"Scissors, glue, origami… what else is missing?"
"Should we also prepare some colored pens?"
"Probably not, since we're just starting to learn?"
"Isn't a beginner's set usually the most complete?"
As Jiang Lin headed to the beginner's class for paper crafting, the viewers became lively.
They quickly re-checked their own props to see if they had everything,
lest they be hindered by incomplete materials later.
After all, this live stream couldn't be recorded.
Everything would rely on their own memory.
"Paper crafting in the human world requires bamboo slips, wood, scraps of silk, and woven fabrics."
"But for the underworld, I don't know…"
In their eyes, this was no longer simple paper crafting.
It was a form of sorcery.
How to operate this sorcery, and what was needed?
This, they also didn't know.
…
In the live stream footage—
Jiang Lin had found his classroom and received a beginner's set from the instructor.
The instructor was a thin man in his thirties, wearing glasses.
He had a furrowed brow, forming the character '川', and his eyebrows were slightly raised, giving him an unapproachable air.
"My surname is Huo. I teach all the beginner courses. Once you create a piece that satisfies me, you can advance to the intermediate class."
"Now, go in and find a seat."
Jiang Lin: "Okay, Teacher Huo."
Although he was several hundred years old and the captain of the Eighteenth Hall, Jiang Lin addressed him as 'Teacher' without hesitation.
A teacher imparts the Way, imparts knowledge, and resolves doubts.
In terms of paper crafting, this person was not only superior to him but could also teach him new knowledge.
Therefore, he deserved to be called Teacher.
This was unrelated to status or age.
…
"Hey, that's mine!"
"Move over, don't block me."
The beginner's classroom was as chaotic as ever.
Their noisy arguments could be heard from the doorway, and looking through the windows, one could see them flying around in the air.
Various scraps of paper danced in the wind.
The scene was comparable to a market in the human world.
However,
the moment Jiang Lin opened the classroom door, the entire classroom fell silent with a 'swish'.
The startled ghosts froze in mid-air, and the deskmates who were fighting remained in their grappling poses.
The ghosts cutting paper in the back also stopped their trembling hands.
Everyone's gaze turned towards the doorway.
It was as if a pause button had been pressed.
Only after Jiang Lin sat down in an empty seat at the back did the 'pause button' suddenly deactivate.
The ghost cutting paper shivered its hand, and the paper figure lost its head.
The ghosts flying in the air tidied their hairstyles and robes, then returned to their seats.
Sitting upright.
After sitting for two seconds, they felt something was amiss and quickly summoned back their paper figures.
"Cough, cough, keep trying."
"Can I borrow the scissors?"
The students cleared their throats, either working on their tasks or borrowing something from their deskmates.
The entire classroom suddenly became orderly.
…
Outside the door, Teacher Huo also entered.
Looking at the students below pretending to be diligent, he frowned slightly.
"Today we have two new students. I will repeat the first lesson. Those who haven't learned it yet, raise your heads and pay attention."
As he spoke, several ghosts below immediately raised their heads.
Listening intently.
On the podium,
Huo Shu raised his right hand, and a sheet of A4 white paper appeared out of thin air, floating in the air.
He used his ghostly energy to cut it into eight equal pieces.
"The first lesson is divided into two steps. The first step is to inject one's own ghostly energy into the paper."
"Remember, it's ghostly energy, not Yin energy."
As he spoke, he waved his hand and condensed a wisp of ghostly energy, striking a student in the front row.
The student who was hit was startled and quickly hid the paper figure he was controlling with Yin energy.
He put on an act as if he hadn't done anything.
Huo Shu glanced at him and continued teaching:
"Although Yin energy is easier to control paper with, it has many limitations."
"The first step to mastering paper crafting is learning control."
"Ghostly energy has been refined, so it is purer and easier to imbue with one's will."
"Injecting ghostly energy is also injecting a soul. Only by having a soul will the paper truly 'come alive'."
Threads of pure ghostly energy spread from Huo Shu's palm, quickly attaching themselves to the eight equally sized pieces of paper.
They vanished within.
The ghostly energy was gone, but the eight pieces of paper began to move.
In an instant, they seemed to transform from inanimate objects to living beings.
The eight pieces of paper swayed in the air.
When Huo Shu told them to go east, they went east; when he told them to go west, they went west.
They were very obedient.
Even instructions like jumping, somersaulting, and carrying things were easily accomplished.
The square paper sheets, with their four corners acting like hands and feet.
"Stop."
Huo Shu commanded, and the eight small paper sheets stopped in unison, lining up neatly.
"The first step: inject ghostly energy and make the paper move."
"The second step, and the most important one that must be learned for entry:"
"—make the paper 'come alive'."
"To the point where, even without your control, it can continue to act."
How could the paper move on its own?
Huo Shu extended his right hand, bringing his index and middle fingers together.
A wisp of ghostly energy condensed at the tips of his two fingers and landed on one of the eight pieces of paper.
The wisp of ghostly energy circled the paper, quickly forming a ring and imprinting itself into the white paper.
Finally, it disappeared, leaving no visible trace on the surface.
"Pop!"
Huo Shu snapped his fingers with a stern expression.
The next second, the white paper imprinted with ghostly energy began to move.
It floated in the air, its four corners bending, and started to somersault in place.
One somersault, two somersaults.
Even when Huo Shu withdrew his hand or separated it with a ghostly energy barrier, it continued to somersault.
It was oblivious to everything around it.
After demonstrating, Huo Shu made the paper stop.
He collected the eight small paper sheets and scanned the students who were listening to the lecture.
"This is the second step, commands."
Making the paper remember your commands.
If it's to somersault, then somersault.
If it's to guard the door, then guard the door.
If it's to defend when encountering danger, then it must proactively defend.
If it's to move aside when seeing an ant, then it must move aside.
"If you can make the paper remember your commands and execute them accurately,"
"then they will become your most loyal soldiers!"
Unless death arrives, unless the ghostly energy within is completely depleted…
Otherwise, they will forever execute the commands left by their master!
…
After listening to Teacher Huo's first lesson, the students below were invigorated!
They felt like they could do it again!
They could do it!
As long as they injected ghostly energy and input commands…
they could have a diligent and capable paper person who wouldn't complain!
"I will definitely succeed today!"
"Everyone move aside, don't hinder my grand display!"
The students who had been listening rolled up their sleeves and got to work immediately.
Then…
Bang!
A piece of paper exploded.
Huo Shu glanced at that student: "Your aura is unstable, not focused enough."
He then raised his voice, reminding all students:
"When injecting ghostly energy, you must adjust your aura, maintain focus, and concentrate your mind."
In the back row seats,
Jiang Lin also withdrew his gaze, focusing his attention on the beginner's set in front of him.
No wonder this first lesson was divided into two steps.
It seemed that injecting ghostly energy was not that easy.
…