Chapter 72: Just Asking: Are Pills Supposed to Be Eaten Like Meals?

West Mountain Old Pill Institute, Product R&D Center of the Ascension Group.

There was no longer a trace of the traditional medicinal fragrance belonging to old alchemy rooms.

In its place came the scorching scent of metal, flame, and spirit stones mixed together—an industrial aura of heat.

Rows of modular pill rooms were neatly aligned like military barracks, and the roaring sound of Fire-Gathering Formations joined into one continuous hum.

On the assembly lines, researchers in uniform gray coats moved with mechanical precision, their faces devoid of emotion—each action exact and synchronized, like puppets on strings.

Grinding herbs.

Purifying essence.

Weighing ratios.

Controlling flames.

Every movement was strictly limited by SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures), with errors measured to the millisecond.

There were no artists here—only engineers.

At the deepest part of the R&D center, inside the CPO’s private laboratory, which was under the tightest security—

Leng Yanran stood before a purple-gold pill furnace, half of which had turned red-hot from the fire.

Her face, illuminated by the flames, looked deathly pale.

On the jade slip before her, there was only one line of instruction from Chu Feng:

【Initiate the “Foundation Establishment Pill · Youth Edition” development project. Within three days, I want to see a sample.】

Foundation Establishment Pill—

It was a heavenly barrier standing before every Qi Refining cultivator.

And Chu Feng’s requirement was for a “Youth Edition.”

Leng Yanran understood that word all too well.

Reduce cost.

Increase output.

Maximize success rate.

Best if even an apprentice on the assembly line could refine it with their eyes closed.

This was not alchemy.

This was a dimensional reduction strike against the Dao of Alchemy itself.

She picked up a century-old Dragonblood Vine, one of the core main ingredients used in traditional Foundation Establishment Pills.

After a single glance, she tossed it aside.

Too expensive.

Her gaze swept over the mountain of cheap materials stacked nearby.

“Scarletblood Grass”—only one-tenth the potency of Dragonblood Vine.

“Earthfire Lizard Blood”—violent and unstable.

She grabbed a handful of Scarletblood Grass, then lifted a jar of Earthfire Lizard Blood. Without so much as a glance, she poured them all into the test furnace before her.

Boom!

A loud muffled explosion erupted from the furnace, its body trembling violently as black smoke and sparks spewed out.

Leng Yanran did not retreat; instead, she stepped forward, sending her spiritual sense inside, frantically recording every interaction of the medicinal properties.

“Violence Index 3.7, fusion failed.”

She waved away the smoke, then grabbed a pinch of “Cold Crystal Powder,” throwing it into the furnace along with the two previous materials.

Boom!

This time, the explosion was much softer. Inside, a thick, magma-like liquid began to churn.

“Violence Index 1.2, preliminary stability achieved.”

She took another jade slip and began to write rapidly—scribbling, crossing out, and rewriting.

Line after line of radical, unorthodox pill formulas were born in her hands, only to be immediately rejected.

She no longer needed sleep, nor food.

This process—turning the impossible into possible—was her greatest nourishment.

……

Meanwhile, inside Chu Feng’s cultivation chamber.

The last jade bottle before him was empty.

He could feel it—after reaching the Sixth Level of Qi Refining, his cultivation growth curve had started to flatten.

No.

Too slow!

He grabbed the remaining Qi Nourishing Pills—dozens of them—and poured them all into his mouth as though dumping trash.

His teeth closed—

Crack.

At the instant the pill shells shattered, a torrent of medicinal energy far stronger than before erupted inside him, like a dam bursting open.

His meridians screamed with tearing agony.

Chu Feng’s body arched uncontrollably, like a shrimp thrown into boiling oil.

The veins beneath his skin bulged violently, glowing with a dark red hue.

“Refine!”

He forced out the word through gritted teeth, as his cultivation method began running at an unprecedented pace.

The torrent of spiritual energy turned into steel brushes, scraping over his meridians again and again.

Each wash stripped away a layer of flesh, only for the remaining medicinal power to forcibly repair it.

Just as he was about to be torn apart by the overwhelming energy—

A faint golden thread emerged from deep within his sea of consciousness.

It was the Group’s Fortune.

The collective power of thousands of miners in the Heishan Mining Area—their every shout, every speech by Zhao Wuji, every breakthrough by Leng Yanran—all condensed into this “Power of the Masses.”

The golden thread precisely wrapped around his nearly-broken meridians, stitching and reinforcing them like the work of the most skilled embroiderer.

Chu Feng had effectively gained a cheat—one that ensured he would never die, so long as the company did not collapse.

He could die, but his “users” would never allow it.

Time lost all meaning within the chamber.

Spiritual energy grew so dense it condensed into droplets, falling from the stone walls—only to evaporate in an instant.

Crack!

A sharp sound that did not belong to the external world echoed from deep within Chu Feng’s spine.

The barrier of the Sixth Level of Qi Refining was shattered by brute force!

Boom!

A violent surge of power erupted outward from him, blasting spiderweb cracks across the stone floor.

Seventh Level of Qi Refining!

Chu Feng’s eyes snapped open.

Two cold stars flared within the dim chamber.

He slowly exhaled a mouthful of turbid air—so forceful it shot out like an arrow, leaving a deep white mark on the opposite wall.

He could feel the spiritual energy in his body undergoing a transformation—from gaseous to denser, liquid form.

Standing up, he clenched his fist casually—

The air itself gave a strained pop from the pressure.

He was absolutely confident that, with his current strength, he could crush the former Li Aotian with a single finger.

But that was still not enough.

He picked up his communication jade slip and sent his spiritual sense inside.

“Wu Hao, about the new product from the CPO.”

His tone was utterly calm.

【Reporting to President! Chief Leng just sent word—the prototype has taken shape, but its medicinal properties are extremely aggressive. She said that in three days, she can produce the first batch of ‘clinical test versions’!】

Wu Hao’s voice was tinged with barely suppressed excitement.

“Tell her—the R&D budget, double it.”

Chu Feng cut off the transmission. His eyes held no expectation—only demand for results.

Once the Foundation Establishment Pill entered mass production, his “All-Employee Shareholding” plan could truly evolve into an “All-Employee Foundation Establishment” plan.

Only a Group composed of hundreds of Foundation Establishment cultivators would have the initial qualification to overturn the table of this world.

While he was already plotting his next phase of capital expansion—

At the Heishan Mining Area—

The so-called “Strive Forward Bravely” Tunnel-Digging Friendship Competition had come to an end.

The “Tiger Team,” led by Zhang Daniu, had won an overwhelming victory.

Zhao Wuji stood on the high platform, using his Golden Core cultivation to power the sound-amplifying artifact—his voice resounding through the entire valley.

“Champion—Tiger Team!”

“For its direct steward, Zhang Daniu—add ten KPI Contribution Points!”

The roaring cheers surged like a tidal wave, nearly overturning the heavens.

Zhang Daniu was lifted high by his teammates, thrown into the air again and again.

He carried the pickaxe with its worn edge, looking down at the faces twisted with excitement beneath him, listening to the chants that called out his name.

This iron-tower-like man found his vision blurring.

A single hot tear slid from the corner of his eye, mingling with the sweat and dust on his face.

He felt that in all his life—he had never been so glorious.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep