Chapter 33: An Unforeseen Path
“Ah?”
“foundation establishment pill?”
Not to mention the others, even Fang Ge was extremely surprised.
In the past, the real world usually only provided martial arts manuals or incomplete Cultivation fragments. The former were very cheap, and the latter temporarily had no significant effect.
What Fang Ge cared about most were the insights and experiences left in the notes of past masters of Taoism and Buddhism.
After all, the internal energy system, with corresponding academic 'attainments,' could achieve twice the result with half the effort in Cultivation. However, such things could only be bought as original copies from the Main God, without the annotations left by interpreters throughout history.
But that was a foundation establishment pill! An expensive item that required a B-rank branch plot to exchange at the Main God, and the pill formula, due to its mass-producibility, was only slightly more expensive than one-tenth of that, selling at a high price of a C-rank branch plot plus 1000 points!
This had the exact same price as the Nine Yang Divine Skill manual, and it could actually be obtained for free from reality!
“Isn’t this thing said to grant a Foundation Establishment physique just by consuming it? With it in hand, can’t we quickly become Cultivation masters?” Zheng Zha’s face was filled with excitement.
“…This is a very valuable item, but it’s a distant solution to an immediate problem; we can’t use it yet.”
Chu Xuan, however, poured cold water on him: “To create Cultivation items, the prerequisite is that someone belongs to the Cultivation system. We simply don’t have anyone capable of refining pills.”
Upon hearing this, everyone’s enthusiasm was visibly dampened.
Right, if they couldn’t refine pills, what good was a pill formula?
—But I don’t leak qi…
A flash of 'World-Shaking Wisdom' went through Fang Ge’s mind.
【foundation establishment pill: Can grant a physique capable of quickly achieving Foundation Establishment (all meridians open, improved physique, increased essence). Even if an ordinary person takes it, it can increase lifespan by over three hundred years and make them immune to all diseases.】
The foundation establishment pill only helps one gain a physique sufficient for Foundation Establishment; it doesn’t directly allow one to achieve Foundation Establishment. To achieve Foundation Establishment, one must have the guidance of runes or true essence.
And according to the setting, only a few high-grade pills involve runes, so obviously the foundation establishment pill was not high-grade enough.
To put it bluntly, un-Foundation Established Qi Refiners are not even considered Cultivators. How advanced could the things that improve their talent be?
The main reason Cultivators refine pills is to increase the absorption rate of energy… But no matter how high the absorption rate, could it be higher than Fang Ge’s?
—Then if I just eat the medicinal ingredients from the formula proportionally, wouldn’t I achieve these effects? I don’t leak qi! I can completely grab a handful and slowly refine them!
Thinking of this, Fang Ge couldn’t help but ask, “Chu Xuan, what are the medicinal ingredients inside? What are their proportions?”
Chu Xuan cooperatively reported the ingredient list of the foundation establishment pill.
Fang Ge discovered that if only the materials were exchanged, a single foundation establishment pill’s main ingredient would only cost 1 C-rank branch plot, and the total cost would be less than 1500 reward points.
These medicinal ingredients were incredibly cheap, and when combined, they could even improve aptitude. Wouldn’t he just eat them like candy?
Moreover, among the future members of the Central Continent Team, there was someone talented in fire control.
Although that person might be lacking in mental power and computational ability, Zhan Lan and Chu Xuan could assist… It wouldn’t be difficult to refine pills.
This was truly invincible!
It just so happened that Fang Ge’s understanding of Orthodox Cultivation was that everyone would work together, each responsible for a small part, to make common progress and pave the way forward together.
“Besides the foundation establishment pill, there are also some classics, such as the Daodejing, which are suspected of containing Cultivation techniques… Theoretically, as long as the ‘secret codes’ within them can be deciphered, they can be converted into Cultivation techniques.”
“But that’s too far off; let’s not discuss it for now.”
