New Ideas for Supervising Slackers

On the shores of the East Sea, a battlefield once filled with murderous intent had transformed into a bustling (and resentful) giant construction site.

The Demon Emperor Di Jun, Eastern Emperor Taiyi, and East King Duke, three primordial powerhouses who not long ago wished each other dead, now stood with grim expressions. They directed their respective immortal soldiers and demon generals, hauling spiritual materials, refining bricks, and inscribing formations, to begin constructing the absurd "Purple Heaven Palace East Sea Branch and Primordial Entertainment Leisure Resort Center."

The scene was incredibly awkward and bizarre.

"You demons over there! The Northern Sea Black Ice you're moving is the wrong size! It needs to be cut to a standard spiritual brick size of three zhang three on each side! How many times have I said it!" East King Duke, holding a construction blueprint from Xiao Kuang, sent across space, covered in all sorts of bizarre requirements (with annotations for a grill and massage pool), gestured wildly at a group of ox demons, trying to regain a sliver of his "Duke" authority.

"Hmph! A mere loose immortal understands the art of artifact refining? Such spiritual materials should be tempered with Solar True Fire to be sturdy!" Taiyi retorted with dissatisfaction, commanding a few fire crow demon gods to spew true fire to scorch the materials, nearly igniting the beards of several loose immortals from the Heavenly Court nearby.

"All of you, shut up!" Di Jun rubbed his temples, his head aching. He watched as the optimal construction process deduced by the River Diagram and Luo Script was interrupted, and he snapped, "Follow the Dao Ancestor's blueprint requirements! Anyone who deviates again and delays the construction schedule will write a self-criticism report at the Purple Heaven Palace!"

The words "write a self-criticism report" acted like the ultimate curse, instantly calming Taiyi and East King Duke. They could only stifle their anger and continue directing this incredibly awkward joint construction team.

They were skilled at fighting, but building... especially this unprecedented "entertainment complex," was simply asking too much. Progress was slow, errors were rampant, and the three factions kept tripping each other up, watching each other's failures, leading to outrageously low efficiency.

Inside the Purple Heaven Palace, Xiao Kuang watched the chaotic construction site through the crystal screen, extremely displeased.

"These guys, they're useless at working, but they can slack off three times as effectively as anyone! At this rate, it'll be good if they finish a toilet in three thousand years!" He chewed on a blade of grass, lounging in his chair. "No, I have to go supervise personally! Give them a little push from modern... uh, from the Dao Ancestor!"

With that, he didn't even give Wangshu and Queen Mother of the West beside him time to react. His figure flickered, and he vanished from the Purple Heaven Palace.

The next moment, Xiao Kuang appeared nonchalantly above the East Sea construction site. Seeing the chaotic scene below, he shouted, "Stop everything! Stop! Your efficiency is too low! I'm getting anxious just watching!"

The construction site fell silent instantly. All the immortals and demons looked up at the culprit, their expressions complex.

Xiao Kuang descended and walked up to a crookedly built wall. He kicked it (the wall was fine, but his foot hurt a little), and said with disdain, "What kind of garbage is this wall? Even a dog's bite would be straighter! And your division of labor! It's too primitive! There's no concept of an industrialized assembly line!"

Industrialization? Assembly line? The immortals and demons were utterly bewildered.

Xiao Kuang didn't explain. He immediately started giving orders: "You! You! You! And the few of you!" He casually pointed at a group of demon soldiers and loose immortals. "From now on, you'll be solely responsible for digging! Establish the 'Primordial Foundation Excavation Co., Ltd.'!"

"You few! You'll be responsible for mixing mud! Establish the 'Heavenly Court Mud and Water Craftsmen Professional Cooperative'!" "You! You'll be responsible for firing bricks! Establish the 'Solar True Fire Building Material Firing Plant'!" "You few strong Ancestral Witches! Stop watching, it's you! Establish the 'Witch Race Hercules Transport Brigade'!" "Di Jun! Your mind is sharp, you'll be responsible for using the River Diagram and Luo Script for project budgeting and progress planning! Establish the 'Demon Emperor Project Management Consulting Center'!" "Taiyi! Your bell sound is loud enough, you'll be responsible for ringing the bells at the start and end of work and for noisy construction (when needed)! Establish the 'Eastern Emperor Bell Sound Reminder Service Department'!" "East King Duke! You... you look presentable enough, you'll be responsible for receiving potential clients (though there are none now) and writing the daily work reports! Establish the 'Immortal Court Image Public Relations Office'!"

