Chapter 96 - 86: Gathering Light Tower

Chapter 96: Chapter 86: Gathering Light Tower

「May 6th.」

Zhang Ji had entered a period of rapid growth.

Purified Yan Fruit liquid could slightly enhance his Qi and Blood and strengthen his constitution.

Capsules made from the exotic earthworm-like creature could also slightly strengthen his constitution and increase his affinity for Zhendi Sect skills.

Pills made from Blue Bamboo Shoots slightly enhanced his Spirit.

And the tea steeped with Jade Marrow...

These were all resources Zhang Ji had the Five Elements Sect help him find, directly or indirectly.

Now, most of them had become fuel for his personal growth. A small portion was taken by Zhou Hao and the others, and a tiny fraction was used for research.

Although a single item didn’t provide an exaggerated increase to Zhang Ji’s stats, everything but the non-renewable Jade Marrow was replenishable.

Once production was scaled up, Zhang Ji, who had almost no resistance to these substances thanks to his ’Boundary,’ could fully absorb their benefits. Quantity could overcome quality.

Besides these exotic treasures, Zhang Ji had also tasked Zhou Hao and his team with creating high-concentration nutrient solutions and a machine for practicing the Iron Body Skill.

His current training method was a bit inefficient. With the nutrient solution and the machine, his body’s conversion efficiency would increase significantly.

Training rigidly by the book was definitely not as fast as direct mechanical vibrations.

’As long as the frequency is high enough,’ Zhang Ji thought, ’I could probably produce five essences of the Iron Body Skill in a day, just like with the Five Elements Fist.’

In this respect, the only thing holding him back was his outdated training method.

But even now, he wasn’t slow, steadily producing one essence a day.

On the rooftop, after finishing his training, Zhang Ji wiped the sweat from his brow and took the freshly poured Jade Marrow Tea from Bai Xiaoxiao’s hands.

The tea was a verdant green, with a small, green jade-like stone steeping inside.

That was the Jade Marrow. It could only be slowly absorbed and digested by drinking it as tea.

’Its effect is to refine my constitution?’

Zhang Ji felt the effect was mediocre, anyway. The degree of improvement was far less than the boost he got from gaining an essence through daily training.

But every little bit helped, and Zhang Ji wouldn’t scorn it just because its effect was small.

"Sect Leader, Master Zhou reports that the Gathering Light Tower has been constructed," Bai Xiaoxiao said to Zhang Ji.

"Oh? So fast?" Zhang Ji asked, surprised.

He had only asked Zhou Hao to build a simple one, but he hadn’t expected it to be done this quickly.

"The association helped out," Bai Xiaoxiao said.

"That explains it," Zhang Ji said with a nod.

With the help of the World Martial Arts Association, it wasn’t surprising it was built so fast.

Afterward, Zhang Ji took a car to his destination.

On a flat plot of land in the outskirts of Lanz, covering about three acres, the ground was covered with intelligently adjustable mirrors that reflected sunlight. In the center stood a tall tower. All the sunlight was reflected to the very top of the tower, where it was gathered.

It was somewhat similar to the top of the Divine Wind Tower in the Divine Wind Ruins Realm, but the effect was definitely better.

’They built it this big? It seems the association pitched in a lot of money, too,’ Zhang Ji realized.

The few million funded by the Five Elements Sect alone would have only been enough for a crude Light-Gathering Array; it definitely wouldn’t have been enough to build something this impressive.

Zhang Ji got out of the car, and Zhou Hao came forward to greet him. Zhou Hao pointed to a curly-haired young man with glasses, who looked to be in his early twenties, and said, "This is Iver from Truman University. He was in charge of this project."

This NPC was another person Zhang Ji had asked Zhou Hao to find. He was one of those NPCs who hadn’t made their mark yet, but his future achievements would be extraordinary. In the "Time-Displaced" version of the world, he was the one who led a team to develop controllable nuclear fusion technology, miniaturized it using Space Technology, and officially brought Origin Star to the cusp of becoming an Interstellar Civilization.

