Translator: CinderTL
Over the next few days, Feng Qi spent most of his time with Le Ping'an outside of classes and meals, seeking his guidance on the brewing methods and procedures for Clear Heart Wine.
Feeling increasingly embarrassed about constantly bothering Le Ping'an, Feng Qi decided to purchase a set of auxiliary medicinal refining equipment for over 400,000 yuan and brew the Clear Heart Wine himself, since the process wasn't particularly complex.
After several days of interaction, Le Ping'an became less reserved around Feng Qi. At Feng Qi's request, Le Ping'an began calling him "Brother Qi" instead of "Teacher Feng." Given their similar ages, the formal title felt too distant.
Meanwhile, the official rankings for the Tiger Soul Concept Competition were released, with the Human Body Deity Seeding concept unsurprisingly claiming first place. However, the 5 million yuan prize money still needed to go through administrative procedures and hadn't yet reached Feng Qi.
As for the 3 million yuan reward promised by Bai Fusheng, it had already been reported and used to cover the academy's previous facility repair funds.
After purchasing the brewing materials for Clear Heart Wine, Feng Qi still had over 600,000 yuan in cash. Combined with the 5 million yuan prize money from the Tiger Soul Concept Competition, his net worth had already reached 5.6 million yuan.
Though he had more money now, Feng Qi felt he still needed to be frugal.
Besides the Dream Realm's monetary demands, he would also need to invest heavily in virtual technology research after transferring to Star City Academy.
Therefore, saving where possible was crucial. Brewing Clear Heart Wine was one way to cut costs.
He had considered scouring the future database for quick-riches schemes.
But in the post-cataclysm world, making big money typically required immense effort.
Building a business from scratch step by step offered no shortcuts to rapid wealth.
In this new world, singers and movie stars no longer enjoyed the same lucrative status as before the cataclysm, their salaries now meager.
The true stars of this era were top-tier cultivators, cultivation scholars, scientists, and other professionals driving Human Civilization forward.
Dreaming of copying songs from the future database and selling them for hundreds of thousands or millions in reality was pure fantasy.
This wasn't a peaceful world where hedonism could thrive.
Even pig farming was more profitable than being an entertainment celebrity—and that wasn't a joke.
The most lucrative industries in this world were aquaculture, pharmaceutical research, scientific equipment manufacturing, and related sectors.
If he only wanted to make money, he could find countless ways. By retracing the entrepreneurial paths of the Future People, he could build a commercial empire.
But these ventures would require immense effort, forcing him to grow alongside the empire.
This process would take years.
Therefore, none of these money-making methods appealed to him.
Savior was different. The game could both propel the rise of Human Civilization and help him earn money relatively quickly.
After all, the core challenge in developing Savior was coding, an area he could handle.
He simply needed to wait for Fang Zhiyou to perfect the Virtual Engine and for the art team to complete their work.
In the post-cataclysmic world, developing games wasn't a quick way to make money, but Savior was an exception.
Ordinary games had extremely strict anti-addiction systems. Minors were limited to 30 minutes of daily playtime before being forcibly disconnected.
This wasn't a world where entertainment reigned supreme. If large numbers of students wasted their energy on meaningless games, societal progress would stagnate.
"As the youth are strong, so is the nation strong." This saying now applies equally to the human race: "As the youth are strong, so will the human race flourish."
To achieve ultimate victory, all of humanity must unite and strive together.
Students who play games often face reprimands from parents and teachers, encountering numerous obstacles.
But Savior is different. Upon its release, the game's anti-addiction system was immediately removed.
People of all ages can freely enjoy the game.
Teachers and parents alike encourage their children and students to play Savior, recognizing its ability to deepen their understanding of art magic and enhance their combat awareness.
Furthermore, Savior has no recharge limits. This was a reward from the human leadership to the team that spent over a decade developing the game.
The game's release is comparable to the discovery of a deity-tier cultivation technique.
Not only does it eliminate safety risks in combat training, but it also allows students to familiarize themselves with the cultivation system and art magic before even entering the academy, creating a profound and lasting impact.
When Feng Qi first saw Savior in the future database, he immediately made up his mind.
He had to create this game.
It would not only generate profit but also drive the advancement of Human Civilization.
Inside the dormitory, the auxiliary instrument hummed steadily. Le Ping'an stood before it, his gaze fixed intently on the display screen as he meticulously adjusted the values, ensuring the spirit plant medicinal liquid within the instrument blended smoothly.
Feng Qi watched with equal focus.
