Chapter 55: Chapter 54: Spirit Awakening Pill Mass Production Plan
"After four rounds of attempts, all twenty-two warriors successfully awakened, consuming a total of thirty-four Spirit Awakening Pills?"
In the command center, Lin Li looked at the report brought back by Liu Xiangqian and asked:
"Elder Liu, is the failure rate of four Spiritual Roots generally higher than that of three Spiritual Roots?"
The report brought back by Liu Xiangqian showed.
The awakening success rate for three Spiritual Roots is approximately 14% higher than that for four Spiritual Roots.
This awakening was arranged according to the order of success.
Among the last six warriors in the sequence, five of them had four Spiritual Roots.
Don’t be deceived by the 14% difference as it may not seem significant.
Once this base number expands to tens of thousands or even more, the difference will be an extremely frightening figure.
Faced with Lin Li’s question, Liu Xiangqian took out another black-and-white document.
The document densely recorded a large number of names:
"This is a copy of the awakening records provided by the Wei Mansion, covering the period from three years after the founding of the city to the present.
We have compiled the data above, supplemented by the warriors’ awakening results.
It can be basically confirmed that this situation is universal, with no significant differences in success rates among different world races.
In other words, the fewer the number of Spiritual Roots, the higher the efficiency and success rate of awakening."
Lin Li pondered for a while, and tentatively asked:
"Does that also mean...
if there were enough pills, people with five Spiritual Roots could also awaken normally?"
"Of course, if cost is not a consideration."
Liu Xiangqian nodded with certainty, then sighed:
"The reason why five Spiritual Roots are called waste roots in the Damo Realm.
On one hand, the speed and purity of absorbing Spiritual Energy during cultivation with five Spiritual Roots are indeed limited.
On the other hand, the awakening success rate of five Spiritual Roots is very low, not even reaching 10%.
The 60% probability of success with Spirit Awakening Pills, and the so-called ’jokes’ about needing eight or nine pills to successfully awaken, actually do not include data from five Spiritual Roots.
In the traditional concepts of the Damo Realm, the aptitude of those with five Spiritual Roots does not qualify as potential cultivators.
A clansman with five Spiritual Roots from a large family like the Wei Mansion can only hover around the early stages of Qi Cultivation all their life.
As for commoners with five Spiritual Roots...the Damo Realm has plenty, as it’s hard to find an aptitude lower than five Spiritual Roots."
Lin Li thoughtfully stroked his chin, muttering to himself:
"A 10% success rate, which so-called low cost is applicable to normal cultivators.
The upper-middle class doesn’t mind, but those with five Spiritual Roots cannot afford it...
No wonder Spirit Awakening Pills have such an awkward status in the Damo Realm."
As Lin Li said.
In the eyes of family cultivators with four Spiritual Roots or more.
Spirit Awakening Pills are merely a single-use entry-level pill, essentially not worth fussing over in terms of costs.
After all, there’s no barrier to refining Spirit Awakening Pills.
If one household doesn’t sell them, another will.
As long as one’s luck isn’t too bad, two or three pills are enough to complete the awakening ritual.
Even a commoner with four Spiritual Roots can scrape together enough resources — the true difference between family and commoners is the resources needed for cultivation after awakening.
But for those with five Spiritual Roots.
Unless one’s luck is exceptionally good, achieving success with a single pill.
Otherwise, with less than a 10% probability, it’s nearly impossible to succeed without a dozen or so pills.
If compared to some unlucky individuals on Earth, they might go bankrupt in this lifetime without ever awakening — it’s not uncommon for Fei Qiu to draw over 400 draws and only get a minor character like Xiaolu Nan?
This places Spirit Awakening Pills in a very awkward position — the price per pill is not expensive, but the cumulative number becomes unaffordable for common classes, and the high labor cost prevents lowering the price, while the lack of technological barriers prevents raising the price...
After all, the Damo Realm cannot achieve mechanized mass production of it....
Upon these thoughts, Lin Li looked at Liu Xiangqian:
"Elder Liu, do you think it’s possible to completely decipher the Spirit Awakening Pill?"
Liu Xiangqian hesitated for a moment, seemingly organizing his words.
Then he slowly said:
"Complete deciphering is certainly not achievable,
According to our observations, after entering the human body, the Spirit Awakening Pill has two phases.
The first is to promote the formation of complexes between a large number of transcription factors and heat shock proteins, reversing gene expression.
The second involves some substance binding with the promoter sequence, forming an unknown, isolated mysterious region.
Our current technical reserve can easily accomplish the first phase, and the first half of the second phase is nearly understood.
But the latter half of the second phase....
This involves some unknown mysterious factor within the Spirit Awakening Pill, which we are temporarily powerless against.
According to Clan Leader Wei Fan.
This mysterious region is the ’Inner Sea’ developed by the Spiritual Root of a cultivator."
