30: Chapter 30: The capital city was in an uproar
Dr. Li being taken away was like throwing a stone into a pond; it didn't even make a ripple in the project team.
Everyone's soul had long been hooked by that sky-high water column and the subsequent divine methods. In the face of such power, individual agendas meant absolutely nothing.
Chief Engineer Wang Heshan and Chief Engineer Wang Jianguo had now become the two most capable people under Jiang Ning's command.
One managed external affairs, the other handled internal matters, and they coordinated seamlessly.
Chief Engineer Wang Heshan led his group of old partners, working feverishly around the gushing water. Surveying, laying pipes, purifying water quality, connecting water to the camp... these were jobs they had done their whole lives, but now, they worked as if they had been injected with adrenaline.
In the past, they fought against the heavens and had to be careful at every step.
Now, they were working for a "divine being," and they had endless energy.
As for Chief Engineer Wang Jianguo, he took the quick-witted young people and dove headfirst into the Water Diversion Array. They surrounded the glowing array base, holding various instruments, their mouths agape, filled with both awe and fear.
"My God, the energy reading here is one hundred times that of the East Sea purification tower!"
"This rune structure—I ran it on the supercomputer, and it just burned out! This damn thing isn't even geometry from our world!"
"Look at this energy cycle! It's alive! It's repairing itself! This... this is a living thing!"
The cacophony of exclamations never ceased.
Jiang Ning, on the other hand, acted as the hands-off manager. Having delegated all the work, she chose a platform in the center of the array where the spiritual energy was most abundant to serve as her temporary office.
She sat cross-legged, sinking her thoughts into her mind to calculate her gains this time.
Eight thousand merit points!
This was a huge sum of money. She stared at the glittering numbers in the system mall, pondering how to spend them.
Once the intermediate mall opened, the items on the shelves increased more than tenfold.
["Complete Collection of Intermediate Arrays": 108 types of advanced arrays. Exchange cost: 10,000 merit points.]
["Illustrated Guide to Basic Spiritual Weapon Creation": Refining methods for ten basic weapons such as spiritual guns and spiritual shields. Exchange cost: 8,000 merit points.]
["Foundation Establishment Pill" Recipe (Incomplete): An ancient recipe that can greatly increase the success rate of Foundation Establishment. Exchange cost: 15,000 merit points.]
...Every one of them made her itch to buy them.
But she didn't rush to exchange. She knew that the most important thing right now was to improve her own cultivation.
She turned her attention to the newly unlocked "Introduction to Artifact Refining."
["Introduction to Artifact Refining": A gift from the system. It explains the basic principles of artifact refining, material processing, shaping, spirit attachment, and other introductory knowledge. Includes blueprints for three basic magical artifacts: the Storage Pouch, flying sword, and warning talisman.]
A flood of information poured into her brain, and she understood everything at once.
So that's how it works.
Jiang Ning opened her eyes, feeling enlightened.
Simply put, artifact refining is using spiritual power to change the internal structure of an object, then engraving specific energy circuits to give it functions that transcend reality.
This was somewhat similar to the principle of her bending steel bars by force before, but one relied on brute force, and the other relied on technique; they were worlds apart.
With this theory, the things she had previously fumbled around with by feeling suddenly made sense.
"Storage Pouch... flying sword..."
She murmured softly. These two things were too useful for her. The Storage Pouch could solve the trouble of having nowhere to put her things, and the flying sword was the most basic tool for fighting and traveling for those cultivating immortality.
Before, when she walked on air, it relied entirely on precise control of spiritual energy, which consumed a lot and couldn't last long. With a flying sword, that would be true flight.
"It seems I need to find a place to start refining artifacts," she calculated in her mind.
This Oasis not only brought water, but more importantly, it was itself a huge Spirit Gathering Array, turning those irritable "earth shas" and "wind shas" in the desert into pure spiritual energy.
The concentration of spiritual energy here barely reached the level of the worst sects in the cultivation world.
Cultivating here was much faster.
She could feel that her cultivation at the peak of the Qi Refining stage was almost impossible to suppress, and she might hit the "Foundation Establishment" hurdle at any time.
From Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment was the first major hurdle on the path of cultivation.
Qi Refining, simply put, is still just a human.
Once Foundation Establishment is successful, it is a rebirth, lifespan increases, divine sense opens wide, and only then can one truly touch the edge of the immortal path.
Jiang Ning suppressed the excitement in her heart; Foundation Establishment was no small matter and required thorough preparation.
She calmed her mind and began to operate the Azure Cloud Art, absorbing the spiritual energy constantly pouring from the center of the array, repairing previous consumption while polishing her cultivation, saving energy for the final breakthrough.
...
The capital, headquarters of The Ninth Bureau.
Director Zhao Lixin and the head of the General Bureau, along with a group of bigwigs from the military and scientific communities, were staring intently at the big screen.
What was playing on the screen was the footage transmitted back from the front line with the highest level of encryption.
From the water column shooting into the sky, to the critical moment when the array base cracked, to the "miracle" of Jiang Ning stepping on air, channeling the earth's energy, and fixing the array with her bare hands, and finally, Chief Engineer Wang Heshan's jaw-dropping bow.
The whole process, not a single detail missed.
In the huge conference room, it was terrifyingly quiet, and only the increasingly heavy breathing of everyone could be heard.
The video finished playing, and the screen went black, but those images were etched into everyone's minds.
"Is this... the report for the 'Kuafu Project'?" an Old General carrying the rank of general asked, his voice dry, feeling as if his throat was clogged with sand.
"Yes, leader." Director Zhao Lixin stood up, his voice still trembling slightly. "This is what really happened in the Taklamakan Desert five hours ago."
"Flying... she flew up..."
"And that... the power to channel the earth... it's the legendary... immortal art, right?"
"Chief Engineer Wang Heshan... that stubborn old mule actually... bowed..."
Everyone present had seen the world, but what was before their eyes had already exceeded their understanding.
If it were said that the East Sea purification tower could still be twisted into "a new energy technology we don't understand."
Then what was in the desert now could not be explained by any science.
"Comrades."
The head of the General Bureau, that gray-haired old man, stood up and broke the silence.
He scanned the room, his voice calm and steady.
"Our previous assessment of Comrade Jiang Ning might... all be wrong."
"What she brought us is not a technology, nor is it a source of energy."
He paused, then said word by word:
"She has pushed open a door to a new world for us, for this country, for this nation."
"From today on, the 'Pangu Project' and the 'Kuafu Project' are merged and upgraded to the nation's highest level—the 'Civilization Spark' project!"
"Director Zhao Lixin!"
"Here!"
"I order you to return to the front line immediately! At all costs, satisfy all of Comrade Jiang Ning's requirements! Her safety is the highest national security! Her will is the highest directive of the project!"
"Yes!" Director Zhao Lixin stood at attention abruptly and gave a standard military salute, his eyes filled with unprecedented brightness.
A new era, following that water column, had truly arrived.