Chapter 15

This was the fifteenth day since the Demon Palace’s employee training conference officially began, and the twelfth day since the launch of the Demon Pin.

Having just concluded another weekly meeting, Qin Jun stood up and saw each of the Hall Masters off.

"Don't worry, I believe in you. Work hard, and you will surely see improvement."

"Remember your goals. We aren't doing this just to make money; we are doing it to realize social value and ideals."

"There are still many details in the execution plan that need refinement. I can give you two more days, but the execution must be cautious. As for specific personnel arrangements, align the granularity with Long Langbai after the meeting."

...

By the time Qin Jun finished speaking to each of them, the seven Hall Masters, who had previously felt their lives were bleak and hopeless, were walking out with their heads held high, as if energized by a stimulant. They seemed suddenly filled with hope for the future and the days to come.

System: "Is this what they call 'talk therapy'?"

Qin Jun curled the corners of her lips. Tell the leadership about dreams, and tell the subordinates about benefits. Give them what they lack; let everyone get what they need.

Before leaving, Qin Jun glanced at the classroom. Seeing it packed with people listening intently, all energized and motivated, she left with a sense of satisfaction. It was another day of perfect attendance for everyone.

Just as she stepped outside, Qin Jun paused—

Packed? Then who was this in front of her?

Qin Jun took out the Palace Master’s Token to check the location logs on the Demon Pin. Zhu Changliu, perfect attendance. Three minutes ago, his location was still in the Lanqing Hall classroom, and the Demon Pin showed his signal remaining inside. Yet, the person who was supposedly attending class with perfect attendance was currently lying on a rock, basking in a sun that didn't exist.

As Qin Jun held the token, intending to investigate what was going on, a noisy commotion approached from a distance. It was Xie Wangfei, followed by Long Wen and Long Wu, who were always trailing behind Long Langbai. Apart from the three of them, there were three others with their hands and feet bound.

Xie Wangfei was furious, his eyes blazing with rage. "You learned my skills and now you want to leave? Go then! If you have the guts, don't ever come back!"

Qin Jun stood under the eaves with her hands tucked into her sleeves, her eyes narrowed. "Long Wen, Long Wu, what is going on?"

The people tied up looked somewhat familiar, but having met so many people lately, Qin Jun couldn't immediately recall where she had seen them.

Before Long Wen or Long Wu could speak, Xie Wangfei rushed to the front, fuming. "Palace Master! They are trying to defect!"

He had been in a foul mood after the meeting, only to run into these two sneaky fellows trying to escape. They wanted to leave after learning his skills? What a joke!

The two people pinned down by Long Wen and Long Wu were shivering, dark circles hanging under their eyes. The two huddled together. "We... we just wanted to leave! We absolutely harbor no ill intentions toward the Demon Palace. Please, Palace Master, let us go! We beg you, let us go! We really can't take it anymore, it’s too tiring!"

"Palace Master! Who spends six... no! Seven hours a day in class? Even the direct disciples of righteous sects don't have to study this hard!"

"If we could endure this kind of hardship, we wouldn't have come to the Demon Realm to make a living!"

"Especially! You don't know! Some of them don't sleep in the middle of the night and secretly write daily reports. It used to be three hundred words, but now we have to write three thousand words every single day! Palace Master! I have never written so many words in my life! Please, let me go! Spare my life!"

Qin Jun pondered for a moment. "You find it too 'involutionary'?"

Involution? So this was what it was called! The two nodded frantically, seeing a glimmer of hope. They tried to crawl forward on their knees, only to be pressed back to the ground by Long Wen and Long Wu.

"Palace Master, we didn't want to leave either, but we really can't stand it anymore. We have no choice."

"We just want to earn a living; we didn't mean to sacrifice our lives for it. Palace Master, please, let us go for the sake of the fact that we came here with you!"

Qin Jun finally remembered that these two were brought to the Demon Palace by Long Langbai along with her.

At that moment, Long Langbai, having received word from Long Wen and Long Wu, ran over, breathless. "Sister, these two were trying to escape and even attempted to incite others to defect. As soon as we got the news, Long Wen and Long Wu went to catch them."

