181: Chapter 181: Boss Wan gave way too much.

The wind on the Star-Gazing Platform was strong, flapping Jiang Ning's clothes with a rhythmic snap-snap. She looked at the leaky sphere of light that Boss Wan had conjured, her mind in quite a state of turmoil. She had previously thought she was just here to handle some Infrastructure Construction, earn some merit points, and incidentally help the Qingyun Sect take off. Who could have imagined that the job would keep growing until, now, she actually had to repair a planet?

Boss Wan turned his head and looked at Jiang Ning without speaking. His eyes were as deep as a dried-up well, as if trying to see right through her.

Jiang Ning thought to herself, "This old man really knows how to pick his targets. There are so many formidable Cultivators in the world, surely including those at the Soul Transformation Stage. Instead of begging those great experts capable of moving mountains and draining seas, he comes to find me, a mere early-stage Golden Core Cultivator. He must have realized that I possess these 'technologies' he doesn't recognize."

"Boss Wan, you're putting too much weight on my shoulders," Jiang Ning said, her tone quite level. "I can handle building houses and laying roads, but you're telling me the world is collapsing and asking me to patch it up? That difficulty level is a bit off the charts."

Boss Wan chuckled, waved his hand, and the sphere of light vanished. He walked back to the railing and looked down at the lights of Tianxuan City below.

"I have looked for those great experts before," Boss Wan's voice was somewhat hoarse. "Some wanted to use their own magical power to plug the cracks, only to nearly drain themselves dry. Others wanted to simply refine this world and run off with the resources. Not a single person thought about how to fix this leaking ship from the roots up."

Jiang Ning nodded. This aligned perfectly with the logic of Cultivators. Everyone was thinking about ascension and transcendence; who cared if the land beneath their feet was rotting?

"Then what makes you think I can do it?" Jiang Ning asked.

"Based on that gift package you sold earlier," Boss Wan pointed downwards. "Others see fast alchemy, but I see that you treat the spiritual energy of heaven and earth as a 'thing' that can be bought, sold, transported, and managed. In your eyes, spiritual energy is not an ethereal Dao, but energy. Since it is energy, it can be diverted, and it can be controlled."

Jiang Ning's heart skipped a beat. This old man was truly formidable; he had seen the essence of industrialization at a single glance.

"How much money will it cost to repair this 'Pillar of the World'?" This was what Jiang Ning cared about most.

Boss Wan turned his head and looked at her very seriously. "Use whatever you want from the assets Wanbao Pavilion has accumulated over these thousands of years. As long as you can prevent this world from collapsing, Wanbao Pavilion will be your logistics department. Furthermore, as long as you nod, I will mobilize all of Wanbao Pavilion's network and make those major sects obey your command."

Jiang Ning did the math. If this deal went through, her merit points would surely skyrocket. Moreover, with a super conglomerate like Wanbao Pavilion backing her, the Infrastructure Construction projects she hadn't rolled out yet could be pushed across the entire realm in minutes.

"Fine, I'll take the job," Jiang Ning agreed readily. "But I have a prior condition: while I'm working, no one is allowed to interfere or boss me around. Whatever materials I need, Wanbao Pavilion must deliver them to me within three hours. Also, I want to go see that forbidden area, and I want to go now."

Boss Wan breathed a sigh of relief, his face breaking into that kindly smile again. "No problem. This is the highest access token of Wanbao Pavilion; seeing the token is the same as seeing me. I will send people to the forbidden area ahead of time to give them a heads-up."

Jiang Ning took the heavy jade token, which had a golden "Wan" character carved into it. She thought to herself, "This time, I'm really risking my life, but with great risk comes great reward. Once I finish this job, reaching the Nascent Soul Stage should be secure."

She didn't linger on the Star-Gazing Platform and headed straight downstairs with the jade token. She needed to contact Earth immediately; a planetary-level repair project like this was impossible for her to handle alone. She needed the top structural engineers, the most precise computing power support, and a large batch of automated equipment capable of withstanding the pressure of the planet's core.

Just as she reached the entrance of Wanbao Pavilion, she ran into Company Commander Zhang, who was waiting for her.

"Consultant Jiang, how did the discussion go?" Company Commander Zhang hurried up as soon as he saw Jiang Ning come out.

"Company Commander Zhang, notify the home base; the plan has changed." Jiang Ning shook the jade token. "We aren't building a sect anymore; we're going to repair the planet's core. Tell the expert group to hold a meeting immediately. I need a preliminary proposal regarding 'Spiritual Energy Structure Reinforcement,' and I want to see it by tomorrow morning."

Company Commander Zhang was stunned, his mouth hanging wide open. "Repair the planet's core? Consultant Jiang, isn't that a bit of a leap?"

"It can't be helped, the client offered too much." Jiang Ning said while walking. "Go move out those large detectors we brought; start debugging them tonight. We're going to perform surgery on the 'heart' of the Immortal-Mortal Realm."

Although Company Commander Zhang felt like this sounded like a tall tale, he had one hundred percent trust in Jiang Ning. He stood at attention and turned to make the arrangements.

Jiang Ning returned to her residence, closed the door, and entered the system interface directly. Looking at the mere tens of thousands of merit points, she calculated: if this mission started, the system would definitely spawn new things. Sure enough, a new mission red dot popped up on the system panel.

"Ultimate Mission: Repair the Pillar of the World. Mission Reward: One million merit points, unlock 'Guide to Constructing a Planetary-Level Spiritual Energy Network'."

Seeing the number one million, Jiang Ning felt her heartbeat quicken. If she could get her hands on that one million, she could renovate the entire Immortal-Mortal Realm.

She took a deep breath, sat on the bed, and began to rest her eyes. She knew that for the coming period, she probably wouldn't even have time to sleep.

Early the next morning, before the sky was even bright, a manager from Wanbao Pavilion arrived at Jiang Ning's residence with a large group of people. The leader was an old Cultivator at the mid-Nascent Soul Stage, surnamed Qian, who looked quite shrewd.

"Consultant Jiang, the Pavilion Master has given orders: from today on, all of us hundreds of people will be at your disposal." Manager Qian bowed, his attitude extremely respectful. "This is the first batch of spiritual stones and the material list that has been allocated; please take a look."

Jiang Ning took the list and scanned it. Good grief, it was filled with top-tier heavenly treasures she had never even heard of before. Things like ten-thousand-year Earth Core Fire Essence, extraterrestrial meteor iron mothers—all packed by the crate.

"Move the materials to the temporary base outside the city first," Jiang Ning instructed. "Manager Qian, take me to the entrance of the forbidden area. We need to perform a comprehensive CT—oh, wait, a comprehensive divine sense scan."

Although Manager Qian didn't understand what "CT" meant, he hurried to lead the way.

Jiang Ning led the people from the Engineering Battalion, and they marched out of Tianxuan City in a grand procession. The Cultivators in the city were dumbfounded, all discussing what on earth the Qingyun Sect was planning to do.

"Looking at that formation, are they going to the forbidden area?"

"That place, the forbidden area, you lose your life the moment you enter. Have they gone mad?"

"What do you know? Didn't you see Manager Qian from Wanbao Pavilion leading the way in front? This must be Boss Wan's intention."

Jiang Ning listened to these discussions, but her heart remained completely calm. These people were still concerned about whose alchemy pills were better or whose magical treasures were brighter, unaware that the foundation of the house they lived in was rotting through.

They arrived at the entrance of the forbidden area, which was a wasteland perpetually shrouded in thunderstorms. Before they even got close, Jiang Ning could feel a violent surge of spiritual energy running wild everywhere. This type of spiritual energy was impossible to absorb; if one were to inhale it, their meridians would likely explode instantly.

"Consultant Jiang, it is just ahead." Manager Qian stopped and pointed to a massive black abyss in the distance. "That is the top of the Pillar of the World, and also the place where spiritual energy is leaking the most severely."

Jiang Ning took out binoculars and looked. The abyss was pitch black, with purple lightning flashing through it from time to time. She turned to Company Commander Zhang and said, "Release the detection drones; I need to get the 3D data inside first. Be careful, the magnetic field inside is very chaotic."

Several specialized spiritual energy drones buzzed into the air and charged into the thunderstorm. Jiang Ning stared at the tablet in her hands, watching the rapidly jumping data, her brows knitting tighter and tighter.

The situation was even worse than Boss Wan had described.