Chapter 627: The Source of the Five Elements Essence

Lou Fengcheng felt a faint ache upon seeing Chen Mobai's phone number. He desperately didn't want to answer, but he couldn't refuse. After all, the caller was a Jin Dan True Person, a councilor of the Immortal Sect's Kaiyuan Hall! Taking a deep breath, Lou Fengcheng answered the call and immediately began apologizing. "My apologies, Councilor Chen," he started, "I was just brewing a pot of tea and didn't have my phone with me..."

After settling the patent matter, Chen Mobai and Yan Bingxuan began recruiting talent. This step proved quite difficult. The Vital Energy (Yuanqi) discipline was considered niche in the Immortal Sect; only the top Daoist academies offered this subject. However, graduates who excelled in these institutions wouldn't even consider Danxia City. Besides the lack of career prospects, it was also a place fraught with trouble. One should know that even a Jin Dan True Person like Yu Tianguang had fallen victim to schemes in Danxia City, losing a century's worth of cultivation. Although the Immortal Sect had undergone thorough purges multiple times, no one could guarantee that the Ascension Sect's forces wouldn't make a comeback. If one got involved, it would surely spell trouble. They had to lower their requirements to the Qi Condensation realm, and finally, some lower-tier vital energy graduates sent in their resumes. After much effort, even when Chen Mobai called Fu Borong again, hoping he would promote it at the Butian Daoist Academy, still not a single Foundation Establishment cultivator was willing to come.

Regarding this, Yan Bingxuan thought of a new method. He immediately called Xue Wei and shared his idea. Xue Wei was very interested in this, finding the combination of puppetry and vital energy fascinating, and believed it could lead to breakthroughs in puppetry, which was currently at a bottleneck in the Immortal Sect. Given that Xue Wei had been notified, the old comrades who had struggled together shouldn't be forgotten either. The last person Yan Bingxuan notified, naturally, was Wenren Danxia.

When Yan Bingxuan called, Wenren Danxia was brewing tea in a pavilion over a shimmering lake. She had it on speakerphone, drinking tea while listening to Yan Bingxuan. Just as Yan Bingxuan was about to call again, his expression suddenly changed slightly, and he looked up at the sky. The void suddenly twisted, then abruptly split open a thin seam, from which slender, fair hands emerged. Fortunately, when he saw the graceful and beautiful young woman step out from the void, Yan Bingxuan couldn't help but sigh in relief. He secretly loosened his grip on the Violet Lightning Sword and sent it into his Jin Dan Domain. Seeing Wenren Danxia descending from mid-air, he asked with a curious expression, "How did you get here? Did you walk through the void?"

The young woman in a light green robe, with her fair, slender left hand, held a teapot. Clear tea poured through the filter. As she moved gracefully, a faint tea aroma wafted from the amber-like, crystalline cup. A misty drizzle fell outside the pavilion. The lotus flowers on the lake outside the pavilion seemed to bloom for her as she drank that cup of tea. She was undoubtedly the most at ease person in the entire Immortal Sect. "I performed that Void Grand Shift by leveraging the Great Chinese Scholar Tree," Wenren Danxia replied. "It allows me to instantly reach most areas of the Immortal Sect." Honestly, he truly envied that Void Grand Shift. "Only Deity Transformation cultivators can withstand a Void Grand Shift. If I hadn't been protected by the Longevity Art, I'd be a pile of mangled flesh before you." Her elegant movements, however, faltered after listening to Yan Bingxuan's explanation. The teacup she held to her lips froze, and it was a long while before she reacted.

Yan Bingxuan had never imagined that after he finally called Wenren Danxia, she would be the first to arrive. He waited for a moment, then could only accept the cup of clear tea she offered and drank it in one gulp. Their gazes met, and Wenren Danxia smiled slightly, making an inviting gesture. She gazed directly at the young woman in green, who sat at the head of the tea table with peerless grace. "Bingxuan," he asked, "do you think it's feasible to produce more Formless Puppets and use the Five Elements spiritual power they generate to replace Five Elements Essence?" Wenren Danxia's reply left Yan Bingxuan open-mouthed and utterly shocked. "The Immortal Sect has limited resources. There was once a Deity Transformation ancestor who proposed implementing population control, to limit the number of people." This was from an upper-level meeting of the Kaiyuan Hall, and because it was recorded, many people still knew about it. "But in that case, when facing the possibility of other worlds launching wars of expansion, we would be at a disadvantage due to insufficient manpower." "So that ancestor proposed harnessing the full power of the Immortal Sect to create endlessly reusable puppet Dao soldiers. During peacetime, these puppet Dao soldiers would be sealed and stored, and during war, they would be activated and deployed to the battlefield." "Refining puppet Dao soldiers, classifying them, and transforming them into various war formations was also a core proposal of that ancestor back then." "I wonder which ancestor that was?" Yan Bingxuan asked. "Isn't your Longevity Art most skilled at qi recovery?" he asked, remembering her earlier words about her twisted arm. At that time, Wenren Danxia's twisted arm had not yet fully healed under the effects of the Longevity Art. She re-concealed her fair, delicate arm in the narrow sleeve of her green robe, smiled slightly at Yan Bingxuan, and uttered a somewhat playful remark. "Mainly, I just mastered that move a few days ago and couldn't resist showing it off to you." But then he remembered her slender arm twisted like a pretzel just moments ago, and he couldn't help but shiver. "I don't have the Longevity Art, so forget about it," he thought.

