Chapter 61

Jing'an Temple, though a Taoist temple, does not enshrine any deities or observe any precepts. In the courtyard, there is only an ancient, rusted incense burner. On the left, it reads, "Respect heaven and earth with a sincere heart," and on the right, "Burn incense and worship deities based on your own thoughts." The horizontal inscription reads, "As you please"...

Pushing open the dilapidated door, the first thing that caught the eye was this subversive couplet.

Yang Chen couldn't help but laugh out loud. Hou Xunan's temperament was truly innate. He neither revered spirits nor cultivated his Taoist heart, and throughout his life, he subverted the established beliefs of the metaphysical community. Each of his metaphysical papers published in later years caused a huge stir in the international community, initially met with widespread criticism, but after some time, only overwhelming praise remained.

Thinking of some of Hou Xunan's great achievements from his previous life, Yang Chen had calculated the time. If Hou Xunan hadn't lied to him back then, this was precisely the period when his theoretical research had a significant breakthrough.

With this in mind, Yang Chen stood outside the door and lightly coughed, then called out loudly, "Is Mr. Hou at home?"

Jing'an Temple was not a traditional Taoist temple, and Hou Xunan had never truly considered himself a mountain hermit Taoist! Jing'an Temple was a family temple left by Hou Xunan's father, and when it was passed down to him, he was pursuing a master's degree at Harvard University in the United States. It was only through his father's desperate urging that he abandoned his studies abroad and returned to China.

The year after Hou Xunan returned to China, his father, Hou Dongyang, passed away due to illness. But before his death, Hou Dongyang handed Hou Xunan a wooden box that would influence his entire life, containing metaphysical classics passed down from the Hou family's ancestors!

Hou Xunan, who had once dismissed metaphysics, was instantly disillusioned when he opened the wooden box. Especially after personally testing the power of an ancestral talisman, he fell into a state of confusion and despair.

Why else would Hou Xunan be destined for particle research? After more than a year of being lost, Hou Xunan regrouped and vowed to figure out why a piece of paper with certain symbols could explode and form a fireball!

Modern scientific concepts and traditional metaphysical theories clashed fiercely in his mind. Over the next decade, Hou Xunan not only removed all the deity statues from Jing'an Temple but also transformed the main hall, originally dedicated to the Jade Emperor, into a rudimentary laboratory. He lived a destitute life, neither human nor ghost.

The Hou family had once been a well-off household at the foot of Yandang Mountain, but over the years, Hou Xunan had sold off the family's assets for his research. His family had broken apart, and his elderly mother was forced to live with relatives.

The money from these sales was used by Hou Xunan to purchase scientific instruments, which he placed in the main hall where the statue of the Jade Emperor once stood. He spent his days in isolation, conducting tedious and difficult research.

During this period, Hou Xunan had tried to seek support from the local metaphysical association in Wenjiang City, hoping to exchange his research data for some funding. However, his submissions were thrown into the trash without being read.

Worse still, people would openly mock him, calling him a "nonsense" and a presumptuous madman!

Such a life, according to the original historical trajectory, would have lasted for at least another decade before Hou Xunan's breakthrough.

"Creak..." The two red, paint-peeled doors of the main hall were slowly opened from the inside, and a disheveled head poked out, with a face full of suspicion, "Who is it?"

In his previous life, when Yang Chen met Hou Xunan, he was already famous. How could he have ever looked so wretched?

Seeing Hou Xunan's blackened face and smoking hair, Yang Chen couldn't help but chuckle. He joked, as he had in his previous life, "Did you get struck by lightning?"

Years of loneliness and desolation had worn away the pride of the once-returning overseas student. Although he had never seen this young man who visited him late at night, his intuition told him that this young man had a quality he liked.

He raised his hand, somewhat embarrassed, and scratched his smoking, messy hair, smiling awkwardly, "There was a small accident... Who are you?"

"Allow me to introduce myself," Yang Chen said with a smile. "My name is Yang Chen, Yang as in 'Mu Yi,' and Chen as in 'morning.' You can call me Xiao Yang or by my full name... Now, we're acquainted, right?"

"Yang Chen, is it... What brings you up the mountain so late at night?" Hou Xunan's Jing'an Temple was usually deserted except for his elderly mother, who occasionally brought him meals.

Occasionally, the children from the village below would come up to play "gun battles," using Jing'an Temple as their base.

So Hou Xunan was quite puzzled by Yang Chen's sudden visit. He didn't know what this young man, who looked distinguished and smiled warmly, wanted from him.