Long Langbai whipped out his lash, his innocent face masking a naive cruelty. The tip of the whip slowly traced the chins of the two men before he lashed it violently against the ground.

"Speak! Who sent you? Who were you planning to send information to once you got out?"

The two were terrified to the point of wetting themselves, huddled together, unable to even speak.

"Speak!" The whip cracked in front of them, leaving a deep mark on the ground. "If you don't—"

Snap!

The whip cracked again.

Long Langbai’s starry eyes held the purest form of ruthlessness. "I'll kill you and use you for the sacrificial pit! We're about to open a new mine, and we were just worrying about lacking sacrifices!"

The two were so scared they couldn't even form words, blubbering and leaking tears and snot, a sight so repulsive that even Xie Wangfei held his nose and took a half-step back.

Qin Jun took the whip from Long Langbai and squatted down, leaning close to the two men who had been frightened out of their wits. After watching them silently for a moment, she turned to look at the third person, who had been standing to the side without a word.

He was a youth not much older than Long Langbai. Seeing the scene, he showed no fear; instead, he looked excited.

"Young friend, what about you?"

The youth with the clean, round face looked delighted that he was finally being addressed. "Reporting to the Palace Master, I am Chen Yanzong. I want to join the Demon Palace!"

Eh?

The two wailing men were stunned, and Long Langbai was also taken aback. This was the first time someone had been so proactive about joining the Demon Palace.

Long Wen said, "Young Master, while we were chasing these two, this person was wandering around the border of the Demon Palace, wanting to come in to see you. I didn't want to waste time, but he tied himself up and followed us. My subordinate... couldn't stop him."

Qin Jun raised an eyebrow. Although Long Wen and Long Wu were only Long Langbai’s personal guards, their cultivation levels were near the Five Crossings stage, placing them in the top tier of the Demon Palace. How could they fail to handle a random youth who popped up out of nowhere?

Chen Yanzong grinned. "Palace Master, I have a Five Crossings cultivation level and a spiritual tattoo certification from the Tianyu Academy. I am honest and fair; you are welcome to verify."

As he spoke, he tried to turn, thrusting his left hand, which bore the spiritual tattoo, forward.

Water-elemental spiritual root, flowing water, with a purity reaching the Earth tier. In a righteous sect, he could be an inner-sect disciple or even a direct student. Why would he come to the Demon Realm, and why so purposefully target the Demon Palace?

Long Langbai and Xie Wangfei suspected a trap and prepared to take him for interrogation. To their surprise, Qin Jun remained calm and continued talking to the two deserters.

Qin Jun: "Do you see? You want to leave, but there are others who want to come."

Qin Jun raised her hand, the whip cracking sharply, leaving a charred, jagged mark on the ground wrapped in lightning. She frowned and tossed the charred whip into Xie Wangfei’s arms.

Long Langbai: Wait, what? Wasn't that his whip?

Qin Jun: "This product has not yet reached the user’s value anchor, and there is a lack of pre-processing in the user perception granularity. Take it back and redo it. Letting this kind of thing enter the market is damaging the reputation of the Demon Palace."

The two men preparing to flee cried even more miserably, "We don't even understand what she's saying! We're being bullied!"

"So it's a lack of cultural and identity alignment. Hall Master Xie, future training must focus on strengthening team cohesion and building a sense of belonging and achievement."

Xie Wangfei nodded, though he was completely lost.

Qin Jun squatted down, her eyes—devoid of the spark of a living person—filled with a strange, stabilizing power at this moment. The two wailing deserters quieted down into soft sobs.

"Where are your Palace Master’s Tokens?"

The two scrambled to find their tokens, their eyes still lingering with reluctance. If it weren't for the fact that they really couldn't keep up with the workload, felt their prospects were dim, and were afraid of the shame of being kicked off the ship after training finished, they wouldn't have run now.

Qin Jun looked at the tokens in their hands but did not take them back. "These are your employee badges. Keep them well. In the future, you can get discounts when shopping in the Demon Palace business district; consider them a souvenir. Some items are fifteen percent off, with the highest discount being forty percent."

The eyes of the two men instantly lit up. "If you had said so earlier, Palace Master, we wouldn't have left!"

Chen Yanzong’s sparkling eyes instantly lost their luster. He said pitifully, "Palace Master, I really want to join the Demon Palace. Give me a chance; I will work hard!"

