Jiang Hai was discussing the establishment of a new research institute with Xuan Ziwen. After some deliberation, he still decided to follow the model of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy and Illustrious Virtue Hall: an academy aboveground, with a research institute beneath it.
With soul tools developing as rapidly as they were, building the research institute underground was the safest option.
This model would also establish an effective talent-training system. The academy aboveground could supply graduates to strengthen the research institute's talent reserves.
Once they settled on their goal, the next steps were naming the academy and research institute and choosing their location.
After a lengthy discussion, the two finally settled on the names Civilization Research Institute and Dongyang Civilization Soul Guidance Technology Academy. For their location, they tentatively chose Dongyang City, a city in the northern Sun Moon Empire.
Dongyang City was the largest major city in the Sun Moon Empire's Northern Border. Far removed from Mingdu in the south-central region, it faced relatively few restrictions. If they entertained such ambitions, it would not even be impossible to seize Dongyang City, sweep across the empire's northern lands, and carve out a kingdom of their own.
The key reason Dongyang City had become the Northern Border's largest city and its commercial and cultural hub was its coastal location. Maritime routes allowed minerals and resources to flow freely between the northern and southern regions.
Jiang Hai and Xuan Ziwen wanted to establish a research institute without being constrained by any particular power, but its location could not be too remote. Without sufficient resources, the institute's development would inevitably be severely restricted.
Xuan Ziwen had suggested Dongyang City. Many years earlier, he had needed an exceedingly rare material for his soul tool research and had traveled there in search of