High School Student with Immortal Race System

On the third floor of the villa, Chen Beiwang muttered to himself, dressed in a white lab coat.

But then, researchers with faith can always manage to brainwash themselves.

Or rather, they have a knack for making things sound plausible.

’I have to believe in science!’

Chen Beiwang pinched his chin.

"Island environments are isolated with unique climates. Even non-native species will gradually develop completely different traits... especially when the ’Source environment’ of certain islands differs."

"You could throw a big rooster on one, and after a few hundred years, it might mutate so much its own mother wouldn’t recognize it... This is even more true for High Source plants. That must be the reason."

Chen Beiwang looked at the ingredient list he had written by hand and muttered, "The main ingredients can’t be changed, and the supplementary ones only affect the performance... But to say that rolling these things into a mud ball with some ancient method could produce the effects I just saw... isn’t that just pure bullshit!"

Yang Shen: "Aren’t Bone Marrow Cleansing Pills made by rolling them with an ancient method?"

"Of course not! Their production volume is just small, but pharmacologically, they apply modern principles!"

"The earliest versions weren’t nearly this potent. It’s all the result of generations of research and process updates."

Yang Shen understood. ’This must be the effect of Alchemy, the "foremost of the Hundred Skills of Cultivation."’

’It’s the art of Alchemy that makes for complete Alchemy!’

’Just having a Pill Formula without the art of Alchemy is useless. Just rolling balls of mud won’t work. It must be like the Spirit Plant Inheritance, possessing corresponding Magic and techniques.’

Yang Shen asked, as if casually, "So, do you think this thing has any value?"

Chen Beiwang took off his lab coat, reverting to his usual cynical, devil-may-care demeanor.

"The amazing part isn’t the formula, or even its medicinal effects!"

"The mainstream Source-containing drugs on the market are divided into four main categories: Source Supplement, functional, status-effect, and Nurturing. The Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill is a Nurturing type, while this ’island mud ball’ is a Source Supplement type."

Chen Beiwang snapped his fingers.

"Source Supplement types have the highest demand and the simplest pharmacological mechanism. This mud ball seems to have a high Source Content, but with Source Supplements, you can buy as much as you want as long as you have the money. You could even just stack effects by eating the cheapest Supplements like they’re meals. The only side effects are liver damage, kidney deficiency, indigestion, hormonal imbalance, and developmental issues."

Yang Shen thought, ’Aren’t those already really serious?!’

But then he thought about the various bizarre aspects of the Martial Arts Society and the pack of hyper-competitive tryhards at Nanliang Middle School... and it seemed a little more acceptable.

Chen Beiwang looked at the residue already dissolved in the solvent. "What’s valuable is its production process. It’s very special."

The show-offish adult raised a finger.

"The human body’s efficiency at absorbing ’Source’ is actually very low. If a Supplement has a Source Content of 10 units, the actual absorption is only around 30%. It’s just like eating regular food; you can’t have 100% absorption. Otherwise, all you’d shit out would be dry grass—indigestible dietary fiber."

Yang Shen: "Could you have used a less disgusting analogy?"

"There’s nothing disgusting about it, it’s just science. That Elixir Pill just now had a very high Source Content, but what truly made its effects so amazing was the process—a pharmaceutical process that allows for extremely high absorption efficiency by the human body..."

"Theoretically, the major pharmaceutical companies have been competing neck and neck for years and none have reached this level. Personally, I don’t think rolling mud balls could possibly be superior to modern medicine... Emotionally, I’d rather believe there was an error in the test, like some special ingredient I didn’t detect..."

Otherwise, the tens of billions these companies spend on R&D every year would have all gone to the dogs.

Although his main field wasn’t pharmaceuticals, he was unwilling to admit that modern technology was inferior to rolling mud balls.

Chen Beiwang pinched his chin. "If you’re willing, could you introduce me to that friend of your uncle? I’m willing to pay for information, just to satisfy my curiosity."

The result, naturally, was learning that "Uncle Yiming" had been buried at sea.

Go ahead and look. You won’t find a peep.

If he could actually be found, Yang Shen would thank Chen Beiwang on behalf of the Lei Brothers for allowing Uncle Yiming to return home to his final resting place.

