Chapter 16: Immortal Arts, Subsequent Plans

Hearing Chen Feng’s praise, Li Xiaorou’s face flushed slightly.

Being recognized by her boss made her very happy.

Chen Feng asked Li Xiaorou, "By the way, have the people from the research institute arrived?"

Liu Mu had previously told him that he would send people to set up a small laboratory at the factory.

He wasn't sure if they had arrived yet.

"They have. They just moved all the equipment in today. The person in charge of the lab is a female professor named Lin Wei. She is over at the lab right now; I’ll take you over to meet her, Boss."

Li Xiaorou stood up and led Chen Feng toward the east side of the factory grounds.

The east side had originally been the factory's technical department.

Chen Feng had previously only hired a few college students to hold down the fort, but it had now been converted into a laboratory.

As soon as he entered the lab, Chen Feng noticed that a lot of experimental equipment had been added.

Several staff members in white lab coats were busy working.

Seeing Chen Feng and Li Xiaorou enter, they all stopped what they were doing.

At this moment, a woman in a white lab coat walked toward Chen Feng.

The woman was tall with fair, delicate skin and wore black-rimmed glasses, giving her an intellectual beauty.

"Hello, Professor Chen. I am Lin Wei, a researcher from the Longke Academy. It’s a pleasure to meet you."

Lin Wei extended her hand toward Chen Feng.

She was observing Chen Feng closely. Although she had heard that Chen Feng was very young, seeing him in person still surprised her.

Chen Feng looked even younger than she was.

To be not only the boss of a company with tens of millions in assets at such a young age but also to have independently developed the new metal, Yanyang Iron, it was no exaggeration to call him a genius.

Chen Feng shook Lin Wei’s hand politely

"Hello, Professor Lin. It’s a pleasure to meet you too. You’re from the Longke Academy?"

The fact that she was from the Longke Academy caught Chen Feng by surprise.

Liu Mu had previously said he would send people from the Metal Research Institute, but the people who arrived were actually from the Longke Academy.

The Metal Research Institute couldn't be compared to the Longke Academy.

A research institute was a scientific institution focused on specific projects, while the Longke Academy was a true direct-reporting unit and the highest academic institution for natural sciences in the Dragon Kingdom.

Everyone inside was the elite of the elite.

"I happened to be very interested in Yanyang Iron, so I submitted an application to Professor Li Busheng to be in charge of your factory's laboratory."

"I hope you will take care of us in the future, Professor Chen."

Lin Wei explained with a smile.

Chen Feng nodded slightly, then looked at the experimental bench and asked, "What are you researching right now?"

At this moment, Chen Feng didn't know what to say. If he discussed academics with them, he wouldn't understand.

But staying silent would be awkward.

"We are attempting a secondary synthesis of Yanyang Iron to see if we can further increase its strength. Since you’re here, Professor Chen, would you like to join us?"

Lin Wei extended an invitation to Chen Feng. She was very curious about how Chen Feng had developed Yanyang Iron.

She had proactively applied to come here because she wanted to communicate with Chen Feng and learn something from him.

Chen Feng shook his head immediately

"You all go ahead and research. I have other matters to attend to. By the way, do you have a microscope here?"

Chen Feng didn't want to research with these people; if he did, he would surely expose his lack of knowledge.

Aside from meeting Lin Wei and the others, his purpose in coming here was to borrow a microscope.

He had studied the jade pendant, but he found that even with a magnifying glass, he couldn't see the blue light clearly.

This made Chen Feng think of a microscope.

"Of course, Professor Chen. Please feel free to use it."

Lin Wei pointed to the experimental bench nearby, where a microscope was placed.

Chen Feng walked over to the bench and placed the jade pendant under the microscope to observe it.

The surrounding researchers watched with curiosity, but no one stepped forward.

They had been notified by their superiors not to ask Chen Feng questions about his research casually, nor to interfere with his work. They were only there to assist.

Under the magnification of the microscope, the blue light became exceptionally dazzling.

