Time passed quickly.
Nearly three days had passed since Great Xia began transporting supplies across the country.
Capital, Command Center.
“Latest update: the Materials Synthesis Department has reported excellent progress. The eleven new metallic elements needed to forge the Sect Token are being synthesized around the clock, and the finishing work is expected to be completed by noon tomorrow!”
“The provincial laboratories have completed thirty-six percent of their assigned tasks, five percentage points ahead of schedule!”
“All of the uranium mines across the country are operating at full capacity. The mining districts have adopted an eight-hour shift system, ensuring efficient operation twenty-four hours a day. Productivity has increased by a full thirteen times!”
“So far, more than 3,800 tons of refined high-purity uranium-235 are on their way to the Capital. The rest is being mined as quickly as possible. Due to the material’s special properties, all the uranium-235 is expected to arrive in batches within five days...”
As he listened to the staff’s reports,
Lu Yang’s brows relaxed slightly, but deep down, he still couldn’t fully let his guard down.
【Transmigration Countdown: 158 hours, 48 minutes, 52 seconds】
This was the fourth day since he had been reborn.
Less than a week remained before the Transmigration Countdown reached zero.
Although progress on forging the Sect Token had already reached thirty-six percent, far ahead of schedule,
completing the remaining sixty-four percent in the less-than-a-week left would still be an incredibly daunting task.
Just then,
Elder Wang, dressed in a Zhongshan suit, entered the hall. A middle-aged man with gold-rimmed glasses and an exceptionally refined air followed behind him.
“Young Friend Lu, let’s talk as we walk.”
Elder Wang led Lu Yang toward the conference room, introducing the man with a genial smile:
“This is Comrade Hua Bowen, the current Chief Strategist of the Great Xia Think Tank. Over the next few days, he’ll be explaining the things you need to know about after you transmigrate to the Cultivation World.”
They’d even brought in the Chief Strategist of the think tank?
Looking at the refined, smiling middle-aged man, Lu Yang felt a surge of emotion.
With someone this brilliant advising him, and the Sect Token about to be completed, this was practically a perfect start!
The three of them entered the conference room.
Hua Bowen took a stack of documents from his briefcase. They were covered in dense red annotations. Getting straight to the point, he said:
“Comrade Lu Yang, my colleagues in the think tank and I have conducted a detailed analysis of the experiences you previously described in the Cultivation World.”
“Using the Sect Token as proof of identity and disguising yourself as the Sixth Elder’s personal disciple to infiltrate the Clearwind Sect is indeed a very good choice. However, it also comes with tremendous risks.”
“According to you, when you joined the Clearwind Sect in your previous life, the spiritual root test showed that you had only a Low-Grade Yellow-Rank Spiritual Root.”
“And according to what you know, spiritual root grades can be divided, from highest to lowest, into Heaven Rank, Earth Rank, Profound Rank, Yellow Tier, and Junk-grade Spiritual Root.”
“That’s where the problem lies!”
“For an ordinary Outer Court Disciple, a Low-Grade Yellow-Rank Spiritual Root would certainly be sufficient. But as the Sixth Elder’s personal disciple, such a spiritual root grade is clearly far too low to make sense.”
“Even if you hold a Sect Token forged by Great Xia with the resources of the entire nation, the other cultivators in the Clearwind Sect will inevitably suspect your identity based on that Low-Grade Yellow-Rank Spiritual Root alone.”
“After all, no Elder would take someone of ordinary talent as a personal disciple. That’s the biggest flaw in your claim to be one...”
Lu Yang nodded in agreement. He had considered this problem too.
There was an unwritten rule for becoming a consecrated elder of the Clearwind Sect: one’s cultivation level had to reach the Golden Core Stage.
Anyone accepted as a personal disciple by a Golden Core powerhouse would inevitably have talent far beyond that of an ordinary cultivator.
His Low-Grade Yellow-Rank Spiritual Root was merely average among the Outer Court Disciples. It really was hard to justify him being a personal disciple...
“However, although this flaw exists, it’s not impossible to address.”
After explaining the flaw, Hua Bowen changed tack, his expression turning serious:
“After investigating these past few days, we’ve found that the Cultivation World you described closely matches the worldbuilding found in fantasy novels.”
