The members unanimously looked towards Ma Ran.
This was a subconscious act, almost without any thought.
Their subconscious actions showed that within a mere three to four days, Ma Ran had already established authority within the small circle, assuming a role akin to the "Hidden President" of the Grass Hut Academy.
"The young people nowadays, they're incredible..."
Huang Weiguo admired in his heart, also looking at Ma Ran.
It was clear that this young man had only joined the Grass Hut Academy for three or four days, and hadn't done anything yet...
No!
Upon careful thought, that wasn't the case.
In these few days, Ma Ran, through demonstrating his capabilities, had made the other members look up to him in awe, impossible to reach - that was power.
Through the "Black Rock Guiding Technique," helping everyone refine their first wisp of Inner Qi - that was grace.
Unknowingly, his actions had already aligned with the mysteries of leadership.
What was most remarkable was...
Ma Ran combined grace and power without making it seem deliberate at all.
Everything appeared extremely natural.
In the past few months, President Huang had seen many supernatural phenomenon reports from around the world, realizing the rapid changes in the situation, and the urgent need for talent.
So, when he realized Ma Ran's change of status, he didn't feel even the slightest bit of his authority being usurped, only a sense of relief.
With a new generation leader like Ma Ran around...
When China faces sudden disasters in the future, the number of innocent people dying might be far less than in other countries, right?
Unfortunately...
Ma Ran isn't perfect.
With President Huang Weiguo's experience, he saw it early on...
Apart from the insignificant flaw of being a neat freak, Ma Ran, at first glance, might seem very gentle and amiable, yet in reality, he's cold, aloof, and keeps people at a distance.
Even Su Qiangwei, Dong Huaiming, and Wan Haihao, who are relatively close to him, have an invisible barrier with him.
However...
On the whole, taking a dialectical view, Ma Ran is already excellent enough!
President Huang patted his face, boosting his morale.
He has confidence!
After a while, once everyone becomes more familiar, he'll create opportunities to hold some group activities, gradually correcting Ma Ran's hidden personality flaws.
"Everything will get better."
Old Huang sighed: "It's just... how much time do we have left?"
Being watched by everyone, Ma Ran didn't feel stage fright.
He stood out confidently, walked to the front, and loudly said, "I'm here to throw out a brick to attract jade, let's chat casually."
The originally somewhat noisy small hall instantly quieted down.
Everyone sat up straight, listening intently.
As Ma Ran's little follower, Dong Huaiming, who was eager to swear brotherhood with him, was beyond mention.
Even Su Qiangwei behaved very well at this moment.
She didn't do any small actions, merely staring intently at Ma Ran, her eyes unblinking, as if trying to add some psychological pressure to him through her gaze.
Unfortunately, in such a minor situation, Ma Ran's heart remained undisturbed.
He started speaking slowly in a calm tone, "What is the true advantage of Inner Qi?"
"Enhancing strength?"
"No, that's not right."
"Suppose, an alien humanoid carbon-based lifeform is plundering and killing on Earth, and you are holding a semi-automatic rifle. As long as you shoot accurately, a bullet hitting the vital point could kill it."
"In this case..."
"What's the difference between bursting out 500 pounds of punching power and bursting out a ton?"
"Enhancing movement speed?"
"Improving resistance to blows?"
"Prolonging life?"
"No..."
"None of these."
At this point, Ma Ran put forward a perspective: "The most crucial advantage of the Black Rock Stele Martial Arts is the significant enhancement of reaction ability under the state of Inner Qi empowerment!"
"As is known, due to the conditions limited by nerve fiber conduction speed and synaptic medium transmission, normal human reaction speed is around 300 milliseconds."
"People with talent, after long-term specific practice, can reduce the reaction speed to certain stimuli to 150-180 milliseconds."
"And the current scientific consensus on the human reaction speed limit is 100 milliseconds."
When mentioning the term "specific stimuli," Xiao Ming instantly thought of fitting examples - track and field athletes toward starting guns, esports players toward enemies' non-targeted skills.
He didn't vocally add explanations, simply listening patiently.
"A few days ago, through President Huang, I obtained a piece of related research data."
At this point, Ma Ran's tone grew fervent, extremely infectious, causing the listeners to get excited involuntarily.
"Inner Qi Cultivators can surpass the one hundred millisecond limit..."
"To mimic the theoretical human reaction speed limit!"
"Which is..."
"0.3 milliseconds!"
When the light signal reaches the eyes, is processed by the brain, and transmitted through the nerves to the limbs to produce actions - the time consumed during such a process is the lower limit value.
A reaction speed of 0.3 milliseconds, from a current materialistic perspective, cannot be reduced further.
However...
No one can reach this level.
Ma Ran knows that this number is indeed a misinterpretation of the Martial Arts Stone Stele.
Even after cultivating up to the Ninth Rank of Inner Qi, and undergoing rigorous training, the fastest response speed of Earth Humans still involves a 50-millisecond physical delay.
This is far, far off from the 0.3-millisecond data!
However...
That's okay!
Ma Ran can transform the Black Rock Monument Martial Arts System, elevating it to a higher level!
So at this time, Ma Ran enthusiastically painted a large vision for the members, striving not to hold back.
"What does this reaction speed truly imply?"
"Feel free to speak your minds, everyone."
Upon finishing his words, Ma Ran returned to his seat, recollecting his thoughts, and attentively sketching the Enclosure Text in his mind.
Members, however, got excited, one after another opening their chattering boxes, talking ceaselessly.
"Dodge bullets!"
"Within personal attribute allowances, one could even catch bullets barehanded!"
"This argument isn't quite accurate; you need to consider all data like body short-range movement speed, skin-muscle-bone impact tolerance, bullet caliber, and firearm type."
"When possessing such an ability, why catch bullets barehanded? Except for showing off, there's no practical significance, right?"
"But isn't being cool enough?"
"If someone possesses such a level of reaction speed... except for firepower coverage and carpet bombing, I can't think of how to take him down."
"Even the most advanced weapons rely on people, individuals with 'super reaction' ability; as long as the weapon is decent, they are typical one-man armies on mid to low-intensity battlefields!"
"Not necessarily... Human vision has imperfections, even if reaction speed catches up, it might not dodge all stray bullets; besides, did you overlook 'teammate blunders'? What if a bullet comes from behind?"
"Even so, in small-scale special operations, such individuals are definitely the main force on the battlefield!"
Watching the members arguing endlessly, faces flushed, Ma Ran simply felt very happy.
Where there are people, there's a community.
Before gathering together, in each of their own small realms, everyone was a top student, but even top students have distinctions between three, six, and nine grades.
Originally used to being first, coming to the Grass Hut Academy, who wants to end up at the bottom?
Even if they can't win first place, they won't willingly fall and become the worst, right?
Nowadays, the cultivation atmosphere and competitive spirit at the Grass Hut Academy are very good.
Feeling the fighting spirit, seen through the others' eyes and words, Ma Ran just felt happy.