"Teacher, please accept my greetings." Li Xian bowed solemnly.
"I am so embarrassed..." The old jade craftsman, who had been honest all his life, didn't want to have the opportunity to teach a noble disciple "lowly trade" in his later years. His mood was really complicated and could not be described in words.
Li Xian said solemnly, "Teacher, I want to learn how to make a jasper lamp."
"Okay." Sun Ming finally accepted this temporary disciple and started to visit with Li Xian.
First of all, of course, the raw materials, pieces of jade were transported in, and the jade without cracks was selected and cut. Because the craftsmen generally required to have the third level of Qi Refining Stage, they also held a sharp tool in their hands, and they could easily complete the cutting - just like cutting tofu.
Then, according to the color of the jade, it is divided into ten grades: "Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, and Gui"; jade workers of different grades take jade of corresponding grades and carve them separately.
Li Xian followed the flow of the "A" grade jade and watched the jade craftsman skillfully carve the jade into a cylindrical shape, and then carve something like a ghost painting on it - a formation.
After carving the formation, he injected a stream of true energy into it, and a jade lamp was ready. The whole process took less than half an hour, and it was simpler than Li Xian had imagined—at least that was what it seemed.
“It looks so simple.”
"It's not easy. A skilled carver needs to practice for three years to succeed. In addition, a certain knowledge of formations is required. Different jades have different textures, which require different carving methods. Look at these two."
Sun Ming pointed at the jade lamps carved by the same jade craftsman. Sure enough, he could tell the difference at a glance. The patterns on the two jade lamps were obviously very different.
"When carving the formation, you need to wrap the jade with spiritual consciousness and sense the direction of the spirituality in the jade; then you can carve the correct formation. Don't underestimate this simple formation, which is a superposition of five small formations: Yang of the sky, Yin of the earth, gathering spirits, absorbing essence, and fluorescence. The two formations of Yang of the sky and Yin of the earth are carved at both ends and must correspond to each other. When the Yang of the sky is upward and the Yin of the earth is downward, it will form a spiritual energy cycle with the heaven and earth and turn on the Jade Lamp; if it is reversed, the spiritual energy cycle will be cut off and the Jade Lamp will be turned off. The Gathering Spirit Formation absorbs a little spiritual energy between heaven and earth as the elemental force for the Jade Lamp to glow. The absorbing essence formation is to preserve the injected true essence, which is the life force of the Jade Lamp. The fluorescent formation is the real luminous formation."
Under Sun Ming's guidance, Li Xian began to learn. He knew the problem only after he started to learn. He learned about the texture of jade, the principles of the five small formations, the power and skills of cutting, and the use of spiritual consciousness to explore the structure of jade. There was not much to learn, and the explanation was completed in one hour. The rest was practice.
But Li Xian was very distressed. He was a typical person with high expectations but poor skills. His hands were always out of control and the jade cylinder he carved looked like an antique - full of holes and a terrible sight.
He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration appeared in the depths of his mind, and a strange enlightenment emerged in his heart. Li Xianfu's mind and carving seemed to be assisted by God. He carved five small formations on the antique jade cylinder like flowing water. The last one was injected with true energy, and a fluorescent jade lamp appeared... Success!