Looking at the somewhat distressed Wang Qiang, Lin Li stepped forward and patted his beloved disciple's shoulder.

Then he took the mass spectrum from her hand and studied it carefully.

For mass spectrum, once the positions of peptide chain fragmentation are determined, finding the substances or similar intervals becomes relatively simple.

Because peptide chains are polar, except for a few cyclic ones, other peptide chains have asymmetric ends:

The end with a free α-amino group is called the amino end or N-terminal, and the end with a free α-carboxyl group is called the carboxyl end or C-terminal.

Among them, N-terminal fragment ions are the B series, and C-terminal fragment ions are the Y series.

Then you can back calculate in this direction.

Even if this substance doesn't have related records in the database, back calculating its composition isn't difficult, unless it's absurdly composed of dark matter.

As a biology authority, Lin Li's operational experience in this area is extremely rich, so he simply started calculating with a pen and paper.

After a short while, his pupils also suddenly constricted, and his blood pressure soared.

The last time this expression appeared on his face was when Yu Lian had just entered Chixian City and witnessed three swords floating in Wei Mansion's Martial Arts Arena.

Clearly, this is yet another development that defies his worldviews.

In previous research related to the L17 cultivation module, the rabbits had already analyzed some aspects of spiritual energy.

Although the exact composition of spiritual energy is still unknown.

But don't forget, once the concentration of spiritual energy reaches the threshold of 38.8%, it automatically degrades into other gases.

The concentration ratios of these gases differ from air—some gases are more concentrated, others less so, yet they precisely ensure that the concentration of spiritual energy remains at 38.8%.

These gases, though they cannot irreversibly synthesize spiritual energy, can have their relative molecular weight of spiritual energy deduced through gas total volume in the chemistry field, which is relatively easy and belongs to high school elective difficulty.

According to Wang Qiang's previous statistics, the relative molecular mass of a standard unit of spiritual energy is...

236!

While in the mass spectrum Lin Li held, the back-calculated polymer's relative molecular mass is also 236.

Further, according to the angular-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy comparison on defect phase, it's certain this crystal polymer is in the gapped phase of condensed matter physics!

And in the Carifa state, the gapped phase can ignore the density problem.

That is to say... this polymer's phase representation is completely equivalent to spiritual energy—whether from a macro or micro perspective!

So part of the crystallized entities in the beast crystal is actually...

Solidified spiritual energy!!!

Moreover, it's of nearly pure concentration!

Bear in mind.

The rabbits had tried various methods previously and couldn't break the concept of spiritual energy concentration at 38.8%.

Even stabilizing spiritual energy into solid—in truth, even low-purity liquefaction wasn't achievable.

Yet beast crystals can solidify spiritual energy into crystals.

This is a revelation that could shake the heavens.

In terms of its nature, it could easily be ranked among the top five important events following the appearance of the light gate!

But the shock doesn't end here.

Lin Li, after marveling, continued to look at the mass spectrum, his brow furrowed once more:

"Wait a minute, something's off... why are there three extra hydrogens, making the relative molecular mass of the polymer cycle 236?"

As everyone knows.

The mass spectrometer measures the mass-to-charge ratio, which literally refers to mass divided by charge.

Organic molecules entering the mass spectrometer get bombarded by high-speed electrons inside, easily losing an electron to form a molecular ion with one positive charge.

Evidently, the molecular ion has the same mass as the original organic molecule, divided by 1 (one positive charge), so the mass-to-charge ratio is equivalent to relative molecular mass.

The peak with the highest value in the mass spectrum is the molecular ion peak, hence the highest value is the relative molecular mass of the organic molecule.

And the relative molecular mass of the prototype chain substance calculated from Wang Qiang's mass spectrometer should be 234—students don't need to bother with what this number represents, just knowing that it's a base value is enough; the key issue lies ahead.

A very simple concept in basic chemistry is that the relative atomic weight of hydrogen is 1.

In Wang Qiang's previous findings, there were three extra hydrogens, temporarily ignoring arrangement and focusing on addition based on the principle of existence rationality.

Thus, the relative molecular mass of this polymer should be 234+3=237, a theoretical value.

But at this moment, the detected relative molecular mass is only 236, which is the measured value.

And gaseous spiritual energy is also 236.

So where did that '1' go?

At a microscopic level, a disparity in relative molecular mass can be worlds apart.

Especially when the missing element is hydrogen!

In the formula of hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, neon, sodium, magnesium, aluminum, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur, chlorine, argon, potassium, calcium, hydrogen tops the periodic table, the lightest element in the world, and it's also the most abundant element!

Imagine.

While assembling a car, the engineer marked on the design blueprint 237 positions needing screws and also prepared the corresponding number of screws.

However, the workshop workers used only 236 screws during assembly, and that remaining screw and screw hole vanished, yet the car still functions normally!

This is a piece of information that sends shivers down one's spine when pondered.

In a fantasy novel, the air temperature globally would have at least warmed by three degrees with a gasp of astonishment.

