Chapter 547
"My wife's family home was demolished a few years ago."
"…What about the director?"
The young man looked up, glancing around the office with a hint of urgency. He couldn't stand this broken-down place for another moment.
The research institute was a two-story building, old and decrepit, having fallen into disrepair long before the institute itself.
"He went to the group for a budget meeting, but he should be back soon…" The balding man with a Mediterranean hairstyle clicked his tongue. "I bet he's busy banging the table again. We've already broken a few tables in our institute. Next time, we should get stainless steel ones to save some money, though they can be a bit of a hassle to handle."
The young man forced a laugh, realizing he couldn't muster any real amusement.
An old car screeched to a halt at the entrance.
"Well, that's a sign we've lost the bid."
Before the car had even come to a complete stop, the director jumped out of the driver's seat and rushed toward them, a smile plastered on his face.
"Director!"
The young man called out, eager to ask about the situation. If the director was in a good mood, it would be the perfect time to discuss his resignation.
"Is everyone here?"
To his surprise, the director shot him a glance and asked urgently.
"Yes..."
"Get your desks tidied up and clean this place!" the director shouted. "Make yourselves presentable!"
The Mediterranean man was taken aback. "Can you believe it? We still have a leader willing to come here?"
"…" The director shot him a glare, then glanced at the statue of Zheng Fa nearby. Suddenly, he seemed to calm down, a sweet smile returning to his face. "This statue you bought is quite nice, very spiritual!"
"…"
Both men were left bewildered, and the director continued:
"Not a leader, but a client!"
"…That's even rarer than a leader!"
"A big client!" The director said, beaming. "They said money is not an issue!"
"No limits on the budget!"
"They specifically sought us out!"
The Mediterranean man was stunned. He took a drag from his cigarette, watching the director rush through the door, then leaned in closer to the young man's ear and whispered:
"Our director is getting old…"
"Huh?"
"He's been targeted by scammers."
The young man stared at the Mediterranean man for a long moment, suddenly realizing that the reason he stuck around was probably that he couldn't make it in other companies either.
But he also agreed that this so-called big client was likely a sham.
Mainly because their research institute simply didn't deserve it!
Yet the director was still excited, even taking it upon himself to clean up the entire institute. The staff had no choice but to join in a massive cleanup, their curiosity about this client growing by the minute.
By the time they finished cleaning, it was already afternoon. They all sat in the office, ears perked up.
The director even stood at the door, eagerly watching.
Suddenly, a cheerful voice rang out from the entrance: "Welcome! Welcome!"
The Mediterranean man looked up in shock and asked the young man, "Did you hear a car?"
"No."
"No car at all… Are today's scammers really this low-budget?"
Everyone in the room turned to look outside, where they saw the director leading two young figures into the building.
One of them looked exactly like the statue standing at the door.
As they approached Zheng Fa and Tang Ling, the young man’s mouth dropped open:
So, they really did bring in a divine client…
Though this divine figure probably didn’t understand much about technology.
---
**Chapter 410: Spiritual Energy Scanning, Three Heads and Six Arms**
Despite not being without expectations, Zheng Fa was still taken aback by the efficiency of various research institutes and universities.
In less than two months, design results from all over the country had flown into the nursing home.
Over a dozen related universities and thirty research institutes had sent Zheng Fa and his team more than three hundred proposals in that time.
Even the old man Bai was a bit puzzled: "Are they really not just messing with us?"
Zheng Fa felt a twinge of worry.
Although he hadn’t asked for any cutting-edge technology, these proposals were new and needed to consider the spiritual energy environment and external elixirs.
A month and a bit was a bit short.
"Not at all…" Team Leader Yang explained, her eyes reflecting a complex mix of emotions. "I was worried too, so I had someone check it out."
"I can't guarantee there aren't any frauds trying to slip through, but the reason for the speed is that they’re all working hard…"
"They're all burning the midnight oil; every research institute is in a fierce competition."
"Working hard?"
Old man Bai pressed for more details.
"Those universities aside, the research institutes Zheng Fa visited… haven’t had it easy these past few years."
Team Leader Yang sighed.
"For instance, the Mining Machinery Research Institute in Shan Nan Province, I heard they were actually preparing to merge."
Old man Bai pursed his lips, unsure of what to say.
That made sense.
