Crazy Villager, Crazy Bowl

Becoming an employee in Tianming Corporation wasn't anything as a common university envision; a paradisical throne of luxury, a brilliant coliseum where great business, academic, and artistic talents converged to produce great works of jewelry. Well, it was probable that somewhere within the massive empire built by the glib elderly Mu Yun, such an environment existed, but the Finance Department – both external and internal branches, were relatively melancholy and mundane. Just like any regular employee, they crunched numbers and rubbed at their receding hairline from behind stacks upon stacks of indomitable papers, income statements, cash flow trackers, and the norm.

Xi Chen had now spent nearly two weeks idling in such mundane lifestyle. He wrote preparatory papers to present some modicum of effort in his studies, he compiled trackers for the external and entry-level expenses for Tianming Corporation, sighed alongside with the employees whenever Mu Yu-er's fiancé – actually, three prospective fiancés – wreaked havoc over the limited funds.

On the surface, he was a young talent the chairman had sourced from an unknown street in Jiangbei. Useful as an employee despite his young age and his current student as a student, but not prestigious enough to demand certain merit or recognition.

"Another seventy million loss every year. Is the old man trying to ruin his efforts, or does he not care anymore?"

Xi Chen tossed the printed sheets onto the table with a light snort, and paid no heed to the numerous rows of data that had been highlighted in warning colors. The youth pressed the papers into their laminated covers and attached the customary note on top asking for review, and leaned back into his seat with both arms crossed behind his head.

The day's work was completed, just like that.

Recently, from what he could observe from the expenses recorded and the distribution of cash flow across the numerous internal departments, Tianming Corporation had forced itself into a lull. Funding was increased into marketing and public response efforts, but for the moment, additional funding for design, research, or development had not occurred. It was probable that the plan for future progression was not finalized at the moment or certain factors were at play, but Xi Chen didn't bother anymore.

He was just an employee solely to convince the university's scrutiny towards their students. Primarily, he was an investor – one that held enough shares and influence to add his voice to the intermediate decisions of the corporation. Mu Yun as the agent contributed much to his current leverage, but it held greater consideration for the stones that Xi Chen had provided.

The jadestones and precious gemstones that had been fished from Tianguang Plaza were perfectly intact and of considerable size, instead of existing in fragmented portions of dubious purity. Though Mu Yun only provided an initial valuation by the market prices of the gemstones, the overblown advertising of Tianming Corporation and their RD department's efforts would provide massive revenue far beyond what a paltry two million RMB could achieve.

In the past twelve days, the briefcase besides Xi Chen's leg had its inner pockets bulging from various precious stones and gems providing a value anywhere from several dozen thousand RMB to single-digit millions each. Tianguang Plaza bled tears of blood as the youth fleeced its pockets every evening, causing the employed artisans to wail in excitement and grief at the stones entering someone else's pockets.

"The security company is now open to restructuring; Long Aotian is diverted to the local military training camp, and the remaining members have been relocated elsewhere," Xi Chen brooded with a thin grimace.

"Should I replace them with retired veterans or professional employees? I only have a total of 20 million RMB in moveable funds at the moment…"

Soldiers who had remained in the military long enough to properly retire brought with them great respect for the employment and the people they protected, and would consist less of a financial strain on Xi Chen's limited resources. Alas, the majority of such people were dedicated to the state and the people, hence if he were to venture into unrestricted or unmonitored fields of work, then professionals were required. Only…

The youth glanced at the briefcase containing several dozen precious stones, then at the three Xuan Yuan Swords placed alongside of the desk.

Besides their grandiose name, they were plain river stones Xi Chen had bought from an elderly grandmother for a trifling five yuan. There were no suave or miracle properties attributed with the stone, and was just a simple home decoration. And yet…

"[Place a Xuan Yuan Sword into my right palm.]"

The bowl shrouded within his consciousness flickered as a stone contained within the void burst with golden radiance. The stone craved with the enormous character of 'Saint' bounced along the infinite cavern as it began to settle once more at the bottom of the bowl, and once Xi Chen had counted to the second breath, the fingers of his right hand curled around a river stone.

From its dimensions, weight, chemical and physical properties, it was an exact replica of the original river stone that he had bought from the elderly grandmother. The original placed on the desk was sandwiched by replicas on either side, and was to be joined by the third. Regardless of how Xi Chen tried to analyze, he truly couldn't find a difference.

"In the end, it comes down to its definitions? Hence, if I were to have rebranded the definition of a 'Xuan Yuan Sword' to a slip of paper detailing my graduation from the university, then each call would duplicate the paper…"

The eyebrows rose then sank in the midst of thought. Xi Chen glanced at the cup containing what was now completely cooled coffee, and released a sigh in defeat.

