Chapter 572

Seeing the empire's national strength thriving before his abdication, His Majesty could finally rest easy with tears in his eyes.

In the expanded conference room on the third floor, although some bricks and stones had been moved away by guild members and the floor had been carefully cleaned, traces of the temporary expansion were still visible.

Lin Cheng did not care about these details; as he entered, a large group of people followed him in and began to choose suitable standing positions.

Seats at the scene were limited; the young ones shouldn't even think about it, as the seats were definitely reserved for the experienced master craftsmen of the guild.

As juniors, being able to stand in the conference room was already considered good, and those juniors who could stand in the room had connections; those blacksmiths without connections could only stand outside the conference room and look in through the windows.

Even so, a large number of blacksmiths were willing to stand at the windows and look in; the inscription lecture would surely include live demonstrations of enchanting techniques, and even if they could only learn a little, it would be of great benefit to some ordinary blacksmiths.

Under the anticipation of the crowd, Lin Cheng walked to the very front of the conference room and turned to face everyone.

"Ahem!"

Behind him was a magic blackboard, and in front of him was a magic loudspeaker; he felt inexplicably nervous while testing the sound. Having grown up, he had always been the one listening to lectures, and he hadn't expected to have the opportunity to teach others.

The crowd below remained quiet from beginning to end; even if there were some faint sounds, those talking to each other were very restrained.

"Before the formal lecture, I will state the course arrangement. Because the explanation and depiction of inscriptions are very demanding on a blacksmith's experience, I will try to speak as slowly as possible. This morning I will explain five inscriptions, and in the afternoon another five; there are thirty inscriptions in total, and I will finish explaining all of them over three days. Considering the complexity of the inscriptions, I will lecture for ten days in total! I will explain them from beginning to end three times. Any problems, President Holder?" Lin Cheng looked at President Holder in the front; according to the agreement, in ten days, his shop should be finished with renovations, and he would have to go back to open the shop.

Afterward, he would come to the Blacksmith Guild to lecture depending on his mood.

"That's fine, that's fine." President Holder nodded and took out a magic recorder; the best notes would be to record the entire process of Lin Cheng's explanation so he could go home and watch it repeatedly.

"Holder, you actually..." A branch president from another city nearby was stunned when he saw Holder take out a magic recorder; he hadn't thought of this trick.

He hurriedly signaled his subordinates to go quickly and buy a magic recorder.

However, some younger blacksmiths had prepared in advance and were selling magic recorders at high prices on the spot. Seeing that Master Lin Cheng's lecture was about to begin, it was obviously too late to run to the Magic Chamber of Commerce, so they had to painfully accept the high-priced magic recorders.

Lin Cheng smiled when he saw the white-haired young man selling the magic recorders; this guy had more business sense than the others, holding out until the very start of the session to sell them, which was precisely the best time to sell—where there is demand, there is a market!

It seemed that President Holder's magic recorder had also been bought from him earlier.

If there was an opportunity, he should recruit this guy.

"Class begins now!"

"As everyone knows, inscriptions are the key for us blacksmiths to bestow special power upon enchanted items. So, may I ask, besides this, what other functions do inscriptions have?"

He used modern teaching methods; if he were to analyze inscriptions like chanting scriptures from the start, even Lin Cheng himself wouldn't be able to stand the process.

He started by asking this question to the crowd; the group below was slightly stunned—some wondered why he asked this, while others began to think about the answer.

Even if they didn't know what Master Lin Cheng's intention was.

Doing so must have his reasons.

Actually, this question involved ancient exploration and imperial history; unless one was a successor of a family with blacksmithing heritage, ordinary blacksmiths almost didn't know the answer to this question.

Even worse, they only knew that inscriptions could be used for enchanting, and that was all.

Their knowledge base was pitifully small.

"Everyone, don't be nervous; those who know can answer me directly. I just hope that everyone will not forget the origin and history of inscriptions."

"Everyone should understand the principle of 'those who plant the trees provide the shade for those who come later.' If every generation of blacksmiths were researching inscriptions, then bit by bit, our understanding of inscriptions would gradually increase. Instead of the current situation, where every blacksmith is waiting for others to share their understanding of inscriptions."

"To put it bluntly, why should my Tutu family share the inscription system we have researched for a thousand years? If I hadn't made it public, how would you have gathered together?"

These words directly left the crowd below speechless and also somewhat blushing.

Lin Cheng was right; among these old seniors who had devoted their lives to the blacksmithing industry, not a single one had devoted themselves to the research of inscriptions.

Research into inscriptions should not belong to the small group specializing in it, but to the entire blacksmithing industry; everyone should constantly test and research the functions of inscriptions.

