Every Decision Could Affect the Choices of Those Who Came After
"Look, why wouldn't you look? I'm not like those guys who only know how to draw strength from fear and hatred. You have to keep up with the times to progress!"
Listening to Feng Xue's nonchalant voice coming from the loudspeaker, the meeting room was filled with silent analysis and note-taking. Chen Xiyao, who hadn't encountered many Weird Tale, didn't notice anything amiss and calmly pondered how to subtly suggest going to find the other party.
Before she could figure out how to start, she felt a twitch in her calf. She looked up and saw Lin Wenxue wearing a noise-canceling mask and holding a soft-tipped pen, showing her the words she had just written.
"..."
Chen Xiyao frowned slightly, paused for a moment, and then asked:
"Is your disciple the legendary Martial Arts Master, one in a million?"
"!!!"
After Entering Stillness, Liu Qi, whose hearing had become even more acute, clearly caught the question his teacher's wife asked on the phone. He immediately perked up his ears, but soon heard a rather ordinary evaluation:
"He's just average-looking, with only decent comprehension and willpower. However, he has a Martial Spirit, so let's nurture him a bit and see how far he can go."
"So I'm just an average person after all?" Liu Qi was slightly disappointed, but he gritted his teeth. Just as his master said, he had a Martial Spirit, and his willpower and comprehension were not bad. He would work hard! Work hard!
Thinking this, the stares from passersby no longer seemed so piercing. As the saying goes, "A single thought can broaden the world, and a calm mind can make all things seem light." Liu Qi felt he had found the key and was about to try to Entering Stillness in front of everyone when he suddenly heard his master's wife say:
"Are there any plans to bring him into the official ranks?"
"???" Liu Qi's recently calmed emotions suddenly became chaotic again. His master's wife was an official? Then what about that conversation that sounded like a joke...?
Liu Qi suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, realizing he might be in deep trouble!
But seriously, a ten-yuan copy of "Buddha's Palm"... does such a thing really exist?
The moment this thought crossed Liu Qi's mind, he couldn't help but think of his two hours of "cultural classes" every day. He immediately abandoned the idea of asking his master, fearing that his master might really give him a book on the Buddha's Palm and then start two hours of Buddhist studies classes every month or something like that.
Liu Qi's emotions were in turmoil, and in the meeting room of the Supernatural Tale Countermeasures Bureau, each participant had a serious expression.
It must be said that they understood Feng Xue's rather obvious threat, and they really had no choice but to comply.
If Feng Xue really starts teaching Peerless Martial Art on a large scale, the entire Yan Kingdom will immediately fall into chaos.
Don't spout nonsense about modern people being rational in peacetime. Anyone with a brain knows how frequent shootings are in Colombia, let alone the fact that this is a situation where "others don't have it, but we do."
Holding a sharp weapon, the urge to kill arises spontaneously; when a truly terrible day arrives, no one can guarantee they will remain rational.
"This kind of thing mainly depends on him. You can discuss it with him after he completes his apprenticeship." Feng Xue's voice came from the loudspeaker, but everyone was still thinking more about the problem of the random distribution of the secret manual.
"Well, how about we have Xiao Chen ask him directly what he wants? After all, promises are unreliable, but exchanges of benefits are different. The instability of the [instructor] right now is that he can manipulate us, and we have no way to stop him (after all, martial arts culture is deeply ingrained in Yan, and it's impossible to directly ban all martial arts). So, conversely, as long as there's an exchange of benefits, and he needs us to do something, wouldn't that mean he'll be more inclined to ask us for help, even if it's just a small thing, it would be enough to become a 'reference'?"
Liu Yingqiang was just a deputy captain, suddenly spoke up. Although he was sitting on the side, everyone still heard his suggestion.
Everyone had thought of this idea, but no one said it because it was a sensitive topic.
After all, taking the initiative is very important in negotiations. Asking the other party to make demands is equivalent to giving up the initiative, which will make subsequent negotiations more difficult.
