He, Su Hao, was an obscure senior spirit cultivator.
Along with a newly established lab that had zero results to its name.
In just a few days, thirty-six junior spirit cultivators had submitted their resumes.
All I can say is...
The platform came through.
His senior certification and the lab had both been verified by the platform, making them highly attractive to rookie spirit cultivators.
"Let me see who's submitted their resumes."
Su Hao browsed through them one by one.
Lin XX, a fresh graduate from Tiannan University.
Got their spirit cultivator certification in the second semester of junior year.
Specialty... no specialty.
Chen XX, a senior at Donglin University.
Passed the junior spirit cultivator exam in their freshman year.
Served as president of Donglin University's student council and won multiple awards.
Su Hao stared at the list of "XX Competition" and "XX Contest" first and second prizes, lost in thought.
"I haven't won a single award myself—wait, I've never even heard of these competitions. Thumbs down!"
He moved on to the third candidate.
Wang XX, a senior at Tianxing University.
Specialty... money power.
A filthy rich trust-fund kid.
"Delete. Next."
"To me, ability isn't the most important thing. And anyone just looking to gild their resume here? No way."
What Su Hao wanted was nothing more than an emotionless tool.
Someone who could carry out the tasks he "assigned" without fail.
Strong ability? Probably means too many ideas. No good.
Gilding their resume? Likely to jump ship later. Also no good.
What he needed was someone with modest talent but a diligent work ethic, who could keep secrets!
"Anyone with a notable background gets deleted."
"Too many ideas, restless types get deleted too."
"Self-righteous know-it-alls definitely get deleted."
"Terrible grades also get deleted... otherwise, how would they even use the equipment?"
Su Hao kept filtering until only five people remained.
Xie Tianhe, You Jingzhu, Zeng Kangcheng, Ru Qianqian, Kong Yun.
All five were seniors or recent graduates.
After confirming, Su Hao sent them an email, notifying them to show up at the [location address] tomorrow morning for an interview.
...
The next day, a little past eight in the morning.
A black sedan pulled up at the lab's main gate.
Xie Tianhe stepped out, dressed in a white shirt and black trousers.
At that moment,
Two spirit envoys were stationed in the guard booth at the entrance.
Senior spirit envoys.
Temporary workers Su Hao had hired from the Yunhua City Spirit Envoy Guild.
Just for show.
Xie Tianhe followed one of them to the second floor of the lab building, to the reception room.
He was the first to arrive and saw only a young man in a white lab coat.
Probably someone from the lab, he figured.
He immediately greeted him, "Hello, senior."
Even though Xie Tianhe suspected the young man might be a college student, younger than him.
But...
He was likely a formal student of that senior spirit cultivator.
Calling him "senior" to make a good impression might be the key to standing out in the competition!
The so-called senior greeted him back, though his expression seemed a bit odd.
Xie Tianhe didn't dwell on it. After the senior left, he sat down and waited patiently.
Before long,
The other interviewee's arrived one by one.
Xie Tianhe observed them.
Besides him, there were four others.
Three women, one man, all around the same age.
The guy sitting nearby was short and thin, head down, silent.
Among the women, one wore glasses. Her contracted little lotus was still at the uninitiated level, and she looked a bit unsure of herself... Xie Tianhe mentally crossed her off the list of strong contenders.
But the other two women...
One was dressed maturely, even wearing a low-cut top—no more looking!
The other, dressed professionally like him, had contracted a Morino and brought a laptop... She gave off a competent vibe.
Both of them were tough competition!
After all, that senior spirit cultivator would likely hire at most one or two people.
Xie Tianhe made mental comparisons.
At the same time, he wondered what kind of test the lab owner would use to evaluate them.
Questions? Or something else?
"Thump—"
Inside the reception room, the clock struck exactly nine.
The young man in the white lab coat appeared again.
Xie Tianhe stood up first, opening his mouth to greet the senior and reinforce the impression, when he heard...
"I'm the lab owner and the one who posted the job listing. My surname is Su. Now, follow me."
Xie Tianhe's "Sen..." and "Sen..." got stuck in his throat, his expression slowly shifting to "What the hell."
...
"He's Su, Su... Teacher Su?"
They knew the lab belonged to a senior spirit cultivator named Su Hao.
But...
No one told them Teacher Su was this young!
Maybe he just looked young, but he couldn't be more than thirty at most!
A thirty-year-old senior spirit cultivator?!
Boundless potential!
A flood of thoughts rushed through their minds, but they only paused in shock for a moment before quickly following.
...
"Not bad, no overreacting."
Su Hao, watching the five candidates through the lab's surveillance feed on his phone, nodded slightly.
