vncnus Page 39
Page 39
Lu Mingfei shook his head as he read the system's plan. He was thankful for the system to execute it; otherwise, he might have been indecisive and swayed by sentimentality in many situations…
He would definitely feel embarrassed to do something like lying to a little girl if he were the one doing it.
He casually put the newly made music box in a box and returned it to his room, then went to check on Panpan's room.
Xia Mi and the little girl were sitting at the desk, studying with great interest.
"Little Horse said:..." Panpan read the contents of the textbook aloud, and Xia Mi listened.
However, judging from their backs alone, Xia Mi doesn't seem to be much older than Pan Pan; they look more like two elementary school students discussing a primary school textbook together...
Lu Mingfei always felt that Xia Mi deliberately made Panpan read the text aloud, and she just listened to it as a bedtime story. That's something she would do, right?
"What text should we study?" Lu Mingfei also came over.
"The little horse crosses the river," Panpan said immediately.
"How did Sister Xia Mi teach you?"
Before answering, Panpan gave Xia Mi a sly look, and seeing that she was unmoved, she said, "Sister Xia Mi just asked me to read the text aloud, taught me the words I didn't know, and also helped me with the questions in the after-class exercises."
……
I reheated all the dishes I made at noon in the evening, and finished them completely in two meals.
Xia Mi took Panpan out shopping, and then Su Enxi called and came to the door with a book.
“I found a copy of ‘The Origins of Alchemy’ on my person. The English in it is all Old English, which is quite difficult to translate. I only know that it is a book that records advanced alchemy.”
Su Enxi said to Lu Mingfei, who was flipping through the book "The Origins of Alchemy," "You might find it a bit difficult to read."
The system slowly flipped through the book, recording the text without speaking.
Lu Mingfei's English is actually quite good. He has always performed consistently well in English exams. It can be said that before the system came along, only his English teacher wouldn't say anything bad about him.
However, this book written in Old English was far beyond his ability to fully understand.
Modern English has absorbed the essence of many languages, but has streamlined it considerably. Its vocabulary, grammar, spelling, and pronunciation differ from Old English.
Old English originated from Germanic languages such as Anglo-Saxon. Modern English vocabulary, in addition to Germanic origins, has also absorbed a large number of loanwords from Latin, French, Greek, and other languages.
This has resulted in modern English being less similar to Old English than English is to German.
Why did Lu Mingfei know that it couldn't compare to the similarity of German? Because the system later obtained a book by the Führer... but although the forbidden book by the Führer was full of legends, it was indeed rather dry to read.
[...It's suggested that you return it to Su Enxi and have her subordinates translate it before bringing it back...]
The system couldn't understand it either. After flipping through the short book, it decided to return it to Su Enxi and have her people translate it.
Translating classical Chinese requires a foundation of knowledge, which Lu Mingfei lacked. Aside from his inexplicable talent during the Dragon Clan incident, systematic learning is indeed a gradual process; otherwise, it wouldn't have taken him three months to even begin aiming for perfect scores in all subjects.
The system looked up, handed the book back to her, and said, "I can't understand it. Have your people translate it before giving it to me."
“No need.” Su Enxi shook her head gently: “My men have already taken photos and found someone to translate them. The original is fine with you.”
"Okay." The system nodded.
The text of "The Origins of Alchemy" is not long, and theoretically it is not difficult to translate. Two days later, Su Enxi sent over the translated version.
However, after reading it once, the system felt something was off.
The content is clear and does indeed point to advanced alchemy, but there's always a sense of mystery surrounding it in the system analysis.
Even Lu Mingfei could sense it.
It feels like the product doesn't live up to the description; it's like trying to write a classical poem, hoping to convey its essence through the words, but ending up with a modern poem...
It's not that the words failed to convey any charm, but rather that the flavor just wasn't right.
The study door was open, and Xia Mi walked in.
She managed to get the key to Lu Mingfei's place by taking care of Panpan.
Panpan spends her days reading elementary school textbooks in her room, and her evenings come to the study to work on alchemy with Lu Mingfei.
So when Xia Mi came in, she saw the two people, one big and one small, each looking at something. Panpan was looking at a book on intermediate metal alchemy, while Lu Mingfei was looking at the contents of a newly printed A4 sheet of paper.
She asked Lu Mingfei, "What are you looking at?"
The system turned to her and said, "Some information about advanced alchemy."
"Boss, you've learned advanced alchemy?" Xia Mi asked in surprise.
The system gently shook its head and said, "No, I just wanted to find out about it. How's your research going?"
Aside from Chu Zihang, who hasn't shown much interest, Xia Mi is the slowest progressing among the three. She's still learning basic alchemy and hasn't even gotten started yet.
"I'm stuck on my end. I feel like I don't have much talent for alchemy, and I'm learning it in a daze." Xia Mi pulled out a stool, sat down, and looked at Lu Mingfei's A4 paper.
After just one glance, Xia Mi was stunned and let out a puzzled sigh: "Hmm?"
"what happened?"
Seeing her expression, the system immediately placed the A4 paper in front of her to show her.
"Is this a translated version?" Xia Mi picked up the A4 paper, flipped through it, and asked, "Where's the original?"
"The original text is here." The system stood up and took the book "Alchemy: The Origins" from the bookshelf and handed it to her.
Xia Mi frowned when she saw the original book in Old English: "What kind of script is this?"
