Chapter 415

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Protagonist:

Chen Yi

Yin Senlie returned to the West Continent with tears of happiness.

When leaving, he hugged Chen Yi's leg and cried for three minutes, wetting half his pants, while also gaining a small amount of Shenjia — that's what fearless and unrestrained means: doing everything according to one's own nature, without the slightest fear or worry, not afraid of leaders, not afraid of death, not afraid of losing face, not afraid of crying; only those with thick nerves can be chosen.

The other four bearded men laughed heartily as they saw Yin Senlie off; apart from that sentimental "fearless and unrestrained" man, they would not easily show emotions, which had nothing to do with honesty, but was more a matter of habit.

After returning to Jiangning City, the various activities at Pu Chan Temple showed no sign of stopping. This had almost become inertia; unless the believers voted with their feet, the eminent monks would not let go of such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Actually, anyone would be the same — accumulating in one day the reputation of a year, earning banknotes of several months in the past; there was no reason to ask them to stop.

Chen Yi still demanded it.

To him, the purpose of this consecration ceremony was to create Divine Art Knights; now that he had five Hu, the ceremony no longer had meaning. On the other hand, Divine Art Knights would definitely still be created in the future; if he exhausted the patience of Jiangning citizens now, where would the Faith Power come from later?

Out of this thought, he had the Martial Arts Hall staff member pass a message to the abbot of Pu Chan Temple: "Quit while you're ahead, end the ceremony."

But this time, the abbot could not comply; he called personally that evening, saying: "Mr. Chen, the people from the Buddhist Association of China have already greeted me, asking me to stand the last shift."

"Stand for how long?"

"At least one month," the abbot answered carefully.

There was only the sound of current slipping away on the phone; Chen Yi was obviously thinking as well.

This matter was both easy and difficult to solve. The Buddhist Association of China's request was actually not improper; whether it was the high-sounding expansion of believers or the behind-the-scenes interests, extending the time only harmed Chen Yi's interests. Asking them to stop was snatching food from the tiger's mouth.

Moreover, Chen Yi's reasons could not be brought to the table.

He did not want Buddhism to expand too powerfully in Jiangning, so that when other religious activities were held in the future, there would be too few participants, or even too many opponents...

Such words could not be spoken, otherwise the Buddhist Association of China would probably explode on the spot.

Then...

It could only be proposed by other religious groups.

Chen Yi slapped his thigh, switched the handset to the other hand, and said: "You, don't take any action for now. Just say nothing. Also, stop all activities at Pu Chan Temple that can be stopped."

"Understood." To survive in Jiangning, one couldn't offend the Chen Family; the abbot was also a sensible person.

"Also, was anyone invited to take back the largest Buddha statue from your consecration ceremony?"

After the business was finished, the abbot also breathed a sigh of relief, wiping sweat and laughing: "No, but you'd better come take it soon... it can't be kept for more than a few days."

The abbot had been waiting for someone to ask for the largest Buddha statue; although he knew Chen Yi was preparing to give it away, giving it to Chen Yi was probably the most beneficial thing for him. Higher-level leaders would just pat their buttocks and leave, at most leaving two approval documents in Jiangning; Chen Yi could naturally get these things.

After politely thanking him and hanging up, Chen Yi called Fang Yu and asked him to think of a way to organize several religious groups to oppose the Buddhist group's monopoly.

Fang Yu said with great difficulty understanding: "Pu Chan Temple is now doing so well with gold and silver, why stop?"

"I want to organize a Taoist gathering," Chen Yi said directly.

"A Taoist one?"

Chen Yi nodded slightly and said: "Buddhism is getting tiresome, let's play with Taoism or something; you can invite some Taoists from Dragon Tiger Mountain or so to help oppose, and we'll just take advantage of the situation to stop it."

Fang Yu hesitated and said: "The day before yesterday... my dad came home talking; judging by his meaning, he might enter the Standing Committee."

This was something Chen Yi had overlooked. There weren't many cities that stood out in religious matters; the Central authorities probably had the mindset that more trouble is better than less, and were unwilling to put much effort into religious matters. But judging by Fang Zhennan's level, the Deputy Mayor in charge of religion making such a major decision concerning the overall situation deserved to be "commended" with entry into the Standing Committee.

