Chapter 65: Purging the Thoughts of the Akademiya

After Faruzan set off to buy clothes, Lin Feng intended to check out the address Kaveh had previously left him.

Although there was a high probability that the golden-haired unlucky fellow was still busy repairing the Palais Mabsut for Dorie, just in case he happened to be in Sumeru City, he could also borrow the reputation of the "Light of Kshahrewar" to gain some convenience.

During the journey, Lin Feng briefly tested his new divine authority, ultimately discovering with some regret that he could not transfer his consciousness via the Akasha Terminal like Lesser Lord Kusanali, nor was he yet able to drag enemies of divine caliber into an infinite samsara.

—Before his authority was completely activated at max level, this trick was probably only marginally useful for gathering intel and mowing down mobs like a Musou game.

After all, just by glaring at someone, you could plunge them into an infinite cyclic dream. Lin Feng felt that if he put on a black robe, he wouldn't mind cosplaying a certain bro-con terminal patient.

Recovering from his nonsensical thoughts, Lin Feng began to ponder his financial situation.

First of all, lacking money was simply out of the question.

A powerhouse of divine rank, even if they just stood around condensing elemental gemstones every day, could earn more than enough and would never encounter financial troubles in the conventional sense.

This could also be seen from how Lin Feng had cleared out several street stalls every time he prepared snacks for Shiro.

—If someone with that kind of strength really lacked money, they had to be doing it on purpose.

Therefore, the money spent on Faruzan recently, although not a small sum in the eyes of the "old senior," was not an issue for Lin Feng at all.

After all, after clearing out the Sages, the Akademiya governed by Nahida could, to some extent, be considered partly Lin Feng's.

Putting aside his personal fondness for Faruzan, as a boss, showing early care and concern for a future outstanding employee was not excessive either.

However, hand-crafting elemental gemstones had one drawback: there was no way to mass-produce them. Elemental gemstones were widely used as energy sources for various Teyvat "black technologies."

Strictly speaking, they even belonged to controlled goods. Without reliable channels, one could only sell them off in small amounts, at best enough to support a few Paimon-sized appetites.

He shook his head, brushing aside the suddenly blazing spirit of corporate management in his heart.

Lin Feng began to consider the specific process of rescuing Nahida.

—First of all, he needed to gather replacements for the Sages and their cronies. This was no small project. Even with Alhaitham, that slack-off enthusiast, already factored into Lin Feng's calculations, it was still not enough.

Because in the original storyline, Nahida had enacted a massive general amnesty, merely deposing the four implicated sages without punishing other secondary participants, and even letting those scum sages live out their twilight years in Mawtiyima Forest.

Thanks to this, the Akademiya ultimately only re-elected leaders for four Darshans, and the most crucial position of Grand Sage could even be temporarily filled by Alhaitham.

Even so, Sumeru still experienced considerable upheaval, keeping the Lesser Lord Kusanali running off her feet for a long time.

—But such a handling method was naturally unacceptable to Lin Feng.

If he were the one handling it, he would completely purge the Akademiya, burning away all those stale, rotting parasites and replacing them with fresh blood full of vitality.

The reason was that after Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's passing, Sumeru had hardly made any qualitative breakthroughs in academia. Though it still looked prosperous on the surface, it was actually like a pathetic second-generation heir clinging to ancestral heritage, treading solely a path of gradual decay.

Reforms must be approached with caution; Lin Feng naturally understood the principles that one should proceed step-by-step and that too much is as bad as too little. If he didn't possess his current power and authority, perhaps he, too, would have chosen a slow and steady approach for the sake of Sumeru's overall stability, gradually replacing the cronies of the old sages over a protracted period.

Yet at present, even in the most extreme scenarios, Sumeru could safely rely on the dual divine-level combat power of Nahida and Lin Feng to hold the bottom line.

After all, while Nahida's direct offensive capabilities were not strong, when it came to support abilities, looking across all Seven Archans, none could surpass her.

Moreover, his affinity with her was like that of twin deities, which further amplified Nahida's supportive prowess. Teamed up with him in a duo match, Lin Feng wouldn't flinch even if the Prime Adeptus in his prime walked in.

With such a failsafe guarantee, if he still failed to seize this prime opportunity of a dynasty change to carry out a thorough reformation, Lin Feng might as well just dig a hole and bury his non-recyclable garbage self.

Taking a deep breath, Lin Feng began to ponder the specific channels available for selecting suitable administrative candidates for the Akademiya.

—First of all, the slacking maestro Alhaitham had to be counted in. In the storyline, because the Akademiya's turmoil wasn't massive, he could briefly act by proxy for a few days before stepping down.

Yet this time, a truly major upheaval was coming. Looking across all the crooked melons and cracked dates of the Akademiya in the storyline, if Alhaitham were still allowed to slack off at will, Lin Feng truly had no idea who else could shoulder such a heavy responsibility.

Beyond that, extraordinary times called for extraordinary measures. Although he hoped the Akademiya could recover the vitality of the Rukkhadevata era, blindly pursuing an overnight fix was undesirable.

At the current stage, given the scarcity of talent within the Akademiya, Lin Feng's core selection criterion for the new administrative personnel boiled down to a single word—"Stability."

Academic capability came secondary. The primary task of this batch of sages would be to swiftly sort through chaotic affairs while the entire Akademiya was being turned upside down, ensuring the basic operation of Sumeru's entire administrative system and preventing factions like the Fatui and the Eremites from exploiting any loopholes.

Once society had stabilized and Lin Feng had taken the time to purge reactionary elements such as Fatui agents, he would gradually select and replace personnel.

Compared to reality, Teyvat's greatest advantage was not having to worry about these people clinging to power and refusing to step aside.

The very existence of deities was the best administrative tool for governing authority.

—Bear in mind, didn't Liyue's outrageous merchant-governed political system operate stably for thousands of years under Zhongli's supervision?

If they didn't require the Akademiya to make any major academic breakthroughs in the short term, but merely to maintain education for the next generation and keep normal operations running, then while administrative candidates would still be difficult to find, it ultimately wouldn't feel like an absolute pipe dream as it did initially.

As for how to establish the Lesser Lord Kusanali's authority, and how to bring down the existing sages—

Compared to the previous task, this operation would be infinitely simpler.

Even before arriving in Sumeru City, Lin Feng already had a rough idea forming in his mind:

—That was to create a formidable enemy that the Akademiya could handle by no means whatsoever.

This enemy had to be powerful enough, powerful enough to instill fear and trembling in all the citizens of Sumeru.

Powerful enough that no one could numb themselves into ignoring its existence.

Then, during the process of this "formidable enemy" sweeping everything in its path, the incompetence of the Akademiya sages—powerless to stop it—would be displayed in the most vivid way possible.

Finally, just before everything approached the point of irredeemability, the long-awaited Lesser Lord Kusanali would step forward to save the day, and all problems would be effortlessly resolved.

As for the sages and their cronies, they would only need the charge of "clinging to power and obstructing the deity from offering aid" to face this belated death amidst the revulsion of thousands.