88: Chapter 88: Alchemy? We call this industrialized production.
Dressed in a blue-and-white striped hospital gown, Sect Leader Lu Yun felt extremely uncomfortable, as if he were being seen through inside and out. He wrapped himself tightly in the blanket and huddled in the corner of the alloy bed, thinking this might restore some sense of security.
He didn't want to think about anything; he just wanted to sleep. Ideally, this was all just a nightmare, and when he woke up, he would still be in the Tianyan Sect, preparing to break through to the Golden Core stage.
But he couldn't sleep.
The Spirit-Suppressing Array in this gods-forsaken place didn't just suppress his spiritual energy; it also constantly tortured his divine sense. It felt like countless needles were stabbing into his brain. Forget entering meditation—he couldn't even manage to sleep. It was a form of torture that forced him to remain conscious at all times.
Just as he was about to be driven mad, the alloy door slid open.
The one who entered was that mortal leader called Director Zhao Lixin.
"Mr. Sect Leader Lu Yun," Director Zhao Lixin addressed him politely, but that businesslike face made Sect Leader Lu Yun feel worse than if he were being mocked. "Instructions have come from above; we'd like to invite you to visit a few places. We hope you will cooperate."
"Visit?" Sect Leader Lu Yun sneered. "To watch how you dismantle my magic treasures into scrap metal?"
"You've misunderstood, you've misunderstood." Director Zhao Lixin waved his hand, the smile on his face appearing quite sincere. "We just want you to see exactly what kind of place this is, so as to avoid any... misunderstandings between us."
"Not interested." Sect Leader Lu Yun turned his face toward the wall.
"That's not up to you." Director Zhao Lixin's tone suddenly turned cold. "This is a notification, not a negotiation. You can walk out on your own, or I can have my men 'help' you. I suggest you choose the first option; it'll be better for everyone."
Sect Leader Lu Yun's fists clenched under the blanket.
He could sense two trained fighters standing at the door—the same two who had captured him at the top of the tower. He knew very well that if he said a single 'no', he would end up being hauled out like a chick.
When standing under another's eaves, one must bow their head.
He used to say those words to others; today, it was his turn.
"...I'll go," he squeezed the words out through gritted teeth.
Half an hour later, Sect Leader Lu Yun was sitting in a large black car. It was pitch black outside the windows, and he could see nothing. Two expressionless, burly men sat beside him, ensuring that not even a single thought of escape could cross his mind.
The car drove very steadily, with almost no bumps.
He didn't know where he was going, nor did he know what these mortals were up to. He felt like a prisoner waiting for sentencing, his heart filled with the fear of the unknown.
The car finally stopped in a massive underground base.
Sect Leader Lu Yun was led out of the car, through futuristic alloy corridors, and brought before a heavy door.
The sign on the door read: "First Spirit-Energy Agricultural Demonstration Base."
"What is this place?" Sect Leader Lu Yun couldn't help but ask.
"You'll know once you go in," Director Zhao Lixin said with a beckoning gesture.
The door opened.
A wave of spiritual energy so dense it almost took his breath away rushed toward him!
Sect Leader Lu Yun's eyes instantly widened.
Behind the door was a vast underground space that stretched beyond the horizon. Overhead hung countless "suns" emitting soft light, illuminating the entire space as if it were broad daylight.
The ground wasn't made of concrete at all.
Instead, it was filled with neatly organized... spirit fields!
The fields were planted with all sorts of spirit herbs and medicines, some he recognized and others he didn't. Each one was vibrant with life, their leaves glistening with dew, as a thick medicinal fragrance mingled with spiritual energy.
The concentration of spiritual energy here was even higher than in the best herb garden of his Tianyan Sect!
"This... how is this possible?" Sect Leader Lu Yun cried out in shock. "In a wretched place with such thin spiritual energy, how could you build spirit fields like this? Where does your spiritual energy come from?"
"It comes from the sky," Director Zhao Lixin pointed to the "suns" overhead.
"Those are called 'Full-Spectrum Spirit-Gathering Lamps,' an invention by Engineer Jiang. They can mimic sunlight and capture spirit energy particles from the air, converting them into spiritual energy for the plants to use."
"Capture it from the void?" Another piece of Sect Leader Lu Yun's worldview shattered.
Wasn't that a method only ancient powerhouses from legends possessed? These mortals had actually achieved it using some kind of lamp he didn't understand?
He stared blankly at the scene before him.