The documents couldn't wait; Chen Yi thought and said: "Then let's not make a big show of it. Like this: you go find several religious figures, go directly to the people from the Buddhist Association of China, and ask them to withdraw voluntarily; otherwise we'll gather people to protest and poach business. Also, the subsidies Jiangning City gives to monks from other places will end next week. Pu Chan Temple will write a summary report, and hold the opening and closing ceremonies."

Fang Yu saw that he had decided; although he didn't understand what was going on, he could only say "Okay."

After returning, Fang Yu immediately called his father.

To Fang Zhennan, the success of the consecration ceremony was a key point concerning his career; if it turned into a farce, he would suffer a great loss.

He looked at the time; it was exactly 5:30 PM. Could it be that Chen Yi had left him time to go back and discuss?

Fang Zhennan dared not make a unilateral decision and immediately said: "Wait for me at home; I'll go back right away."

After returning home, Fang's mother also learned of this matter, but she said unhappily: "Old Fang is at the most critical moment; how did such a thing pop up? How could he... not even have a reason?"

"I, this Deputy Mayor, was promoted by others." Fang Zhennan was slightly emotional, but after just a sentence's worth of effort, he adjusted his mindset and said: "Fang Yu, tell me the whole story from beginning to end."

"It's just a matter of a few sentences." While waiting for him, Fang Yu had recalled the entire process of their meeting; now telling it, it was quite clear.

"It must be done." Fang Zhennan sighed.

His wife became anxious and hurriedly said: "Then what about your Standing Committee position?"

"Not this time, but there will be next time." Fang Zhennan sighed emotionally and said: "Chen Yi didn't give a reason, so... this matter must be done."

"Must be done even without giving a reason?" Fang's mother was even more unhappy.

"It shows it's a private matter." Fang Zhennan looked at his wife and said sternly: "You old women shouldn't go worship Buddha anymore; stay home and rest for a few days. Fang Yu."

"Yes."

"How did you answer?" After scolding him a sentence, Fang Zhennan said: "You have nothing to do, so contact Chen Yi more. This time you did well; regarding Pu Chan Temple, was it us who notified them, or they who notified us?"

Fang Yu was rarely praised by his father; his bones felt three or four ounces lighter, and he laughed heartily: "Whether they notified or not, you should also notify them, to show you attach importance."

Fang Zhennan nodded approvingly and said: "You're right."

He then immediately called his secretary: "Starting now, draft a notice asking Pu Chan Temple to prepare the closing ceremony; it's best set for these days, the weekend?"

"Okay, I'll prepare it right away." The secretary understood even less than him, like a donkey blindfolded and pulling a millstone.

The next day.

Chen Yi returned to school waiting for news of the end of the Buddhist ceremony, and incidentally educated Yin Sen Guan and Yin Senjin.

The various lifestyles within the university dazzled them; the vegetables and grains in the canteen made them reluctant to leave; the courses on the lecture platform and the television movies seemed like fantasy to them.

Yin Sen Guan's focus was slightly different; standing in the slanting sunlight of the afternoon, he took a fancy to a fair-skinned, full-figured girl, ran up and bowed courteously, saying: "Lady, I am a Divine Art Knight; do you mind spending a wonderful night with me?"

A very West Continent style of etiquette and speaking, which also made Chen Yi understand that transforming such fellows in a short time was basically impossible.

Beside the female student were two companions; three people, six eyes all stared at Yin Sen Guan, as if looking at some rare and interesting strange beast.

The rare and interesting monster didn't feel he had done anything wrong, and he spoke again: "I am a Divine Art Knight, you all... oh, if you're willing, you can come together. We'll have a wonderful night. A very comfortable night."

This crossed the line of flirting; the girl in the middle who had been invited, originally still somewhat shy, angrily glared at him and said: "Let's go, disgusting creep."

Thus the three turned in unison, leaving the Divine Art Knight only a back view.

Yin Sen Guan returned to Chen Yi's side in a daze, suppressing even greater anger: "What kind of place is this? A Divine Art Knight actually couldn't invite a woman to spend the night?"

"Don't you think the women here are a bit more beautiful?" The noble girls Chen Yi had seen in Malacheng were also full of wildness.

"I like muscular ones. But... there are actually women a Divine Art Knight can't invite? Ghost place." Yin Sen Guan said this, then gritted his teeth: "I'll use Divine Art to ask them if they're truly unwilling to spend a wonderful night with me."