If it were just a Weird Tale about [the instructors], then doing this would be understandable. But after all, they are an official organization, and their words and actions have far-reaching implications.
This is not to say that they are arrogant, but rather that, just like court rulings, each case represents not only the interests of a single plaintiff and defendant, but also influences considerations for similar cases in the future.
They had to consider whether taking this step back now would affect the standard procedure for subsequent negotiations with Weird Tale.
"Since that's the case, let's put it another way." The Archive Group, which had been relatively inconspicuous until recently, had become quite active. After attracting everyone's attention, Qian Hongxiu smiled and said:
"If asking him about his needs is giving up the initiative, then why don't we just take the initiative to make our own requests? For example... buying Magical Item?"
"..."
A brief silence filled the meeting room as everyone considered whether it was the right time to propose the deal.
Although this may seem like a word game, where the initiative is held, a seller's market and a buyer's market are ultimately different.
"It looks like we'll need to add an 'accounting team' specifically to assess transaction issues." Fu Tianli sighed slightly, then straightened his face and said seriously:
"While Magical Item are valuable, they aren't necessities. Using them as the first item in a transaction allows us to maintain control. The only problem is, what if he offers something we can't refuse? If it becomes a seller's market, we'll be at a disadvantage."
"There's nothing we can do about it. If the other party really has such a thing, it doesn't matter whether they bring it up or we do." Old Wang shook his head slightly. As the head of the Xijing City Countermeasures Bureau, he had the right to know some information about secret treasure-level Phantom Object, but he couldn't say it outright. He could only give a wink to the group leaders with a hint.
The team leaders exchanged glances, roughly guessing what Old Wang meant. They understood that there must be a secret treasure that could prevent the worst-case scenario from occurring, but its level of secrecy was very high. So they nodded to each other and said:
"I agree to use proactive trading as an initial probe."
I agree.
"Agree."
"What? Even if I get a guaranteed admission, I still have to go to school. Otherwise, when I get to university, I'll be surrounded by top students and I'll be the only slacker. Wouldn't that be embarrassing?"
Hearing Chen Xiyao being easily steered the conversation back to her, Lin Wenxue sighed, nudged her shin, and gestured for her to look away.
After being kicked, Chen Xiyao immediately realized she had been led astray again, and she felt terrible. However, she still retained her rationality, looked up at the cardboard sign Lin Wenxue had erected, and asked with a subtle expression:
"By the way, they said they want to buy some Magical Item from you, are you interested?"
PS1: Regarding the use of memes, Chen Pilian did use a meme, but putting that meme aside, is the sentence really that hard to understand? Isn't "looking like a sullen face" a normal figure of speech describing someone with an unfriendly expression?
What's the difference between this and "After school, someone in the crowd has a sour face, as if they're about to grab someone's horse"?
Those who know the reference will smile knowingly, and those who don't can still understand the general meaning. What's wrong with that? Why would anyone say it lowers the reading experience? I didn't write a reference like "just like swimsuit Chen" that's incomprehensible to those who don't know it.
PS2: So you really just call yourself the Red King and then insist it's a design bug, right?
As the experts at Special Attack Day have said many times, in combat, prioritize the setting (elements). In the absence of elemental weaknesses, look at who is stronger. If I have [instant death] and you don't have [instant death resistance], then as long as I successfully activate my ability, you will die, no matter how much stronger you are than me.
I've said this so many times, yet you still insist I'm not giving a straight answer. If you ask your math teacher a question, does the teacher always have to explain it from 1+1? If they don't start with 1+1, you say your math teacher isn't answering your question directly, and that there's a bug in the 1+1 rule?
Ultimately, is the core of the discussion simply a matter of one plus one? Is martial arts training about cost-effectiveness?
Think about it: are you more likely to encounter an enemy you have a natural advantage against, or an ordinary enemy?
Do you think it's more beneficial to focus on building elemental advantages to instantly kill enemies you counter, then just sit back and wait to die against enemies you don't counter, or to focus on building basic stats so you can fight any enemy?