The research on ink and inkstone went very smoothly, but the research on papermaking was not.
Wall has no intention of making paper that cannot be used with quill pens - if a kind of paper can only be used with a quill pen that is too cumbersome and has a relatively slow writing speed, then it is impossible to expect it to be popular, because writing is first and foremost a tool, not a writing tool. Art and efficiency are far more important than beauty.
However, it is not easy to invent paper that allows a quill pen to write smoothly without ink bleeding on the paper!
He first thought that maybe different woods would lead to different paper quality, so he chose dozens of different woods, and finally settled on bamboo as the raw material. He soaked the young bamboo in water mixed with the entry-level spell "Acid Splash" and cast the spell about twice a day to soften the bamboo as quickly as possible. Then he removed the bamboo joints, bamboo skin and bamboo film, and chopped the remaining parts. , boil and grind in acid solution to get bamboo pulp.
Acid splash is the lowest level spell, and even a new mage apprentice can cast it. Although the number of spell castings increased, the total cost was much more cost-effective than using the wood pulp purification technique invented by Sui Xiong.
Later, he specially asked an alchemist to build an extra-large acid cauldron, which could greatly enhance the effect of the acid sputtering spell, save costs, and improve efficiency.
Every time the bamboo pulp is boiled, it must be transferred to clean water. After the magic power dissipates, grind it, boil and grind it about three times, and you will get quite pure bamboo pulp. The texture of this kind of bamboo pulp is very good, there is no need to remove the stains at all, and the production efficiency is quite fast, basically meeting the needs of the workshop.
In order to improve the efficiency of papermaking, he specially customized a mesh with very fine and dense holes, which was strengthened with magic and used as a template. This kind of fabric is installed on a shelf, and a layer is taken from the fully mixed pulp to become a piece of paper.
One rack is scooped out once, and dozens of racks are overlapped. After letting it sit for a period of time, the original paper is obtained.
The workers carefully removed the original paper from the template, stacked it layer by layer, squeezed out the excess water, and then hung it up to dry and flatten it slightly, which was the paper Wall finally got.
This kind of paper is white, soft, quite tough, and has a very good texture. If used with a brush and ink, it can be used as a suitable writing paper. But it still has the problem of ink bleeding and is not suitable for quill pens with thin strokes.
Wall's research hit a bottleneck here. He thought of many ways to make paper that became whiter and stronger, but the problem of ink bleeding was never solved.
In order to solve this problem, church leaders visited the workshops in batches and participated in research. Among them, Satan came up with a solution - he applied his experience working in a parchment paper workshop to papermaking. He added a grinding process to the drying process of the paper, and finally obtained a smoother paper.
This kind of paper is combined with ink ground with oil, and the ink does not bleed as expected.
"It's too luxurious to use oil to mix ink!" Wall was not satisfied with this. "What I want to do is to make writing supplies for those who are not rich!"
So Satan's plan was shelved and research continued.
This time they studied for a long time, and the one who finally came up with a reliable solution was Fafnir, that big and lustful strange bird.
At that time, Sui Xiong distributed the trial-produced paper products to church and playground employees, asking everyone to work together to see if they could come up with a solution to the ink staining problem. Fafnir held the paper and pondered for a while, trying to apply water, oil and blood on it, and then he found the key to the problem.
"The reason why this paper smears with ink is because it absorbs too much water." It said, and then took out the other half of the torn paper. This half of the paper was treated with its magic and became slightly water-repellent. When I pick up the pen to write, there is no ink bleeding at all.
"Then... let's try to make paper that doesn't absorb water very much." After getting the inspiration, Wall continued his research, spent a lot of time and money, and finally got the paper he wanted.
This pulp is mixed with some colloidal materials and some specially designed alchemy potions, so the paper produced no longer bleeds, and the writing feel is very similar to parchment, except that it is less solid.
At this point, his research was completely successful and he was finally satisfied.
"So, what's the price of this kind of paper?" Sui Xiong asked when he reported the results.
"Because colloids and alchemical potions are added, it is still a little higher, but it is much cheaper than parchment paper." Wall said, "It is less than one-tenth of the price of parchment paper."
Sui Xiong nodded and asked again: "Then, what if no colloid and alchemical potion are added?"
"It can be reduced to one percent," Wall said.
Sui Xiong nodded again and said casually: "Then why don't you consider changing to another writing material?"
Wall was stunned and looked at him doubtfully.
"For example, it's good to use charcoal strips to write." Sui Xiong recalled what happened when he was practicing sketching and couldn't help but laugh, "No one stipulates that you must use ink, right? Paper absorbs water? Then you don’t need to write with water.”
Wall was completely stunned. During this period, he had been obsessed with the water absorbency of paper, but he never thought that there was a way to circumvent this problem.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty... Why didn't you tell me earlier!" He yelled.
Sui Xiong scratched his head in embarrassment: "I have been thinking about how to open up the world during this period, and I forgot about your affairs..."
The poor legendary swordsman "Black Blade" almost spit out a mouthful of blood.
