Chapter 16 [Colleague?]
When the sky was just beginning to brighten, Chen Yan lay in bed and opened his eyes, picking up the phone next to his pillow to check the time.
It was six in the morning.
Last night, he read a novel until past twelve o'clock.
Calculating, he'd only slept for less than six hours, but Chen Yan felt refreshed and energetic.
Thinking back, in the past, it would take over ten hours of deep, uninterrupted sleep to feel this good upon waking.
Clearly, after Primordial Qi Entering the Body, his physical state had improved significantly.
He got up and fried two eggs for himself, sandwiching them between two pieces of toast, and paired it with a carton of milk, finishing it all in a few bites.
Wiping his mouth, Chen Yan commented that toasted bread wasn't as flavorful as fried mantou slices.
Glancing at the time, it was already past eight, and Chen Yan changed into his outerwear and went out.
In the morning, Chen Yan went to the building materials market for construction and renovation again.
He carefully selected and finally found a merchant selling decorative stone materials.
Yesterday, Chen Yan had already decided not to do the hard labor himself—carving stone by hand was just too taxing.
He had calculated that, with such a large courtyard, including his villa—setting up a Spirit Gathering Array that large would require over a hundred meters of bluestone.
Over a hundred meters, personally carving runes bit by bit... by the time he finished, his lease would probably be up!
He directly went to the merchant to place an order.
He ordered fifty bluestone slabs, each two meters long, forty centimeters wide, and twenty centimeters thick.
Then he took out two prepared drawings on his phone.
"Engrave the patterns on both sides of the bluestone slabs.
According to these two drawings, one with an incised engraving, and the other with a raised engraving."
Chen Yan wasn't worried about the runes being leaked.
The patterns he provided were incomplete, and he kept some key parts to himself.
The missing parts would be added by Chen Yan personally when setting up the array.
So, even if someone got these patterns and tried to replicate the engravings, they wouldn't achieve much.
·
So after a quick look at the patterns, the boss wasn't surprised.
These days, it's common to have decorative engravings on ordered stone materials for aesthetics.
He quickly calculated the cost of materials and labor, then quoted a price.
Estimating the usual markup at the building materials market, Chen Yan tried to cut the price in half.
The boss smiled and nodded readily, "Deal!"
Chen Yan: "..."
Damn, I offered too much!
Cursing inwardly, but Chen Yan didn't back out.
He didn't plan to use the Interruption Technique on the boss either.
That's just how business works, bargaining is part of the game.
The price is negotiated by both parties, no one is forced into it.
If he lacked experience and overpaid, that was his own fault, and also the skill of the boss.
He had to accept it!
The delivery time was set for seven days—though the boss said, since Chen Yan paid promptly, it could be done in five days if lucky. Seven days was just giving a bit of a buffer for the workers.
Chen Yan was quite satisfied with this timeline!
With so many bluestone slabs, if he were to carve the runes by hand... He would first have to learn how to carve stone properly and practice to get skilled enough.
If he made a mistake on one slab, it would waste two meters and have to start over.
Where would he find so much time?
But it was different for the merchant.
Fifty bluestone slabs, cutting the stone would take at least a day.
And for the engraving work... the merchant's shop used machine carving!
The patterns were scanned into a computer, then made into a template and controlled by a machine.
Mount the bluestone slab on the machine, turn it on, and the engraving would be done in no time.
Chen Yan heard the merchant's own stone factory had four such machines!
Walking out of the building materials market, Chen Yan was in a great mood.
Even for cultivation, scientific methods are essential!
Huh?
Chen Yan remembered reading that creating arrays was exceptionally difficult and time-consuming, often taking a lifetime to master.
Was it because the ancients had no machines and had to carve everything by hand?
Even making a basic Spirit Gathering Array was so time-consuming and labor-intensive.
What about something more complex, like the Yellow River Array or the Qimen Dunjia Array…
How much material would that require!!!
With only an Array Master, carving each rune by hand... it would take forever.
·
Solving a major problem for himself in the morning put Chen Yan in an excellent mood. After leaving the building materials market, he went to a large warehouse supermarket for a big shopping spree.
As it was approaching the end of the year, he needed to buy some supplies for the Chinese New Year.
Thinking about it, the old lady was no longer around—well, he didn't feel sad at all about it now.
This year, he would be spending the New Year alone.
He thought he should still visit his hometown.
Having grown up in the village, his relations with his fellow villagers were quite good. Despite occasional minor conflicts, overall they were harmonious.
Moreover, during the old lady's funeral, the villagers had helped a lot.
The elegy was written by the old village head, and the funeral canopy was set up by the villagers.
During the burial, several families helped Chen Yan carry the coffin together.
These favors had to be repaid!
Things like chicken, ducks, salted fish, and cured meats were unnecessary since villagers would slaughter pigs for the New Year and wouldn't lack those items.
Chen Yan bought a case of good cigarettes and several boxes of powdered milk for the elderly.
He decided against buying wine for now, as he couldn't take it on high-speed rail. He would buy it in the county when he got back.