Lin Li’s eyes suddenly lit up, his academic-level thinking ability became evident at this moment:
"This Inner Sea is merely a result of awakening, even if completely unknown, it doesn’t have much impact — we just need to ensure the preceding process can seamlessly create this Inner Sea, is that the idea?"
This time, Liu Xiangqian no longer hesitated and immediately gave a reply:
"Precisely!
It’s like the very famous transcription step in the dual-luciferase assay.
Transfecting an empty vector shows a positive result, while transfecting a promoter alone without transcription factors shows no difference.
This is a phenomenon that current science cannot explain.
But if we don’t analyze the nature of this phenomenon, we are fully capable of replicating the result countless times."
Lin Li scratched his head a bit excitedly, accidentally pulling out quite a few hairs, and felt a pang in his heart.
However, this was not the time for self-pity; he discerned a different possibility in Liu Xiangqian’s words:
Using scientific technology to improve or even replicate the effect of the Spirit Awakening Pill, thereby reducing the cost of alchemy, achieving mass production!
The mass production of pills in the Damo Realm faces two common obstacles.
One is the scarcity of Spirit Plants and Spirit Medicine needed for alchemy, which limits the quantity of pill production from the standpoint of raw materials.
The second is the low cost-effectiveness.
For example, labor costs, the number of earth vein flames required for alchemy, time consumption, etc.
But for a pill like the Spirit Awakening Pill, the first limitation does not exist.
The medicinal materials required for the Spirit Awakening Pill are few, and the yield of most of them is quite high.
As long as you have money, collecting a large amount of raw materials is not a problem.
As for the second point, the cost-effectiveness.....
Don’t forget.
The bunnies have just analyzed the essence of the earth vein flame.
As long as the Y particles can be infinitely proliferated, then mass production of earth vein flames is completely feasible.
Flames of around 3000 degrees, the bunnies can easily produce a whole bunch without duplication.
This is the charm of technology, pulling out hair from a group of people to benefit countless others!
Hence, the innate mass production limitation of the Spirit Awakening Pill is nothing to the bunnies.
Perhaps due to some unknown substances in Spirit Plants and Spirit Medicine, the bunnies cannot completely substitute other things for these materials.
But since it was determined that the essence of the awakening process is the adjustment of genetic expression, some steps within it can very likely be streamlined and optimized.
For instance, characteristics similar to RNA polymerase.
If true polymerase can be used as a substitute, is it possible to reduce some costs?
All these are somewhat feasible and do not exceed the current technological limits.
As Lin Li pondered while holding his fallen hair, Liu Xiangqian’s voice brought him back to reality.
"Captain Lin, I want to initiate this project."
Lin Li was a bit stunned, and then said:
"Elder Liu, once the Spirit Awakening Pill project starts, it will certainly be an independent task.
It is different from the new drug research project group of ’Shennong’.
In ’Shennong,’ you only need to oversee the overall situation, and the frontline research tasks are not very heavy.
But when it comes to the new Spirit Awakening Pill project, because there are too many unknown factors, some parts may only be completed by you personally.
But your health...."
Liu Xiangqian clenched his left fist, gently pounding his chest twice:
"I am in robust health!"
Lin Li didn’t relax his brow at this; he knew the elder’s health wasn’t as good as it seemed: "But you just had heart surgery last year..."
"Oh, I already said it’s nothing."
Liu Xiangqian glared at Lin Li, waved his hand impatiently, not even bothering to address him as Captain Lin:
"I came to the Damo Realm not for enjoyment; if my health were really a big problem, the nation wouldn’t have sent me here.
Besides, as you said,
some parts can only be done by me.
In the Damo Realm... oh no, in all of Huaxia, you find someone more capable than me in the field of gene transcription?
Apart from me, who else can lead this team?
Xiaopan from Shuimu or Xiaoqiao from Nankai?
I’m not bragging; they still have years to reach my level of expertise!
The sooner the Spirit Awakening Pills are mass-produced, the sooner we can awaken warriors in batches, you know what that represents, right?"
Liu Xiangqian sighed as he spoke, staring firmly into Lin Li’s eyes:
"I am a little old man born in 1948, not an old zombie from 1848, very spirited indeed.
In my infancy, I witnessed the dawn of a new era.
But back then, I was merely waving at the radio while drinking milk, knowing nothing.
But now, our country is standing at the threshold of another new era, and since I still have some strength, do you think I can miss this opportunity?
Even if it costs my old life, I must push our country forward.
If something ever does happen, I’ll reincarnate in Huaxia in my next life and continue. Isn’t that enough?
My soul is red, does it mean they would let me be reborn on the eagle’s side instead?
Xiaolin, give the order; I know you have the authority!"
Lin Li’s mouth moved a few times, finally heaving a long sigh:
"Since you’ve put it that way, what else can I say?
Just report how many people you need.
Assemble the team first, then file the project application; if you need any equipment, I’ll have the headquarters send it over to you in advance.
Elder Liu, everything is entrusted to you."
Then Lin Li paused for a moment, thinking of something:
"Oh right, the project name on the project proposal should be written as..."
"Suiren!"