Chapter 1112: What a Ruler Does, Bypassing Craftsmanship

Thinking of this, Xia Duo simply gave up on these six preset stone pillars, and subsequently left this workshop to go to the Spell Laboratory in his residence.

There was a more stable Magic Net environment here; although Bloodline Ability was less affected by the Magic Net environment, there was still an impact.

Moreover, it was almost unprecedented for Xia Duo to maintain a state of focus while using his Bloodline Ability, and in such a state, he once again summoned a mass of water.

Comparing it with the rough miniature model made in the workshop earlier, he performed repeated carving, focusing on the straightness and smoothness of the lines, the fullness and perfection of the details, and the stability and rationality of the structure.

Whenever he felt the carving was about right, he would cast a Spell to transform it into stone, and then continue to use this new miniature model as a reference to keep carving.

After repeating this process, it wasn't until Niya returned from the top-floor Study to prepare for rest that Xia Duo stopped this almost endless polishing work, opened the door to the Spell Laboratory, and called Niya in, asking her for her reference:

"Do you think it's okay to make the Code Sculpture like this?"

Niya took the palm-sized, deep blue-black stone sculpture from Xia Duo's hand, a flash of curiosity crossing her eyes; she knew that Xia Duo was going to make a Code Sculpture, but she did not know the specific progress.

Looking at the book-shaped small sculpture in her hand, Niya subconsciously said: "You want to use this stone carving as the permanent substrate?"

"No."

Xia Duo glanced at Niya, shook his head, and said: "My fault for not explaining clearly, this is just a model. I plan to make a larger one to place in the Territory square. Help me see where there are still places in the styling and details that can be improved or adjusted."

"Styling?"

Niya examined the heavy little sculpture in her hand again, even bringing it up to her eyes to observe carefully. The sculpture's styling was not strange; the main body was a very regular prismatic base, with a half-open thick book on top.

The overall styling looked conventional, and Niya couldn't think of anywhere to modify it for a moment. Moreover, this styling was chosen by Xia Duo, so it was not convenient for her to make any major adjustments.

After flipping it over and looking at it several times, Niya still couldn't find anything that must be improved or adjusted. In the end, she could only point to the mysterious Fuwu on both sides of the Judgment Balance on the cover of the Code and ask Xia Duo:

"These Fuwu look very familiar. Are they characters from your hometown?"

"Yes."

Since Xia Duo was prepared to make it into a sculpture, he naturally didn't mind others knowing. Furthermore, the emblem "Xia" registered by Daxia Territory at the Council in Seventon was itself a Chinese character.

Of course, the name "Daxia" was not a Chinese character, but a phrase from Elvish that sounded similar to the Chinese "Daxia," meaning "Yong Zhe Kai Tuo Zhi Di."

Xia Duo recited "Under the whole heaven, every spot is the sovereign's ground; to the borders of the land, every individual is the sovereign's minister" in Chinese, and then said: "This is a proverb from the ancient times of my hometown, which says—"

"As a ruler, one has the responsibility to protect and educate even the subjects outside the sovereign's territory."

Afterwards, Xia Duo used Niya's teacher as an example and explained: "Although the vast majority of the land in Netheril does not belong to the Nether Family, Her Highness the Princess still worries about the future of Netheril and the future of the Nether subjects. This is what a ruler does."

Hearing this, Niya immediately understood the meaning. She opened her eyes wide and looked at her husband, "Xia Duo, you—"

Xia Duo shook his head, "I cannot yet take responsibility for everyone like Her Highness the Princess, and perhaps I never will be able to, but in my own Territory, I will not forget my responsibilities as a lord."

Hearing Xia Duo say this, Niya finally breathed a sigh of relief. She was truly worried that Xia Duo would take on too many responsibilities, but Niya did not know that there was another proverb in his hometown about "cultivating oneself, regulating the family, governing the state, and bringing peace to the world."

First govern one's own "feudal state" well, and then the advanced nature of "my country" will naturally radiate to the "world." By then, even if Xia Duo himself didn't want to, he wouldn't be able to stop it; this is called the trend of the times.

The couple did not delve deeper into the issue of the proverb. Niya quickly stuffed the small sculpture back into Xia Duo's hand and said with a smile: "Give it back to you, I can't think of anywhere that can be modified."

"Alright then, let's tentatively decide on this. After the large sculpture is made, we'll see if it needs adjustment."

Xia Duo casually put away the small sculpture and pulled Niya out of the Spell Laboratory, "It's getting late, time to rest!"

The next morning, Xia Duo woke up naturally and finished his Meditation Training. Niya was still fast asleep, and he carefully pulled out his right arm that was still pillowed under Niya's neck.

This slight movement startled Niya. She murmured, but did not wake up, only turning on her side to hug Xia Duo.

Feeling the warm and moist Touch coming from Niya, Xia Duo felt extremely uncomfortable. He had woken up yesterday afternoon and slept for a while at night, so his spirit was just right now.

But Niya had performed a large amount of Spellcasting experiments during the day and engaged in intimate marital matters with him at night, so she was exhausted now. Even though her body was pressed against him, Xia Duo had to use other ways to divert his attention.

He had originally planned to get up early to repair the Magic Net with Aiboke, but now it seemed he could only let Aiboke repair it alone first.

Thus, Xia Duo simply closed his eyes and immersed himself in his consciousness world, designing the Magic production method for the Code Sculpture.

The step of transforming large stone materials was no problem; it was nothing more than digging a hole, filling it with water, and then transforming it. The key was the subsequent process of "carving" the stone material into a sculpture.

The process of "carving" itself was not difficult to achieve at a technical level; the only difficulty was how to ensure the shape was consistent with the model.

It didn't have to be exactly the same, as long as there were no serious deviations.

For the small sculpture, Xia Duo could use his Bloodline Power to first shape a water model and then transform it as a whole. Because the water model was shaped through Bloodline Ability, it had high adjustability and could be modified almost at will.

But the large sculpture could not be done this way; Xia Duo could not yet control such a large volume of water to construct the fine external structure of the sculpture.

And if he made the stone material first, there would be the problem of "carving craftsmanship."

Xia Duo did not possess any carving skills, which meant that even through Magic, he could not use processing methods like a "Magic Carving Knife."

And having to bypass "carving craftsmanship" was very headache-inducing.

Xia Duo had thought about using a method similar to injection molding and demolding, but it still couldn't solve the problem of "carving craftsmanship" involved in large sculptures for the mold.

If there was a way to bypass "carving craftsmanship" to make a mold, then why not use this method directly to make the sculpture itself?

Craftsmanship seemed like a kind of personal quality that was difficult to quantify, but in the industrial era on Earth, there were not necessarily no alternative ways.

So if it were on Earth, what would a person without carving skills do if they wanted to make a sculpture?

Thinking this way, Xia Duo gradually had an idea.