Forced to become a top influencer, I rely on my tu cao to ruin the cultivation world.

Bored, Jia Zhuang poked at the system interface floating in the air. The "psychic heavy tractor" under his butt made a dull "putt-putt" sound, as if it was also protesting the long wait.

At this moment, the summit of Luoxia Peak was in complete chaos. Hundreds of outer disciples were pointing and gesturing around the huge live broadcast camera, and the air was filled with the smells of roasted sweet potatoes, cheap spirit stones, and a faint diesel fuel.

"Family, today we're not having a lesson, let's do something exciting!"

Suddenly, Jia Zang jumped up from the driver's seat of the tractor, stood next to the loudspeaker array on the roof, and shouted. His voice, transmitted through the high-powered loudspeaker, made the leaves fall down and also emitted a plume of black smoke.

"The system notified me that a new feature has been unlocked—'Cross-World Voice Chat'! This means I can now randomly select a modern netizen and let them directly communicate 'face-to-face' with the big shots in the cultivation world!"

The live stream chat exploded instantly.

[Holy crap! Really? I can talk to cultivators?!]

[Don't even think about it, the streamer is definitely picking the people.]

[Host, connect with me! I'm a chemistry student! I want to ask them if they use catalysts in alchemy!]

I'm a physics student! I want to ask if flying on a sword violates aerodynamics?

[I'm a troll! I want to ask if their immortality violates the second law of thermodynamics!]

Jia Zhuang stared at the scrolling comments, his gaze settling on an ID: [Grumpy Old Man Loves Alchemy].

"Alright! You're the one! This 'hot-tempered guy,' I heard you studied chemical engineering? Come on, let's connect!"

[System: Connecting... Connection successful!]

The live stream screen was split in two.

On the left are Jia Zang, the messy Luoxia Peak, and that imposing psionic tractor; on the right appears a young man with messy hair and black-rimmed glasses, with a laboratory covered in periodic tables in the background.

"Feed? Feed? Streamer? I'm 'Grumpy Bro,' real name Zhang Wei, a PhD student in Chemical Engineering at a prestigious 985 university."

Zhang Wei pushed up his glasses, looked at the floating live broadcast camera on the screen, then at the group of dumbfounded cultivators behind Jia Zang, and at the "iron beast" emitting black smoke under Jia Zang's feet. His voice trembled with excitement.

"Oh my god! I actually connected on the live stream! Streamer, quick! Find me an alchemist! I need to ask them: Do you add catalysts when you're making pills? What's the reaction temperature? Have you considered the possibility of byproduct contamination?"

"What a coincidence, a 'master alchemist' just happened to come here today to 'extort'... oh no, to 'exchange ideas'."

Jia Zhuang grinned and casually grabbed a hapless guy who was trying to slip away in the corner using the "blame-shifting technique".

"Elder Wang, don't go! Come, say hello to this 'otherworldly powerhouse'."

The person Jia Zang dragged over like a chick was none other than Elder Wang Teng, whose face was ashen. He had come today to settle scores, but he hadn't expected Jia Zang to pull off this "live stream" thing, forcing him to talk to a "mortal."

Wang Teng glanced at the strange "mirror" (the live stream camera), then at the sputtering tractor beneath Jia Zang's feet, and snorted coldly, attempting to maintain his last shred of dignity: "Hmph! A mere mortal dares to speak with me? And why do you always sit on such a noisy iron box?"

"Oh, quite the boast. You think it's too noisy? This is the 'symphony of industrial civilization'."

On the screen, Zhang Wei pushed up his glasses, and his eyes instantly became sharp, exuding the unique pressure of a top student.

"A mortal? I am a mortal, but I understand science! Old man, I heard you're a master alchemist? Then let me ask you, isn't the 'cinnabar' you use in your alchemy mercury sulfide? Isn't the 'lead' you use a heavy metal? Aren't you afraid of the furnace exploding when you put a bunch of toxic substances in it and simmer them together? Aren't you afraid of heavy metal poisoning?"

Wang Teng was taken aback: "Cinnabar? Mercuric sulfide? What are those? Cinnabar is a precious substance of heaven and earth, containing the essence of fire. How can it be poisonous?"

"Non-toxic?!" Zhang Wei instantly erupted in anger, his spittle practically flying through the screen. "Old man, are you stupid? Mercuric sulfide decomposes into mercury and sulfur when heated, and mercury is quicksilver! It's highly toxic! Eating too much will make you stupid! And lead too, heavy metal poisoning can damage the nervous system! Are you cultivators all out of your minds? Eating this stuff can grant immortality? I think it'll just shorten your lifespan!"

[Ding! "Scientific Critical Strike" detected. 500 Honkai Points gained!]

Wang Teng's face turned deathly pale instantly.

He... he often felt dizzy and had blurred vision and memory loss after refining pills. So... so he was poisoned?!

"You...you're talking nonsense! I cultivate the Nine Revolutions Golden Elixir Technique, how could I..."