Only then can the blacksmithing industry grow, and if they just wait for others to share, the industry is destined to decline.

"But such thinking is too selfish and useless; the power of one person or one family is ultimately limited. Just like my Tutu family, which now only has me left—if I don't stand up now, and my descendants don't like being blacksmiths, am I supposed to take the inscriptions with me to the grave?"

"If my contribution can awaken some of us, even if only one-tenth of the blacksmiths are willing to hone their blacksmithing skills while researching inscriptions, then starting from our era, we will step by step move toward the peak!"

Lin Cheng attributed some of the knowledge systems within the system to the Tutu family without blushing; anyway, he was the only descendant left, so he could make up whatever he wanted.

It also served to cover up the mystery of the system, attributing everything to his ancestors; those who wanted to challenge him couldn't possibly confront the ancestors of the Tutu clan.

The crowd below didn't remain silent for long; soon, an old man with white hair and a long beard, similar to President Holder, stood up to answer Lin Cheng's question.

"It is said that in ancient times, inscriptions, like incantations, were one of the mediums for communicating with the power of heaven and earth."

"Anything else?" Lin Cheng nodded, signaling the old man to sit down.

"According to the records of my Tutu family, the functions of inscriptions are not just a few; communicating with heaven and earth is only their basic function!"

Another middle-aged man, standing outside the classroom and looking ordinary, suddenly said to Lin Cheng: "Blacksmiths in ancient times could achieve infinite possibilities by using different combinations and arrangements of inscriptions."

The middle-aged man thought that if he answered correctly, he might be able to enter and listen to the lecture.

"This belongs to the category of enchanting; it barely counts. You may come in to listen to the lecture. Anything else?"

The middle-aged man was very happy to enter the corner of the conference room to listen to the lecture; he had bet correctly.

"It is said that scholars of the human race in ancient times believed that inscriptions could reveal the secrets of heaven and even the world!" A white-haired young man suddenly spoke up from the back row of the conference room.

"But I don't know what exactly; the relevant historical secrets seem to have been destroyed by the Elves."

Hearing the voice, Lin Cheng looked directly over; it was actually the white-haired young man with business sense from earlier.

He nodded, his eyes brightening slightly; this guy was indeed a talent worth cultivating.

"Indeed, this answer is very close to the truth of the inscriptions my Tutu family has researched for a thousand years."

Everyone who heard this was shocked; they had previously guessed that Master Lin Cheng might have a different understanding of inscriptions, but they hadn't expected that there were unknown secrets behind them.

"What is that?"

"The truth about inscriptions?"

"Could there be some conspiracy?"

Lin Cheng could hear the faint discussions of the crowd, but none of them had hit the nail on the head.

"Ahem, silence."

The crowd below immediately quieted down, and countless pairs of suspicious and curious eyes gathered on Lin Cheng.

"Let me tell you: inscriptions are actually a type of writing! My Tutu family believes that the Heavenly Book records knowledge and power of super-intelligence, and inscriptions are the key to unlocking the secrets of the Heavenly Book."

"Heavenly Book? Unbelievable, do you have evidence?" An old man couldn't believe it at all, trembling with excitement; he was a successor with blacksmithing heritage.

But Lin Cheng's theory ran completely counter to the knowledge he had learned; in his education, inscriptions were just auxiliary tools used by the human race in ancient times to forge implements, bestowing special power upon weapons, and there was no other knowledge about inscriptions.

"Sorry, my Tutu family declined three generations ago, and I cannot produce evidence now. But this is the knowledge passed down to us; I am telling you now, that is all."

Seeing that the old man who had refuted him earlier seemed to have more to say, Lin Cheng didn't give him any chance to interrupt.

"Whether you choose to believe it or not, it doesn't matter. I know that many of you belong to families with your own blacksmithing heritage, but arguing is meaningless. To be honest, our understanding of inscriptions is too one-sided. Anything is possible."

"As I said before, people in ancient times used different combinations and arrangements of inscriptions to achieve infinite possibilities. At the same time, the number of inscriptions in ancient times was far greater than it is now. But most of them have been lost, and only a small portion has been preserved to this day."

"Now, class officially begins!"

Lin Cheng turned around and depicted five completely different yet extremely similar inscriptions on the magic blackboard.

"These inscriptions are 'Inheritance,' 'Saint,' 'Red Moon,' 'Mutation,' and 'Strife,' respectively."

"Just by looking at the inscriptions themselves, you won't be able to tell anything, because they are too similar, and their powers are similar yet completely different. My ancestors spent hundreds of years distinguishing them and naming them with the most appropriate words based on the power they possess."