Digital Ascension

Old Master Cheng finished speaking, he slowly raised his hand and gently drew a thin line of light in the air, within which the data layer could be vaguely seen.

Optical fiber?

"Boss Hu has caught up," said Old Master Cheng. Before he finished speaking, his figure disappeared into the streak of light, like a wisp of smoke blown away by the wind.

Hu Mang stared at the optical fiber for a while, then his Nascent Soul Divine Sense slowly moved towards the light. The moment he touched the light, an indescribable pulling force suddenly came, like an invisible giant beast opening its blood-red maw and swallowing his Divine Sense whole.

The feeling was like a silent fall, or a flight ignited by fire. The Hu Mang's Divine Sense was like an arrow shot out, carrying an indescribable ferocity and speed, instantly plunging into a boundless river of light.

It's similar to the Rainbow Transformation in the Demon Cave, both involving the speed of light.

However, there were also differences. The Hu Mang could clearly sense that the Rainbow Transformation in front of it was not real.

Although there are changes in location, the fluctuations are mostly in virtual data.

What's even more absurd is that Data Rainbow Transformation in the virtual network consumes ten times more resources than Rainbow Transformation in the Demon Cave.

Moreover, it mainly consumes Divine Sense.

Could it be because in the void rift, I can absorb Qi of the Void to restore my Divine Sense, but in the virtual network, there is almost no information or data at the Nascent Soul level?

No wonder ordinary cultivators need to use Divine Sense software to access the internet; relying solely on their own Divine Sense to traverse the network is indeed too taxing.

The scenery was alright, though.

Rainbow Transformation in the void is like soaking in a huge pool of water, formless and shapeless, yet every step feels like pushing something aside.

But here, it is a river woven from pure light.

Countless fine rays of light intertwine, like a meticulously woven giant net, each thread containing a wealth of information.

The Hu Mang sensed a subtle fluctuation of Spiritual Qi at each point where the light intersected. What was that? Antivirus software? Firewall?

However, since it was his first time online, he didn't dare to wander off, but instead followed behind Old Master Cheng's Nascent Soul.

There was no communication between the two sides.

In this state of "Data Rainbow Transformation," communication seems impossible.

Moreover, this journey was very quick, lasting only a few breaths.

Their eyes lit up again; before Hu Mang's eyes appeared a towering sect building that seemed to pierce the clouds.

"Is this a virtual building?" (Cheng Clan Elixir Limited Liability Sect)

"This is a data sect, which is different from Virtual Grotto-Heaven. Unless you're a sect enterprise with a big data center, you need to enter a lottery to open a virtual sect."

Soon, Divine Sense swept out from the building opposite, and even the Divine Sense at the Golden Core level seemed unable to take form in this state.

"Boss?"

"Elder Cheng?"

"Is there anything you need to tell me, Elder Cheng?"

"It's alright, I'll show Boss Hu around a bit, you guys go back first."

As the words were spoken, Hu Mang's spatial orientation seemed to be reversed. When he came to his senses, he was already at the entrance of the building.

Boss Cheng was waiting ahead with a smile.

"What's the use of the Data Sect?" Hu Mang asked curiously.

"The so-called data sect, in other words, is like an ancient library," specifically used to store all the sect's Cultivation Method and experimental data.

"If there's anything special about it, it's that it allows for virtual cultivation experiments and virtual elixir clinical testing."

As he led the way, Boss Cheng introduced Hu Mang to the situation.

"Boss Hu should know that in the past, new Cultivation Method and Law Technique were forged at the cost of human lives. Countless brilliant young cultivators were unable to make any progress in their lives because their foundations were damaged while trying to comprehend new methods."

"The human body's meridians are so fragile."

"There are also some new types of pills that can cause various adverse reactions."

"But within this Data Sect, such testing can be conducted. Through big data simulations of ordinary cultivators, various virtual Law Technique experiments and virtual clinical tests can be performed, saving us at least 90% of the effort."

"Is this kind of testing effective? After all, it's not True Person," Hu Mang asked curiously.

"Previously, the accuracy rate was only 30%, but with the transmission of a large amount of human data, the judgment on drugs has become increasingly accurate."

Hu Mang pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, "I've heard a saying overseas that some private sects would associate with the old..."

Is it true that Celestial Person secretly cooperated?

Boss Cheng spoke calmly, as if discussing something unrelated to himself. "Yes, that's true. In fact, our Chengdan Spiritual Enterprise has a collaboration with the Old Celestial Person. Some of their experimental data is very useful for our new drug development."

"What is Boss Cheng's view on those Old Celestial Person, such as those cyber monks?"

After thinking about it carefully, Boss Cheng said, "There are too many variables; it's impossible to quantify or popularize it."

"What?"

"Overly aggressive human development leads to numerous side effects from the training they achieve."

Breakthroughs in cultivation levels caused by too many external factors make it impossible to determine whether they are abnormal or normal. Without a large number of regular users, large-scale data collection and subsequent drug updates are impossible.

He paused, a profound light flashing in his eyes.

