Novel11 Chapter 537 - 38: Teaching You the Joys of Life, Step by Step
Chapter 537 - 38: Teaching You the Joys of Life, Step by Step
Wang Jiu’s arrival threw the research lab into chaos.
The cultivators who were filled with anxiety immediately restrained their expressions, adopting the faces of servants and loyal dogs, and began to surround him.
"Good morning, Dean!"
"Dean, please have some tea!"
"Dean, please have this cup! This cup was purchased with great difficulty using special funding for Golden Snow Silver Needle tea, and its taste is surely ten thousand times better than that cup of coarse tea!"
"Dean, don’t listen to his nonsense! Although my tea isn’t expensive, it was refined through Grandmaster Level tea-making skills honed during my thirty years of slacking off in the Sword Group, and its flavor absolutely surpasses some nouveau riche wastrel!"
"Dean, while he was slacking, I was too! My tea-making skills are also at a Grandmaster level, you mustn’t believe just one side of the story..."
Just as the atmosphere was heating up with flattery, the white-bearded old man who was tearing up a manuscript suddenly slammed the table, shouting furiously, "Enough, all of you! Who acknowledged him as the Dean?! Just because some unknown character descended from the sky, swept over Manager Shang, Manager Feng, and Manager Tan overnight, I despise this kind of plot the most! Why should childhood friends give way to some sky-drop character?! Feelings and bonds between people grow more precious with time; love at first sight is a deviation from the right path, an excuse for those inherently promiscuous, disloyal people!"
This heartfelt and impassioned speech immediately brought the atmosphere in the lab to a freezing point.
"Zhu, Director Zhu, please stop talking nonsense..."
The old man glared angrily, "How am I talking nonsense!? I’ve been childhood friends with her for decades! Yet I can’t compare to some young lord who appeared out of nowhere! Is that my fault?! It’s the world going to ruin and people becoming depraved!"
"...It’s purely because you’re not likable to women."
"Are you saying you’re all likable to women?! Who in the entire Cyan Lotus Academy is in a position to criticize others for not being likable to women?!" The furious old man launched a verbal barrage.
Meanwhile, everyone secretly wished they could bury this eighty-year-old virgin alive, while nervously glancing at the new Dean’s expression, fearing that this Dean, who was devoted to Sword Dao, would storm off in anger after witnessing such an ugly performance and dissolve the degenerate and decaying Sword Group altogether.
Objectively speaking, most of the slackers in the Sword Group, though physically present, were mentally elsewhere, and each had part-time jobs in other groups... Every time Sang Yue and Sang Jing sisters demanded overtime for research tasks, they were miserable, yet if the Sword Group were truly dissolved, they would still be loath to part with it.
After all, the Sword Group’s research budget was ample, and despite its poor efficiency, it failed to satisfy researchers’ thirst for knowledge, but when part-time work was tiring and rest was needed, the Sword Group’s research lab was undoubtedly a leisure haven.
This research lab, with a history spanning two thousand years, had over the decades, become a cozy little home for Sword Group researchers. The lab featured a private cafeteria, directly connected to the kitchens of several high-end restaurants in Heaven-Reaching City, allowing free meal ordering with an unusually ample dining budget. Additionally, the lab was equipped with a dessert station, therapy area, game area, and sleep area, boasting numerous high-end facilities and exquisite designs.
So much so, that there had long been a saying in Cyan Lotus Academy: the Academy’s best vacation spot was the Sword Group research lab, and to go on vacation, one just needed to apply to the Dean for a part-time position in the Sword Group...
However, now that the new Dean had arrived, would he sweep away these historical accumulations with ruthless efficiency? Even if not dissolving the Sword Group, a renovation of the research lab would be a seemingly unbearable burden for everyone.
Under the anxious gazes of the crowd, Wang Jiu seemed unfazed by the previous absurd performance, continuing with his original topic, "Sword Dao research is the greatest joy in the world. Thinking Sword Dao is meaningless only shows you haven’t realized the essence of Sword Dao."
The white-bearded old man snorted coldly, "Mystifying talk, what’s the essence of Sword Dao, if not just the art of fighting?"
Wang Jiu nodded, "Correct, it is indeed the art of fighting. Yet within fighting lies endless joy."
"Only barbarians would find joy in fighting. We civilized people truly can’t find joy in destruction."
Wang Jiu asked, "Then why did you subconsciously tear up the manuscript just now?"
The old man was suddenly at a loss for words, "Manuscript, manuscript?"
"Yes, if you claim to be civilized, why destroy the innocent manuscript in such a violent manner, leaving it beyond recognition?"
"T-that’s just a piece of paper..."
