Chapter 7: Unexpected Points

“Is this… an unheard-of Dao principle?”

Shuang Jiang suddenly stood up from the stone bed.

Her gaze was fixed on the quiet room outside, looking across the entire courtyard to the classroom.

Her heart was extremely excited, and she almost wanted to rush out.

But after touching her face, she restrained herself.

“He said he’s a teacher here, but I can sense that he’s only at the initial stage of Qi refinement. How is this possible…”

At this time, Shuang Jiang was completely puzzled.

Zhang Xiu admired Su Jingzhen extremely and felt that the content of his lectures was extraordinary.

But she ultimately was only at the later stage of Qi refinement and couldn’t understand the reasoning behind it.

As for the other cultivators in Peach Blossom Alley, although they appeared to be friendly with Su Jingzhen on the surface, they actually looked down on him in their hearts.

Even though the children who had been taught by Su Jingzhen showed remarkable progress, everyone thought it was just due to luck and the children’s innate talents.

So, no one really paid attention to what Su Jingzhen was teaching.

But Shuang Jiang was different.

She could clearly sense the existence of the Dao rhythm from just a few words.

“A few casual words, yet they contain the profound rhythm of the Dao!”

Shuang Jiang’s spirit was focused, and the profound rhythm of the Dao was unfathomable, unrelated to cultivation, but it would greatly benefit her current bottleneck.

She leaned against the window frame, gazing far away at Su Jingzhen, who now looked somewhat extraordinary, and her heart felt a bit complicated.

Suppressing the urge in her heart, she closed the window and sat back down on the stone bed.

Silently waiting for Su Jingzhen to come find her after class.

……

Time flew by quickly.

The school had only about twenty students, and Su Jingzhen’s lessons for the day were soon over.

The children happily ran out of the classroom.

Su Jingzhen closed the classroom door and looked towards the quiet room on the other side of the courtyard.

Just as he was about to head over, a familiar figure suddenly appeared at the school gate.

It was Zhang Xiu.

She was wearing a simple and elegant black silk dress today, with her hair casually tied up with a wooden hairpin, and her curvaceous figure was still impossible to conceal.

As she walked with light steps, her mature and charming aura wafted over.

However, Su Jingzhen noticed that her facial expression was different from usual, and she seemed more serious.

Su Jingzhen’s eyebrows slightly furrowed, knowing that something was amiss.

“Sister-in-law, what’s going on?” Su Jingzhen asked proactively.

Zhang Xiu walked to his side, her expression still solemn.

“Mr. Su, something big is happening in Linjiang City. It’s best if you don’t go out anywhere for now.”

Originally, due to the incident at the Chunxi Restaurant yesterday, there was some awkwardness between the two. But the news she received last night made her forget about that, and she had to personally warn Su Jingzhen to put her mind at ease.

Upon hearing this, Su Jingzhen’s heart grew more suspicious, and he felt an inexplicable unease.

“Sister-in-law, what’s going on?” Su Jingzhen asked again.

Zhang Xiu glanced around subconsciously and said, “According to rumors, a rare treasure appeared in Linjiang City last night. There was a huge anomaly in Qingfeng Mountain, and the night was suddenly filled with thunder and lightning. This morning, many strong cultivators from the Huayang Sect and other sects, as well as scattered cultivators, are rushing to Linjiang City. The city is now filled with hidden experts, and I’m afraid you might not know the situation and might get into danger if you go out. At this critical moment, the Huayang Sect might not be able to protect you.”

Upon hearing Zhang Xiu’s words, Su Jingzhen couldn’t help but think of Shuang Jiang again. Wasn’t she the one who appeared at midnight? There must be some connection between them.

Su Jingzhen maintained a poker face, his expression shocked, and then he forced a bitter smile. “Sister-in-law, don’t worry. I usually stay indoors anyway. Since it’s not safe now, I won’t go out.”

“Good, sister-in-law will find a good girl for you later.”

With that, Zhang Xiu was about to leave.

“Wait, sister-in-law.”

Su Jingzhen called out to Zhang Xiu and took out a jade pendant from his sleeve, handing it to her. “In these turbulent times, sister-in-law must help the Huayang Sect stabilize the situation. This is a Peace Jade, which has been with me since I was young. It’s not a magical artifact, but a token of goodwill.”

Zhang Xiu hesitated for a moment before deciding to accept the jade pendant. Her gaze towards Su Jingzhen still contained a complex mixture of emotions.

At this time, she had an urge to speak, but some words remained unspoken, and she hastily departed.

As Su Jingzhen watched her leave, he fell into deep thought.

Suddenly, a line of golden text floated before his eyes.

【Mutual Affection with Zhang Xiu reached: Mutual Affection

Level Bonus: 4x

Zhang Xiu’s Cultivation Bonus: 1x

Reward Points: 50】

【Remaining Available Points: 53】

The continuously floating golden text left Su Jingzhen stunned.

“What the…? Is this a mistake? I’ve always treated her as my sister-in-law!”

But he quickly reacted, remembering that the golden finger had been bound to him when he transmigrated, although it wasn’t activated at the time. It had been calculating the affinity score all along.

Over the past two years, he had indeed interacted with Zhang Xiu the most, and she had always been helping him. He had also been kind to her.

The affinity score had been accumulating bit by bit through these small interactions.

The affinity score had eight levels, and this had directly increased by four levels. The points from the previous levels would also be added up.

So, there were 50 points in total. However, he was a bit puzzled that the four-level increase only resulted in 50 points.

It felt like something was missing.

But setting aside the points, this “Mutual Affection” was quite embarrassing.

Su Jingzhen guaranteed that he had never had any improper thoughts about his sister-in-law.

“Ah, let’s take it one step at a time.”

Su Jingzhen knew his own situation, and before he could break through to the next level, he wouldn’t drag Zhang Xiu down.

Moreover, Zhang Xiu was a rare cultivator who devoted herself to keeping Dao Companion’s integrity.

Unexpectedly gaining 50 points, Su Jingzhen was overjoyed.

Now, he could directly break through to the second level of Qi refinement!

However, what was this cultivation bonus for Zhang Xiu?

He didn’t understand, but he didn’t think too much about it.

Just as he was about to allocate his points and then head back to his quiet room to check on his noble person, someone arrived at the school gate.

“Mr. Su, you’re here!”

The person who came was a middle-aged man in gray clothes named Lin Ping, who was in the middle stage of Qi refining.

His son had also studied under Su Jingzhen before, but he hadn’t come for a month.

“Ah, it’s been a long time, Lin Ping,” Su Jingzhen replied with a smile.

“What brings you here today?” Su Jingzhen asked, curious.

Lin Ping smiled and said, “I have some good news to discuss with you, Mr. Su. Cuiliu Alley recently opened a new school, and the person in charge, Chen Chong, wants to integrate all the schools in Linjiang City. He’s asking if you’re willing to merge your Peach Blossom Alley school with theirs. If so, they’ll hire you as a teacher, and the salary will be 50 low-grade spirit stones per year.”

“What does Mr. Su think?”