HBWnovel Chapter 16 Quantum Meditation
Chapter 16 Quantum Meditation
Three days and nights.
For three days and three nights straight, the servers in the seventeen supercomputing centers across the country never stopped.
No one has calculated how much electricity was burned, but it's said that the air conditioning system at the data center in Beijing almost boiled over. The cooling units ran non-stop, the backup power was switched three times, and the support staff were so tired they could fall asleep standing up, managing to get through it all thanks to Red Bull and strong tea.
It's not just the supercomputing center.
Hundreds of research institutions, university laboratories, and affiliated units of medical schools across the country were temporarily drawn into this unprecedented collaborative network. Neuroscientists, researchers of traditional Chinese medicine, quantum physicists, bioengineers, sports medicine experts... disciplines that would normally have nothing in common were all brought together in these three days.
Some say this is the largest interdisciplinary collaboration in history.
Some people say this is just a bunch of scientists who have gone mad.
But nobody cares about that.
Because everyone knows that what they are doing could change the course of all human civilization.
3:17 a.m. on the fourth day.
Professor Yuan's face, which looked like a ghost from exhaustion, appeared on the main screen of the video conference.
His eyes were bloodshot, his eye bags were so swollen they could trap flies, a layer of stubble had sprouted on his chin, his white coat was wrinkled like pickled vegetables, and there were coffee stains on his chest that he didn't know when they had been spilled.
But that surge of excitement was more intense than if I'd had ten injections of adrenaline.
"They're out."
His voice was hoarse, like sandpaper grinding on a wooden board.
But each word seemed to crash to the ground, carrying immense weight.
"The new version of the cultivation technique is out."
The conference system instantly erupted in chaos.
At hundreds of branch venues across the country, tens of thousands of scientists, engineers, and medical experts who had worked tirelessly for three days cheered, applauded, and some even broke down in tears.
In Beijing, an elderly academician with gray hair was so excited that he coughed out his dentures, and his assistant hurriedly helped him pick them up.
In Shanghai, several young doctoral students were jumping and hopping around, kicking over two chairs in the lab.
In Shenzhen, a programmer who hadn't slept for three days straight heard the news, his head lolled to the side, and he fell into a deep sleep. His colleague next to him was terrified, thinking he had suddenly died, but when he checked his breathing, he found him snoring loudly.
In Xi'an, a group of veteran engineers with aerospace backgrounds stood up in unison and saluted the screen. No one gave commands, but their movements were so synchronized that it looked like they had rehearsed.
In Chengdu, several professors from Sichuan University opened a bottle of Wuliangye liquor and, regardless of the fact that it was 3 a.m., downed a glass first.
In Wuhan, a female researcher covered her face and cried uncontrollably. Her colleagues thought she was just too emotional, but she sobbed, "I'm just so sleepy... so incredibly sleepy... I can finally sleep..."
Professor Yuan waited for a full two minutes before the noise subsided.
"Quiet down, all of you!"
He cleared his throat and brought up a huge 3D human body model.
The model was covered with dense red rays, resembling a complex subway map or a large tree with many branches. Each line represented a meridian route recorded in the original "Basic Soul Power Guiding Technique".
"We ran through all 127 meridian routes of the original exercise."
His fingers slid across the screen, the red lines flickering on and off with his movements.
"How much computing power did you use? Give me a number."
"Over three days, seventeen supercomputing centers consumed approximately four billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. To put that into perspective, it's roughly equivalent to the electricity consumption of a medium-sized city for half a month."
"The water consumption of the cooling system alone is enough to fill three standard swimming pools."
"If you stacked all the servers involved in the calculations on top of each other, it would stretch from Beijing to Tianjin."
He paused, a slightly bitter smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"This money is enough to build two aircraft carriers."
A collective gasp filled the conference room.
"But is it worth it?"
Suddenly, an astonishing light flashed in Professor Yuan's eyes.
"I'm telling you, it was fucking worth it!"
With a wave of his hand, the image on the screen changed.
"Of the 127 meridian pathways, 43 are completely impractical in the human body on Earth."
Those forty-three lines instantly turned gray and faded away.
"The reason is simple: the physiological structure doesn't support it. People from Douluo Continent may have different internal organ positions and nerve pathways compared to us Earthlings. Even if you practice these forty-three pathways until you vomit blood, you won't get anywhere."
"There are still 61 articles that can be partially implemented, but the efficiency is extremely low."
The sixty-one lines turned dark red, like embers about to go out.
"How bad is it? To give you an example, it's like running the latest AAA game on a 3-year-old computer. It's not that it can't run, but at three frames per second, it's as laggy as a PowerPoint presentation—what's the point?"
"The remaining twenty-three..."
His finger swiped heavily across the screen.
The twenty-three lines instantly changed from red to dazzling gold, like twenty-three lightning bolts cleaving through the darkness.
"These twenty-three methods, after our simulations and verification, can not only operate within the human body on Earth, but are also more efficient than the original version!"
"You heard right, it's even taller than the original!"
The meeting room erupted in excitement once again.
Professor Yuan gestured for everyone to be quiet.
"The reason is quite simple. Although the people in Douluo Continent have been using this method for thousands of years, they don't have modern science, supercomputers, MRI, or EEG. They rely entirely on experience and intuition to find the right approach generation after generation. While it works, it's definitely not the optimal solution."
"And we have it."
"We have the world's most advanced medical imaging technology, which can clearly show every nerve and blood vessel in the human body."
"We have the world's most powerful supercomputer, which can run simulations that would take others thousands of years to complete in just a few days."
"We have tens of thousands of top experts in various fields who can analyze problems and optimize solutions from different perspectives."
"So we did what they couldn't do."
He took a deep breath, and his voice became solemn.
