Evolution - Chapter 159
Chapter 159
Her words were like a slap in the face to everyone present, all but stating outright that she didn’t trust anyone else.
Major General Xie’er felt something was off about her attitude. This blind trust placed in her personally felt strangely familiar. However, this was not a matter she could decide on her own. Thus, she spread her hands. “It would be my honor, but unfortunately, I don’t have the authority to agree to your request.”
Chu Ci expressed her understanding. “Then have the person who can make the decision speak with me.”
The next day, the two parties held another communication at the previously agreed-upon time.
The people on the Alliance’s ABO side stated that there was no problem with He Yi going, nor with Major General Xie’er personally leading the escort. They had also already arranged for He Yi’s protection. Then, they tactfully mentioned that the Academy of Sciences had some researchers who hoped to come along for a study exchange, and asked if they could possibly be accommodated.
In truth, the people at the Academy of Sciences had long been interested in many aspects of cultivation, but there was a barrier between the two sides. These researchers, who lacked spiritual roots and couldn't cultivate, were unable to test or experience the principles even if someone was willing to lecture them and explain everything thoroughly.
They never got anything out of it.
Meanwhile, those who had spiritual roots and could cultivate would focus more of their energy on seeking the Dao and longevity, unwilling to cross systems to seriously and systematically study and embrace science.
This had led to a situation where, in the nearly ten thousand years of the Alliance's existence, they had only slowly developed physique and mental power techniques suitable for ABO cultivation. They had neither created any cultivation technology nor any technological cultivation.
Chu Ci pondered for a moment. “Send the list over first. We will perform a divination to see if they are suitable.” She said it in a very mystical and grand manner, but in reality, she was just going to have Yu Zhiyao screen the list.
This round of talks was quite pleasant for both sides. Right at the very end, before cutting off communication, Chu Ci presented everyone with a surprise gift package. “Regarding Ji Changqing’s matter, you might want to investigate from a different angle. Who is behind the scenes, targeting Blue Star? And who therefore needed to kick a stumbling block out of the way first.”
She beckoned with her hand, and her bonded thunder sword flew from its sheath. Even through the screen, the intense, baleful aura and killing intent it pointed with were palpable. “If you can’t even figure that out, I don’t mind making a trip myself.” She said with a faint smile, “The cultivation world, you see, has its methods. Ways to make people tell you everything they know, without breaking any Alliance laws. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Hmph, she had to make it clear to them that Ji Changqing now had backing. She couldn’t care less about their power struggles and infighting, but if they dared to target her two disciples, they would have to ask her sword for permission first.
“We will investigate deeply in that direction.” What else could they say? The bigwigs felt a bitter taste in their mouths, but on the surface, they nodded with great composure, indicating that she was right. Then, seizing the opportunity, they eagerly tried to secure a benefit for the research team that was about to depart. “These researchers are all extremely interested in combining cultivation and technology. They hope to stay for as long as possible. I wonder what the Venerable One’s thoughts are on this?”
Chu Ci was blooming with joy internally and almost nodded in agreement on the spot. Fortunately, she maintained her composure and said reservedly, “We can discuss it then.”
She wished she could keep them for a hundred years! Detain every last one of them to work as assistants for Yu Zhiyao and He Yi!
It took four months for Major General Xie’er, He Yi, and their group to arrive in the space above the planet where the Xuan Tian Sect was located. This cultivation planet was of a very high level, with a palpable barrier. It wasn't that they couldn't descend, but it was unnecessary. Landing and taking off would consume more than ten times the usual energy, so why should they all go down together? They would just wait to dock at the space station and let the cultivators come up to retrieve those who were staying.
This time, Shen Guiqing and Yunbao came to pick them up. A total of seven people had come from the Academy of Sciences, making eight with He Yi. Seeing Shen Guiqing greet He Yi with familiar warmth, Major General Xie’er felt relieved. She had originally planned to return to her flagship and stay for a while to confirm that everyone was adapting well before departing.
But Shen Guiqing extended a special invitation to her. “Major General, please join us. Before we left, Big Sister specifically mentioned that if you hadn't discovered Blue Star all those years ago, this connection would never have been forged. She hopes to speak with you in person.”
