nycdaug Chapter 542 - 43: Being a Secretary Is Not Easy
Chapter 542 - 43: Being a Secretary Is Not Easy
In the evening, when Wang Jiu returned to his office, he saw that Zhao Chenlu had skillfully sorted through the documents on his desk, arranging them by category and sending out those of relatively lower importance after self-correcting them. There was also a fragrant cup of tea on the desk.
Wang Jiu felt a surge of emotion in his heart; this is the perfect work secretary he wanted.
Zhao Chenlu leisurely smiled and said, "Are you thinking this is the perfect work secretary? If you want, I can be your secretary, not only a work secretary but also a personal secretary. Whatever you need, I’ll do my utmost to satisfy you."
Wang Jiu said, "From the candidate’s perspective, you are indeed the most suitable. You aren’t currently holding a position in Golden Jade City, so you are free, and your executive ability is sufficient for the secretary role."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Chenlu was overjoyed, "Then it’s settled, I can start immediately!"
"But I have an agreement with the Sect Leader of the Saint Sect not to appoint you as secretary under any circumstances."
"That old geezer must be crazy! Why would he screw me over with something like this?!"
Wang Jiu said, "He said that if you became the academy’s headmaster’s secretary, you would definitely abuse power for personal gain and misuse the Three Academies’ resources for personal profit."
Zhao Chenlu said, "What’s wrong with that? If people don’t look out for themselves, the heavens and earth will destroy them. Didn’t the former headmasters, Sang Yue and Sang Jing, use the academy’s name to get private loans from the Anping Money Shop? Why can’t I use my power for personal gain?"
"He said your destructive potential far exceeds ordinary people, and if you’re allowed to misuse the academy’s resources, it could directly threaten the peace and stability of Xiangzhou."
Zhao Chenlu said, "Nonsense! I’m a rightful savior of human civilization; in my past life, I fought selflessly for humanity. How could I threaten Xiangzhou’s peace and stability? That old man has no other skills but is a master of slander and gossip; no wonder he won’t have descendants! My dear, why would you agree to the demands of such a shameless person?"
Wang Jiu said, "He said if I didn’t agree, he’d die for me to see."
"Then let him hurry up and die already!"
Zhao Chenlu was truly furious, clenching her teeth. However, she wouldn’t waste time on things that had already happened and couldn’t be changed. Shaking her head, she said, "Let me figure out a way to deal with that old man first, then you won’t have to worry about him dying on you... Hey, what are you holding in your hand?"
Wang Jiu said, "The rules for the Sword Fighting tournament with Wuxiang Sword Academy."
"Sword Fighting tournament?"
After Wang Jiu explained it to her, Zhao Chenlu immediately understood, "This kind of thing is simple; just find a few familiar fighters to participate. For example, leave the advanced group to me; I can handle that Celestial Sword and Broken Sword by myself."
Wang Jiu said, "The rules have very strict regulations on the behavior of these outside fighters; you do not qualify."
Zhao Chenlu turned her head to look at the paper Wang Jiu was holding and showed a displeased expression, "In a place where they sneak around like this, the rules are so detailed, it’s laughable. Hold on, let me see if there’s another solution..."
After snatching the paper from Wang Jiu’s hand, Zhao Chenlu studied it for quite some time before reluctantly saying, "The person who made these rules has a narrower mind than the tip of a needle, probably won’t have descendants either..."
Wang Jiu was immediately surprised, "You guessed correctly; the details were jointly requested by the two academies and personally set by the Sect Leader of the Saint Sect."
"I knew it!" Zhao Chenlu sighed but couldn’t feel happy about it.
No matter how contemptuous she was of the Sect Leader of the Saint Sect, it wouldn’t change the fact that the rules were complete, detailed, and hard to exploit. According to these rules, the Sword Fighting tournament would divide participants from the two academies into high, medium, and low groups based on the cultivators’ age, realm, and other factors, and then calculate the total score to determine whether Wuxiang Sword Academy or Cyan Lotus Academy has the superior overall Sword Dao level.
And no matter how personnel is allocated, Cyan Lotus Academy can’t find enough competitive participants to match the people from Wuxiang Sword Academy.
"Advanced group, the Celestial Sword and Broken Sword pair can wipe out Cyan Lotus Academy three times over, tsk, is there really no loophole? How about you go talk to the old man and have him amend the Sword Fighting rules?"
Wang Jiu said, "I already asked on my way here, and he refused."
"...I’m surprised you even thought to ask, and suddenly I feel a little relieved. But if the rules can’t be changed, how do you plan to fight? It’s going to be tough."
Wang Jiu said, "I’ll personally take action in the advanced group. Although the Celestial Sword and Broken Sword are quite powerful, they are, after all, sword cultivators, and the Wuxiang Sword Academy’s inheritance is somewhat related to me."
Zhao Chenlu said, "Then the beginner group is simple—just specially recruit Shen Qingming as a fighter, since the entry qualifications for the beginner group aren’t that strict."
According to the rules of the Sword Fighting tournament, there are qualification requirements for participants in the high, medium, and low groups. The advanced group requires participants to have more than 10 years of experience, the core techniques must be the core inheritance of the Cyan Lotus Academy, and the magical treasures used must be on the specified list... The detailed rules ensure fair sword fighting and prevent the academy from hiring powerful fighters or renting powerful magical treasures at a high price from outside. It is precisely these rules that prevent Zhao Chenlu from participating as a contestant.
