Chapter 915: Cheap Paper, Soaring Demand

As the spell completed, the surface of the reaction pool in the center of the workshop was suddenly veiled in a layer of mist, accompanied by a buzzing sound caused by the high-frequency vibration of wood shavings and water mist.

As Xia Duo adjusted the intensity and angle of the Crushing Force Field, this layer of mist quickly fell into the pool, staining the clear water with a yellowish-brown, twisted, abstract pattern.

Immediately following, more wood shavings were disintegrated by the 【Crushing Force Field】, mixing into the water and turning the once-clear reaction pool murky.

Afterward, while maintaining the 【Crushing Force Field】, Xia Duo continued to toss scattered small wooden blocks into the reaction pool; he only stopped once the mixture in the pool reached a certain concentration, explaining:

"This is the most primitive wood pulp! You can make paper in this state, but the resulting paper is very loose, so there must be a subsequent acid washing step! As for how much wood to add for one batch of pulping, there aren't many restrictions, as long as it isn't too thick. You can discover and perfect these details during your future manufacturing."

In fact, there were specific numbers for how much water and wood to add in the paper-making process of the 【Projection Plane: Arcane Empire】.

However, the Arcane Empire had failed to create paper that could be used to manufacture Magic Scrolls, so Xia Duo simply didn't mention it, letting them experiment—perhaps they might have some unexpected gains!

Next, Xia Duo continued to cast 【Acid Baptism】 from the paper-making series of spells. During this process, besides the wood pulp's color lightening slightly, the density of the wood pulp also underwent some subtle changes.

After passing through 【Acid Neutralization】, the color of the wood pulp lightened once more. At this point, Xia Duo stopped again and explained:

"Up to this step, the wood pulp preparation is completely finished; what follows is shaping and drying. I won't demonstrate the spell version; I will demonstrate another method, and this is also what you will frequently come into contact with in the future."

In reality, the preceding steps could also be completed through non-spell methods, but Xia Duo was in a hurry. If he didn't use spells, just crushing the wood to create the primitive wood pulp would take a massive amount of time, which was not what he wanted.

……

Taking a square sieve no larger than a human head from his Personal Space, Xia Duo walked directly to the edge of the reaction pool, squatted down, scooped through the wood pulp with the sieve a few times, and finally lifted it up gently while keeping it level.

After taking the sieve out, Xia Duo showed it to Saixili, Jianaer, and the others while explaining: "This is the paper before drying! If you make paper yourselves in the future, you can choose to air-dry it, but I will show you the result directly here!"

As he spoke, Xia Duo directly induced the air above the sieve to accelerate its flow, simultaneously dispelling the moisture in the air to increase the evaporation of water on the sieve.

Almost in the blink of an eye, the wood pulp on the sieve dried at a speed visible to the naked eye. Afterward, Xia Duo removed this sheet of Wood Pulp Paper from the sieve and handed it to Saixili.

"This is the Paper-making Technique!"

"Th—this is real?"

Even though she had seen the entire paper-making process and the resulting paper was already in her hands, touching this Wood Pulp Paper that still held a faint dampness, Saixili was still somewhat unable to believe it.

She stared blankly at the paper in her hand, unable to speak for a long while.

Jianaer and the few low-level Mages from the Magic Technician Office were also stunned; a sheet of Parchment of this size would cost about 2 Silver Coins, roughly the daily wage of an ordinary person.

And Elven Paper of the same size was twice the price of Parchment.

They knew that Elven Paper was made by Elves using plants, but seeing Xia Duo create a piece of legendary Elven Paper so easily left them greatly shocked.

"The cost of this one sheet, if there is absolutely no spell participation, might be less than 1 Copper Coin. However, I suggest that the acid washing and neutralization processes are best completed by spells so that the quality isn't too difficult to control. As for the cost, it still won't exceed 1 Copper Coin!"

Of course, this cost is the cost after large-scale manufacturing. If it is only produced in small quantities, that is not necessarily the case—just like now, how much the renovation of this workshop cost, and what the spellcasting cost and time cost of an Arcanist like Xia Duo are.

"My lord, is this Elven Paper?" Saixili asked suddenly.

"What difference does it make whether it is or isn't?"

Xia Duo took out a piece of the so-called Elven Paper, flicked it twice casually, and placed it in Saixili's hand. "The purpose of paper is nothing more than writing or manufacturing Magic Scrolls; there is no need to consider any other factors."

After finishing, he turned his gaze toward Jianaer on the side, took a thin little booklet from his Personal Space, and handed it to the other party before saying:

"I have just demonstrated the basic process of paper-making. Now I am giving you the complete craft process, which includes both spell versions and non-spell versions. The Magic Technician Office should master it as soon as possible; the daily writing paper for the Tower of Time will depend on you all!"

"Leave it to us?" Jianaer held the booklet, his expression very surprised.

"Yes, leave it to you. I hope you will not let me down!"

After speaking, Xia Duo did not intend to stay longer and called out to Saixili, who was still somewhat out of it, "Take me to the Ku Fang!"

"Oh, okay!"

Only then did Saixili come back to her senses. Thinking of what Xia Duo had just said, she immediately realized a problem: the Tower of Time would almost immediately be able to mass-produce Elven Paper!

And it would be very cheap Elven Paper. This made Saixili's head spin—how much money could this earn!

Not until she led Xia Duo to the emptied Ku Fang, and Xia Duo filled the Ku Fang with a large amount of logs, did she gradually calm down. Thinking of the previous talk of confidentiality, she asked somewhat unwillingly:

"My lord, can we not sell this paper to others?"

"Of course you can!"

Xia Duo gave her a strange look. "However, at the very least, we must wait until the basic needs of the Tower of Time are met!"

Don't look at how the nearly one thousand people in the Tower of Time can barely maintain their daily consumption with Parchment now; once they know the new paper is very cheap, the consumption will no longer be what it is today!

Parchment can be scraped and reused for writing, and combined with its high price, that is why the consumption is so low. But the new Wood Pulp Paper cannot be scraped repeatedly and can only be used once.

Yet, compared to Parchment, its price—a few dozen times cheaper—can completely offset the reusability of Parchment. It can preserve all written records; who would be willing to scrape repeatedly?

It can be foreseen that once the new paper appears, it will surely set off a frenzy for paper.

Besides the Tower of Time, there are the Savile Territory and Daxia Territory; there are plenty of places that need paper, and it is far from the time to sell it externally.

Furthermore, selling a large amount of cheap paper now would easily attract all sorts of trouble. Although Xia Duo has the confidence to face it, wouldn't it be better to have a little less?