Chapter 4

"What is that little guy doing?" In the Li family residence of Wuyang City, Li Yulong was asking a shadowy figure beside him, whose presence flickered uncertainly.

"Everything is here." The shadow handed over a jade slip, which recorded all of Li Xian's activities.

After reading it, Li Yulong said indifferently, "Still not focusing on his main business. Forget it, continue to protect him."

The shadow vanished instantly, as if it had never existed.

——

The next afternoon, Li Xian once again gathered everyone from the Jade Lamp Workshop. There were nearly sixty people, including those who purchased jade, cut jade, managed tools, and so on.

Seeing these people, Li Xian felt a slight excitement. His great cause would start from here. Technology doesn't initially require much technical expertise; what it needs most is a solid foundation—fundamentals are the most important.

Although there was a brilliant cultivation civilization here, it didn't mean it could be directly applied. It had to be thoroughly digested and absorbed from the roots. The development of technology must start from the basics, just like a skyscraper rising from the ground.

That evening, Li Xian convened a meeting. Looking at the nearly sixty pairs of expectant eyes and the shameless Li Youwei who squeezed in, Li Xian finally gave his formal speech.

"I know you all have many questions and some of you are a bit uneasy. But some things are not about talking, they are about doing. Please give me a month, and I will show you a different Jade Lamp Workshop.

For now, the head of the Jade Lamp Workshop will still be Master Sun Ming.

But I will also be involved, and I will reward, punish, and promote based on everyone's performance and abilities. From now on, your future is in your own hands.

Now, I will announce the first plan. It is roughly divided into three parts.

First, integrate sculpture and art into the colored lamps. This will involve researching different colors and brightness levels of light, as well as studying the sculpting of jade, crystal, and other spiritual materials.

Second, research the琉璃 (liuli) technique. The main components of liuli are actually only three: quartz, alkali, and lime; however, there are more advanced formulas, such as quartz, alkali, and calcite, or adding fluorite and nitre. We will discuss this later. Additionally, to make our liuli more noble and unique, I have decided to rename it: glass (no laughing).

Third, establish a research group responsible for studying formations, glass formulas, and so on.

The first and second parts will be implemented first; the third part, I will personally execute and select members. Those chosen to join the research group will receive a daily reward of one to two taels of silver."

Swish... Upon hearing the reward of one to two taels of silver, even Master Sun Ming's eyes sparkled.

On the third day, Li Xian personally oversaw the workshop operations; but like all enterprises, the first day encountered difficulties—the formations. The original formations were carved on both ends of the jade, and they could be inverted. However, if a three-foot lotus lamp were to be made, it couldn't be inverted, which would be too ridiculous.

The first difficulty in making colored lamps was the transformation of formations.

"Extend one circuit from the formation and make it a switch that can be easily opened and closed?"

"That would destroy the formation." Sun Ming strongly criticized Li Xian's unrealistic idea.

Sure enough, Li Xian's first experiment ended in honorable failure.

Sun Ming shook his head, "Formations can be modified, but not arbitrarily. Every corner, every length, width, and depth of the lines in a formation has strict specifications. The reason we previously made cylindrical green jade lamps is that the formation was also a crucial point.

To modify a formation, one must have a deep foundation in formations."

Li Xian didn't respond but was thinking: Everything has a foundation and rules, and formations are no exception. As long as the basic principles are mastered, formations can be designed freely, just like software!

But to summarize the principles of formations, one must start from the most fundamental: the One, the Two, the Three, the Four, the Five, the Six, the Seven, the Eight, the Nine, and the Ten. This would be a very complex task.

"No, the green jade lamp only involves a small formation, there must be a simpler method! Yes, this is it!"

Thinking of it, he acted. He dyed all the completed green jade lamps with ink and rolled them on paper, leaving a series of marks. One by one, Li Xian and Sun Ming began to compare them.

"Here... here... and here..." Li Xian became increasingly excited, finally discovering the pattern. Formations could be modified, but not arbitrarily. Each formation had several "modules," and the modules were connected by lines. The modules could not be changed, but the connecting lines could be appropriately modified.

"Only appropriately modified?" Li Xian frowned in thought. Seeing Li Xian's thoughtful expression, Sun Ming felt a moment of emotion: He really has turned over a new leaf!

Thinking of this, Sun Ming suddenly drew two parallel lines extending from the center and edge of the formation. "Xian, this is a rule I discovered by chance many years ago. These two lines interfere with the formation, making it inoperable. But cutting any one of the lines will restore the formation. If both lines are cut simultaneously while the formation is active, the entire formation will be destroyed."

Li Xian was stunned for a long time, then suddenly shouted, "Damn, these are ground wires!"

"Ground wires? Where are they grounded?" Sun Ming was full of confusion.

"Ha, let's call them ground wires. From now on, these two lines will be called ground wires, one positive and one negative. Master, I can't take advantage of you, so I announce that I will give you 5% of the pure profit as a reward."

Li Xian took 5% of his 80% profit to give to Sun Ming. Sun Ming's simple two lines allowed Li Xian to truly touch the threshold of modifying formations. Most importantly, the significance of this small "switch" was enormous, as the entire technological system couldn't do without switches!

"This..." Sun Ming was momentarily stunned. As a master, how could he not know what 5% of the pure profit represented? At least 25 taels of gold, 250 taels of silver, or 250,000 copper coins! And two copper coins could buy a pound of rice. This was a huge sum.

"Master, please accept it. If you don't, others won't dare to accept rewards in the future." Li Xian was very happy to give. Ha, with this reward, he didn't believe the others wouldn't work hard—set an example.

Solving the fundamental problem, the jade lamps no longer needed to be inverted. A switch could be easily added, just like in a circuit. This allowed for the design of more exquisite jade lamps, and the concept of ground wires was equally effective in other formations.

With the help of Li Xian and the cultivators, the glass technology was quickly resolved. Although these cultivators only had three to four layers of cultivation, or at most five to six layers, they were still cultivators with spiritual senses. Through everyone's efforts, glassware was blown in just three days.

The colorful glassware immediately impressed Sun Ming and others, as well as Li Youwei.

The finished glass was not only beautiful, smooth, and colorful, but also seamless and impossible to analyze with spiritual senses. Therefore, as long as the glass-making method was kept secret, wow... just thinking about it was exciting.

The only problem was that glass, like stone, had no spirituality and could not replace jade.

The formation problem was solved, and the glass problem was solved; the remaining issues were minor. Finally, two months after Li Xian arrived at the Green Jade Lamp Workshop, it was completely transformed into a colored lamp factory, producing over 500 colorful lamps of various sizes.

Over 500 colorful lamps were lit in the Li family workshop courtyard, stunning everyone.

The largest was the story of the Seven Fairy Maidens, with each maiden holding a uniquely shaped, colorful lotus lamp in her hand, standing on a radiant green jade platform. The entire sculpture was eight feet tall and ten feet wide, almost entirely made of glass, crystal clear. The glass also concealed the formation lines, making it impossible to disassemble, ensuring secrecy for a while.

The smaller artistic lamps were the size of a fist, shaped like flowers, water droplets, birds, and cute little squirrels, each exquisitely detailed.

In addition to the artistic lamps, there was a great invention—the flashlight; well, here it was called a "night lamp."

And with the glass, mirrors naturally made a grand appearance! There was also a telescope, but it was sealed away, as good things should be kept on a high shelf.

Everyone in the Green Jade Lamp Workshop was cheering; even a fool could see the business opportunities.

But facing the excited Li Youwei, Li Xian said something surprising: "Uncle, I plan to do a losing business!"