Chapter 278: Monster, Restart

For the first time, the Zhi Shi Hall offset a value equivalent to 300,000 top-grade spirit stones of military merit with a large number of Departed Soul Gods and the "abandoned materials" accumulated by the entire Qing Xuan Sect for nearly a hundred years, here at Meng Zhou.
Meng Zhou used YaYa's abilities to purify and decompose these materials. Every material that could be used to brew spiritual medicine wine was turned into spiritual medicine wine.
Other materials that could not be brewed into spiritual medicine wine were turned into different grades and types of spiritual puppets by him.
This time, the Zhi Shi Tang, which tasted the sweetness, took the "waste materials" of the other four sects and offset the military contributions worth 1.2 million top-grade spirit stones from Meng Zhou.
But Mengzhou used part of the first batch of "scrap material" made from thirty thousand top-grade spirit stones to brew medicinal wine. If it is all exchanged, the final military contribution that ended up in his hands, valued in terms of top-grade spirit stones, is approximately around fifteen million.
别说玄霖等人被狠狠的吓了一跳。
Even Meng Zhou himself was genuinely shocked.
He felt like he and the Ecclesiastical Hall of the Qingxuan Sect had released a creature that should not have appeared in the cultivation world.
Meng Zhou is also clueless about this monster.
He only vaguely grasps its ferocity.
If it really unleashed its power, the entire cultivation world would probably be battered and bruised.
This monster had no place to exist in the cultivation world in the past.
Now, it has been exaggerated by the rapidly increasing and decreasing virtual numbers of military achievements.
Meng Zhou looked at Ya Ya, who moved through the huge "garbage mountain" like a flexible snake, and watched as pure spiritual materials fell like raindrops from the materials where her rope body made contact, blending in with their spiritual essence.
For this batch of materials, he still plans to follow the previous method and turn everything that can be used to make elixir wine into jars of elixir wine.
But he doesn't plan to release them anymore, but instead keeps them in his hands, at least for the near future.
Other spiritual materials will also be made into finished puppet products, but he has no intention of pushing them all to the market.
However, before that...
……
A few days later.
Meng Zhou appeared again at the headquarters of the Pharmacist Association as the "Qi Huangzi," and his disciple "Ge Ping" accompanied him.
Half a year later, the three professional sisters, who had witnessed his rise to become the president of the Professional Association in this grand hall, gathered here again.
In addition to the familiar faces of the eighteen people, there were also six new faces.
These are the three-tier professionals who have emerged in the professional association in the past six months, and they all cast respectful gazes towards Meng Zhou, who is now dressed as the "Qihuangzi".
They were able to make such an important breakthrough in just half a year, advancing from the second-tier professional level to the third-tier.
Aside from their own accumulation and talent, the most important reason is the professional new system that Meng Zhou spread to the entire professional association from top to bottom through the last session with the eighteen third-level professionals attending the meeting.
This is like a fire landing on a pile of dry firewood.
After taking their seats, "Qihuangzi" first congratulated and welcomed the six newcomers.
Although few words were spoken, the six newcomers felt warmth and excitement during their first "audience".
After a brief greeting, Meng Zhou directly discussed the main topic.
"It has been half a year since I took on the position of chairman.
During this half year, the association has only done one thing, which is to gradually integrate the new professional system into the cultivation and growth of every member in the association, from top to bottom, starting from all of you," Meng Zhou said.
效果也还不错，不仅原来的成员都有或多或少的进步，还吸纳了数量远超以往的新成员入会。
协会现有的那些职业，从入门到三阶，门槛相较于原来都降低了不少。
And, all of this was accomplished by the association under tremendous pressure during the fierce beast tide.
This is a great aspect.
At this point, he paused for a moment.
Everyone else understood and agreed, so now it should be time for some criticism and denial, right?
Sure enough, after a brief pause, when everyone had digested the previous words, "Qi Huangzi" spoke again:
"However, I also saw some negatives."
Just when everyone thought they had accurately read the pulse of the president, Mengzhou's following words completely caught everyone present off guard.
He didn't point out the flaws and problems like he was picking faults, but instead, he turned the blade inward and subjected himself to self-criticism.
"...Upon investigating the root cause, the problem lies with me as the chairman."
Although serving as the president of the association, the duties that should have been fulfilled were not carried out.
The association remains the same, with each branch playing within their own designated circles, lacking effective and stable collaboration.
This has caused a lot of unnecessary waste, with a large number of association members expending their time and energy in unnecessary areas.
