Energy Academy

The sun was blazing.

At this moment, Gu Jinlai walking on a country road that was tens of thousands of miles away from the port city of Xianyinghui.

He now has a preliminary understanding of the Immortal Xuanhuang Realm, and naturally needs to proceed with the next step of his planning.

"My goal in coming to the Immortal Xuanhuang Realm has always been to obtain the methods to fight against the evil gods. To obtain these methods, I must at least come into contact with the top figures of the Xuanhuang Immortal Dynasty, namely the fourteen elders named after the Taiyin Star, the Six Stars of the Southern Dipper, and the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper. As for the struggle between the Xuanhuang Immortal Dynasty and the rebellious forces, it is not within my scope of involvement."

Pity...

The Xuanhuang Immortal Dynasty is not a benevolent place.

He already possesses the status of a third-tier Golden Immortal. If he chooses to contact the elders who oversee all matters of the Xuanhuang Immortal Dynasty, he will naturally be received. If he's lucky, the elders might even tell him the method out of consideration for their shared struggle against the evil god.

But...

This is the best possible outcome.

Going forward, it's possible that the Xuanhuang Immortal Dynasty will directly drive the Immortal Xuanhuang Realm to the Longevity Realm, using the Longevity Realm as a battlefield to fight against the evil god.

This might repel the evil god, but the Immortal Realm would likely be completely destroyed.

Just like the Immortal Xuanhuang Realm, which has now transformed from a continent of unknown size, spanning hundreds of billions of miles, into a celestial paradise.

This runs counter to the goal of preserving the realm of immortality Gu Jinlai.

In addition, another possibility is that the Xuanhuang Immortal Dynasty was not prepared to confront that evil god and withdrew directly, leaving him empty-handed.

The worst-case scenario is that the Xuanhuang Immortal Dynasty will simply capture him and make him, like those working people, a part of maintaining the operation of the Immortal Xuanhuang Realm.

"For others, having no other choice would mean taking a risk, but for me..."

Gu Jinlai, only a little over two thousand Qing Dynasty artifacts remain.

He felt that he should strengthen himself first before trying to contact the elders of the Xuanhuang Immortal Dynasty.

With increased strength, even if the elders of the Xuanhuang Immortal Dynasty harbored treacherous intentions, he could still escape in time.

"More than half of these fourteen elders are members of the Xuanhuang Immortal Dynasty's royal family, and their strength ranges from the fourth to the ninth rank. The other half are individuals who have made great contributions and have been promoted, each of whom is at least at the seventh rank... Even if I were to meet the weakest elder, he would have to be at least at the fifth rank... After all, he possesses top-tier secret techniques, and I must be wary of the possibility of being defeated by him despite being at a higher rank..."

Gu Jinlai, I realized that the fifth rank is not enough.

What if the other party is hiding their true strength?

Only at level six is it truly safe.

"In addition, we must also guard against the retreat route the other party may have prepared after taking strong action."

The Jade Slip of the Immortal Xuanhuang Realm branch that Pang Yuan had given him flashed through Gu Jinlai mind.

The Xuanhuang Realm is now far less vast than it was ten thousand years ago.

The capital was divided into fifteen provinces based on the Moon, the six stars of the Southern Dipper, the seven stars of the Northern Dipper, and the central province where the capital was located.

Each state was further divided into provinces, cities, counties, and towns.

It's basically still the same system from the Xuanhuang Immortal Dynasty ten thousand years ago, and it hasn't changed despite the advancement of technology.

Many places still follow ancient customs.

They're building an annihilation reactor on one side, and on the other side they're still using oxen to plow the fields.

This is also why Gu Jinlai have felt that the Xuanhuang Immortal Dynasty is quite incongruous, like a retro-style science fiction world.

"The Xuanhuang Immortal Dynasty has been undergoing unprecedented changes for the past ten thousand years. Zhou Huang's transformation of the Xuanhuang Great World into a grotto-heaven may not have garnered everyone's support. Furthermore, most Star Gods may not be truly willing to serve the Xuanhuang Immortal Dynasty. In addition, the Immortal Xuanhuang Realm is still devouring world after world, and we must face the conquests of these forces. Moreover, those forces that have already been conquered by the Immortal Xuanhuang Realm have formed a resistance alliance, secretly stirring up trouble..."