Chen Feng tried magnifying it a thousand times, and soon he discovered that there were rows of tiny characters beneath the blue light.

Each character emitted a faint blue glow, which was quite strange.

Chen Feng immediately recognized these characters as those from the scroll world.

He immediately grabbed paper and a pen to start recording.

It took a full hour to write down everything inside the jade pendant.

In the lab, Lin Wei was researching Yanyang Iron with several other researchers, while Li Xiaorou had already left to attend to her own work.

Chen Feng put away the jade pendant and said to Lin Wei

"Professor Lin, I have things to do, so I’ll be leaving now. Thank you for the microscope."

Lin Wei smiled

"You’re too polite, Professor Chen. We are here to assist you. If you have any needs, feel free to tell us at any time."

She addressed him as Professor Chen because Chen Feng was now affiliated with the Longke Academy.

Originally, Li Busheng intended for Chen Feng’s name to be affiliated with their Metal Research Institute, but Dean Hu of the Basic Materials Department refused to agree, insisting that Chen Feng be affiliated under his name.

Faced with their dispute, Liu Mu had no choice but to have Chen Feng directly affiliated with the Longke Academy.

Only then did the two stop arguing. After all, no matter how large their institutions were, they wouldn't dare fight the Longke Academy for personnel.

After saying goodbye to Lin Wei, Chen Feng returned to his room.

Looking at the paper in his hand, a smile appeared on his face.

The content inside the jade pendant was a cultivation method—not a martial artist's cultivation method, but an immortal technique called the "Qi Guidance Manual."

It could be cultivated all the way to the ninth level of Qi Refining and even included a few minor spells.

Chen Feng had always been incredibly eager for the methods of immortals.

Cultivating immortality meant longevity; a martial artist's lifespan was at most a hundred years, so how could they compare to an immortal cultivator?

But in the more than a year he spent in the scroll world, he hadn't found any immortal techniques. The only news he had was that the Yue Kingdom's royal family possessed them.

However, a behemoth like the Yue Kingdom's royal family was not something he could shake; it was basically impossible to obtain immortal techniques from there.

Now, by a stroke of luck, he had actually obtained one. He didn't know where Jiang Xiao had gotten this jade pendant.

What was certain was that Jiang Xiao did not know that the jade pendant contained an immortal technique.

Such small characters were not something a martial artist in the scroll world could see.

If he hadn't used a microscope from the modern world, he wouldn't have discovered them either.

Jiang Xiao must have only known that the jade pendant was special, which is why he kept it on his person.

Chen Feng began to cultivate according to the content of the "Qi Guidance Manual."

The first step of Qi Refining was to sense spiritual energy, and this depended on whether one had the aptitude.

Being able to sense spiritual energy meant one possessed spiritual orifices, and having spiritual orifices meant having aptitude.

Chen Feng didn't know if he had spiritual orifices, so he could only try.

After an hour of attempting, Chen Feng ended his practice.

He hadn't sensed even a shred of spiritual energy, which left him somewhat disappointed.

But Chen Feng didn't give up.

If it didn't work in the modern world, perhaps it was because this world simply lacked spiritual energy.

He would just have to try again the next time he returned to the scroll world.

Just then, his phone rang.

He took out the phone and saw it was a call from Liu Mu.

"Little Chen, I heard you’re back. When will the factory start production?"

As soon as Liu Mu received the news that Chen Feng had returned to the country, he called him immediately.

He was waiting for Chen Feng’s Yanyang Iron to produce tanks.

"Production will start in the next two days. We are already preparing," Chen Feng replied.

"That’s good. Did anything happen to you while you were abroad?" Liu Mu asked with concern.

"No, everything is fine."

After chatting briefly with Liu Mu, he hung up the phone.

He checked his injuries and found they were mostly healed.

Chen Feng planned to return to the scroll world tomorrow; it wouldn't be easy to explain things to Liu Mu if he dragged it out too long.

Having settled his follow-up plans, Chen Feng lay on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

He hadn't had a good night's sleep in many days.

(End of chapter)