The club members all looked at Ma Ran in unison.
It was a subconscious action that involved almost no thought.
Their subconscious behavior showed that in just three or four days, Ma Ran had already established prestige within their small circle and become something like the "hidden director" of Caolu Academy.
"The young people these days are incredible..."
Huang Weiguo marveled inwardly and looked toward Ma Ran as well.
Even though this young man had only been at Caolu Academy for three or four days and had not done anything yet...
No!
Thinking about it carefully, that was not true.
Over the past few days, Ma Ran had displayed his abilities and left the other club members looking up to him, unable to match him. That was prestige.
Through the Black Rock Guidance Technique, he had helped everyone refine their first wisp of inner qi. That was grace.
Without realizing it, everything he did had already conformed to the secrets of leadership.
Most commendable of all was...
Ma Ran's use of both grace and authority did not feel deliberate in the slightest.
Everything seemed extremely natural.
Over the past few months, Director Huang had read many reports on supernatural phenomena from around the world. He knew that the times were changing, that the situation was serious, and that talent was urgently needed.
Therefore, after realizing that Ma Ran's position had changed, he did not feel the slightest sense that his authority had been taken away. He only felt gratified.
With a new-generation leader like Ma Ran around...
When China faced disasters that came without warning in the future, there should be far fewer innocent casualties than in other countries, right?
What a pity...
Ma Ran was not perfect.
With Director Huang's experience, he had seen it quite early on...
Apart from his insignificant germaphobia, Ma Ran seemed gentle and approachable at first glance, but was actually cold, aloof, and kept people at arm's length.
Even Su Qiangwei, Dong Huaiming, and Wan Haihao, the three people closest to him, still had an invisible barrier between them and Ma Ran.
However...
Taking everything into consideration and looking at it dialectically, Ma Ran was already outstanding enough!
Director Huang slapped his cheeks and pulled himself together.
He was confident!
After some more time, once everyone became more familiar with each other, he would create opportunities to hold group activities and slowly correct the personality flaws Ma Ran had hidden away.
"Everything will get better."
Old Huang sighed. "I just don't know how much time we have left..."
With everyone watching him, Ma Ran did not lose his nerve.
He stepped forward openly, walked to the front of the stage, and said in a clear voice, "I'll offer a few humble remarks to get the discussion started."
The small auditorium, which had still been somewhat noisy, immediately fell silent.
Everyone sat up straight and listened attentively.
There was no need to mention Dong Huaiming, Ma Ran's little follower, who practically wanted to swear brotherhood with him in the Peach Garden.
Even Su Qiangwei behaved herself at this moment.
She did not fidget or make any small movements. She merely stared intently at Ma Ran without moving her eyes, seemingly hoping to create a little psychological pressure through her gaze.
Unfortunately, speaking in front of such a small audience did not cause the slightest ripple in Ma Ran's heart.
His tone was calm as he slowly began, "What is the true advantage of inner qi?"
"Enhanced strength?"
"Wrong."
"Suppose an alien humanoid carbon-based lifeform is burning, killing, and looting on Earth. You are holding a semiautomatic rifle. As long as you aim accurately enough, a single bullet hitting a vital point can kill it."
"In that situation..."
"What difference is there between being able to unleash five hundred jin of punching power and being able to unleash one ton of punching power?"
"Increased movement speed?"
"Greater resistance to blows?"
"Longer life?"
"No..."
"None of these."
At this point, Ma Ran put forward an idea: "The most important advantage of Black Rock Stele martial arts is the tremendous increase in reaction ability while inner qi is enhancing the body!"
"As everyone knows, because of the limitations imposed by nerve-fiber conduction speed and synaptic-transmitter transmission, an ordinary person's reaction speed is around 300 milliseconds."
"After a long period of specialized training, a talented person can reduce their reaction speed to specific stimuli to 150–180 milliseconds."
"And the current scientific consensus is that the limit of human reaction speed is 100 milliseconds."
When the phrase "specific stimuli" came up, Xiao Ming immediately thought of suitable examples—track-and-field athletes reacting to the starting gun, and esports players responding to enemies' non-targeted skills.
He did not interrupt to elaborate and simply listened patiently.
"A few days ago, I obtained some related research materials through Director Huang."
As he said this, Ma Ran's tone grew somewhat fervent and highly infectious, causing the listeners to become excited despite themselves.
"Inner qi practitioners can surpass the one-hundred-millisecond boundary..."
"And approach the theoretical limit of human reaction speed without end!"
"That is..."
"Zero point three milliseconds!"
The time required for a light signal to reach the eyes, be processed by the brain, and travel through the nerves to the limbs to produce movement was the lower limit.
From the current materialist perspective, a reaction speed of 0.3 milliseconds could not be reduced any further.
However...
No one could reach that level.
Ma Ran knew that this figure was actually a mistaken interpretation of the martial-arts stele.
Even after cultivating to the Nine Stages of Inner Qi and undergoing rigorous training, the fastest Earth Humans still had a physical delay of 50 milliseconds.
That was far, far slower than 0.3 milliseconds!
However...
It did not matter!
Ma Ran could modify the Black Rock Stele martial-arts system and elevate it to a higher level!
That was why Ma Ran spared no effort in painting a grand vision for the club members.
"What exactly does this reaction speed mean?"
"Please, speak freely."
After saying this, Ma Ran returned to his seat, gathered his thoughts, and focused on sketching the arcane script in his mind.
The club members, however, became highly animated. One after another, they opened the floodgates and talked without stopping.
"Dodge bullets!"
"Within the limits of one's physical attributes, one could even catch bullets barehanded!"
"That isn't entirely accurate. You have to take into account the short-range movement speed of the limbs, the ability of the skin, muscles, and bones to withstand impact, the bullet caliber, and the data for different types of firearms."
"If you have that ability, why would you catch bullets barehanded? Aside from showing off, does that have any practical meaning?"
"Is looking cool not enough?"
"If someone had reaction speed at that level...apart from saturation fire and carpet bombing, I can't think of any way to kill him."
"No matter how advanced a weapon is, it still depends on a person to use it. For someone with an exceeding limit reaction, as long as the weapon isn't useless, putting him on a low- to medium-intensity battlefield would make him a classic one-man army!"
"Not necessarily... Human vision has flaws. Even if your reaction speed can keep up, you might not be able to dodge every stray bullet. Besides, are you ignoring the creature known as a 'useless teammate'? What if the bullet comes from behind?"
"Even so, in small-scale special operations, someone like that would absolutely be a main force on the battlefield!"
Watching the club members argue endlessly until their faces flushed red, Ma Ran felt extremely happy.
Wherever there were people, there were conflicts.
Before gathering together, everyone had been a top student in their own little domain, but even top students had different ranks.
Those who had always been first in their old groups—who would be willing to become the worst after coming to Caolu Academy?
Even if they could not compete for first place, they could not willingly sink to the bottom and become the worst, right?
Right now, the cultivation atmosphere and competitive spirit at Caolu Academy were excellent.
Feeling the fighting spirit flickering in these people's eyes and words, Ma Ran felt happy.
Thanks to the Great Palace Steward for the 100-point tip!
Thanks to My Little Dried Fish for the 100-point tip!
Thanks to Midnight Eleven for the 500-point tip!
Thanks to Green Sky 0 Blue Sea for the 100-point tip!
Thanks to Thousand Illusions Love Demon for the 100-point tip!
Thanks to Fathead for the 100-point tip!
Thanks to Plump Salted Fish for the 500-point tip!
Hehehe... little friends, see you tomorrow!
Before you continue