Gu Jinlai this, he shook his head.

His attention lingered for a moment on Tian Tong Star Lord in the Southern Dipper and Tian Ji Star Lord in the Northern Dipper.

The Heavenly Elder's cultivation level was most suitable, but he was only a fourth-order Golden Immortal.

There were many rebel forces operating in Tiantong Prefecture, which he directly governed, but he was too busy to suppress them because of his cultivation level.

Another Tianji Star Lord...

These were people who had explicitly opposed Zhou Huang's devouring of those who cultivated immortal grottoes from various realms.

Many worlds that are about to be swallowed by the Xuanhuang Realm will find him first, hoping to get his help.

Many Great Dao Golden Immortals preserved their sects' lineages by becoming Star Gods, all through him.

But it's merely a sect's inheritance.

Their world, the remaining spiritual energy within it, and the countless beings within it, essentially became nourishment for the Immortal Xuanhuang Realm as the world collapsed.

However, his cultivation level was too high, reaching the eighth level of Golden Immortal.

"To be on the safe side, let's go with Tianxiang Xingjun."

Gu Jinlai.

He didn't choose either Tian Tong or Tian Ji.

Even though he's exhausted internally, it's easy to guess that many people are watching him closely.

Another...

That's incredible.

Tianxiang State, under the jurisdiction of Tianxiang Star Lord, is one of the native states of the Xuanhuang Realm. It is very stable, so much so that the military force within the state is not strong.

In addition, Tianxiang Xingjun has a relatively gentle temperament, so the possibility of accidents arising when interacting with him is relatively low.

"First, go to Tianxiang Prefecture to find mental Cultivation Method for the third level and above, then find an opportunity to contact Tianxiang Star Lord and see if we can obtain a method to fight against the evil god from him."

With this in mind, Gu Jinlai set off, heading straight for Tianxiang Prefecture, which is equivalent to the heart of the Immortal Xuanhuang Realm.

Blue Star.

After more than two months of emergency repairs, the star gate in Chenyu was finally completed.

As spatial fluctuations continued to spread, Chao Jiuyin, Zhao Yushu, and others, along with Zhou Yi and the others, piloted the Cheng Ying mechs and eagerly stepped into the star gate, returning to Blue Star.

When they returned to Blue Star and looked at the familiar sky, projections, sun, moon, and Blue Star, even though Chao Jiuyin, Zhao Yushu, and the others tried their best to suppress their excitement, their thoughts were still turbulent.

"Finally, we're back..."

Chao Jiuyin muttered to himself.

Zhou Yi glanced at her. Having learned the truth from Gu Jinlai, he understood their feelings at this moment. However, he still reminded her, "Don't forget the Palace Master's instructions."

Upon hearing this, Chao Jiuyin composed herself and nodded emphatically.

As she looked up, her gaze quickly fell on a mecha in front of her.

"Why is it so small?"

Chao Jiuyin was somewhat taken aback.

However, she quickly realized what was happening and hurriedly asked, "Is it Xie True Disciple?"

"I am Xie Yusheng."

Xie Yusheng, piloting the mecha, quickly stepped forward.

Looking at the Cheng Ying mechs that were fifty or sixty meters tall in front of him, he felt a powerful sense of oppression.

Not only him, but also Zhao Tianfeng, who wanted to try to contact Lingxiao Palace as a representative, and a group of people from the True Immortal Research Institute were no exception.

The sense of oppression they faced was far greater than that faced by Xie Yusheng.

After all, Xie Yusheng, piloting the Cheng Ying mecha, was at least sixteen meters tall, while they...

Less than two meters.

Standing in front of the Heavenly Monarch-style Cheng Ying mecha, which is over 60 meters tall in Lingxiao Palace, is like an ordinary person standing in front of a giant ship; just one glance at it would give one a sense of suffocation.

Chao Jiuyin quickly established a connection with Xie Yusheng through spiritual fluctuations.

Before long, Xie Yusheng stepped aside and pointed to a convoy. "These are books specially prepared for the Palace Master by the True Immortal Research Institute. Almost all the books about myths and legends on the entire Blue Star are here."

He added, "In the past few months, various countries have intensified their research and excavation of the ancient Xia civilization. New things are being unearthed and compiled all the time. I will have them send them over once we reach a certain scale."

