A moment later, Su Wen reined in his aura and slowly opened his eyes.
At the same time, the Star God emerged from his epiphany.
"God of Wealth, when you deduce the Basic Body Tempering Method, can you... choose the direction?"
The Star God rose as he spoke. Last time, he had just told the God of Wealth about that feeling of inspiration soaring, and this time, the Basic Body Tempering Method the God of Wealth had deduced had given him that very feeling.
Most importantly, he could tell that the new version of the Basic Body Tempering Method the God of Wealth had deduced contained an extensive body of knowledge about the stars.
Moreover, the knowledge associated with the Basic Body Tempering Method was highly compatible with him, and as he observed it, he felt as though he was... learning!
It was no exaggeration to say that the creator of the new Basic Body Tempering Method had a deeper understanding of the system of stars than he did, far surpassing his current level.
Of course, he also knew that the God of Wealth had deduced it through the power of money.
He had no chance of meeting the nonexistent creator of the technique.
Otherwise, what a great stroke of fortune it would be to meet and discuss it with him!
That was why he had asked whether the God of Wealth could choose a direction when he used money to deduce a technique.
If he could, that would be wonderful.
"I can't determine the direction."
Su Wen thought for a moment and said, "All I can say is that the more attention you pay to the Basic Body Tempering Method, the more the next version I deduce will lean toward the stars."
Understanding flashed in the Star God's eyes. "All right, I understand."
So that was how it worked!
The God of Wealth's words had already explained a great deal.
So deduction meant using money to deduce a technique that would exist in the future!
The more attention he paid to it, the more the Basic Body Tempering Method leaned toward the stars. Didn't that explain everything?
The Theater God stood to one side, having watched every body-strengthening movement of the Basic Body Tempering Method Su Wen had just demonstrated.
He hadn't been interested at first, but suddenly, he was.
The way things developed in this world was truly strange!
"Oh, right. Someone suggested earlier that when we trade the Basic Body Tempering Method with foreign countries, we could exchange it for their cutting-edge technology where appropriate."
"For example, advanced chips, precision machine tools, and certain pharmaceutical patents that aren't available on the market," the Star God said.
"We could even use these methods to quickly buy back the shares in some of our country's companies that Meilina holds."
"Although Meilina's Heavenly Mandate Bearers aren't as strong as ours, we have to admit that Meilina's cutting-edge weapons and advanced technology are still superior to ours."
The Battle God scoffed. "They recruit talent from all over the world, after all. With most of the world's top talent serving one country, it's only natural that their technology is ahead of ours."
The Star God nodded slightly. "I didn't support the idea at first. After all, exchanging it for money would give you direct assistance."
"But if your Basic Body Tempering Method is updated and improved especially quickly, we could have them pay for part of it with supplies, knowledge, and technological information, and the rest with money."
"That would strengthen the country while maintaining a virtuous cycle. What do you think?"
"No problem!" Su Wen said. "Doing that would also let us make better use of foreign resources-a dual circulation, domestic and international!"
In the future, as long as they didn't lose the Battle of the East Sea, the Great Darkness Era would never arrive.
So technological power would still be useful in the future. In particular, once the Arrow Realms shattered, communication between countries might not be so convenient.
Strengthening their technological power in peacetime would be a good thing for future wars, too.
"Good. That gives us more options."
The Star God smiled. "After all, if we only ask for money, we'll soon shear those sheep bald."
"With that technology, the domestic economy can also rise to another level."
"Of course, the country won't forget your contribution."
"I've already submitted a request for all future international foreign exchange transactions to be reflected in our organization's account, so you can draw on the funds directly."
"It hasn't been approved yet, but as long as your achievements show their value, it will be put into effect."
"The country might even adjust its national strategy because of you and start building up its foreign exchange reserves again."
"The Basic Body Tempering Method... everyone has a good eye. They can all see the value this technique holds."
"I'm looking forward to the arrival of those foreign friends of ours."
Su Wen's eyes flickered. He was wondering whether, when he went to the future, he could bring its technology back too.
He had already brought back martial skills and techniques, so why not technology?
But the development of every technology seemed to involve the arguments of numerous cutting-edge papers, as well as the support and calculations of vast amounts of experimental data. Could he remember it all?
Hmm... could the future's technique-transmission talismans record technological information?
If they could, could he use them to record future technology and then bring it back?
He didn't need to absorb it into his own mind. As long as he could bring it back, there were professionals to handle that sort of thing.
For scientists, wouldn't it feel great to have vast amounts of technological information pour into their brains in an instant, without having to study it?
It was worth a try!
If technology advanced to an extremely high level, it could also pose a major threat to those Arrow Realm creatures.
Otherwise, why had those Arrow Realm creatures interfered with electricity and technology in the previous timeline?
They interfered because they were afraid!
Otherwise, wouldn't it have been better to leave them alone and let them distract humanity?
After a brief chat, everyone returned to their respective duties.
The Star God went to attend to matters related to the Basic Body Tempering Method, the deployment of the Star Grand Array, and a whole series of other major affairs concerning the Heavenly Mandate Bearers.
The Theater God sat down on a stool in the office area and flipped his right hand, producing an ancient book.
Beside him, the Battle God was deep in thought.
The Wind God, meanwhile, was doing his homework, his hands moving so fast they left afterimages. He was going into the Rule Arrow Realm in a couple of days, and before that, he had to finish attending his classes and complete his homework.
Otherwise, the work piled up by the time he returned from exploring the Arrow Realm would be too much.
After Su Wen returned to his office, he looked at the setting sun outside the window and suddenly felt a little reflective.
The world was ever-changing!
Two days ago, he had been an ordinary person.
Now, his every move could influence the course of the future.
Wealth Source Points: 15 (+). Life-form: tier three.
Applying the Basic Body Tempering Method 3.0 had cost 43.5 Wealth Source Points, or 435 million.
Come to think of it, he had already spent a great deal of money.
"A tier-three life-form in two days. Even those nonhumans probably wouldn't have expected that, would they?"
Su Wen couldn't help laughing. It wasn't just the nonhumans who hadn't expected it; he hadn't expected it himself.
But advancing from tier two to tier three alone had cost over 400 million, not counting his earlier expenses.
Advancing beyond tier three would probably cost even more.
He could foresee that his rate of improvement would slow down after tier three.
"Last time I came back after using Wealth Disrupts Space-Time, I didn't attract the attention of the River of Space-Time."
After sitting back down in his chair, Su Wen tapped his desk lightly with his right hand and thought, Then... I'll go to the future again and see how things are.
After I activate it this time, my self in this timeline must tell the Star God before he dies that I'll descend again in July of year 32.
I also hope the Star God really will be all right.