Chapter 481: In Honor of the Founder

Gao De’s gaze was too intense, making Quentin momentarily confused:

What had he said that struck this Ice Sovereign’s sweet spot?

“Where did you get your recording stones?” Gao De asked, eyes fixed on the silvery-white stone in Quentin’s hand.

“It?” Quentin was slightly startled—he never expected that after all he’d said, Gao De’s focus would shift to the recording stone.

What kind of script is this?

Doubts aside, the recording stone wasn’t anything extraordinary.

So Quentin didn’t hesitate at all and answered directly: “This thing was accidentally discovered over a century ago by the sect’s guardian, Ian.”

“Tell me.” Gao De showed clear interest.

“At the time, Ian was carrying out the sect’s teachings on the snowplain as usual, when he encountered a blizzard. To shelter from the storm, he temporarily stayed with a nearby small tribe.”

“That tribe was called Tuwu—very, very small, only a couple thousand people, with just two ice-blooded mages in the entire clan.”

“The recording stone was found within Tuwu tribe, but at the time its function hadn’t been discovered—it was merely regarded by the tribe as an attractive mineral, used as a toy for children.”

“A mischievous child hid one of the recording stones under his bedding. When Ian practiced his cultivation method, he accidentally activated the stone and discovered its function.”

“Though its function was minor, the lifelike recording of light and shadow still struck Ian as peculiar, so he asked the tribe to take him to where the stone had been found.”

“It was a small recording stone vein buried beneath the frozen earth.”

“Ian also found it curious, so he dug up a few pieces and carried them with him, bringing them back to the sect’s headquarters during his rest period.”

“We studied them carefully and found many flaws—for example, the recording range is extremely limited.”

Quentin gestured with his hands, “It can only capture about one-fifth of this room’s view—meaning it can record at most three people; add a fourth, and it fails to capture fully.”

Just a small sensor, fixed-focus. Gao De rapidly translated Quentin’s words in his mind.

“Also, the recording stone requires magical energy to activate, so only mages can use it—and with repeated use, the recorded light and shadow grow increasingly blurry.”

“Finally, although the stone can be reverse-charged with magical energy multiple times, the recorded light and shadow can only be played back once.”

“Meaning one recording stone can record only one segment of light and shadow, but can replay that segment multiple times.”

“This thing may look small, but it’s heavy—carrying many is inconvenient, yet carrying just one or two is clearly insufficient due to these inherent limitations.”

“After much deliberation, the final conclusion was that the recording stone is merely a novelty with little practical use—but it’s perfect for transmitting important messages among scattered guardians.”

“Before this, we guardians communicated via ordinary paper letters, which were usually sufficient, but compared to recording stones, paper conveyed far less information and made verifying authenticity difficult.”

“The recording stone perfectly avoids these flaws and can be used in tandem with paper letters.”

“With a recording stone this size,” Quentin fiddled with the stone in his hand, “it can record nearly an hour of light and shadow.”

“Since then, recording stones have gradually spread among our guardians—each guardian carries two or three when traveling, just in case.”

Having explained the full history of the recording stone, Quentin observed Gao De’s reaction from the corner of his eye.

Though he didn’t consider the recording stone remarkable, he could tell this young man with legendary aura—the Ice Sovereign—was deeply interested in it, so he recounted every detail meticulously.

Then Quentin noticed that after hearing his account, Gao De’s eyes grew even brighter.

“How much of that recording stone vein remains?” Gao De asked again.

This was critical.

Quentin thought for a moment and affirmed: “I don’t know the exact amount, but at least half remains—people only mine when needed, and leave it untouched otherwise.”

“Good!” Gao De’s tone carried a hint of excitement, and his previously scrutinizing gaze toward Quentin softened considerably.

Though he didn’t understand why it was good, Quentin clearly saw Gao De was in good spirits—he seized the moment and spoke again: “Then, regarding what I mentioned earlier—”

Looking at this rugged chief guardian, Gao De remained silent for a moment.

He had little affection for the Snowplain Guardians sect.

