164: Chapter 164: Your cultivation methods are too outdated.
It was deathly silent.
In front of the Qingyun Sect gate, no one spoke once again.
Everyone stared blankly at the pile of stone powder being blown away by the wind, then looked at the soldier holding the "electric baton," their minds unable to process what they had just seen.
What just happened?
A rock as big as a house... just like that... turned into dust?
No explosion, no sword energy, it just vanished after being touched by that blue light?
What the hell kind of sorcery is this?
Senior Sister Lin was also stunned. She looked down at the heavy sword still ringing in her hand, then looked back up at the pile of dust, her face devoid of expression for the first time.
Her proudest "Mountain-Splitting Sword," even after using all her strength, had only left a half-foot-deep gash on the stone.
Yet that mortal soldier, holding a strange rod, pressed it lightly...
And the stone was gone.
This gap was no longer something that could be bridged by burying one's head in hard work.
This was a power she simply couldn't comprehend.
Elder Sun's old face changed colors repeatedly.
His mouth was wide open, his eyes were wide, and the hand holding his cane wouldn't stop shaking.
What was it he said just now?
"Strange skills and ingenious devices"?
"Little trinkets"?
If this rod that could instantly blast a giant boulder into dust was just a little trinket, then what were the flying sword techniques they had worked so hard to practice?
Mud pies made by children?
An unspeakable sense of absurdity and fear suddenly gripped his heart.
He felt that the principles he had believed in for hundreds of years were shattering bit by bit.
"Elder Sun," Jiang Ning's voice rang out slowly, "Do you still think this is just a glowing little trinket?"
"I... I..." Elder Sun's throat rattled, but he couldn't say a single word.
Jiang Ning didn't look at him again. Dealing with such an old stubborn mule, reasoning was useless; you had to slap reality in his face to get him to shut up.
Her gaze swept over every terrified sect member present.
"Everyone, did you see that?"
"This is what I mean by the power of technology."
"Where I come from, we call this science."
"It doesn't care if your cultivation is high or if your talent is good. As long as you learn it, even an ordinary person can unleash methods more powerful than a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, or even a Golden Core Master."
"This is what I intend to bring to you upon my return."
Her words caused an uproar in every disciple's heart.
A mortal, stronger than a Golden Core Master?
This... how is this possible?
This overturned everything they had known about cultivation since they were children!
In their world, mortals were just ants on the ground.
Cultivators were the immortals in the sky.
A difference in cultivation realm was the difference between heaven and earth.
But now, Jiang Ning was telling them there was a way for ants to possess the power to kill immortals.
The shock to them was simply too great.
"I... I don't believe it!" a young disciple couldn't help but shout, "How can a mortal be more powerful than a Golden Core Master? That's not right!"
"Not right?" Jiang Ning laughed, "Who made the rules? You, or this world?"
She pointed at the soldiers who were already surveying the terrain and setting up equipment near the mountain gate.
"In my eyes, every one of them is more useful than an ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivator."
"Because they have knowledge and technology. The work one of them does in a day is more than what ten of you Cultivators can finish in ten days."
"They are the power that drives the world forward."
"And you..."
Her gaze became sharp.
"You have all this cultivation, yet you can't even protect your own home. You waste your time every day on inefficient meditation, fighting tooth and nail over a few spirit stones."
"Don't you think your way of life is backward and pathetic?"
These words made all the Qingyun Sect disciples present lower their heads in shame.
Indeed.
They had always considered themselves extraordinary Cultivators and looked down on mortals.
But in the end, they were living even worse than the mortals they looked down upon.
At least those mortals wouldn't be blocked at their own gates and driven down the mountain over three thousand spirit stones.
"Junior Sister... then... what should we do?" Sect Leader Lu Yun's voice was a bit dry; he had been completely stunned by Jiang Ning's display and her words.
He now truly regarded Jiang Ning as their savior.
"It's very simple." Jiang Ning snapped her fingers.
A technical soldier immediately ran over holding a tablet computer.
Jiang Ning took the computer, swiped a few times, and pulled up a document.
"Starting today, the Qingyun Sect will be completely reorganized."
"First, we will establish three halls."
"The first is the Infrastructure Construction Hall. My team and I will be in charge. The task is to turn the entire Qingyun Peak into a super fortress capable of both offense and defense as quickly as possible."
"We will install power grids, set up communications, install automated defensive magical artifacts, renovate spirit fields, and upgrade the alchemy rooms and talisman-drawing workshops..."
Every time Jiang Ning mentioned something, the disciples' eyes lit up a little more.
They didn't understand these things, but they sounded awesome!
"The second is the Production Hall. It will be headed by..." Jiang Ning's gaze swept across the crowd and finally landed on the slightly dazed Junior Brother Sun, "...Junior Brother Sun."
"Ah? Me?" The disciple named Junior Brother Sun, the guy who loved alchemy, pointed at his own nose, his face full of disbelief.
"Yes, that's you." Jiang Ning nodded, "Your task is to write down all your alchemy recipes. Then, working with my technicians, we are going to create an automated alchemy assembly line."
"The goal is to make alchemy no longer dependent on the skill or luck of the alchemist, but instead make it as simple, fast, and error-free as firing bricks."
"What?!" Upon hearing this, Junior Brother Sun was so excited his face turned red, "Junior... Junior Uncle! Is... is this really possible? Can alchemy... be done without manual labor?"
"Of course." Jiang Ning's reply was firm and decisive.
"The third is the Logistics Hall. Sect Leader Lu Yun, you will be in charge." Jiang Ning looked at Sect Leader Lu Yun.
"Your task is to manage all the disciples' daily needs, register everyone's names and situations, and create files. Furthermore, abolish the old rule of everyone eating from the same big pot and sharing resources."
"From now on, our Qingyun Sect will adopt... a wage system."
"Wages?"
Another new term.
"Yes, wages." Jiang Ning explained, "From now on, every disciple will receive a fixed amount of spirit stones and pills every month; this is your base salary. Then, depending on how well you perform in your position and how much you contribute, there will be additional bonuses and dividends."
"The more you work and the greater your contribution, the more you get."
"If you don't do well, or if you slack off, not only will you not get a bonus, but your base salary will be deducted."
"I don't care who you were before or what backing you had. With me, everything depends on how much work you've done and the results you can show."
Jiang Ning's words were like throwing a bomb into the stagnant pool that was the Qingyun Sect.
Abolishing old rules, establishing new halls, setting up assembly lines, paying wages...
All of this was too much of a shock for them.
They felt as if they were not in a sect of Cultivators, but in a place they had never heard of called a "company."
Although it sounded strange, for some reason, a fire ignited in everyone's heart—a fire called "hope."
Just then, a soldier responsible for sentry duty hurried over to Jiang Ning and saluted.
"Report, Chief Engineer! A group of Cultivators has been spotted at the foot of the mountain, heading our way! About thirty people, their cultivation... I can't make it out, but the energy readings are not weak!"
"Oh?" Jiang Ning's brows twitched slightly.
It seems trouble has come again.