Tian Shan Mountains, Spirit Eagle Palace, Training Hall.
9 a.m., the crowd gathers.
At this point, you might be wondering, "Why does '9 a.m.' show up here? Shouldn't it be something like 'the end of the hour of the dragon' in ancient times?" You're absolutely right, that's how it should be in the old days—but the Freewind Sect has rolled out a brand new policy.
So, let's talk about this new policy for a second.
Before Jill Young went into seclusion to cut off emotions and thoughts, she spent three days in secret talks with Maggie Monroe. The topic? The general blueprint for future development, and the things Maggie needed to take care of while Jill was away.
"We're out here in the Western Regions, right on the edge of Tibet. Sure, it's barren, but it's also a goldmine. The Silk Road passes nearby, so we control East-West trade, and we're far away from the main military zones of the Zhao Song and the Mongols. For now, it's a no-man's land. Whether you're from the Central Plains or the outer Western Regions, you have to pass through here. This place is top-notch. The locals are a mixed bunch, tiny nations everywhere, and the units of measurement are all over the place. If we're going to look at the big picture, we can't be petty. For convenience down the road, we should take a page from Emperor Qin—same wheels, same script, unified measurements!"
Jill Young wrote out some examples on paper, declaring, "We're doing something earth-shattering here—a whole new mindset, a whole new power, so we need a fresh look. Toss out all the old ways of thinking, let everyone who wants to follow us feel the new vibe. The future starts right here!"
Smack! Jill Young put down her pen, and when Maggie looked over, what she saw were new numbers, time units, weight units, and length units—Arabic numerals, hours-minutes-seconds, kilograms, and meters.
Of course, you need a basic standard for measurements. Like, if you don't tell people how long a meter is, then 'meter' means nothing. Luckily, after reaching 'micro-touch and change,' everyone's sense of time and space got way sharper. Before going into seclusion, Jill Young casually twisted up an iron rod—that's one meter. Grabbed a stone, weighed it in her hand, shook her head, broke off a bit more, weighed it again—yep, that's one kilogram.
It was weird at first, sure, but after a month or so, everyone got used to the new units.