89: Chapter 89: Sign this contract of servitude, or we'll slice you into pieces.

After coming out of the pill factory, Sect Leader Lu Yun felt as though he had lost his soul.

Director Zhao Lixin brought him back to that white isolation room; he didn't say a word the whole way, his eyes staring blankly as if he had gone stupid.

In his mind, one sentence repeated over and over.

"We plan to build a hundred production lines like this across the country within the next five years."

A hundred lines...

He did a quick mental calculation: one line could produce a hundred thousand medium-grade peiyuan pills a day, so a hundred lines would be ten million pills.

Ten million pills a day!

This number made his head spin.

In their Immortal-Mortal Realm, although the peiyuan pill was basic, it was still a precious commodity. Outer disciples would work themselves to the bone just to exchange for three to five pills a month, thanking the heavens for the chance.

But here, these things were actually popping out by the ton, just like producing jelly beans.

He suddenly thought of a question that made his hair stand on end.

What if... what if these mortals gave the pills to everyone in their country...

What kind of scene would that be?

Universal cultivation?

This term used to sound like a joke, but now it felt terrifyingly real.

A nation composed of billions of cultivators?

Sect Leader Lu Yun shuddered.

He didn't dare think about it anymore; if he did, his Dao Heart, which had already been ground into powder, would truly be blown away by the wind.

After sitting idly in the isolation room for an unknown amount of time, the alloy door opened for the third time.

The person who entered this time was the girl who made him feel a chill deep in his bones.

Jiang Ning.

Still in that white T-shirt and gym pants, she held a transparent tablet displaying charts he couldn't understand.

No one followed her; she just walked in alone, looking so relaxed it was as if the person locked in here wasn't a Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivator, but a pet cat she kept at home.

"Sect Leader Lu Yun."

As soon as she spoke, Sect Leader Lu Yun's whole body stiffened.

"I've looked over your physical data; you're very healthy," Jiang Ning said as she swiped on her tablet, her tone as flat as if she were reading a weather forecast. "The psychological assessment is also out, and the conclusion is that your worldview has already collapsed, which is perfect for reconstruction."

Sect Leader Lu Yun gritted his teeth and remained silent.

Standing before her now, he didn't even dare to have a single angry thought.

"I'm here today to give you a choice." Jiang Ning looked up at him, her gaze like she was looking at a stone or an object.

"First, stay here as a 'research sample.' We will guarantee your basic survival while conducting a series of studies on you. For example, live vivisection, soul slicing, and so on. Don't worry, our technology is very mature; we can ensure you remain fully conscious throughout the entire process."

Jiang Ning's words caused cold sweat to pour down Sect Leader Lu Yun's back.

Vivisection? Soul slicing?

These methods were ten thousand times more venomous than those of the demonic path!

"You... how dare you!" he roared, but he lacked any real conviction.

"Why wouldn't we dare?" Jiang Ning countered. "You entered illegally, destroyed property, and threatened the safety of our citizens. According to our laws, you are a serious criminal. Moreover, you are not from our world and are not protected by our laws. There is absolutely no problem with studying you like a rare lab rat."

Sect Leader Lu Yun's face instantly turned pale.

He knew she was telling the truth. Here, he had no status and no background; he was just a piece of meat on a chopping block.

"Then... what about the second choice?" His voice was trembling.

"The second choice," Jiang Ning pulled up a document on the tablet and displayed it before Sect Leader Lu Yun, "is to sign this."

Sect Leader Lu Yun focused his gaze.

The title of the document read—"Cross-World High-End Technical Talent Recruitment and Labor Dispatch Agreement."

Below it were dense clauses.

Party A: Xia Nation Ninth Bureau.

Party B: Sect Leader Lu Yun (Immortal-Mortal Realm-735, Tianyan Sect).

"...Party B voluntarily joins the Xia Nation 'Psionic Infrastructure Construction' project, becoming an external technical consultant for the project team."

"...Employment period: ninety-nine years."

"...During the employment period, Party B must unconditionally cooperate with all of Party A's work arrangements, including technical guidance, teaching of cultivation methods, providing intelligence, and teaching tasks..."

"...Party A will provide Party B with standard working and living environments and, based on contributions, grant 'merit points' as compensation."

"...'merit points' can be used to exchange for supplies, consult records, and... limited cultivation resources."

...

As Sect Leader Lu Yun read through the clauses one by one, his heart grew colder and colder.

This wasn't some talent recruitment; this was clearly a deed of sale!

An employment term of ninety-nine years? What was the difference between that and a life sentence?

"I won't sign!" he almost roared. "I am an Inner Sect Disciple of the Tianyan Sect, a future Golden Core Master! How could I possibly work for a bunch of mortals like you!"

"Is that so?" Jiang Ning retracted the tablet, her face expressionless. "Then choose the first option. I happen to be very interested in the structure of a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator's Primordial Spirit. I've already prepared the surgical plan; we can start tomorrow."

She turned to leave.

"Wait!" Sect Leader Lu Yun completely broke down, scrambling off the bed and grabbing Jiang Ning's lower leg.

Dignity, pride—he wanted none of it now.

He didn't want to be vivisected; he didn't want his soul sliced!

"I'll sign! I'll sign!" he wailed, his face covered in tears and snot. "I'll sign anything! Please, just don't dissect me!"

Jiang Ning looked down at Sect Leader Lu Yun, who was clutching her leg and crying like a three-hundred-pound child, and frowned.

"Let go," she spat out coldly.

As if he had been shocked by electricity, Sect Leader Lu Yun quickly let go and knelt on the ground, looking up at her as if she were his savior.

Jiang Ning took a pen and a paper contract out of her pocket and threw them on the floor.

"Sign and provide a thumbprint."

"Yes! Yes!"

Sect Leader Lu Yun picked up the pen, his hand shaking uncontrollably, and scribbled his name crookedly on the signature line for Party B. Then, he bit his finger and pressed a bloody thumbprint down hard.

Having done all this, he collapsed to the ground as if all his strength had been drained.

Jiang Ning picked up the contract, glanced at it, and tucked it away after confirming everything was correct.

"Very good." She nodded. "Welcome to the project team, Comrade Sect Leader Lu Yun. From today on, you are one of us."

"Your first task is to write a detailed report regarding the basic situation of the Tianyan Sect and the Immortal-Mortal Realm. Organizations, personnel, resources, cultivation methods, and that spatial portal technology—everything must be clearly written. Submit it to my office by eight o'clock tomorrow morning."

"Ah?" Sect Leader Lu Yun was stunned.

He was starting work just like that? What about pre-job training?

"Is there a problem?" Jiang Ning's gaze swept over.

"No... No problem! I guarantee I'll finish the task!" Sect Leader Lu Yun jolted and quickly scrambled up from the floor, standing ramrod straight as he answered loudly.

Are you kidding? Compared to being vivisected, writing a report was nothing! He could stay up all night!

Jiang Ning nodded in satisfaction.

"Very good. Director Zhao, arrange a place for him to stay; the standard should be 'External Expert Grade A' treatment. Also, give him a set of our academy's basic textbooks and have him start self-studying."

Director Zhao Lixin, who had been standing at the door watching the show, quickly walked in and answered while stifling a laugh, "Yes! Engineer Jiang!"

He looked at this "Comrade Sect Leader Lu Yun," who had been wailing just a moment ago and was now standing at attention, and his admiration for Jiang Ning rose another level.

What did you call thought reform?

This was thought reform! A two-pronged approach, physical and psychological, achieving results in one go!