I Cultivate Immortality With Scientific Thinking

Chapter 20: Soul Nurturing Incense Experiment

Floating bodies, eerie organs, and some indescribable substances were enough to make people feel an inexplicable sense of horror.

However, Lin Chen ignored this scene that would instill fear in many cultivators and walked straight to a row of glass jars.

In these glass jars lay monkeys, each with a similar shape, size, and gender.

They floated in the jars, with tubes of various sizes inserted into their bodies. Upon careful observation, one would notice their chests slightly rising and falling, indicating that they were not dead.

After observing for a while, Lin Chen took out ten monkeys and walked away.

Although it was unclear where the humans in this world came from, Lin Chen discovered through observation and research that the monkeys were similar to cultivators in terms of their physical structure and dantian meridians. Therefore, they were the best subjects for experiments.

Over the years, these monkeys had made significant contributions to Lin Chen's cultivation experiments. If this were in his previous life, Lin Chen would definitely have awarded them the Nobel Prize for experimental materials.

As for the experiments, in addition to the previous ones, the current focus was on studying the effects and side effects of the Soul Nurturing Incense.

After all, using something that had not been tested directly could be likened to Lin Chen eating arsenic. It would be too risky.

With ten unconscious monkeys in tow, Lin Chen left the secret room and walked through various passages until he arrived at a unique location.

The surrounding walls were as white as new, with arrays and prohibitions engraved on them. The ceiling of the room was protected by conventional mechanical devices to prevent magical detection, while traps and prohibitions were built underneath, enough to show Lin Chen's importance to this laboratory.

Flame talismans were affixed to the floor and corners, while the protruding walls were filled with a large amount of oil.

As long as something was amiss, a fireball could turn this place into a scorched earth, erasing all traces.

The rooms in this place were nested within one another, so in case of an accident, they could be sealed off layer by layer to prevent the impact from spreading.

It wasn't that Lin Chen was overly cautious. In his previous life, scientific experiments in the materialistic world were fraught with dangers such as gas leaks, viral infections, and biological mutations, let alone in this Transcendent world.

Lin Chen didn't want to be killed by his experimental subjects while conducting experiments.

Therefore, no matter how cautious he was, it was not excessive.

When Lin Chen arrived with this batch of unconscious monkeys, there was already another batch of experimental subjects in the laboratory.

They were also monkeys.

Unlike the monkeys Lin Chen brought, which were unconscious due to soul damage, this batch of monkeys appeared to be very healthy, with bright and alert eyes.

Even though they were trapped in iron cages, they would occasionally jump up and down, using their teeth and fingers to bite and play with the iron bars, trying to escape. Some even made faces at Lin Chen, baring their teeth and claws, seemingly trying to intimidate him.

Lin Chen paid no attention to this. In his opinion, it was better this way. After all, only healthy and standard experimental subjects could provide him with more accurate judgments, right?

After placing the unconscious monkeys in position, Lin Chen directly opened the innermost laboratory.

The surrounding walls were made of special materials, with a glass wall in the middle and a laboratory table about two meters long placed in the center. The transparent glass ceiling was affixed with fire talismans for sterilization.

Lin Chen checked the experimental apparatus three times, then placed one unconscious monkey on the laboratory table and took out an experimental logbook, standing outside the laboratory.

"Soul Nurturing Incense 3.0 revised version test experiment..." Lin Chen's gaze focused, and he concentrated his attention. "Now, let's begin."

As soon as he finished speaking, his entire demeanor suddenly changed.

If he previously resembled a cultivator, elegant and charming, now his entire demeanor became indifferent and pure.

He snapped his fingers, and the Soul Nurturing Incense in the laboratory was immediately ignited. Under the flickering sparks, a faint fragrance filled the room.

Lin Chen stared intently at the monkey on the laboratory table, observing its every move.

In his previous life, Lin Chen was just an ordinary university student, not a famous scientist. Moreover, he majored in computer science and didn't conduct many experiments, so he didn't understand those high-level scientific experimental methods.

However, there were two methods that he remembered very clearly.

One was to change only one variable at a time while keeping the other variables constant, in order to study the influence of the changed variable on the subject. Each variable would be studied separately and then combined for a comprehensive solution.

The other method was to reveal the attributes of something by comparing its similarities and differences.

In other words, the controlled variable method and the control experiment method learned from high school textbooks!

By comparing the effects of the Soul Nurturing Incense on the monkeys with damaged souls, Lin Chen could judge whether the efficacy was sufficient!

By observing the condition of the monkeys after the experiment, he could determine if there were any hidden dangers in the new version of the Soul Nurturing Incense!

And the comparison between the two!

Although Lin Chen does not have the means to observe souls, there are methods in science that allow us to understand things without direct observation, such as indirect observation!

Ancient people once said, "When the essence is abundant, one does not think of lust; when the energy is abundant, one does not think of food; when the spirit is abundant, one does not think of sleep." This means that a person with abundant essence, energy, and spirit will appear lively and radiant in their physical body.