"Just a piece of paper?" Wang Jiu said, "Amongst the key markers taking human society from ignorance to civilization, paper must be ranked in the top three. Without paper, humanity would lack the most important carrier of knowledge, making it impossible to establish a complex and magnificent civilization. As a researcher, you should most value the accumulation and transmission of knowledge. So why would you say such frivolous words as ’just a piece of paper’?"
The white-bearded old man, questioned sternly by Wang Jiu, felt his heart pounding and his face turning beet red, unable to utter a single word.
Meanwhile, the surrounding researchers nodded secretly and then looked towards the old man with disapproving and condemning glances, thinking that the old man’s remarks were indeed inappropriate, subconsciously belittling the carrier of knowledge transmission.
Wang Jiu continued, "Moreover, it’s not just a blank sheet, but a piece of paper filled with your heart and soul. Even if the equations are wrong and the ideas are misguided, the accumulation of knowledge is indeed the crystallization of countless mistakes. Why casually destroy this valuable foundation?"
"I..."
"Because the desire to destroy is an instinct rooted deep in human nature. Humans have never been ideal creatures immune to violence. In the most primitive times, humans fought nature with stone spears and stone guns, hunted other living beings, and used fire to burn the earth for farmland. Every move was closely linked to destruction, yet civilization was nurtured in that destruction. Therefore, true civilization never shies away from destruction, because it is an undeniable instinct."
After this speech, many researchers were so absorbed that they subconsciously prepared to applaud, but Wang Jiu left no pauses, continuing, "Any stimulation of instinct can be transformed into enjoyment; hunger and lust are typical examples, and the desire to destroy is naturally no exception."
Speaking thus, Wang Jiu pointed to the piece of paper he had restored and said, "When you tore it to shreds just now, didn’t you feel slightly more at ease?"
Then, he pointed to a barely noticeable dent on the wall near the research lab entrance.
"When faced with a problem that can’t be solved, punching the wall, didn’t it alleviate some of your frustration?"
"When you ponder deeply, instinctively pulling at your hair until your follicles are damaged and you’re bald, don’t you feel a lot more relaxed?"
"In fact, most games in the gaming area of your research lab relate to destruction. Real military chess, thematic institutes, flying sword shooting — which of these doesn’t advocate destruction? So even if you don’t admit it verbally, in reality, each of you enjoys the process of destruction."
At this point, even the most stubborn researchers couldn’t help but admit that the new director made a compelling point, but...
"The desire to destroy and the Sword Dao are not the same, are they?"
"Of course they are not the same, because the Sword Dao is a far more profound and extensive study than the desire to destroy. With your talents, you could only glimpse the surface your entire life, but that surface is enough to benefit you for a lifetime."
Wang Jiu’s speech was so confident, and the aura of the Celestial Sword Spirit was so overwhelming, that not a single one of the hundred or so researchers present could stand to refute his theory.
In the silence, every word of that speech began to gradually settle in the hearts of the audience.
For those with relatively weak cultivation, Wang Jiu didn’t even need to display his Divine Sword Body or the magnificent Sword World to make the researchers agree with his point of view: the Sword Dao is profound and boundlessly enjoyable.
Much later, an elderly man with gray hair struggled to say, "But, for so many years, we really haven’t felt the joy of Sword Dao."
"Because your research method is wrong," Wang Jiu said, "The joy of gourmet food needs no explanation, but a lousy cook is enough to destroy all fine food, so it’s not that the Sword Dao itself is uninteresting, it’s that you haven’t found the way to enjoy its pleasure."
"Then, how can we enjoy the pleasure?" At this time, the white-haired old man no longer had an adversarial tone, but asked with curiosity and inquiry.
Wang Jiu said, "Just play a game."
After speaking, Wang Jiu brought this eighty-year-old researcher to the gaming area of the Sword Group’s research lab.
This vast space, expanded by special processes, housed hundreds of games beloved by the cultivators — although quite a number are never played, given the Sword Group’s ample budget.
Wang Jiu went directly to the virtual arena, split some True Essence within the Sword World, and activated the game.
In an instant, he and the old man were placed in a circular arena.
"Wh-what does this mean?" The old man was a little panicked, "I-I’m not very good at fighting."
Wang Jiu said, "That’s why you’ve never experienced the joy of Sword Dao before; but it’s not too late to start now."
After speaking, Wang Jiu had already set the arena parameters and summoned the opponent he designed.
A handsome young man with a face white as jade and star-like eyes, holding a jade long sword, standing beside a gentle woman.
The old man’s face flushed immediately, "It—it’s you!?"
Wang Jiu said, "Yes, it’s me—the one who took your beloved 50 years ago, causing your lifelong psychological and physical dual trauma. Now, use the sword in your hand to kill him."