The Seeds of Great Change

Billion Medicines Group headquarters.

Chairman's office.

Beyond the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, Lian Zhan Cheng silently watched drifting clouds float past before him.

"Chairman!"

The stunningly beautiful, slender female secretary pushed open the door and entered.

Even more remarkably, she was a rare white woman—a race that had nearly gone extinct after the Third World War.

Lian Zhan Cheng did not turn around.

"Our Billion Medicines Group stock price has begun to recover. Based on the various data and feedback gathered, the Statistics Department has calculated and determined that the stock price should rise by around fifty percent."

The female secretary spoke.

Even with its stock price cut in half, Billion Medicines Group still possessed total assets exceeding one trillion. It was unquestionably the Milky Way's leading pharmaceutical conglomerate, as well as one of its largest interplanetary corporations.

A fifty percent recovery in its stock price meant assets of more than five quadrillion.

Yet Lian Zhan Cheng's expression remained unchanged, as though he did not care in the slightest.

Only when the cloud before him had drifted far away and been obscured by another did he finally speak. "How is the recruitment of cultivation geniuses progressing?"

The breathtaking secretary was clearly more than just a pretty face. Her capabilities were equally exceptional.

Before coming here, she had already mastered all the information she needed.

As she opened the virtual network to check the records, she explained, "Five minutes ago, six geniuses were undergoing video interviews. As of now..."

Without missing a beat, she found the information she wanted. "There are still six."

"Notify the Personnel Department to recruit across the entire Milky Way. Anyone willing to join Billion Medicines Group's research team will receive a monthly salary of one million. There is no limit on the number of hires! The other party may also decide the contract duration themselves!"

Lian Zhan Cheng made his decision.

The secretary was startled.

Billion Medicines Group lacked nothing except money. Adding dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of million-per-month salaries was nothing to it.

But doing so would disrupt the salary balance within the group and cause many unnecessary repercussions.

Still, she quickly regained her composure.

"Understood!"

She did not question him, merely turned and left.

As a secretary, all she needed to do was carry out Lian Zhan Cheng's orders.

As for whether Lian Zhan Cheng's decisions were correct, and whether they should be questioned or opposed, that was the Board of Directors' concern.

Even after the secretary left, Lian Zhan Cheng's gaze remained fixed beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows.

He liked this feeling of standing above the clouds, looking down upon all living beings.

To the directors of Billion Medicines Group, Yi Chen's sudden emergence was a colossal disaster in the history of medicine.

But to him, Yi Chen's sudden emergence was a heaven-sent opportunity.

His plan was simple.

He would use high salaries to gather a large number of geniuses, develop a cultivation technique superior to the Chaos Art, and then release it for free.

However, accompanying the cultivation technique would be the various new medicines developed by Billion Medicines Group.

Once it succeeded, Billion Medicines Group's stock price would not only return to its peak—it could even rise to a higher level.

Every shareholder would make a fortune, their coffers brimming to overflowing.

But no one knew that Lian Zhan Cheng's desire for wealth had long since vanished into thin air.

He was already one of humanity's wealthiest men.

To him, wealth was merely a string of numbers.

What he wanted more was longevity, and supreme personal strength.

As early as several decades ago, he had begun secretly establishing all manner of laboratories and investing behind the scenes in research institutions studying related abilities.

Unfortunately, there had never been any major breakthroughs.

Yi Chen's sudden emergence rekindled his hopes.

It filled his heart, which had nearly become devoid of all desire, with fighting spirit once more.

At the same time, throughout the Milky Way, there were at least dozens of top tycoons who shared thoughts similar to Lian Zhan Cheng's.

Those with keen instincts had begun to sense that something was brewing throughout high society.

The seeds of a great upheaval for the Human Race were being born!

Flame Mountain Tribe.

Nearly a month had passed.

Yi Chen finally stepped out of the small Wooden House.

Counting the days, only three days remained until the three-month competition deadline set by the Flame Mountain Tribe's Tribal Chief.

For him, that was enough time!

From the very beginning, he had already decided on his plan.

He would cultivate with all his strength and break through to the Spirit Release Realm.

Then, he would hunt the Green Leopard in the forest south of the valley.

This Green Leopard stood over ten meters tall. It was enormous and weighed several hundred tons.

If he killed it in one stroke, the total weight of his prey would easily crush Gu Li and Luo Ge's.

Several hundred tons of food would also be enough for the more than one thousand tribespeople of the Flame Mountain Tribe to enjoy a rich and bountiful Harsh Winter.

Most importantly, the forest was filled with wild beasts and low-level Ferocious Beasts, making it originally the ideal hunting ground.

Yet because of the powerful Green Leopard, no one from the Flame Mountain Tribe dared set foot inside.

Even Gu Li and Luo Ge, the strongest among them, were no exception.

If he killed the Green Leopard, it would mean that all the beasts and low-level Ferocious Beasts in the entire forest would be open to the Flame Mountain Tribe.

The criticisms aimed at him—disregarding tribal rules by not participating in hunts for nearly a month, and an outsider competing for the position of Tribal Chief—would all vanish like smoke in the wind.

Coupled with his formidable strength, no one would dare question or oppose him becoming the new Tribal Chief of the Flame Mountain Tribe.

Having made up his mind, Yi Chen left The Valley where the Flame Mountain Tribe was located and strode toward the forest to the south.

"Strange. It's rare for him to leave the house, yet instead of seeking out Gu Li, that peerless beauty, he's leaving the Tribe and The Valley directly. What's going on?"

"Judging from his route, it looks like he's heading toward the southern forest."

"My God, everyone, check the map! There's a Level 10 Green Leopard in the southern forest."

"A Level 10 Ferocious Beast? According to the information released by the Military, only Gene Warriors can contend with one in solo combat!"

"This is bad. What rotten luck. Why is it that whenever he does not leave, all is quiet, but the moment he does, danger lies in every direction?"

"Not necessarily. Last time he went out, we thought he was doomed the moment he encountered the Roaring Tiger. But what happened? He avoided the Roaring Tiger with his speed."

"This time, I even suspect he's heading for the Green Leopard on purpose. I remember that when he returned to the Flame Mountain Tribe with Gu Li, she mentioned the Green Leopard."

"How is that possible? This is a Level 10 Green Leopard. In solo combat, only Gene Warriors can contend with it."

"No matter what, there's no way he reached the strength of a Gene Warrior in less than two months."

"Training a Gene Warrior requires hundreds of millions in funding and over a decade of time."

The audience in the Live Stream Room erupted into heated discussion when they saw Yi Chen heading south of The Valley.

Some felt that he had terrible luck and always encountered powerful Ferocious Beasts whenever he went out.

Others believed he was very likely seeking out the Green Leopard on his own initiative.

But even more people firmly believed that he simply had a cursed streak of bad luck—he had casually picked a direction and somehow chosen the south, where a Level 10 Ferocious Beast lurked.

No matter who they were, everyone began to worry.

Although after Billion Medicines Group, quite a few major conglomerates and top tycoons had announced high-salary recruitment for researchers and cultivation geniuses, beginning research into better cultivation techniques and all promising to release them for free.

In theory, with their vast financial resources, material resources, and greater number of geniuses, these research institutions would certainly be able to create superior cultivation techniques.

But they had not created one yet.

Therefore, Yi Chen, as the founder, remained the Pioneer and trailblazer of this cultivation method.

If he truly encountered some danger, this cultivation method might be cut off completely.