"We have rearranged, optimized, and integrated these 23 routes."
"All redundant steps have been removed—the original technique contained many 'ritualistic' movements, such as burning incense and bathing, and facing east, which were pure metaphysical nonsense and did not help with the actual effect. They were all cut."
"We have corrected three dangerous points that could lead to a reverse flow of qi and blood—there are several places in the original exercise that, if not performed correctly, could cause cerebral congestion or arrhythmia. We have added a 'fuse' so that even if you practice it incorrectly, it won't be fatal."
"Furthermore, based on the findings of modern neuroscience, seven 'amplification anchors' have been added—these anchors are located at specific acupoints on the human body, making it easier for practitioners to enter a deep meditative state, which is equivalent to adding a turbocharger to an engine."
He took a deep breath.
"The final result, we named it—"
On the screen, a line of large characters slowly appeared.
Quantum Meditation Method: Chinese Version 1.0
"I admit that the word 'quantum' is just a gimmick."
Professor Yuan rarely smiled, his wrinkles radiating pride. "But during our analysis, we did discover that those so-called 'soul powers' might be related to certain properties of quantum states at the microscopic level. Although it's not conclusive yet, the name... it's quite intimidating, isn't it?"
Laughter erupted in the conference room.
Someone exclaimed, "Elder Yuan, are you trying to become the patriarch of the cultivation world?!"
Professor Yuan was so happy that his beard stood on end: "I dare not call myself the patriarch, but if it really works out, I wouldn't mind having a memorial tablet erected for me."
The fatigue of the past three days seemed to vanish in that moment.
The laughter gradually subsided, and Professor Yuan's expression turned serious again.
"The next step is the human trial phase."
"The first batch of volunteers has been selected. There are 36 people in total, all of whom are from special forces, with excellent physical fitness and strong psychological resilience."
"Starting tomorrow, they will undergo a month-long closed training program based on the Quantum Meditation Method."
"We will monitor their physiological indicators throughout the process and record every change. If their heart rate increases by half a beat, we will record it. If their body temperature rises by 0.1 degrees Celsius, we will record it. If they have a dream, we will also record it."
"One month later..."
He paused, his gaze sweeping across the faces on the screen, faces from all over the country.
Those faces, dark circles under their eyes, and stubble, from staying up for three days and three nights.
Those elderly academicians who are over sixty but still in good spirits.
Those young PhDs who were pulled in to do work right after graduating.
Those figures wearing white coats, work clothes, and military uniforms.
"In a month, we will know whether Earthlings can actually cultivate 'qi'."
The meeting room was silent for a few seconds.
That silence wasn't just awkward; it was oppressive.
It was like the calm before the storm.
Then, I don't know who started it, but applause rang out.
It was sparse, like scattered raindrops.
Then it became denser and louder.
Finally, it turned into a thunderous roar, like a torrential downpour hitting a tin roof.
Some people were shouting "Go for it!", some were shouting "You must succeed!", and others were shouting slogans in dialects that were incomprehensible.
Sichuan dialect, Cantonese, Minnan dialect, Northeastern dialect... a jumble of accents mixed together, yet strangely harmonious.
Professor Yuan stood in front of the camera, looking at those tired yet excited faces, at the burning passion that could be felt even through the screen, and suddenly felt a tightness in his throat.
He cleared his throat and swallowed the sour taste with great effort.
"Don't get excited, it's still far from over."
"If we can't master it, then these three days will have been a waste, and those billions of kilowatt-hours of electricity will have gone down the drain."
"But what if..."
His voice suddenly rose a few decibels.
"What if I actually manage to master it?"
"Then we are the pioneers who will open the door to immortality for 1.4 billion people!"
"They were the pioneers who allowed the human race to touch the threshold of extraordinary power for the first time!"
"He's a madman who turns mythology into reality!"
"Even if we fail, we'll die on the road to victory!"
"But I refuse to believe I'll fail!"
"Because standing behind us are the hardest-working, smartest, and most indomitable people on this planet!"
"It's the wisdom passed down from five thousand years of civilization!"
"It's the culmination of the hard work of hundreds of thousands of researchers!"
"It's the expectation of 1.4 billion people!"
He slammed his fist on the table, making the coffee cups on it jump.
"Cheer up!"
"We can't afford to lose this battle!"
"We can't lose!"
On the screen, countless images lit up simultaneously.
BJ, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Xi'an, Wuhan, Changsha, Hefei, Harbin, Lanzhou, Kunming, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou...
From north to south, inside and outside the Great Wall.
In countless laboratories, countless tired yet determined faces simultaneously raised their fists.
There was no unified slogan.
Some shouted "Go for it!", some shouted "Victory is certain!", some shouted "Charge!", and some didn't shout anything, but just nodded vigorously with red eyes.
But at that moment, everyone's heart was beating at the same frequency.
It was like a giant engine that had been ignited.
Like a sleeping dragon that has opened its eyes.
Li Fulan lay on the bed, her body still covered in all sorts of messy sensors. Listening to the shouts coming and going in her headphones, she suddenly felt her eyes getting hot.
He recalled the live broadcasts of spaceflight he had watched before he traveled through time.
The moment the rocket lifted off, the command center was filled with cheering figures.
The scene of the elderly scientists embracing and weeping at the moment Chang'e landed on the moon.
So this is what it feels like to mobilize the entire nation.
So this is what it means for a nation to place all its hopes and efforts on the same thing.
He has been reborn nine times, wandering alone for so long.
I've never felt this way before.
No one ever told him: Don't be afraid, you have 1.4 billion people standing behind you.
No one ever told him: Go ahead and do it, we'll cover for you.
"Quantum Meditation..."
He muttered to himself, his lips slowly parting into a slightly silly grin.
"This feeling of having a whole country backing you up..."
"very nice."