"The point is to have more than enough," Gu Zhao said. "Just like that Golden Mountain. If there’s more than you need for experiments, you can just put it on display in space and technology museums around the country for the public to see."
As the person in charge, Academician Li was obviously more than just a research geek; he quickly grasped Gu Zhao’s intention.
"With this much Moon Rock and Moon Soil, there’s enough for exhibitions in space and technology museums all over the country," Academician Li said at once. "Mr. Gu, allowing the nation’s children and space enthusiasts to see Moon Rock and Moon Soil up close... this is a service of immeasurable merit."
Gu Zhao waved his hand. "No need to give me any credit."
Academician Li nodded. "Understood, Taoist Master."
Gu Zhao let out a laugh, then his figure blurred and he was gone. "I’m off! You can handle the rest from here!"
Watching Gu Zhao depart, Academician Li snapped back to his senses and stared blankly at the enormous Moon Rock before him, completely lost in thought.
"Academician Li?" someone asked.
"What is it?" Academician Li turned his head.
The man held up his gloved hands. "So... are we still moving this?" he asked awkwardly.
Academician Li was momentarily speechless. He pointed at the stone case, which was over a meter long and seventy centimeters tall. "Forget that massive chunk of Moon Rock. Can you even move this case?"
The two men beside him exchanged a look. "Should we try?"
"Let’s give it a try!"
In the monitoring hall, everyone watched on the main screen as two burly security guards flanked the stone case, and they couldn’t help but shake their heads.
"It’s over a meter long and more than seventy centimeters wide and tall. Even using the density of loose Moon Soil, that’s over a thousand kilograms."
A young woman with a high ponytail remarked, "And that’s not even counting the stone case, whose thickness is unknown. Forget two people; even with another two, they wouldn’t be able to lift it."
Sure enough, on the large screen, the two security guards were straining with all their might, but the stone case on the ground remained perfectly still.
Academician Li looked at the two embarrassed security guards and laughed. "Just leave it. Post some men to guard it. The most important thing is to make sure the sticky notes on these rocks and cases don’t fall off. It’ll be a mess if we get them mixed up."
"Yes, sir!" The security guards saluted in unison.
...
The surveillance footage and photos from the space center’s testing ground were sent to the Taoist Office and the National Academy of Sciences.
Everyone fell silent after seeing the photos and learning about the potential haul.
"Over forty thousand tons of Moon Rock, and over eight hundred tons of Moon Soil..."
"I seem to recall that applications for Moon Soil used to be measured in grams?"
"That’s right. It was usually for about 0.01 grams of Moon Soil per application."
The office fell silent for a moment, then Zheng Hongsheng heard a few chuckles and couldn’t help but laugh as well. "It’s just like that Golden Mountain. He’s made something incredibly rare seem almost commonplace."
The facilitator laughed as well. "We just received a message from the Academy of Sciences. Their people have arrived at the space center, and some of the researchers immediately wanted to chip off a piece of Moon Rock to take with them."
"However, Dean Liu also reported that they’ve already started transporting the Moon Rock and Moon Soil to the academy. If there are no further complications, they’re preparing to open it up for applications."
"Open up the applications," Zheng Hongsheng nodded.
Having dealt with Gu Zhao and the Taoist Research Institute so many times, he was familiar with their way of operating.
They were straightforward, no beating around the bush.
’If he said he was delivering Moon Rock and Moon Soil, then he was delivering Moon Rock and Moon Soil.’
’He brought back so much, more than could ever be used for experiments, and suggested sending it to space and technology exhibitions. That meant it had to be done.’
The facilitator nodded. "This application process, in addition to requests from various labs, will also be open to applications from space museums across the country.
"As long as they have the proper hardware and facilities prepared to display the Moon Rock and Moon Soil, they can apply."
Zheng Hongsheng nodded. "That’s good."
While they talked, the group continued to monitor the progress at the space center via the live video feed.
"We have to be extremely careful. Don’t let foreign spies sneak a few pieces out," Chen Yao cautioned.
As Celestial Xia Technology became increasingly advanced, its aerospace program was starting to pull ahead of Huaqi Country’s. Consequently, there was already suspicious activity from certain personnel around the space center and research institutes.
Gu Zhao had brought back tens of thousands of tons of Moon Rock and Moon Soil this time. If even a tiny fraction of it leaked out, foreign researchers would have a field day.
"The entire process is being coordinated with security," the facilitator said. "The academy filed a report, and the Northern Military Region has dispatched a special team to help. We will make absolutely sure that not a single speck of dust goes missing."
Someone sighed. "The nation toils for decades on research, and it can’t compare to him taking a half-day trip. It’s really a blow to your confidence."
The person next to him shot him a look. "Speak for yourself. Don’t drag us into it."
A middle-aged man with a scholarly air adjusted his glasses. "The technological and the mystical aren’t in conflict. Web novels even have the ’techno-cultivation’ genre. The Dharma Gate that Mr. Gu and his peers cultivate has been passed down for millennia, while modern technology has, strictly speaking, only been developing for less than two hundred years."
"Correct." Zheng Hongsheng nodded, pleased. "The masters from the Taoist Research Institute have chatted with our people before. The upper limit of technological development is also extremely high. For instance, they can’t produce chips on the nanometer scale."
"Besides, the number of people in the world capable of Cultivation is, in the end, a tiny minority. Most ordinary people must rely on technology to improve their quality of life. If humanity wants to venture beyond Blue Star in the future, it will be on the back of technology, not Cultivation."
"Even in those techno-cultivation novels, most of the population consists of ordinary people. It’s not like everyone becomes Extraordinary."
"The masters usually only step in to save lives; they don’t interfere with our technological progress. That’s actually for the best."
"And the occasional gift of a Golden Mountain or some Moon Soil is a more than welcome surprise."
Everyone laughed at this. Zheng Hongsheng then concluded, "This is also the stance of the higher-ups. The masters are the trump card for Celestial Xia’s ultimate survival, but for everyday progress, we must rely on ourselves."
"Exactly! Exactly!"
"The high-definition photos from our lunar satellite are in," the facilitator announced. "We’ve photographed the location where Mr. Gu first spent over an hour and compared the images to previous ones."
Everyone asked curiously, "Why did he stay there for so long?"
The facilitator projected the images onto the large screen. In the "after" photo, everyone saw that something resembling the roof of an ancient palace had suddenly appeared.
"What is that?"
"How did a palace suddenly appear there?"
"Could there really be other Extraordinary entities on the Moon? Did they only reveal themselves after Mr. Gu’s visit?"
"Is it possible... that Mr. Gu built it?"
The facilitator picked up his phone and looked up at the group. "Mr. Gu just posted a short video."
"Huh?"
The facilitator used the computer to project the video onto the large screen.
A photo appeared on the large screen. It showed the desolate surface of the Moon, with the distant Blue Star hanging in the background.
In the center of the photo stood a great hall, simple yet majestic. The plaque on its facade bore two words, written in a grand, traditional script.
Guanghan Palace!
The caption read: [The Moon has been our inherent territory since ancient times. Now we have indisputable proof!]