I, the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon, am being kept by the state.

Jinghu Lake.

Chen Dong stood by the lake, holding a piece of paper in his hand, his brows furrowed.

Li Chen's dragon head floated on the water's surface, its vertical pupils calmly watching him.

"Lord Dragon Lord, is this the list of medicinal herbs?"

Chen Dong's voice was somewhat hesitant.

"good."

Chen Dong looked down at the list in his hand, which was densely covered with the names of dozens of medicinal herbs.

The problem is that he had never heard of most of these medicinal herbs.

"Millennial Blood Ginseng, Nine-Leaf Lingzhi, Purple Cloud Grass, Dragon Blood Vine..."

Chen Dong read out a few names, then looked up, "Lord Dragon Lord, these medicinal herbs..."

He paused, carefully choosing his words, "We might not be able to find it."

Li Chen's dragon whiskers swayed slightly.

"Can't find it?"

"Yes."

Chen Dong forced a smile and said, "I've never heard of these medicinal herbs before."

He handed the list to Professor Wang Jianguo next to him, "Professor Wang, take a look."

Wang Jianguo took the list and looked it over carefully.

He has studied ancient books for decades and has a good understanding of various ancient medicinal materials.

But he only recognized less than a third of the items on the list.

"Lord Dragon Lord."

Wang Jianguo looked up. "Are these medicinal herbs called by ancient names?"

Li Chen's vertical pupils narrowed slightly.

He suddenly remembered that the spiritual energy of Blue Star had been depleted for countless years.

Those medicinal herbs that require spiritual energy to nourish them have probably long since disappeared.

"What medicinal herbs do you have? Let me take a look."

Chen Dong was taken aback for a moment, then quickly nodded, "Okay, I'll have someone prepare it right away."

He took out his satellite phone, dialed a number, and said, "Immediately contact all the major medicinal herb markets and send all the rare medicinal herbs you can find to Jinghu."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Dong looked at Li Chen and said, "Lord Dragon Lord, it will probably take about two hours."

Li Chen did not respond, and the dragon's body slowly sank into the water.

Chen Dong stood by the lake, looking at the calm surface, feeling somewhat uneasy.

If even the Dragon Lord doesn't approve of those medicinal herbs, then the alchemy project is doomed to fail.

Two hours later.

Boxes of medicinal herbs were delivered to the shore of Jinghu Lake.

Li Chen's dragon head emerged from the water, his vertical pupils sweeping over the neatly arranged wooden crates.

Chen Dong stood to the side and carefully opened the first box.

Inside is a wild ginseng plant with intact roots and excellent appearance.

"Lord Dragon Lord, this is a century-old wild ginseng that we found in Changbai Mountain."

Chen Dong explained.

Li Chen glanced at it, and the dragon's whiskers swayed slightly.

"continue."

Chen Dong opened the second box.

Ganoderma lucidum, Polygonum multiflorum, Gastrodia elata, deer antler...

Each one is a top-quality medicinal herb available on the market.

Li Chen's vertical pupils swept over the medicinal herbs, and finally he slowly shook his head.

"The quality of these materials is too poor."

Chen Dong's hand froze in mid-air, and he exchanged a glance with Zhao Wenjin beside him.

These are all rare medicinal herbs that were urgently transferred from all over the country at great expense, and each one is very valuable.

As a result, Lord Dragon said the quality was too poor?

"With my current methods, the only effect I can achieve is to improve one's health."

Li Chen continued.

To improve physical health.

These four words brought a sigh of relief to everyone present.

It can still be refined, but the effect won't be as good.

Chen Dong's mind raced.

"Lord Dragon Lord."

Chen Dong stepped forward: "Lord Dragon Lord, what stage do you need to reach to refine longevity-promoting elixirs?"

Li Chen did not answer immediately.

The dragon's whiskers swayed slowly in the air, a thoughtful glint flashing in its vertical pupils.

To be honest, he wasn't entirely sure himself.

In the world of cultivation, alchemy relies on cultivation level and spiritual energy. But in this world where spiritual energy is depleted, he can only rely on the power of incense offerings and vows. Although the power of incense offerings and vows can also be used for alchemy, its effectiveness depends on the extent to which it has been accumulated.

"I don't know either."

Li Chen's voice echoed across the lake, "It depends on the power of incense offerings."

Chen Dong was stunned for a moment.

He hadn't expected the Dragon Lord to give such an answer.

Zhao Wenjin, standing to the side, adjusted his glasses and asked in a low voice, "The more incense offerings you receive, the more techniques you can demonstrate?"

"That's one way to understand it."

Li Chen's vertical pupils swept over the crowd. "Most of my current power comes from incense offerings. The more abundant the incense offerings, the stronger my power becomes."

Chen Dong understood instantly.

The Dragon Lord needs more believers and more offerings.

"What if..."

Chen Dong tentatively asked, "If enough people believe in you, can you refine elixirs that prolong life?"

"right."

Li Chen's answer made everyone present's eyes light up.

Theoretically, it's possible, so there's hope.

Zhao Wenjin coughed and spoke.

"Lord Dragon, there are now more than a hundred Dragon God Temples built across the country, and the number of people who go to offer incense every day is in the millions."

"Isn't this speed enough?"

"not enough."

Li Chen's voice was calm, "This amount of offerings can only allow me to maintain the status quo. To advance further, at least ten times more is needed."

ten times?

Chen Dong did some mental calculations.

Currently, there are about two to three million people who go to the Dragon God Temple to burn incense every day; ten times that would be twenty to thirty million.

This number is achievable, but it will take time.

"Lord Dragon Lord, how about this?"

Chen Dong pondered for a moment, "Let's refine a batch of health-enhancing pills based on your current abilities. Once we have enough incense offerings, we can refine even higher-grade ones."

Li Chen's vertical pupils looked at him.

"That's fine too."

Chen Dong breathed a sigh of relief.

At least we can solve some of the problems for now.

Professor Wang Jianguo listened for a long time before suddenly speaking.

"Lord Dragon Lord, you just said that these medicinal herbs are of very poor quality. Is there any way to improve them?"

This question drew everyone's attention to Li Chen.

How to improve the quality of medicinal herbs?

Chen Dong's eyes lit up.

That's right. Since the Dragon Lord can refine pills, he might be able to make these medicinal herbs even better.

Li Chen shook his head.

"This still requires the power of incense offerings."

Wang Jianguo paused for a moment, then adjusted his glasses: "You mean, the power of incense can improve medicinal herbs?"

"Can."

Li Chen's vertical pupils looked at the neatly arranged boxes of medicinal herbs. "However, doing this is too costly and not worth the effort."

He paused, then continued.

"Instead of wasting the incense offerings on improving these medicinal herbs, it would be better to use them directly to enhance my cultivation. Once my strength has recovered more, the pills I refine will naturally be more effective."

Chen Dong immediately understood.

This is a simple arithmetic problem.

Improving medicinal materials with incense can only produce a batch of longevity-enhancing elixirs.

However, if this incense energy is used to enhance the Dragon Lord's cultivation, he will be able to continuously refine longevity-enhancing elixirs in the future.

Which is lighter and heavier, at a glance.

"Lord Dragon Lord is right."

Chen Dong nodded. "We can't just look at the present."

Zhao Wenjin, who was taking notes, suddenly looked up.

"Then the problem now is how to quickly increase the number of worshippers."

"right."

Chen Dong turned to look at everyone, "Now we begin the first phase of the public announcement."