From the cards obtained earlier, it is evident that the ancient Shu civilization should have been passed down as part of Chinese civilization. This is also reflected in the number and quality of cards that Liang En received this time. Besides these five consumable cards, there are two other cards, including a skill card and a strengthening card. From these two cards, Liang En realized that the information contained in this relic was far more than he had previously imagined.
【Handcrafted Bronze Manufacturing (R): Bronze is the earliest intentional alloy created by humans, with no equivalent. In ancient China, it was referred to as "gold" or "auspicious gold." It is an alloy of red copper with other chemical elements such as tin and lead.
Newly cast bronze is golden in color, but due to oxidation over time, unearthed bronze turns greenish, hence the name bronze.
The earliest use of bronze by humans began in the late Neolithic period in Turkey, the Mesopotamian region, and the Fertile Crescent, which was also the cradle of early human civilization.
However, archaeologically, the discovery of bronze smelting sites in Serbia dating back 7,000 years broke the theory of a single origin of bronze invention.
Regardless, about 6,000 years ago, copper smelting technology in eastern Turkey had matured and spread to surrounding areas. Low-level arsenical bronze appeared commonly in this region.
About 5,000 years ago, tin bronze appeared in Southwest Asia, and a few hundred years later, bronze casting emerged in Central Europe and Central Asia, marking a significant leap in metallurgical technology.
The oldest bronze artifacts discovered in China come from the Majiayao culture site in Longdi. The unearthed single-edged bronze knife is the oldest known bronze artifact in China and the oldest bronze knife in the world, carbon-dated to about 5,000 years ago.
China's Bronze Age includes the Xia, Shang, Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn, and early Warring States periods, spanning about 1,600 years. The bronze artifacts from this period are mainly ritual and musical instruments, weapons, and miscellaneous items.
With the advent of iron and advancements in pottery-making techniques, bronze artifacts gradually exited historical circulation, nearly disappearing by the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
"Nearly" because two types of bronze artifacts continued to be made for a millennium after the Bronze Age ended: bronze mirrors and bronze coins.
These items represent the last remnants of the Bronze Age in China and the world. Although this era has vanished, the memory of casting this metal remains very precious.
Strengthening Card (Single Use), after using this card, the user will acquire all bronze casting techniques from before the Industrial Age, whether it’s a small copper nail or a giant object like the Urban Cannon.】
"If placed in ancient times, this skill would be enough to make someone the most important scholar of a country, or even a noble in the West. Unfortunately, now it can only make one an artist at best." After reading the content on the card, Liang En sighed.
For ancient people, casting bronze was a very troublesome task, especially for some overly small items and overly large objects. Therefore, those who could cast bronze artifacts were naturally considered high-tech talents.
Even in the age of cannons, bronze was the best raw material for casting cannons, so bronze craftsmen capable of casting cannons became crucial talents for a nation's fate. For example, the cannon master Urban indirectly led to the fall of Constantinople.
Of course, with the progress of time and human technology, bronze is no longer as important as it was in ancient times. For modern people, traditional hand-casting techniques can only meet some artistic needs.
However, in Liang En's eyes, this technique has an important use for him, which is for making artworks and jewelry, especially those with a naturalistic style.
Unlike some jewelry makers who pursue the rarity of materials, Liang En values the overall design of the jewelry more. For the sake of color and artistic conception, he does not particularly care about the preciousness of the materials used.
Of course, this disregard means that as long as the color and properties of the materials meet the requirements, he will use them without deliberately looking at the price, unlike some extremists who only use cheap materials.
In Liang En's view, this practice is no different from those who only use expensive materials; they just have different opinions on price, far from creating art from the perspective of beauty.
"So from a certain perspective, although this thing is not as useful as it used to be, it is still quite valuable to me." After figuring out the situation, Liang En happily put away the card and then looked at the next card.
The next card was a skill card, but interestingly, this card was quite peculiar because it was not for Liang En himself to use.
【Sun God Bird (SR): As the spiritual sustenance of the ancient Shu people, the Sun God Bird can be seen as their highest expression of sun and ancestor worship.
According to legend, this bird can be regarded as the incarnation of the sun, mastering light and heat. For a historical explorer, it naturally means mastering this legendary power.
Skill Card (Permanent), this card can grant one or several birds the power of the sun, but those birds must be under the control of the historical explorer.
Each legend point allows a bird to maintain the power of the Sun God Bird for ten minutes. This power not only generates light and heat but also has the power of the sun, enhancing attacks against all dark creatures or dark forces.
For example, when facing zombies, vampires, werewolves, or dark witches, it will cause several times the damage under normal circumstances, dealing fatal damage to this type of enemy.
Note, the closer the selected bird is related to the sun in legends, the better the card's effect. For instance, the rooster is a very suitable bird for this card because it is commonly believed that roosters crow at dawn.】
"A card with a power that is most useless." After reading the card's introduction, Liang En instinctively sighed, as this world is just an ordinary world without so-called dark creatures or dark forces.
If placed in a fantasy world, this power might be able to defeat many enemies, but in this world, its only extraordinary use is to change people's emotions when approaching flames, making them more positive.
After commenting on the card, Liang En summoned his raven and used the card to sense it, only to be surprised to find that the card matched the raven very well.
This situation occurred because there was a legend of the Golden Crow in ancient times, so the raven naturally matched the power of the sun very well. It could be said that the two were a perfect pair.
Of course, since he was now in a guest room, Liang En did not test the card but instead retracted the raven and began to write.
He was now depicting the archaeological site and relic restoration. Compared to photos, this kind of sketch, although less precise in scene restoration, could highlight some key elements and incorporate the artist's understanding, making it more subjective than photos.
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