Zheng Fa's appearance was like a lifeline for some.
"Moreover… the director's identity is, after all, that of an immortal."
As a true immortal in this world, Team Leader Yang had long anticipated Zheng Fa's reputation in the country, but this time she had to admit—she had underestimated his influence.
Zheng Fa had merely made a round, and it was as if he had ignited torches all over the nation.
The talent and technology accumulated over the years might be somewhat outdated, but they were far from dead, just waiting to be reignited.
Not to mention, even if Zheng Fa was just throwing money around, if he asked those people to work for free, they would likely give their all just to please him.
That’s why her expression was so complex—
When Zheng Fa stood at the forefront, everyone realized that his willingness to stay in Hong Shan was truly a noble gesture.
Thinking of this, she smiled again; it wasn’t something she needed to worry about:
She was close to accumulating enough contribution points and was preparing to exchange for cultivation methods. Who cared about those petty squabbles… She was on her way up!
---
Zheng Fa's reason for wanting to stay in Hong Shan was simple: it was not only the research institute he had established but also his sanctuary.
The pressure from the Xuan Wei realm was overwhelming, and he needed a place to settle his emotions and spirit.
As for power…
He was hardly a big deal, just a minor player in the Xuan Wei realm.
Zheng Fa looked at the proposals on the computer, then turned to Tang Mu Dao with a smile, saying, "Let the experts validate these. The main focus should be on compatibility with the Shen Xiao external elixirs."
"Let’s get a test machine made."
In addition to the peripheral universities and research institutes, elite teams from several major heavy machinery manufacturing companies in the country had also been brought in by Zheng Fa.
Their task was simple: based on these design blueprints, complete the first step of validation:
Mainly to create a prototype that could be powered by the Shen Xiao external elixirs.
As for the actual field tests…
That would have to be conducted in the Jiu Shan realm, under the supervision of Madam Xuan Hua at the Tian Gong Pavilion.
Tang Mu Dao understood the importance of this matter and how much Zheng Fa valued it, so he immediately said, "I’ll take care of it right away. Oh, by the way, I heard that the spiritual energy scanner has made progress."
"Zhou Miao Miao has made progress this quickly?"
Zheng Fa was even more surprised.
The research on the spiritual energy scanner had actually started later than these research institutes, yet Zhou Miao Miao was so driven?
"…She’s afraid of long nights leading to more dreams. She’s more ruthless than those research institutes."
"…"
Zheng Fa felt a pang of guilt.
Once bitten by a dog… he had taken her mentor away, and now Zhou Miao Miao, an unmarried, childless, and still ungraduated PhD student, had become almost obsessive?
Zheng Fa found Zhou Miao Miao.
In just a moment, he understood that this wasn’t just about Zhou Miao Miao being overly driven.
It was actually quite straightforward.
"The spiritual energy scanner—no, the spiritual energy measuring device—its principle is quite simple."
Zhou Miao Miao had dark circles under her eyes, but her tone was filled with excitement as she reported to Zheng Fa:
"It’s quite similar to an X-ray; it emits electrons toward the scanned object and then analyzes the images to determine the nature and intensity of the spiritual energy contained within."
Zheng Fa nodded gently.
It didn’t sound difficult, but the problem was…
He looked down at Zhou Miao Miao’s research report, and after a moment, he raised his head and said, "It can’t measure the nature of the spiritual energy, but it can roughly measure the quantity?"
Seeing him frown, as if dissatisfied, Zhou Miao Miao lowered her head slightly: "The spiritual energy itself is too chaotic, making the resulting images very difficult to interpret. Different types of spiritual energy can even produce the same image."
"This method can’t measure the nature of the spiritual energy; achieving such microscopic precision…"
Zhou Miao Miao added quietly:
"Actually, for measuring the quantity of spiritual energy, we borrowed from… the ideas of statistical mechanics in physics."
Zheng Fa recalled the content of the papers and suddenly understood: "A thermometer?"
"Exactly! It can’t perform microscopic measurements, but on a macroscopic level, we can draw some conclusions." Zhou Miao Miao nodded vigorously. "We can’t explore the proportion of spiritual energy, but we found that we can measure the concentration of the spiritual energy environment by observing the degree of interference the electrons experience in that environment."
She pointed to a device behind her that looked like an electronic thermometer.
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