But for the guardians as a group—at least after witnessing Baruk’s actions and briefly interacting with him—Gao De genuinely held some goodwill.

They were idealists.

After careful consideration, he finally spoke: “I agree with what you said. As you noted, many small tribes simply don’t know Phoenix is willing to accept them—they need us to seek them out.”

“Do as you suggested: you lead the way, and quickly gather other guardians—no matter how many tribes, Ice Sovereign will accept them all.”

“Our first target will be the Tuwu tribe,” Gao De said bluntly, not hiding his intent: “And extract that small recording stone vein—Phoenix needs these recording stones now.”

“No problem.” Quentin nodded, never foolish enough to ask what Gao De intended to do with the recording stones.

“Then that’s settled for now. Someone will contact you later with details.” Gao De waved his hand.

“Understood.” Quentin respectfully turned to leave, but after only two steps, he turned back.

“What is it?” Gao De asked.

Quentin looked embarrassed: “Could you arrange a residence for me in Phoenix? I’m used to wandering the snowplain—I can sleep anywhere outdoors, but you’ll have trouble finding me if I stay like that.”

Gao De turned to Su Nai with a peculiar expression; Su Nai immediately understood and said to Quentin: “When you leave, find the guard at the entrance—he’ll arrange your lodging.”

“Thank you, generous Ice War Mother, Ice Sovereign.” Quentin made the Snowplain Guardians’ hand gesture over his chest.

After Quentin had fully departed, Gao De spoke: “Observe him for a few days—see if his actions raise any issues.”

Su Nai, who had long harbored doubts, nodded slightly in agreement, then asked: “Does this recording stone have some enormous hidden function they haven’t discovered yet?”

“No, I’ve never heard of recording stones before—how would I know any hidden abilities?” Gao De said seriously: “But the functions it already displays are already important enough for Phoenix.”

“Huh?” Su Nai blinked, still confused.

She was very intelligent, but some things were hard to imagine without having seen them.

“It can solve our most pressing educational problem.”

“Huh?!”

Gao De didn’t delay—he explained directly: “We can use recording stones to produce high-quality instructional videos: activate the stone, have teachers lecture directly into it, then in schools, reverse-charge the stone to play the lessons.”

“With enough recording stones, one teacher can serve as countless teachers.”

“Of course, video lessons have many shortcomings compared to real teachers—but during the transition phase, they’re more than sufficient for basic education.”

“Everything is hard at the beginning.”

“We only need recording stones to get through the initial phase of universal education—that’s enough.”

Su Nai looked at Gao De with astonishment.

“What?” This time it was Gao De who was confused.

“I’m wondering how you came up with these ideas,” Su Nai marveled: “Just seeing the recording stone for the first time, you immediately thought to use it to solve education problems.”

“You’re truly a genius,” Su Nai said sincerely.

“That’s no genius,” Gao De waved his hand. Others saying it was fine, but Su Nai—she was a true genius in every sense—her praise made him feel guilty.

Inside the room.

Gao De took out the vial containing the second-rank ice curse he had just acquired.

Click. He opened the ice vial.

The moment it met the air, the blue streams of ice curse inside the vial spun rapidly into a miniature whirlwind—bone-chilling, extreme cold, turbulent.

He used his Mage Hand to tilt the vial at an angle, then withdrew his Icebound Blade from his ear and placed it at the vial’s mouth.

Instantly, the frigid second-rank ice curse flowed out, swirling around Gao De’s Icebound Blade.

Gao De closed his eyes slightly, his enhanced spiritual force began to meticulously unravel the second-rank ice curse, guiding it into his Icebound Blade.

Compared to last time, with his powerful spiritual force now supporting him, the entire process was as effortless as a tiger eating bean sprouts.

One vial of ice curse: ten strands, a hundred filaments.

Last time, Gao De spent over two hours to separate and absorb all the ice curse into his blade.

This time, it took only fifteen minutes.

After fully absorbing the vial of ice curse, Gao De’s ice shards successfully evolved into a “second-rank Icebound Blade.”