Though the instrument provided assistance, the spirit pharmacist remained the core of the alchemy process. Without their precise control over the liquid ratios and temperature regulation during fusion, accidents could easily occur.
During fusion, incompatible medicinal liquids could react violently, potentially causing explosions. After all, spirit plants contained pure energy of varying attributes.
While the fusion of these energies could produce miraculous effects, repulsion between them could also unleash tremendous destructive force.
Furthermore, errors in measurement during fusion could result in the creation of "poisonous elixirs." Some of these poisons might appear identical to finished products but would have devastating consequences if consumed.
Understanding the critical precautions required during alchemy, Feng Qi approached his studies with utmost seriousness, immediately asking questions whenever he encountered anything unclear.
There was no room for carelessness when learning alchemy.
Finally, after half an hour, a pale blue mixed liquid began dripping from the soft tube on the instrument's right side.
A delicate, refreshing fragrance rapidly filled the room. A deep breath of it left one feeling invigorated and mentally sharp.
Because the ingredients for Clear Heart Wine included Drunken Fragrance Fruit, the medicinal liquid carried a hint of alcohol and a potent aftertaste. Yet, when smelled directly, there was no trace of alcohol.
In no time at all, a bottle of Clear Heart Wine was brewed.
Feng Qi reached for a glass.
As he swirled the glass, he could clearly see crystalline particles suspended in the blue liquid, flowing slowly.
"Brother Qi, all done," Le Ping'an said, shutting down the equipment and looking at Feng Qi with a shy smile.
"Thank you. I've mastered the brewing process for Clear Heart Wine now, so I won't need to bother you anymore."
"No problem. Feel free to ask me anytime if you have any questions."
After some casual conversation, Feng Qi left Le Ping'an's room.
He was growing increasingly fond of this student.
Le Ping'an was humble and remarkably diligent.
During Feng Qi's lessons on brewing Clear Heart Wine, Le Ping'an would also ask questions about cultivation studies, carefully noting the answers.
Feng Qi often spotted Le Ping'an buried in books at the library.
What teacher wouldn't cherish such a student?
Back in his dorm room, Feng Qi sat down at his desk after entering.
The energy progress bar currently stood at 76%. A bottle of Clear Heart Wine cost 1.25 million credits and could replenish approximately 175% of his energy.
He decided to drink half a bottle for now.
If he drained the entire bottle in one gulp, the energy progress bar would overflow to over 200%. This would cause him to immediately re-enter the Dream Realm the next time he fell asleep in reality.
For each journey into the Dream Realm, he habitually planned meticulously, only acting once he had a complete strategy.
Unless he was purely focused on leveling up by grinding monsters, consecutive trips into the Dream Realm were highly inefficient.
With this in mind, he uncorked the bottle and drank half of the Clear Heart Wine.
A rich aroma instantly filled his mouth and nose, and his body flushed with heat, his skin turning crimson.
The percentage on the energy progress bar began to fluctuate.
As he waited, the percentage stopped at 163%, and the physical sensations subsided.
Before entering the Dream Realm, he opened his notebook.
In this Future Line, he chose to join the Scarlet Research Institute to gather useful intelligence.
His primary objective was to collaborate with the institute to identify the werewolves lurking among the students.
These werewolves were like a thorn in his side—a constant irritant that needed to be removed.
These students would form the core of his future domain combat team. Eliminating the hidden werewolves before he began training them was urgent.
Finding the werewolves would also expose the hidden forces behind them.
If successful, he could achieve two goals at once:
Expose the dark forces that had been lurking within Human Civilization, bringing them into his line of sight. Implement a series of targeted operations to eradicate this malignant tumor buried within Human Civilization, allowing it to grow healthily.
Perhaps, once the dark forces were eliminated, when he re-entered the Dream Realm, he would no longer witness the end of Human Civilization, but a brand new beginning.
Before entering the Dream Realm, he began organizing key information about the werewolves in his notebook.
Moments later, several new entries appeared in the notebook.
Werewolf Clue 1: First, eliminate Liu Yue and the Xia Family Brothers as werewolves. In the future, after my death, they were all sent to the execution block and sentenced to death.
Werewolf Clue 2: The werewolf implanted a monitoring chip in me, but the exact timing of the implantation remains unclear.
Note: Le Ping'an's background at the technology research institute increases suspicion, but monitoring chips are also readily available for purchase online, so we can't definitively conclude he's the werewolf.
Werewolf Clue 3: We can essentially rule out the monk as the werewolf. He later became a spiritual guide for humanity, directly opposing the dark force's attempts to destroy Human Civilization.