"Old English," the system said. "What you're holding is the translation into modern English."
"Oh." Xia Mi took the original book of "Alchemy: The Origin Chronicle" and then held an A4 sheet of paper in one hand and the original book in the other to compare the two sides.
Unable to read Old English, she put down "The Origins of Alchemy" and focused on the translated English, but the more she read, the deeper her brow furrowed.
"Did you make any discoveries?" the system asked.
“I feel that using modern English as the translation doesn’t feel right,” Xia Mi said. “It’s like a small publishing house translating foreign books; the translation lacks flavor and has lost its soul.”
“That’s certainly a feeling,” the system nodded. “But right now, we can’t find anyone who understands Old English.”
Upon hearing that something seemed to have happened, Panpan immediately came over and stood on the other side of Xia Mi.
“If…if…if…” Xia Mi frowned deeply, seemingly pondering what part of the flavor was lost after the translation.
"Sister Xia Mi, what if we read it in Dragon Script?" Panpan asked, her imagination running wild.
She didn't understand English, so she couldn't decipher the Old English in the book or the Modern English on the A4 paper, and thus she wasn't misled by superficial knowledge.
But in her opinion, since it was about alchemy involving dragons, it had to be written in dragon script to be truly authentic!
Chapter 72 Lu Mingfei, a Rising Star!
Xia Mi was shocked. Lu Mingfei... Under the system's control, he remained expressionless, but the system log was already frantically trying to translate the modern English on the A4 paper into Longwen.
Lu Mingfei didn't know much about dragon script either, mainly because he hadn't been exposed to it much.
Translating some known dragon script into some English texts might not be very accurate.
After all, this book might have been translated from Old English by some alchemist, then from Old English to Modern English, and now it's been restored to Old English. It's a four-way transfer, so we should be thankful if it matches up.
However, you don't need the entire dragon script; just a few paragraphs that you can read aloud are enough. Even just a short passage can showcase the sophistication of alchemy.
The only downside is that it cannot be fully translated yet.
Xia Mi looked at it again and again, and finally put down the A4 paper. Right now, she shouldn't be able to read all the dragon script smoothly.
She looked at Lu Mingfei, who was deep in thought, and asked, "I don't know much about dragon script, so I can't piece it together. How about you?"
"Only two sentences matched," the system said, "but it seems to have been successfully restored."
"Then, once we acquire knowledge of dragon script, we should be able to fully decipher what is recorded here. This book is extraordinary; it was actually translated from dragon script. It might be the dragon race's powerful alchemy techniques."
After Xia Mi finished speaking, she glanced casually at the book "Alchemy: The Origin".
In fact, this book should not have been passed down to humans, because it is an introductory text to dragon alchemy, personally inscribed on a large bronze pillar by the ancient dragon king Nidhogg, signifying that the dragon race had thus begun a systematic era of alchemy.
This introductory text is not like human alchemy, which teaches the techniques of basic, intermediate, and advanced alchemy.
It directly addresses the initial concept of alchemy—turning lead into gold, transforming waste into treasure, and elevating base metals into precious metals.
The entire text is written in dragon script, making it extremely difficult to understand. Only noble dragons can comprehend it, because many of the things described can only be seen from a dragon's perspective.
Of course, the collapse of the Dragon Dynasty is a thing of the past, so it's perfectly normal for a human alchemist to obtain it. If it were in the hands of a human who had paved the way to godhood, it could be fully translated into a human language—just like it is now.
However, there certainly won't be many books like this. Over the course of a thousand years, the sea has turned into fields, and too much has been lost in the long river of history.
Given Lu Mingfei's identity, it was perfectly normal for him to have obtained such a book. Perhaps he had casually killed some great alchemist in Europe and gotten it from him.
The system immediately called Su Enxi to request the Dragon Script.
Remnants of dragon civilization remain all over the world, along with countless dragon script documents, but most of these scripts remain undeciphered.
However, the fact that the human-hybrid race couldn't decipher it doesn't mean the system is ineffective.
In the Dragon Clan incident, Lu Mingfei's basic talent was frighteningly high.
……
"They've come to find Long Wen so quickly..."
After hanging up the phone, Su Enxi clicked her tongue and said to Ling and Jiude Mai, "Who do you think cracked the secret that the book 'Alchemy: Origins' requires dragon script for translation?"
Xia Mi or Lu Mingfei?
Xia Mi, a dragon king, couldn't possibly be unaware of this book. But Lu Mingfei's methods are strange, and he might forcibly unravel its secrets.
"Lu Mingfei, I suppose."
Mai Shude sided with Lu Mingfei, not believing that Xia Mi, whose character was always timid and cowardly, would take the initiative to volunteer for the job.
Ling nodded, firmly siding with Lu Mingfei.
Su Enxi did not refute this, because she also thought it would be Lu Mingfei.
However, she quickly returned from casual conversation to her melancholy at facing the problem.
The task assigned by Lu Mingfei is a bit difficult. Information about the dragon race is all over the world, but most of the time only vague remnants are found. The dragon race's civil war shattered the entire dynasty.
There are vast stretches of dragon runes; unless you find an ancient dragon city, you won't find such a cluster of things.
Kelong... they all prefer to stay in Nibelungen; cities are mostly iconic buildings, and there are few of them.
Hmm, it's not like there aren't places where dragon runes are clustered together. The Secret Service and Kassel College definitely have some. Let's make some moves.