The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 670 Restoring cultural relics—he actually restored them into his own body?

Shen Le trembled all over!

When that ray of white light shot out from the silk, it was aimed at his forehead, at the space between his eyebrows!
The kind of thing that can easily blow his mind!
And this thing is lethal! Don't be fooled by its current formless appearance, like a ray of light struggling between his fingers; he could clearly feel its power!

Not only does it have force, but it also has a very sharp feeling, like thousands of needles piercing into the skin. If he is not careful, his fingers can be riddled with holes, just like holding a handful of embroidery needles!
It could even be said that if he hadn't mobilized the resources of the metal industry to protect his fingers and wrap them in layers of metal, he would have already been pierced through!
A wisp of white light, five inches long, half an inch wide, and less than a hair's thickness, swayed back and forth between his fingers like a swimming fish. With each swing and sway, it felt as if it would immediately slip out of his grasp.

Shen Le lowered his gaze slightly and regulated his breathing. After a long period of training, even though his heart was pounding, he quickly calmed down and began to mobilize the heat flow within his body.

Gradually, a silvery-white light rose between his fingers and palms. First, it illuminated his entire hand, then enveloped his arms, shoulders, and whole body, and finally swept inwards, enveloping the white light he had previously grasped.

The white light darted left and right, struggling desperately, but it couldn't pierce the silver light summoned by Shen Le. Its movements gradually slowed down, as if it had fallen from the air into the water and then sank into the mud...

"Old Han, look at your students..."

The professor who taught calligraphy and painting restoration swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty, and turned to call Shen Le's mentor.

Professor Guo stared blankly, his hands clasped tightly together. He had long since changed from a relaxed sitting posture to sitting upright, his back stiff, as if he had a cross strapped to his back.

He had known for a long time that Shen Le had embarked on a completely different path from theirs. He had even seen Shen Le kick them all out and then walk alone into the haunted old house.

But before witnessing it firsthand, he never imagined that the job Shen Le was doing was so dangerous!
It really can kill you!
When that white light shot up, even in the next room, even through thick, bulletproof glass specially reinforced with spiritual energy-blocking components, he felt a chill run down his spine in an instant!

That sharp aura really hit us, and the equipment installed on the glass window even went off!

"Shen Le, let's not repair these things anymore..."

The old professor wanted to say that, but couldn't bring himself to say it. Shen Le had already entered society; his experiences, his achievements, his...cultivation?
All of this gave him enough confidence to face the other side of the world, which was beyond the guidance of someone like me who was an outsider!

The old professor looked around nervously. His two colleagues beside him also had stiff expressions.
For the first time, they truly realized that although this student had always been very respectful to them and usually joked around, there were things he was exposed to that were truly beyond their reach:
That's something that laymen, or even those who aren't experts enough, shouldn't touch, and shouldn't even be looked at without sufficient protection!

I'll die, I really will die!
A silver light rose from Shen Le's body, enveloping the white light within the silk. The silver light grew stronger and thicker, gradually binding the white light until it could no longer move.

Despite seemingly having won a resounding victory, Shen Le was frozen in place:
and then?
What should I do next?
I can't stay in this pose of summoning silver light all day long, frozen in place!

Or, could we put it in a box?
He looked around nervously. He saw the professor, whose hands were pressed against the windowpane, his face full of worry.

Looking at the Special Affairs Bureau personnel on site, the guy from the Special Affairs Bureau stood far away at the edge of the laboratory, maintaining a posture that ensured he "absolutely could not touch any instruments, reagents, or materials."

Shen Le waved to him, pointed to the ball of silver light in her hand, and whispered her request. The Special Affairs Bureau guy turned and ran out, returning shortly after with a pile of boxes.

A metal box covered in various talismans, a wooden box similarly covered in talismans, and a jade box. Shen Le held his breath, moved the white light into the metal box, closed the lid, and released the silver light.

With a sharp sound, the box lid cracked open, and a burst of white light shot out, crashing into the silver light circle that Shen Le was waiting for!
Next, the wooden box was cut into strips. The jade box fared slightly better, but it still only lasted for less than ten minutes. Shen Le sighed helplessly.

It seems there's no hope of getting help from either side; he'll have to rely on himself...