"Mythological texts and cultivation methods from Blue Star?"

Zhou Yi controlled the mecha to take a step forward.

He had also heard about the fact that Gu Jinlai had intended to research and improve a more powerful mental Cultivation Method with Zhao Xi, Tian Qingzi, Dan Chenzi, Luo Jiuxiao, and others.

His purpose in coming here was to represent Lingxiao Palace in collecting these Cultivation Method and then delivering them to Zhao Xi.

He immediately stepped forward and used his storage treasure to pack all the books in the convoy.

This amazing method naturally made Xie Yusheng extremely envious.

Fortunately, Gu Jinlai had considered the inconvenience Xie Yusheng would face when hiding his mecha. He not only had people prepare a lot of medicine to temper his body, but also some protective and everyday items for him, among which was a storage ring.

After exchanging pleasantries for a short while, in order to maintain secrecy, they did not have much interaction with the people from the True Immortal Research Institute and simply stayed there.

As for those ancient books, Zhou Yi instructed Lin Yuan to quickly send them to the Immortal Kingdom.

On the Immortal Kingdom's side, Zhao Xi, along with Tian Qingzi, Dan Chenzi, Luo Jiuxiao, and others who were in their avatars here, had long been curious about these mythological texts and Cultivation Method from Blue Star.

After all, Blue Star is a civilization in the Age of Dharma Decline. Not only did it mention the Six Paths and Six Realms of Mind and Spirit, which are almost equivalent to the Great Dao Golden Immortal and the Immortal Golden Immortal, it also pointed out the Three Saints Realm, which seems to point directly to the Dao Ancestor!

This left them all feeling somewhat bewildered.

This is roughly equivalent to discovering, after excavating the Sanxingdui ruins on Blue Star, that they were not the remains of an ancient civilization, but a super battleship powered by an annihilation reactor to activate its warp drive and a large number of intelligent robots.

In this situation, when these books were delivered to the individuals, they all studied them with great interest.

Although over 99% of these books are of little practical use.

Some of the literature describes directions that are completely misleading and lead entirely to erroneous theories.

Even if only one percent is useful, as their research deepens, gradually...

The existence of a brilliant cultivation civilization in the High Antiquity times of Blue Star remains to be confirmed.

Even...

Dan Chenzi even came to the conclusion. "Could that star be an artificial cave heaven?"

"The Blue Star civilization actually mentioned the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors... In particular, Blue Star's description of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors is extremely similar to that of the Xuanhuang Realm. Taking the Three Sovereigns as an example, the Three Sovereigns on Blue Star are Fuxi, Shennong, and Suiren, while in the Xuanhuang Realm they are Fuxi, Nuwa, and Shennong..."

Luo Jiuxiao's eyes were filled with astonishment.

"These cultivation methods don't seem to focus on the mind and spirit, but rather on a state that is even more mysterious than the mind and spirit, perhaps it should be called the mind!? They describe various State of Mind, all of which are conceptual things... They seem to be completely clueless, but upon closer examination, they seem to be quite profound... However, I cannot understand them for the time being."

Tian Qingzi frowned.

These people kept flipping through the books.

Despite the large number of books, for people of their caliber, each person is like a supercomputer, easily multitasking.

Before long, they had read most of the books.

And after they finished reading these books, gradually...

They even realized a key point on the same occasion.

A key element that is incompatible with the cultivation system of Blue Star.

"Gods."

Zhao Xi muttered to himself, "It seems that in the end, more than 90% of the immortals recorded in these ancient books have gradually been virtualized and transformed into something called 'gods'."

Tianxiang Prefecture.

Neither the Immortal Xuanhuang Realm nor its population can compare to the legendary Xuanhuang Great World, which is said to be a cosmic wonder.

Although its area is small, its population surpasses that of the Changsheng Realm and Xuanxian Realm at their peak.

Taking Tianxiang Prefecture as an example, it has a total of thirty-six circuits, each circuit contains dozens of cities, and each city contains dozens of counties and towns.

Moreover, the population of each town is basically over 10,000, and some large towns may even reach 100,000.

The same applies to counties, which have populations in the millions, with some large counties reaching tens of millions.

In other words, a single state could have a population of tens of billions.

