He raised his hands with a serious expression as he said, “Everyone, this is something that can potentially open up a brand new set of possibilities for us and take us drastically closer to our end goal! Why shouldn’t we do this?”
This was indeed a reasonable argument, yet all of the scientists couldn’t help but feel strong resistance to Qin Ye’s idea when they looked at the energy units that had been carried into the laboratory.
There were only two units left able to provide them with the new energy resource to experiment on!
If Qin Ye were to fail on this occasion, then they would only have one unit left, placing them into an even more dire situation!
If they couldn’t develop the new energy resource before the energy in these five units ran out, the Cathayan Underworld’s reputation would be doomed, and it most likely wouldn’t be able to recover within the next few centuries!
Zu Chongzhi considered the situation for a moment before proposing, “Your Excellency, let’s talk about this first. Can you tell us exactly what has led you to make this decision?”
Qin Ye nodded in response before giving everyone a recount of what had happened on Kongur Tagh, but the scientists were clearly all still unconvinced.
Lu Ban wore a grim expression as he said, “Your Excellency, if what you said really is correct, then why didn’t Xu Fu discover this during his own research?”
Qin Ye had also considered this question before, and his conclusion was that this was a classic example of someone being misled by themselves.
For a typical scientist like Xu Fu, once he discovered that the types of energy could be fused together, the first thing that he would do would definitely be to find out exactly what the combined product could accomplish. His goal was to transform Gui Xu into a floating fortress, and he didn’t need to know why or how the new energy resource worked as he wasn’t going to receive a prize for that anyway.
However, the scientists didn’t agree with his perspective.
“Your Excellency, there’s no way that a scientist would think like that!” Pang Hai countered with a serious expression. “Out of all of the scientists that I know, all of them take the ‘why’ just as, if not more seriously, than the ‘what’. To say that a scientist like Xu Fu would only be interested in developing the new energy resource without having any interest in analyzing it simply doesn’t make sense to me.”
In the field of scientific research, Qin Ye was on a level playing field with all of the scientists present.
Everyone was striving towards finding the right path, so no one was criticizing one another, and despite the fact that the conversation had become slightly heated, it was still very constructive and civilized.
“He wasn’t just a scientist, he was also a cultivator, so it’s impossible for us to imagine his state of mind at the time. In any case, our research has hit a bottleneck, and this is the only thing that we can try, so why don’t we give it a shot?”
“Lord Qin, we’re not opposed to trying new things, but the circumstances simply don’t allow us that luxury! We have to conserve the remaining samples of the energy resource as much as we can!”
Thus, an impasse ensued, and neither side was willing to back down.
All of the assistants looked on as the main architects argued with their King Yanluo, but they couldn’t take any part in this conversation.
When it came to subjects like this, it was very difficult to tell who was wrong and who was right. The architects were taking the conservative approach, banking on the adage that slow and steady would allow them to win the race in the end, while Qin Ye was proposing a radical new route. They had already failed to deliver two quarterly reports and eight monthly reports, and the pressure being exerted upon them from the rest of the world was already mounting to a peak!
There was no way that the other three pillars would be willing to pass up this opportunity.
Finally, Zu Chongzhi heaved a resigned sigh. “Yanluo Qin’s word overrides all else in Hell.”
“But…” Xu Chengyang and the others were still clearly quite reluctant.
One of the biggest taboos in scientific research was the involvement of unqualified outsiders.
They were vehemently resisting this experiment as they were afraid of the consequences arising from both outcomes.
If it were indeed discovered that a new path had to be pursued, then how were they going to allocate their scientists given there was already a shortage in skilled personnel? Were they supposed to set up another department, or perhaps completely terminate the current areas of research?
Of course, that would be a good dilemma to have. At the very least, if something new were discovered, then they would be closer to the truth, and that would only excite and reinvigorate all of the scientists.
However, if nothing were discovered, not only would one of the two precious remaining energy units have been wasted, the morale of the research team would be significantly deflated as well.
“Don’t worry, just trust me,” Qin Ye said in a reassuring voice. He then turned to the assistant beside him and instructed, “Open the door.”
There was no need to waste any more time on words, he had to let his actions do the talking for him.
Behind the pane of reinforced glass was a room with an area of around 50 square meters. At the center of the room was a hollow box that was hovering in mid-air, and within the box was a ball of bluish-purple energy that was flashing and arcing incessantly like lightning.
This was the energy that had been extracted. This would’ve been impossible to accomplish through the conventional means of the mortal realm, but in this world where cultivation existed, the energy could be fundamentally extracted in the form of Yin runes, thereby producing substantial, visible energy that didn’t dissipate.
This was also one of the laws of the underworld: the law of energy constancy.
“He’s too eager for progress…” Pang Hai sighed as he stood outside the pane of glass. He was not optimistic about this experiment at all.
“We are in no place to criticize the decisions of Yanluo Qin,” Zu Chongzhi said in an indifferent voice, following which everyone fell silent and began to scrutinize the proceedings intently.
Seeing as they had already made a decision, then they had to be prepared for the consequences. At this moment, Qin Ye had already reached out with his hand to hover above the energy resource, and Yin energy was surging out of his palm in a frenzy.
In this instant, even Qin Ye himself was feeling extremely nervous.
It was the moment of truth!
With that in mind, all of the Yin energy in his entire body surged toward the energy resource without any reservation, and the ball of energy instantly swelled drastically in size as if it had come under some type of stimulation, ballooning up into a ball of bluish-purple light that was around a meter in size in the blink of an eye!
