The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 654 Shen Le: You can't play with ashes, except for cheating.
"Tear it down and rebuild it? No way!"

"impossible!"

"This is a key national cultural relic! The Xing Kiln site of the Northern Qi Dynasty has yielded a large number of translucent white porcelain pieces, as well as porcelain figurines made from translucent white porcelain. Even though it hasn't been officially verified yet, it is still a key national cultural relic!"

"Do you think you can just repair or dismantle a kiln of this caliber as you please?!"

Professor Zhang, with an imposing manner, pointed at Shen Le's nose and launched into a barrage of criticisms.

Even without a single swear word, or a single word of scolding or blame, the intensity of this attack still forced Shen Le to retreat repeatedly.

"Professor, is it possible that since the submission and review process is entirely in our hands, we could dismantle it and rebuild it from scratch, and still meet the review deadline?"

The approval process requires written documents, and the speed at which these documents are written is in the hands of the researchers who excavate and restore the kiln sites.

Under normal circumstances, excavating a porcelain kiln and then cleaning it up afterwards would take at least three or four months.
These past few days, Shen Le has been helping Professor Zhang's students research and organize materials, and has also seen several of the reports from the man before her.

For example, the Ming Dynasty kiln site at Liyang Porcelain Mountain in Jingdezhen was excavated from July to November 2005, lasting five months.
For example, the Jinshan Kiln Site in Shangyu, Zhejiang Province, was excavated from May to September 2014, which also lasted five months.

In contrast, they had Shen Le, a nuclear-powered ox or horse for digging, and the women in red skirts that Shen Le led to help sort the porcelain figurines, which saved them more than a month!

Even if we give him another month to rebuild the kiln, it won't delay everyone's project time!

"How can this be?! Doing this will damage the ancient porcelain kiln ruins that have been preserved underground!"

Yes, theoretically speaking, with current technology, it would indeed damage the remaining parts of the kiln below. Those newly laid bricks, after being dried in the kiln and tested, have already solidified with the remaining Northern Qi kiln below;
The newly applied mortar on the bricks, though not yet bluish-gray or glass-like in texture, had hardened and adhered firmly to the wall.

Whether you use an impact drill, a 24-pound sledgehammer, a 16-pound hammer, or even a shovel, it will vibrate the foundation below and cause irreversible damage to the remaining Northern Qi porcelain kilns!

"That's it..."

Shen Le tilted his head and thought for a moment, then smiled. He pulled the old professor to the kiln, placed his palm against the front of the now completely destroyed and newly constructed firebox, and silently sensed it:
The foundation of this is the thick soil that lies dormant in the mountains and fields, which has been dug up, washed, pounded, and dried, transforming from rough to fine.

The key to its transformation and shaping lies in the cool, clear water, which is evenly distributed within the soil, first becoming an essential part, and then being ruthlessly driven away.

Sensing its changing process, that fierce yet gentle fire, cautious and ever-changing, forges its strongest bones...

Finally, he let out a soft sigh of relief and raised his palm. With the movement of his palm, the hardened mud on the surface of the firebox softened again, turning into ash, and fell away in a soft rustling sound;

The mortar that held the bricks together so tightly turned to dust and mud, creating gaps between them on the spot.
Shen Le withdrew his hand again, and a red brick appeared in his grasp, firmly held in his palm, leaving a large dent in the wall of the hearth. Shen Le tightened his grip on the brick and turned to look at the old woman:
"Professor, I have a way to remove all the newly laid bricks by hand without damaging the ancient kiln itself. Could you... let me try one more time?"

"...Call the higher-ups! Get approval from them! Get that...Special Affairs Bureau? to act as guarantor!" Professor Zhang tossed his hand and turned to leave.
"I can't control it anymore!"

Shen Le smiled and gave a slight bow to her retreating figure. The old professor walked further and further away, faster and faster, making a phone call as he went.

"There was a problem with the refiring of this kiln, so we've decided to do some more repairs on the parts that were being rebuilt... Yes, we'll be very careful, we absolutely won't damage the artifacts... Don't worry..."

With the professor's permission and guarantee, and with the professor's help in securing the professional personnel at the kiln site, Shen Le was eager to get started and decisively took on the task.

He took photos, measured, counted, and recorded the details of the entire kiln, how many bricks were needed for each part, how the bricks in each part were bent into an arch, and then began to dismantle the bricks one by one.

The hardened shell formed by firing the clay was removed, and one firebrick after another was taken down, completely exposing the ancient kiln. Finally, sleeves were rolled up, and the battle with the clay began:

"Do we really have to start by sifting the mud?"

