Coupled with the fact that Xiaochong was Observation Target 1 and that he had shown Awakened talent at a young age, Jiang Baimian suspected that the Eighth Research Institute had actually studied the relationship between the human brain and superpowers back then. They tried their best to grasp the secret to the birth of consciousness and sublimate humans.
This could also be indirectly confirmed by the fact that the Northern Company's young scientist, Lin Sui, was very interested in research related to human consciousness.
In the research using Xiaochong and the other natural Awakened as a blueprint, the Eighth Research Institute must've gained a lot. They were even confident that they could restore a vegetable's consciousness and step into the Deities' Forbidden Zone to obtain a qualitative change in life?