In the end, he was reluctant to abandon the formula he had worked so hard to design and launched two different types of paper.
One kind of paper is slightly thicker and the ink will bleed very badly, but if you use charcoal strips to write on, there will be no problem at all.
The other kind of paper is thin and strong, and does not bleed at all. The feeling of writing on it with a quill is almost exactly the same as parchment.
The former is a low-end product, and the latter is a high-end product. Wall also launched very cheap writing charcoal strips and graphite charcoal pens invented under Sui Xiong's guidance.
Although he was unable to follow Sui Xiong's instructions, bind extremely finely ground graphite powder with glue, press it into a thin round stick, and then wrap it with thin wooden strips to make a hexagonal "pencil", but in In his opinion, his research is already perfect.
Perhaps someone will further improve his research in the future, but the overall tone should not exceed the scope he drew.
As a person who likes reading, and a person who even hides in the library and keeps company with books when he escapes, this achievement makes him satisfied and he feels that he has "no regrets in this life."
Seeing the packages of paper, charcoal strips, charcoal pens, ink blocks and various stationery loaded on the car and transported to the branches of "Gelten Stationery Company" in various places, the legendary swordsman who had worked hard for almost two years couldn't help but feel deeply. The ground breathed out.
"It's really satisfying to have such an achievement!" He said to Sui Xiong and Orian who were watching, but his voice was as low as talking to himself, "My life is complete today. !”
His voice gradually became lower, his vitality also gradually decreased, and his eyelids slowly closed.
Orian was shocked, thinking that the teacher was about to die, and was about to try to save him, but was stopped by Sui Xiong.
"You little fool, don't make trouble!" Sui Xiong said with a smile, "Your teacher is about to make a breakthrough!"
"Breakthrough? Breakthrough for what?" the usually calm and composed Dame asked stupidly.
"What else can a legendary powerhouse do if he breaks through again?" Sui Xiong couldn't help but laugh, "This guy Wo'er is about to enter the realm of demigods!"
When Wo'er's breath dropped to the extreme, like a candle in the wind, and was about to be extinguished at any time, a strange power burst out in the deepest part of his soul, like a bridge, connecting him to the source of this world. stand up.
Endless power flowed from the source of the world and flowed into his soul, quickly strengthening the soul that was still full of impurities and not strong enough or pure enough. This strengthening quickly fed back to his body, and the old disguise quickly Hidden, showing his true appearance.
The original strong back and waist have not become thicker, but there is a vague aura like a mountain. The weather-beaten face became delicate and whiter, as if he looked several years younger. If that scar hadn't been there, I could have gone to Hengdian and become an idol martial arts star.
However, when the body and soul have been fully strengthened, the connection between Wo'er and the source of the world has not been severed. Instead, accompanied by a low voice that mortals cannot hear, there are strange fluctuations in his soul* *, there are indescribable songs echoing in the surrounding air, and colorful lights fall from the sky, making the surroundings look like a fairyland.
Among the gods from all over the world, many have noticed the scene here and cast doubtful eyes on this side.
With a flash of light, the incarnations of the God of Literature and Art and the God of Classics appeared at the same time, watching Wo Er gradually float in the strange light, floating in the air as if he had lost weight.
On his chest, a circle of golden light slowly emerged. Within the golden light were papers, books, ink and charcoal.
"What kind of priesthood is this?" Sui Xiong asked.
"Not culture or art."
"Not books either."
"What exactly is it?" Sui Xiong asked.
The two gods couldn't answer. They could feel that this was a priesthood closely related to them, but they couldn't be sure what it would be.
After a while, Wall's body shook violently and shattered into countless light spots. But then these light spots regrouped and turned into himself.
However, at this moment, he has changed his clothes. Wearing a scholar's robe, various transparent stationery appeared around him, and there were countless people reading and writing around him.
In the Pantheon, there is an additional chair that is inconspicuous in terms of status, but its light is extremely eye-catching. It's just that it's still hazy, like a shadow, and has not yet been determined.
The God of Art and the God of Classics shook their bodies at the same time and said: "Knowledge!"
"Knowledge? The God of Knowledge?!" Sui Xiong was shocked, "It sounds very noble!"
Another ray of light fell, and a ball of colorful light appeared around them.
This is the Lord of Mysteries, the God of Wisdom and Magic, and the recognized strongest among the gods.
"From today on, culture will spread widely in the world, and wisdom will be split into 'knowledge' and 'mystery'." The Lord of Mysteries looked at Wo Er quietly, and then looked back at Sui Xiong.
"Knowledge and mystery are both parts of wisdom and cannot be separated," He said.
Sui Xiong understood what he meant.
"I thought that the God of Mage would appear first, but I didn't expect that the God of Knowledge would take the lead." He said, "However, I welcome His arrival."
At this moment, Wall opened his eyes.
He glanced left and right and understood the current situation.
Without any hesitation, he—or rather, He—knelt down on one knee to Sui Xiong.
"Great Mask of the Void, I am Vol, the God of Knowledge, your follower and loyal guard!"