Yin Senjin hurriedly pulled him back: "Don't speak nonsense, our job is to accompany the Lord."

"Just call me Mr. Chen normally." Chen Yi waved his hand and said with a smile: "You two go have fun, see you tomorrow morning, no forcing things."

The two looked at each other, and ran off like flying.

Bound by the contract, Chen Yi was instead willing to give them more time. For the two Divine Art Knights, they could surely handle their relationship with the unfamiliar environment well.

Seeing the two off, Chen Yi had just turned around when he received a call from Yun Hangsheng: "Where are you? I have a friend here who wants to meet you."

"That small building not far from Bo Lake." Chen Yi stepped toward the small building; it was still spring now, the rattan chairs on the second floor balcony were all empty, he could casually pick a spot.

"What would you like to order?" The work-study girl smiled sweetly, handed him a drink menu, then asked softly: "Are you Chen Yi?"

"Oh, that's right."

The girl smiled bashfully, a moment later brought over juice, leaving a tissue with a phone number written on it.

Chen Yi couldn't help but laugh; this was the first time he had encountered such a good thing.

Yun Hangsheng trod heavily on the stairs, appearing on the terrace.

Beside him was a fashionable man in his thirties, Dior shirt and sweater, dressed as if for golf. Honestly, golf attire is astonishingly ugly; back then to promote this sport, designers deliberately used bizarre clothing to attract attention, just like some entertainment celebrities who attract eyeballs through disgust.

Influenced by the West Continent and Saint Qiao Kingdom's knight culture, Chen Yi had a different understanding of formal attire compared to rich kids; his originally prepared motion to stand and greet also stopped, revealing only a purely polite smile.

Yun Hangsheng thought Chen Yi was putting on airs, and introduced with a smile: "This is Zhang Chun Long, son of a high official from Shandong Province, this is Chen Yi. Everyone get to know each other."

Zhang Chun Long smiled and cupped his fists toward Chen Yi: "Mr. Chen's university life is enviable. Heard that this Consecration Ceremony was organized by you?"

"I participated." Chen Yi answered blandly, lifted his chin: "You brought two bodyguards too?"

"Oh, left them downstairs, can't let them disturb Mr. Chen's mood, how did you tell?"

Chen Yi laughed it off, didn't answer, instead pressed a bell on the table: "Beer and juice are both good, sit down and talk. What do you want?"

"Mr. Chen is indeed direct; when Yun Zi spoke to me about you, I thought Jiangning Chen Family people would be hard to deal with, didn't expect you to be... very amiable." Zhang Chun Long's cheeks twitched as he spoke, like a fish about to die.

Chen Yi loathed this small talk, not concealing his impatience at all.

Zhang Chun Long suppressed his displeasure, still smiling: "Mr. Chen, about those items from the Consecration Ceremony, wonder how they were handled?"

"Pu Chan Temple's matter, right."

"I think it shouldn't be."

"Oh."

Zhang Chun Long put on a look of thinking for you, lowered his voice: "Mr. Chen, what happened that day has spread throughout Beijing, described vividly, miracles spoken of as divine... the items consecrated this time have great money prospects."

Chen Yi didn't respond at all, acted as if he hadn't heard.

"That... Chen Yi, Zhang Chun Long has some connections domestically, especially in Shandong, tons of wealthy people." Yun Hangsheng's relationship with Zhang Chun Long was quite good, but he could only say this much.

Zhang Chun Long patted his own chest: "You give me the goods, others bid one share, I can at least return three shares, then two plus one makes five, you can earn an extra half, how about it?"

"Have you talked with Pu Chan Temple's abbot?"

Zhang Chun Long laughed hehe: "This matter, as long as we agree it's done, what's it got to do with him."

"Then you might not know, the proper items consecrated that day were basically all given away."

"Given away?" Zhang Chun Long froze for a moment, then quickly said: "No matter, as long as not all given away..."

"What do you want to do?" Chen Yi sucked on his juice, asked indistinctly.

"Nothing. Just want to make a little money, you're not familiar with Shandong, selling locally isn't cost-effective, I'll take them back and the profit will be bigger."

