Chapter 29: Wealth, Companionship, Dharma, and Land are indispensable

"The military? How did he get involved with the military?"

Jiang Lihua frowned deeply. He had not expected a pharmaceutical company to have connections to the military.

Standing to the side, Li Xiaorou was not particularly surprised by this.

Since Xingfeng Mining was already a military-industrial enterprise, Chen Feng naturally counted as part of the military establishment.

At that moment, everyone's gaze turned toward Li Xiaorou.

Li Xiaorou explained with a smile

"Distinguished leaders, our boss actually operates not only Xingfeng Pharmaceuticals but also Xingfeng Mining. Xingfeng Mining became a military-industrial enterprise not long ago. As for the specific details, I cannot disclose them to you because I have signed a non-disclosure agreement."

Li Xiaorou had indeed signed an NDA at the time.

Essentially, all employees of Xingfeng Mining were required to sign non-disclosure agreements.

This meant they could not reveal the nature of the work they performed at Xingfeng Mining.

Li Xiaorou's words left Jiang Lihua and the others in great shock.

They were naturally no strangers to military-industrial enterprises, but those requiring non-disclosure agreements were not ordinary; such requirements were typically reserved for enterprises possessing significant, critical technologies.

What they found most incomprehensible was that Chen Feng clearly appeared to be in the mining business.

How could someone in mining venture into the pharmaceutical industry and even develop a specialized drug like "Healing No. 1"?

"I'm going to make a phone call!"

Jiang Lihua walked aside alone. Since the military was involved, he had to treat this with utmost seriousness.

He had to call and clarify everything.

***

In the Western Military Region of Dragon Country.

Liu Mu was standing on a training ground within the military region, with Li Busheng from the Metal Research Institute standing beside him.

They were conducting performance tests on the first batch of tanks produced from Solar Iron.

Seven or eight tanks were currently speeding across the field.

Liu Mu was observing through binoculars.

"Not bad. The speed is faster than the same model," Liu Mu said, showing a look of satisfaction.

Solar Iron was not only lightweight but also possessed sufficient hardness, making it ideal for producing lightweight tank models.

For instance, if tanks needed to be air-dropped on a battlefield, tanks manufactured from Solar Iron would be the top choice.

Li Busheng nodded at the time

"I heard that Lin Wei's side has already improved the Solar Iron, increasing its hardness by about ten percent."

At the mention of Lin Wei's name, Liu Mu's mouth twitched.

"I'm always a bit uneasy about her going to Xingfeng Mining. She's been responsible for several research accidents."

Liu Mu knew Lin Wei; the woman was exceptionally talented in scientific research.

However, she had a habit of pursuing research that made people feel uneasy, which was why she was unpopular among many at the Dragon Academy of Sciences.

Li Busheng smiled. "She is actually very capable; she just hasn't found a good platform. I've instructed her not to act recklessly, so don't worry."

Liu Mu nodded helplessly. Just then, his phone suddenly rang.

After listening for a moment, a strange expression appeared on Liu Mu's face.

"Alright, I understand. I will go and reply to the Ministry of Health," Liu Mu said before hanging up.

Li Busheng asked, "What is it?"

"The Ministry of Health wants to investigate files regarding Chen Feng. They say an emerging pharmaceutical company has developed a specialized drug, and the boss behind this company is Chen Feng."

Li Busheng was stunned. "Chen Feng?"

"That's right, Chen Feng. Surprising, isn't it? A man in metallurgy has started dealing in medicine, and he's made quite a splash with it."

"It seems he has many secrets we aren't aware of."

Liu Mu's expression turned serious.

He was no fool; there had already been many suspicious points regarding Chen Feng's previous development of Solar Iron.

Now, he had developed a miraculous drug.

Furthermore, just like the Solar Iron, it was developed independently, which was bound to be problematic.

"Is the Ministry of Health only looking for personal information?" Li Busheng inquired.

