Chapter 545: Chapter 46: Conference of the Mediocre
The Celestial Divine Sword is someone who highly values efficiency in everything, not only for himself but for others as well.
Because of this emphasis on efficiency, when he was with the Cyan Cloud Li Family, he repeatedly used methods that pushed the limits of the human body to train Shen Qingming. The facts proved that this was the only way to fully unlock Shen Qingming’s physical potential, allowing her to win the Cyan Cloud Tournament at the tender age of 14.
Similarly, when Wang Jiu took up a position at Cyan Lotus Academy, tasked with managing the academy and furthering the progress of the Xiangzhou Immortal Dao civilization, he naturally adopted the most efficient management methods.
"Next, please follow me to Senluo’s Test Site Number 7. I have already set up the basic environment there, and the majority of the work will be conducted at Test Site Number 7,"
said Wang Jiu as he prepared to turn and lead the way.
Following a brief moment of silence behind him, there came a barrage of doubts.
"Wait a minute, Dean, it’s already 10 p.m. now?! Work hours have long since ended!" One chubby man raised a small clock, where a tiny mechanical girl was yawning as she changed into pajamas and announced the time.
On the other side, an even chubbier man was diligently buttoning the hem of his pajamas and declared righteously, "Yeah, except in special cases, even overtime generally only lasts until 9 p.m., right? Besides, we were all getting ready to rest!"
Wang Jiu turned around and said, "In this project group, there is no such thing as work hours. Except for special cases, all other times are work hours."
This blatant exploitative statement left everyone speechless. Even Zhang Tie had his mouth agape, unable to speak for a long time.
After a while, Zhang Tie finally asked, "Dean, balancing work and rest..."
Wang Jiu interrupted, "Considering the efficiency you displayed while working in the Sword Group, I believe you should fully enter the work phase to truly call it a balance between work and rest. Moreover, given your level of intelligence, only by working tirelessly can you meet my basic requirements."
Being questioned about their intelligence level at Cyan Lotus Academy could be considered the most severe insult. The seven laborers drafted by Zhang Tie, although not top talents of the academy, still held the self-respect of intellectuals. Upon hearing this, they became infuriated and loudly demanded, "Can we have a few minutes to change our clothes?!"
In this situation, there was no other way. The new dean had been in office for a few days now, and it was enough time for various legends about him to spread through the academy, such as the story of how the Elders collectively opposed him before his official appointment, only for him to crush them with 129 intelligence tests, achieving a weighted total score of 1300...
Such legends at Cyan Lotus Academy were enough to lay the foundation for someone to become a living deity. The researchers present had all undergone comprehensive intelligence tests, with weighted scores ranging from 300 to 500. Outside the academy, they could surpass others, but within the academy, they were merely average. Combined, they still fell short of matching a 1300-point deity, so though they were angry, in reality, they wisely chose to submit.
If the new dean really pulled them into a crushing intelligence competition, the psychological trauma might take ten years to heal.
——
Wang Jiu led a group of researchers, hastily changed into their work attire, to Test Site Number 7.
The ground had already been prepared in advance. In the middle of a spacious open area were numerous containment boxes holding various exotic beasts and gateways leading to different special cultivation zones.
A few researchers from the original Sword Group, being experienced members of the academy, took one glance and saw that this was going to be a large-scale biological experiment, but...
"Dean, may I ask what exactly our work entails?"
"Yes, although there are many part-time situations in the Sword Group, we haven’t really participated in research for the All Things Group before and are not familiar with the environment here."
"I used to mainly work part-time in the Celestial Craft Group."
"I’m from the Illusion Group..."
Everyone, including Zhang Tie, was deeply perplexed by this question.
Wang Jiu specifically called upon so many people; what exactly did he intend to do? In terms of qualification and experience, these people were clearly not the elites of the academy, and their fields of expertise varied widely, making it difficult for effective collaboration. If there was something in common, it would probably only be that they had all offended Zhang Tie at some point.
But for someone with an intelligence score of 1300, he wouldn’t specifically gather a group to start a project just for Zhang Tie, would he?
Thinking of this, everyone started speculating wildly, guessing that either Zhang Tie and the new dean had some unspeakable relationship, or the new dean was planning to conduct a social experiment involving the protection of vulnerable groups...
In response to everyone’s questions, Wang Jiu finally revealed the answer.
"I gathered you all for the sword fighting tournament with Wuxiang Sword Academy in half a month."
This statement caused an uproar below.
"Dean, this is absolutely out of the question!"
"We’re just frail scholars whose lives have involved little more than verbal and literary disputes. Criticizing the Sword Academy’s ancestors is fine, but getting in the ring to sword fight with those brutes? We really can’t do that!"
"Dean, there’s actually something I’ve been keeping from the academy. I’ve had an allergy to sharp objects since childhood, and I can’t hold a sword for a long time, so I really can’t help with the sword fighting..."