“Based on our study of fantasy novels, we believe that prodigies aren’t limited to those with outstanding spiritual roots. Cultivators with astonishing comprehension, or special talents in alchemy, talisman crafting, cultivating spirit plants... and other fields, can also be considered prodigies in their respective areas.”
“Although your spiritual root is rather mediocre, if you excel enough in other areas, the Sixth Elder could still take you as a personal disciple.”
“Therefore, after reaching a unanimous agreement, the Great Xia Think Tank has decided to use the strength of the entire nation to disguise you as a genuine prodigy!”
After Hua Bowen finished speaking,
Elder Wang looked at Lu Yang with utter seriousness, his tone more solemn than ever:
“Young Friend Lu, Comrade Hua Bowen’s view is shared by all of us.”
“At last night’s meeting, all ninety-six senior Great Xia officials in attendance unanimously approved the top-priority proposal to disguise you as a prodigy.”
“To that end, we’ve already recruited top experts from every field in the country to take part in this top-secret plan. They’re on their way here now.”
“As the key figure in this plan, you may call upon anything Great Xia has to offer, whatever you need!”
“Starting today, all information related to you will be classified as Great Xia’s highest-level secret. Every trace of your existence in this land will be replaced by a special codename—Xuanyuan!”
At this, Lu Yang’s breathing suddenly quickened, and his eyes grew damp.
Since returning to life, he hadn’t provided Great Xia with much in the way of practical help.
And yet Great Xia had placed its unreserved trust in him and was aiding him with the strength of the entire nation.
Facing Elder Wang’s solemn expression,
Lu Yang took a deep breath. A thousand words welled up inside him, but in the end, he said only:
“You treat me as a man of the nation; I will repay you as one!”
............
Chengdu, Chenghua Avenue.
“Come take a look!”
“Eighteenth-generation successor of the Six Lines Sect! I can read your Eight Characters, predict good and ill fortune, and discern your fate to change your destiny! One reading costs just ninety-eight—no charge if I’m wrong!”
“Young man, want a reading? I can see the signs of a dragon and tiger between your brows. Your future is sure to be limitless!”
An old Taoist with round black glasses and a goatee was coaxing a little boy with a runny nose, who was licking a lollipop.
Noticing what the old Taoist was doing,
a middle-aged woman hurried over, grabbed the boy by the hand, and led him away, lecturing him as she went not to talk to strangers and that “weird old men like to kidnap little boys.”
“Business sure is rough these days...”
The old Taoist sighed. Just as he was about to find someone else to con, he saw five soldiers in army-green uniforms approaching.
“What the hell? Didn’t the urban management officers used to chase us off? Since when did they start sending soldiers to arrest people?”
The old Taoist shuddered in fright, grabbed his things from the stall, and tried to make a run for it.
But the leading soldier stepped in front of him first, showed him an identification card, and said sternly:
“Hu Tianming, sixty-four years old, eighteenth-generation successor of the Plum Blossom Sect, studied the I Ching under your master from a young age. Have I got that right?”
As several soldiers closed in around him, Hu Tianming stammered in fright:
“Well... I admit I’ve used the Six Lines Sect successor title to give people a few readings, but I never swindled anyone out of their money. Surely you’re not going to arrest me for that?”
“Mr. Hu, you’ve misunderstood. We’re here to invite you to take part in an important mission involving state secrets.”
Escorted by several soldiers, Hu Tianming was taken aboard a military vehicle and driven to a nearby airport.
.....................
Qingbei University, Department of Mathematics.
A disheveled-looking man who didn’t seem particularly bright was walking along, eating a plain steamed bun and washing it down with bottled water.
As if he had suddenly thought of something,
Wei Dongyi abruptly stopped, pulled a piece of chalk from his pocket, and began working out calculations on the ground. Before long, it was covered in mathematical symbols.
Many passing students looked at this strangely mannered senior with reverence.
“Mr. Wei? Mr. Wei Dongyi...”
After the soldiers called out to him several times,
Wei Dongyi, immersed in a sea of mathematics, finally raised his head in a daze and looked at the soldiers before him in confusion.
“Mr. Wei Dongyi, we’re here to invite you to take part in an important mission involving state secrets...”
Hearing this, Wei Dongyi nodded and continued working out his calculations on the ground:
“Sure. Let me finish this first.”
............
That evening,
the various experts summoned in secret had all gathered at the Great Xia Academy of Sciences.