In the bookshop, the block-printing master held a thick stack of manuscript paper.

Apart from the text section, there were thirty-four detailed diagrams related to the dragon bone waterwheel.

From main diagrams from various perspectives to detailed breakdowns of every component.

There were even explanations of the principles, data calculations, and the derivation and establishment of techniques alongside the diagrams.

As well as how to specifically apply techniques in different terrains, adapting to local conditions, to construct different models of the dragon bone waterwheel!

So painstakingly detailed, it's almost like spoon-feeding.

The block-printing master actually didn't understand the arts of numbers and techniques, but he had carved countless images and texts, so he knew the usual appearance of construction diagrams.

To be honest, a main diagram with a few core dimensions marked is already considered very good.

It usually includes three views: the front, breakdown, and outline sketch.

Craftsmen who receive such diagrams often find it difficult to completely recreate them in reality without a master's hands-on instruction.

On the one hand, this might be due to the protection of some secret techniques.

On the other hand, in this era, it's customary for drawings to include three views as the highest standard.

However, Chen Xu's set of dragon bone waterwheel diagrams broke the standard and raised the bar.

It opened a whole new world before one's eyes.

Diagram after diagram, densely packed, the more the block-printing master looked, the more he couldn't help but feel a sense of awe.

He held the diagrams with trembling arms, his eyes somewhat dizzy.

If not for a quick-witted apprentice supporting him, he might have fallen to his knees directly.

The block-printing master's lips quivered, finally eking out a trembling sentence after several tries: "How can these diagrams be publicly printed?"

As soon as he finished speaking, his back was drenched with cold sweat.

A simple phrase, yet it held an unspeakable shock.

Why can't they be publicly printed?

Because once these diagrams were released, they'd probably turn the whole craftsman industry upside down!

Everyone originally adhered to a set standard, life went on well enough, even if there were some issues with inheritance, it wasn't a major problem.

Then suddenly, a guy with no respect for tradition appeared from nowhere, dropped a template, and forcibly raised the industry's standards.

What exactly does he intend to do?

Become an enemy of the entire industry?

Or gain worldwide fame, making waves across thousands of miles, riding the winds and cleansing the waves, stirring up earthshaking changes?

Fine!

But what does this have to do with a mere block-printing master like him?

Who wants to get involved in this?

The block-printing master, torn by these thoughts, found his legs as weak as noodles, barely supported by the apprentices.

"Master!" an apprentice shouted.

Yet, the block-printing master still collapsed onto the ground, his body heavy and hard for the two apprentices to lift.

Only Cui Fu, seated on a chair nearby, gently tapped the teacup in his hand.

With a soft sound, the teacup landed on the table.

Cui Fu sighed, looked at the block-printing master, and said, "Master Lu, is it possible that this script cannot be printed?"

The master, slumped on the ground, was momentarily stunned.

Cui Fu looked at him with a smile on his face, yet his tone was profound: "Master Lu, take a good look, what you're holding isn't an exquisite diagram, but a book script.

Is it possible that the dignified Shiqu Bookshop can't even print a book script?

Then what's the use of my Cui Family supporting you?"

The block-printing master also served as the steward of the bookshop.

Shiqu Bookshop wasn't large in Pingyang City, as the Cui Family's major influence wasn't rooted in Pingyang Prefecture, hence it often struggled for survival amid the cracks.

Thus, the block-printing master's first reaction upon seeing the diagrams was, "Cannot print!"

Life was hard; they were constantly under pressure—how could they easily invite trouble?

However, Cui Fu's retort, although simple, was filled with implications.

It implied the Cui Family would back him.

The initially sagging back of the master straightened up immediately, he quickly asked, "Head Steward, does Master support this?"

Cui Yunqi was actually still in seclusion and unaware that Chen Xu had sent a script for publication.

But Cui Fu knew how much Cui Yunqi valued Chen Xu; any matter related to Chen Xu had to be expedited, especially something as significant as publishing a script.

Even though the script hadn't passed through Cui Yunqi, Cui Fu had already made up his mind.

He fiddled with the teacup again, chuckled, and said:

"Old Lu, take a good look, this is a script handwritten by Chen Xu, Master Chen.

What kind of person is Master Chen?

The top in the Pingyang Prefecture's academy examination, the twenty-fifth on the Great Li's Splendor Record Profound List!

He is an intimate friend of our master!

Master Chen's script, Master Chen's diagrams, and with the provincial examination imminent, once this book is printed, do you realize, old brother, how much you could profit?"

The block-printing master gasped, his lips quivering again.

His previously pale face gradually flushed with excitement.

An indescribable surge of emotions welled up in his chest.

Everything has two sides; how can you only see the risks and not the rewards?

Cui Fu chuckled, yet he remained in the Shiqu Bookshop, overseeing until the block-printing master, along with other masters and apprentices, finished carving all the blocks overnight.

Not just one set, but two entire sets of blocks.

Once carved, the blocks needed immediate printing and binding.

Cui Fu didn't just oversee the carving; he also sent trusted aides with Cui Yunqi's notes to the Pingyang County Government's registry office to register the script's publication number.

Some matters don't need big officials; small officials handle things better.

With such arrangements, the script titled "Ingenious Craft Dialectics" was carved, printed, and remarkably fast circulated into various small to medium bookshops in Pingyang City the next day.

Including Shiqu Bookshop's affiliated shop, Shiqu Bookhouse.

Originally planned to be fifteen volumes, "Ingenious Craft Dialectics" had only its first volume published, with a total of five hundred copies on the first day.

Even so, this was the full effort of Shiqu Bookshop to achieve this result.

After all, the bookshop was too small, its efficiency slightly lacking.

Cui Fu sighed and left trusted aides in the bookshop to oversee, before returning to the courtyard.

Then, lifting his robe, he knelt straight outside Cui Yunqi's study.

"Master, I acted on my own…" Cui Fu whimpered, voicing his self-blame.

The attendants in the corridor were dumbfounded.

As days went by, more of "Ingenious Craft Dialectics" was printed, gradually known by more people.

From bottom to top, a storm was silently brewing.

During these days, Chen Xu remained quite composed.

He had completed a breakthrough in the Golden Core in the Micro Dust Country, a monumental change to him personally, yet it caused no ripple in the outside world.

Upon returning to the present world, he communicated with the Sage of the Micro Dust Country via directed spiritual summoning, reaching a trade agreement.

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