The massive population accumulated in a territory that is not even comparable to the Immortal Realm or the Profound Immortal Realm, coupled with the fact that many areas have been designated as off-limits to ordinary people, has resulted in an astonishingly high population density in the residential and urban areas of the Immortal Profound Yellow Realm.

Now that we have arrived at the central city of Tianxiang Prefecture, Tianxiang City, which is named after Tianxiang, we can feel this change even more strongly Gu Jinlai.

This city...

It is a city that, in Gu Jinlai, can only be described as bizarre.

Towering buildings stand in rows, some even exceeding a thousand stories in height, like giant pillars that block out the sky and stand tall on the earth.

The entire city seemed to be divided into three layers.

The lowest level wasn't exactly dark; the city's lighting was excellent. However, it wasn't exactly beautiful either; it was more like a dilapidated town on Blue Star from decades ago.

It's just that the density is much higher than that of cities on Blue Star. The windows and houses are densely packed, filling the field of vision and making people's scalps tingle.

The residents here live just like they did on Blue Star decades ago, pushing carts and handcarts, and some even drive oxcarts back and forth. On the few open spaces, they also grow some vegetables.

It's uncertain whether it can survive without sunlight year-round.

The middle layer consists of rail trains, hovercars, and occasionally some mechs and private transport planes.

Bridges connect the hundreds or thousands of stories of buildings, and many buildings also have some floors left empty to build "sky" gardens. Unsuspecting visitors may think that this is the ground.

These floors are dotted with numerous flashing billboards, their constant flashing and vibrant colors creating a level of light pollution.

The top floor is the very top of all the buildings.

This layer almost rises above the clouds, and the sea of clouds can be seen churning beneath your feet.

Although this floor has no ground beneath its feet, it is filled with a large number of real sky gardens. Each building is like a mountain peak, with a few buildings on the top and around the peak, while the rest is filled with floral landscapes. Some buildings even have large-scale forests.

Mechs shuttled back and forth, landing amidst a large number of private aircraft and transport planes.

People enjoy the sun, sand, and swimming pool in their rooftop gardens, as well as various delicacies and luxury goods delivered to their door at a moment's notice, completely oblivious to what lies beneath their feet.

Upon seeing this city, Gu Jinlai finally understand why Tianxiang City, known as the largest city in Tianxiang Prefecture, has an astonishing population of 600 million.

Gu Jinlai, people have arrived in this city by passenger transport plane.

The airport is located on a mountain peak and covers a considerable area.

However, the mountain is actually a man-made structure containing a huge factory. The factory collects geothermal energy and then uses connecting pipes to continuously transport the energy to the maglev transportation system.

To some extent, this mountain peak serves as a regional bus terminal.

Gu Jinlai at the palm-sized jade talisman in his hand.

This is a peculiar entity, similar to an e-book, containing a vast amount of information, and capable of being updated in real time when connected to a special device.

Just like connecting a mobile phone to the internet.

The message page he was looking at at that moment was the ten difficult questions that the First Energy Academy of Tianxiang Prefecture had posted "online".

This was because someone questioned the fairness of the First Energy Academy's exams, and this was the method the academy's master devised to retaliate.

He claimed that anyone who could solve six questions would be unconditionally admitted to the academy, and if they could solve nine questions, the academy would even be willing to admit them as an instructor and grant them a degree.

If he can solve all ten questions, we can apply for his bachelor's degree examination on his own, and once he passes the examination, we can apply for a research project for him.

As the top-ranked academy in Tianxiang Prefecture, the Energy Academy may not be as famous as the First Pilot Academy, but if they apply for research projects, the research funding they can obtain will definitely start at hundreds of millions.

Once these ten questions were announced, they caused a huge sensation in Tianxiang Prefecture within just three months, with people eager to answer them.

Although there are many failures, there are also quite a few successes.

In three months, let alone those who solved six problems, there were more than a dozen people who solved nine problems.

However, only four people have solved all ten problems so far, one of whom just finished solving them two days ago.

I am but a humble person, and he is the newly added fourth person in Gu Jinlai.

Gu Jinlai disembarked from the transport plane, before he could even exit through the exit passage, a woman who looked to be in her early thirties, accompanied by a young girl who appeared to be a student, quickly approached him. "Are you Scholar Gu Jinlai?"

"I am."

Gu Jinlai nodded. "The First Energy Academy?"

