Those Who Blaze the Trail

Over in the Tianling Realm, however, Lin Yi had none of Pan Yongnian's inner drama. With his relentlessly straightforward personality, he barely even registered the apology in Pan Yongnian's words. He simply gave an affirmative reply while placing the supplies bound for the home world into the center of the light ring, piece by piece. Once everything was in place, he activated the spirit stones and initiated the transfer. The next second— *Whoosh!* The supplies before Lin Yi vanished completely, replaced by another batch of technological creations. "Academician Pan." After three large-scale transfers, Lin Yi had already adopted the nonchalant, seen-it-all demeanor of an old proctologist from Sichuan when facing the sudden arrival of cross-world cargo. "The goods I've sent back this time are a bit varied. The largest portion consists of Primordial Origin Pills—a total of one thousand four hundred bottles. "Under normal circumstances, that should be enough for over three hundred people to complete their Awakening. If we're lucky, four hundred or more might even be possible. "In addition, there are three medium-grade spirit stones, three hundred low-grade spirit stones, over two hundred miscellaneous local gazetteers and unofficial histories, as well as some basic medicinal pills. "Oh, right—the camera integration module is in there too, along with the footage I recorded of the early Nascent Soul cultivators fighting..." Back at the Drunken Moon Tower, the materials from the Golden-Eyed Crimson-Scale Beasts had brought in one thousand three hundred low-grade spirit stones. The subsequent purchase of five hundred bottles of Primordial Origin Pills and other reference materials had cost Lin Yi a hundred and fifty low-grade spirit stones. After factoring out the one thousand bottles of Primordial Origin Pills and sundry supplies bought from other trading firms, Lin Yi had possessed a total of one thousand five hundred bottles of Primordial Origin Pills in his Storage Pouch upon returning to the sect, along with low- and medium-grade spirit stones equivalent to eight hundred and twenty-seven low-grade spirit stones. Yes, that included Daoist Hengshui's tea money. Attention to detail. After careful consideration, Lin Yi had kept one hundred bottles of Primordial Origin Pills for himself, along with several low-grade spirit stones and seven medium-grade spirit stones. The former was primarily to account for the daily cultivation consumption of the sect's disciples. The Great Calamity had only just ended, so providing some resources was necessary to reassure and steady their minds. The latter was purely for the logistical needs of transmission. After all, the light ring could currently only be activated from Lin Yi's side, and the resource expenditure for every single transfer had to come from his pocket. Counting the few medium-grade spirit stones he already had on hand, Lin Yi would not have to worry about running short of spirit stones for at least the next fifteen full transmissions. After exchanging a few more pieces of information with Pan Yongnian and agreeing on a time for their next check-in, Lin Yi ended the communication. *** Roughly half an hour later. Accompanied by Pan Yongnian, Fang Lei from Department 307 escorted the supplies away from the transmigration point. After three hours of bumpy transit, the personnel and cargo arrived smoothly at Dawn Base. Soon afterward, Pan Yongnian changed back into his experimental uniform and stepped into a vast testing hall. When he arrived, a crowd had already gathered: Ma Heng, physics heavyweight Xu Xiujie, a contingent of top experts, and Sun Lao. The luminaries stood gathered around the consoles of several large instruments, casually chatting and laughing. "Sun Lao," Pan Yongnian said, walking up to the two meritorious elders and nodding to several familiar faces. "Academician Ma, Elder Xu, Academician Guo... Don't you all have research projects on your hands? What brings everyone here?" "Listen to you. No matter how busy we are, we couldn't miss this," Ma Heng replied with a smile, holding a thermal mug emblazoned with the navy emblem. "This is the home world's very first cultivation trial. Everyone wants to witness history with their own eyes." The other experts nodded in agreement. Just as Ma Heng said, today's experiment was of extraordinary significance. If even a single person succeeded, it would inevitably be etched into the history books. On such a momentous occasion, how could anyone resist coming to watch? As it turned out, even the top figures of the scientific community could not suppress their curiosity. Pan Yongnian then lifted his head to look across the floor. On the open ground at the far side stood roughly a hundred narrow chambers. In front of them stood nearly a hundred young men with crew cuts. Spaced two to three meters apart, they all wore army-green sleeveless undershirts. Every posture was ramrod-straight, radiating sharp, military discipline. The only unusual detail was that from their temples down to their heels, silver discs resembling ECG electrodes were affixed at various points across their bodies. Standing directly in front of them, looking out gravely over the gathering, was Chen Zhengze, accompanied by Fang Lei, who had entered ahead of the group. A few minutes later, a young woman who looked like an assistant approached the expert group and distributed in-ear monitors to each of them. Once everything was ready— *Swish!* Chen Zhengze raised his right hand high, and the room instantly fell silent. "Comrades!" Taking a deep breath, he swept his gaze across the assembled troops and spoke in a resounding voice: "All ninety-nine of you were selected from across the base for meeting the spiritual root requirements. I trust everyone is already aware of the situation regarding cultivation. "We have gathered here today with only one objective. Tell me, what is it?!" Before the words had even faded, the ninety-nine soldiers straightened their backs, threw back their chins, and shouted with thunderous resolve: "Today we blaze the trail with our own flesh; tomorrow the multitude shall follow!" "Good!" Clearly satisfied by the soldiers' spirited response, Chen Zhengze nodded. "I won't waste your time with empty talk. I'll go over the procedure right now. "Once the trial begins, our staff will hand out a two-hundred-milliliter drink. Each of you must down it in a single breath. "Then remain standing in place for five minutes before entering the chamber behind you in your designated order. Follow the prompts inside. Understood?" "Understood!" the soldiers roared in unison. Chen Zhengze nodded. "Then let us begin." With that, he stripped off his jacket in one swift motion, revealing the exact same attire as the soldiers before him. Stepping beside Fang Lei, he picked up a cup of clear liquid, raised it toward both the soldiers and the expert delegation in a solemn toast, and drank it down in a single gulp. Among the expert delegation, a young researcher who had rarely dealt with the military looked on in astonishment. "Chief of Staff Chen, he's..." Ma Heng, who hailed from the navy, glanced at him. "Didn't they just say it? Today we blaze the trail with our own flesh. Without someone of sufficient standing taking the lead and setting the cadence, how can a new path be forged?" The young expert froze, taken aback. Seeing his reaction, Ma Heng offered a faint smile and said no more. A popular saying held that the difference between the Rabbit army and other militaries was that one called each other 'comrades' while the others called each other 'brothers.' Yet that was not entirely accurate. In the Rabbit military, the word 'brother' was by no means uncommon. For instance, during the commemorative assembly for the Battle of Laoshan, a general's son had shouted 'brothers' multiple times, a moment that became iconic in military history. The real difference was that other armies shouted 'Charge!', while the Rabbits' style was always 'Follow me!' Leading by personal example naturally drew legions of followers. So it had been with the assault squad at the Luding Bridge in '35. So it had been with the fifteen airborne warriors in '08. And so it was now with Chen Zhengze. *** After finishing the drink, Chen Zhengze waited for five minutes. Then, with a nod to Fang Lei, he stepped into Cultivation Chamber No. 1. The chamber was only about two square meters in area, with a minimalist interior. A single meditation cushion sat in the center, and beside it on the right rested a medicine bottle. "Comrade Chen Zhengze." Once the chamber door sealed shut, a gentle female voice sounded from overhead: "Please open the medicine bottle to your right and consume one Primordial Origin Pill."