Kays Translations

Chapter 240

Everyone waited quietly, and Zhou Likun also became nervous. Although he had been very confident earlier, Feiyu Zhenren was, after all, a Nascent Soul expert, and there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t detect any issues. After all, this Foundation Establishment Liquid was a newly developed substance, whereas the traditional Foundation Establishment Pill had been tested for hundreds of thousands of years.

The Foundation Establishment Pill, at its core, was quite simple—it worked by “stimulating, activating, and enhancing” the body’s potential, making it “boil and surge” in a short period to break through the bottleneck.

However, there was a problem: all medicines have toxicity to some degree. Some are not just mildly toxic but significantly so, even causing lifelong harm. Zhou Likun’s biggest fear was that the Foundation Establishment Liquid might contain hidden, unknown toxins. As a successor of alchemy, he could not allow anything imperfect to exist. Therefore, he planned to conduct clinical trials before proceeding with large-scale promotion.

Time passed bit by bit, and Li Xian also grew nervous. The emergence of the Foundation Establishment Liquid would directly impact Anyang’s future development. Just imagine—while other regions struggled with resource shortages, Anyang would have both spirit liquid and Foundation Establishment Liquid. What kind of scene would that create?

In the future, the streets of Anyang would be filled with Foundation Establishment cultivators; there would no longer be any Qi Refining stage soldiers in the army—everyone would be a Foundation Establishment expert, enough to terrify their enemies! When other factions had an army of a million at the Qi Refining stage, Anyang, with just a hundred thousand troops, would have nothing but Foundation Establishment experts, each equipped with magical treasures. What kind of situation would that be? Just thinking about it was enough to make one’s blood boil.

With spirit liquid already in place, adding Foundation Establishment Liquid would complete the picture perfectly.

But achieving this goal depended on the quality of the current Foundation Establishment Liquid. Zhou Likun was nervous, and Li Xian was even more so.

Xia Qingqing leaned gently against Li Xian, quietly waiting just like him.

As time continued to pass, a faint white mist began to rise from the top of Feiyu Zhenren’s head. This was a sign of his blood and Qi surging—it meant his true essence was boiling within.

Suddenly, Feiyu Zhenren opened his eyes, and streaks of lightning shot out from them, cutting through an ordinary ledger in front of him. But no one cared about such details at this moment. Everyone focused on Feiyu Zhenren, waiting for his verdict.

Feiyu Zhenren slowly stood up and nodded at Zhou Likun. “Very good, this elixir is completely usable. However, there is a small issue.”

A small issue? Zhou Likun’s excited expression immediately turned tense.

Feiyu Zhenren carefully chose his words before saying, “My feeling is that this elixir lacks the steadiness and depth of a pill. This is a fundamental difference between liquid and pill forms. I wonder if it’s possible to extend the storage time of the liquid, allowing it to ferment like aged fine wine?”

Li Xian asked, “Senior, what consequences would arise from this lack of steadiness and depth?”

“It could affect one’s mental state, making cultivators feel slightly agitated during breakthroughs. Those with weaker mindsets might even suffer from Qi deviation. However, due to the current scarcity of spiritual medicines, most cultivators now advance in a steady and grounded manner, so this drawback is mostly negligible. But it’s still something to be cautious about.”

Zhou Likun was overjoyed. “Thank you for your guidance, Senior. This is a simple fix. We just need to extend the boiling time of the liquid slightly and add a small amount of earth-attribute spirit liquid or materials.”

Without wasting time, Zhou Likun immediately got to work. With Feiyu Zhenren present, he had to take full advantage of the opportunity. As for the ledger that had been cut in half, someone had already pieced it back together.

In less than half an hour, Zhou Likun brought out three variations of the elixir: one with extended boiling time, one with added earth-attribute spirit liquid, and one that combined both methods—boiling longer and adding a small amount of earth-attribute spirit liquid.

Feiyu Zhenren tried each one. “The one with extended boiling time has less active medicinal properties, making it about 30% weaker in effect, but it is significantly steadier, almost indistinguishable from an actual Foundation Establishment Pill. The one with added earth-attribute spirit liquid is not ideal—randomly altering a pill’s formula changes the medicinal effects, giving it a somewhat dull and suppressive quality, which is undesirable.

However, the version that combines both methods—boiling and adding a small amount of earth-attribute spirit liquid—is the best. During the boiling process, the slight variations in the medicinal liquid are naturally balanced out.”

Everyone turned to look at Li Xian—Young Master, it’s time for you to make a decision.

Li Xian thought for a moment and said, “Produce two versions of the liquid: one that is simply boiled longer, categorized as a lower-grade product for external sale. The other, which is both boiled and infused with a small amount of earth-attribute spirit liquid, will be reserved for internal use only and will not be sold.”