Its size and shape remained unchanged, but the entire needle turned from transparent to a luminous blue-green, radiating a mysterious, powerful aura.

Of course, the greatest change was in its power.

Its piercing damage rose from 15 to 20; its cold damage increased from 32 to 40.

Combined, that’s 20 + 40 total damage—though segmented, this power now fully entered the second-tier attack spell level, and even surpassed the damage of rare spells.

Moreover, Gao De possessed [Intermediate Ice-Protected Body], granting additional bonuses to ice spells.

This wasn’t just a last-resort spell anymore—it was a last-resort weapon. Gao De retracted the second-rank Icebound Blade into his ear, feeling exhilarated.

If he’d possessed the second-rank Icebound Blade back in Marko District, he could have taken down Aldrich without a single wound.

He rose from his meditation chamber and went to the “study,” pulling out paper and ink.

Before leaving the Northern Frontier, he still needed to quickly write a textbook.

He was no stranger to this—he had personally written the mathematics textbook for Phoenix’s First Middle School.

But this time, the textbook he wrote wouldn’t be for mass education—it was for one person alone.

“New Standard Glyphology.” Gao De paused, then finally wrote the title.

The first chapter, and most important section, was: “He Xi’s Six Laws.”

But the moment he wrote those six characters, he suddenly stopped.

He stared at “He Xi’s Six Laws” for a long time, then tossed the parchment aside, took out a fresh blank sheet, and began writing swiftly.

“He Xi Aokenli, born in Year 9291 of the Nolann Calendar, of the Aokenli family of Linhai City, first encountered glyphology at age twenty.”

“At that time, glyphology was mired in traditional thinking and outdated theories. He Xi entered this field without being bound by established rules, beginning a long, arduous journey of exploration with fearless courage and a unique perspective.”

“In Year 9656 of the Nolann Calendar, through extraordinary talent, astonishing perseverance, and countless calculations, he successfully completed He Xi’s Six Laws, dispelling the dark clouds over glyphology.”

“That same month, He Xi died at the Seris Magical Academy in the Principality of Sein—but rest in peace, he had already unearthed the truth.”

“Under He Xi’s extraordinary talent and tireless effort, glyphology was reborn, transformed, evolving from a murky, undefined state into a clear, systematic discipline.”

“He was a great pioneer, forging new paths in glyphology with fearless courage; an unyielding explorer, never abandoning his quest for knowledge amid hardship; a seeker of truth, dedicating his life to uncovering glyphology’s laws.”

“His name shall forever be engraved upon the historical monument of new glyphology.”

"In honor of He Xi·Oknley, the founder of the new standard glyphology!"

"Autumn of 9655, Gao De, inscribed at Gavin Hall"

After writing the final character, Gao De slowly exhaled a long breath, a strange emotion stirring within him.

Yes, the first lesson of the new standard glyphology was not He Xi’s Six Laws, but the biography of He Xi·Oknley.

When drinking water, remember the one who dug the well; He Xi, as the founder of new glyphology, sacrificed far too much for it.

Everyone studying new glyphology ought to know him, respect him, and be grateful to him.

After a flurry of thoughts passed through his mind, Gao De suppressed his turbulent emotions and continued writing the main text.

The most important part of the new standard glyphology is He Xi’s Six Laws, but foundational glyph learning from the old glyphology education system must also be included in the textbook.

He Xi’s Six Laws are tools; foundational glyphs are raw materials—neither can be missing.

Fortunately, under He Xi’s strict guidance, Gao De had mastered foundational glyphs thoroughly, so writing the textbook now came without hindrance.

But higher-level glyphs beyond first-rank glyphs, He Xi had not yet had time to teach him.

Still, it was not a major issue; after joining the Jin Quehua Dynasty’s Sea Sentinels, Gao De was certain he would have opportunities to encounter glyphology knowledge.

With focused concentration, this new standard glyphology textbook was quickly drafted in its preliminary form.

Gao De stood up, stretched his arms, loosened his muscles, and left the room with the textbook.

Anna, upon receiving this carefully prepared “great gift,” would surely be delighted!

(End of Chapter)