, draped it over his body, tightened the belt, put a magic crown on him, and presented him with a magic sword.

Shen Le only glanced at it briefly, but his eyes widened. He stared at the robe for a moment, then felt it was impolite, turned his head away, couldn't help but look again, and then turned his head away again…

"What? Isn't my robe beautiful?"

Mr. Zhao asked cheerfully, even spreading his arms wide and turning around so Shen Le could see clearly. Now, Shen Le could finally look directly at him and immediately take a look:
The robe, at first glance, appears to be bright red, but upon closer inspection, it reveals distinct layers from top to bottom, ranging from Jun red to Ji red, to ruby ​​red, then to Langyao red, cowpea red, coral red, and rouge red.

On the front of the robe, a crane spreads its wings, full of vigor, and breaks through the clouds. The bright, snow-white Xing kiln porcelain, the soft and dignified Dehua white, and the sweet white like jade and cream are layered to form snow feathers;

The tips of the snow feathers, with their fine, textured patterns, are covered in hare's fur black glaze, deep black Ding ware that is as black as ink and as glossy as lacquer, and black gold glaze with a calm luster and a uniform, unpatterned surface, spreading out to resemble the deep black feathers of the red-crowned crane's neck and wing tips.

The red-crowned cranes are surrounded by clouds, and the waves rise and fall in layers, with fish leaping and splashing in the water.

Among the various patterns, Shen Le clearly saw more than a dozen glaze colors, including famille rose, famille verte, doucai, imitation Ru ware, imitation Jun ware, imitation Ge ware, imitation Ding ware, blue and white, sacrificial blue, coral red, and pale celadon...

"beautiful……"

Shen Le exclaimed in admiration. The crown looked like it was made of jade, but it was actually porcelain fired to resemble jade—Shen Le had seen porcelain imitations of jade gui and cong in museums;

The belt, though seemingly made of leather, was clearly crafted using a dark brown glaze, with gold accents used for the embossed details. As for the magnificent robe…

Is this a replica of the famous "Qianlong Period Vase with Various Glazes"?

He was full of praise, but kept his words to himself, too embarrassed to say them aloud. Mr. Zhao laughed heartily:
"You're thinking of that 'Porcelain Mother,' aren't you?"

"Porcelain Mother" is another name for that large Qianlong vase. According to the teachers at Shen Le School, it's "too much of a gilding of its image."

That bottle, in terms of technique, combines high-temperature glaze, low-temperature glaze, and more than ten different types of glazes, with an exceptionally complex firing process, reaching the pinnacle of technical skill; however, in terms of artistry, or rather, aesthetics, Shen Le and all his classmates, upon first seeing the picture, unanimously exclaimed:

"How can it be so ugly!"

I didn't see all the experts working together, but they still couldn't give it a good name, only referring to it as the "Qing Dynasty Qianlong Period Various Glazes Large Vase";
All the books, papers, analyses, and introductions Shen Le read would rather analyze its craftsmanship at length than praise its artistic aesthetics in any way...

In comparison, Mr. Zhao's robe is far more beautiful. Even if its color and composition don't reach the level of a work of art, it would at least be a striking piece for a game's concept art!
"Even though both are multicolored, your robe is much prettier than that big vase!"

Shen Le praised him sincerely. Mr. Zhao chuckled a few times, his face full of smugness:
“This robe of mine was a gift from them when they were burning that bottle! Otherwise, the bottle could not have been successfully fired—guess how many furnaces were wasted back then?”

I don't know how many furnaces were destroyed, but it must have been an astonishing number. Shen Le raised his right hand, gave Mr. Zhao a thumbs up, and stepped back to create some space.

I restrained myself from taking photos or videos on the spot.

If Professor Han, who used to teach him, and other professors who do ceramic research knew that such a piece of porcelain existed in the world but they couldn't see it or touch it with their own hands, they would probably cry very loudly.
Out of politeness, Shen Le couldn't touch it, so he could only stare at it longingly, trying to memorize every detail of the robe and guess what it originally was:
In any case, it was definitely not a robe made of porcelain...

While memorizing the details, he watched the porcelain demon's actions. He saw Mr. Zhao walk with graceful steps, turn around and wield his sword, his robes fluttering in the wind.

As the sword tip flew, tracing arcs, the spiritual energy of the entire secret realm began to swirl and surge towards the kiln in front of it.

With a whoosh, the flames in the kiln changed from red to orange, from orange to yellow, from yellow to white, and gradually, a faint bluish tinge appeared within the bright white. Shen Le frowned and whispered:
"Isn't this fire big enough? If the temperature gets any higher, won't it burn too much?"

He had read in his research that the translucent white porcelain from Xing kiln was fired at a temperature of approximately 1300 degrees Celsius. If the temperature was too high or too low, the color would change, and the "snow-like and silver-like" texture would not be achieved.