Chen Yi felt it wasn't like that. Although there were quite a few consecrated items inside the curtain that day, only a few thousand pieces; not to mention how Pu Chan Temple and other high monks would divide shares, even if all used for sale, how much money could there be? Still had to split fifty-fifty.

"You want to... sell fakes under the guise of consecration?" Chen Yi had a flash of insight, asked directly.

Zhang Chun Long fell silent for three seconds, suddenly laughed: "Mr. Chen is indeed straightforward, this is a good business, and an exclusive one, as long as we pull strings with Pu Chan Temple, have them issue an appraisal certificate stating when and where this item was consecrated, this is a sure-profit good thing. Think about it, consecrated items and ordinary items can't be distinguished, that day the types of consecrated items inside the curtain were so many, we say it is, it is."

Chen Yi looked at him calmly for two seconds, pretentiously fished out two diamonds from his pocket — this was his cash reserve — he added a trace of Source Energy to one diamond, the other he cleaned clean, handed to Zhang Chun Long: "You see if you can distinguish the difference between these two?"

Fresh Source Energy makes people feel comfortable, while a diamond without Source Energy is just currency.

Zhang Chun Long grasped it in hand and understood immediately, surprisingly exclaimed: "That miracle is real?"

"Call it a miracle." Chen Yi had an idea, yet didn't avoid saying: "Jiangning has outstanding people and auspicious land, so consecrated items are very hard to fake."

"This..." Zhang Chun Long rubbed his hands, gritted his teeth and held it in, he hadn't expected the money-making path he wanted would be so tortuous.

"If I can provide this kind of difference, what price will you give?"

Items with Source Energy, Chen Yi could produce continuously; their benefits to the human body are also obvious; although they can't have any earth-shattering changes, if worn in rotation long-term, longevity can be achieved.

At the turn of events, Zhang Chun Long smiled extremely happily, like scoring a hole-in-one on 18 holes, nodding repeatedly: "Sixty-forty split, you six me four."

"Stable pricing is better." Chen Yi simply couldn't be bothered to settle accounts with him; exactly how much this stuff sold for, apart from the parties involved it's hard to explain clearly.

"How many pieces can you provide?"

Chen Yi laughed, shrugged: "10,000 per piece, how many do you want?"

"Good, straightforward." Zhang Chun Long stood up with a hua, hesitated half a day: "1000 pieces."

"You find 1000 pieces of items, after I consecrate them I'll hand them to you, of course, with Pu Chan Temple's certificate."

"Still need me to provide items?" Zhang Chun Long was a bit unhappy; consecrated items are all quite expensive, things like jade Buddha sandalwood beads, at least one or two thousand price.

Chen Yi laughed hehe: "This is a long-term business, willing or not, you consider yourself. Hangsheng."

Finally greeting once more, he left the terrace.

When he was about to walk out of the small building, Zhang Chun Long chased up from behind, shouted: "Mr. Chen!"

The two bodyguards downstairs immediately blocked Chen Yi's path.

"Mr. Chen, I'm sorry, I feel..." Zhang Chun Long's apology was cut short when a "crash" sounded, and his two bodyguards flew out the window.

The two burly men, weighing over 500 jin, lost consciousness in mid-air, sparing them the embarrassment of flailing about.

The "clatter" of their landing ended along with Zhang Chun Long's apology.

"Sorry." This time it was Chen Yi's turn to speak humbly: "My bodyguards."

Yin Senjin stroked his Guan Yu-like beard, his Zhang Fei-like leopard eyes scanning the assorted people in the small building.

"What you said, I agree." Zhang Chun Long no longer hesitated at all.

"Pleasant cooperation, and I hope you sell quickly. Also, you can treat this as a consumable; it lasts three months before its effect weakens considerably."

"A consecrated Buddha statue can be consumed?"

Chen Yi smiled faintly and said: "Also, you can sell some cheap goods to flood the market, but this kind has no appraisal certificate."

Zhang Chun Long's eyes lit up, then he said disappointedly: "Maybe we could add some appraisal certificates?"

"Hehe, that would ruin the market." Chen Yi decided to treat Zhang Chun Long as a test item. Whether him or other Divine Art Knights, they could easily produce tens of thousands of "consecrated items," somewhat more effective than ordinary health supplements, and the price should be higher as well.