Facing Hou Xunan's puzzled gaze, Yang Chen smiled lightly, "I don't visit without a reason. I've heard that there's a Mr. Hou Xunan in Yandang Mountain, Wenjiang City, who is researching the foundations of metaphysics. I happened to be passing by and decided to drop by."

"Oh?" Hearing this, Hou Xunan's eyes lit up, and he awkwardly bowed to Yang Chen, "You're also in the metaphysical field? I didn't recognize you earlier..."

"Yes, I'm from Wufeng Temple in Nanhu Province." Yang Chen, with his hands behind his back, slowly entered the small courtyard of Jing'an Temple and asked casually, "How far has Mr. Hou's research on metaphysical theory progressed?"

"This..." Although Hou Xunan wasn't very emotionally intelligent, he knew it wasn't wise to reveal too much to a stranger. He valued his research more than his life!

Noticing Hou Xunan's hesitation, Yang Chen smiled faintly and asked lightly, "Have you figured out the essence and origin of energy particles?"

"You..." This light question made Hou Xunan's body tremble, and his heart raced! He looked up at Yang Chen, his eyes filled with shock.

After more than a decade of arduous research, he had only recently managed to capture a few stray energy particles using a rudimentary particle collider he had built himself.

This discovery had thrilled Hou Xunan, and his current disheveled appearance was due to his attempt to capture and separate a few energy particles using the particle collider just before Yang Chen's arrival. However, the homemade collider malfunctioned at a critical moment, and the explosion of energy particles nearly destroyed his entire laboratory!

Before Yang Chen's arrival, Hou Xunan had always believed he was the first person in the world to come so close to the essence of metaphysics. But Yang Chen's light question filled him with an inexplicable sense of panic...

Yang Chen's next words sent an even greater shock through Hou Xunan!

"The energy used in metaphysics is a particle that exists freely in the universe. Its three definitions are: one, it is omnipresent; two, it cannot be directly extracted or stored by non-living matter; three, its source is not fixed."

As he spoke, Yang Chen's eyes shone like torches, with a commanding presence, and he looked sharply at Hou Xunan, "From your appearance, it seems you just conducted a dangerous experiment to separate and store energy particles. Clearly, it didn't go well. Even if you manage to separate them, different types of energy particles will easily collide and explode once they lose their structural balance. With your physical condition, you would likely be obliterated on the spot!"

"This... this..." Hou Xunan was almost fainting from Yang Chen's words. After regaining his composure, he asked calmly, "Who are you?"

"Yang Chen, the Grand Elder of Wufeng Temple in Wufeng Mountain, Nanhu Province, with the Dharma name Ziyang!" Yang Chen raised his chin slightly, speaking with a proud air, "We already have detailed research data and scientific conclusions on the projects you are researching or planning to research. Your talent should not be wasted on these basic topics!"

"...What are you here for?" The years of hard work turned into a pile of waste paper in an instant, and the intense blow made it hard for Hou Xunan to breathe. In the scientific field, even if you spend decades researching a topic, if someone else publishes the conclusion first, all your previous work becomes a laughingstock!

The same was true in the field of particle research.

After delivering the blow and revealing his knowledge, it was time to offer a sweet deal...

Yang Chen quickly reined in his pride and spoke sincerely, "With Mr. Hou's talent, staying in this desolate mountain temple would be a waste of precious youth. On behalf of all the disciples of Wufeng Temple, I sincerely invite you..."

"Invite?" Hou Xunan was confused by Yang Chen's sudden change.

"Yes, we formally and seriously invite you to join our 'Chinese Energy Particle Research and Application Development Institute' as the director of the particle research institute." Yang Chen spoke earnestly, with a solemn expression.

Hou Xunan's heart raced, but he hesitated, "Clearly, you are far ahead of me in the field of energy particle research... Why are you inviting me? What can I do for you?"

Yang Chen said seriously, "Mr. Hou, don't underestimate yourself. Your talent is internationally recognized. The reason you haven't made significant progress is due to the poor research conditions... A good horse needs a good saddle. I believe you will thrive in our particle research institute and make even greater progress!"

After being ridiculed for over a decade, is my time to shine finally here?

Hou Xunan's heart raced, but he suppressed his excitement and asked as rationally as possible, "If I join your particle research institute and don't produce impressive data or useful scientific conclusions, what then?"

"Rest assured," Yang Chen said with a sharp gaze, "We offer you a lifetime contract. As long as your research topics are approved by me, even if you don't produce results for decades, no one will question you... Do you understand?"