He Yi and the others from the Academy of Sciences also looked at her eagerly. “Come on, come on, come down with us! You’re already here, it’s a rare opportunity!”
Of course, Major General Xie’er accepted!
Just because she had been promoted to Major General didn’t mean she had lost her girlish heart and curiosity! Who hadn’t had childish dreams of roaming the world with a sword, flying through the heavens and burrowing through the earth?
And then she got a shock.
Ji Changqing and Yu Zhiyao, who had vanished into a spatial turbulence and been missing for nineteen months, appeared before her, hand in hand, with rosy complexions, looking better than ever.
After the shock, her fists clenched!
If others hadn't been present, she would have given Ji Changqing a sound beating!
The two of them were perfectly fine here, yet Chu Ci hadn't said a word. What was there not to understand?
It dawned on her, and she was both amused and annoyed. “I was wondering why your Big Sister’s insistence on me being the escort felt so familiar. So you were the one behind this! Spit it out, what grand scheme are you plotting this time?”
Ji Changqing cleverly remained silent. Yu Zhiyao patted her arm soothingly and explained to Major General Xie’er, “When Yunbao found us, we were barely breathing.”
Just because they didn’t die and were able to stand here alive, didn’t mean the severity of the situation should be overlooked!
Major General Xie’er’s expression darkened. “The military has never given up the investigation.”
He Yi, like an elementary school student, cheerfully raised her hand to interject, “The Academy of Sciences hasn’t either. Academician Sith has been constantly applying pressure, demanding a thorough investigation.”
Her position was completely different from Major General Xie’er’s. Seeing Ji Changqing and Yu Zhiyao still alive and kicking was enough to make her happy. Knowing they had been rescued from a perilous situation and hadn't fully recovered yet filled her with nothing but sympathy; she hadn't had time for any other thoughts.
For instance, why hadn't the two of them tried to contact the Alliance? And why had Chu Ci remained silent about it when she contacted the Alliance directly?
Seeing Major General Xie’er’s face darken at the mention of this, Yu Zhiyao advised her with a smile, “There’s more than one way to counterattack.”
“You’re not really thinking of… having someone use those little cultivation tricks to make them confess, are you?” Major General Xie’er lowered her voice, her eyes condemning Yu Zhiyao as if to say, Are you crazy? “If the evidence is deemed to be illegally obtained, you’ll just get yourself into trouble without gaining anything!”
Ji Changqing secretly rolled her eyes. The moment another way to counterattack was mentioned, Xie'er's first reaction was to think of illegal methods. She must have considered it countless times herself, only to be forced to suppress her fiery temper and follow procedure.
“Do I look that foolish? To resort to something as tragic as mutual destruction,” Yu Zhiyao said, before nonchalantly stating her astounding proposal. “They want Blue Star so badly, so we’ll just take Blue Star for ourselves. That will cut off all their opportunities!”
Major General Xie’er shot her a look, amazed that someone could be so shameless as to speak of cutting off all of someone’s escape routes in such a righteous and refreshingly unconventional way. “Alright then, tell me your plan.”
Yu Zhiyao’s plan was simple in theory but complex and grand in execution.
The Alliance, especially the ABO society, had tasted the benefits of physique and mental power cultivation and had always hoped to continue promoting the integration of cultivation and technology, to see if new sparks could be ignited that would spur another leap in the Alliance’s development.
Unfortunately, the cultivation side had always been aloof, consistently responding with a cold “thanks, but no thanks.”
The first step of her plan was to draft a project proposal to develop Blue Star into a cultivation-technology planet, making it as detailed and credible as possible.
Who submitted this proposal was crucial. Her goal was to use this project to place Blue Star in the hands of their own people, and not just pave the way for someone else.
On the cultivation side, they had Chu Ci, a powerful sword cultivator. That wasn't a huge problem. If reason didn't work, then they could use physical persuasion; they could always fight their way to a solution. On the ABO side, Major General Xie’er and Academician Sith were the best candidates.
As the discoverer of Blue Star, Major General Xie’er had a certain advisory power over matters concerning the planet for a hundred years. At the same time, the Academy of Sciences had the authority to propose planet-based research projects.