"The Old Celestial Person's path is about individual perfection," each Cyber Cultivator is a unique work of art, but works of art cannot be mass-produced, replicated, or standardized. Our Chengdan Spiritual Enterprise's path, however, is about collective optimization. We don't need a perfect work of art, but thousands upon thousands of qualified products. The Old Celestial Person's data is merely a "reference" for us, not a "template."

Then he looked at Hu Mang and laughed.

"Is Boss Hu satisfied with this answer?"

"Good."

"Does Boss Hu know what my Cheng Household did back in the Old Heavenly Gate era?"

Hu Mang was taken aback. Considering the other person's age, he suddenly realized something: the other person might have lived in the Old Heavenly Gate for as long as in the New Heavenly Gate.

And it seems there are quite a few big shots like this in New Heavenly Gate.

Next, this Boss Cheng led him on a tour of the data sect's drug development department, clinical research department, and intellectual property department, and incidentally took a look at the virtual cultivator the other party had mentioned, who "looked like a mannequin."

At least within the perception of Nascent Soul Divine Sense, it failed to convincingly disguise itself as real.

It is said that the inspiration for this virtual evolution comes from the ancient Daoist Scattering Beans into Soldiers, both of which are deceptive, except that one was used for magical battles and the other for cultivation experiments.

Boss Cheng also mentioned that, in addition to online virtual cultivation experiments, Chengdan Spiritual Enterprise is also at Heavenly Gate level in the fields of "plant meridians" and "grafted meridians".

In short, after showing off their muscles, the two returned to the Virtual Grotto-Heaven via the internet.

Then came the signing of the contract and the establishment of the partnership, without any disputes whatsoever.

After all, the points that needed to be discussed and debated were already discussed a month ago.

After signing the contract, Old Master Cheng didn't linger; instead, he left decisively.

After signing the equity contract with the Daoist insignia, Hu Mang clearly felt a special kind of Fortune descend upon him.

"You felt it, boss?" Wu Cai looked comfortable and satisfied, clearly he had sensed it too.

"Do you know why this old man is so easy to talk to, and why he came all this way to sign the papers? Chengdan Spiritual Enterprise is going to officially go through the listing process in three months, and he needs to release positive news to the market."

"That's why the old man is so nice. You haven't seen how he treats his employees. He's a real workplace tyrant, with that old-fashioned patriarchal attitude ingrained in him."

"Really?" Hu Mang asked in surprise, "I didn't see that at all."

"It just means they're good at putting on an act. It doesn't matter. We're just investing in their patent, not actually begging for food under their roof. Out of sight, out of mind. Once they go public, riding that Fortune, I might just be able to break through to the Golden Core Late Stage."

"I'm off! I've been so busy these past few months, I need a good night's sleep."

After Wu Cai left, Hu Mang sensed the illusory Dao contract in his sea of consciousness, as well as the 10.3% shareholding marked on it. However, this was only the shareholding ratio before the public offering. Once the shares were distributed after the listing, it might be diluted to a few percent or even a fraction of a percent.

However, in this process, one of the Five Fortunes, Qi Luck, will evolve. Almost every Nascent Soul and Spirit Transformation Fortune at the Heavenly Gate relies on it to break through to higher realms.

Moreover, it is the only one among the Five Fortunes that can be used by the common people; the others, such as the Slaughter Fortune, the Tribulation Fortune, and the Terminal Fortune, are not applicable.

The Interception Fortune is not open to the public.

"If this goes public successfully, based on the number of shares I hold, I'm guaranteed at least a Golden Core Late Stage cultivator, and might even reach the Golden Core Great Perfection. As for the Nascent Soul, that's probably impossible."

According to the contract, most of the Fortune evolution after the listing is to be handed over to Boss Cheng to help him reach the Nascent Spirit Transformation stage; otherwise, the double-digit original shares could be used to try to reach the Nascent Soul.

"But I don't know if it will be able to go public successfully. It should be close, I guess. This old man has waited for so many years, he can't be completely unprepared."

The Hu Mang muttered to itself.

Private sects going public also face trials, but unlike the ascension tribulations in the Azure Mysterious Realm, they are more like trials of inner Devil Tribulation, testing the market's acceptance of the stock, the sustainability of the business model's evolution, market share, financial statements, equity structure, and profitability.

This is more like a numbers game.

Therefore, this private sect going public was jokingly referred to by people inside the Heavenly Gate as "Digital Ascension".

However, the company's vision of going public is somewhat like the grand aspirations of a Buddha in the Form Realm.

The main point is to not discuss whether it can be done or not, but to put on a show first.

"Now that's great! There's a private sect ascending to immortality in Heavenly Gate, and a sect leader ascending to immortality in the Azure Mysterious Realm. Are you all rushing off to do the same thing?"

Moreover, one virtue and one destiny are combined to Void Refinement.

The Fortune should be blessed with good fortune.

Is Fude related to employee benefits?

You bunch of Heavenly Gate capitalists, no wonder not a single one of you has reached the Void Refinement.

There's a reason for that.