The 72 Research Institute: The Ultimate Cheat

Luo Yu leaned over the counter of Supreme Instruments, watching the stream of customers coming and going. He fiddled with two spirit stones in his hand, turning them over and over, his mind churning with schemes to earn more experience.

Supreme Instruments had expanded its business; now the entire front courtyard was used to display magical artifacts. With growing demand, Luo Yu and Qin Yue had devised new strategies. After mastering the "Divine Forging Method," they continued to push their physical limits, developing their potential by using the “Mind Division Technique” to craft multiple artifacts simultaneously. At first, this wasted quite a bit of materials, but now they could refine five at once. Splitting their divine sense in the forging process not only enhanced their control over both divine sense and spiritual power, but also strengthened their souls—a form of cultivation in itself, and they were eager to push further, always seeking the next challenge.

Now that Heaven-Defying Palace had begun recruiting female cultivators, all were trained in shop management: sales, procurement, materials allocation, artifact design. The bonuses were generous, spirit stones plentiful—a clear advantage for their gender. The unfortunate men forcibly conscripted into the Palace had all their private property confiscated and received standardized equipment. Of course, good performance could still earn them spirit stones. For many, this was already an enviable life: dwelling in a paradise where spiritual energy was abundant, strength and cultivation steadily climbing, occasional fine wine and good food, frequent sparring, and the opportunity to save up spirit stones for elixirs. Compared to the old life—rootless, walking a knife’s edge, resorting to robbery—this was happiness itself.

Luo Yu thought long and hard but could not come up with a clever solution: rare elixirs were hard to come by, and even with spirit stones in hand, they could not be bought. What could be done? He knew only alchemy and formation arts… If only formations could substitute for elixirs!

Suddenly, a metaphorical ninety-thousand-watt lightbulb lit up above Luo Yu’s head: why couldn’t formations replace elixirs? They could gather spiritual energy, refine and collect yin fire—surely they could also collect spiritual energy for leveling up!

This idea struck Luo Yu like a thunderbolt; he immediately leapt up from the counter and dashed into the inner courtyard to begin his planning.

First, he would need a Spirit Gathering Formation to concentrate spiritual energy—but collect it into a jade vial and swallow it? That didn’t seem quite right. Even in a place saturated with spiritual energy, meditation was still inferior to taking elixirs. Though meditation opens all the meridians, the amount of spiritual energy the meridians can transmit is limited. Even swallowing a condensed ball of pure spiritual energy meant it was still “energy”—the meridians would compress it, making rapid absorption impossible.

Elixirs, being solid matter, enter the body and convert directly into pure spiritual energy, unleashing internal pressure that impacts the meridians, forcing them to expand. This strong, fast-moving energy shocks the meridians—a reason one shouldn’t take too many elixirs in a day—but the benefits to the dantian are immense, far surpassing meditation.

The key, then, is “pressure.” As long as external pressure is sufficient, forcing the meridians to open and passively accept spiritual energy, it would work. If one could compress spiritual energy like liquefied gas, inject it into the body under pressure… In theory, that’s feasible, but the pressure must be just right—too little and it won’t enter, too much and it damages the meridians. But spirit stones are essentially high-pressure, solidified spiritual energy! Once refined, they revert to spiritual energy. If only there were a way to contain that energy and release it slowly, it would save a great deal of effort—no need to compress spiritual energy at all! Of course, spirit stones contain many impurities that stick to the meridians and cause harm… But what if those could be filtered out first? How to filter a gas, though? A physical mesh wouldn’t work—the impurities are too fine. Separating them like salt from sugar water? That would be more trouble than just meditating…

Luo Yu lay on the floor, racking his brains, only to dismiss plan after plan.

Qin Yue entered to find Luo Yu sprawled out like a corpse.

“Enjoying yourself?” Qin Yue asked dryly.

Spotting him as a savior, Luo Yu leapt up, grabbed him, and poured out his latest idea.

After considering, Qin Yue replied, “It should be feasible. I once developed a material with excellent spiritual energy retention—malleable, tough, and much stronger than jade. You should remember… That material is perfect for storing spiritual energy.”

Luo Yu’s eyes sparkled. “The key is filtering the spiritual energy. Even if we collect and compress it ourselves, impurities will remain. When meditating, the small amount of impurities is expelled naturally and isn’t a problem, but force-feeding too much becomes dangerous.”

Qin Yue’s eyes narrowed. “If the impurities harm the meridians, why not use meridians to filter them?”

Luo Yu was startled. “What, you want to use cultivators as filters?”

Qin Yue tapped him on the head. “Isn’t that what scattered souls are for? Just collect some of them.”

Luo Yu was overjoyed. “Right, right! Why didn’t I think of that? My dear, you’re a genius! What fortune to have such a virtuous wife!”

Qin Yue snorted coldly, “The wife is far more virtuous than the husband.”

Luo Yu blinked. “Wait… what? Did you just make a joke?”

Qin Yue replied calmly, “Does my husband have any other questions? If we are to proceed, we should first experiment with yin ghosts and nether stones. Once successful, we’ll make the spiritual energy version.”

“You’re the wife!” Luo Yu retorted, bristling.

