Chapter 758

Chapter 758: The Small Reserve

Year 6505 of the Xia calendar, Haigang City

On a new day, when Lin Jiang saw Cao Ying, he sensed that her true self had returned, and Cao Ying smiled brightly.

"Did you break through?"

"Hmm."

"Can you tell me where you hid?"

"Am I not allowed to have a little secret base? Besides, this world is so big, with so many mountains. Can you search the whole world?"

Cao Ying smiled and said, "This world is very big. Even though Huaxia has flown out of the solar system, we don’t know much about this world. The vast oceans and mysterious underground are places that humans rarely visit."

"Next time you disappear, I’ll turn the whole world upside down."

"Then there won’t be a next time for me."

"That’s good, so I won’t worry. What did you realize during this breakthrough?"

"I can’t say."

"Are you playing this game with me too?"

"Some secrets should not be revealed. Do you think this is just a joke? There are some things that are better left unsaid, because once you say them, they lose their meaning."

"If you keep doing that, I will be unhappy."

Lin Jiang said, "Cao Ying plays this game too? What secrets should not be revealed?"

"Haha, I was joking. If it has happened, it has happened. There’s nothing deep about it, it’s just that way. Alright, let’s not talk about that anymore. I haven’t been back in years. Come on, I’ll take you out for a meal."

"Didn’t we just eat last night?"

"What the other person eats doesn’t count; it’s not me eating."

Cao Ying pulled Lin Jiang back to the living room of the villa, telling the cook to prepare delicious food. There weren’t many cooks in the villa, just about ten, but they could make dishes from various cuisines; they were all multi-talented.

During the meal, Cao Ying talked about many things. The other person’s thoughts could never match those of the real person. She might have wanted to say all the things she hadn’t been able to say over the years.

A month later, Lin Jiang and Cao Ying arrived at Lunar Base. They came here because Zhu Bin invited them. Zhu Bin has now achieved the Tao Achieving level, and he was the one who did not use treasures to break through.

After advancing to the Tao Achieving level, Zhu Bin’s skill in formations improved once again, and he focused on teleportation arrays, making significant progress. The teleportation distance suddenly increased from five million kilometers to over one hundred million kilometers.

"Ancestor Lin, this is our latest teleportation array. At this moment, the distance from the Moon to Venus is about one hundred and twenty million kilometers. Should we try to teleport to Venus?"

Zhu Bin was in high spirits; in the realm of formations, no one was his match now, and other formation masters were on a lower level than him.

"At first glance, the scale of the teleportation array is several times larger than before. How far can it teleport?"

"Three hundred million kilometers."

"Didn’t you just say it was over one hundred million?"

"I enhanced it again, and it has been tested. We also solved the issue of varying transmission frequencies caused by celestial changes. Between planets within three hundred million kilometers, teleporting is no problem."

"Three hundred million, huh?"

Lin Jiang said, "Light travels at three hundred thousand kilometers per second. Three hundred million kilometers is one thousand seconds of light travel, which is about ten minutes of light travel."

"Ancestor Lin?"

"Ahem, I lost my train of thought, I lost my train of thought."

"What is the ancestor thinking about, getting distracted at this moment?"

"Zhu Bin, you called me here because you want to increase your investment, right?"

"Yes."

Zhu Bin did not hide it. After all, Huaxia’s income is always so high. If he does not take it, someone else will. The annual expenses are fixed. Although he does not care much for this income, he has people to support. He has a whole group of people depending on him for a living.

"That could be a problem. To be honest, Cao Wang is always working on improving the speed of his aircraft. Three hundred million kilometers is just over ten minutes of light travel. If he develops a light-speed spaceship, you won’t have much of an advantage."

"Ancestor Lin, I have people watching over Brother Cao. How could he possibly develop a light-speed spaceship? Don’t trick me. The latest model of the engine is theoretically just ten thousand Mach, while light speed is over eight hundred thousand times the speed of sound. So, that means at most one-eighth of light speed."

"But at ten thousand Mach, that is over ten million kilometers per hour. Three hundred million kilometers would only take a few hours. In terms of cost, it is much more efficient."

"This, this…"

Zhu Bin suddenly stuttered, realizing that if time wasn’t urgent, spending a few extra hours flying didn’t seem like a big deal.

"Zhu Bin, don’t let him confuse you. A teleportation array takes an extra thirty hours, but what if there are dozens or hundreds of teleportation arrays?"

"Yes, thank you, Ancestor Cao and Ancestor Lin. You almost had me fooled!"

When Cao Ying spoke, Zhu Bin immediately understood; it wasn’t that he was not smart, but he had just needed a moment to think.

Even if we don’t mention the distance of dozens of teleportation arrays, what about urgent situations?

"Ha ha, Zhu Bin, I’ll be honest with you, I’m out of money. The Huaxia Official is out of money too. You’ve drained my resources! Really, my little savings are running low."