He was also the one who solved the energy crisis, which allowed the many special combat armors in later versions to reach their full potential.

Besides him, Zhang Ji also had Zhou Hao look for other NPCs he knew of.

But so far, they had only unearthed one top-tier talent like Iver. The others were either nowhere to be found or were just NPCs who were only somewhat strong in the novice stage. Still, as long as they had some reputation, their future development wouldn’t be too bad.

"A pleasure to meet you," Zhang Ji said, extending his hand to shake Iver’s.

Iver said excitedly, "I’ve seen your matches! You’re really amazing! And thank you for giving me this opportunity. If it weren’t for you all, I wouldn’t have been able to graduate."

At school, Iver had been overambitious, trying to pull off something huge. He had attempted to create a new magnetic confinement device, hoping to solve one of the scientific community’s greatest challenges in one fell swoop. Unfortunately, it was clear he didn’t have that capability just yet.

The project ended up a mess, directly angering his more pragmatic professor. Now his thesis was being blocked, and he was facing the risk of being held back a year or even expelled.

Fortunately, Zhang Ji and his people gave him a new opportunity, allowing him to complete a major project and have a practical thesis to submit.

Now, not only would he not be expelled, he was even considered an outstanding student.

"After you graduate, you can apply to our company," Zhang Ji encouraged him. "We have considerable strength in related scientific fields, with a lot of room for growth. We welcome energetic and knowledgeable young people like you."

"I’ll definitely come!" Iver said excitedly.

Zhang Ji nodded. Then, they walked toward the tower together.

"We did a preliminary survey. This location gets an average of five to six hours of sunlight a day. Although that’s not comparable to special high-altitude regions and the intensity is much lower, the sunlight gathered here can still meet a large portion of the daily power needs for a small-scale factory. However, for energy storage, we’ll need to add extra facilities on the other side..."

Iver explained to Zhang Ji.

Zhang Ji nodded slightly, indicating his satisfaction.

"By the way, where are you planning to build your factory? I can help you with the planning. Don’t leave it to amateurs. If the site selection is poor, pollution and other issues can be a huge hassle, and future expansion will be a headache..." Iver said.

"It’s not for powering a factory," Zhang Ji said, shaking his head.

"Then what is it for?"

Iver was confused.

During construction, he had felt that the client’s requirements were a bit strange. Hearing this now, he was even more baffled.

’If it’s not for backup power for a factory, is it a charity project meant to be connected to the public grid?’

Soon, they reached the part of the tower near the top, where the sunlight was concentrated.

This area was already restricted, and the ambient temperature was much higher.

"The mirrors are all operational right now. We’d have to shut them down and wait a full day for the gathering core to cool before we could go up... Don’t look directly at it. Even with the shielding layer, it can still burn your eyes."

Iver was explaining when he noticed Zhang Ji staring intently at the focal point and couldn’t help but issue a warning.

"I’m going to go try it out," Zhang Ji announced.

"What?"

Iver didn’t understand what Zhang Ji meant. Then he saw Zhang Ji strip off his clothes, hand them to Bai Xiaoxiao, and stand there in nothing but his underwear.

"Open the accessway," Zhang Ji said.

"No, you can’t! If you go there now, the high temperature will burn you to a crisp... uh, and you’re not even wearing a protective suit, so maybe just a pile of bone ash!" Iver exclaimed.

Zhang Ji smiled and reassured Iver, "Don’t worry, I’m not going in there to die."

At that moment, Zhou Hao had already opened the maintenance passage, and Zhang Ji stepped inside.

Iver didn’t get it. ’Isn’t he just walking to his death?’

Zhou Hao and Bai Xiaoxiao, however, had a faint suspicion.

They had both seen Zhang Ji training on the rooftop, absorbing sunlight.

So when Zhang Ji had them build this Gathering Light Tower, they had already guessed its purpose.

Walking through the insulated passage and opening the safety door, the temperature rose steadily. It was hot enough in here to cook food and make water boil, but Zhang Ji didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. In fact, he found it quite pleasant.