If they could sell 100,000 pieces a month, or more, that would be equivalent to 1 billion yuan in monthly income—although this goal couldn't be achieved immediately, Zhang Chun Long's identity could prove his idea.

Zhang Chun Long couldn't be as certain as Chen Yi, and his hesitation grew heavier.

Yun Hangsheng found it amusing. Zhang Chun Long had come in aggressively, originally intending to use his influence to pressure Chen Yi, after all he had a high-ranking official father, and Shandong Province and the Jiangning Chen Family had no conflicting interests. Zhang Chun Long felt Chen Yi was young and easy to deal with, so he forcibly dragged Yun Hangsheng along.

But now it seemed that what they thought was the hardest shipment to complete had become a simple matter, while Chen Yi's offer was something Zhang Chun Long couldn't bear—he could force the transaction, but he couldn't not pay; if that were really the case, it would become oppression.

"I have to go do something about order." Chen Yi walked out of the small building normally this time; the only two who could stop him hadn't woken up yet.

Yin Senjin closely followed Chen Yi, and upon going out apologized: "Master, I realize my mistake, so I'll hurry back..."

"It's fine, did you find a girl to spend a pleasant evening with?"

"A bit difficult."

"What about Yin Sen Guan?"

"He found a woman outside willing to take money to spend a pleasant evening with someone, so he paid her."

"Oh." Chen Yi rolled his eyelids, speechless.

H Building Complex, 23rd Floor.

Chen Yi's dormitory was as solid as a bunker. When the south elevator opened, one would see a large iron gate blocking the porch, indicating the rooms inside had all been requisitioned.

Now, besides Liu Xinyu inside, there were also half of the Martial Arts Hall's Archive Room members inside; they were intelligence personnel trained by the Martial Arts Hall themselves, rather unfamiliar, but it didn't matter, the entire Martial Arts Hall System worked in an unfamiliar manner.

"Yin Senjin, this is Liu Xinyu." Chen Yi knocked open the door and introduced him to the dumbfounded Yin Senjin.

"Hello." Yin Senjin bowed deeply, with great patience, just barely avoiding staring at Liu Xinyu.

Chen Yi stroked his beard for him and smiled: "Now it seems, are the women here prettier?"

"Looking at it... yes." Yin Senjin feigned ignorance and smiled.

"Come in, look around casually. Liu Xinyu, how is the situation?"

"Progress is not bad." Liu Xinyu curiously looked at the strangely bearded Yin Senjin and replied: "Knowledge visualization is proceeding very smoothly; the military imaging aspects you proposed, such as driving and operating tanks and armored vehicles, have all been experimented with."

Chen Yi interrupted: "Secret experiments?"

"I found people to do it." Liu Xinyu was referring to the Development Research Society. Since Shi Tianlin was arrested, the Society's control over the Jiangning region had become weaker. This was unavoidable; since it was a secret organization, it had to pay attention to having few and simple contact lines. When an important person in charge defected, the region's independence became apparent. This was why there were so many double or even triple agents around the world; when their power was unsupervised, pure ideological education could only maintain a basic bottom line, and sometimes not even that.

Chen Yi had transported over 200 tanks to the West River Water Fortress, and nearly a thousand various armored vehicles. As long as there was money, weapon equipment in hotspot regions around the world was plentiful. Even organizations with the strictest controls like the US Military would discard weapons worth tens of thousands of tons every time they withdrew from a region—weapons equipment not worth bringing back to the country for economic reasons. Most were sold to Department of Defense contractors, and a small portion were bundled and sold to some trade groups or military groups. Mordor was not a top-tier arms dealer, but with Chen Yi's large sums of money funding him, his status obviously rose very quickly, and he could already get quite decent equipment.

"Try the helicopter." Chen Yi said softly to Liu Xinyu.

"Helicopter?" The latter looked at Chen Yi with a doubtful gaze.

"It's not a rebellion." Chen Yi smiled.

Liu Xinyu said disappointedly: "Not? I got excited for a moment."

Chen Yi immediately got excited too.

After spending a pleasant night in the dormitory, Chen Yi appeared in the classroom. His classmates were used to his coming and going without a trace, and some greeted him cheerfully.

To some extent, Chen Yi at this time was more likable than before, because he no longer had any conflicts of interest with his classmates; on the contrary, because of his presence, the students received some preferential treatment, more or less.