Lin Jiang laughed heartily, but he was speaking the truth; he really didn’t have much money left. Unless he sold assets like shares in big corporations or his land and farms, but he wouldn’t just dispose of those since he needed to accommodate many people on that land. What would happen to those people if he sold it?

When Zhu Bin heard this, his face immediately turned sour. This time he had promised his subordinates that he would secure them some benefits. Could it be that he had to pay for it himself?

"Zhu Bin, how about this? I will invest in you."

"Ancestor Cao, do you have money?"

"Am I underestimating people? I may not be as wealthy as Ancestor Lin, but I can still help you."

Cao Ying laughed and said, she also owned some businesses. It wasn’t much, maybe a few small goals each year, but she had little expenses and had accumulated a lot of wealth over the years.

Lin Jiang glanced at Cao Ying in surprise, but she remained unfazed, smiling at Zhu Bin.

"Let’s not touch Cao Ying’s money. I have a few pieces of land in Qingyun with some mineral resources. I haven’t touched them before, but I will go back and have them mined. All the earnings will go to you. I don’t know how much there is, what do you think?"

"It wouldn’t hurt to add mine as well."

"Um, Ancestor Cao, let’s forget about your money. I’ll take Ancestor Lin’s."

Zhu Bin was very perceptive and immediately declined Cao Ying’s kindness. He accepted Lin Jiang’s money, but Cao Ying’s money felt a bit too hot to handle, and Ancestor Lin was somewhat displeased.

"Can we talk about the reason?"

After finishing the discussion with Zhu Bin, Lin Jiang privately asked Cao Ying.

"The reason is simple: Zhu Bin is a talented person who needs to be brought on board. They made a huge technological breakthrough with this teleportation array, and a lot of people want to benefit from it. You can’t just give nothing, can you?"

"Zhu Bin and his team haven’t done too much, but they’ve taken a lot. You know I’ve been hinting at them, and I don’t believe you don’t understand what I mean. You’re deliberately undermining me."

"I’m not undermining anything; I just feel that this matter is uninteresting. Zhu Bin has also achieved Tao. If it were in the age of cultivation, to put it bluntly, the whole world belongs to us Tao Achieving Ancestors. They have been quite respectful of the rules."

"You are changing the subject."

"I’m not; if you want to keep asking, I’ll just say I’m tired of being in this world and want to look for aliens. You told me hundreds of years ago that you wanted to truly venture into interstellar space with me. The current Space Mother Ship is fully fueled and can fly for hundreds of years. When will you go with me?"

"The time isn’t right; the technology isn’t mature enough. Flying for hundreds of years only takes us to a few star systems, which isn’t useful. The nearest habitable exoplanet is several light-years away."

"So what’s wrong with me betting everything on space technology? What should I keep my properties for? I have no disciples and no children. I won’t use much money myself, so what’s the point of keeping it? To let it go to waste?"

"You make a good point; you won."

"Of course I won; I have reason on my side. I don’t need to invest with Zhu Bin, I’ll go find Cao Wang instead. That’s an even bigger bottomless pit."

Cao Ying said this, and when Lin Jiang heard her words, he felt a bit more serious and finally let out a sigh.

Cao Ying wasn’t joking; she quickly found Cao Wang and donated ninety-nine percent of her savings to him to increase the investment.

"Cao Wang, my money is not easy to get. Within a hundred years, can we increase the speed of the spacecraft to one-tenth of the speed of light? Is that too high a request?"

"Ancestor Cao, this money is quite hot."

"It doesn’t matter if it’s hot; you have already signed the donation contract. Lin Jiang never pressured you, but I will. You need to increase the speed to one-tenth of the speed of light within a hundred years, or your funding will gradually weaken. Or I can find someone more capable. There are plenty of genius-level talents in Huaxia; over hundreds of years, there must be at least a few dozen. Don’t you agree?"

"Yes."

Cao Wang said helplessly, "There are really quite a few genius prodigies in Huaxia. On average, one appears every few decades. The key is that these geniuses have the best treasures and will find ways to extend their lives. After hundreds of years, there are several dozen of them."

In terms of cleverness and talent, Cao Wang cannot compare to them; this is undisputed, it’s natural. Cao Wang can control the overall situation because of his identity as a cultivator.

"Since there are no problems, let’s get to work. I’m leaving."

"Ancestor Cao, I also want to break through to Tao Achieving."

Cao Wang hurriedly said, "I haven’t broken through to Tao Achieving yet. I’m only at mid-Void Achieving, which is considered behind among the awakened cultivators."

"The elixirs will be prepared for you. I assure you, no one can take them away. Whether you succeed or not depends on your own skills."

Cao Ying waved her hand; the first batch of Tao Achieving treasures was already used up, but the second batch will start soon since it has been several hundred years since they woke up.