As soon as Xia Panqiu finished speaking.
A few people below showed awkward expressions.
However, she seemed accustomed to it and didn't pay much attention, continuing with her explanation.
But the latter part of the explanation.
For most of those present, it was a bit boring.
Xia Panqiu mainly explained how to distinguish between active triggering authority and passive triggering authority, various handling plans for different situations, as well as various precautions, citing examples of some unfortunate people being caught.
In summary, it was basically...
Don't even think about superpowers, don't have any bold ideas, live honestly like an ordinary person.
With painstaking efforts and kind advice.
Just short of putting shackles on everyone.
The explanation in this aspect lasted the longest, almost two hours.
However, Chen Lusi in the back seemed to find it quite interesting.
Mainly because Xia Panqiu had a talent for storytelling, with various exaggerated descriptions like 'shot on the spot', combined with her petite stature and slightly cute young face, it created a kind of contrasting charm.
And when hearing Xia Panqiu mention for the third time that she caught a 'superpower user' trying to use powers to make money and almost wished to shoot them on the spot,
Xia Panqiu finally stopped her explanation.
"Alright, that's all for the explanation. Does anyone have any questions?"
People looked at each other.
Then all sorts of strange questions emerged.
And very soon.
Someone brought up the topic of 'having a shadow'.
It seems not only Chen Lusi felt troubled.
Quite a few people were actually uneasy about having an 'extra shadow'.
To this, Xia Panqiu gave an answer: "There's no solution for this, not at the current stage. You can only coexist with them.
"But rest assured, they don't have thoughts, like shadows."
"Initially, such situations will be more frequent, even somewhat dangerous."
"But once they've successfully inhabited, they won't harm the host."
"Moreover, their occurrences will gradually decrease over time until they disappear... According to Kunlun's conclusion, it's because the so-called 'activation' also has a time limit."
Upon hearing this, many people breathed a sigh of relief.
And with that, the topic was considered settled.
The Q&A session continued for another half an hour.
Until finally, no one else spoke up.
"Alright then, let's wrap up."
Xia Panqiu waited for a while, realizing indeed no one had further questions, clapped her hands: "Those designated to join Celestial Strategy stay, others may leave. But before you go, there's one more thing."
"You need to go to the front desk to record a fingerprint, verbally state the characteristics of your abilities, and leave your phone number and address.
In short, the front desk will inform you about the specific details. You can head directly there."
"Lastly, as I said before, lead a disciplined life, and after six months when your authority disappears, you can completely forget about this... Please leave."
She left the final phrase with deep meaning.
Then headed to the conference room door and opened it.
The crowd looked at each other briefly, then began to get up one after another.
Chen Lusi was among them, trailing at the end of the line, while thinking about the shooting story Xia Panqiu just told, he followed the crowd out.
But just as he reached the door, intending to step out.
He was stopped.
"What are you planning to do?" Xia Panqiu looked at him.
"Make money..."
Chen Lusi replied instinctively.
Xia Panqiu was momentarily stunned, then her face turned abruptly dark.
"No, I'm going home."
Chen Lusi realized, apologizing: "I was just thinking about the story you told, slipped my tongue."
"You stay."
Xia Panqiu stared at Chen Lusi intently, after a long while, she turned and pointed to an empty spot in the conference room.
"..."
Chen Lusi looked at the people walking out, then at Xia Panqiu's expression, and reluctantly sat back down.
And besides him, there was another man who stayed.
He looked to be in his twenties, with a cropped haircut and a delicate appearance.
After Chen Lusi sat down, the man naturally smiled: "Hello, I'm Li Tian."
"Hello... I'm Chen Lusi."
Chen Lusi nodded, also stating his own name.
"Your ponytail is pretty cool, how long have you been growing it?" Li Tian looked at Chen Lusi, who had a ponytail and seemed quite artful.
Chen Lusi was just about to answer.
But Xia Panqiu interrupted him.
She closed the door, standing again in front of the conference table: "Alright, by and large, you should have a specific understanding of your situation now."
"Next, I will discuss the other side of things, you were all specifically chosen by Ah Yue to join the Celestial Strategy Mansion, I will explain this part to you.
If you don't want to join, you can..."
Chen Lusi slowly stood up.