In response to this, all the masters remained silent, as this is the truth.
There are many systems, such as the information exchange with the spiritual veins in various places within the Qingxuan Domain. In fact, it would be sufficient for the entire professional association to have one set. However, the actual situation is that each branch has its own set.
For example, the acquisition of resources and the output of finished products... there are many similar situations.
As long as the methods are appropriate, these can be completely separated and integrated together from various branches.
Not only can it free up more professionals' time and energy, allowing them to utilize their talents where they are most needed, but it can also make their work more specialized.
"Qi Huangzi" just gave a slight nod, and the leaders of various associations' minds immediately brimmed with thoughts of many areas that could be optimized and improved.
Seeing this, Meng Zhou paused his speech again.
In this regard, Meng Zhou believes that they don't need him as the president to provide any new viewpoints and suggestions. He only needs to set up a platform for them.
And this doesn't require any innovation, there is already a ready answer in the history of professional associations.
After a while, Meng Zhou spoke again:
"You should be familiar with the early situation of the association, when it hadn't split into different branches yet."
All internal affairs of the association are resolved through collective negotiation by the decision-making layer composed of member representatives.
Later, due to the rapid expansion of the association and the increasing number of members, various specialized branches were established based on different career paths to divide responsibilities among everyone.
加上长期缺乏一位能服众的会长坐镇，分会不断的发展完善，各分会之间的距离变得越来越远，界限越来越清，一直到现在。
"I think, now is the time to restore the original mode of operation."
At this moment, everyone's gaze turned towards him, a mix of nervousness and anticipation.
As members of the association, they naturally saw the various shortcomings within the association. However, as the President mentioned, there hasn't been anyone who has been able to convince everyone, so everyone could only watch helplessly."
But as members of the association, they also hope that the president can bring some new atmosphere and changes to the association.
Naturally, they are looking forward to it.
However, at the same time, they inevitably worry that these changes will bring them losses, and they cannot help but feel a little nervous.
"I won't make any decisions regarding the branch."
"Whether or not to make any changes and how to do so should be discussed and decided by future decision-makers."
"As for the decision-making body, in the current situation of the association, I believe that anyone who is a third-tier professional is qualified to enter it."
However, this is the present situation. As the number of third-tier professionals continues to increase in the future, there will still be some limitations in terms of the number of people."
Just then, someone immediately asked, "When exactly will these limitations start to be implemented?"
孟周看去，问话者不是别人，正是炼丹师分会的会长黎文昌。
半年前，他的炼丹师造诣就已经处在三阶下品巅峰，临近三阶中品的门槛上。
Now, although his cultivation has not made significant progress, his level of pill refining has clearly surpassed the threshold of the third-tier medium grade.
In addition to his own accumulation and breakthrough, the new career ideas and systems provided by Meng Zhou are also crucial.
Before Meng Zhou became the president, the association's influence was distributed based on the strength of each branch.
With the strength of the alchemist branch itself, as well as Li Wenchang's professional accomplishments and qualifications, although he did not have the title of president, he seemed to have some aspects of being the president.
He has also been quite proactive in many matters concerning the entire association, and this "fault" has not been changed until now.
If we change another president, we probably would secretly keep a record of the position that Li Wenchang can't upright himself.
However, Meng Zhou didn't feel much, but instead thought seriously about Li Wenchang's doubts before slowly saying:
"Forty-nine people, the number of decision-makers is set at forty-nine."
If the number of third-tier professionals in the association exceeds this number, additional thresholds must be added outside the third-tier professionals.
If the number is too small, there is a high possibility that many voices will be missed and many perspectives will be lacking.
However, if the number of people is too small, it may result in a decrease in overall efficiency, with time and energy being wasted on unnecessary arguments.
Communication also comes with a cost.
Lai Wenchang nodded, and everyone else had no objections.
This means that everyone present has become a member of the decision-making level, and they all have the right to speak about the development of the entire association, in addition to the affairs of their own branch association.
Later, three rules were naturally passed one after another.
Firstly, starting from today, the decision-making body gains the authority over the daily management of the entire association, and all branch organizations should actively cooperate and support.
Secondly, each member of the decision-making body is eligible to propose issues concerning the entire association for discussion by the entire decision-making body, and each member has an equal right to vote in favor, against, or abstain from a decision. Once a majority is reached in favor, the decision is successfully passed and all members should unconditionally support its implementation.
Thirdly, the president has the power of veto.