Shen Le slightly dispersed his spiritual power to sense the white light, to explore its breath, its rhythm, and its characteristics, wanting to communicate with it.

He loosened his grip slightly, and the white light suddenly surged forward, leaving a red mark on his palm, almost drawing blood. He tightened the grip further, until the white light was completely immobilized, making communication seem even more impossible…

Having no other choice, Shen Le had to divert some of his mental energy to the omnipotent copper plate, and then have the copper plate help communicate with the little guys around him to see who could give him some inspiration.

With a soft hum, the porcelain sword, which had been hanging there all night, finally calmed down and was released. It roused itself and flew up like a fish, directly pouncing on the silk!

"do not move!"

Shen Le was terrified and blurted out, "Don't touch it! Don't you dare touch it!"

A jade pillow of unknown age but obviously very early, most likely unearthed from a place where immortals cultivated themselves, containing silk fabrics whose value is immeasurable!
Even if you just scratch it, or even if the wind from your sword wrinkles it, frays it, or breaks even a single thread, it would be an immeasurable loss!

The porcelain sword came to an abrupt halt. Slowing down, it returned to Shen Le's side, shuffling left and right. For some reason, Shen Le sensed a hint of grievance in its movements—

It's like, "They used to call me 'Sweetie,' now they call me 'Old Cow.'" Shen Le sighed and stretched out a bit of her spiritual energy to pat it.
"Okay, okay, sweetie, it's not that I don't like you. Hmm, what do you want to say?"

The porcelain sword was straightened and lowered slightly, reaching a height similar to that of the silk.

Pause, drift slightly forward, tilt the sword slightly to the side, and make a motion as if "picking something up with the tip and spine of the sword".

Lift it up, move it to the side, flip the blade over to smooth it out; step back, shift position, lift it up again, move it to the side again...

The pantomime lasted for about half a minute. Shen Le frowned, trying hard to understand what the porcelain sword was trying to express.

Before he could figure it out, the porcelain sword retreated again, then rose, tip pointing downwards, blade vertical. It began to slash left, then right, then forward, then backward, then forward again, then to the side…

"Is this writing?" Shen Le stared at it for a long time before finally understanding:
"Is there something you want me to write down? Wait, start over!"

He extended a finger, following the movement of the porcelain sword, writing horizontally and vertically, left-falling and right-falling strokes. As he wrote, he began to read it aloud softly:
"The lungs...the lungs store the Qi of Taibai...I understand! It means I need to unroll that scroll of silk and practice the incantations on it until I can subdue this wisp of white light?"

It couldn't be opened. Shen Le used his mental power to sense it and found that the silk, soaked in the silk fibroin solution, hadn't recovered yet. If it were opened carelessly, it would easily break with a snap.

However, the ability to expand one's mental energy means that one can carefully examine the scroll of silk and read it word by word:
"The lungs store the vital energy of Taibai, which condenses into the edge of a sword... The sword is the essence of metal. When refined internally, a white light shines from the lungs; when used externally, the Xun energy transforms into a blue rainbow..."

He often faces east at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), absorbing the nine energies of the east, and breathing in unison with his sword for forty-nine cycles. After three years, the sword's light turns blue, enough to slay wood spirits.

Seven years of sword light turned white, capable of slaying water demons;

"Twelve years of sword light purple, then I soared into the void, paying homage to Taiwei..."

Shen Le spread out paper and pen, using his mental energy to probe the characters on the silk while copying them. He copied it from beginning to end, checked it again, then closed his eyes slightly, silently recited the characters, and tried to practice.

Through the window, the professors felt a chill run down their spines. They anxiously raised their phones, straining to use telephoto lenses to photograph the words Shen Le had written and the few words peeking through the silk.
Did he misread this character?

"The handwriting is crooked and messy... The longer and shorter parts are all different words!"

"These are traditional Chinese characters! What if he misreads them? He might try to practice them using the wrong ones?"

"Shen Le! Let's slow down!" Professor Han had already started banging on the glass window. While banging, he also opened his phone and sent a WeChat voice message:

"There's no rush! Let's wait until the scroll is fully restored and unrolled, take pictures of the text, have an expert review it, and confirm its meaning before we start practicing!"

It was too late. It wasn't that Shen Le didn't want to be cautious, but when he used his mental power to probe the silk, touching it stroke by stroke and word by word, he had already triggered some kind of power.

