Li Xiaorou blushed slightly at Chen Feng's praise. She was delighted to receive her boss's approval.
Chen Feng asked Li Xiaorou, "By the way, have the people from the research institute arrived yet?"
Liu Mu had previously told him that they would send someone to the factory to set up a small research lab. He didn't know if they had arrived yet.
"They just moved all the equipment in today. The lab manager is a female professor named Lin Wei. She's over there. I'll take the boss over to meet her."
Li Xiaorou stood up and led Chen Feng to the east side of the factory. The east side had previously been the factory's technical department.
Chen Feng had previously hired a few university students to support the operation, but now it had been converted into a research lab.
Upon entering the lab, Chen Feng noticed a wealth of experimental equipment. Several staff members in white coats were busy at work.
Seeing Chen Feng and Li Xiaorou enter, they all stopped working.
Just then, a woman in a white coat approached Chen Feng.
The woman was tall, with fair, delicate skin and black-framed glasses, exuding an intellectual beauty.
"Hello, Professor Chen, I'm Lin Wei, a researcher at the Longke Institute. Nice to meet you."
Lin Wei extended her hand to Chen Feng.
She was studying Chen Feng closely. Although she'd heard he was young, meeting him in person still surprised her. He looked even younger than she did.
Not only was he the head of a multi-million dollar company, but he'd also single-handedly developed a new metal, Yanyang Iron. Calling him a genius was no exaggeration.
Chen Feng politely shook Lin Wei's hand.
"Hello, Professor Lin, nice to meet you. Are you from the Longke Institute?"
Chen Feng was somewhat surprised to hear she was from the Longke Institute.
Liu Mu had previously suggested sending someone from the Metal Research Institute, but now it was the Longke Institute that had come.
The Metal Research Institute couldn't compare to the Longke Institute.
A research institute was a research institution focused on a specific project. The Longke Institute, on the other hand, was a truly subordinate unit, the highest academic institution in the natural sciences of Longguo.
Everyone there was an elite among the elite.
"I happen to be very interested in Sunburst Iron, so I've applied through Professor Li Busheng to take charge of your factory's research lab."
"Professor Chen, please take good care of me," Lin explained with a smile.
Chen Feng nodded slightly, then looked at the test bench and asked, "What are you researching now?"
At this moment, Chen Feng didn't know what to say. He didn't understand academic discussions with others. Silence would be awkward.
"We're trying to perform a secondary synthesis on Sunburst Iron to see if we can further increase its strength. Since you're here, Professor Chen, would you like to join us?"
Lin Wei invited Chen Feng. She was very curious about Chen Feng's research on Sunburst Iron. She had applied to come here because she wanted to learn from him and exchange ideas.
Chen Feng immediately shook his head.
"You guys go ahead and do your research. I have other things to attend to. By the way, do you have a microscope?"
Chen Feng didn't want to research with them; he'd be exposed.
He came here not only to get to know Lin Wei and the others, but also to borrow a microscope.
He examined the jade pendant and found that even with a magnifying glass, he couldn't clearly see the blue light.
This reminded Chen Feng of a microscope.
"Of course, Professor Chen is free to use it if he wants."
Lin Wei pointed to the laboratory table next to him, where a microscope was placed.
Chen Feng walked to the laboratory table, then placed the jade pendant under the microscope and began to observe it.
The researchers around him were all watching curiously, but no one came forward.
They had been notified by their superiors that they could not ask Chen Feng any questions about research.
They could not interfere with Chen Feng's work either, and they could only assist.
Under the microscope, the jade pendant's blue light became extremely dazzling.
Chen Feng tried to magnify the microscope a thousand times, and soon he discovered that there were rows of tiny characters under the blue light.
Each character was emitting a faint blue light, which was quite strange.
Chen Feng immediately recognized that these characters were the characters in the scroll world.
He immediately took out a pen and paper and began to record. It took a full hour to completely write down the contents of the jade pendant.
Inside the laboratory, Lin Wei was working with several researchers on Yanyang Iron.
Li Xiaorou had already left to attend to her own affairs. Chen Feng put the jade pendant away and said to Lin Wei,
"Professor Lin, I have something else to do, so I'll be leaving first. Thank you for your microscope."
Lin Wei smiled. "Professor Chen, you're welcome. We're here to assist you. Feel free to let us know if you need anything."
They addressed Chen Feng as Professor Chen because he was now affiliated with the Longke Institute.
Li Busheng had originally intended to have Chen Feng's name listed with their Institute of Metals.
However, Dean Hu of the Department of Basic Materials Science refused to agree and insisted that Chen Feng be listed under his own name.
Faced with their argument, Liu Mu had no choice but to allow Chen Feng to be listed directly with the Longke Institute.
This finally put an end to the quarrel.
After all, no matter how large their two institutions were, they wouldn't dare compete with the Longke Institute for talent.
Chen Feng said goodbye to Lin Wei and returned to his room. A smile crossed his face as he looked at the paper in his hand.
The jade pendant contained a cultivation method, not a martial art.
Instead, it contained an immortal technique called "Qi Yin Jue."
It could be cultivated all the way to the ninth level of Qi training and included several minor spells.
Chen Feng had always yearned for immortal techniques.
Cultivating immortality meant longevity, while a martial artist's lifespan was, at most, a hundred years. How could he compare to an immortal cultivator?
But after over a year in the scroll world, he hadn't found any such techniques. The only information he knew was that the Yue royal family possessed them.
But such a colossus was beyond his reach, and obtaining them from them was practically impossible.
Now, by chance, he had obtained them. It was unknown where Jiang Xiao had obtained the jade pendant. It was certain that Jiang Xiao had no idea the jade pendant contained immortal techniques.
Such tiny text was inaccessible to warriors in the scroll world, and without the aid of a modern microscope, he wouldn't have been able to detect it.
Jiang Xiao likely simply knew the jade pendant was special and kept it close to his body.
Chen Feng began practicing according to the instructions in the Qi Induction Technique.
The first step in Qi training is to perceive spiritual energy, which is closely related to one's aptitude.
Being able to perceive spiritual energy means one possesses spiritual awareness, and possessing spiritual awareness means possessing aptitude.
Unsure whether he possessed such awareness, Chen Feng could only try.
After an hour of experimentation, Chen Feng ended his practice. He felt a bit disappointed that he hadn't sensed any spiritual energy at all. But Chen Feng didn't give up.
The modern world wasn't working; perhaps spiritual energy simply didn't exist here.
He would have to wait until he returned to the scroll world to try again.
Just then, his phone rang. He pulled it out and saw it was Liu Mu.
"Xiao Chen, I heard you're back. When will the factory open?"
Liu Mu called Chen Feng immediately after hearing the news of his return.
He was still waiting for Chen Feng's Yanyang Iron to produce tanks.
"Production will begin in the next two days. We're already preparing," Chen Feng replied.
"That's good. Did you have any problems abroad?" Liu Mu asked with concern.
"No, everything is fine."
After a brief chat with Liu Mu, he hung up the phone. He looked at his injuries and found that they were almost healed.
Chen Feng planned to return to the painting world tomorrow. It would be difficult to explain to Liu Mu if he delayed for too long.
After thinking about the follow-up plan, Chen Feng lay on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
He hadn't slept well for many days.
(End of this chapter)