"You can't."
Xia Panqiu stared at him, decisively saying: "Your ability, even among the third type of authority, is rare enough to directly cause harm. This kind of ability isn't within the range for observational leniency, I need you within my line of sight, moreover, you just said you wanted to make money."
"Do you really believe it?" Chen Lusi chuckled.
Xia Panqiu shook her head, looking at his ponytail, and said, "Regardless of whether I believe it or not, you can't leave."
Chen Lusi roughly understood.
This Xia Panqiu had a big opinion about him.
As for the reason...
He didn't know.
In this situation, he could only sit down.
Li Tian casually said, "I'm willing to join."
"Mm."
Xia Panqiu was very satisfied with Li Tian's attitude, and she turned her gaze back from Chen Lusi, continuing, "The so-called other side refers to the part I just skipped explaining; they don't need to know, but you do."
"That is—legendary 'activation' is not necessarily harmless, even during a third-type contact."
"According to different legends, it could potentially affect ordinary people besides the host."
"The actual situation is far more complicated than what I just described."
Xia Panqiu sighed, "For instance, some legends of 'activation' can be harmful, whether or not the legend itself mentions some related descriptions, but it endangers others' lives as a fact."
"Furthermore, not all hosts can maintain their autonomy; it's possible that it's not about hosting but possession."
"And more critically, some hosts may inherently be abnormal, not living honestly."
"They may change from victims directly to perpetrators."
"Also, after being hosted, there's a brief alignment period where the host can temporarily lose control, like wielding a knife to stab people, cases like this aren't rare."
At this point.
She glanced at Chen Lusi.
Chen Lusi pretended not to notice.
Xia Panqiu gave him a deep look, withdrew her gaze, and continued, "Plus, all local legends come with strong ghostly colors..."
"In any case, reality is very complex."
"And the Celestial Strategy Mansion is the organization specifically handling these matters."
"Don't ask why it's called Celestial Strategy Mansion, I don't know either, few people inside know."
"You only need to know that we specialize in dealing with these situations."
"Traveling everywhere, slaying out-of-control hosts, guiding hosts who've not lost control, handling all kinds of complex scenes, that's our job."
"Therefore, joining the Celestial Strategy means you must bear some life-threatening risks."
"This must be clarified beforehand."
"..."
"I understand."
Li Tian was still the first to respond.
He agreed, "I join!"
"Are you sure?" Xia Panqiu asked again.
"Sure." Li Tian replied firmly.
Xia Panqiu nodded to him satisfactorily; she didn't ask Chen Lusi.
And then.
She didn't continue to speak further but left with a "wait a moment," and went out.
Minutes later.
She returned, handing two still-warm, freshly printed documents to Chen Lusi and Li Tian.
Giving it to Chen Lusi.
She clearly hesitated a bit but handed it over in the end.
Chen Lusi flipped through the documents, then looked up and asked, "What is this?"
"A way to cultivate."
"Or more accurately, another kind of power."
Xia Panqiu explained expressionlessly, "The bestowed authority is basically unchanging."
"This also makes the scope of most authorities extremely limited."
"And to increase the survival rate of Celestial Strategy Mansion members, the documents in your hands were made."
"This is also the part I did not mention earlier; you may have noticed, besides the bestowed authority, you also possess another ability."
"Which is sensing the Spirits in the air that activate myths."
"And this document teaches you how to absorb the Spirits in the air, how to transform them into various self-defense techniques."
"As for why it's called cultivation... because the process is quite similar, and when practiced to the end, it indeed looks like something."
"However, I also need to inform you upfront."
Xia Panqiu paused a bit, speaking softly, "Practicing this brings you further away from the domain of normal humans."
"Most ordinary hospitals can't be visited because your blood will turn blue."
"You consider if you want to practice; personally, I suggest you practice a bit for the sake of your life."
"But don't spread the word."
"Additionally, don't use it for other excessive things."
Finally.
Xia Panqiu gave Chen Lusi a special reminder.
"..."
Chen Lusi was somewhat puzzled.
He still couldn't figure out why Xia Panqiu had such strong opinions about him.
Finally, he could only attribute it to fate.
Just like some people naturally don't get along well together.
Xia Panqiu might just find him displeasing.