Patience, not talking too much, not being nosy, not questioning...
Those were his basic requirements.
The five he'd filtered out were barely passable as tools.
As for which tool would work better...
He walked up the stairs to the fourth floor, turned around, and faced the five in front of him.
"My test is simple: assist my spirit in completing an experiment—collecting data on wood mantises. Whoever can do it stays."
Assisting the teacher with an experiment, huh...
The test didn't surprise Xie Tianhe, and the others reacted similarly.
They all had experience; they weren't lab newbies.
But suddenly,
One person froze, then another...
They noticed something off.
What Teacher Su had just said was...
'Assist my... spirit,' not 'assist me'?!
Candidate No. 1: "???"
Candidate No. 2: "???"
...
Candidate No. 5: "???"
Their gazes shifted to the spirit perched on Teacher Su's head.
It was a Dream Moth.
"Guno~!"
The Dream Moth chirped, waving at them.
Xie Tianhe paused for a moment before it clicked.
He got it!
He understood it all!
Assisting a senior spirit cultivator with an experiment was too simple, too ordinary!
No challenge—how could they showcase their abilities?
Assisting a spirit with an experiment was the real test.
No wonder Teacher Su had earned his senior title so young—his thinking was completely different from ordinary spirit cultivators like them!
He subtly glanced at the others, feeling they hadn't caught on to Teacher Su's intent.
Too slow on the uptake.
Looked like he had this in the bag.
...
Watching the candidates enter the lab, Su Hao stood outside for a few seconds, then headed straight for the surveillance room.
He watched through the monitors, not in person.
Why?
Because he wasn't familiar with the equipment!
That's why he let Die Xiaodie run the experiment.
"Anyway, the little one's always wanted to try doing research, so I'm giving it this chance."
...
Inside the lab.
The candidates exchanged glances, unsure where to start.
Then, they saw the Dream Moth press a switch. The alloy wall on the left side of the lab slid open, revealing a swarm of dark green spirits clattering against the floor and walls.
Wood mantises, ten of them.
All wild.
Wild spirits weren't exactly docile—was it really okay to have them in the lab without sedation?
What if they damaged the equipment?
They pondered this, keeping their own spirits on alert.
The next moment,
"Guno~!"
The Dream Moth chirped.
They watched as those wild, unruly wood mantises suddenly sat up straight, quickly forming a line.
One turned the wrong way, its rear facing the door, until another wood mantis smacked it with its blade arm and spun it back around.
The candidates stared, dumbfounded.
"Guno~!"
The Dream Moth turned and chirped at them.
Xie Tianhe and the others were puzzled, until their own spirits called out.
"Owoo~!"
"Chirp chirp!"
"Mumu~!"
The spirits translated: get on the equipment and start examining the wood mantises!
So that's why the interview requirements said to bring a spirit!
The wood mantises lined up one by one.
The candidates began using the instruments to measure data and collect samples.
Then they reported everything to the spirit leading the experiment... the Dream Moth.
In just a few dozen minutes, they completed a full check-up on all ten wood mantises!
And their coordination was impressive.
Efficient as hell.
No wonder he was a senior spirit cultivator—his experimental approach was so cle...
Cle...
Cle...
Xie Tianhe suddenly realized that Die Xiaodie, manipulating the instruments with telekinesis, was just a spirit!
A spirit was running an experiment!!!
Teacher Su really was a senior spirit cultivator at such a young age!
To learn by Teacher Su's side, the young and accomplished one, he had to nail this interview!
...
At the same time, in the surveillance room.
Su Hao watched each candidate through the lab's cameras.
Two men, three women.
Their basics were all solid.
Su Hao focused on other aspects of their behavior.
For instance...
Several kept glancing at Die Xiaodie, their expressions curious or shocked.
"Candidate No. 1 glanced three times."
"No. 2, five times."
"No. 3... No. 5 is the most focused, or maybe the least curious, just working steadily."
No. 3 was an unremarkable girl, No. 5 an unremarkable guy.
Su Hao watched them for a while, quite satisfied.
Diligent, but not outstanding.
His ideal tool type.
He thought for a moment, then pulled up their files.
Kong Yun, from a poor family... She hadn't gotten into a spirit university at first, just a regular major at Tiannan University. Later, she self-studied for the spirit cultivator certification and transferred to the spirit cultivation program.
Zeng Kangcheng, from an ordinary family, but luckier—he passed the written exam for the spirit cultivator certification in high school.
Then got into a spirit university smoothly.
One was a short, thin guy.
The other, a glasses-wearing girl of average looks.
Su Hao observed a bit longer, then made his decision.
"You're it."