Chen Beiwang was rather speechless after hearing this, but he found it quite interesting. It was an eye-opening experience that broadened his horizons.

As for digging into it any further... he had no such intention.

For a successful man, he had plenty of resources and was exposed to countless so-called "business opportunities"—a complete overflow.

One day someone would come to him to talk about this, the next day someone else about that.

A small portion were genuine collaborations; the majority were just people looking for a payout.

All sorts of seemingly promising projects floated up to him daily like snowflakes. This was the norm for the wealthy, and it was why the rich had endless teas to drink and banquets to attend.

In most cases, what he needed to do was "restrain himself," not "seize the opportunity."

But tonight was very meaningful for him, a self-proclaimed Martial Arts Researcher.

It was also very meaningful for Yang Shen, a self-proclaimed Cultivator who lacked research capabilities.

Without Chen Beiwang’s help, at Yang Shen’s pace—aside from getting lucky and receiving the "Alchemy" skill as a system reward—it would have likely taken him until after college to figure out the formula for the Peiyuan Pill on his own.

It saved him several years of time in an instant.

Chen Beiwang charged his full tutoring fee—1,800 for three hours. But when he offered to compensate Yang Shen for the Elixir Pill he had used, Yang Shen gritted his teeth and refused.

Being on good terms was one thing, but knowing your place was another.

Asking someone for help with research and then expecting them to cover the cost of materials was just shameless.

Yang Shen still felt indebted to Chen Beiwang.

’I’ll go a little easier on him next time.’

Before leaving the lab, though, he checked to see if the other man had deliberately kept a sample. In the end, he realized he was just judging a rich man by his own poor-man’s standards.

The guy just didn’t have that kind of desire.

If the Peiyuan Pill were ever to be launched in the future, Yang Shen might choose to partner with Chen Beiwang. There weren’t many people he could trust who were also this competent.

Chen Beiwang could be considered a "big-headed fish" type of person.

Edible if you remove the lower half.

But the prerequisite was that this would all have to be under his own control, progressing at a manageable pace.

He couldn’t get swept into a massive vortex of profit that he couldn’t possibly control, not as a high school student who didn’t understand anything.

——————

Chen Beiwang’s feedback came quickly. Or rather, it was because he already had Power readily available to him.

As the owner of a "small but sophisticated" tech company, even though he was under "house arrest" in Jinshui District, it didn’t mean he had no one under his command.

The next morning, Yang Shen received the feedback.

The Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill was fine; it was authentic.

According to Chen Beiwang, after the initial stage of Marrow Refining, once he had completely familiarized himself with the realm, he could take one pill a week.

Its effect was to accelerate the degree to which the Marrow Refining Realm transformed one’s hematopoietic functions and immunity.

This, in turn, would improve the overall efficiency of his Martial Arts practice.

This item wasn’t for "Source Supplement," but for "Nurturing," which was why it was more expensive.

As for the "Blood Burning Force," the judgment from Chen Beiwang’s friend was: there were no malicious hidden dangers, but the Cultivation Technique itself was inherently dangerous.

It was a wild path.

Burning one’s Qi and Blood Value wasn’t something you could just stop on a whim. It was like boiling water—the moment you turn off the heat, the water in the pot doesn’t cool down in a second.

Chen Beiwang hadn’t mentioned it belonged to a high school student, but his friend had specifically advised: "Not recommended for practice below the Innate realm. It’s easy to lose control."

"Unless you’re the type who lives on the edge, in which case, pretend I didn’t say anything. It might just save your life."

Yang Shen didn’t overthink it. Chen Beiwang was already an incredible researcher, so the "friend" he admired was clearly on an even higher level.

He would set the "Blood Burning Force" aside for now. It wasn’t urgent.

It wouldn’t even matter if he never practiced it.

A prosperous family, over the long course of its growth, would inevitably collect many Cultivation Techniques to keep in its reserves.

The "Blood Burning Force" was the first, but it wouldn’t be the last.

In the future, Yang Shen would collect more and more; he couldn’t possibly practice every single one himself.

This was what you called a family’s foundation. He could just place it in the Library Pavilion later.

——————