[Blue Star Calendar, February 26, 2010]
[Western Calendar, Friday.]
[Summer Calendar, Geng Yin Year, First Month, Thirteenth Day. Auspicious for prayers, traveling, fire-related activities, setting up a bed, and groundbreaking.]
The meeting was scheduled to start at 10 a.m.
Qin Siyang, Li Tianming, and Qian Wenzhao had been picked up by a special car sent by Jonathan the night before and brought to the state government.
The three of them had rested for the night.
But because they were too excited, all three woke up early.
By 7 a.m., they were already seated in the conference room, running through their presentation for the countless time.
At 9:30, Jonathan arrived with representatives from the state government, Chen Zhongming with representatives from the municipal government, and Pan Youguang with representatives from the district government.
They weren't going to participate in the meeting itself; Jonathan simply wanted to show his support for the event.
Qin Siyang and the others were very grateful, as Jonathan's presence also served as a stabilizing force, effectively preventing any participants from being overly arrogant or making inappropriate remarks during discussions.
By 9:40, the conference channel was opened, and people started requesting access to the video meeting.
These were individuals who had been vetted by Li Tianming, ensuring that they were both genuinely interested in the Vine Core and had the capability to compete for it.
Li Tianming had sent them the meeting details and link.
The laptop controlling the meeting entrance was right in front of Li Tianming.
Each time he allowed someone in, he carefully crossed their name off the electronic list on his tablet.
Watching how meticulously Li Tianming worked, Qin Siyang couldn't help but admire him, 'As expected of a top-tier researcher.'
As the meeting's host, Qian Wenzhao was in charge of managing the display screen in the conference room.
This screen was only visible to those physically present in the conference room.
To make it easier for Qin Siyang and himself to identify attendees, he arranged the universities at the front, the government-affiliated research institutes in the middle, and other organizations or individuals at the back.
Additionally, he thoughtfully arranged these institutions alphabetically.
Qian Wenzhao had put in considerable effort into this organization.
After seeing the sorted list, Qin Siyang immediately found it much clearer.
The first few video feeds from the universities were from the top four institutions within the Safe Zone: East Glory University(Dongrong), West Glory University(Xirong), South Glory University(Nanrong), and Central Glory University(Zhongrong).
These four universities, often called the "Four Glories" on the [Sequence Education] forum, were the most prestigious academic institutions that all students aspired to enter.
Following them were the "Five Pillars": East Pillar University(East Pillar), West Pillar University(Xizhen), South Pillar University(Nanzhen), South Pillar University(Beizhen), and Central Pillar University(Zhongzhen).
Together, the Four Glories and Five Pillars comprised the top nine universities within the Safe Zone.
All nine had sent representatives to attend this meeting.
The lineup among the representatives from the United Government's research institutes was just as impressive.
Since the United Government's leaders were former Huaguo citizens, the research institutes' names carried a distinct Huaguo influence.
At the forefront were the top three "Sanxing" (Three Prosperities) research institutes: Heavnly Research Institute(Tianxiang), Earthly Research Institute(Dixing), and Human Research Institute(Renxing).
Following them were the Five Virtue Research Institutes: Rende(Benevolnce) Research Institute, Yide(Righteousness) Research Institute, Lide(Ritual) Research Institute, Zhide(Wisdom) Research Institute, and Xinde(Trust) Research Institute.
All eight of the United Government's major research institutes were present.
As for the last few rows of attendees, which consisted of other organizations and individuals, Qin Siyang wasn't familiar with them.
But the fact that Harrison's video feed wasn't even in the top ten of that section spoke volumes, this was a gathering of elites.
Four Glory Universities, Five Pillar Universities, Three Prosperities Research Institute, Five Virtue Research Institute, and various organizations—everyone was interested in the Vine Core that he carried in his pocket.
For the first time, Qin Siyang truly felt the meaning of "the center of attention."
At the same time, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness he had Li Tianming and Qian Wenzhao handling things carefully. If he had gone with the idea of an open auction, they would have offended a whole group of people with significant status in the Safe Zone. Life would have been incredibly difficult afterward.
.
.
.
By 10 a.m., all the participants had arrived.
A few stragglers remained, but considering they weren't eager enough to be on time, Li Tianming closed the video conference entrance to avoid disrupting the meeting's order.
Li Tianming nodded at Qian Wenzhao, signaling that everything was ready.
Qian Wenzhao understood, stood up, and spoke:
"Thank you all for waiting. First and foremost, welcome to Mr. Qin Siyang's 'Vine Core' briefing session."
"Today, I am honored to represent the 14121 Regional Sequence Ability Management Bureau in this event. I am Qian Wenzhao, director of the 14121 Regional Sequence Ability Management Bureau, and also the host of this meeting."
"If anyone has any questions, feel free to click the [Ask a Question] button on the meeting screen, and I will address them."
"Before we begin, let me first introduce the attendees in this conference room…"
For such a grand event, it was customary for the host to deliver an opening speech.
However, Li Tianming had advised against it, saying that most of the attendees were researchers with precious time and little patience for formalities, so they skipped that part.
After introducing the attendees, Qian Wenzhao got straight to the point.
"The agenda for today's meeting consists of two main items:"
"First, discussing Mr. Qin's Vine Core."
"Second, extending invitations to Mr. Li Tianming to join your respective institutions."
"Now, let me introduce Mr. Qin Siyang and Mr. Li Tianming."
Some attendees had assumed Qian Wenzhao would ramble on with standard formalities, and a few had even gotten up to take a bathroom break.
But when he skipped the fluff and went straight to the key points, several people who were about to escape immediately sat back down.
However, most attendees were focused on the Vine Core and Li Tianming.
No one really paid attention to Qin Siyang, a seventeen-year-old high schooler.
To them, a lucky treasure hunter was just a temporary vessel for the Vine Core—nothing worth special attention.
"First, let's introduce the owner of the Vine Core, Mr. Qin Siyang."
"Mr. Qin awakened his Sequence Ability [Phantom Assassin] on January 24, 2010, and successfully registered it."
"On January 27, he hunted his first god, earning 1,600 God Hunting Points."
"On January 31, he completed his second god hunt, earning 902 points."
"On February 2, he conducted his third god hunt, teaming up with Mr. Li Tianming of the [Shaman] Sequence to slay a mid-sized god, Ghost Faced Heron, earning 1,148 points."
"On February 4, he completed his fourth god hunt, solo killing the new species Doom Fate Octopus, earning 1,514 points."
"In total, he has accumulated 6,114 God Hunting Points."
After hearing this, many attendees in the video conference were shocked.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
Suddenly, dozens of video feeds displayed the 'Raise Hand' icon, most of them from universities.
"I didn't expect the questions to come this fast. Alright, let's go one by one."
Checking the question log, Qian Wenzhao said, "East Pillar University was the first to raise their hand. Go ahead."
["Thank you, Director Qian. May I ask where Mr. Qin hunted these gods?"]
"At Exit 38324 of Safe Zone 14121."
The questioner was stunned for a moment.
["Six thousand points… all at 38—"]
"38324."
["…Right, 38324."]
["…I… have no further questions."]
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