"Greetings, Scholar Gu. I am Zhou Ya, your personal assistant assigned by the academy. In the coming period, if you encounter any difficulties in your life, please feel free to ask me. We will do our best to meet your needs."

"It was Zhou Ya, the middle-aged woman, who said respectfully."

"Thank you for your trouble."

Gu Jinlai said this, and then asked, "When will my bachelor's degree examination be held?"

"The academy's academic council has completed its research, and you can proceed whenever you are ready."

Zhou Ya said.

"Okay, then let's do it this afternoon."

This Gu Jinlai.

"Afternoon?"

Zhou Ya was taken aback. "You... you don't want to rest and recharge your energy?"

"It's not needed."

This Gu Jinlai.

While the courses at the Energy Academy are quite in-depth, the bachelor's level assessment at best only covers second-generation fusion reactors and related applications, and doesn't delve into the application and understanding of nuclear energy...

Gu Jinlai, I have considered myself to be no less outstanding than those great scholars.

Thinking of this, he asked again, "If I complete the bachelor's degree exam and obtain a bachelor's degree, when can I take the advanced bachelor's degree exam?"

"Grand Scholar!"

Zhou Ya stared wide-eyed at Gu Jinlai.

This scholar who emerged from the grassroots...

Are you that confident?

However, she quickly realized what she meant and hurriedly said, "You can apply after you have your bachelor's degree. However, the bachelor's degree is not based on an examination, but rather on the evaluation of your research achievements over the years..."

"Is that so?"

Gu Jinlai nodded.

Another crucial factor in his choice to come to the First Energy Academy was that the Celestial Star Lord was the academy's master.

Although he was only the nominal palace master, he rarely came to the Energy Academy, but his research projects were conducted there.

The research project aims to explore the limits of nuclear energy utilization.

Gu Jinlai done some research on it, and it seems to be the fourth generation of nuclear fusion reactor technology.

He planned to join the research group. He believed that if he made a breakthrough in this research, the Celestial Star Lord would naturally come to his aid and allow them to meet.

Meeting this Celestial Star Lord in the Energy Academy is much safer than going to the Xuanhuang Immortal Court, surrounded by Star Lords, Star Gods, and Star Sovereigns in the heavens, to see this Celestial Lord.

If anything goes wrong, Tianxiang City, where the First Energy Academy is located, would be a convenient place for him to retreat and hide.

The Xuanhuang Immortal Dynasty does not emphasize equality for all.

The privileged class is everywhere.

Just like now, Zhou Ya, who was merely an assistant at the First Energy Academy, piloted her aircraft directly to the waiting area of the transfer station. After Gu Jinlai, they applied for a flight path with almost the highest authority, then took off and carried him straight to the Tianxiang Energy Academy.

On the way, Zhou Ya said with some pride, "Our Tianxiang Energy Academy ranks among the top in the Immortal Dynasty in terms of energy and power. Our utilization and research of nuclear energy is only comparable to Tianshu Energy University. With Scholar Gu's talent and knowledge, he will definitely shine brightly after entering the academy."

"I am just an ordinary person on the road of nuclear energy research and development. I hope to learn more after entering the Energy Academy."

Gu Jinlai, he sighed, "However, the development of nuclear energy seems to be nearing its limit, especially with the emergence of annihilation energy. Once it matures and can be mastered by the public, I'm afraid all of us academics in nuclear energy will have to go back to the countryside to farm."

"Scholar Gu, you are too modest. Although annihilation energy has an extremely high energy release efficiency, it is very unstable. It is said that only the most outstanding figures can barely master it, and it will be difficult to popularize it for at least a thousand years. Moreover, there is still a lot of room for exploration in nuclear energy. If the Palace Master's research can yield results and produce a fourth-generation nuclear reactor, the application of nuclear energy will surely usher in a brighter and more brilliant future."

Zhou Ya said with a smile.

"I hope so."

Gu Jinlai, they have always nodded slightly.

The aircraft weaved through the sea of clouds, and soon, a complex of buildings consisting of more than a dozen "mountains" appeared in the view of the Gu Jinlai, seemingly floating on the sea of clouds.

We've arrived at the Tianxiang First Energy Academy.

I'm trying my best to write something new and present it to everyone, hoping that it won't feel too disconnected from my previous content.