331: Chapter 331 Popularity Soars

Behind the scenes of the press hall, a long and quiet corridor.

"Click."

The heavy mahogany door slowly closed behind them, making a dull thud.

This door completely isolated the noisy ocean outside, composed of blinding camera flashes and the fanatical emotions of billions of people, into another world.

In the corridor, it was so quiet that only the light footsteps of the two could be heard.

"Hoo..."

Elder Zhang, walking beside Lin Yuan, suddenly let out a long breath.

That breath was long, carrying a sense of relief, yet mixed with intense emotions that had not yet subsided.

He turned his head to look at the young man beside him, who remained calm and composed, his eyes filled with extreme complexity.

"Academician Lin, to be honest with you, even now, my heart still doesn't feel at ease."

Elder Zhang's voice was unusually hoarse.

"I just feel... like I've had an incredibly absurd dream."

Just now on the podium, facing the long lenses and short cannons of hundreds of top global media outlets, he had been able to sit as steady as a mountain, relying on decades of mental Cultivation.

But once away from the spotlight, alone with Lin Yuan, the shock and trembling from the depths of his soul could no longer be suppressed and surged up, even making his heart beat faster.

second world, the four major ascension systems, nationwide Cultivation...

Any one of these terms, if thrown into the international community, would be enough to cause the top think tanks of any superpower to crash on the spot, or even trigger global turmoil.

Yet Lin Yuan, in just one short press conference, had turned them all into established national policies that the Xia Kingdom was about to implement.

Hearing this, Lin Yuan turned his head, a gentle smile rippling across his face.

"Elder Zhang, this is not a dream."

His words lacked impassioned emphasis but were exceptionally clear, his voice carrying a reassuring and determined power.

"This is reality, the future our country is about to open with its own hands."

"An era... where everyone is like a dragon."

Elder Zhang fell silent.

He looked into Lin Yuan's deep, calm eyes; there was no trace of fanaticism or delusion in them, only a vast, boundless sea of stars.

After a long while, Elder Zhang shook his head self-deprecatingly and sighed with emotion:

"The times are changing too fast!"

"Thinking back to last year, our Xia Kingdom was still being choked by the West in every field of technology; for just one Photolithography Machine, how many researchers turned their hair white."

"And when you appeared, the Xia Kingdom began laying out Fifth-generation Communication, followed closely by researching Controlled Nuclear Fusion, and even forcibly creating the south heaven gate Aerospace Fighter; I thought... that was already an incredible achievement."

"But what was the result?"

"That was actually just the beginning!"

Elder Zhang took a deep breath, his tone full of indescribable emotion.

"At the start of this year, you quietly served us these two 'heavy dishes'."

"At the closed-door meeting the day before yesterday, when I heard about these two plans from Elder Long, I almost doubted if something was wrong with my ears."

"If I hadn't known it was your handiwork, I wouldn't have believed it even if I died; I wouldn't have believed that things existing only in fantasy could fall into reality so quickly."

These words came from the bottom of his heart.

It was precisely because he stood high enough and saw far enough that Elder Zhang knew better than anyone else exactly how heavy the two things Lin Yuan threw out at the press conference were.

That was no longer a simple technological breakthrough; it was a... complete subversion and reshaping of the existing global social structure, production relations, and even the entire form of human civilization!

Lin Yuan listened quietly, his smile unchanged, just nodding gently, his tone easygoing:

"Although the steps might look like they were taken too broadly, in the end, all of this was just a natural progression."

"It is because our Xia Kingdom's foundation is thick enough and our national will is unified enough that we can withstand this cross-era, crazy pace."

Elder Zhang nodded in deep agreement upon hearing this.

He forcibly suppressed his surging emotions, his eyes becoming sharp and resolute again, and changed the subject, cutting to the most practical issues.

"The higher-ups have set the tone and issued a firm order: I will lead the effort to fully cooperate with your subsequent work."

"Since the blueprint has been thrown out to the whole world, we have to do it for real; we cannot let our common people have empty joy!"

"What do I need to do next? Just give the arrangements."

"The focus is still on resources."

Lin Yuan's answer was without the slightest hesitation; it was clear that he had long been confident in every step of this grand strategy.

"The holographic server cluster construction involved in the second world and the further modification of the seventh-generation network base stations require massive computing power support..."

"The four major Life Sciences systems involve the basic materials needed in the early stages, especially the paths of genetics and machinery, which have a huge demand for certain special biological raw materials and rare high-strength alloys; we need to consider locking in the production capacity of several core global mining areas in advance!"

"All of these require the coordination of the state apparatus and massive resource investment."

Elder Zhang didn't even frown upon hearing this and nodded heavily:

"Understood."

"I will go back later; you send me the detailed list, and I will personally lead the follow-up resource coordination and global allocation!"

"No problem, then I will trouble you, Elder Zhang."

"What trouble? This is my duty!"

Elder Zhang promised firmly, his words resounding:

"In one word, with the power of the whole nation, whatever you want, the country will give you!"

"As long as it can make everyone in the Xia Kingdom like a dragon, even if you poke a hole in the sky, the country will cover for you!"

Hearing this, Lin Yuan nodded.

After finishing the serious business, the atmosphere in the corridor lightened a bit.

Lin Yuan said with a smile:

"Then I'll head back first."

"You also know that netizens across the country are probably guarding my personal account right now, waiting for that 'Cultivation method'."

Hearing the word "Cultivation method," Elder Zhang couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth, showing a wry expression.

He shook his head and sighed sincerely.

"Cultivation..."

Meanwhile.

A period of time had passed since the press conference ended.

But the traffic on the entire Xia Kingdom internet, far from falling back, was skyrocketing in a terrifying manner!

The server load indicator lights on major social platforms had all turned red.

Across the entire network, countless people were staying on Lin Yuan's personal official account homepage, frantically refreshing the page at a frequency of dozens of times per minute!

"Why hasn't it been posted yet? Why hasn't it been posted! I've already taken off my pants—ah no, I mean, I've already bought my meditation cushion!"

"Hurry, hurry, hurry! I am born with the holy body for Cultivation; if you don't let me practice soon, I will explode and die!"

"Brothers, I have already asked my boss for 'seclusion leave.' Not only did the boss approve it, but he also asked if I could take him along for dual Cultivation... How should I reply?"

"The foreign internet is going crazy! I just jumped the firewall to take a look; those foreigners are offering high rewards for translations of ancient Xia Kingdom literature. Even the thresholds of various colleges have been trampled down—everyone is begging to learn classical Chinese!"

As the heat of discussion across the entire network climbed to the highest peak in the history of the human internet, countless people were clawing at their hearts in anticipation, on the verge of collapse.

Lin Yuan's personal account finally updated with a post.

There were no long-winded pleasantries, not even a single image.

On that clean page, there was only a concise title and an attachment for everyone to download—

"Refining Essence into Qi, Volume One"!