With a flurry of actions, Xiao Kuang had instantly forcibly split the originally chaotic construction team into dozens of functionally different "departments" and "companies."

"Listen up!" Xiao Kuang said, hands on his hips. "From now on, we'll follow this process! Those who dig only dig, those who mix mud only mix mud, those who fire bricks only fire bricks! Everyone will only do their own job! If you do it well, there's a reward (a promise); if you don't, your salary will be deducted (also a promise)! We'll implement 'Performance Appraisal' and the 'Last Place Elimination System'! Anyone who ranks last in workload for three consecutive days will come over and massage my legs!"

Although they didn't understand what "performance appraisal" or "elimination system" meant, the threat of "massaging legs" was very real. Under Xiao Kuang's oppressive might (and the mandatory enforcement of Heavenly Dao Authority), the entire construction site was forced to operate according to this strange "assembly line" model.

Miraculously, the efficiency actually improved!

Because they were only focused on one task, their proficiency increased rapidly. Because there was a clear "performance" comparison (which everyone wanted to avoid), a sliver of competitive spirit inexplicably emerged. Because of Di Jun's coordination and planning, material allocation and process linkage became much smoother.

Although the entire construction site was still filled with grumbling, it looked much more orderly, and the construction speed visibly increased.

Di Jun stared at the efficiency improvement data displayed on the River Diagram and Luo Script, dumbfounded. For the first time, he felt a tiny bit of... admiration for the Dao Ancestor's "management skills"? (Although the method was still embarrassing.)

Taiyi dejectedly rang the bell on time, feeling like the dignity of his Eastern Emperor Bell had been utterly ruined. East King Duke, with a grimace, began writing the first work report: Report on the First Day's Progress and Existing Issues of the East Sea Resort Project (Including: Reflections on the Demon Emperor's insufficient planning, the Eastern Emperor Bell's disruptive noise, etc.).

Xiao Kuang, meanwhile, set up a beach chair and a sun umbrella next to the construction site, put on sunglasses (materialized from a Spiritual Treasure), and drank iced soda, calling it "on-site supervision" while actually starting another round of slacking off.

"Mmm, good, good, just like that! Maintain the rhythm!" he'd occasionally shout, then continue lounging. "Ah, being a boss is so tiring, having to personally guide the work..."

The Primordial Era's first "quasi-industrial assembly line" was born, stumbling along under the Dao Ancestor's slacker-like supervision.

When the news reached the Purple Heaven Palace, the Queen Mother of the West was once again dumbfounded. Wangshu looked at the orderly yet incredibly bizarre construction site on the crystal screen, and the supervisor lounging in the beach chair basking in the sun. After a long silence, she slowly said to the Queen Mother of the West, "Perhaps... he's not entirely useless?" It was just that his "usefulness" was delivered in a way that was truly hard to accept.

Heavenly Dao (slight fluctuation during dormancy): ...Detected a 250% increase in production efficiency... Management model innovation... Named 'Salted Fish Capital Exploitation Assembly Line'... Incorporated into backup database... zzzz...

Just as Xiao Kuang was enjoying the leisure of "supervising" (which was essentially slacking off), thinking he could continue like this until the project ended, the beach chair beneath him suddenly vibrated violently!

Immediately after, the entire East Sea construction site began to shake violently!

"Huh? An earthquake?" Xiao Kuang took off his sunglasses.

In the area designated for excavation by his "Digging Co., Ltd.," the ground suddenly collapsed, revealing a bottomless, giant pit emitting an extremely ancient and chaotic aura!

A desolate, majestic, terrifying aura, as if from before the creation of heaven and earth, surged out from the pit!

Along with the aura, streaks of dazzling innate restriction light, containing infinite Dao charm, shot up into the sky, illuminating the entire sky with a colorful radiance!

All the immortals and demons were stunned by the sudden turn of events and stopped their work.

The River Diagram and Luo Script in Di Jun's hand frantically deduced, but everything was chaotic! Taiyi's Chaos Bell hummed on its own, seemingly sensing an immense threat! East King Duke was so frightened he almost dropped the report in his hand!

Xiao Kuang was also stunned. Looking at the giant pit and the divine light of restrictions shooting into the sky, he blinked: "Holy crap? Did we dig into a hidden dungeon? This resort center comes with an Innate Secret Realm as a supporting facility? I'm truly blessed by the luck god!"

His first reaction wasn't danger, but... pleasant surprise!

It seemed this supervision gig had unearthed a big catch!