Chapter 87: Have You Taken the Shot? (Fourth Update)

Cave 71, inside the underground pharmaceutical plant.

Ever since returning from Cave 33 half a month ago, the production lines within the underground factory hadn’t stopped running for a single moment.

The once-dilapidated equipment had undergone a full overhaul, funded by Shack. From top to bottom, the entire assembly system was renewed.

On the automated conveyor belts, the rumbling of machinery was constant. Vials of potion were being infused with spirit stone powder, sealed, and neatly packaged before being sent to the warehouse.

Each day, Quentin would transport the freshly produced Nine Dragons Power Potion from the warehouse, transferring it at another cave before passing it along to Shack.

Of the more than ten thousand doses produced daily, the majority were absorbed by major factions across the Lower City. The remaining share was distributed to the open market.

At Lu Yan’s insistence, each dose that entered the market was priced at just 1,000 credit points.

From the moment the Nine Dragons Power Potion began selling, Lu Yan ensured that he would never be short on credits again. In truth, too many credits held little value for him—what mattered more was keeping the price low enough to accelerate the emergence of new Spirit Energy users in the Lower City.

The set price was far below the potion’s true value. Once it launched, it was immediately swept up in a buying frenzy. On the black market, its price soared to 5,000 credits per dose.

For those whose physical condition and Spirit Energy reserves were already close to the threshold of becoming users, the Nine Dragons Power Potion was a chance at true transformation.

These individuals had the potential, and access to industrial-grade Spirit Energy wasn’t the issue—the real challenge was reinforcing their bodies enough to withstand and channel that volatile energy.

Before this potion emerged, they had only two bleak choices:

Either keep injecting low-grade Spirit Energy potions and gamble on a natural evolution, or pay an astronomical fee for Spirit Energy modification surgery—followed by an oppressive Spirit Energy tax.

The former carried a death rate approaching ten-to-one. The latter demanded a fortune in credit points. Both were dead ends.

But the arrival of the Nine Dragons Power Potion offered a way out.

A rare elixir that strengthened the body and regulated unstable industrial-grade Spirit Energy—sold for only 1,000 credits.

In just half a month, over 100,000 doses had entered the Lower City, giving rise to thousands of new Spirit Energy users and breathing new life into what had once been a decaying sector of society.

Because these new users relied on industrial-grade Spirit Energy from cheap potions, it was impossible to identify them through energy output metrics.

And with the chaotic environment of the Lower City caves, the tax bureau had a hard time locating them at all.

As long as these newly awakened users kept a low profile, the tax authorities wouldn’t even realize they had ascended. And thus, a large number of tax evaders quietly emerged.

In the past, if the City Tax Bureau learned of even a dozen tax-evading Spirit Energy users, they would scour the entire Lower City and drag every last one to the Heavenly Computation Center.

But now that news of the impending Upper City purge had spread, unrest had broken out across several key Lower City zones. The situation was escalating rapidly.

Even the tax bureau had diverted most of its resources toward suppressing riots and rounding up civilians to feed into the computation centers.

Until the purge officially began, the tax bureau had no bandwidth to care about evaders.

With a new path to ascension and a temporary reprieve from tax pressure, the Lower City was suddenly bursting with vitality. It was a renaissance.

Before, people were so desperate for survival that they barely exchanged greetings—everyone was too busy trading their lives for credits in the hope of a better future.

But now, walking through the streets, strangers were greeting one another with the same phrase:

“Have you taken the shot?”

In the Lower City, that had become the highest form of greeting.

If both parties had “taken the shot,” they would immediately begin sharing their experiences with the Nine Dragons Power Potion—comparing notes on the quickest ways to become a Spirit Energy user.

If one had not taken it, they would immediately beg the other for purchasing channels, forging instant bonds through shared desperation and hope.

Meanwhile, because the Nine Dragons Power Potion was so mild in its effects, many residents—used to harsher low-grade potions—found it… a little suspicious.

Groups of potion users began gathering to investigate potential hidden side effects of the Nine Dragons Power Potion.

And after days of collective scrutiny, they really did find a few… quirks.

Some noticed their previously athletic builds became oddly distorted after using the potion. These individuals had to eat raw rice and carbon supplements just to maintain shape.

Others reported a slight drop in intelligence—some even lost fluency in speech, often defaulting to the phrase, “Let me ask you this!” regardless of context.

One of the more common effects was a gradual cranial protrusion, giving rise to sharp, pointed heads. Some Spirit Energy users, however, took this as a sign of cranial development—proof that the potion was expanding their mind. They even coined the term: “Ascendant Skull Phenomenon.”

To the rest of the world, these effects might seem severe. But for long-time users of low-grade potions—who lived with nausea, nerve damage, and risk of instant death—this was still an incredibly safe drug.

As long as it didn’t kill you, these minor side effects were nothing.

In fact, far from scaring people away, these effects made the Nine Dragons Power Potion even more desirable. Demand continued to soar.

Especially among the major forces dwelling in the Lower City caves.

They were under no illusions. To fight the Upper City purge head-on was a fool’s dream.

Their only chance was to cultivate as many Spirit Energy users as possible, and use the complexity of the cave environment to mount guerilla resistance.

That was the only strategy that gave them a sliver of hope.

And because of that, Shack’s influence—powered by the Nine Dragons Power Potion—was growing stronger by the day.

While the Lower City was surging with life, Lu Yan had secluded himself deep within the underground factory’s training chamber.

Though his cultivation had nearly reached the peak of the Qi Refining Stage, he had no intention of advancing.

His experience half a month ago had shown him the full force of cyber-world technology—especially the destructive power of modern light weaponry.

Lu Yan realized something important: unless he could one day stand against an entire civilization on his own, simply breaking through to Foundation Establishment wouldn’t change anything.

He also wasn’t willing to settle for Human Path Foundation Establishment. What he truly sought was the higher realm of Earth Path or even Heaven Path Foundation Establishment.

So for now, he put advancement aside.

Instead, he focused on something else:

Artificial Spirit Vein cultivation.

Back in the Xianxia version, Ji Xingyao had gifted him a complete geomantic method to create an artificial spirit vein, as repayment for past favors. Lu Yan had also gathered all the necessary materials.

Originally, he had planned to use them after returning to the urban version.

But now, with the increasing demand for Spirit Energy in the production of Nine Dragons Power Potion, and his limited supply of spirit stones, Lu Yan had decided it was time.

The spirit vein didn’t need to be high-quality—just capable of generating raw Spirit Qi to be infused into the potion. That would be enough to resolve the production bottleneck.

Since this was only an initial trial, Lu Yan wasn’t going to permanently fix the Spirit Marrow Ore in this location. After all, the ore was far too valuable—he had plans for it in the urban version.

He would simply use it temporarily to support potion manufacturing, then retrieve it once the version update arrived.

Half a month ago, upon returning to the underground factory, Lu Yan had already planted the Spirit Marrow Ore and set up the geomantic array according to the prescribed method.

And today—

The artificial spirit vein would begin to take shape.

(End of Chapter)