Of course, if a comparison had to be made, Chen Yi getting a whole floor of dormitory was obviously inappropriate, but this did not affect what other students received.

Lin Yuan could be considered Chen Yi's most familiar classmate. She chatted freely among the students, her poise even more outstanding than last year. Seeing Chen Yi come to the classroom, she no longer had the mind to pursue him, just sat down and smiled: "You finally came. Well, I still have to say thank you first."

No matter what, Chen Yi had put in a lot of effort during her grandmother's illness. Although Lin Yuan wasn't very clear about the details, she still wanted to thank him again and again.

Chen Yi didn't want to continue the topic of saving people, so he waved his hand, sat up straight, and smiled: "Any news in the class?"

"I thought the counselor would tell you." Lin Yuan said, her pretty face blushing. Counselor Liu Xinyu was inevitably incompetent, and being teased by the girls was inevitable. Of course, compared to most counselors in schools, Liu Xinyu was not particularly idle.

Chen Yi coughed and turned his head away, then turned back and teased: "I thought you would worry about me."

"There is some of that." Lin Yuan's answer was somewhat unexpected.

"You're quite a talker." Chen Yi tapped his finger.

Although strict with herself, with a strong sense of mission and responsibility, most of the time Lin Yuan had an approachable personality, good at listening and tolerating the speaker's shortcomings.

Therefore, as long as Chen Yi didn't challenge her principles, Lin Yuan was a girl who spoke with a smile. Though not a beauty like a fairy, a school beauty who could bring disaster to the nation, she could make the conversationalist relax and not be as tense as with Liu Xinyu.

Her smile made Chen Yi listen to a whole class attentively, which was rare in recent months.

Chen Yi finally looked at his watch and smiled bitterly: "The time of this class, I could do too many things."

"Are you that busy?"

"A bit busy, what about you?"

"It's okay." Lin Yuan said somewhat hesitantly.

The two were walking outside, with nothing to do, so Chen Yi asked: "Looking at you, is there some problem?"

"It should be said, there is some change."

"Hmm?"

"Last time in that competition, I ended up getting sixth place nationally."

"That's impressive." Chen Yi would never lie; he was absolutely certain Lin Yuan wouldn't cheat, which showed her level should be even better.

Lin Yuan suddenly became bashful, then smiled and said: "That's just how it is. There was an agent willing to sign me, on a basis of 5000 yuan monthly salary plus appearance fees, so I signed. So now I count as a singer."

"Oh." While expressing admiration, Chen Yi guessed: "Run into trouble?"

"No."

"There definitely will be. Is there any now?"

Lin Yuan lowered her head slightly, then pulled Chen Yi onto a small path before asking: "How can you be so sure there will definitely be trouble?"

"Because the entertainment industry demands celebrities give up privacy, while people have an innate nature to protect privacy. The two create a contradiction, so there will definitely be trouble." Finishing his words, Chen Yi speculated: "Do they want you to take nude photos?"

Lin Yuan glared at him angrily and said: "I've read the contract."

"Then... a very low-grade movie?"

"Where would I have the qualifications to act in a movie."

"A very tacky concert?"

"No..." Lin Yuan finally stomped her foot and said: "Stop guessing randomly, what are you thinking about."

Chen Yi shrugged; he had been curious for a long time already.

"They want me to take a leave of absence for a period of time, go to Hong Kong to participate in some celebrity concerts, try to get exposure."

"Can't you get exposure in Jiangning?"

"They're a Hong Kong company; they have more business over there, right." Lin Yuan stopped walking, toying with a pitiful blade of grass with her toe, and said: "I don't really want to take a leave of absence, but the chance for exposure is rare, so I'm hesitating. What do you think?"

Chen Yi smiled faintly and said: "I'm not suitable to give an opinion."

"I believe in your advice." Lin Yuan spoke quite seriously.

This gave Chen Yi a certain amount of pressure, though not very large.

He thought for a moment, then said: "Taking a leave of absence has an impact, but the opportunity isn't that big... however."

"However?"

"Let me investigate for you. What's the company called?"

Lin Yuan was naturally willing, smiling embarrassedly and saying: "Troubling you again, but going to Hong Kong alone, I'm a bit scared. Hua Zhen Records, Hua Zhen Records Production Company."

