Chapter 284: The Superpower Research Department
“Jiang He, did you really wipe out the Sky Demon Cult alone?”
“Not exactly.”
“That’s what I was saying. How could you wipe out such a behemoth like the Sky Demon Cult all by yourself?”
Mu Wanqiu chuckled over the sofa in the mansion. “Do tell, were you hiding a bunch of help in secret?”
That left Jiang He a little speechless and he replied earnestly, “Where would I get help from?”
“I mean to say that as long as the Elders and the Holy Children of the Sky Demon Cult survive, they aren’t really wiped out.”
Mu Wanqiu rolled her eyes, unwilling to continue speaking with Jiang He.
To tell the truth, when she received her grandfather’s call and was learned about the incident, she was left dumbstruck and only recovered over a dozen minutes later.
After all, Jiang He was around rank-four when they first met, when he killed a Sky Demon Cult beast tamer, another rank-four cultist, and over a dozen rank-ones and rank-two Feral at a cornfield behind Jinyintan Village.
Jiang He was a little wet behind the ears back then, even a little thuggish and often teasing Mu Wanqiu at the drop of a hat. She certainly did not expect that the tall, muscular, handsome, and imposing youth before her had reached unimaginable heights in the blink of an eye.
Being raised in a military compound herself, Mu Wanqiu did not grow up hearing about Andersen’s fairy tales. Instead, she heard the old people speak of heroes on the battlefields, which was why she worshiped the strong and the gallant at a young age.
And right now, Jiang He was one of those composites of strength and gallantry, and most importantly, he was handsome.
Even as she chatted away with Jiang He, her cheeks reddened for some reason after she thought about something, her maiden heart hence pounding incessantly.
Then, Jiang He’s phone started ringing in the middle of the conversation.
Mu Wanqiu craned her neck to check the caller and said, “It’s my grandfather.”
Jiang He answered.
A booming voice spoke from the other end of the call, going straight to the point. “Mister Jiang, I’m Mu Yanming from the Superpower Research Department. Minister w.a.n.g had spoken to me about the recipe for the medicinal pellets.”
“How do you do, Elder Mu?”
Jiang He greeted the man before asking about the discovery of the medicinal pellets.
Old Mu did not hold back from Jiang He either and explained, “Back then, a total of 4,380 medicine pellets which lost all medicinal values along with twenty-eight pellet recipes were obtained from the heritage site. The qi pellets, blended qi pellets as well as the initiation pellets and the yuan pellets that our department are researching right now were all concocted through those pellet recipes.”
“I will give you a copy of all twenty-eight pellet recipes. As for the 4,380 pellets that have lost their medicinal value... we’ve actually crushed a lot of those in the last few years we were studying them, and less than two thousand are left now. Shall I arrange for someone to send them to you, Mister Jiang?”
Jiang He thought about it and said, “How about this, Elder Lin—could you tell me where the Superpower Research Department is specifically? I’ll come visit myself.”
“Very well.”
Old Mu did not hesitate and laughed, “By the way, my granddaughter is over at your place, isn’t she? She knows where it is.”
After that, Jiang He hung up.
He turned to look at Mu Wanqiu, who whipped out her phone and drafted a message, saying, “Shall I send you the detailed location of the Superpower Research Department headquarters?”
“There’s no need for such ha.s.sle.”
Jiang He smiled. “You could come with me and give directions, can’t you?”
“Eh?”
Mu Wanqiu did a double take before quickly saying, “That won’t do! A round trip would take at least two days at least and I still have much work to do.”
“Why would we need two days?”
Jiang He was speechless.
Who are you belittling here?
How fast am I, Jiang He?
Just around two hours is enough. Moreover, it is just past seven right now and we would still be in time for breakfast when we get back.
The reason he had suggested going to the Superpower Research Department was because having their people sending the stuff would be too slow. He quickly said, “Please wait a while. We’ll be leaving soon.”
With that, Jiang He headed straight into his farm.
The batch of fifty Doom Shrooms were ripe. After plucking them, Jiang He left the farm and released the Autumn Water Sword at a thought.
Ooom!
The Autumn Water Sword promptly morphed into its Sword Qi: a water curtain hovering up in the air.
Grabbing Mu Wanqiu and leaping atop the Sword Qi, he spurred the Autumn Water Sword on and streaked towards Jingdu City, leaving Mu Wanqiu gaping. Unable to regain her senses from the shock as Jiang He casted Royal Sword Flight, she only reacted after half a day. “So quick... is this twice the speed of sound?”
“A little over thrice the speed of sound.”
Jiang He sat crossed legged on the water curtain Sword Qi, grabbing a handful of Purple Golden Sunflower Seeds and giving half to Mu Wanqiu, smiling as he munched on his portion, “In a straight line, the distance from Lingzhou City to Jingdu City is around 1,100 kilometers. Since my Royal Sword Flight is thrice the speed of sound, we’ll reach Jingdu City in fifteen minutes.”
Mu Wanqiu stared blankly as she munched on the sunflower seeds, inwardly finding everything unrealistic.
Royal Sword Flight and munching on sunflower seeds over the clouds...it was an experience that most would not even dare imagine.