Lai Wenchang and others are working hard to digest this information, which seems to be a new revision of the old rules.
But carefully pondering, one can faintly taste some different flavors.
"Ge Ping" smiled and made a suggestion:
"Instead of pondering over it, why don't we actually give it a try?"
"How do we give it a try?"
"Ge Ping" said:
"Now, I will raise a topic for everyone to consider."
Everyone pricked up their ears, and "Ge Ping" looked around at everyone.
"This time, we are all gathered, but I believe that it is more common for the personnel to be incomplete.
Just like me, let alone managing daily affairs, I can't even guarantee that I will definitely show up for those important agenda votes.
I believe that this is not only a problem for me alone.
The crowd nodded thoughtfully at his words.
For cultivators, cultivation is always the top priority.
And for those who have reached their level of cultivation, this is even more evident.
From being a small shrimp in cultivation to now reaching great heights, and having the association as a thriving platform, who wouldn't want to go further?
For them, closing up for three to five months is nothing out of the ordinary.
"Daily management is not a big deal. We have so many people, and even if someone is absent, there will always be someone on duty. As long as we follow the rules, a group of three or five people can still keep the association well organized."
The most important thing is the voting on the agenda. My proposal is to send the agenda to everyone in advance and specify the voting time.
On the day of the vote, as long as the number of supporters exceeds half of the actual attendees, the agenda will be considered approved."
After "Ge Ping" finished speaking, someone said:
"Isn't it unfair to deprive absentees of voting rights like this?!"
"Ge Ping" said:
"This is voluntary abstention, not deprivation," another person argued.
Already notified the content of the agenda in advance, the ball is in your court, come if you want, abstain if you don't, I don't see anything wrong with this."
Another person immediately retorted:
Because they couldn't make it due to some matters, it doesn't mean we can simply conclude that they have abstained, right?
As long as the topic is clearly communicated, even if someone is not present, they can still vote in favor or against!
How can we just default to abstaining on all issues?!"
"Ge Ping" shook his head and said:
"What do you mean by agenda?
If you can decisively support or oppose after only a rough understanding, that is not called an agenda!
Otherwise, what is there to discuss?
Without any arguments or controversies, what can be considered as a topic of discussion?
I can even guarantee that, if we follow your rules, most of the topics will never be approved, considering that many members didn't even participate in them personally!
I believe that a crucial aspect of any topic is the proposer facing challenges from others, engaging in arguments, and convincing others during the process.
Of course, it is also possible that the topic itself has flaws and cannot persuade others, but through this process, it can still lead to the improvement of the topic."
Saying this, "Ge Ping" paused and looked around at everyone, saying:
"Just like we are now!"
Under his gaze, one by one, they nodded thoughtfully.
At the final vote, when "Ge Ping" raised this issue, 18 out of 25 people supported it and 7 people opposed it, which means that the number of supporters exceeded half of the total.
"Qihuangzi nodded and said, 'In the future, if we have insufficient personnel, we will follow Ge Ping's proposal.'"
The crowd nodded in agreement, even the seven clear dissenters nodded and expressed their support under his gaze.
After this trial, everyone has a clearer understanding of these new rules.
Seeing that everyone is pondering on this matter, Meng Zhou said, "Do you all understand now? If you do, I will move on to the next thing."
Just then, Li Wenchang suddenly spoke up, "Chairman, please wait."
Meng Zhou looked at him.
Li Wenchang paused for a moment and then said, "Chairman, I also want to take this opportunity to propose an agenda and have a vote while everyone is here."
Meng Zhou looked curious and nodded, saying, "You bring it up."
"As you just mentioned, once the number of third-tier professionals in the association exceeds forty-nine, additional restrictions will be imposed."
How specifically do you want to limit it without saying so?"
"Are you trying to clarify these limitations through decision voting?" asked "Qi Huangzi" played by Meng Zhou.
"Yes," Li Wenchang said.
"Yes," Meng Zhou nodded, "do you have a more specific plan? The agenda should not only raise questions but also include solutions."
"I believe that the new threshold should not be too complicated, the simpler the better."
黎文昌先是这么说了一句，这才抛出自己的想法：
"So, in my opinion, according to the rules of our profession, we should directly rank all the third-level professionals in the association based on their professional achievements."
To rank among the top 49 is to enter the decision-making level.
If fallen out of the top 49, one automatically loses the qualification as a member of the decision-making level.
Listening to his idea, many cultivators nodded in agreement, showing their approval from the bottom of their hearts.