"I've noted it down." Chen Yi took out his mobile phone and waved it once.

"Then..." Lin Yuan's face reddened slightly, and in the end she just waved a hand and said: "I'm going to eat."

Chen Yi nodded regretfully; unfortunately he didn't get an invitation.

He assigned the investigation work to the Martial Arts Hall Archive Division. Such simple work, he thought, was most suitable for cultivating their abilities. Having arranged the work, Chen Yi called Zhou Houyuan again, saying he wanted to go see those strains under research.

Professor Zhou, though not very willing, had no way to stop him. Like those experts doing projects, their posture was very low when taking money — they wished they could kneel and say how important their research was, how much it could help you... but once the money was in hand, the person they least liked to see was the investor, wishing the boss who paid out the money would die with his whole family, so they wouldn't have any responsibility or burden.

Whether Zhou Houyuan had such evil thoughts, Chen Yi didn't care; what he wanted to see were large quantities of usable strains.

Needless to say, Professor Zhou tended toward researching the reasons for the strains' effects and the deeper biological principles...

From a relatively shallow extent, Professor Zhou's research direction also had no major problem. After all, to obtain large quantities of usable strains, one needs a relatively deep understanding of those strains.

If not so, Chen Yi could just randomly find a bioproducts company to culture strains.

Arriving at the laboratory, Zhou Houyuan and his students were all busy working, looking as if they would fall seriously ill and die tomorrow, as if today they were about to obtain the meaning of life.

Professor Zhou faced Chen Yi, who was even younger than his students, with a face full of fake smiles, and said: "Our progress is very fast. Let me take you to visit the current experimental results."

"I don't understand microorganisms. What about the Martial Arts Hall Archive Division people?" Chen Yi spoke the truth and asked.

"The one on duty today is Ren Qiyun. They're following the strains. There's a batch to be cultured today, they're inside." Zhou Houyuan led the way, laughing and saying: "It doesn't matter that you don't understand microorganisms; I'll explain it to you, guaranteed to make you feel your investment is worth it."

"How long until it's usable?"

"You're too anxious..."

"Only when it's usable can there be returns; otherwise it's all idle." Chen Yi glanced at his watch and said: "I came personally just to get a timeline."

Professor Zhou Houyuan resisted weakly: "In our contract, there's no specific timeline."

"Because at that time, neither of us could give a timeline. No one knew how the research progress on this strain would go. Now hearing you say it's going smoothly, I'm at ease. But I need a definite timeline. Based on your current research results, judge when you can give me sufficient usable strains."

"This..."

"Without a timeline, I'll terminate the contract." Chen Yi actually wouldn't do this, but he might do this. In this aspect, Zhou Houyuan's loss would be much greater than his.

Therefore, Zhou Houyuan had no choice but to answer: "I'll give you a timeline."

"A timeline that satisfies me." Only then did Chen Yi raise his head and enter the laboratory interior, listening to the report from Ren Qiyun of the Martial Arts Hall Archive Division.

When leaving the laboratory, it was roughly evening again.

Chen Yi smiled at Yin Senjin following him: "It feels like not much time passed, but actually four or five hours have gone by; time flies. How about you? First day on Earth."

"A bit dry, everything else is pretty good."

"Tomorrow let Yin Sen Guan follow me instead; just right for you two to rotate."

Yin Senjin thought about it and agreed. They were both Divine Art Knights; although being bodyguards for their lord was only right and proper, if they didn't have a bit of private time they would also regress very severely.

Walking to the parking lot, Chen Yi was considering whether to drive back or run back when a man wearing a black leather jacket blocked the necessary path and asked: "Are you Chen Yi?"

"Who are you looking for?" Chen Yi frowned at the other party. Body Technique level three or four — among ordinary people that couldn't even count as top-tier. This kind of trouble seemed too low for his level.

The other party seemed unaware, acting as if he occupied the commanding height, arrogantly saying: "We're from Hua Zhen. Heard you're investigating us? Thought you'd be some formidable character."

He placed most of his attention on Yin Senjin, and toward Chen Yi said disdainfully: "You didn't ask around on the streets either. Hua Zhen is something a little ghost like you who hasn't even left the school gate can investigate?"

Chen Yi let out a laugh of dumbfounded amusement.

……(Unfinished. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian. com) to cast recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)