It was a long-lost, familiar phrase.

Qin Jun had only heard such words from interns when she first formed her project team, those who would give their all just for a chance at a permanent position.

If such a high-potential individual couldn't realize his life's value under her, it would be the greatest insult to anyone striving for success.

Chen Yanzong pleaded, "Palace Master, I am very capable. I’m more capable than both of them combined."

At these words, Xie Wangfei’s temples throbbed. Why was he just like that bootlicking scoundrel, Pei Yan?

Qin Jun pressed a hand on Chen Yanzong and looked at the two who had been preparing to flee. "Well? Have you decided what you want to do?"

"Palace Master, is the discount for real?"

Qin Jun nodded. "I am honest and fair. In the future, the Demon Palace will build houses for all employees. You can own your own land and house on Demon Palace territory, also at an official employee price. All discounts will be based on your annual performance rating."

Houses! Houses!

If they could have a house in the Demon Palace, what was wrong with settling down in this Demon Realm?

"Palace Master, we were wrong! We won't leave! Please give us another chance! We will work hard and do a good job! The Demon Palace is our home! We love our home the most!"

The speed of their change in attitude was staggering.

Xie Wangfei: "..."

Perhaps... the biggest scoundrel wasn't Pei Yan, but Qin Jun, who could turn anyone into a scoundrel so easily.

The deserter duo happily untied their ropes and left joyfully, not forgetting to pat Long Wen and Long Wu on the shoulders before they went.

"Brothers, thank you! If you hadn't brought us back, we wouldn't have had the chance to turn over a new leaf! You are our benefactors! When we make it big, we'll treat you to a meal!"

With that, they dashed into Lanqing Hall, slipped into the classroom, and sat obediently in the back row, listening to the lecture intently.

Qin Jun took out her own Palace Master’s Token, found the two, and sent them a message:

[Submit a three-thousand-word self-reflection report tomorrow to Assistant Long.]

She then told Long Langbai, "These two have to submit a reflection tomorrow. Remember to collect them."

Long Langbai’s clear, youthful face had dark circles just like the other two. Upon hearing Qin Jun’s instruction, he instinctively replied, "Understood."

Qin Jun nodded, her eyes showing approval. "Good, very professional. Keep it up. Have you handled the matters I entrusted to you?"

"Don't worry, Sister, everything is handled."

Qin Jun: "Prepare yourself; report to me tomorrow."

Long Langbai grinned, completely forgetting the exhaustion of his busy days, immersed in the joy of being praised by his goddess.

Finally, Qin Jun looked at Chen Yanzong: "Young friend, you really want to join?"

Chen Yanzong’s bright smile stiffened slightly. "...I should?"

Why did he suddenly feel afraid to speak?

"Then come along." Qin Jun patted his shoulder. "Go inside and listen to the lecture. Come find me in my office tonight to receive your Palace Master’s Token. Everyone else, scatter if you have nothing to do. Get to work; don't delay important matters."

Chen Yanzong jumped up from the ground, full of joy. With a slight exertion, the ropes binding him snapped and dissipated into golden light, and he cheerfully followed the others into Lanqing Hall to listen to the lecture.

Pei Yan, who was teaching, detested anyone who disrupted the order, but seeing that Qin Jun had let them in, he dared not speak out. He bit the bullet and continued lecturing.

"Next is the classification and grading of demon crystal mines—"

...

Xie Wangfei left, and Long Langbai went off to get busy, but Qin Jun didn't seem to be heading back to her office.

"Sister, where are you going?" Long Langbai quietly approached the goddess in his heart. He had been too busy lately to spend time by her side learning and improving.

"Going to find a smart person to see just how smart he really is." Qin Jun stepped out, her wide sleeves swaying as she walked away.

Long Langbai stood under the eaves, confused. "Am I not smart enough?"

He puzzled over it for a moment, then rushed into the hall to prepare for tomorrow’s tasks. He had been working on this for a long time and couldn't afford to slip up at the final hurdle.

...

"Interested in a chat?"

The voice rang out, and Zhu Changliu, who was lying on the rock pretending to doze, opened his eyes.

"Sure."

...