Moreover, these two would definitely be willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement as guarantors when submitting the application, temporarily keeping her role as the project leader confidential.
Once the project was approved and everything was set in stone, it wouldn't matter if her role as project leader was revealed. Their opponents would no longer have time to react.
And if they tried to cause trouble using the same dirty tricks as before? Big Sister would teach them a lesson!
Xie’er didn’t ask to see the proposal first; that kind of paperwork always gave her a headache. “Are you so confident that the cultivation side will cooperate?”
“Of course.” Yu Zhiyao was far more confident in the cooperation of the cultivation side than the ABO side.
Think about it—a method to increase the concentration of spiritual energy. Would anyone be willing to pass that up?
The cultivation world was not like the technological world. In the tech world, different countries on the same planet could act shamelessly, thinking, I don’t want to spend money on environmental protection, so what? Can you stop the air from circulating? Can you stop water from flowing?
In the tech world, they really couldn't. So in the end, it became a race to the bottom, a contest of who had the biggest fist. The most likely outcome was everyone giving up, achieving mutual destruction.
But in the world of cultivation, they really could!
Cultivators could set up formations like spirit-gathering arrays to temporarily increase the concentration and activity of spiritual energy in a specific area. Naturally, they could also set up larger formations to lock in spiritual energy and prevent it from leaking, or even gather nearby spiritual energy into their own formations!
Not to mention, when it came to competitiveness and vanity, the cultivation world was truly in a class of its own, especially between sects. If others have it, I must have it too. If others don’t have it, I must find a way to possess it.
Now that there was a way to increase the concentration and activity of spiritual energy, who wouldn't want it? Who would dare not to want it? Even if the effects weren't visible in a hundred or a thousand years, what about ten thousand years from now? They couldn't let their own sect lose at the starting line, could they?
Sitting in the headquarters of the Seven Realms Cultivation Alliance, Chu Ci listened to the fierce bidding from the various realm branches and felt as if she were in a dream.
Everyone was interested in increasing spiritual energy concentration, but not intensely so. However, Chu Ci had made it clear that not only could they devise a method to increase the overall concentration of spiritual energy, but in the future, they could also create methods to increase the concentration of specific elemental spiritual energies!
That was something they couldn't tolerate! Among the seven realms, five were named after Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, each dominated by a certain type of spiritual energy. The thought of achieving a five-element balance was simply too beautiful to contemplate!
“Daoist Friend Chu, our Green Wood Realm is willing to offer one million supreme-grade spirit stones, thirty million high-grade spirit stones, a ninth-grade Heavenly Heart Lotus…”
“Our Metal Realm is willing to offer three million supreme-grade spirit stones and ten thousand catties of refined sharp metal.” The representative from the Metal Realm branch gritted his teeth. “We are willing to send a team of outstanding disciples to participate in your… cultivation technology research project, for a period of one hundred years!” They probably thought those places weren't very good, so delaying a team of outstanding disciples' cultivation for a hundred years was a sign of great determination!
“We are also willing to send people to participate!”
…
Chu Ci remained perfectly composed. “So, does this mean all seven realms have agreed to join this cultivation technology research project?”
“Yes!” came the resounding, unified reply.
“Then shall we sign an agreement first? Rest assured, everyone, we will proceed according to the bids you just made. We’ll calculate the total value, rank them from highest to lowest, and send people over to learn the method of increasing spiritual energy concentration in that order.”
Chu Ci was secretly ecstatic. She’d become rich overnight! Not only did she have the startup capital to rebuild Lingyun Peak, but she also had the manpower and funds for the cultivation technology research project. She had even gathered enough spiritual herbs and materials to solve the problem with Yu Zhiyao’s spirit body!
Yu Zhiyao was truly brilliant!
She had told her that getting rich through farming was too slow; a hundred years of accumulation might not even be enough to rebuild Lingyun Peak. In this world, the fastest way to make money was always a no-cost business deal! By presenting the experimental results that He Yi and Ji Changqing had once produced in the instance to increase the concentration and activity of spiritual energy, they had swept up a wave of spirit stones, spiritual herbs, and materials, and even gained several new allies!
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