I started by submitting to the Douluo Continent, and the nation helped me become a god.

Chapter 24 Hidden Blade Modification

Seventh Base Laboratory

"This thing... is kind of interesting."

Professor Yuan held up the sleeve arrow device, examining it closely under the light, his eyes almost touching the metal surface.

"A purely mechanical structure, without any soul power driving it. It uses a spring to store energy, triggers a mechanism, and the firing principle is similar to our crossbows. However, its miniaturization is quite impressive; it's completely invisible when hidden in a sleeve."

He disassembled the hidden blade, spreading the parts all over the table, making clicking noises as he did so.

"The material of this spring is quite sophisticated; it has good toughness and elasticity. And this arrow looks like some kind of alloy; it's very hard."

Li Fulan leaned back in the chair next to her, crossed her legs, and drank tea.

"Can it be modified?"

"Remodel?" Professor Yuan asked without looking up. "Remodel into what?"

"Stronger."

"Stronger?" Professor Yuan finally raised his head, glanced at Li Fulan, and said, "Kid, if you want power, I'll just give you a pistol, won't that solve the problem? This piece of junk's penetrating power isn't even as good as a 9mm bullet."

"Power isn't the point," Li Fulan said, setting down her teacup. "The point is concealment."

"oh?"

"Think about it, guns are powerful, but they're too noisy. A single shot can be heard for hundreds of meters around. Besides, guns are too conspicuous. In a place like Douluo Continent, waving a gun around is no different than holding up a sign that says 'I'm an outsider.'"

Li Fulan gestured to indicate the location of the hidden arrow.

"But this thing is different. It's hidden in your sleeve, so nobody can see it. It strikes suddenly at a crucial moment, catching the other side completely off guard."

Professor Yuan nodded thoughtfully.

"You want an assassination weapon that you can conceal on your person and use at any time?"

"almost."

"That can be modified." Professor Yuan lowered his head again, fiddling with the parts. "Replacing the springs with our high-strength alloy springs will increase the charge capacity by three to four times. Changing the arrowheads to tungsten steel will significantly improve the penetration. Adding a sound-absorbing structure will make firing completely silent."

"However..." he paused, "simply modifying this isn't very meaningful. If you really want to play with hidden weapons, I do have an idea."

"What are your thoughts?"

"Let's scale up this principle and make it into a wearable 'concealed weapon system.'" Professor Yuan's eyes lit up. "Hidden darts in the wrists, throwing knives in the belt, poison needles in the soles of the shoes... the whole body is a weapon, but the appearance is no different from an ordinary person."

Li Fulan's eyes widened in astonishment.

"Isn't this... spy gear?"

"Pretty much." Professor Yuan chuckled. "Watching too much 007 makes me want to pull off some fancy tricks."

The two were chatting enthusiastically when Professor Yuan suddenly changed the subject.

"By the way, next time you go there, could you bring some books back for me?"

"Books? What books?"

"Regarding medicinal herbs," Professor Yuan put down the parts in his hand, his expression becoming serious. "I studied the samples you brought back before and found that the flora and fauna of Douluo Continent are very different from those on Earth. The herbs, ores, and internal organs of spirit beasts there... many things have potential medicinal value."

"But the problem is, we don't know how to use it."

He sighed.

"Think about it, the people over there have been using these things for thousands of years, they must have accumulated a wealth of experience. What herbs to combine with which herbs, how to process them, how to take them, what the contraindications are... we have absolutely no knowledge of these things here."

Li Fulan frowned.

"But it seems there's no such profession as alchemist in Douluo Continent, right?"

"The absence of proper alchemists doesn't mean they lack knowledge of medicinal herbs," Professor Yuan waved his hand. "Look at that Tang San, isn't he a blacksmith? Their blacksmiths can forge soul tools, which means they have some understanding of materials science. By the same token, they must have people who have studied medicinal herbs."

"And..." His eyes sharpened, "I've seen the information you sent back. There's an old man over there named 'Dugu Bo,' who seems to know a lot about poisons?"

"Dugu Bo?" Li Fulan was taken aback. "That Poison Douluo?"

"Yes." Professor Yuan nodded. "According to the information you provided, that old man has a very deep understanding of poisons. But have you considered where he got that knowledge from? Someone must have taught him, or he must have read relevant books."

"In other words, there must be medical texts in the Douluo Continent, but they aren't as highly valued as martial arts manuals."

Li Fulan fell into deep thought.

Professor Yuan is right.

In the original novel, Dugu Bo is a poison expert, possessing an encyclopedic knowledge of the preparation of various poisons. However, his knowledge could not have come from nowhere; it must have been passed down through generations.

Moreover, in the original work, what did Tang San rely on to obtain the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well?

It was his limited medical knowledge.

In a place like Douluo Continent where medicine is underdeveloped, the little common sense he brought from Earth was enough to impress Dugu Bo.

If I could get my hands on a proper medical text, and combine it with modern medical and chemical knowledge from here on Earth…

Wouldn't the value of those rare medicinal herbs be fully exploited?

"I see."

Li Fulan stood up, her eyes sharpening.

"Medicinal herb manuals... should be available in Nottingham."

"Oh? You have connections?"

"There's someone," Li Fulan said with a smile, "over there's a guy named Yu Xiaogang, who calls himself a 'master,' but he's really just a theorist. But this guy has one redeeming quality—he loves to read."

