Chapter 170: Houtian Sphere

What a cold shower! It instantly extinguished Li Xian’s passion. This seemingly beautiful liquid spiritual energy turned out to be a pot of poison! Well, with so many things mixed together, what else could it be but poison? Even if all of it were medicinal, mixing hundreds of different kinds would still turn it into something highly toxic.

Li Xian frowned, “Have you tried properly heating, vaporizing, compressing, freezing, or centrifuging it?”

“We’ve tried all of that, but all the spiritual energy, magical energy, and death energy completely dissolve together. No matter the state, they cannot be separated.

Also, we tried collecting the air from above the oil valley, attempting to separate the celestial spiritual energy using methods like centrifugation, heating, and compression, but we didn’t find any celestial spiritual energy. I suspect that once celestial spiritual energy contacts the outside world, it will decompose and degrade into regular spiritual energy.”

“Phew…” Li Xian sighed, “This is already very good. People shouldn’t be too greedy. With what we have now, it’s enough.

Let the oil continue to separate, and the technology continue to be researched and accumulated. Especially the bacterial cultivation methods, they should be the focus of research.

Also, the separation of celestial spiritual energy might also be achieved through bacteria and such. We could use this spiritual energy to cultivate bacteria, or cultivate plants and spiritual herbs, and then use the bacteria or spiritual herbs to refine pills.

Also, where are the people from the chemistry department?”

“Master, I’m here.” Liu Dongbao, the head of the explosives and chemical division, quickly appeared.

Li Xian looked at Liu Dongbao, whose clothes were still stained with oil, and couldn’t help but smile, “Don’t overdo it. Chemical research can also be very dangerous. Be careful.”

“Hehe, Master, you don’t know, I’ve finally found my life’s direction. I’ve discovered that chemistry is amazing. Since it can produce substances like explosives, can we also use chemical methods to refine celestial pills?”

Looking at Liu Dongbao’s excited eyes, Li Xian thought for a moment, “I suspect it would be difficult, because pill refining requires more than just substances; there are other elements involved, like Yin and Yang, the Five Elements, and so on.

But there’s a task here that I think you’ll really like.

I have a hypothesis: the entire material world is made up of basic particles. Look, whether it’s plants or animals, they all produce ash when burned; whether it’s hematite or magnetite, we can extract iron from them.

Also, the smell of burning nails and hair is similar, and the smell of bird feathers and cow hair burning is also very similar.

So, I have a hypothesis: maybe, whether it’s you, me, or plants and animals, we all have fundamental similarities. That’s why we eat meat and not stones or steel.

Just like we use bricks and stones to build palaces, ordinary houses, gardens, or even the Great Wall; but different ways of stacking bricks and stones create different buildings.

Similarly, our current locomotives and ironclad ships are made of steel, but they can produce different items.

Furthermore, we have hair, skin, blood, bones, muscles, organs, and senses. So, what do these consist of?”

Many people around him had thoughtful expressions, while Zhou Likun and Liu Dongbao, among a few others, were listening with wide eyes.

As a result, Zhou Likun and Liu Dongbao discussed and decided to pull some people from the oil department and the chemical division to specialize in this research. They would see how things progressed and decide whether it could become an independent department in the future.

After settling this matter, Li Xian turned to Tang Rong, “Teacher Tang, our mechanical development has been progressing rapidly recently, but the research on formations is falling behind.”

“This…” Tang Rong’s face flushed a little, but he was also helpless. Only when you are in charge of a research department can you understand how difficult it is.

Li Xian didn’t give Tang Rong a chance to speak, “Teacher Tang, I know that the research department is difficult, so I’ve recently had an idea. Could we do something like this?

For example, we could use different formations to build a formation world? We’ve gained many insights from nature about formations: from the One, the Two Forms, Yin and Yang, the Three Talents, the Four Symbols, and so on, all the way to the Great Heavenly Formation and the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation.

We have so many formations, and we keep creating new ones. So why hasn’t anyone thought of unifying these formations and simulating a world?

I vaguely remember something called a ‘Houtian Sphere.’ Maybe we could take inspiration from it.

I want to name this thing ‘computer,’ a device that can simulate and calculate the heavens, the way of operation of everything, and so on.”

Li Xian’s idea made everyone’s eyes shine, even Xu Ren and Li Yuanming were quite shocked. Ling Zhifeng was even more excited, clapping his hands and shouting, “Master, this idea is amazing! I’ve always dreamed of something like this but didn’t know how to start. I didn’t expect you’ve already thought of it.”

“Haha, do you even know who I am?” Li Xian began to puff up with pride.

Ling Zhifeng immediately poured cold water on him, “Master, while this idea is great, it requires a high-level formation master. From what I can see, our group doesn’t have such talent, not a single one!”

Li Xian’s smile froze, and his face darkened, “Do you know where I can find a formation master? I’ll go personally and invite them!”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know, and you’re still so proud of yourself!”

“Ahem, Master, you’ve misunderstood. I’m just considering and worrying about you,” Ling Zhifeng quickly explained.

Li Xian narrowed his eyes at Ling Zhifeng, “You’ve used two spirit stones and meditated for two days, why haven’t you reached the Golden Core stage yet?”

“I’m just following your lead, Master!”

Li Xian’s face darkened, “Go, investigate the feng shui around here and see what the terrain is like. Also, here’s a task for you: perfect and develop feng shui into geography. In the future, oil exploration and mineral exploration will all depend on you.”

“Ah… I’m a diviner, not a miner!”

“Hehe, soon you will be. Come on, someone, drag him out.”

Seeing Ling Zhifeng being dragged away, many people chuckled softly. Ling Zhifeng was serious when it came to divination, but when he wasn’t doing that, he was often not serious at all—spending most of his time being excessively lively.

However, watching Ling Zhifeng being dragged away, Li Xian began to think. If he wanted to create an alternative “Houtian Sphere,” it would indeed require a formation master. With the current personnel in Anyang, ordinary research and applications of formations were enough, but for innovation, they were lacking!

Li Xian knew very well that simple formations wouldn’t be enough. What he wanted wasn’t just the Hunting Heavenly Instrument; he wanted a more advanced computer! This would be another core industry for the future; in addition to ordinary research, they would need a leader!

Li Xian looked around, “Is there anyone here who knows a formation master?”

Looking around one by one, everyone shook their heads. With each head shake, Li Xian felt more disappointed.

Finally, when Li Xian looked at Zhou Likun, Zhou seemed to hesitate for a moment before finally speaking, “Master, I know some information, but… it might be difficult.”

“Difficult? No worries, tell me first. Having difficulty is better than having no goal at all!”

Zhou Likun thought for a moment before replying, “The Formation Hall at the Máng Mountain Cultivation Daoist Temple, the hall master, Xiao Yuquan. He’s a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, known as: Yuquan Zhenren!”

Hiss…

Everyone inhaled sharply.

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