Covered in mud, sweat, and dust, Shen Le felt he wasn't much better off than Wang Jinxi, the "Iron Man" who stirred mud with his body, and asked breathlessly.

This is too much suffering!

There's no reason to torture him like this!
These days, who still siftes and mixes clay by hand? It's only because of him that he can summon a group of spirits to help. If it were someone else making a porcelain kiln by hand, they wouldn't even be able to gather enough people to pound the clay!
"Really." The porcelain-white beauty stood beside Shen Le, her expression solemn, and nodded vigorously.
"When our Lord needs to build a new kiln, he starts by mixing mud and firing bricks, without relying on anyone else."

He said that only by building the kiln in this way could his own essence be imbued, allowing his spirit to be conveyed without hindrance!

Okay...okay. So, you're all used to it, and you think it's perfectly legitimate and there's nothing wrong with it...

fall!
Mr. Zhao likes to do it this way, so why should I have to do it too?

Shen Le grumbled and muttered to himself, complaining as he worked. Luckily, he understood the principle behind it, which meant he could cheat:

Isn't it all about permeating your own aura?

I use machines to sift mud, machines to mix mud, and machines to ram the soil to make bricks. In each step, I infuse my spiritual power into the mud, allowing it to be infused with my strength. Isn't that enough?

The thought of cheating arises, and suddenly the world seems vast. Shen Le stands beside the enormous machine, keeping a close watch on the person, ready to intervene at any moment:

Sift the soil, that's done. Stop the machine and flush the clay inside with a hot stream.

Clay is fed into a mixer and mixed with sand and jade fragments in a specific ratio. The mixture is then fed into a vacuum brick machine, where it is extruded under vacuum pressure to form brick blanks. The process is then stopped, and the huge brick blanks are gently washed with hot air.
After being washed, the brick blanks, in the meditative world, already showed a faint glow, clearly possessing the most basic spiritual power. They were then fed into a brick-splitting machine and cut into uniformly sized brick blanks.

After passing through the brick stacking machine, the bricks are automatically grabbed and fed into the kiln for firing. Shen Le stands outside the kiln, slightly concentrating, gathering fire elemental power, and feeding it into the kiln...

Even the two porcelain demons would have to exclaim, "The refractory bricks produced in this way are indeed well fired!"

Shen Le prepared the mud and the glutinous rice mortar for binding, and with a brick in one hand and a brick trowel in the other, and a bucket of mud hanging from his arm, he strode confidently and proudly toward the kiln:
"Shen Le, start building the kiln!"

"Senior brother, let's beat the ashes!"

"Keep it up, senior! If you ever lose your job, you can always find work on a construction site!"

"Senior brother, look here! Look here! Smile!"

click-

Shen Le, with mud and ash stains on his face, rolled his eyes at them. "That's me," he thought. "I come from a background in ancient building restoration; I'm not completely ignorant about mortar work and bricklaying."
If it were you young masters and ladies repairing porcelain, you wouldn't even know how to hold a brick cutter. If you tried to lift a brick, I could break your arms!
He calmed down and recalled his work on the construction site, as well as the masonry methods he had observed the kiln builders using when constructing the dragon kiln.

He picked up the first brick, put it down, turned around, and looked at the hillside beside him. On the hillside, a kiln master, hired at great expense to provide guidance, smiled and nodded: "That's right, this is the spot. Put it down, then place them one by one, in a row, and then pour in the mortar!"

Shen Le squatted on the ground, huffing and puffing as he stacked bricks one by one, building a wall until his head was spinning. Although his physical fitness, nurtured by cultivation, far surpassed that of a fragile college student;
Even with magic to back me up, I can at least summon a cool breeze to keep myself cool and prevent heatstroke, but it's still not enough to make me feel uncomfortable!

"Hurry up...hurry up...hurry up and let's get off work..."

He hummed and hawed, his hands never stopping, but he didn't move much faster either. The kiln master on the slope urged him several times, but Shen Le just smiled and continued at his own pace.

Later, the master stopped talking, lit a cigarette, and watched leisurely from the side.

Never mind, they're the big spender after all. A typical bricklayer can lay at least 1000 bricks a day, and the 24-brick wall they're building now is equivalent to 12 square meters.
Shen Le's speed seems to be halved at the moment; he'd be lucky to build six square meters.

Based on this calculation, it would take about ten days to build this kiln, not considering the difficulty of the arched roof—even if Shen Le could speed things up to the level of a skilled worker, it would still take five or six days to complete.

Oh well, a few more days won't make a difference.