“Alright.” Zhou Likun immediately agreed, and the next step was designing the production line.

However, Xia Qingqing spoke softly, “Husband, can this Foundation Establishment Liquid be sold to outsiders? Aren’t you afraid it will cause trouble?”

Li Xian smiled helplessly, “Paper can’t wrap fire forever. If we make the Foundation Establishment Liquid available to the military, rumors will inevitably spread. In this era of resource scarcity, if we suddenly advance collectively, others will definitely have suspicions. Since that’s the case, we might as well sell it publicly.

Not right away, but only when the rumors start circulating—then we’ll sell it.
As for the price, heh heh…”

A complicated smile appeared on Li Xian’s lips—whether it was helplessness, cunning, or the smugness of a schemer was hard to tell. In any case, it was so complex that even Mona Lisa would have to run away in shame.

Afterward, he checked some other medicinal liquids. Now that they had the Foundation Establishment Liquid, they also had plenty of basic healing and cultivation-supporting potions. There were ones for strengthening the foundation and nurturing vitality, promoting blood circulation, general medicinal use, and naturally, ones that aided cultivation. There were also classifications based on elemental attributes: gold, wood, water, fire, and earth.

The packaging for these five elements was color-coded: yellow for gold, green for wood, blue for water, red for fire, and brown for earth.

Li Xian then checked the refining oil, defense-related products, and other aspects. After confirming that everything was in order, he hummed a cheerful tune as he walked back to the aircraft, ready for takeoff.

“What song is that? I’ve never heard it before.” Xia Qingqing was puzzled. Where did Li Xian even learn such strange tunes?

Li Xian chuckled foolishly, “It’s from the folk, from the folk. Heh heh…”

“As if I’d believe you!” Xia Qingqing rolled her eyes.

Suddenly, a flying vehicle approached urgently from the sky. Someone shouted from afar, “My lord! My lord! The flying laboratory has successfully developed the second-class engine!”

“What?!” Li Xian was startled, then overjoyed. They had already developed the second-class engine this quickly? In the flying laboratory, what they referred to as the second-class engine was actually a “jet engine.” However, for secrecy, they used serial numbers to represent the technology.

The first-class engine was the propeller engine. Whether it was a formation-powered engine or an internal combustion engine, both fell under this category. Given Anyang’s current technological state, the formation engine was compact and powerful but consumed spirit stones, while the internal combustion engine was bulky yet equally powerful but did not require spirit stones. Each had its own advantages and disadvantages.

The second-class engine, however, was the jet engine—essentially a super-evolved version of the internal combustion engine.

The power of a propeller engine came from the rotation of the propeller, which relied on aerodynamics.

In contrast, the power of a jet engine came from recoil. For now, this was purely in the realm of physics—formation technology had yet to be incorporated.

Regardless, the success of the jet engine made Li Xian’s heart race uncontrollably. What did this mean? It meant surpassing even Nascent Soul cultivators in flight speed. It meant they were one step closer to launching rockets. Yes, rocket engines and jet engines were different technologies, but many of their principles were interconnected.

From accumulating technology with propeller engines to advancing it with jet engines, the next step would be rocket engines.

Li Xian looked up at the sky, his heart shouting, “I want to see what kind of world this will become! The countdown to satellite launch has begun!”

Without waiting for the incoming aircraft to land, Li Xian directly piloted his vehicle toward Qingyun Valley. As soon as he entered the valley, he heard a familiar roaring sound—a signature of ultra-high-speed rotating machinery. It sounded like thunder, like warhorses neighing, like a treasured sword being unsheathed, with an undertone of tearing through the air.

“This is the sound! This is the sound!” Li Xian grew excited even before reaching the laboratory.

The towering gates of the flying laboratory opened, and the deep, rumbling sound became even clearer. At first glance, he couldn’t spot Yun Feihong, but he did see several branch factory directors and other key personnel.

Among them were: Tang Rong from the General Research Department, Peng Yongguang from the Energy Division, Yang Qianjiang from the Armory, Liu Bin from the Machinery Factory, Xie Wenjie from the Locomotive Division, Wan Sheng from the Shipbuilding Division, and Song Gang from the Smelting Division. Even Fang Shijing was present.

Wait—there was someone else bouncing around excitedly. That troublemaker, Ling Zhifeng, was also here watching the excitement.

Currently, in Anyang’s high-ranking circles, the most carefree and lively person was undoubtedly Ling Zhifeng. With nothing better to do, he wandered around constantly. Of course, from time to time, young girls would pull him aside to have their fortunes read.

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