But is this the key?

Lou Feng said it offhandedly, and Ji Jue could only laugh it off as a joke. Whoever among them took it seriously would be the real fool.

Putting aside its potential, its truly terrifying aspect lies in the complete entity it forms when the swarm gathers, akin to the Fly King reverse-engineered from a worm.

Not only can it reproduce and grow like other spiritual creature swarms, but it's also a natural match with most alchemy creations, able to integrate with the majority of devices.

One or two standalone tools are not worrisome, but when all of them combine under the Fly King, it forms an independent and complete system.

It builds a bridge between inanimate objects and living beings, even creating undeniably mechanical life.

And all this... was cultivated by Ji Jue using the souls of all the victims as mining machines and their consciousness as computing power in the fragments of the Huangliang Remains to nurture mechanical souls.

The potential is terrifying, with promising prospects.

But the required investment and resources... that's another horror story altogether!

Lou Feng finally understood what this bastard Ji Jue was plotting. Turns out, he just wanted a sucker to foot the bill!

He sneered, not giving an inch, "Such a large swarm, once deployed, the daily consumption of spiritual matter and resources... Mr. Ji, how much money do you have in your account? Enough to last a few days?

No, you should already be in the red, right?

Are you here to borrow money, or are you eyeing Lou Family's Spiritual Crystal industry for a share?"

"What are you babbling about?"

Ji Jue rolled his eyes, "Go cook me two dishes and bring me twenty tons of Spiritual Crystals. Money? Don't have it!"

Before he finished, Lou Feng's fist had already tightened:

"Ji, you damn—"

"Twenty percent."

Ji Jue raised two fingers: "I want all the supporting facilities and all the products from the next two expansions of the Spiritual Array, plus the production cost of Lou's Spiritual Crystals halved.

The Fly King's products, a standalone registered company, you'll get a twenty percent share."

"Twenty percent?"

Lou Feng laughed angrily, his face turning blue, "The foundation's on me, the investment's on me, all the Spiritual Crystals are on me, and after you eat your fill, I get some scraps in return?"

"Hey, there's no need to put it that harshly."

Ji Jue smiled, waving his hand, "I'm offering you a path with no risk and high profit, you don't even need to seek riches in danger. It's a no-lose investment; twenty percent is already pretty high."

"Ninety percent!"

Lou Feng flatly rejected, "You paint a cake and want me to work for free? Do you take me for a beggar? Don't overestimate yourself, Ji Jue. With less than ninety percent, we'll do it ourselves without you!"

"You can't do it."

Ji Jue decisively shook his head, snapped his fingers, and a thick stack of patent certificates bearing the Taiyi Ring's seal and President Gustav's signature immediately rose from the swirling Mercury on the ground.

Even a completed paper submission, "On the Composition of Artifact Spirit Clusters," with the association's rating of [A-] on the cover!

The second A-grade result paper following "Blood Sacrifice Purification"!

Damn it, the first golden ribbon just arrived, now you're telling me the second one is almost secured?!

It's only 'almost secured' because the drawback is in the classification—if it wasn't for this research direction being too niche and obscure and lacking any discussion on applications, it could easily have been rated [A+]!

Dog! There's a dog!!

Lou Feng felt like he'd been bitten by a dog, glaring angrily at Ji Jue: You're secretly scheming against me!

"Sorry, the Fly King's nature is unique in the world, and I've registered all related patents from theory to product usage direction."

Ji Jue shrugged innocently, whistling, "If you want to do it, no problem. I can even give you the Spirit Seed for free, but... shall we talk about the patent license fee?"

You dog!!!!

Lou Feng instinctively prepared to point at Ji Jue, ready to start a tirade, if not for his aunt opening her camera behind him...

But does cursing help? Besides, doesn't he already know, in the aspect of Spiritual Refinement, although the association has broad technical knowledge, the leading figure in this field is sitting right behind Ji Jue!

Who else could it be but his teacher Ye Xian?

This bastard registered so many patents, but it's the main patents and monopolized technologies... all in Ye Xian's hands!

This is Ji Jue's biggest backing and protection.

This mentor-student duo, one teacher controls most of the academic patents and secret techniques on Spiritual Refinement, one student uses Fluid Alchemy to monopolize the most convenient application technology and development direction, monopolizing the whole classification!

The Lou family has made considerable strides in the Entropy System and Tian Yuan over the years, yet their accumulation in Ashes can only be called marginal, focusing on the qualitative change and energy utilization of spiritual substances. Without Master Ji, they wouldn't even see a pig, let alone a meaty profit.

Even though it's clear how serious Ji Jue's current gap is and how badly he needs investment, Lou Feng surprisingly lacks bargaining power in front of Ji Jue.

Never mind, where did your craftsman ranking come from? Aren't you clear about it yourself?

It's just hard to toughen up.

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