Chu Xuan said, then turned the page, his dead fish eyes moving, before continuing:
“Then there are heavenly materials and earthly treasures… mostly century-old ginseng, vermilion fruits, and the like. Of course, these things also have very low value in the Main God Space.”
“More important are some ‘medicinal bath’ methods passed down by ancient martial arts families. Because it’s impossible to find main ingredients of sufficient age in the real world, they are almost worthless in reality, and it’s relatively easy for the country to collect them.”
“But once they are in our hands, it’s a completely different situation. And this kind of thing should also be more effective as a biological culture medium…”
—You’re not thinking of creating clones right now, are you?
Fang Ge suspected this naturally evil Cyborg was about to conduct some human experiments again.
But he was uncharacteristically wrong this time.
“Zheng Zha, I need to borrow your Symbiote for the next few days… Fang Ge, I also need one of the fatal fruits you and Jin Xi ate.”
!!
—Chu Xuan, aren’t you a ‘privilege dog’? Don’t you have the authority to exchange for the fatal fruit? Do you really have to covet my meager reward points?
Fang Ge’s last C-rank branch plot and reward points were meant for buying weapons.
“It’s just a guess…” Chu Xuan didn’t elaborate, but that was enough to convince Fang Ge.
—He’s secretly planning something big again!
Fang Ge’s thoughts stirred, his account was debited, and a fatal fruit was thrown into Chu Xuan’s hand.
“Are you going to research the Symbiote? Of course, that’s fine, but if so, my physical fitness will decline a lot, and training will be…” Zheng Zha naturally wouldn’t miss any opportunity to slack off.
Only, after Fang Ge shot him a sharp glare, he hesitated and stopped speaking.
Fang Ge snorted coldly, “It’s your good fortune that Central Continent Team has me and Chu Xuan; you should just be secretly happy!”
“Ah haha, secretly happy! Why secretly? Can’t we just be openly happy?” Zhang Jie teased.
Hearing this, everyone couldn’t help but laugh.
“Without you two, I wouldn’t have enough lives to die last time,” Zhan Lan chuckled, covering her mouth.
Regardless of whether Fang Ge and Chu Xuan’s personalities were strange or their demands strict, it was all for the team’s development.
Zhan Lan always believed that if an opportunity presented itself and one didn’t seize it, then dying was deserved.
Any opportunity was like that.
“Besides a few miniature nuclear bombs and launch tools, there’s nothing else worth noting.”
Chu Xuan’s sharing ended lightly, as if he was just delivering an ordinary concluding remark.
“What? Nuclear bombs?” Zheng Zha, upon hearing this, shivered violently.
Nuclear weapons! The most powerful weapons in reality! They actually held them in their hands?
“There’s nothing unusual about this. If needed, I can also manufacture them given some time.”
Chu Xuan, however, was indifferent to this. “The limitations of this weapon are great, and it also doesn’t align with the Main God’s ‘original intention’ of making us evolve… Strictly speaking, this also applies to technological items.”
“Over-reliance on technological items might lead to the Main God targeting us… For example, throwing us into a ‘Spiritual World,’ or using other means to disable our technological weapons.”
Chu Xuan was right.
Fang Ge, of course, knew that the Main God had such a hidden mechanism, so using technological weapons to farm points and improve evaluations needed to be done quickly.
After farming a certain amount, the Main God would start to target them. If they relied too much on technology and entered the Lord of the Rings world, or encountered a technology-immune boss like an ancient dragon, they would be completely finished!
This meant that in the later stages, the team would have to use runes, energy, and other means to ‘magically transform’ the attack methods of technological weapons.
“Don’t get distracted yet. He’s finished speaking; it’s my turn.”
Fang Ge said with a stern face, “Chu Xuan, how long will it take to initially complete your research objectives?”
“About five days.”
“Then six days. On the morning of the seventh day, we’ll gather here and head to Resident Evil. To maximize our combat power, I will now tell you some special methods.”