But the beginner group is much more relaxed, with almost no restrictions on participants’ entry time—after all, once they’ve been around long enough, they can no longer be considered newcomers, so they can’t join the beginner group. While the core techniques require Cyan Lotus inheritance, they do not need to be the core inheritance—newcomers can’t learn advanced core inheritances anyway. The Cyan Lotus Academy’s inheritance is vast and varied, and as one of the origins of the Xiangzhou Immortal Dao theory, it is hardly an exaggeration to say that the Immortal Dao of the world rises from Cyan Lotus. Even the seven families with Primordial inheritance have often referenced the Immortal Dao theory of Cyan Lotus Academy over the past two thousand years, finding much in common. Thus, once the restrictions are loosened, young cultivators from these families can become quick-trained Cyan Lotus disciples in a week’s time.
"Shen Qingming..." Wang Jiu pondered for a moment, calculating Shen Qingming’s position in the beginner group, and soon nodded, "It’s possible. With her resilience, she can fully utilize the ring rules to defeat opponents."
Zhao Chenlu said, "But her True Essence Realm at the Cloud Surge level is still somewhat low. I’ll personally train her so she can unleash Cloud Flipping Realm strength in a short time frame."
Wang Jiu thought for a moment, "Full moon?"
"Hmm, though I don’t want to admit it, training with my full moon technique is quite suitable for her. Absorbing the Essence of the Half-Moon and unleashing it in a split second, in this way, she can barely achieve Divine Techniques of the Cloud Flipping Realm. That girl is somewhat sharper than her ancestors, after all, she also inherited half of the Li Family bloodline, so she should be unrivaled in the beginner group."
Wang Jiu said, "The real focus isn’t the Li Family bloodline, but fully exploiting the Shen Family bloodline’s Immovable Tyrant Body advantage in the ring. Otherwise, relying solely on the short burst of Cloud Flipping Realm wouldn’t be enough to defeat well-experienced Wuxiang Swordsmen in ring competitions."
Zhao Chenlu nodded, "I know. I’ll give her rigorous training. But how do you plan to handle the mixed group in between? Its scoring weighs the most and is the trickiest to handle."
The so-called mixed group requirements sit between the advanced and beginner groups: with a certain number of years of cultivation in either academy, having a core techniques inheritance, carrying specified magical treasures, passing drug tests, and so forth.
The range in this group varies greatly, from five to fifteen years of entry experience, from Cloud Flipping Realm to Rain Cover Realm, all can join the mixed group, and the number of participants ranges from 1 to 5 people. The rules in these details are quite broad, only setting limits on the "total amount".
Depending on each contestant’s situation, there is a formula to calculate their value. For instance, one point is added for every year of entry, another point for reaching a certain level of True Essence Realm, and so on. As long as the chosen contestants do not exceed the total point limit, they are eligible to compete. Thus, each academy can either choose a super-elite within the mixed group’s limits or select 5 individuals with great synergy. Theoretically, the points calculated using the same formula should mean their strengths don’t differ too greatly.
But in reality, the Wuxiang Sword Academy holds an almost overwhelming advantage. Regardless of the same points, the value of points from Wuxiang Sword Academy is far superior to that of Cyan Lotus Academy. Same cultivation realm, same difficulty for core techniques inheritance, same level of magical treasures... No matter how restrictions are set, in actual combat, Wuxiang Sword Academy is far ahead.
Moreover, the mixed group competition cannot have Wang Jiu personally competing, nor can they temporarily draft an external fighter like Shen Qingming. They can only use cultivators already within the academy, making the odds even slimmer.
"Tch, that Sect Leader sure is cunning, painstakingly designing rules that entirely favor the Wuxiang Sword Academy. Where did the fairness and justice the Saint Sect always prides itself on go?"
Wang Jiu said, "The point rules in these details were actually drafted by Cyan Lotus Academy and then submitted to the Sect Leader. The Sect Leader even reminded them specifically, but the academy insisted it would be more advantageous for themselves."
"...What sort of logic could lead them to conclude these rules are advantageous for them?!"
Wang Jiu said, "They think the Wuxiang Sword Academy is all brutes. Such complex rules will certainly bewilder them, preventing them from finding optimal solutions. In contrast, with Cyan Lotus Academy having an average intelligence far ahead and a deeper understanding of the rules, surely they can fully exploit these rules and select the strongest array."
"...Didn’t they consider that, given the actual combat ability gap, even if the Wuxiang Sword Academy can’t adapt to the rules, as long as they exert half their strength, they can sweep them away?"
Wang Jiu said, "They consider such assumptions a huge insult to human intelligence superiority."
"This self-deception and shamelessness are the real insults!"
"So, aside from the former dean, no one within the academy is willing to sword fight with Wuxiang Sword Academy anymore."
Zhao Chenlu sighed, "These bookworms truly have brought about their own downfall... What do you plan to do? This mixed group is genuinely difficult, the personnel quality varies too much. If it really doesn’t work, I could stealthily infiltrate the Wuxiang Sword Academy and severely injure their people for you?"
Wang Jiu said, "But according to the scoring details, severely injured cultivators have a point deduction, so the Wuxiang Sword Academy can dispatch more people, making the situation even more challenging."
"These bookworms are digging their own graves!"
Wang Jiu added, "I do have a plan now, only, it’s a bit tight on execution time."