His underwear suddenly caught fire, making Zhang Ji feel slightly awkward.

’But no one can see me in here, so I don’t need to worry about it too much.’

Soon, Zhang Ji approached the gathering core, a cylinder about three meters in diameter and five meters high.

It was made of a special heat-absorbing material that could convert light and heat into electrical energy with great efficiency.

But power generation was just a side benefit. Its main purpose was for Zhang Ji’s personal use.

Zhang Ji took a deep breath of the hot air and stepped closer to the core. He could feel changes in his body; beneath his skin, countless crimson streams coursed rapidly through his blood vessels. Ever since obtaining the Blood of Dela, this was the first time it had felt somewhat satiated.

Soon, Zhang Ji arrived above the gathering core.

This three-meter-diameter platform was a place he had designed in advance for his training.

It didn’t need to be large—just enough space to move his body was sufficient.

And this place was just right.

Bathed in the sunlight converging from all directions, Zhang Ji felt completely content.

It was as if the sunlight had a life of its own. It didn’t harm him; on the contrary, it was friendly, entering his cells through some unknown means and becoming a part of his energy.

Zhang Ji’s entire body began to tremble violently as blue light flickered around him. A massive amount of Yuan Qi was consumed to practice the True Qi Nourishing Spirit Skill, but it was replenished almost instantly, maintaining a near-perfect balance.

’This speed...’

Zhang Ji was astounded.

At this rate, not even counting the nighttime, he could cultivate three to four essences a day.

And if he included the night, this place could also gather moonlight.

With the help of the Moonlight Cup, getting five essences didn’t seem difficult at all.

’The True Qi Nourishing Spirit Skill is a nine-star Excellent-grade fighting skill!’

The difficulty of training it was much higher than the Five Elements Fist.

The same amount of time, yet a much higher return.

’I already have five crystals. In about ten more days, I’ll have ten! That means I can get an Outstanding-grade Spirit-type fighting crystal!’

A surge of joy welled up in Zhang Ji’s heart.

’Once my Spirit is enhanced and my Control Power increases by another level, Spirit Strike will be within reach!’

’As expected, technology really does change lives.’

From a certain perspective, the times were indeed changing, and fortunately for him, it was for the better.

After testing it out for a bit, Zhang Ji headed back the way he came.

When they saw Zhang Ji walk out of the passage, naked and completely unharmed, everyone had a different expression.

Zhou Hao’s eyes were filled with deep emotion, while Bai Xiaoxiao’s held longing and adoration.

Iver was the most shocked of all.

He couldn’t understand how Zhang Ji had withstood such high temperatures.

Zhang Ji’s expression remained unchanged as he took his clothes from Bai Xiaoxiao and got dressed. "Overall, it’s not bad. You all did a good job," he said.

"Mr. Zhang, are you alright?" Iver asked.

"I have a special fighting skill that lets me absorb sunlight for training," Zhang Ji explained, casually making up a lie.

"Is that so? A fighting skill? The human body is truly full of mysteries!" Iver exclaimed.

"I think so too," Zhang Ji said with a smile.

"Oh, right. Since you’re only using the sunlight for training, the excess electricity generated here will just go to waste, won’t it?" Iver said. "I suggest we install a batch of lamps that simulate the solar spectrum. That way, the excess stored energy can be utilized, and you can even come here to train at night."

"Good idea. Later, you can provide a batch of those lamps, and I’ll see if I can use them. If it works, I’ll have to trouble you to put your skills to work again," Zhang Ji said, patting Iver’s shoulder.

He really hadn’t thought of that.

A mental blind spot had made him focus solely on the sunlight from the sky.

But thinking about it, sunlight wasn’t impossible to simulate.

He didn’t need something like nuclear fusion; most of the light spectrum, like ultraviolet rays, could be simulated with current technology.

’If this works, I might be able to sunbathe and use the Moonlight Cup to gather moonlight at the same time during the night.’