Rows of spider-like iron lumps were busy in the fields. Some were loosening the soil, some were irrigating with a liquid infused with spiritual energy, and others were using precise mechanical arms to carefully harvest mature spirit medicines.
The entire process was as smooth as flowing water, without a single wasted motion.
"Those are 'Fully Automated spirit plants Maintenance Robots,'" Director Zhao Lixin introduced them dutifully, like a tour guide. "They can work twenty-four hours a day, doing whatever the computer tells them. As for efficiency... one robot is worth about three hundred of your sect's Outer Sect Disciple, and they don't need sleep or rest."
Sect Leader Lu Yun's mouth hung open wide enough to fit an egg.
Three hundred times?
He thought back to his time in the sect, where he had to go to the herb garden before dawn to pull weeds just for a few spirit stones, working himself to death only to be constantly scolded by the Manager Senior Brother.
Here, mortals had achieved full automation with a pile of iron lumps?
"What about the harvested spirit medicines?" he asked subconsciously.
"They're sent for processing," Director Zhao Lixin smiled. "Come, let me take you to the next place."
Before Sect Leader Lu Yun could recover from the shock of the spirit fields, he was led to another door.
The sign on the door read: "First Automated Alchemy Factory."
Alchemy... Factory?
Sect Leader Lu Yun found the term absurd and laughable. Alchemy was a sacred and solemn matter that required an alchemist to communicate with heaven and earth and control the heat. How could such a vulgar word like "factory" be used for it?
He walked in, expecting to see a joke.
Then, he couldn't laugh anymore.
Behind the door was an even larger and more complex space.
Conveyor belts crisscrossed to form a massive assembly line.
Freshly harvested spirit medicines were tossed into large vats by mechanical arms. After a series of processes he didn't understand but felt were impressive—washing, drying, and grinding—they were turned into piles of medicinal powder.
Once these powders were precisely proportioned, they were sent into high-temperature, rapidly spinning "pill furnaces."
Those pill furnaces looked nothing like what he knew; they were fully enclosed spherical alloy tanks covered in various pipes and gauges.
"Centrifugal High-Temperature Reaction Furnace," Director Zhao Lixin's voice rang out again. "Designed by Engineer Jiang. It can simulate the optimal environment for refining different pills. Temperature, pressure, and spiritual energy concentration can all be controlled with a margin of error within one ten-thousandth. As for the pill-forming rate... it's basically one hundred percent."
Sect Leader Lu Yun was already numb.
A one hundred percent success rate? What kind of joke was that! His master, the Chief Alchemy Master of the Tianyan Sect, had a success rate of only thirty percent when refining a batch of foundation establishment pills! And he had to bathe, burn incense, and fast for three days before every attempt!
He watched with his own eyes as, from the other end of those reaction furnaces, round, full pills of uniform size and rich fragrance poured out of the pipes like rain, falling onto the conveyor belt.
They were then automatically counted, bottled, and labeled before finally being packed into boxes.
He casually picked up a bottle and glanced at the label.
[Standard Type · peiyuan pill]
[Effect: Replenishes spiritual energy, strengthens the foundation and nurtures the source.]
[Usage: One pill daily.]
[Production Date: ...]
[Manufacturer: Xia Country First Automated Alchemy Factory]
[Technical Support: Engineer Jiang Ning]
Sect Leader Lu Yun's hands were shaking.
He poured out a pill and brought it to his nose to sniff.
It was indeed a peiyuan pill! Moreover, its quality and spiritual purity were better than any batch he had ever consumed! It was at least top-tier mid-grade!
He looked up again at the assembly line that was still "spitting" out pills.
In just this short while, the amount of peiyuan pill produced was likely more than the entire annual output of his Tianyan Sect!
"You... you..." He pointed at the assembly line, stammering for a long time without being able to finish a sentence.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Director Zhao Lixin added, as if he felt the shock wasn't enough, "we plan to build a hundred production lines like this across the country within five years."
Sect Leader Lu Yun's legs gave way, and he slumped to the ground.
In this moment, his Dao Heart wasn't just shattered; it was ground into powder and scattered by the wind.
He finally understood why that girl had called his magic treasures "inefficient semi-finished products."
In the face of this terrifying "Modern Cultivation" where efficiency was everything, the thousand-year heritage, unique secret techniques, and the experience of predecessors that the Tianyan Sect took pride in...
Didn't mean a thing.