"Nine-Turn Golden Elixir? That sounds even more absurd." Zhang Wei interrupted him mercilessly. "Is your furnace sealed? Does it have a pressure valve? If not, the internal pressure will definitely cause it to explode after heating! I see that the sheet metal of your furnace isn't even as thick as the beakers in my lab. Isn't that just courting death?"

"An oven exploded?!"

Countless images of the oven exploding flashed through Wang Teng's mind. Each time, he was covered in soot and grime. So... it wasn't because of his lack of skill, but because... there was no pressure valve?!

[Livestream chat]

[Hahaha! This hot-tempered guy is awesome! He completely broke the alchemist's nerves!]

[That's called "dimensional reduction attack"! Using chemistry to crush metaphysics!]

Elder Wang's face turned green! He must be wondering why no one had told him this before!

"Alright, alright, Lao Zhang, don't push him too hard." Jia Zhuang chuckled, trying to smooth things over, and casually shoved the megaphone near Wang Teng's mouth. "Elder Wang is also a victim, he's been swindled by those 'alchemy formulas' his whole life. Why don't you give him some advice on how to improve his alchemy techniques?"

"Improve it? Easy!"

Zhang Wei pushed up his glasses and instantly switched into "academic mode," tapping his fingers on the table.

"First, throw away that broken furnace and replace it with a stainless steel reactor! It's heat-resistant, corrosion-resistant, and even has a pressure gauge! Second, throw away all the cinnabar and lead and replace them with non-toxic organic materials! Third, control the temperature! Use a constant-temperature water bath! Stop using that so-called 'Samadhi True Fire' thing; that stuff doesn't control the temperature precisely and can easily burn away the active ingredients!"

"Furthermore, your concept of 'heat control' is too vague! Who defined 'gentle heat' and 'vigorous heat'? It needs to be precise to the degree Celsius! For example, heating at a constant temperature of 80 degrees Celsius for three hours!"

Wang Teng listened with rapt attention, and the whisk in his hand fell to the ground with a "clatter".

"Stainless steel...reactor? Constant temperature...water bath? Precision...accurate to the degree Celsius?"

He muttered to himself, as if he had opened the door to a new world.

"So...so alchemy can be this simple? This...scientific?"

[Ding! Congratulations, host! You have successfully disrupted the alchemy techniques of the cultivation world using scientific methods, gaining 1000 Honkai Points!]

"Alright, Lao Zhang, it's about time." Jia Zhuang patted Zhang Wei on the shoulder. "Thanks for the explanation! As a reward, I'll give you a bottle of... 'Psychic Cola'! It's made with the 'Psychic Coolant' from my tractor, and it works wonders!"

"Psionic Cola? What's that?"

"Drinking it will refresh your mind and increase your spiritual power a little." Jia Zhuang took out a bottle of blue liquid from the system space and teleported it to Zhang Wei's laboratory through the system.

"Holy crap! We really teleported here?!"

Zhang Wei was so excited when he saw the blue bottle that appeared out of nowhere that he danced with joy.

"Thank you, host! Thank you, Master Jia! I... I'll go get the ingredients analyzed right away!"

The live stream ended, and the video feed returned to normal.

The once bustling summit of Luoxia Peak was now eerily silent.

Elder Wang Teng stood there blankly, his eyes vacant, as if his soul had left his body.

His prized alchemy skills were rendered utterly worthless by a mere "mortal"! Terms like "heavy metal poisoning," "pressure valve," and "constant temperature water bath" were like sharp knives, piercing through his decades of understanding.

"So... I've been... taking poison all along?"

Wang Teng muttered to himself. Suddenly, he raised his head sharply, a fanatical light flashing in his eyes—the light unique to a believer in science.

"Stainless steel... reactor! I need to find a blacksmith! No, I need to find an elder in the weapon-refining hall! I need them to make one for me! And a pressure gauge too! The kind accurate to the decimal point!"

After saying that, he turned and ran, not even bothering to pick up his whisk. He ran straight to the weapon-refining hall like a madman, muttering "80 degrees Celsius... 80 degrees Celsius..." as he ran.

[Livestream chat]

[Hahaha! Elder Wang has gone mad! He's going to build a reaction vessel!]

[Hey, this isn't madness, this is "scientific awakening"!]

[This streamer is amazing! He converted an alchemy master to science with just a bottle of cola!]

As Jia Zhuang watched Wang Teng's departing figure, he gave a peace sign to the camera.

"Family members, do you see that? This is the power of 'knowledge'! As long as we don't give up, there's always a way to overcome difficulties!"

He patted the steering wheel of the tractor beneath him and continued:

"That's all for today's live stream. Next time, let's connect with a physics student and ask them if flying on a sword violates aerodynamics! My tractor has a turbocharger, I refuse to believe it can't outfly their broken sword!"

[Livestream chat]

[Host! Connect with me! I'm a law student! I want to ask them, does murder for robbery count as self-defense?]

[That was too ruthless! But I like it!]