Wenren Danxia continued, explaining that she wouldn't share such information with anyone else, but Yan Bingxuan, like her, was destined to lead one of the Immortal Sect's four great Daoist academies and was thus qualified to know. "But ultimately, due to immature technology, the proposal was shelved..." Therefore, although the proposal was initially shelved, the Jumang Daoist Academy continued its research for over a century, implicitly guided by a Deity Transformation ancestor. The successful creation of Formless Puppets and many research achievements originated from this. At this time, the most outstanding puppetry in the Immortal Sect belonged to the Jumang Daoist Academy. As the future helmsman of the Jumang Daoist Academy, Wenren Danxia was undoubtedly already among the Immortal Sect's upper echelons. Among the four-person team that initially created the Formless Puppets, only she realized that Yan Bingxuan's proposal could cause immense upheaval for the future of the Immortal Sect.

"It seems feasible!" Wenren Danxia exclaimed. "That's amazing! If Chailun City ever faces another attack from the Ascension Sect and I can't resist, can I call you for help?" Yan Bingxuan asked. Wenren Danxia only replied with that one sentence. "You mean..." Yan Bingxuan had a background in the Wuqi Daoist Academy. He respected the three great hall masters but did not fear them! The direct commander of the military, one of the three great hall masters of the Immortal Sect, was the Hall Master of Righteous Law. Coincidentally, he had already sent Lan Haitan to find Yan Bingxuan.This was comparable to the Economic Development Company employing staff and, under the guise of research, collecting their Five Elements Essence to condense Earth Fiend Qi. Everything would proceed according to standard procedures. The Immortal Sect prohibited the sale and trade of Five Elements Essence, but one particular form was exempt. However, to prevent anyone from exploiting this loophole, the contracts signed must be standard Immortal Sect contracts, and relevant departments could conduct inspections at any time. If it was discovered that an employee's Five Elements Essence contribution exceeded the standard, operations would be immediately ordered to cease, and the business license would be revoked. It wasn't unusual to contribute one's Five Elements Essence for work and research! Moreover, as competition within Immortal Sect society intensified, employees who solely mastered Five Elements Essence were no longer well-regarded. But if one could hire people, why labor oneself? What Zhou Tiangong needed were elite talents who could both provide Five Elements Essence and were proficient in synthesizing at least three types of Earth Fiend Qi, as detailed in their theses.In Bianyuan City, Bianyuan Ping, who had just hung up the phone, remembered that Wenren Danxia hadn't said how she would come. Just then, a spiritual light of ice and snow flew from the mountain. In a moment, the tall figure of Bianyuan Ping appeared on the mountaintop. Coincidentally, Wenren Danxia carried her tea leaves and tea set with her. Without hesitation, she set up a table and chairs on the peak of Chailun Mountain and began her tea ceremony. Since Xue Wei and Chen Mobai hadn't arrived yet, Yan Bingxuan simply engaged her in conversation about Enlightenment White Tea.Bianyuan Ping understood why Wenren Danxia had rushed over so impatiently after hearing him talk about using Formless Puppets to produce Five Elements Essence. Because she, too, would soon be involved, and in the future of the Immortal Sect, she would at least leave her mark because of this matter. Bianyuan Ping listened to his proposal, and her beautiful eyes lit up. Troubled by the future supply of Five Elements Essence, she rarely showed such excitement. The more Zhou Tiangong considered Bianyuan Ping's proposal, the more ingenious she found it. Her gaze, directed at the young woman before her, was filled with admiration. Amidst Yan Bingxuan's admiring gaze, Bianyuan Ping felt an unprecedented sense of satisfaction, yet on the surface, she remained calm and collected, as if she had done something trivial.At Yan Bingxuan's current level, she was already capable of creating Formless Puppets by herself. Theoretically, a Formless Puppet, given sufficient spirit stones, could work ceaselessly day and night, providing any Five Elements Essence Bianyuan Ping desired. "For synthesizing Azure Wood Fiend Qi, these would barely suffice. If you intend to synthesize all types of Earth Fiend Qi in the future, you'll need to find a way to solve the talent problem." Zhou Tiangong's Fiend Qi Energy Company primarily began by supplying Yan Bingxuan with Azure Wood Fiend Qi.

Yan Bingxuan could only give her a thumbs-up. "Okay, I'll interview a few more people on different job boards to try and assemble a complete team." "Then I'll arrange for the production of Formless Puppets. Let's start with seven. We can use simplified versions with fixed Five Elements attributes, which will greatly reduce both speed and cost." If Formless Puppets were to provide Five Elements Essence in the future, then the connection methods between these puppets and the equipment would also need to be considered in advance. This was relatively straightforward, as the raw materials were already available; it could be completed through precise experiments and instrumentation. Every word spoken had brought an unprecedented, shocking breakthrough to the entire Vital Energy discipline. The entire Immortal Sect, while having other methods to convert Five Elements Essence, had none as intelligent and convenient as the Formless Puppets.

Chen Mobai, who had just returned to Chicheng Grotto-Heaven and was arranging for the Tiangong Artifactory to manufacture equipment, immediately halted production in the workshop after receiving Yan Bingxuan's call, stating that the plan needed to be changed. If it had been anyone else telling Chen Mobai to change the plan at the last minute, he would have immediately lost his temper. But Yan Bingxuan's proposal made Chen Mobai realize that it could transform two popular disciplines: puppetry and vital energy. Considering this was an order that could change two industries, and knowing it was Bianyuan Ping, Chen Mobai no longer felt angry. He booked another flight to Bianyuan City. "You could have just flown over. Am I short on time?" Chen Mobai thought. "Was it by plane or train?!" he couldn't help but sigh.

After dividing their tasks, they reluctantly parted ways to attend to their respective duties.