Werewolf Clue 4: According to Mo Fei's information, Cai Guo, Le Ping'an, and Xu Hongyun—all originally sentenced to life imprisonment—were secretly released. This significantly increases suspicion, making it highly likely that one or all of them are the werewolf.
Werewolf Clue 5: The remaining trainees—Yang Xiaoxin, Yan Yue, and Jia Yi (who joined the Scarlet Research Institute)—show no obvious signs of suspicion. However, we can't rule out the possibility that one of them is the werewolf.
Note: The werewolf might be the most deeply hidden among us. The absence of suspicion doesn't necessarily mean innocence.
After consolidating all the information about werewolves, Feng Qi fell into deep thought.
He realized that if he chose to join the Scarlet Research Institute, his relationships with the other trainees would inevitably grow distant. This would severely limit his opportunities to identify the werewolves among them.
Midway through his contemplation, he abruptly changed his mind. He decided to continue building his organization to combat the dark forces, thereby increasing his contact with potential werewolves.
The key difference this time was that, while establishing the organization, he could also collaborate with the Scarlet Research Institute in this timeline, working together to hunt down the werewolves.
Once the werewolves were identified, he could rejoin the Scarlet Research Institute.
As for whether the Scarlet Research Institute would trust him, that was easily resolved.
Through the email message he had received earlier, he had learned many of the Scarlet Research Institute's secrets. These secrets would convince them that he possessed the ability to traverse timelines.
However, there remained a slim chance that the Scarlet Research Institute might mistake him for a spy, imprison him, or even resort to torture to extract information.
The first half of this plan resembled a triple-layered spy operation.
He had established an organization to hunt werewolves, while the werewolves, seeking to steal intelligence, had infiltrated his ranks. Simultaneously, he was also an undercover agent for the Scarlet Research Institute, tasked with tracking down werewolves.
The situation was incredibly complex.
After sorting through his thoughts, he prepared to enter the Dream Realm and embark on another journey through the future.
Just then, his phone rang.
He glanced at the screen and saw it was Bai Fusheng calling.
As soon as he answered, Bai Fusheng's laughter boomed through the line:
"The matter you entrusted to me is resolved. Fang Zhiyou's parents have agreed to let him withdraw from his current academy and join your Virtual Engine development team at Star City Academy."
"Impressive, Grandmaster," Feng Qi said, immediately flattering him.
"You have remarkable foresight. Before our meeting, Fang Zhiyou's parents were adamant, refusing to let him abandon his studies for some 'virtual technology' nonsense. They called it a 'deviant path' and warned me not to lead their son astray."
"But when they saw me in my Star City Academy principal's uniform, complete with the principal's badge, their attitude flipped 180 degrees. Still, they remained skeptical of my identity, so I produced my principal's certificate."
"Didn't they suspect the principal's certificate was also forged?" Feng Qi asked, his curiosity piqued.
"Of course they did. So I told them to look me up online. After all, some of my information and photos are publicly available. Once they verified my identity, they were completely convinced."
"So they agreed right away?"
"Not quite. Their enthusiasm stemmed from wanting me to help Fang Zhiyou get into the Cultivation Technique Research Class at Star City Academy. They kept steering the conversation in that direction, but I refused. I won't engage in favoritism or abuse my position."
"In short, it took a lot of persuasion. First, I explained that Fang Zhiyou's grades made him ineligible for Star City Academy. Then, I argued that if his talent for virtual technology development were fully realized, he could achieve even greater success than by joining the Cultivation Technique Research Class. Even after all that, his parents remained hesitant."
"Just moments ago, they finally made their decision. They called to inform me that they're willing to send Fang Zhiyou to Star City Academy to focus on virtual technology research."
By the end of his explanation, Bai Fusheng couldn't help but sigh.
"Sometimes, the expectations and pressure parents place on their children aren't entirely beneficial."
Hearing Bai Fusheng's account, Feng Qi felt a pang of shame.
It was clear that Bai Fusheng had gone to great lengths to persuade Fang Zhiyou's parents.
Fortunately, they had finally agreed, removing the last obstacle to developing the Virtual Engine. Now, all that remained was to let time work its magic.
After expressing his gratitude, Feng Qi hung up the phone.
Sitting at his desk for a moment, he closed his laptop and lay down on the bed.
From now on, he would work alongside his future self to launch the "Wolf Hunt" operation.
The lingering effects of the Clear Heart Wine still lingered.
Gradually, his mind emptied, and his expression softened into peaceful serenity...
(End of the Chapter)