If Characters Have Spirits, They Can All Come Alive

"What makes up a book is indeed chapters and sentences, and individual characters that make up those sentences." With Qiu Yan's guidance and reminder, Hua She finally realized something. "And what is carved on the woodblock is also individual characters, but how can these characters be separated from the woodblock?"

Qiu Yan smiled and said, "Words certainly cannot be separated from printing plates, but they are not necessarily woodblock prints. It's like when you and I were learning to read and write, we couldn't do without the text. But let me ask you, when you were young, did you have to learn all the words again every time you read a book?"

Hua She shook his head and said, "How could that be? We only start reading and memorizing after we've learned all the characters. If every book has different characters, how long would it take to learn?"

Qiu Yan laughed and said, "That's it. There's no need to repeatedly learn characters when reading, so why does printing require a single edition?" As soon as he said this, his body suddenly tensed up, his muscles and skin tightened instantly, as he was suppressed by an overwhelming force and could no longer speak!

This power does not originate from any individual or Law Treasure, but from the Posthumous Remnant Thought accumulated over millions of years across a Continent. How could the cultivation of Fleshly Body possibly withstand it?

Let alone Fleshly Body, even Divine Spirit Body would have to avoid its sharp edge.

However, Qiu Yan remained outwardly normal due to his mental focus, and no one else knew what was going on.

The examples of literacy that Qiu Yan gave made Hua She understand, but he was still puzzled.

"Without woodblocks, how can text be preserved? And these characters can't be taken out individually... Hmm?" At this point, a thought struck him. "That's right. If each character could be printed on its own, wouldn't that save a lot of effort? After all, although there are many characters in the world, they are still just these characters in the end. If they can be printed independently, wouldn't the arrangement and combination of them be better than thousands of woodblocks?"

Boom!

Another clap of thunder sounded in the sky!

The sudden thunder startled all the scholars in the courtyard. When they looked up, they were greeted by a clear blue sky.

"What happened? Something similar happened last night..."

Just as Human Thoughts, Hua She felt his thoughts flowing like a spring. Combining his past experiences as a helper with his work, and recalling the articles he had read and memorized, all sorts of ideas suddenly became clear.

"Each character is unique, which not only saves on woodblock printing but also reduces the number of times it is copied and engraved. It also prevents the book from being left idle after it is printed, because the woodblocks for individual characters can be rearranged."

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, but doubts and concerns also arose in his mind.

In fact, many people have had similar thoughts, but they are all constrained by reality and find it difficult to truly form them. After working as a helper for so long, Hua She immediately thought of many practical problems after the initial excitement.

Thinking it over, he looked at Qiu Yan and asked for help, "Single character per page, reusing the characters, but this woodblock material is not easy to divide into individual pieces. First, it's difficult to maintain the spacing between characters. Second, it's even more difficult to carve, as the wood grain is uneven. It's fine for a whole page, but if it's the size of a single character, it will be too prominent. If there are small pages of uneven height, how can they be put together? It's also difficult to control during printing. If the pressure is uneven, the finished book will be unbalanced, not only messy but also difficult to read."

These words, once spoken, triggered Karma, and the Fortune created a gap in the terrifying power that suppressed Qiu Yan. This power was originally meant to prevent him from interfering with the workings of Human Path beyond the norm, but Hua She, who was now asking the question, was also part of the Human Path. Although his question was inspired by Qiu Yan, it also stemmed from his own experiences and memories, making it a natural progression. As soon as the question was uttered, it immediately caused a change in the Human Path, and the terrifying power that suppressed Qiu Yan gradually lost its support and slowly receded.

Qiu Yan, who had regained his composure, did not show any abnormality. He just said, "Since I have thought of using a single character as the body, why should I limit my thoughts to the printing plate?"

Upon hearing this, Hua She suddenly realized that Qiu Yan probably already had an idea in mind, but without any ulterior motives; he simply wanted to resolve his doubts as soon as possible. So he bowed and asked, "Please enlighten me, sir."

The questions he had asked earlier had already clarified and explained the matter clearly; all that was missing was putting them together.

"Why not try the casting method?" Qiu Yan replied, then turned to Qiu An, who was standing in front of him, and said, "Bring me paper and pen."

Qiu An nodded in agreement, and soon after, he brought out a brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and placed them on the table.

Seeing this, everyone vaguely guessed Qiu Yan's thoughts and showed curiosity.

"Since I have agreed to your request, I might as well take this opportunity to write it down. It is not a gift, but simply a record of what I know in my heart." After saying this, Qiu Yan turned around, sat down, picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, and became serious.

Whew~

The wind subsides, its meaning light and graceful.

The atmosphere in the courtyard immediately changed. Zheng Lao-Wu and Meng Ting were both invigorated. They were both fond of calligraphy and painting, and of course knew the importance of preparation before putting pen to paper.

Zhang Shun, Hu Ye, and the others were also deeply shaken. They were closest to the steps and felt the changes in Qiu Yan after he picked up the pen most keenly; they felt a surge of warmth in the otherwise cool air.

Qi and Blood and blood!

As for Hua She, after hearing Qiu Yan's words, he was shocked and his thoughts were in turmoil. He had been fleeing all the way and had encountered many people who knew how to make pottery along the way. Because he was naturally eager to learn, he inquired about them.