At the same time, Lin Li's gaze was firmly fixed on that monster crystal, and finally, he shook his head with a complex expression:

"No wonder this monster crystal has so many functions. It turns out it's a polymer of spiritual energy. I see, I see.....

If the cultivators in the Damo Realm knew about this, it would probably cause a huge uproar....."

Spiritual energy is currently considered by all authority experts among the rabbits as the alpha substance.

This means it possesses very strong dynamism and reactiveness, capable of reacting with almost any matter and optimizing it positively.

It is somewhat like a special, powerful plugin.

After monsters break through to the third level, a large amount of spiritual energy, under some special forces, aggregates into monster crystals—or an important part of monster crystals, giving monster crystals various magical abilities.

For example, in alchemy, adding an abundance of high-purity spiritual energy crystals to the concoction and improving various spiritual materials under the catalysis of the pill fire naturally optimizes and enhances the quality of the pills.

Spirit Pill, as the name implies, its core lies in the word 'spirit'.

Without spiritual energy, spirit medicine and materials cannot grow.

The same theory applies to artifact refining and arrays.

With the amplification of spiritual energy, both magical artifacts and arrays gain enhanced efficacy—magical artifacts may even contain some form of increased effect in a crystalline physical state, similar to how many alloys contain some metal elements.

Of course, the formation process of monster crystals must not be simply due to the compression of spiritual energy; it certainly involves other special steps.

It's just that these steps might even be unknown to the third-level monsters themselves.

Meanwhile, Wang Qiang had also recovered from the previous shock.

She suddenly recalled a sentence once said by an experienced Senior Wei Qiangsheng, who could always appraise treasures reliably:

In some respects, a monster crystal might be considered a heavenly treasure nurtured with the monster as the soil.

This statement unexpectedly hit the nail on the head today!

As a genius from the special youth class at the University of Science and Technology of China, Wang Qiang could naturally lead an entire team despite having older senior brothers and sisters in the group due to her capabilities.

She was at least in that echelon widely acknowledged by everyone.

So, she quickly thought of another problem and hurriedly asked Lin Li:

"Teacher, what polyhedral shape is the crystallization of the monster crystal?"

In the microscopic realm, there are currently seven known crystal systems.

Namely cubic, tetragonal, orthorhombic, monoclinic, trigonal, hexagonal, and triclinic.

If left untreated, or after adding base-centered, face-centered, and body-centered, there are 7X4=28 kinds of spatial lattice forms in each crystal system.

However, out of these 28 patterns, 14 cannot maintain the original symmetry or can be simplified into a simpler form while maintaining symmetry. Therefore, there are only 14 spatial lattice forms.

Now, with full knowledge of the crystal unit cell, relative molecular weight, and macroscopic characteristics of non-condensed systems (i.e., gaseous spiritual energy), Lin Li quickly understood Wang Qiang's idea:

"Are you saying...we could attempt reverse research?"

Wang Qiang nodded heavily and said:

"That missing '1' is indeed important, but given the urgency of the current situation, I believe that cracking the monster crystal is more critical in giving us a high-concentration reference target.

If so, then could we attempt to reverse the entire process, that is, revert it from solid back into gas?

Is there a possibility of obtaining high concentrations of spiritual energy through this process? Or will it still dissipate after reaching 38.8%?

If it dissipates, is it instantaneous or a continuous process?

If we manage to breakthrough at this stage, our research speed will see significant enhancement."

As Wang Qiang said.

Now that it's understood that spiritual energy can form solid crystals, rabbits might have found a breakthrough in various applications.

It means no longer being limited to mindlessly dealing with gaseous spiritual energy—after all, this stuff has a cap of 38.8%, no matter how one tries changing positions.

The fact that high-concentration spiritual energy can aggregate into solids indicates that there must be a phase within the monster's body preventing the degradation of spiritual energy.

Should this step be cracked, rabbits could venture into an entirely new domain.

Even consider expanding the idea.

Could it's possible to directly separate the spiritual energy from the monster crystal through micro-manipulation and turn it into a pop ice for the cultivators to consume?

Despite being a solid, the unit mass crystal volume of monster crystals is on the nanometer or even femtometer scale, smaller than many gaseous molecules.

Lin Li quickly thought of this: it is an extremely feasible and promising direction for research!

Considering the major implications of discovering monster crystals, which could impact the overall strategic advancement of the rabbits in the long run, and since this research project exceeds what Wang Qiang or the Plant Biology Laboratory could manage alone.

Therefore, Lin Li handed over the on-site command to Zeng Gu Cheng and personally rushed back to the base with Lin Ziming, reporting relevant matters with topmost urgency.

The core layer attached great importance to the information upon receiving it, given that cracking the monster crystal essentially encompasses all areas of life sciences, even propelling momentum for the long-stalled four major pitfalls at home!

Thus, after detailed resolutions, a comprehensive project centered on cracking the monster crystal was born:

This project appointed Lin Li as the direct person in charge, with multiple academician-level deputies taking part in frontline research, with a focus level equal to that of the spatial bag project.

Code:

Xuan Yi!

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