"Dean, the sword fighting tournament at Wuxiang Sword Academy always uses up their injury quotas. Those brutes never leave any unused! We beg you, have mercy and spare us, we promise not to bully Zhang Tie anymore!"
In an instant, pleas surged forth like a tidal wave.
Wang Jiu said, "I’m glad you’ve fully recognized your inadequacy in practical combat, so in the next half-month, I need you to cooperate with me fully to complete research on combat enhancement in the shortest time possible."
After hearing this, the cries below came to an abrupt stop.
"Dean, just combat enhancement research? You’re not asking us to fight on stage?"
Wang Jiu asked in surprise, "Where did you get the confidence to assume you could fight on stage?"
"This... You’re not asking us to participate in that hellish training, are you?"
Speaking of hellish training, some people immediately started trembling.
It’s a psychological shadow left by the previous dean. Sang Yue and Sang Jing felt that the Cultivators at the Cyan Lotus Academy were only proficient in theory but neglected practical combat, so they often required the members of the Sword Group to regularly participate in hellish training to enhance combat capabilities.
And that’s also the only drawback of the Sword Group as a relaxation group, becoming the lifelong nightmare of many research-based members. Each time Sang Yue and Sang Jing chose individuals from the Sword Group researchers for hellish training, it coincided with a period of high sick leave from the Sword Group.
However, Wang Jiu clearly was not impressed with this set of training.
"The former dean’s training plan clearly lacked practical significance."
This statement was heart-wrenching for the listeners below.
"The dean indeed has far-sighted wisdom!"
"Exactly, how could anyone persist through such torture-like training..."
Yet Wang Jiu continued, "The former dean only applied her daily training plan indiscriminately to others; the intensity was so light that it was insufficient to correct the practical combat ability deficiencies of the Academy Cultivators."
"...Light intensity?"
Wang Jiu stated, "To be precise, it was too light. With their talents, to win over the Celestial Sword and Broken Sword at the Sword Fighting tournament, at least the training intensity should be doubled. As for the other selected participants, the training intensity needs to be increased by more than five times to have practical effect."
"Increasing by five times would lead to death!"
Wang Jiu said, "If mere death could bridge such a giant disparity in strength, then it would simply be worth it."
For those who experienced the Immortal Demon battle, life and death are not such big issues; if dying once could make one stronger, the Myriad Immortals Alliance would have long recruited daredevil squads to craft Immortal Corpse Kings.
"But judging by the difficulty of this Sword Fighting tournament, even if the training intensity is increased tenfold, the gap in combat power between the two sides is still hard to bridge—the Sword Species plan of the Wuxiang Sword Academy succeeded magnificently fifteen years ago, resulting in a group of Mad Sword Cultivators with astonishing practical combat ability. Compared to those Mad Sword Cultivators, the weakness of Cultivators in the Academy cannot even be categorized as the same species."
Though the words were harsh, the Cyan Lotus Scholars never felt those lunatics from the Wuxiang Sword Academy were really the same kind of creatures as themselves, so they listened with calm and even had a playful smile.
"Therefore, in this half month, I need to conduct species enhancement to ensure both sides at least stand on the same level."
The smiles on everyone’s faces instantly froze.
Zhang Tie dared to ask, "Dean, if I’m not mistaken, by species enhancement you mean using the contestants as the original model..." At this, he glanced around at the Exotic Beasts, "and then conduct cross-species fusion experiments?"
"Yes," Wang Jiu responded, "to merge the strengths of other creatures and rapidly form combat power."
"This is outrageous!" Someone couldn’t help but directly refute, "Conducting cross-species fusion experiments using humans as a model seriously violates the ethics and morals of this era!"
Wang Jiu replied, "So you believe ethics and morals have the right to bind the development of Immortal Dao Techniques?"
"How can these be conflated? Moreover, precisely because our Academy can lead the development of Immortal Dao Techniques, influencing the entire Xiangzhou Continent, we should conduct research within the framework of ethics and morals!"
Wang Jiu said, "On the contrary, because we can lead technological development, we should better withstand outside pressure and maximize the use of our intelligence."
"Even if it leads to civilization’s self-destruction?!"
Upon hearing this, Wang Jiu frowned and looked at the speaker with an expression akin to a proctor catching a cheating student.
The notion that the development of Immortal Dao Techniques would lead to civilization’s self-destruction is an anti-intellectual statement usually found among the ignorant. Not to mention that the Immortal Dao Techniques on Xiangzhou Continent now are far from advanced enough to qualify to talk of self-destruction; even back in the Jiuzhou Era, human civilization perished due to insufficient advancement—facing the Demon Race invasion, humanity did not possess sufficiently advanced technology to counter it.
Uttering such a contrary statement at the Cyan Lotus Academy, it’s basic to conclude his effective Intelligence Index doesn’t exceed 3 points, belonging to a moderate intellectual disability.
Nonetheless, intellectual disability has its advantages.
The experimental material for this biological test now has a candidate.