For cultivators, the level of cultivation determines everything.
While for professionals in the professional association, the level of professionalism determines everything.
This is very reasonable.
This is a universally recognized truth.
As more and more people nodded in agreement, Li Wenchang was about to propose a vote when "Ge Ping" suddenly spoke up and said, "I object!"
Everyone looked at "Ge Ping" one after another. Li Wenchang hesitated for a moment, then turned his head to look at "Ge Ping" and said:
“不知葛道友有何见教？”
“葛平”深深看了眼黎文昌，而后看向其他人，道：
“不能忽略的一个事实是，在现在的协会中，后劲最大、势头最猛的，依然还是丹、器、符、阵这四个职业。
虽然借着青玄域修行界全面崛起的东风，其他职业相较于以往也都有了长足的发展。
可丹器符阵这四道职业借到的风力却也最猛。
即便增幅最大的灵植师、以及近几年才表现出蓬勃势头的药师增幅更加明显。
可基数差距太大，真要将它们放在一起比较，灵植师、药师与丹器符阵四种职业者之间的数量差距，现在反而比以往更大。”
“若是按照黎道友的提议，我完全可以预料到，在将来的决策层中，出身于丹器符阵四道的职业者将越来越多。
屁股决定脑袋，倾向于丹器符阵四道的议题也会越来越多。
整个职业者协会的方向，会越发的偏向以此四道为核心，甚至最终只有这四道职业者能在决策层中发出声音的地步。
到那时，一些边缘职业者很可能就沦为看客，连在决策层中发出声音的资格都没有，又有什么资格再自称是协会中的一员？”
原本，众人在听了黎文昌的提议后，没觉得有任何问题。
可现在，在听了“葛平”的讲述后，一个个都忍不住眉头狂跳不止。
有人甚至忍不住不时瞥向一言不发的黎文昌，心道，这家伙到底有没有想到这一层？
而在在场二十多人中，从他们的反应又大致可分成两派，一派便是丹器符阵四道职业者，另一派则是灵植、驭兽、傀儡、灵膳、药师这五道职业者。
虽然后者还多了一道职业，可论三阶职业者的数量，反而是丹器符阵四道占优。
若是按照表决规则，结果天然有利于后者。
“葛平”看向这些人，道：
“边缘职业，真的是边缘职业吗？
驭兽傀儡二道，在青玄域的发展历来比如丹器符阵四道，甚至在不少修士的印象中，将之施为偏门小道。
可真是如此吗？
驭灵宗第一个不答应！”
“身为职业者协会的一员，可不要太小家子气，被眼前一亩三分地迷了眼睛。”
众修一言不发，陷入沉默。
黎文昌问：“葛道友，那你觉得如何做才合适呢？
咱们协会现在有九种职业，难道要将四十九个名额均分成九份吗？”
“葛平”摇了摇头，这个老家伙要是敢说出“四十九不能被九整除”这么欠揍的话，他真的就要拎起拳头揍人了。
好好说事可以，阴阳怪气不行！
“你的提议也不是没有一点可取之处。
不过，在纯以职业造诣论高低之外，我认为还必须给每个职业一两个保底名额。
至少要保证其在决策层中有发声的渠道。”
孟周见黎文昌还要说什么，他却已经不想与这老家伙纠缠了。
这一次，“岐黄子”接过了话语权。
一直默默旁观看戏的他，再度出声道：
“提醒你们三件事。”
想要说什么的黎文昌立刻闭嘴，和其他人一眼，将目光看向会长。
“第一件，我打算择机将灵酒师的传承在协会中推广开来。”
许多修士纷纷瞪大了眼睛，有些连呼吸都变了。
作为协会中的一员，他们亲眼见证了突然冒出来的灵药酒的“狂野”表现。
特别是在被人陆续开发出壮阳、滋阴、养颜等奇特功效之后。
关键是与一些秘法结合，居然能令已经被判了“死刑”的年迈修士拥有再次向前做最后一冲的能力。
这不知给了多少年迈力衰的练气巅峰、筑基巅峰以新的希望。
他们完全能够想到随着这门职业传承在协会中推广开来，会受到多么热情的追捧。
而灵酒师与炼丹师在很多领域，都有着极大的共通性。
以灵酒师表现出来的潜力后劲，说不定就有许多炼丹师“叛变”分流。
想到这里，黎文昌脸色都有些变了。
“驭兽、傀儡二道一直比较没落，不过，我相信这局面很快就能改变。”