Chapter 600 - 593: Direction
"Prepare High-Concentration Energizing Nutrient Solution Number Ten!"
GURGLE GURGLE!!
Inside the laboratory, a massive amount of thick, dark green liquid, looking somewhat like mucus, surged out from all directions and flooded the entire room.
WHOOSH!!
The pores all over Zhou Yuanjue’s body opened and closed as his powerful frame absorbed the surrounding nutrient solution like a black hole.
The color of the nutrient solution visibly faded. In a mere ten seconds, it became as clear as water.
The scientists observing from the sidelines looked at each other, speechless. They watched as Zhou Yuanjue, who sat cross-legged, slowly opened his eyes. Seeing the disappointment in his gaze, they didn’t know what to say.
They had used Donghua’s most advanced biological and energy technologies to create ten different bio-energizing nutrient solutions. The nutritional energy they contained should have been enough to sustain a hundred thousand people for several days.
And yet, Zhou Yuanjue had absorbed this massive amount of nutrition in less than fifteen minutes and still looked as if he hadn’t had enough.
Zhou Yuanjue slowly stood up, turned toward the surveillance camera, and shook his head.
The ten super-nutrient solutions had indeed restored nearly thirty percent of his energy, but this method of replenishment was simply too cumbersome.
He couldn’t possibly carry such a massive dose with him, rendering it useless for replenishment in actual combat. In other words, if his energy ran out during a fight, he likely wouldn’t be able to replenish it effectively, thus losing his ability to fight for a sustained period.
"Let’s suspend the experiment for now."
Director Zhong Hongyu said, letting out a breath.
Ever since Zhou Yuanjue’s Saint Awakening, this highly respected director of Donghua’s life sciences division had been responsible for all biological research related to him. Naturally, he was leading this experiment as well.
The other scientists also nodded in resigned agreement.
WHOOSH!!
Inside the lab, the nutrient solution—now clear as water, all its nutrients absorbed—was rapidly drained away. Zhou Yuanjue gave a slight shudder, and all the moisture on his body instantly vanished, leaving him and his clothes dry once more.
He then walked out through the open laboratory door and into the observation room where Zhong Hongyu and the others were located.
"How are you feeling?"
Zhong Hongyu asked, glancing toward Zhou Yuanjue’s severed arm.
"I’ve recovered about thirty percent. It’s not very efficient."
Zhou Yuanjue shook his head.
A supplement that concentrated the nutritional needs of nearly a hundred thousand people for several days had only restored about thirty percent of his energy...
The surrounding scientists were speechless at his words.
HUM!!
A faint light emanated from the stump of Zhou Yuanjue’s arm. Then, bone, flesh, and blood vessels rapidly regenerated. In less than five seconds, a complete, shimmering arm took its place.
"And now, I’m probably down to twenty-eight percent."
Zhou Yuanjue said, letting the Starlight on his new arm fade as he flexed it.
The scientists: "..."
At his rate of energy consumption, Zhou Yuanjue could probably bankrupt a small nation.
Before breaking through to the Primordial Realm, the energy replenishment for a Saint Awakening Level individual, while expensive, was negligible and easily affordable compared to the manufacturing cost of top-tier weapons.
But now, at Zhou Yuanjue’s level, the resources he required were measured on a national scale.
"The Source Liquid sample from the Forest Race has arrived. We will conduct the relevant research as soon as possible and try to replicate it, at least partially."
Zhong Hongyu said.
"I’ll be doing some experiments of my own in the meantime," Zhou Yuanjue said with a nod. He refrained from saying what would have been even more discouraging to the scientists: never mind the difficulty of replication, even if they succeeded, the Source Liquid still wasn’t entirely sufficient for his current needs.
After all, when he’d made his breakthrough, he had consumed nearly half a pool of Source Liquid. From a portability standpoint, such a large dose was still impractical.
Still, if Donghua’s scientists could replicate the Source Liquid, even partially, it would be a tremendous boon for Human Society and the Martial Arts Realm as a whole.
After all, just because it wasn’t suitable for him didn’t mean it wouldn’t be for ordinary Martial Artists. To the average Martial Artist, even a partially replicated version of the Source Liquid would be a priceless treasure.
"Well then, I’ll be counting on all of you."
Zhou Yuanjue said to the host of scientists with a smile.
The evolution of Human Society and life itself was not something he could shoulder all by himself. The people before him were pillars of their community.
...
...
In his private training room, Zhou Yuanjue sat cross-legged on the floor, deep in thought. He was consuming large amounts of nutritional supplements to slowly recover his physical energy.
’At my current level, I need to find a suitable method of replenishing my energy.’
’The Celestial Demon’s method is one of pure plunder. While practical, it doesn’t suit me.’
’Life... Energy... Nutrition...’
Zhou Yuanjue turned his attention to the void around him.
’Theoretically, an immense amount of energy exists in the unseen, intangible void.’
’The ancients called it "Qi."’
’An ancient saying goes: "Those who consume qi are Divine Beings and do not die."’
’If I could draw power directly from the void, that would be the perfect solution.’
However, he abandoned the idea after a brief attempt.
It was far too difficult. Aside from a chaotic magnetic field, he could sense no Energy in the void whatsoever, let alone attempt to absorb it.
’Then, is it possible to bypass biological sources and nutrients and consume Energy directly to restore my stamina?’
’Like electrical, solar, or nuclear energy, for example.’
’It seems possible, but even though I have advanced to the Primordial Realm and can unlock my own genetic library—allowing my body to gradually acquire all sorts of traits—completely changing my energy system would still be a long and arduous process.’
’That’s because, within Earth’s biosphere, there are very few beings who take in energy through purely energetic means. This means I would need to once again make drastic adjustments to my own genetic makeup.’
’And such an adjustment to my energy intake would be no less significant than completely altering my own biological traits. Not to mention the difficulty, the enormous and unforeseeable risks of an act almost equivalent to changing my own species are staggering.’
’It would mean re-engineering my entire biological structure.’
’In the future, as my own power expands, I might be able to strive in this direction. I have a feeling that surmounting this biological hurdle will be a leap no less significant than achieving Saint Awakening or the Primordial Realm. Even the unknown power that Ji displayed before might be related to this. That is a realm I cannot hope to touch anytime soon.’
’For the short term, I should still consider how to obtain vast amounts of biological energy quickly, while also ensuring the method is portable and efficient...’
Time flew by as he mulled it over, and night fell in the blink of an eye. As Zhou Yuanjue continually recalled and analyzed his past experiences, he finally had a flash of inspiration.
He recalled a technique used by Yuan Luàn, the Plague of Rebellion—the first of the Seven Mo Luo he had faced upon achieving Saint Awakening.