These skills are closely guarded secrets for many, but with natural disasters occurring year after year, people don't know when they will die. And those who have no descendants, unwilling to let their skills be lost, encounter someone like Hua She who is persistent and inquisitive, and thus reluctantly reveal them.

Hua She remembered everything he could. When Qiu Yan mentioned it, the thoughts in his mind flowed together instantly. He muttered to himself and became so engrossed that he couldn't extricate himself. When the heat in the air gradually increased, he suddenly came back to his senses and looked in the direction he saw. What he saw was Qiu Yan stretching out his arms.

"The shackles are finally gone!" Qiu Yan said, having finally put the changes in Human Path back on track. The restraining force that had been pressing down on him had receded, and he could stretch his muscles and bones.

With Hua She's words, the change in Printing Technique had been born and was no longer ambiguous. At this point, Qiu Yan's thoughts, no longer extraordinary, could be formally put into action.

Then, he pressed down on the brush, and the strokes flowed like dragons and snakes, each character full of vitality and spirit. Compared to before, there was a sense of unrestrained freedom. Within the rules, there was a bloodthirstiness. Each stroke was like two armies clashing, with swords flashing and shadows gleaming. There was still Order in the chaos, and then a surge of Qi and Blood roared out from the Xuan paper!

This sudden change astonished all the scholars present. Forgetting etiquette, they rushed forward to examine the master's writing. However, upon closer inspection, their eyes fell upon the paper, and what they saw was this line of text—

"Carve characters with clay, as thin as the edge of a coin, each character forming a seal, then bake it to harden..."

Contrary to expectations of literary brilliance, his words were merely ordinary, seemingly resembling the methods of a craftsman, which immediately dampened the spirits of many.

But some people continued watching...

"... First, prepare an iron plate and coat it with pine resin, wax, and paper ash. To make a print, place an iron mold on the iron plate, then densely arrange the characters until the mold is full. Hold it over a fire and heat it until the chemicals melt slightly. Then press a flat plate against the surface, and the characters will be as smooth as a whetstone."

What does this say?

While the scholars present were adept at reading and quoting classical texts, their knowledge of casting and printing was limited; they knew only the general outlines. How could they possibly understand what Qiu Yan was writing?

Even Qiu Yan's predecessor had a general understanding of these things, but he still had a concept of them. With the help of the Divine Spirit Body's computing power, it was not difficult to deduce the methods and techniques; he only needed to make a few more assumptions and simulation experiments.

But for the people of this world, this is something that has never happened before, and there is no precedent for it. The accumulation of technology seems complete, but there is still a gap between the two industries. No one has tried to combine the two yet. This is the obstacle of Human Path. Something that is suddenly presented without trying is no different from creating something out of thin air.

In severe cases, it can even lead to the collapse of the Human Path structure. Even if growth is achieved temporarily, the result of an unstable foundation is that after a certain point of development, it will be unable to continue, or it may go astray and eventually fall into stagnation and regression.

The items Qiu Yan previously presented, such as the Wind Fur and the Flying Rainbow Bridge, were merely one or two minor inventions that could only interfere temporarily. Moreover, similar items existed in ancient times, but for various reasons, they were lost to the Historical River. Furthermore, given his insignificant position at the time, it was not up to the powerful forces of the Continent to intervene.

But Printing Technique is different. The transmission of knowledge is related to the survival and development of Human Path. In his previous life, it was even revered as one of the Four Great Inventions, which shows its extraordinary nature. Qiu Yan's current status is enough to stir up a great trend, which is why he is constrained. But this also allowed him to discover this enormous power!

"Perhaps the Divine Ability can be born and continue to exist is related to this Posthumous Thoughts. However, the key to it is currently difficult to grasp, let alone begin to work on. Its power is vast and boundless. If I were to come into contact with it, I would be suppressed in an instant, let alone study it."

After the thought crossed his mind, Qiu Yan put away his pen, raised his hand, and with a flick of his wrist, the lingering heat from the paper dissipated.

Although the scholars around couldn't understand the meaning of the text, it didn't stop them from appreciating the beauty of the simple characters, so they gathered around.

But when the words on the paper were seen by Hua She, he was shocked, and the pillar of Fortune above his head shot into the sky!

At the same time, Qiu Yan's Fortune also changed, but instead of soaring to the sky, it turned inward and merged into his Heart Fire.

As the Heart Fire changed, the entire Divine Soul Yin Spirit emitted a radiant light. Within the light, tiny characters were born one after another, each character displaying different words, gathering and dispersing as if they had come alive, each possessing a faint spirituality.

Call!

A vast aura spread across the heavens and earth, causing the clouds to shift and the Dragon Qi to rise. The Hundred Schools Aura from all corners of Donghua flew swiftly in, merging with the Fortune of Hua She and converging around Qiu Yan.

Behind Qiu Yan, three beams of light shifted and changed continuously.

Hundred Schools halos!

Then, a fourth halo faintly appeared, but before it could take shape, it was absorbed by the Yin Spirit. The individual character blocks suddenly shone brightly and rushed into the Soul Aperture in single file! (To be continued...)

P. S.: Thank you to Wuchen, "Melancholy Demon", "I Can't Get Full", "Alternative Life", "Cool Killer", "wasmn", "Intelligent Superman", "My Sister Is Xuanxuan", "Mad Scholar 11", and "Tang Family Demon" for their birthday wishes!

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