Chapter 162: The Petroleum Department

That night, the Brilliant Star Group added a large new department, which was placed alongside the research department, mechanical sub-factory, jade and glass sub-factory, explosives and chemicals sub-factory, smelting sub-factory, power sub-factory, and arms factory. This new sub-factory, however, was temporarily headed by only Zhou Likun, who was the sole commander.

That evening, Li Xian convened a meeting with everyone. Of course, the first order of business was to celebrate and introduce everyone. Zhou Likun was truly surprised; he had never expected that the Brilliant Star Group would have so many talents! Many people only knew that the Brilliant Star Group was unique, with new technologies and a strong ability to make money. But few outsiders knew what it was really like inside the group—so many talented people.

That evening, for the first time, Zhou Likun felt outdated. Listening to the discussions around him about physical laws, chemical reactions, acid-base titrations, precision measurements, various units, energy conversions, and so on, he felt a deep sense of inadequacy.

After the meeting, before they broke for the night, Zhou Likun received a gift—a flying sword, a magical artifact-grade flying sword made of pure black iron. A magical artifact, made of pure black iron! Zhou Likun was so excited that he nearly rolled on the floor. With this magical artifact, joining the group felt like a huge profit.

Less than an hour later, Zhou Likun was called up to attend the department-wide meeting the next morning.

Oil is an extremely important resource. One could say that with oil, the Brilliant Star Group’s current research model and mechanical power would undergo fundamental changes.

With oil, internal combustion engines will emerge! Jet engines will emerge! Various chemical products will emerge! Key equipment like thermal power plants will naturally also be put into place! Now, the only thing worrying Li Xian is the computer. But with power, it seems that computers might be able to start. Still, Li Xian often wonders whether, given the mature knowledge of formations in this world, it might be possible to build a similar computer starting with formations. He thought about this while walking toward the meeting hall.

As Li Xian arrived at the meeting hall, he looked around at the numerous department heads, engineers, and so on, all gathered there. He saw Xu Ren and Fang Shijing standing in the central positions and smiled. Finally, he had laid down a solid foundation.

The night before, Zhou Likun had only met with the key department heads. But today, even engineers had come. Except for a few engineers who had to stay behind to take care of equipment, almost everyone who could attend was present. These few hundred people were Li Xian’s technical backbone!

This was the first time the Brilliant Star Group had gathered all personnel above the level of engineer; everyone was quietly discussing, wondering what the important matter was.

So when Li Xian walked to the center, hundreds of eyes turned to him, eager to know what was going on. Surely it wasn’t just because of Zhou Likun joining.

Li Xian stood still, looked around, and with a relaxed expression and a humorous tone, said, “Everyone, I know you have many questions, not just about this meeting, but also about the problems the Brilliant Star Group has encountered recently in its development.

Actually, these two issues are the same issue—energy! We’ve discussed the energy problem several times, and we’ve come up with various solutions, but we’ve never really solved it. Today, we’ll discuss the energy issue.

More than five hundred days ago, in the spring of last year, I officially took over the workshop. I still vividly remember the looks people gave me back then—‘Look, this playboy is here to do what?’”

Laughter erupted from the crowd.

“Alright, alright, let me finish. I remember the first time I encountered an energy problem was when we were researching the 10-horsepower engine. I told everyone in the research department that getting injured during research was normal. In the future, one-centimeter-thick steel plates would become standard furniture in our labs.”

More laughter followed. Today, the Brilliant Star Group had achieved countless glorious successes, and products from the group were now all over the Great Xia Kingdom; even the four countries surrounding the Great Xia Kingdom regarded the Brilliant Star Group’s products as the symbol of high-end goods.

With such a foundation, looking back on the hardships of past research now felt sweet, almost like a sense of accomplishment.

Li Xian waited for the laughter to die down before continuing, “The second time I encountered an energy crisis was during the development of locomotives. The spirit gathering formations completely failed to meet our needs.

Although we later developed the water suspension device, it’s still the greatest limitation on our locomotives today.

And when the ironclad ship technology matured, the spirit gathering formation technology couldn’t keep up with our development. So, the power on the ironclad ships relies entirely on charged spirit stones.

Now, what restricts our development is not technology. The immortal realm has been around for countless millennia, with an enormous accumulation of knowledge. Many things can be adapted with slight modifications. It’s not talent either; everyone here has the ability to be immensely wealthy, or even rival entire nations.

What is restricting our development now is… energy! Energy is the food of industry. Without food, a country will decline; without energy, industry cannot develop. However, spirit stones are not only scarce but also too valuable. Using spirit stones for industrial development is not worth it.

I’m pleased to say that I’ve found a solution to the energy problem—‘underground murky gas,’ which many of you might have heard of.”

“Underground murky gas?!”

There was a slight sound of people gasping in surprise from below, clearly some individuals were aware of the existence of the underground murky gas. Especially the head of the research department, Tang Rong, whose voice was even louder in shock!

Li Xian smiled faintly, “Yes, it’s the underground murky gas. But I would prefer to give it a formal, proper name—petroleum!
Petroleum, this is the greatest treasure the ‘Back Earth’ of the Immortal Realm has given us. It is the essence of the earth (nonsense), it is the collection of all the essence accumulated over hundreds of thousands of years in the Immortal Realm.

That is to say, it contains too much essence, which is why it is dangerous.

But now, I have a way to solve this danger. We can filter out or even destroy the dangerous essence within. And for this, we need the various technologies of the Brilliant Star Group, and everyone’s cooperation.”

Silence filled the room!

Damn, Li Xian was stunned at once, you guys really have no manners.

“Ahem…” Xu Ren had to awkwardly remind him, “Young Master, can this petroleum help us in our cultivation?”

Ah, so that’s the root of the issue. Li Xian immediately understood. He had forgotten, this wasn’t Earth, this was the Immortal Realm. Everyone’s primary pursuit here was not wealth, nor enjoyment, but—ascension!
Cultivation and ascension were everyone’s ultimate goals.

“Alright, it seems everyone really has some prejudice against petroleum, so let me talk about its benefits and what we can gain from it.

First and foremost, we must understand the origin of petroleum, at least its rough origin. I once asked Mr. Ge Zhengfeng about it, and he said that millions of years ago, in an era when the human race had not yet developed, demonic beasts roamed freely, and there were countless celestial treasures.

It is said that in that era, the clouds in the sky were filled with spiritual mist, and the earth flowed with spiritual springs; demonic beasts ran in the mountains, and divine beasts flew in the sky. Everywhere, the grass was all ten-thousand-year-old spiritual herbs.”

Li Xian said as the crowd below had already fallen into boundless imagination. In this era, where only cultivation methods existed, everyone naturally had endless fantasies about that distant age, which only existed in legends.

“Ahem…” Li Xian interrupted everyone’s fantasies and continued, “In the ancient era, countless powerful beings, countless celestial treasures, were buried underground. After countless years of transformation, they became the petroleum we see now.

One could say, petroleum is the liquor of the earth! It is the essence of the earth!

As long as we can separate the petroleum, we can obtain the refined essence of ancient medicinal liquids, we can find the remains of powerful beings, we can acquire the spirit of immortals, and we can even obtain liquid spiritual energy. Who knows, we might even find the remains of immortals, or their residual souls…”

With each word Li Xian spoke, the eyes of the crowd grew brighter; by the time he finished, everyone’s eyes seemed to be glowing like little lightbulbs.

After speaking, Li Xian once again asked, “Does everyone have confidence in creating the next brilliance?!”

“Yes!” The response was deafening.

“Then, the Petroleum Department is hereby established. Now, let’s discuss the methods of refining and screening petroleum.”

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter