Chapter 4 The Spirit of Historical Heritage
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[There is no need for two identical pieces of dragon scale jade in this world. 】
"Dragon scale jade, so it's dragon scales instead of dragon patterns?"
"Did the carving technology of that era reach the level of dragon scales?"
The dragon pattern/scale jade pendant came from the Qin Emperor's Mausoleum. If there are no special circumstances, this should at least be a work that was created in the Qin Dynasty.
But at that time, jade pendants were mostly carved with patterns. Moreover, the concept of dragon was originally in the imagination of Donghuang people, and it gradually became concrete with the inheritance of Donghuang culture.
Even if we put aside the issue of craftsmanship, the mythical beasts of that era, headed by the "dragon and phoenix", mostly appeared in relatively general patterns similar to religious totems. Jia Wenyan never thought that the jade pendants of that era would have such specific scale carvings.
But this reminded her of the photos she had taken at the Xian'an Museum before. There were indeed some unclear grooves on the back of the dragon pattern/scale jade pendant.
You have to know that no matter what shape the jade pendant was, it would have been carved and polished into the same design on both sides in that era.
Originally, Jia Wenyan also thought that the irregularity was caused by the damage of the jade pendant, but if those irregular grooves were caused by oxidation and wear deep in the soil.
Then the dragon scale design on the back can be explained.
Although she didn't know how the voice appeared in her consciousness, she was sure that the other party really wanted to help her complete the reproduction of the jade pendant.
Even his tone softened after Jia Wenyan agreed with Long Lin's design.
Although the sound was still not very clear, it was much more stable than what Jia Wenyan had heard before in the West Market of the Tang Dynasty.
And the most important thing is that when she wanted to concentrate and try to communicate with him, the complete jade pendant suddenly appeared in her mind.
On the back of the dark green dragon totem pattern, countless layers of dragon scales leaning against each other like armor guarding the soaring dragon dancing among the auspicious clouds above the jade.
Seeing this, her fingers unconsciously picked up the brush on the table, wanting to bring it back to the world as soon as possible. And it was at this time that Professor Zhen pushed the door open and temporarily stopped everything.
…
A moment later, Professor Zhen left the workshop alone and cheered excitedly while looking at the full moon in the night sky.
Although he had no idea how Jia Wenyan could come up with such a work that was almost completely beyond their understanding of the craftsmanship of that era.
But as an archaeologist who had carefully studied the "Dragon Scale Jade" and accepted the jade as his last disciple, his years of professional ethics told him that his young apprentice's idea was correct.
That piece of spinach green dragon scale jade is indeed the closest to its historical appearance.
Thinking of this, he couldn't hide his excitement and without hesitation announced in the group of old friends that he was about to confirm the last closed disciple.
Zhen Yuandao's last disciple...
Late in the evening, President Zhen's words caused a huge uproar among the Donghuang cultural workers.
Selecting a last disciple is arguably the most important decision a mentor makes in his or her life.
Unless there are special circumstances, the appearance of a closed disciple often means that a mentor has completely determined that his apprentice is capable of inheriting all his knowledge and skills.
As a well-deserved master in the field of Donghuang archaeology and cultural relics restoration, Zhen Yuandao's accumulation of a lifetime of struggle on the front line of the cultural field is definitely not something that ordinary people can fully accept.
Over the years, countless schools have wanted to send students to Zhen Yuandao's school, but as a front-line archaeologist, Zhen Yuandao has already taught a group of students and no longer wants to spend his precious archaeological time on teaching and educating.
He only needed to use the rest of his life to complete the archaeological works that he had not completed in his lifetime. For this reason, not to mention the last disciple who represented the inheritance, even the last time he accepted a disciple was fifteen years ago.
They couldn't imagine what kind of student would make Dean Zhen have such an idea. At one time, countless domestic scholars and professors engaged in Donghuang traditional culture called to inquire about Zhen Yuandao's specific situation.
But Zhen Yuandao, who had already stunned the whole audience with his performance, had no intention of explaining everything to them.
He even called his two apprentices early in the morning to threaten them, saying that if they dared to leak any information, he would expel them on the spot.
Su Chenghe and Gu Yuan had never expected that their teacher would come up with such an unquestionable "threat" right from the start, but as Zhen Yuandao understood.
As two major professors of Luojiashan University, how could Su Chenghe and Gu Yuan be so stupid as to tell others that they had fought over a student and made the student their junior sister?
These were all secrets that they would take to their graves. They wanted to ask the teacher for the specific reasons, but Zhen Yuandao only gave them a response that the answer would be known soon.
From that day on, Zhen Yuandao started going to the workshop every day under the pretext of delivering meals to check on Jia Wenyan's restoration progress.
