Chapter 416 (2/2)

Shao Xuan took out a piece of animal skin and wrote down everything.

There was a fourth answer. He confirmed what the previous guys said and then put down his opinion. During the melting process, he recommended adding a kind of beast’s blood. This would make the bronzeware stronger. Bronzeware made like this would be light, yet strong enough to crack rock.

He continued copying as if recording a miniature version of the wall on his scroll. He even copied their writing style too. Especially the fourth guy. However, Shao Xuan did not recognise the characters used for the beast’s name. They looked like punctuation marks to him. However, he copied them down all the same. He could always ask someone else later.

As he read, someone started to rebut the previous answers. Perhaps out of respect to their ancestors, they did not curse but there was one comment-- “How could impurities be inserted into precious wares?!”

This person seemed very emotional when this was carved. Every character was carved deep, like this person could not wait to tell them what he thought. He thought it was horrendous that anyone would suggest adding blood into metal.

Then, other people commented- also talking about blood. They talked about adding foreign matter into products or obscure methods in making weapons. Someone even mentioned they once used human blood. Some people agreed, some disagreed.

In the end, the last guy said: my ancestors and elders, you all make sense. Wait for me, I’ll test out all of them when I get back…

There was nothing after that. The last guy didn’t return. Not just this guy, even the rest. If not there would have been further discussions. Although these people were respectful, they weren’t like other tribes, thinking their ancestors were absolutely correct. Their craftsmanship was always improving and revamped because while they respected and were grateful towards their ancestors, they also believed in themselves.

Shao Xuan did not know if the last guy succeeded, nor he didn’t know, in the end, if he should add stuff into his metals or not. He recorded the thousand-year-long ‘debate’ on the wall carefully.

When Xia people were outside, they were very protective of their arts. They would never let outsiders know of their skills. However,r here, the barrier was not present. For them to discuss their arts like that, perhaps they wanted descendants to admire them too. At the end of their answers, they even put down their names.

It was a pity they all only commented one time. After this, none of them returned.

He kept his stationery when he was done, rolling up his scroll. Shao Xuan rolled his shoulders, ate a few more fruits then looked for a resting spot.

The sky was darkening, plus he had used up a lot of energy today. He needed a good night’s rest to quickly replenish the energy he lost.

The night was chilly but it did not bother him. He plucked a melon as his pillow and then fell asleep on the grass.

Within Gongjia Mountain, Gongjia Heng was admiring the things his ancestors left behind. He had been reading through the night. During the day, there was some sunlight streaming in from transparent crystals so he could read the words on the wall and the things previous prodigies and ancestors left behind. At night, he took out the glowing crystal Shao Xuan gave him and continued reading.

When he snapped back to reality, his eyes were red. However, he was energetic as ever and couldn’t wait to continue.

Other than things left behind by the earliest ancestors, every Xia person would leave behind their best work as an offering so future descendants could see their proudest work. The Xia people were an impressive group, all of the things here were priceless treasures. Something many Xia people dreamed to have.

Treasures! They were all treasures!

Right now, these treasures were right in front of him. How could Gongjia Heng stay calm?

However, he was a little angry. Also, there was Shao Xuan outside, the guy he was wary of. He had to go check on Shao Xuan or he would never rest well.

Gongjia Heng had wanted to head out to check after yesterday’s incident but he was deeply immersed in the work and the movements stopped after a while. That was why he didn’t leave.

There was a pond in the middle of the mountain made from an underground spring. It was named the Ding Pond because the pond looked like a Ding cauldron. The little stream outside came from this spring.

The water in Ding Pond was clear and never dried up. There were even fish as big as a palm swimming in it.