145: Chapter 145: Scientific Cultivation, the Most Deadly
Kunlun Academy, five hundred meters underground, the highest-level confinement room.
This place, rather than a confinement room, was more like an independent, ultra-luxurious research center.
Inside the room, the temperature and humidity were constant, and the concentration of spiritual energy was three times that of the outside world.
It not only had a comfortable lounge area and an independent cultivation room but also a materials analysis laboratory equipped with the most advanced equipment on Earth.
Sect Leader Lu Yun lived here.
Over the past few months, he had been living a magical life that he could never have imagined before.
During the day, he would be "invited" to the academy's classrooms to explain basic cultivation theories of the Immortal-Mortal Realm to "mortal students" who, in his eyes, had mediocre talent but a terrifyingly intense thirst for knowledge.
For example, how to sense qi, how to draw qi into the body, and how to circulate it through the Minor Orbit.
In his eyes, these were all low-grade, common knowledge.
But those students listened with rapt attention, frantically taking notes with a type of dharma treasure called a "Tablet Computer."
They would also ask questions that Sect Leader Lu Yun found inconceivable.
A young man wearing thick glasses adjusted his spectacles and asked with a serious expression.
"Teacher Lu, if we explain this 'Qi Sense' you mentioned using the 'Observer Effect' of Quantum Mechanics, does it mean that our divine sense itself is a High-Dimensional Wave Function that can influence energy forms?"
Sect Leader Lu Yun opened his mouth, but not a single word came out.
What quantum? What function?
Another girl with a ponytail immediately raised her hand and threw out her own question before he could answer.
"Teacher Lu, why is the route of meridian circulation fixed? This doesn't fit the optimal path model of Fluid Mechanics! We ran a computer simulation, and if we optimize the route of the 'Bladder Meridian of Foot-Taiyang' by three percent, the efficiency of spiritual energy circulation can be increased by five-thousandths! Look at this model..."
As she spoke, she held up the glowing "Tablet Computer" in front of Sect Leader Lu Yun. It was covered in curves and data that he couldn't understand at all.
Before he could finish processing it, a youth wearing a black T-shirt with a skull print directly played a piece of deafening music in front of him.
"Teacher Lu, we analyzed the audio spectrum of the 'Heart-Cleansing Incantation' you gave us last time and found that it primarily resonates with the brain's alpha waves through Infrasound of a specific frequency. We've adapted it into a piece of heavy metal rock. Listen, doesn't it feel more powerful?"
Every time this happened, Sect Leader Lu Yun would fall into a long silence.
He felt like he wasn't teaching students.
Instead, he felt like he was being pinned to the ground and repeatedly ground down by a group of mad scientists from another civilization.
His ancient and sacred cultivation theory, passed down for thousands of years, was stripped bare by these people's "scientific" deconstruction until nothing was left, losing all sense of mystery.
And at night, he would be sent back to this "luxury private room."
His task was to cooperate with a group of even crazier old scientists, led by Professor Chen, to study the "immortal treasures" he had brought.
For example, his mid-grade dharma treasure, the "Azure Cloud Sword," which he was once so proud of.
Professor Chen and the others used something called a "Synchrotron Radiation Light Source" to illuminate it for seven days and nights, clearly analyzing its molecular structure.
Then, the white-haired, energetic old man adjusted his reading glasses and gave a conclusion.
"Oh, so the so-called 'artifact refining' is just using spiritual fire to change the material's lattice structure, making it easier to resonate with spiritual energy. This structure is very unstable, and the energy conduction efficiency is less than forty percent. What a waste."
"We used 'Superconducting Ceramics' and a 'Graphene Coating' to forge a replica. Look, the cost is only one percent of yours, but the durability and spiritual energy conduction efficiency are more than three times yours."
Professor Chen spoke as he handed him a plain-looking, even somewhat ugly, black longsword.
The blade was matte, without any patterns, looking just like a fire poker.
Sect Leader Lu Yun looked down on it from the bottom of his heart. How could an immortal treasure be compared to a mundane object?
Refusing to believe it, he channeled a sliver of spiritual power into it.
"Buzz!"
A three-foot-long, incredibly condensed sword glow instantly shot out! The blade vibrated violently, almost flying out of his hand!
That power was even thirty percent stronger than the sword glow he produced with the "Azure Cloud Sword" in his prime!
At that moment, fine cracks appeared in Sect Leader Lu Yun's worldview.
His Dao heart almost collapsed.
Then there was his "Spirit-Binding Rope," which was analyzed as using a specific spiritual energy frequency to interfere with the target's neural electrical signals. Consequently, they created a "High-Frequency Spiritual Energy Interference Bracelet" with a larger range, lower energy consumption, and adjustable modes, including paralysis or hallucination.
His star-fixing compass was decoded as using geomagnetism and spiritual veins for crude positioning. As a result, they directly connected the "Kunlun" Spiritual Energy Network to the global satellite positioning system, increasing accuracy by tens of thousands of times and enabling real-time display of the spiritual energy concentration in the target area.
Every single item was dissected clearly by this group of madmen using the scalpel of "science."
Then, using cheaper materials and more efficient processes, they replicated "industrialized versions" with even more abnormal performance.
After these few months, Sect Leader Lu Yun had become completely numb.
He no longer considered himself some "Immortal Envoy from the Upper Realm."
He felt like a native who had traveled from a primitive tribe to a future world.
And Jiang Ning was the... god who created this terrifying future world.
So, when Jiang Ning appeared before him without any warning...
The alloy door slid open silently, and a woman dressed in a simple white shirt and trousers walked in.
Sect Leader Lu Yun's first reaction was neither anger nor fear.
Instead, it was a heartfelt, reflexive straightening of his body to stand at attention.
"Chief... Chief Engineer Jiang."
He even used the title the researchers used for Jiang Ning.
Jiang Ning sized him up.
This once-arrogant "elite" of the Immortal-Mortal Realm had lost most of his sharp edges after a few months. His entire being exuded a sense of exhaustion from being beaten down by society.
It was the humility and respect unique to a corporate drone upon seeing their boss.
"It seems you've adapted quite well," Jiang Ning's voice was flat, revealing no emotion.
"Thanks to... thanks to you, I've learned a lot of... new knowledge." Sect Leader Lu Yun's facial muscles twitched unnaturally.
"That's good."
Jiang Ning didn't waste words with him. She walked straight to the center of the laboratory and asked point-blank:
"In the Immortal-Mortal Realm, there is something you call 'Demons.' What are they?"
"Demons."
This word was like an invisible heavy hammer smashing hard against Sect Leader Lu Yun's chest.
The color instantly drained from his face, leaving it deathly pale.
It was a deep-seated fear etched into his bones that suddenly surged from the depths of his soul, seizing his every nerve.
"How... how did you know..."
"I ask, you answer." Jiang Ning turned around and looked at him quietly.
She wasn't tall, and her figure was even a bit slender, but standing there at that moment, she made Sect Leader Lu Yun feel a mountain-like pressure.
Sect Leader Lu Yun's body trembled subconsciously. He quickly lowered his head, using all his strength to keep his voice from shaking too much.
"Yes! Yes!"
He gasped for air, seemingly trying to calm his violently fluctuating mind.