He had no idea what Shen Le was secretly planning. The daytime bricklaying work mainly focused on familiarizing himself with the movements and how to stack the bricks;

As night fell and everyone retreated, Shen Le stood up from beside the kiln, stretched his arms and legs to loosen his muscles and improve his circulation. He then stretched out his arms and closed his eyes.

"rise--"

One brick, one brick, and another. Ten bricks, twenty bricks, dozens of bricks floated up at the same time, spun around, circled the edge of the kiln bed, and fell straight down.

Shen Le raised his hand again, and the mud flew up like a dragon, flowing rapidly across the exposed brick surface and seeping into the cracks. He paused, waiting for the mud to spread evenly, and then another row of bricks flew up and fell…

The next morning, when the kiln master arrived leisurely in his small cart, he was utterly dismayed:
"What?!"

what the hell!

What the hell is he seeing?!

The entire kiln chamber and kiln bed are half-built, with only the arched top section empty! It seems that if Shen Le weren't inexperienced in building arched tops, they would probably be finished by now!

"What...what did you do last night?!"

He asked, his voice trembling. Shen Le smiled, pressing her index finger to her lips, her brows radiant:
"Shh..."

He shook his head and blinked. Beside him, two porcelain fairy-like handsome young men stood silently on either side of Shen Le, staring intently at their master. Their expressions didn't seem like they were asking for help, but rather like they were backing Shen Le up.

The kiln master's chest heaved, and it took him a long time to shake his head forcefully and calm himself down.
"Okay, okay, I won't ask anymore. So, what's next? What do you need me to do?"

"Um... I need some guidance... how do I build this vaulted ceiling, and what should I be careful about?"

Compared to vertical brick walls, the arched vaulted ceiling presents a greater challenge to the plasterer's skills. The kiln master sighed, gestured, and began to instruct:
"First, bring over the arch formwork that we made earlier..."

Shen Le gave a command, and with each command a specific action, the bricks were arranged tightly, layer by layer, from bottom to top, from both sides to the middle, with the gaps filled and compacted with mortar.

The master kept shouting from the hillside:
"Push the brick in! Push it in! Push it in tightly! Push it in firmly! This thing needs to be pushed in tightly enough to hold it up firmly and prevent it from collapsing!"

Shen Le gritted his teeth and forcefully shoved the brick in his hand. With a crack, the brick shattered into small pieces, two adjacent bricks broke off completely, and the wooden arched ceiling below creaked...

"I told you to push the bricks in firmly, not to use brute force!"

Shen Le: "..."

He ignored the old master's orders, sarcasm, and sarcastic remarks, his hands flying as he laid bricks until he was drenched in sweat. The bracelet vibrated incessantly, and the little ones made a ruckus, shouting and clamoring:

Let me out!

Let me get out there and do some work!

"It's just laying bricks! Leave it to me! I can do it! I'll lead the brothers to do it!"

Don't listen to his rambling! I'll handle it! I guarantee it'll be done in half a day!

"I'd love to let you out," Shen Le said with a wry smile. However, he didn't want to frighten his master in broad daylight.
Secondly, this porcelain tower is quite picky, unlike the other little ones.

What if I let another artifact spirit take over, and it's not satisfied, saying it can't absorb enough power and wants me to dismantle and rebuild it all over again?
At that point, Professor Zhang will be able to kill me without anyone else!

Shen Le could only meditate silently, patiently comforting her while diligently laying bricks.

Lay a row of bricks, press your hand on the bricks, close your eyes slightly, draw out the moisture from the mortar, causing the mortar to dry, harden and solidify, and incidentally infuse the bricks with spiritual energy, so that they and the mortar become one.
After a quick check to confirm they had hardened, the wooden molds were moved. Amidst the master craftsman's commands, "Wait for it to dry! Wait for it to dry!", the second round of construction began, albeit haltingly...

"what?"

The experienced craftsman, impatient, jumped down to stop it. He placed his hand on the arch, pressed down, shook it, and froze:

"It dries so fast? I don't think you used quick-drying cement! —Even quick-drying cement doesn't dry this fast!"

"Shh..."

With his mental strength and magical abilities accelerated to the limit, he completed the entire dragon kiln late the next night, connecting and solidifying their power together with the earth element.

After thinking for a moment, he took a few steps back and summoned flames:
"Fire! Fire it! Fire this kiln thoroughly and securely! I refuse to believe that magical fire can't outlast ordinary firewood—let's try to fire the porcelain tower by tomorrow!"

No need for tomorrow. The fire was ignited in the kiln, and after only a few turns, the beads on my wrist bounced loudly, and the little oil lamp excitedly rushed out, shouting:

The porcelain tower says it wants to go inside and be burned! It wants to go inside now!

(End of this chapter)