“First is creating artificial humans. Using them as a spiritual anchor is just one use. If there’s no such need, I suggest creating an artificial human skilled in combat.”
“The highest six-dimensional attribute for an artificial human is two hundred points. At the same time, they can possess the experience and knowledge that Reincarnators have. Also, if knowledge is to be exchanged, the artificial human’s brain tissue can be used as a carrier, allowing the artificial human to be born with knowledge.”
“The Main God also has NZT series drugs for exchange, which can further optimize the artificial human’s logical thinking abilities.”
Fang Ge was mainly speaking to Zhan Lan; even without his guidance, Chu Xuan would create the most suitable assistant for himself.
Zhan Lan clearly realized this and stared intently at Fang Ge’s profile.
“Now, report everyone’s remaining reward points. I need to allocate them uniformly. I still have one C-rank branch plot and less than 1000 reward points.”
“Around five thousand,” Zheng Zha said honestly.
“4396 points,” Chu Xuan was always very precise.
“Zero,” Zhang Jie pouted.
“I still have nearly 100 points,” Zhan Lan said, a little embarrassed, “Should we just forget it? I feel like I’m dragging you all down too much. Zhang Jie has already given me all his reward points…”
“I don’t want what you think; I want what I think.”
Signaling Zhan Lan to shut up, Fang Ge clapped his hands and said, “Zheng Zha, use your reward points and my branch plot to combine and exchange for the ‘Infinite Bullet Guanmai Great King’!”
“Buy a gun? You’ve practiced such powerful martial arts, do you still need to buy a gun?” Zheng Zha was a bit confused but still looked up the item.
【Infinite Bullet Tubular Pulse Ejection Gun, from sci-fi, a spray-type weapon that accelerates tiny needle-like solid projectiles in a pulse manner, while simultaneously expelling a light blue airflow downwards to offset most of the recoil. Maximum firing rate reaches seventy thousand rounds per second. Requires 1 C-rank branch plot and 2000 reward points.】
“How much? Seventy thousand rounds per second? And it’s a solid-projectile weapon?”
As soon as Zheng Zha saw this entry, he knew this thing was absolutely extraordinary.
“How much metal mass would be ejected in one second? Just reselling the metal would make a fortune. If it all hit a living creature…”
What good was a Symbiote! In front of such a gun, it would just mean getting hit by a few more bullets!
The two reached a consensus, and the Guanmai Great King immediately appeared, nearly two meters long, with a streamlined gun body surface and shimmering silver metal, incredibly cool.
“This thing is pretty abstract. Normally, it’s only equipped on large units like aircraft carriers. How many bullets can a personal combat unit withstand? It can’t even fire for three seconds in total…”
Fang Ge himself couldn’t help but complain, “So the non-infinite bullet version with a D-rank branch plot is very trash. But once it becomes infinite bullets, the meaning changes completely.”
Would anyone really, after strengthening their internal energy, honestly exchange for a Tiger Soul or similar blade to chop people?
In Resident Evil, what could compare to this ‘great weapon’?
Internal energy only needs to be responsible for strengthening physical fitness, and martial arts only need to make Fang Ge light-footed and capable of maneuvering.
But the Guanmai Great King had many things to consider.
“This metal…”
After maintaining a safe distance, Chu Xuan motioned Zheng Zha to hold it at a low angle and fire into the distance.
When firing, a half-meter long dark blue pulse wave would spray from the muzzle, and the air around the muzzle would show visible fluctuations. Countless bullets, too small to be seen by the naked eye, instantly ejected.
Almost instantly, they hit the Main God Plaza floor about a hundred meters away, each bullet blasting a head-sized hole!
“Yes, keep firing like that… A solid-projectile weapon accelerated to this extent, yet still not collapsing in mid-air, indicates that the warhead itself is made of special material, perfectly suited for making high-tech items.”
Chu Xuan’s eyes gleamed with a strange light.
The update was late, so I wrote a few hundred more words as compensation for everyone.