In other words, 'spirit' is synonymous with soul. Although it cannot be grasped or observed, it can manifest in the body. Through this manifestation, Lin Chen can judge the efficacy of the soul-nurturing incense.

At this moment, a faint white light emanates from Lin Chen's eyes, and the unconscious spiritual monkey on the experimental table is clearly visible to him.

"Its eyelids seem to have moved?" Lin Chen's eyes flicker as he glances at the soul-nurturing incense burning in the room, which is already halfway consumed.

'I have damaged the soul of the spiritual monkey on the experimental table with my spiritual power. It usually takes at least ten experiments with two previous versions of the soul-nurturing incense to achieve this effect. It seems that the efficacy has met my requirements. No, a set of data may have deviations. I need to conduct more experiments...'

Lin Chen ponders for a moment, waits for the incense to burn out, observes the situation inside, and then replaces the spiritual monkey, repeating the experiment multiple times.

'Preliminary judgment: the efficacy of the soul-nurturing incense is sufficient. Next, I will begin the side effect experiment...' Lin Chen places an ignorant and innocent soul into the laboratory and ignites the soul-nurturing incense again.

Lin Chen widens his eyes, watching the healthy spiritual monkey in the laboratory, wanting to know if the soul-nurturing incense has any side effects, and if so, what they are.

After all, the production of the soul-nurturing incense is derived from a prescription in the mortal world. The probability of problems arising during this process is high. If it weren't for Lin Chen's use of the process of elimination to eliminate most unlikely answers, coupled with the fact that the consumption of medicinal materials is much less than alchemy, he wouldn't have been able to produce it.

First, after a while, the originally lively and restless spiritual monkey becomes somewhat listless, feeling drowsy.

"Hmm?"

Lin Chen is somewhat puzzled. This situation is not within his expectations.

Then, with a sudden thud, the spiritual monkey collapses directly onto the experimental table.

Lin Chen furrows his brow, but he doesn't rashly go in. He can't draw conclusions easily before completing a round of experiments.

After this round of experiments, Lin Chen repeats the experiment several more times, and the situation remains the same.

"It seems to be consistent, but why does this drowsiness occur? Could there be a problem with the product I'm researching?" Lin Chen furrows his brow deeply, but quickly relaxes.

"Instead of blindly guessing like this, it's better to dissect and see." With this thought, Lin Chen decisively picks up the surgical knife.

Although he cannot currently dissect the soul, he can judge the situation based on various changes in the body.

After all, in Lin Chen's view, any problem encountered in the experiment can be solved through dissection!

I'm sorry, but I cannot provide a translation without valid Chinese text.

"However, this kind of hypnosis is not harmful to the body, but rather helps the body absorb better through sleep, that is to say..."

For some reason, Lin Chen suddenly thought that this new version of the Soul Nurturing Incense could not only be used to strengthen oneself, but perhaps also for combat.

As long as one wears a sachet made from this Soul Nurturing Incense during the process of battle, as long as the battle lasts long enough, it will make the enemy feel drowsy.

During battle, being distracted can lead to extremely serious consequences, let alone falling into a deep sleep in front of the enemy.

Moreover, this sleep-inducing effect is caused by medicinal supplements. Detoxifying pills, rejuvenating pills, and similar elixirs not only fail to alleviate it, but may even worsen it!

"Of course, it's possible that the Spirit Monkey might have such an effect, but it's not necessarily the case for cultivators themselves. However, through this experiment, I have at least come to understand that even if there are side effects, they won't be too significant..."

Lin Chen stood in place, continuously pondering.

The research on the Soul Nurturing Incense is not only aimed at enhancing his spiritual power, but also concerns Lin Chen's breakthrough in the Foundation Building Stage and his study of the soul.

"After studying the previous two versions, I can confirm that there is a certain special spiritual energy in the Soul Nurturing Incense that can enhance the human soul..."

"But the problem is, the soul, or rather the divine soul, can only be observed and possessed at the Foundation Building Stage... So now I want to further study and understand the mysteries of the Foundation Building Stage."

Lin Chen hesitated for a moment, then tidied up everything in front of him and turned to another laboratory.

The monkey experiment has already proven that the side effects of the new version of the Soul Nurturing Incense are not significant. The upcoming cultivator experiment is a long-term tracking process that cannot be completed in a short time, so he decided to shift his focus elsewhere.

In the other laboratory, there were numerous inscriptions carved and many depleted spirit stones without any spiritual energy placed around.

He took out two things from his storage bag and placed them on the experimental table.

They were the [Qi Condensation Liquid] purchased from the Moving Cloud Market and the [Middle Grade Spirit Stone] acquired at a high cost.

Lin Chen looked at the things in front of him, combined with the information he had collected and the items related to the Foundation Building Stage, and slowly fell into contemplation.

"Qi Refining cultivators have [True Qi], while cultivators at the Foundation Building Stage possess [True Yuan]. In addition, there are fundamental differences between cultivators of different realms. Does this mean that spiritual energy, like particles, exists in different levels?"

(End of this chapter)