"In the end, this makes my plans easier to achieve yet harder at the same time," the youth grumbled and slapped the stack of papers scrawled with multiple different highlighters.

"I can ignore the conservation of energy and mass through the bowl, and create permanent objects by mere definitions. That also means that whatever I define, will remain permanent – isn't that too great of a risk?"

If he called for a 'Xuan Yuan Sword' once, the bowl materialized a river stone before his body. If he called for it a hundred times, then he would have to deal with the problem of managing a hundred river stones that abruptly burst into existence. But if he called for a 'Xuan Yuan Sword' and visioned a different object – from a bottle of water to a high-end, custom-built computer model, the end result was guaranteed to be a plain river stone worth a total of 5 RMB at a street vendor.

The bowl allowed him to permanently defy reality by sealing a wish to a stone, then tossing the stone into the infinite depths. But since he could only see the number of stones present, and whether they depicted the characters of a ���Saint', 'Fool' or "Devil' and not of the prescribed contents, that insinuated that every choice he was to make would hold great and permanent responsibilities.

Augmenting a desire was possible. He could toss additional stones into the heavenly bowl that prescribed specific limiters on the infinite strength and agility that he had foolishly demanded for just weeks ago. Otherwise, the office and the chair that Xi Chen currently sat in would have disintegrated, and he would have many explanations to provide.

"I can provide an infinitely many additional details and properties to the river stone that is now recognized as a Xuan Yuan Sword. Holy medicinal properties when dipped into any source of water and causing instant death to a target the stone is thrown at is definitely possible," Xi Chen grinned with self-deprecation.

"But no matter what, a 'Xuan Yuan Sword' will always create a plain river stone carried from Songzheng. Not that it matters to a river stone, but imagine if I defined a hamburg steak to be a lump of metal and not consumable food."

Fortunately, a 'Xuan Yuan Sword' was a mythical red herring novelists and fantasy writers, game developers, and television series used to assuage their readers, and didn't exist in reality. As for changing the definitions of a hamburg steak… the youth didn't dare –

"Wait."

Xi Chen's eyes snapped open at the abrupt thought that had crossed his mind, and bolted from his chair in shock. The loud clatter nearly caused the employee in the adjacent cubicle to knock against the tinted glass wall in annoyance, but the youth stood still as he quickly fleshed out a cohesive idea.

"Changing the definitions of an object and creating permanent phenomenon… perhaps not changing the definition with a finished product, but rather somewhere along the process before that point – a blueprint?"

Modern engineering solutions often relied on pre-configured technical drawings and prototypes. If he could obtain a general-use blueprint and change a key feature or problematic area utilizing the heavenly bowl, then it would circumvent the problem of permanently altering a pre-existing object in the world. The only focus Xi Chen had to maintain at that point was to prevent unwanted dissemination of the drawing itself.

Many recent technological products often exhibited numerous flaws that could be observed in their design that often followed a generalized blueprint shared across the world. If the bowl was used to target such flaws and create miracles…

"It would completely shut down the research department if I overdo it, so limited application would be best," the youth surmised with a tap of his pen.

"I could leverage this to increase contact with those in the state, which would be much of a promising shelter than sheer capital. Connections on one hand, profits and government security on the other. I just have to avoid being exposed to public scrutiny – what a risky game, isn't it?"

The stakes were much greater than his previous life when he resuscitated the dying Zhang Family's corporate dynasty over Jiangbei. If he were to be exposed as someone in possession of an artefact so mystical as the heavenly bowl, then that was simply painting a permanent crosshair on the back of his head. Nonetheless, the youth crossed his legs and thought for a bit to arrive at the conclusion that as long as he played his cards right, there really wasn't much to lose.

He could use signaling theory to forge himself a secondary path as an ordinary employee in Tianming Corporation, and if he employed the strategies from his life experience, the initial stages of the plan would experience little trouble, and would grant him a suitable foundation for future development.

"If I recall correctly, the computer world was going to soon experience an outbreak over the development of the 14 nanometer transistor. Directly entering the processor market would be too hasty and risky for the moment… perhaps a startup on accessory devices?"

Speaking of which, it probably was time to have a visit to Suzhou where Tianming Corporation's headquarters was located. The stones in his briefcase could fetch a decent market price once an interested buyer was available, but it was much better to present them to the aspiring designers and fanatics employed by the corporation. After all, direct currency was always more valuable than indirect currency.