Meanwhile, after the meeting concluded, Bai Mo returned home to continue pondering the methods discussed for increasing his control over Spirit Qi. He was increasingly resembling an ascetic, his attention gradually waning for anything other than cultivation and research.
"There's a vast potential for improvement in Spirit Qi absorption efficiency. Even in my current state, my actual absorption rate is only around two percent. For an ordinary Ability User, the actual absorption rate is merely one percent. What exactly causes the actual absorption rate to be so low?"
However, after a night of contemplation, Bai Mo still couldn't find a reliable answer.
For the entire next day, he holed up in his dorm room, pondering this question, and another day passed just like that.
The next morning, he received a phone call.
"May I ask who this is?"
A female voice on the other end replied, "Is this Mr. Bai Mo? I am Assistant Chen Xi, assistant to Minister Chen Jian Shan. Minister Chen Jian Shan was your interviewer two days ago, and he has assigned me to assist you with various tasks during this period."
"Is there anything you need me to prepare right now? For instance, experimental equipment, materials, or personnel. If possible, I hope you can provide a list to facilitate my completion of each item."
"How should I address you?"
"My surname is Chen."
"Hello, Miss Chen. Regarding the experimental preparation list, I can send it to you via email tonight, along with an approximate experimental schedule."
"I'll send you the address shortly. Is there anything else you need help with?"
"Not at the moment, thank you."
"Feel free to contact me if anything else comes up. Goodbye."
"Goodbye."
After smoothly ending the call, Bai Mo hunched over his computer and began writing out his plans.
He felt that the Spirit Stone Candles he had previously produced could serve as the first phase's achievement to satisfy the current experiment. The remaining tens of millions would be needed to prepare for the next round of deception.
However, Spirit Stone Candles, being a product of extremely low technological content, relying purely on information asymmetry—the other party being unaware of the Spirit Stones' existence—Bai Mo believed they could at most placate the military for a few months. To secure significant subsequent funding from the military, he would need to produce something far more useful.
He believed it was impossible for one person's research progress to outpace an entire research institute. The fundamental principle behind Spirit Stone Candles would surely be deciphered soon.
Bai Mo wanted to achieve greater results, then enter the research institute as a formal member rather than merely an assistant.
He had learned through certain channels that the previous interview was, in essence, just for finding assistants for the old professors at the institute. Many young people who got in through the interview could only serve as assistants there.
"As for cultivation techniques, I'll cooperate with Old Hua Taishan and the others. In terms of martial arts cultivation, my knowledge and experience are far inferior to those old seniors. I can only offer ideas and suggest directions; at the specific operational stage, I can't be of much help. So, I won't consider this direction for my primary focus."
"According to the Four Essentials of Cultivation mentioned in novels—Wealth, Companions, Techniques, and Land—there's nothing to be done about Companions at this stage. As for Techniques, I'm cooperating with Old Hua Taishan and the others, so there's no need for immediate changes. That means my research must focus on Wealth and Land."
"Regarding Wealth, I shouldn't even consider Spirit Stone development. Once the functions of Spirit Stones are exposed, they will undoubtedly become key national strategic resources, and no one else will be able to interfere."
"In cultivation novels, pills, talismans, formations, and spiritual plant cultivation can all be attempted. As for the 'Land' aspect of Wealth, Companions, Techniques, and Land, it's not something someone without power or influence like me can concern myself with at this stage. I'll only consider it after I become strong enough."
"The prerequisite for researching pills is having raw materials, specifically spiritual materials. Of the sixty million funds I've secured this time, I'll set aside one million for the candle project, and the rest will be used for researching the cultivation of spiritual materials."
"However, my expertise isn't in biotechnology. I'll have to start from scratch and systematically learn biochemical medicine courses." Bai Mo felt somewhat fortunate that the spirit tide had boosted his brain several times, significantly enhancing his learning efficiency compared to before. Otherwise, he wouldn't possibly have enough energy to study another field.
After writing out and sending the list of required materials and the approximate schedule, Bai Mo, now free, once again used his Divine Sense to observe his heart.
Every time he saw progress in his cultivation, he felt a deep sense of satisfaction, as if his efforts had been affirmed.
Outwardly, his entire heart was barely discernible as flesh and blood, most of it obscured by the Spirit Energy light radiating from within, resembling more and more a miniature sun. His blood, too, was slowly becoming spirit-energy-infused as it continuously flowed in and out of his heart.
The lungs beside his heart, connected to the energy-absorbing skin on his chest and back, had long since merged into one.
Meanwhile, the muscles in his limbs, under the transformation of Spirit Energy, were slowly changing from their original light pink to a deep pink. Bai Mo now possessed roughly ten times the strength of an ordinary person, yet his physique remained almost unchanged, entirely due to these gradually spirit-energy-infused muscles.
Furthermore, for more vigorous activities, the spirit-energy-infusion of his bones was indispensable. However, at this stage, Bai Mo was directing most of the controllable Spirit Qi towards his heart, so the evolution speed of his muscles and bones had relatively slowed down. To have reached their current state, the Spirit River Art deserved immense credit.
Five days later, he received a notification: all the required equipment and materials had arrived and were placed at an experimental site on the outskirts of Tianhai City, awaiting his inspection.
Upon arriving at the experimental site, Bai Mo saw a tall, beautiful woman.
Looking at the beautiful woman, he suddenly felt that her appearance didn't quite match the ordinary voice she used on the phone. He merely gave it a passing thought, not dwelling on it, as it wasn't a significant matter.
After a quick greeting with Assistant Chen Xi, he began checking items against the list one by one.
"Five hundred kilograms of beeswax, two lab tables..." While tallying, he simultaneously directed the staff who came with the shipment to transport the goods to their respective locations, only finishing the arrangements after more than half an hour.
Apart from Spirit Stones, Bai Mo had entrusted all other material procurement to Chen Xi. He was well aware that the other party would undoubtedly try to deduce his processes by reverse-engineering the items he purchased.
"Hello, Miss Chen."
"Hello, Mr. Bai. Allow me to formally introduce myself. My name is Chen Xi, and I am Minister Chen Jian Shan's assistant. Minister Chen Jian Shan has entrusted me with full responsibility for this collaboration with you, Mr. Bai. Any issues can be directly communicated to me."
"I am Bai Mo. As for an introduction... there's not much to say. Your files undoubtedly contain more details than I could provide, so I won't waste any time. I simply hope for a pleasant collaboration."
"A pleasure to cooperate." The two lightly shook hands.
"If there are no issues, I'll take my leave now. Mr. Bai, will you be staying to begin the experiments immediately?"
"Yes, take care."
As Bai Mo turned, he casually swept his Divine Sense across her. Chen Xi merely felt a sudden cold gust of wind. She glanced around, found nothing unusual, simply tugged at her clothes, and then got into the car and left.
After Chen Xi left, Bai Mo muttered to himself, "As I suspected, her ability is sound-based. No wonder her voice always felt a bit too bland. Her throat was the first part of her body to become spirit-energy-infused. I just don't know what her specific ability is."
Ever since the appearance of his Divine Sense ability, Bai Mo would frequently activate it and scan around whenever he had nothing better to do, simply to train his skill. Every time he encountered an Ability User or a suspected Ability User, he would secretly use his Divine Sense to observe the structure of their spirit energy organs, enriching his knowledge reserves and also using it as a reference for his own self-evolution..