Who told him to make the cards!

Using legal principles to turn dead miners into inhuman, ghostly corpses that continue to work for them is something even companies usually don't do.

He even exploits the dead; it's a testament to his good temper that he managed to refrain from killing Luo Xiao.

"What other tricks do you have up your sleeve? Show them to me," Liu Bai said coldly.

"Pooh!"

Luo Xiao spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, his smile sinister.

He wouldn't say a word more than necessary.

"There's bad news."

Chen Zhi spoke up.

He stood before his old friend's body, mourning in silence.

Suddenly, I noticed a light.

The recent battle damaged the rock strata at the top of the mine chamber, revealing a crack that had been hidden.

Moonlight leaked through the crack, leaving a thin, cool ray of light on the corpse.

Looking up, you can see a small section of the night sky, with a bright moon hanging high above it.

It's already evening.

"Due to the influence of tides, the water level is particularly high at night, which can easily lead to accidents. Experienced miners will not go down the mine at night."

Chen Zhi briefly explained the reason, saying, "We may have to stay here for the night."

Liu Bai glanced at the time.

Is this correct?

His watch showed less than six hours had passed.

They arrived in the morning; it should be afternoon now.

“It’s wrong for you, but it’s right for me,” Chen Zhi replied.

He had lived here for seven years and was already used to the fact that the flow rate in the deep mine was sometimes different from that in the outside world.

Chen Zhi was unaware of the cause of the time difference and had not investigated it in detail.

After all, it involves legal principles, how could a mere miner like him possibly understand it?

Chen Zhi only knew that this was not a big problem, and he could leave early tomorrow morning.

"Then let's rest here."

Shen Qinglian said to Liu Bai, "Take careful notes about the situation here, and don't miss anything."

Liu Bai replied, "Yes."

"Then you guys get back to work."

Chen Zhi walked to the side, sat down with his back against the rock wall, and looked up at the moon.

He always did this in the first place.

When Chen Zhi first transmigrated to this world, he missed Earth quite a bit and would stare at the moon in a daze every night.

Looking at the moon and longing for home is one of the reasons he developed this habit.

When Lao Zhou and the others saw this, they asked him what he was doing and what he was thinking.

Chen Zhi couldn't very well say that he was a man from the stars, so he casually replied, "I'm observing the celestial phenomena; it's going to rain tomorrow."

And it really did rain the next day.

From then on, he became famous in the Blackstone mining area.

Just then, a faint fragrance, like camellia, wafted into Chen Zhi's nostrils.

Turning his head, he saw Shen Qinglian walking over at some point.

"What?" he asked.

The girl said: "Hand."

Chen Zhi looked down in confusion: "What hand?"

“Stretch it out,” Shen Qinglian said.

Before Chen Zhi could react, Shen Qinglian had already taken action herself, grasping his right hand, which had been burned by the card.

The girl took out a healing card and activated it.

The refreshing coolness spread through my palms, the burning sensation quickly subsided, and my reddened skin began to slowly return to its original color.

Chen Zhi was flattered and surprised, never expecting that this seemingly cold and aloof girl would be so considerate.

"Thank you, Miss Shen."

"No need."

Taking the opportunity, Shen Qinglian changed the subject and asked, "Who taught you how to make cards?"

"No one taught me; I figured it out myself," Chen Zhi replied.

"you sure?"

"if not?"

Chen Zhi shrugged: "Not counting the guards, I'm the only person in the Blackstone Mine who understands cards."

"You saw it yourself, that claw-shaped card is so ugly. If I had a teacher, wouldn't he beat me to death?"

Shen Qinglian felt that Chen Zhi was not telling the truth.

At least not entirely the truth.

"I asked, and your card was pieced together from three discarded cards."

The mining area lacks the facilities for card production.

You can't buy white cards, and you can't buy card ink either.

Therefore, Chen Zhi's card-making method should be to first determine the main structure, then cut out the parts that he would use from the discarded cards, and then repair and glue them with white marrow powder and sealant.

Peel a little from this card, a little from that card, and finally piece together a complete card.

Its operation is much more difficult than simply making cards.

“You are very talented,” Shen Qinglian said, looking at him.

Chen Zhi tilted his head and asked, "Really?"

"So, what level does Miss Shen consider me to be?"

"You haven't tested it?" Shen Qinglian asked.

“Blackstone Mine doesn’t offer this service.” Chen Zhi blinked obediently. “Or, Miss Shen, could you tell me your evaluation criteria so I can reflect on my own performance?”

A man who had been quite alert and tactful since the first meeting suddenly started acting cute, clearly indicating that he wanted something from her.

He's trying to get information out of me.

But Shen Qinglian didn't mind.

The criteria for judging talent are no secret; they've been said.

Moreover, Chen Zhi's behavior along the way deserves more of her praise.

Shen Qinglian put away the treatment card.

To avoid Chen Zhi not understanding, she tried to avoid using technical jargon and explained concisely:

"A card maker's talent is usually categorized by the maximum legal scale that a person can fully observe."

"This scale refers not only to the size of the object, but also to its specific form, effect, and laws."

"I'll use the most basic example of fire."

"Everyone can see the shape of a flame; this is the simplest form of 'shape'."

“Those with talent can also see the patterns in the flames. These patterns represent the flames themselves and are called ‘laws’.”

"Flames can emit light, generate heat, and spread... these are all 'effects'."

"The combination of these three elements constitutes 'legal principles'."

"Have I made myself clear enough?" Shen Qinglian asked.

Chen Zhi nodded: "It's alright, I can understand."

Shen Qinglian continued, "Talent has several levels. The lowest level is the Fire Pattern level, which I just mentioned. It allows one to observe clear patterns in natural phenomena such as flames and water."

"The second level is the artifact level, which can observe complete artifacts such as tools and furniture."

"Above that are array-level and super-domain-level."

"The former can treat some vehicles, machinery and other larger objects as a composite card deck. Most formal card makers with official positions are at this level."

"The latter can clearly see the layout of houses, workshops, ships, and even the entire city."

The superdomain level has even more detailed divisions, progressing layer by layer.