And so, the two of them abandoned all other tasks, secluding themselves in the rear courtyard to pursue their scientific research.

Qin Yue produced a large batch of the energy-locking material, naming it “Jade Mold,” and used it to craft tubes, flasks, and various other components.

They first refined nether stones in a small furnace, channeling the resulting yin energy through a tube into a scattered soul filter. A new problem quickly emerged: after passing through the meridians of the scattered soul, the pressure of the yin energy was insufficient to force it into a yin ghost’s meridians.

“We still need to add pressure,” Luo Yu observed.

Qin Yue nodded. “The yin energy is pure enough—up to standard. But injecting it into a ghost’s body is tricky; too much pressure could crush the ghost. Even though we are far sturdier, the counterforce is just as great. Forcing energy into the meridians from outside is not easy.”

Before Luo Yu could respond, a hair-raising laugh echoed from outside. “Ahahaha! Oh! My goodness! I did it! Babies, where are you? Come see your beloved Mommy!” With a bang, the door was flung open, and a tall figure burst in. “Babies! Look at Mommy! How do I look?”

Startled, Luo Yu snapped, “Can’t you knock?”

The vampire replied, “Darling, forgive me! Mommy’s too happy! How do you think Mommy’s doing?”

Luo Yu looked him up and down; nothing seemed different—why was he so overjoyed?

Qin Yue, expressionless, said, “You seem normal.”

The vampire exclaimed, “This is wonderful! Guess what? Mommy walked in the sun today!”

Luo Yu was astonished. “The vaccine worked?”

The vampire, elated, grabbed Luo Yu, spun him in the air, and kissed his forehead. “Thank you, my darling! Mommy will give Daddy a surprise… I suppose I should bring a bouquet of roses?” With a snap of his fingers, Doge materialized, bleary-eyed, in the air. “Lazybones, get me a wallet—with cash!” Then, turning to Luo Yu, “Is there a flower shop nearby?”

Without a word, Qin Yue pulled out a wad of pink bills and stuffed them into the vampire’s hand.

The vampire swiftly pocketed the money, gave Qin Yue a kiss on the cheek as well, and said, “You’ll never know how much Mommy loves you both!” With that, he dashed off.

Luo Yu called after him, “You’d better monitor yourself for a while! Be careful of any changes!”

“Don’t worry, darling—I have an umbrella!” the vampire replied.

When the vampire had gone, Luo Yu stared at Qin Yue for a while. “Even your husband’s never kissed you… and he dares?”

“Right back at you,” Qin Yue said, deadpan.

Luo Yu blushed, forcing a laugh. “Let’s get back to research! So… about the previous problem—we could use a formation.”

“How do you propose to do that?” Qin Yue asked coolly.

“I think… spiritual energy can also be used offensively.”

“Indeed, spiritual energy is much more potent than magic power. But no one uses it as an attack, since one blow would cost decades of painstaking cultivation, and might not even harm the enemy… Such foolishness is tantamount to killing the goose for the eggs.”

Luo Yu nodded. “We could design a low-impact attack formation to channel spiritual energy directly into the body—as an ‘attack’—while using magic power to form a ‘funnel’ at the body’s surface, guiding the energy into the meridians. If both parts coordinate, we could force the energy in… What do you think?”

After considering, Qin Yue said, “As long as the attack is moderate, it’s worth a try. We’ll need the vampire’s help—he can control the yin ghosts for experimentation.”

After several more days of modifications, their upgrade system was divided into two parts: one, a purification system to filter and store yin energy; two, an upgrade system that used pure yin energy as an “attack”—the super plugin “Feiyue Upgrade 1.0 Beta Yin Infusion Array” was thus born.

By the time the beta was ready, winter break had arrived. Luo Yu and Qin Yue spent their days dragging the vampire and a dozen yin ghosts into endless testing. Through constant adjustment, the final “Feiyue Upgrade 5.8 Official Release Yin Infusion Array” was successfully launched.

The vampire was ecstatic. “Babies, you’re geniuses! Trust Mommy, soon you’ll each have a beautiful bracelet—every bead crafted from a ghost as strong as a Golden Core cultivator, Mommy promises!”

This powerful plugin was heaven-sent for the vampire: even though his meridians were blocked and he couldn’t use magic power to channel yin energy, his body could still absorb and store it. As long as he withstood the infusion, the energy would slowly permeate and strengthen him—pure fantasy come true! Let the attacks come harder! Oh, the joy of resisting the world!

For the first time, Luo Yu found himself envious of the vampire’s physique—what a monster! Now he wasn’t even afraid of sunlight and could ride high-speed planes!

As cultivators, Luo Yu and Qin Yue were less fortunate. It was clear the ghosts would benefit more: their meridians were already in chaos, immune to the dangers of wild yin energy. Luo Yu and Qin Yue, however, had to proceed cautiously, slowly increasing the dosage, seeking elixirs to broaden their meridians. The wider the meridians, the greater the benefit!

Without pause, the two immediately began constructing the “Feiyue Upgrade Spiritual Infusion Array”—a top priority not to be delayed!

Author’s Note: (⊙o⊙)
The golden finger has been fully unleashed!
Best Friends’ Immortal Cultivation Chronicle 72: Researching the ultimate plugin is complete!