"Yes." The conditions were extremely generous! Hou Xunan took a deep breath and asked, "What about my personal benefits or research funding? Will that be specified in the contract?"

"Of course." Yang Chen nodded with a smile, "For the first three years, you will receive a base salary of 500,000 RMB per year plus bonuses, which will range from 100,000 to 1,000,000 RMB based on your research results. If you exceed expectations, the bonus ceiling will be higher."

"What about after that?"

"After three years, your base salary will start at 2,000,000 RMB per year, with no upper limit, and bonuses will range from 1,000,000 to 50,000,000 RMB, also based on your research results. However, you will not receive subsequent dividends for these results. All bonuses will be paid out immediately, so you can rest assured."

Such conditions, such benefits! Hou Xunan felt his breathing become difficult.

He didn't know that over a decade later, when he became the lifetime director of the 'Chinese Daoist Alliance Energy Particle Research and Application Development Institute,' the conditions offered to him were an annual salary of 100 million RMB, bonuses of up to 100 million RMB, and long-term dividends!

Hou Xunan swallowed hard and asked cautiously, "Are these figures in RMB?"

He was afraid Yang Chen might use worthless currencies like the Vietnamese dong to trick him!

To his surprise, Yang Chen looked at him strangely and said matter-of-factly, "Of course not... It's in US dollars, green US dollars! All salary and bonus payments will be in US dollars!"

"Thump..." Poor Hou Xunan's fragile heart nearly stopped beating...

It took him about three minutes to recover. He looked at Yang Chen dryly and asked, "So, one last question... What is your attitude towards research funding?"

"For key research teams, we will provide whatever funding is needed!" Yang Chen waved his hand as if he were a wealthy magnate, "For example, we are planning to build a large energy particle collider. The core components and materials have been solved, but we need a design concept..."

"I have some experience in that area," Hou Xunan said boldly, "There's a small energy particle collider in the main hall that I built myself. Scaling it up is just a matter of structural changes. Give me two months, and I can design it!"

"It's not as simple as you think," Yang Chen shook his head and said, "Take a look at this."

He handed Hou Xunan a design draft he had brought with him.

He knew that the small energy particle collider Hou Xunan was using was based on the principle of a positron-electron collider. It collected energy from talisman explosions using an energy collection device, accelerated the collected energy through an accelerator channel, and finally collided it with a target inside, using the impact to disperse a small number of free particles for observation and extraction.

However, the energy particle collider design draft Yang Chen gave to Hou Xunan required a powerful core capable of withstanding the explosive force of tens of thousands of energy particles within the instrument!

It also needed to have the ability to input and simulate basic particle equations, and most importantly, it had to analyze the structure of particle equations. Only through continuous simulation, observation, and adjustment could a perfect equation structure be achieved!

Clearly, the design draft Yang Chen casually handed over once again subverted Hou Xunan's understanding of energy particles.

Hou Xunan studied the design draft for nearly half an hour before looking up with red eyes, "Have you already mastered the secrets of energy particle structure?"

"Pretty much," Yang Chen replied with a light smile.

Hou Xunan was silent for a long time before asking, "When should I start?"

"Within ten days," Yang Chen said, "You've seen the design draft. How long do you think it will take to complete the project?"

"At least six months!" Hou Xunan's confidence was gone, but his eyes burned with enthusiasm. He added, "I need at least two metaphysical cultivators to assist me, and... a budget of 300 million US dollars!"

Yang Chen smiled without comment, "That's not a problem."

In his previous life, the first large energy particle collider was built in 2027. Hou Xunan led a team of dozens of researchers and spent nearly 4 billion US dollars over several years to complete it.

The main reason was the lack of experience, which led to many detours and inevitable losses.

However, Yang Chen could clearly recall the basic principles and concepts of the energy particle collider, so with this original design draft, the cost and time would be significantly reduced.

But the 300 million US dollars Hou Xunan mentioned still seemed conservative to Yang Chen. At least 500 million US dollars would be needed to build this unique large energy particle collider!

With this large energy particle collider, the hundreds of particle equation structures in Yang Chen's mind could be visualized. Then, with a few additional instruments, the requirements for engraving raw materials could be met.

In other words, the precious talismans and magical artifacts in the metaphysical world could be mass-produced...

Thinking about the future, Yang Chen slowly curved his lips into a smile.

The day when new materials, new technologies, and new directions would emerge was not far off!