PCJ – Chapter 744 Above Ten Thousand Meters

Seeing that the number of Immortal Dreamscape users was growing by the day, Zhang Jiaohua finally felt relieved. As long as users kept increasing, there would inevitably be a large number of excellent spiritual roots, even heaven-grade spiritual roots, appearing. Zhang Jiaohua wasn’t in a hurry to recruit these people. At this stage, recruiting wouldn’t have much effect and might instead cause unnecessary trouble. After all, the game’s settings already had corresponding arrangements in place.

Moreover, Zhang Jiaohua firmly believed that talent was not a necessary condition for cultivation. Not having extraordinary talent didn’t necessarily mean one couldn’t succeed. He believed that many people with only average aptitude, relying on their intelligence and extraordinary perseverance, would definitely stand out.

Meanwhile, Kong Fangzhou had also begun to stir. After lying dormant for so long, he was finally preparing to make a big move. His mind was now entirely focused on cosmic mining. The Immortal Realm couldn’t be reached for the time being, and even if it could, Kong Fangzhou didn’t want to go there just to die—unless he had the ability to protect himself. Refining extraordinary offensive and defensive spiritual artifacts was the shortcut to strengthening a cultivator’s abilities. Kong Fangzhou thought that if he could one day follow Zhang Jiaohua into the Immortal Realm, it would most likely be because of a major breakthrough in artifact refining. And to achieve any breakthrough, the first barrier to overcome was that of materials.

Apart from the mysterious elements Ao, Yu, and Gu, there must surely be other elements in space that Earth lacked. Some of them would definitely be key to artifact refining. Kong Fangzhou had long been searching for a way to break through the atmosphere. Of course, he didn’t want it to be via rockets. The Meishan Group had money to burn, so bearing the cost of rocket launches wasn’t an issue. The real problem was that in China, rocket launches were not controlled by private enterprises. Kong Fangzhou had to find another way.

The Meishan Group’s aircraft development was astonishingly fast. Kong Fangzhou and his team rolled out generation after generation of flying craft, each faster and with greater payload capacity than the last—from high-speed to supersonic, to hypersonic, and beyond. Their endurance grew stronger with each iteration.

“Master, we’re preparing to launch a series of psionic satellites in the near future. With them, we can improve Immortal Dreamscape’s data-processing capacity and signal transmission. After all, its signal system is completely different from modern technological networks,” Kong Fangzhou said excitedly. His space mining plan was about to begin.

“You can decide that yourself. Just make sure it stays hidden. If you cause too big a stir, it’ll be hard to clean up afterward,” Zhang Jiaohua said.

“What stir? We’ve tested it several times already. During the last portal incident, every satellite in that orbit was destroyed cleanly. To this day, they haven’t been replaced. Without knowing the cause, no country dares to launch new satellites. Each one costs a fortune,” Kong Fangzhou said with some schadenfreude.

“You’re not planning to use those orbits, are you?” Zhang Jiaohua asked.

“Of course not. If one day we need to enter the Immortal Realm again, wouldn’t we just lose another batch of satellites? Anyway, our psionic satellites are invisible. Any orbit will do,” Kong Fangzhou replied.

When the Meishan Group launched its experimental satellites, Zhang Jiaohua also participated in the process. The launch was incomparably simple. They didn’t need carrier rockets; the satellites’ own propulsion systems sent them up directly. In space, there was no rocket separation—each satellite simply unfolded its wings.

Kong Fangzhou wasn’t worried about missing the correct orbit; if they did, they could just adjust. The psionic satellites had virtually limitless power and didn’t need to worry about running out of fuel. Even though they were experimental, the Meishan Group still launched six at once, evenly distributed around Earth, forming a very simple global network.

Even without satellites, Immortal Dreamscape’s signal transmission hadn’t had any real problems. However, some users had complained that in enclosed areas, the login device couldn’t connect. With these six satellites, that issue was solved.

Of course, the real reason for launching them was to prepare for lunar mining ships. Next, Kong Fangzhou planned to launch a few lunar satellites—only two, since that was more than enough for the moon. With no obstructions there, the signal would be excellent.

A month later, Kong Fangzhou had completed all preparations. He was ready to launch the interstellar mining ship, with the moon as its first stop.

“The first launch definitely won’t be manned. But whether it’s manned or not doesn’t matter much—we can remotely control the robots to land on the moon,” Kong Fangzhou said.

The design was simple. Using technology derived from the Immortal Dreamscape login device, operators could transmit data directly to the robots. This allowed for precise control of the spacecraft and all lunar operations.

Zhang Jiaohua volunteered to be one of the ten robot operators on the ship, serving as one of Kong Fangzhou’s deputies. Naturally, Kong Fangzhou was the captain. Mei Qing secured a spot as well, as did Nie Tong, Yaba, Zhang Yuanbao, Qi Xia, and others.

Kong Fangzhou chose a rainy day for the launch, explaining simply: “Rain makes it more concealed. Our Immortal Sword ship is enormous. Even though it can go invisible, I still worry about it being spotted. Better to launch in the rain. Once we’re in the sky, there’s no such thing as sunny or rainy.”

A bolt of lightning split the sky.

Boom!

With a deafening sound, the Immortal Sword ship lifted off—but without making a sound itself. In a flash of light, it was already ten thousand meters above, its speed growing faster and faster, pulling farther away. When Zhang Jiaohua looked back down, Earth had already become a giant azure planet.

Although Zhang Jiaohua and the others were only present via their robot operators, their experience felt little different from actually flying into space themselves.

“The scenery out here really is marvelous. The atmosphere was like a black cloth covering our eyes. Now that it’s lifted, we can finally see the true universe. It’s beautiful,” Mei Qing exclaimed.

“Yes. Our Earth really is so beautiful,” Zhang Jiaohua nodded.