Hence, as she s.p.a.ced out, she did not notice that she was holding the Purple Golden Sunflower Seeds and kept munching it with Jiang He. Then, her body shivered out of the blue and she exclaimed in shock, “Did my spirit just strengthen?”
“F*ck me, are these Purple Golden Sunflower Seeds?”
Jiang He scowled and said, “Calm down. Aren’t they just some sunflower seeds? Do you need to be that shocked? And don’t you know how inappropriate it is for a woman like you to mouth profanity?”
Mu Wanqiu blushed, noticing her loss of composure as well. “Sorry,” she quickly said, “I lost myself a little there.”
Though Jiang He was flying up to thrice the speed of light with Royal Sword Flight, there were no winds as they sat atop the sword. All they could see was the rivers and lakes beneath, as well as mountains and cities that kept flying past.
Soon, they arrived at Jingdu City.
Following Mu Wanqiu’s directions, Jiang He stopped around ten kilometers outside Jingdu City at a research base. There were military squads stationed outside along with parties of martial artist that the Superpower Research Department groomed on their own.
They landed then.
A soldier promptly approached them, extending a hand to halt both Jiang He and Mu Wanqiu as he barked, “This is a restricted area and outsiders are prohibited. Do the two of you have pa.s.ses?”
Mu Wanqiu explained things a little before taking out her phone to call her grandfather. Minutes later, an old man in a large white lab coat arrived to receive them along with several other middle-aged men and women.
“Grandfather!”
Mu Wanqiu snuggled up to the old man, greeting him adorably.
The man in the lab coat smiled kindly. Though most granddads would often have a few words with their granddaughters at such occasions, he knows that now was not the time for chatter and promptly turned to Jiang He, asking, “Xiao Qiu, would this be Mister Jiang?”
Jiang He stepped up and smiled. “Elder Mu. You may call me Jiang He.”
They shook hands and Old Mu introduced the various feats Jiang He had accomplished to the others. He even emphasized how Jiang He had foiled the Sky Demon Cult’s schemes many times and wiped them out all by himself, as well as the Feral Kings and Feral Emperors that he had slain, leaving the many researchers of the Superpower Research Department s.p.a.cing out from his stories.
Clearly...
These researches had always been busying themselves with research and did not take notice about news of the outside. Jiang He even glimpsed that one of them, a middle-aged man, had such a messy beard that he must have not shaved for over a month.
Another female researcher who looked around her forties had skin on the side dark. From a single glance, it was obvious she had been busy researching over long nights and did not care for any upkeep.
Nevertheless, though these people were not fighting in the frontlines or fighting Ferals, their contribution did not fall short in comparison to the elites fighting on the frontlines. Others aside, the development of the qi pellets and blended qi pellets not only helped martial artists rapidly improve their cultivation but had also allowed them to recuperate True Qi rapidly, which was equal to increasing their lifespans by half.
Still, the researchers showered such incredible flattery over Jiang He after learning about his feats, so much so that it left him a little embarra.s.sed.
The bearded research turned towards Old Mu then and sighed, “Your Xiao Qiu is really blessed, Professor Mu, to be able to get such a young and prodigious boyfriend...It seems that my silly son back home doesn’t stand a chance.”
“Bleh!!!”
Mu Wanqiu’s cheeks promptly flushed, “Please don’t misunderstand—Jiang He and I are just friends, Uncle w.a.n.g.”
She sneaked a glance at Jiang He even as she spoke, and only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Jiang He was smiling but saying nothing.
After having a few more words with the researches, Old Mu said, “Come on, Jiang He. I’ll take you to our research center for a look.”
“Sorry for the trouble, Elder Mu.”
Beside them, Mu Wanqiu was pouting and said on purposed, “You’re so partial, Gramps. I’ve been wanting to visit your research center many times but you’ve never brought me there. On the other hand, you’re letting Jiang He in just minutes after knowing him?”
The group hence laughed as they headed to base and entered an elevator that goes below ground.
They were not actually excessively reverent towards Jiang He’s ability and merely showing typical respect toward all he had accomplished.
It was quite a good feeling for Jiang He, at least—in the end, he was just a martial arts newbie and novice immortal cultivator. How dull would it be if everyone who saw him were shaking in their boots upon seeing him?
Meanwhile, the elevator descended several dozen meters before stopping.
Jiang He followed the others out of the elevator and could not help being left shocked by the scene before him...
It was a vast s.p.a.ce filled with various state-of-the-art equipment, apparatus, and busy researchers. It looked like a scene right out of a science fiction story.
“The Superpower Research Department is the largest lab in the Hua Nation and is divided to multiple departments: military technology, ancient history research, and deciphering cultivation methods. We, on the other hand, specialize in medicinal pellets.”
Acting as a tour guide, Old Mu led Jiang He on several leisure strolls around the underground base before they eventually arrived before a huge door forged entirely from S-grade alloys.
Stepping forward, Old Mu stepped forward, scanning his fingerprint and retina as he explained smugly, “This door is made entirely from S-grade alloys and is 1.2 meters thick...”
Gasp!
Mu Wanqiu inhaled sharply.
A 1.2 meter-thick door forged fully from S-grade alloys!
Perhaps...
It would be very solid?
Hmmm...
That really seemed to be the case after coming to think of it, but it would blow up anyway after one punch from Jiang He even if it was twice thicker.