Liu Mu replied, "Of course not. They want to know how this drug was developed."

After a moment of thought, Liu Mu said, "We cannot let the people from the Ministry of Health pressure Chen Feng. I'll go find the Commander."

With that, Liu Mu walked away quickly.

Seeing Liu Mu's reaction, Li Busheng immediately understood his intention.

Liu Mu was preparing to protect Chen Feng.

***

Inside Xingfeng Pharmaceuticals.

Jiang Lihua and the others were already seated in the reception hall. Li Xiaorou was no longer there.

She had gone to find Chen Feng; with so many leaders present, she was clearly unable to handle the situation alone.

"I am curious as to what Chen Feng's true background is. Not only does he have connections to the Dragon Academy of Sciences, but he's also tied to the military."

The Director of the Drug Administration broke the silence.

Gao Deming asked the Director, "I remember when 'Healing No. 1' was sent for testing, it skipped the queue. They used connections. You didn't know about this?"

The Director of the Drug Administration immediately lost his composure

"Old Gao, what are you talking about? What 'connections'? Professor Lin Wei from the Dragon Academy of Sciences simply called me. I was just helping out."

"Lin Wei?" Jiang Lihua thought for a moment; she seemed to have heard that name.

Gao Deming said with a smile, "I know her. She's a genius in theoretical research at the Dragon Academy of Sciences. I didn't expect her to be involved with this medicine as well."

"So it was her," Jiang Lihua recalled.

Lin Wei had a certain level of influence in various fields.

However, she was a theoretical researcher.

She was considered "theoretical" because she possessed great ideas, but she didn't produce many actual research results.

At that moment, Jiang Lihua's phone rang. He answered it. After a moment, Jiang Lihua questioned the person on the line

"I am the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Health! Do you mean to say we don't even have the authority to investigate this Chen Feng?"

After a while, Jiang Lihua hung up.

"Leader, what happened? Is the military refusing to let us investigate Chen Feng?" Gao Deming asked immediately.

Jiang Lihua nodded and said

"It is an order from the Commander of the Western Theater Command. Chen Feng's Xingfeng Pharmaceuticals, Xingfeng Mining, and Chen Feng himself are all considered military secrets."

Upon hearing this, everyone fell into a state of shock.

No one expected the military to reject even someone like Jiang Lihua.

It was just a matter of investigating one person's files, and they only wanted to look at the development technology of "Healing No. 1"—was it really necessary to go this far? To the point of involving the Commander of the Western Theater Command?

Jiang Lihua said helplessly, "Let's go. I will handle this matter. We won't be seeing this Chen Feng today."

The military was an independent institution. Despite being a Vice Minister, he belonged to the administrative branch and could not interfere with the military.

He could only return to the capital to consult with those higher up.

***

Inside the Scroll World.

Chen Feng was cultivating inside a hyperbaric oxygen chamber.

Since stepping onto the threshold of immortality cultivation, he had to cultivate for at least six hours every day.

However, upon reaching the second level of Qi Refinement, Chen Feng found that his cultivation speed had slowed down significantly.

This was because the surrounding spiritual energy had become thinner. Even though the hyperbaric chamber allowed him to absorb spiritual energy quickly, it could not solve the problem of the overall scarcity of spiritual energy.

Chen Feng opened his eyes and muttered to himself

"At this rate, it might take me several months to reach the third level of Qi Refinement, and subsequent cultivation will be even more difficult."

Chen Feng felt that perhaps the Hengduan Mountains themselves lacked dense spiritual energy and were not a prime cultivation site.

Generally, cultivators needed to practice in places with spiritual veins to achieve twice the result with half the effort, and they also needed auxiliary cultivation pills.

Wealth, companions, techniques, and land—these were the indispensable elements for a cultivator.

If he continued to cultivate in seclusion like this, it would take him decades to reach the ninth level of Qi Refinement.

(End of Chapter)