After turning on his computer, he began searching online for information related to Spirit Qi. He then conducted some preliminary consolidation (consolidation) of the data, adding in bits and pieces of information he had gathered himself during the first Spirit Qi tide at the volcano, treating these fragments as his own conjectures.
Of course, information regarding the precise composition of Spirit Qi had to remain buried deep inside him, serving only as a basis for deducing his next steps. To be one step ahead is to be a pioneer; to be ten steps ahead is to be seen as a madman.
"Am I truly destined to slog along with such slow Spirit Qi cultivation speed? My advantage of having discovered the use of Spirit Stones and Spirit Qi a few months early will quickly be eroded."
Bai Mo spent the entire night staring blankly at the moon.
"Yet, I truly can't think of any method to increase Spirit Qi absorption. The Spirit Rivers in various places have already vanished, and the Spirit Qi density globally has become uniform. I haven't found any grotto-heavens or blessed lands either. How can I artificially increase the speed of Spirit Qi absorption?
"The further one progresses in Spirit Qi cultivation, the greater the demand for Spirit Qi. However, with the Spirit Qi density being what it is, the relative speed becomes slower and slower the further one goes."
A myriad of problems plagued the young man.
"If Spirit Qi were analogous to air, to increase the density of the gas, one could either apply pressure, forcing more air into a constant volume, or compress the existing air. That is, applying external pressure to forcefully push Spirit Qi into the body."
"Another method is to create a pressure difference, or rather, a density difference, inside and outside the body. Then, external Spirit Qi would spontaneously flow from areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration."
"If I could create a structure within the body that generates a Spirit Energy vacuum, it could draw Spirit Qi from the outside like a vacuum pump. However, the time required to deduce and evolve such a structure in the body is incalculable."
"The human body consumes roughly one-fifth of the inhaled oxygen with each breath. As for Spirit Qi, my divine sense estimates that only about two percent of it is truly absorbed into the body, which is far lower than oxygen absorption efficiency."
"And like Hua Taishan, whom I scanned earlier, his actual absorption rate might barely reach one percent. As for ordinary people who haven't awakened abilities, their efficiency is likely even lower, with the unabsorbed Spirit Qi returning to the atmosphere. Therefore, improving absorption efficiency is also worth researching."
...
Bai Mo walked to his desk, picked up his notebook, and began recording his various thoughts.
He didn't care whether these ideas were imagined from novels or conceived from real-world knowledge; he wrote them all down. He then began deducing the feasibility of each idea, jotting down the results of his deductions beneath each recorded thought.
"Objective One: Create a Spirit Qi pressure difference inside and outside the body to accelerate the Spirit Qi intake rate."
"Method One: Consciously induce the body to evolve a Spirit Energy vacuum point. Evaluation: For now, this idea can only exist in novels. Practical implementation is extremely difficult, requiring long-term experiments to deduce the corresponding cultivation art."
...
"Objective Two: Increase external Spirit Qi pressure to force more Spirit Qi into the body."
"Method One: Create a specialized pressurized cabin for cultivation. Evaluation: High cost, but also high feasibility. The issue is that the pressurized cabin requires a certain level of physical strength, but it's no problem for my own body. The only issue is money."
...
Line after line, Bai Mo's notebook recorded all sorts of conjectures and related feasibility deductions, yet ultimately, he arrived at no effective conclusions.
After watching the moon all night, Bai Mo, who had cultivated through the night until dawn, suddenly had a flash of inspiration, conceiving a grand and somewhat audacious plan.
The next morning, he changed into a discreet attire and wandered through Tianhai's antique market. He bought two blank "ancient books" and then began his work of forgery.
Referencing a series of images found online—including Cuneiform, Oracle Bone Script, Small Seal Script, Linear A, and Ancient Carthaginian—Bai Mo "created" a grand hybrid script on blank paper. The resulting script was so eclectic that even experts specializing in these ancient writings wouldn't be able to re-identify it.
Using ink infused with Spirit Stone powder, he painstakingly transcribed his casually concocted script, stroke by stroke, onto the ancient books. This first part of the work took him nearly half a day.
Next, he began following tutorials for artificially aging fake artifacts found online, gradually making the two volumes of ancient books appear more ancient and tattered, deliberately creating some damaged sections. Even the original seller wouldn't recognize them as something they had once sold.
After finishing the aging process for the ancient books, he used his phone to photograph every page under dim light, deliberately blurring the texture of the books and leaving only clear text patterns. He then placed the two books together in a protective box and personally buried the box in a small grove in the outskirts of Tianhai.
After completing all this, Bai Mo burned all traces of the forgery, including the manuscripts of the casually invented script and the various aging materials, to prevent future discovery of any issues.
Watching the blazing flames, he pondered how to perfect this deception. To earn his first significant sum of wealth in a short time, while also genuinely connecting with the upper echelons, setting up this scheme might be the fastest method.
A few days passed quickly. Bai Mo finally completed the refinement of his entire plan. For the rest, man plans, but Heaven decides.
It was morning rush hour, and Tianhai City was as congested as ever.
The short five-kilometer distance from Tianhai University to the research institute's office took him well over half an hour in traffic. After getting out of the car, Bai Mo felt it might have been faster to run.
He walked through the entrance of the research institute's office and saw many people already gathered inside, preparing to participate in the test.
"The test will begin at ten o'clock this morning. All participants present, please proceed to the check-in counter on the first floor to register as soon as possible," a broadcast announced.
Arriving in a rush, he followed the instructions for check-in.
Top floor of the research institute.
"I hope we can find some promising talents this time," a somewhat aged figure, seen from behind, said with a hint of anticipation.
"What exactly do you consider a 'promising talent'?" a straight-backed figure beside him interjected. "I know you're preoccupied with Spirit Qi improving the body and prolonging life, but you shouldn't be so desperate as to try anything. Are you really going to recruit a bunch of greenhorns to research this?"
"Casting a wide net will always yield some true gold," the old man didn't argue, simply taking a gentle sip of his tea.