"It's said his house is piled high with all sorts of books, from soul beast encyclopedias to soul master cultivation manuals—you name it. Maybe there's even some information on medicinal herbs hidden among them."

Professor Yuan's eyes lit up.

"You're right!"

"Don't worry." Li Fulan stretched and walked towards the door. "I know what I'm doing."

Professor Yuan lowered his head again and started fiddling with the parts, muttering to himself.

"Medicinal herb manuals...medicinal herb manuals...if we could really get our hands on some, that would be wonderful..."

Just as Li Fulan reached the door, Lin An walked towards her from the other end of the corridor.

"Wait, there's something else I want to tell you."

"What's up?"

"Your parents have already been brought to the base."

Li Fulan paused and turned around.

"How were the test results?"

Lin An's expression was somewhat subtle, it was hard to tell whether it was disappointment or relief.

"Not detected."

"What do you mean?"

"It means exactly what it says." Lin An leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "We used every method we could think of—EEG scans, bioelectrical monitoring, neural response tests, even having them try quantum meditation for a week."

"And the result?"

"Nothing at all." Lin An shook his head. "Their health indicators are all normal, as normal as they could possibly be. They're just two ordinary middle-aged people, nothing special."

Li Fulan fell silent.

To be honest, he had a premonition about this all along.

In Douluo Continent, martial spirits awaken at the age of six. His parents are both over fifty; if they truly had any potential, it should have manifested long ago.

"However, it can't be said that we gained nothing at all," Lin An changed the subject. "At least it proves one thing—your martial spirit might not be inherited."

"Not genetic?"

"Elder Yuan's guess is that your martial soul might be the result of some kind of 'postnatal activation.' Perhaps some mechanism was triggered when you transmigrated, or perhaps the environment on the Douluo Continent activated some dormant gene in your body."

"In short, not everyone can awaken a martial soul. Just because your parents can't doesn't mean you can't. Your situations might be completely different."

Li Fulan nodded, her initial expectation gradually subsiding.

Actually, this is fine too.

Asking two people in their fifties to cultivate some kind of martial spirit is already asking too much. Their peaceful and quiet lives are more important than anything else.

"How are they now?"

"That's good." Lin An smiled slightly. "Your mom helps out in the canteen every day, saying she can't stand being idle. Your dad gets along quite well with the old soldiers in the logistics department, playing chess and cards every day, living a more comfortable life than back home."

"It's just..." he paused, "...that they talk about you every day, saying why you never visit them."

Li Fulan touched her nose somewhat guiltily.

"I've been busy lately..."

"Alright, stop making excuses." Lin An patted him on the shoulder. "Once you're done with this busy period, take some time to visit them. After all, they're your own parents."

Li Fulan responded and was about to leave when she remembered something else.

"By the way, how's the promotion of quantum meditation going? Has anyone successfully mastered it?"

"have."

Lin An's eyes lit up.

"Of the first batch of thirty-six special forces members, twelve have already successfully mastered the technique. Although their soul power levels are still quite low, with the highest being only level five, it at least proves that this cultivation method is effective on Earth."

"The second batch of volunteers has already begun screening. This time, the scale is larger, with more than two hundred people. This includes some Taoist priests, Buddhist monks, and Tai Chi masters—those people with 'basic knowledge' that Mr. Yuan mentioned before."

"If the second batch also yields results, we will prepare to move on to the third phase."

"What is the third stage?"

"Large-scale promotion."

Lin An's tone became serious.

"You should know that the Seventh Base is built 300 meters underground. Space is limited here; it can only accommodate a few thousand people at most. But if the Quantum Meditation Method can truly enable ordinary people to cultivate 'Qi,' then the beneficiaries shouldn't be just these few thousand people."

"Therefore, a new plan has been approved from above."

"Build a city directly above the base."

Li Fulan was stunned for a moment.

"Build a city?"

"Yes." Lin An nodded. "On the surface, it's an ordinary small town, with residential areas, commercial areas, schools, and hospitals, just like a normal city. But in reality, the entire town is the 'shell' of the base."

"The people living there have all undergone rigorous screening. Some are family members of military personnel, some are relatives of researchers, and others are ordinary people with 'potential' selected from all over the country."

"They live normal lives on the surface, but also receive training in quantum meditation. Once someone demonstrates talent, they are absorbed into the underground base and become a formal 'cultivator.'"

"This city is our talent pool."

After listening, Li Fulan remained silent for a long time.

He remembered the novels he had read before he transmigrated.

What do-flight bases, what immortal cultivation sects, what organizations of extraordinary individuals...?

I never imagined that these things would become a reality one day.

Moreover, it started with him.

"What's the name of this city?" he suddenly asked.

Lin An smiled.

"It's not decided yet. But that old man Yuan insists on coming up with something catchy, like 'Quantum City' or 'Ascension City.' It's been rejected several times by the higher-ups, who say it's too flashy."

The current tentative codename is—

"New Yuan City."

"It symbolizes a new era in human civilization."

Li Fulan chewed on the name, a slow smile spreading across her face.

New Yuan City.

Not bad.

"Alright, I got it." He waved and walked towards the lounge. "I'm going to get some sleep first, then I'll get ready to go back to Douluo Continent and continue causing trouble."

"Remember to let me know when the hidden blade is modified. Also, I'll figure out what to do about the medicinal herbs and books."