The internal energy began to circulate naturally, advancing one step forward with each word "read" out...

This internal energy originates in the middle jiao (stomach area), descends to connect with the large intestine, and then returns along the upper opening of the stomach, passing through the diaphragm and belonging to the lungs;
A ball of sharp, silvery-white energy condenses in the lungs, then extends horizontally from the armpit, down the front edge of the inner side of the arm, past the elbow to the wrist, and ends at the tip of the thumb.

As it was released outwards, it subtly merged with the metal element energy he had previously gathered, and also resonated slightly with the white light emanating from the silk...

With each rotation of the internal energy, the resonance intensifies; with each rotation, the resonance intensifies again.

Shen Le focused his mind and lowered his eyes, stroking the silk with his spiritual energy, silently reading the scriptures on it word by word. After reading it nine times in a row, the white light in the silk suddenly shone brightly.

This time, however, it did not rush desperately out of the silver light, doing whatever it wanted, recklessly crashing and tearing apart. Instead, after it lit up, it began to disperse and disintegrate little by little, naturally melting into the silver light!

"Look, it's melting!"

"That thing is gone!"

"If it's gone, then it should be sorted out, right?"

"Uh, removing the contents of the artifact... something doesn't seem right..."

The professors whispered amongst themselves, not daring to raise their voices even through the glass wall, for fear of disturbing Shen Le in the slightest.

Shen Le, however, was in a meditative state and could not sense any changes in the outside world. He could only feel that the metal element power he was activating was becoming stronger and more obedient.

His inner energy circulated nine times again, then calmed down completely, like a thin mist or a light rain, nourishing silently as it returned to his meridians. Shen Le suddenly opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath:

A beam of white light shot out from his nostrils, condensing into a sword shape that floated before his eyes; following his will, it darted through the air, slashing left and right, leaving afterimages in its wake!
"What's happening here?"

"You took the white light from that scroll? You absorbed it into your own body?"

Several professors stared in disbelief. Shen Le's mentor was particularly worried:
"Won't there be any problems? This is a flying sword? Is it really a flying sword? Can it really be stored inside the body? Won't it cause lung nodules or bullae or something?"

"Sigh, Lao Han, the kids understand these things themselves, so we laymen shouldn't worry about them," his two colleagues reassured him.

"Shen Le has done so many things we could never have imagined. He knows exactly what he can and cannot do. You have to think, he might be an immortal by now, he won't get into any trouble!"

After several rounds of reassurance, Professor Han finally relaxed a little, but he still frowned and stared at the glass window, not daring to blink. The other two professors had already begun whispering among themselves:
"Honestly, taking the contents of an artifact into your own body... what's wrong with that...?"

"You still want to hold him accountable? Oh, what if you tell the judge in court that a white light came out of the scroll and was absorbed into his body—the judge will just kick you out, okay?"

"It's not about kicking me out; in this situation, they can't even file a case!"

"Isn't that settled? Special Affairs Bureau matters are handled by Special Affairs Bureau rules—look, there are professionals standing here! They're not protesting, so we can just pretend we didn't see anything!"

"Exactly, anyway, these aren't artifacts we were responsible for excavating..."

"Sigh, I was thinking of taking a look at the place where he was excavating artifacts, maybe he would have found something... But now, never mind..."

The two whispered for a while, then calmed down and watched leisurely. Shen Le directed the white light to circle a few times in the air, then opened his mouth and inhaled, causing the white light to rush towards him again, be inhaled into his lungs, and disappear.

He then straightened up, let out a long sigh, and waved to the other side of the glass window:
"Don't worry, teacher, I'm fine. Um, I've started repairing the scroll. Teachers, please take a look at my work and give me some pointers if you see any problems!"

"Alright, alright, you get back to what you were doing!" The professor, focused on textile restoration, waved his hand somewhat dejectedly.
"We can't understand what you're doing! Just keep doing it. I'm watching this scroll, and if I feel there's going to be a problem, I'll remind you!"

Although it's much less convenient to watch from behind a glass window or through a camera than to stand right next to Shen Le or even get handsy with him, he has decades of experience!

As long as Shen Le doesn't do anything outrageous, he should be able to understand it and give some pointers... right?

(End of this chapter)