Countless arcs of energy were flashing all around the ball of light, and the box was unable to contain the energy any longer as it exploded violently. Qin Ye’s hair and robes were blown straight back by the shockwaves resulting from the explosion, but he remained completely still on the spot as he inspected the energy with single-minded focus.
This was the first time he had been in such close proximity to the new energy resource.
He slowly closed his eyes, and the first thing that he felt was extremely rich Yin energy, taking up around half of the energy resource.
The other portion of the energy resource consisted of true energy. He could clearly sense that this was the aura of the mortal realm, and it was very warm. The two types of energy were fused together in perfect harmony, displaying no instability nor any intent to separate from one another.
He released his entirety of consciousness, searching with all his might while delving deeper and deeper into the energy resource.
He was desperately searching for a third type of energy, yet even after reaching the very center of the energy resource, he still failed to discover anything.
“Could it be that the two types of energy have been in contact with immortal energy for too long, and the immortal energy has been assimilated?”
However, as soon as this thought sprang into his mind, he immediately rejected it.
If that were the case, then the assimilated product would be impossible to separate into its original constituent parts, which meant that his guess would’ve been completely off.
In that case, how could the Aurogon’s message be explained?
In the underworld, where a cultivation system existed, he believed more in the arcane and unquantifiables than science.
His consciousness was raking through every single inch of the energy resource, yet his search still proved to be fruitless.
His heart gradually began to sink. Could it be that he really had been wrong?
“My guess was that the energy of Heaven had combined Yin energy and true energy, but there are no neutralizing components within these two types of energy at all. Was I incorrect in my assumption?” He continued to increase his Yin energy output as he murmured to himself through gritted teeth, “Perhaps it’s not at the center? But if it allowed the two types of energy to fuse together, then where could it be aside from in the center?”
All of a sudden, a thought occurred to him, and his eyes lit up as he withdrew all of his Yin energy at once.
All of the architects outside heaved a forlorn sigh upon seeing this.
Even though they were opposed to this experiment, they also desperately wanted to see it succeed.
However, the reality being presented before them was that even their King Yanluo hadn’t been able to bring about any change in the energy resource.
“How unfortunate…” Deng Ruifeng massaged his own glabella as he sighed, “Looks like we’ll have to pick up the pace. Yanluo Qin can’t be blamed for this, all he wanted was to contribute and…”
Before he had a chance to finish his sentence, his pupils abruptly contracted, and he was instantly struck by the urge to push the people in front of him aside so he could rush over to the experimentation area.
However, before he had a chance to do that, everyone else in front of him had already let loose cries of surprise before rushing over and pressing themselves tightly against the pane of glass!
Zu Chongzhi’s lips were trembling as he exclaimed, “This is a third type of energy!”
“How is this possible?”
“It exists! It actually exists!”
“It wasn’t on Xu Fu’s notes at all! Could it be that even he failed to realize its existence?”
“My god… This is enough to completely scrap all of our hypotheses and plans!”
Qin Ye didn’t say anything.
His eyes were glowing like a pair of torches, and his mouth was slightly agape while his chest was heaving violently. Right beneath his hand was a layer of indistinct white light that enveloped the entire energy resource!
Qin Ye felt as if there were a jolt of electricity running along the length of his spine as he exclaimed, “There really is something else! I was right, and Xu Fu was wrong! He didn’t know about Gui Xu’s cause of death, so he failed to take into account the possibility that a third type of energy could be involved! The new energy isn’t just formed by true energy and Yin energy, there’s something from Heaven thrown into the mix as well, and that’s the key to all of this!”
A thought had suddenly occurred to him just now.
There were two ways to fuse two entities together, one of which was neutralization, while the other one was simply envelopment!
The two types of energy had been enveloped together, and over time, they had slowly reacted with one another.
Thus, Qin Ye had withdrawn his Yin energy from within the energy resource and focused it on the surface of the energy resource, and as a result, a reaction had immediately taken place!
All of a sudden, the door was flung open, and the architects were revealed at the entrance, desperately trying to rush into the room, only to be kept out by Qian Duolai. A stern look immediately appeared on Qin Ye’s face as he scolded, “What do you think you’re doing? Get out of here right away! It’s not safe for you to be in here!”
Xu Chengyang’s teeth were gritted tightly as he frantically held back the overexcited architects while doing everything in his power to repress the excitement and ecstasy in his own heart. “The energy resource is in an unstable state, it could even create a black hole! Do you want to die?! If we die, who’s going to work on this project for Hell?! We have to wait!”
He wasn’t any less excited than the others, but he was able to maintain a shred of clarity as he rubbed his hands together in an eager manner. “I have a feeling that we’ve finally found the right path forward!”
He then swung around toward one of the assistants, who was already rooted to the spot, and instructed, “Bring a set of analytical apparatus over here right away! We can’t waste any of the energy resource! Hurry!!”
A scorching wave of excitement had swept over everyone, and the assistants were naturally aware of what this entailed as well. In the history of scientific research, a change in the state of something had always entailed a monumental step forward!
The assistant immediately rushed out of the room.
Qin Ye paid no heed to what was happening outside the experimentation area, as he continued to analyze the energy resource. He had only been able to evoke a reaction from the energy resource just now, but it was still going to take some time to completely isolate it, and once that happened, this experiment would be a resounding success.
However, as he injected more and more Yin energy into the energy resource, he discovered that his own mid Yama-King level Yin energy was unable to isolate the three types of energy!
To put it more accurately, he couldn’t tear through the “skin” on the surface!