In fact, there are many other types of porcelain that require precise temperature control. For example, the celadon glaze of Ru kiln needs to be fired at a temperature of around 1150-1200 degrees Celsius and held for 1.5 hours to achieve the warm and lustrous color that resembles the sky after rain.

If the temperature is slightly lower, the glaze may not melt completely, and the glaze color may appear as a moon white.
However, if the temperature is too high, the glaze color may become too dark or other changes may occur, such as a bean green color, etc. In any case, the desired sky blue glaze will not be produced.

In ancient times, without thermometers, high-temperature microscopes, or precise high-temperature automatic expansion recorders, the kiln workers relied solely on their eyes and decades of painstaking experience to control these subtle temperature changes.

Shen Le, on the other hand, could only rely on experience and memorization to observe the flames before him:
It seems the fire is too high and the heat is too intense? Firing porcelain involves gradually increasing the temperature, maintaining a constant temperature at the highest point, and then gradually lowering it to a lower temperature, a process that takes dozens of hours.

With a bang, the flames reached extremely high temperatures. Wouldn't this porcelain tower explode?
"Don't worry, I'm experienced," Mr. Zhao replied amidst his busy schedule, then shouted and thrust the porcelain sword in his hand straight into the kiln.

In an instant, a fire dragon rose from the hole that was originally used to throw in firewood. The wind fueled the fire, and the fire amplified the wind's power. It circled around the central porcelain tower, round and round, until it reached the top!
Before rushing over, Shen Le had urgently researched all the ceramic firing data, including temperature, atmosphere, and oxidation-reduction reactions. Now, he absorbed it all, his spiritual energy spreading out to sense the spiritual changes within the kiln.

At the top of the kiln, and all around, boundless spiritual energy was drawn in and poured into the kiln along with the spiritual energy. Flames swirled around, and the low-level porcelain demons clinging to the porcelain tower cheered, almost leaping with joy, as they greedily inhaled the spiritual energy.
At the very center, an exceptionally pure spiritual energy, after being absorbed and filtered by these porcelain demons, slowly seeped into the porcelain tower, making it even more vibrant.

Shen Le had tried so hard to piece it together, apply glue, and inject heat, but to no avail. Now, it seemed, as if, a pair of eyes were slowly opening...

Shen Le breathed a sigh of relief, stood quietly to the side, and tried her best to sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and to sense the slow rise of the porcelain tower's spirituality.

My spiritual power dared not venture into the kiln, but could only hover outside. Even so, I could sense the porcelain tower's spirituality gradually increasing, beginning to awaken, and starting to explore this world—

"and many more?"

After an unknown amount of time, Shen Le's heart suddenly skipped a beat. The porcelain tower, which had begun to awaken anew, suddenly had an increased need for spiritual energy, greedily absorbing all the power around it;
The flames surged backward, and the spiritual energy swirled rapidly, desperately drawing all the power of the kiln towards its center. Around the porcelain tower, the low-level porcelain demons clinging to it let out weak wails, then crashed and shattered one by one, falling to the ground.
Immediately afterwards, a huge funnel formed at the top of the kiln, soaring upwards and sweeping across the secret realm;
Mr. Zhao, who was walking with his sword raised, was staggered a few steps by the wind pressure and fell towards the kiln, almost falling into the fire pit where firewood was being delivered!
Shen Le was shocked. He quickly formed talismans with both hands, gathering a fireball, and then began to pour his power into the fireball, trying to add fuel to the fire in the kiln;

While gathering his strength, he looked at Mr. Zhao with a questioning gaze:
Can I throw a fireball in now?
Now, if I throw it in and put my power into it, will it hinder the firing process? Will it disrupt your rhythm?
Mr. Zhao struggled to his feet and his eyes lit up when he saw the fireball in Shen Le's hand. However, he did not immediately issue an order; instead, he brandished his porcelain sword, spun around in a large circle, and pointed it at the fireball.

It seemed to be trying to guide, or perhaps instruct, Shen Le to throw the fireball into the furnace. But it was all too late…

"Crack!"

A faint yet terrifying cracking sound erupted from the kiln. Mr. Zhao's expression changed drastically, and he almost leaped into the fire, but several low-level porcelain demons rushed up and grabbed him around the waist and legs, trying their best to hold him down.

Just this slight delay caused a series of cracking and shattering sounds, and the flames rolled back and were completely swallowed by the porcelain tower.

Then, the freshly applied porcelain powder on this tall, elegant, and pure white porcelain tower completely disappeared, turning into pieces of broken porcelain that slowly floated up and then gently fell to the ground...

"My porcelain tower!!!"

Shen Le let out a scream, stretching out his arms and creating a gust of wind that rushed into the kiln. This time, it was Mr. Zhao who pounced on him, desperately holding him back.

"It's okay! It's okay! It's not broken! It's back to normal! Give it to me, I'll definitely fix it..."

(End of this chapter)