Exactly twenty-four hours after successfully inviting Ye Guyi to join the Axis Cult, Furina stepped into the white building of the Research Department.
Sunlight danced on her long azure hair through the high glass dome, yet it failed to soften the sternness gathered between her brows.
This was a department she had personally pushed to establish, investing nearly thirty percent of the Axis Cult's resources into it, with hopes that transcended the era. However, the quarterly report she reviewed this morning caused her slender fingers to tighten on the pages, leaving several shallow creases.
Aside from the spirit tool project led by Huo Yuhao which was progressing steadily, other fields—especially her most focused core subjects: the nature of Martial Souls, artificial spirit rings, and Spirit Bone creation—yielded results as thin as a cicada's wing in autumn. Research regarding the upper limit of spirit ring absorption seemed to have detailed data, but in reality, it merely re-verified common knowledge held by the Spirit Master world for centuries; progress in Martial Soul adaptation was just a few insignificant annotations added to a vast existing map.
As for the evolution and mutation of Martial Souls, the report contained only a few words: "Currently collecting cases; theoretical framework still being established." Regarding artificial spirit rings and Spirit Bones, it was even more glaringly written: "No theoretical model yet; practical exploration has not started."
"Am I paying the highest salaries in the entire cult just to support a group of document transcribers and data analysis craftsmen?" This thought swirled in her mind, eventually manifesting as this emergency general meeting.
...
Inside the Research Department hall, dozens of scholars in white robes and low-level Soul Engineers gathered, talking in low voices as a faint unease permeated the air. They mostly came from the Star Luo Empire, with the rest from the Dou Ling Empire and the Heaven Dou Empire. They had joined the Axis Cult with various motives—some wanting to make a name for themselves, others just to make a living—but at this moment, they all felt somewhat lacking in confidence.
As the sound of footsteps approached, the hall instantly fell silent, and all eyes focused on the entrance.
Furina slowly walked onto the main podium, her sea-blue eyes scanning every face below. She didn't speak immediately, and that silence carried more pressure than any reprimand.
"Everyone," she finally spoke, her voice clear and carrying an unquestionable weight, "I have gathered you today to reorganize our research direction and to help you push open a window that may have been closed by habitual thinking."
She picked up the thick report and shook it gently. "Aside from the spirit tool project making some headway under Huo Yuhao's participation, the results in other fields, if I may be blunt, are disastrous. The upper limit of spirit ring absorption? Basic adaptation of Martial Soul rings? These are the basics of basics, too easy to break through. Although I asked you to solve these problems, are the results you give me just a tiny step forward on these foundations? At the very least, take ten steps for me!"
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