During that period, the thing he looked forward to most every day was to see the progress of the reproduction of the dragon scale jade pendant.
As the dragon patterns and scales became clearer, the voice in Jia Wenyan's mind also became clearer.
It began to guide Jia Wenyan in every detail of the carving. For twenty days, Jia Wenyan, who was completely immersed in the replica work, continued her work without leaving her house.
The working hours are more than fourteen hours a day. Not to mention ordinary people, even Zhen Yuandao, an old man who has been doing archaeological work for almost his entire life, has to admire it.
He now wanted to see the moment when the complete dragon scale jade reappeared in the world.
On the 24th day, Zhen Yuandao waited quietly in the reception room of the workshop from morning to night.
He couldn't wait to witness the birth of his apprentice's first truly national treasure-level replica. And when the last blow of the carving knife in Jia Wenyan's hand fell.
In a corner that no one noticed, the oxidized and corrupted fragments of the dragon scale jade pendant in the Xian'an Museum became completely dim after emitting the last ray of light.
The jade pendant was completed, and Jia Wenyan, who had successfully recreated the dragon scale jade pendant, was completely unable to suppress her inner restlessness.
This was the first time she used top-grade materials to reproduce a cultural relic that could truly be collected as a national treasure. But before she could even scream, her consciousness was pulled into another dimension by the dragon scale jade pendant in her hand.
It was a lush bamboo forest. Above the bamboo forest, a soaring dragon hovering in the blue sky was slightly bowing its head towards Jia Wenyan.
【Thank you for giving me a second life. 】
"Second life, you are the dragon scale jade pendant? So cultural relics are also alive?"
[Yes, I am the dragon scale jade pendant that you gave new life to. My name is Tianxing, and I am the spirit of the dragon scale jade pendant born from the inheritance of Donghuang culture.]
[In Donghuang, every artifact that carries cultural heritage will have the opportunity to develop independent consciousness. ]
[Before, due to the excessive damage to my body, I was about to dissipate. After realizing that you have the wisdom to perceive the breath of history, I used my last strength to take the initiative to live in your sea of consciousness and use it to guide you to help me reshape my body. ]
"So what you mean is that there are many historical relics in this world, even in Donghuang and overseas, that have given birth to their own artifact spirits?"
[Yes, but the birth of a spirit is a long and chance-dependent process. Generally speaking, only those artifacts whose craftsmanship is recognized by the times have the opportunity to give birth to independent consciousness under the influence of historical heritage.]
"Then... those damaged national treasures..."
[Yes, unfortunately, the existence of weapon spirits depends on cultural relics. The damage of cultural relics will accelerate their death just like the incompleteness of human body. Only a very small number of weapon spirits that have existed for a long time can rely on the soul strength accumulated over many years to survive. ]
[Unless someone can help them rebuild a body that can accommodate them, they will gradually disappear from people's consciousness, just like the incomplete history in the long river of time.]
"So how many of these artifacts are there? How many are in the Xian'an Museum?"
[That's not a lot, but the situation of reshaping the body is mostly limited to artifact spirits like me who have been passed down for a long time and whose bodies are damaged to the point where they can no longer maintain the normal operation of the soul. Most ordinary artifact spirits will die before they need to reshape their bodies.]
[Moreover, reshaping the body is not something that any craftsman can do by simply replicating a cultural relic. Cultural relic that can give birth to a spirit of a weapon have already possessed their own aura after years of baptism. Even if an ordinary person replicates the exact same thing, there is no way to accommodate the survival of our spirit of a weapon.]
[The most common situation is that after a cultural relic is damaged, it is restored bit by bit by humans.]
"Do you know of any other people in the area who are in a similar situation to you?"
[Yes, there is one buried in the northwest corner of the yard where you are now.]
"Ah? The northwest corner of the yard? What kind of cultural relic is that? How deep is it buried?"
[It looks like a cultural relic similar to a piece of textile, but it may have been buried for too long, so its true appearance can no longer be seen.]
"So what should I do? Find a craftsman who is good at weaving and has spiritual roots like me?"
【That’s not necessary. 】
After Tianxing finished speaking, he transformed into a man in silver-white armor, and the bamboo forest in front of him also changed into a jade workshop that stored various books and tools.
Tian Xing: [In addition to possessing spirits, cultural relics that inherit historical culture also have the function of carrying the craftsmanship they use. ]
[Just like I guided you to complete the replica of my body before, you only need to find a national treasure that inherits the textile craft and enter its spirit space with its permission, then you can learn and master the memory it inherits during the frozen time.]
Jia Wenyan: "Then I can use the memory I have learned to reproduce and recreate those damaged or even destroyed cultural relics?"
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