Su Jingzhe was stunned.
Hire him?
Fifty Low-Grade Spirit Stones a year?
When his academy had many students, the annual income was only fifty to sixty Low-Grade Spirit Stones, but that didn't deduct rent and other expenses. Now, this Cuiliu Academy was offering that amount upfront.
That would be pure profit!
Su Jingzhe sneered inwardly. Do people not even look at who they're insulting when they insult someone's intelligence now?
Most cultivators are selfish and self-serving. There was no past affection between them, nor any current righteousness. No one would believe in something for nothing.
Did this Lin Ping think he was so brainless as to believe such a good thing existed?
"Mr. Su, actually, Fellow Daoist Chen's suggestion is indeed not bad.
Although you have Sister-in-law Zhang Xiu helping you, it is ultimately difficult for you to support an academy alone.
As the saying goes, it's good to enjoy the shade under a big tree. Fellow Daoist Chen Chong is the person in charge of Cuiliu Lane, and his strength is only stronger, not weaker, than Sister-in-law Zhang Xiu's. If you easily offend him, you will inevitably harm yourself."
Lin Ping spoke again, seemingly poaching him, but in reality, threatening him.
This was the right flavor; everything before was just nonsense.
Su Jingzhe finally smiled and said, "That's true, but Su is already used to his current life.
I've been running this academy for quite some time now, and I've grown fond of it.
Once a person develops feelings, they are ultimately unwilling to move. So, this time, I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint Daoist Lin and Fellow Daoist Chen's good intentions."
The smile on Lin Ping's face froze.
He hadn't expected Su Jingzhe to refuse so directly.
His voice slightly cold, "Mr. Su, are you truly not going to reconsider?"
"Thank you, Daoist Lin."
Su Jingzhe cupped his hands and smiled.
"Since that's the case, Lin will not disturb you further. It's just that this matter is ultimately a bit regrettable.
I hope Fellow Daoist Su and this Enlightenment School both fare well."
Lin Ping said with a fake smile, still full of threats.
After speaking, he left directly.
He had no friendship with Su Jingzhe. Although Su Jingzhe's attitude was amiable, it was filled with determination, and further persuasion would yield no results.
Moreover, since Su Jingzhe wanted to die, he couldn't stop him.
Watching Lin Ping's departing back, Su Jingzhe's expression also sank.
At first, when his student enrollment was good, it was merely enough to make ends meet.
Now his Enlightenment School was already half-dead, but the other party still didn't intend to let him go.
"I originally thought that by teaching here discreetly, without desires or demands, I wouldn't offend anyone, but trouble still came knocking on its own."
Su Jingzhe was a bit annoyed; he had always been a person who particularly disliked trouble.
Cuiliu Lane's strength was already the strongest among the several streets and lanes in Linjiang City.
His refusal today undoubtedly offended them, and retaliation was inevitable.
If overt acquisition failed, there would certainly be covert means.
Chen Chong, like Zhang Xiu, managed Cuiliu Lane on behalf of the Huayang Branch Sect. His connections were wider, and that guy truly had people in the Huayang Branch Sect.
In the past, fearing Zhang Xiu's strength, both sides maintained a somewhat passable facade.
But this time, the other party had made their intentions clear, seemingly not caring about Sister-in-law Zhang Xiu's attitude. It seemed the previously peaceful days were truly about to undergo significant changes.
After a moment of melancholy, Su Jingzhe suddenly chuckled again.
"Heh heh, thinking about this is useless anyway. I have quite a few thorny issues right now.
If the Spirit Stone problem isn't resolved, I won't even need Chen Chong to deal with me; I won't be able to stay in Peach Blossom Lane myself."
With a thought, the golden characters reappeared before Su Jingzhe's eyes.
Host: Su Jingzhe
Number of Empaths: 2
Available Points: 53
Qi Refining Early Stage (First Layer): 94 / 100
Gold Spiritual Root (Mortal Grade): 23 / 100
Wood Spiritual Root (Profound Grade): 0 / 200
Water Spiritual Root (Mortal Grade): 25 / 100
Fire Spiritual Root (Mortal Grade): 89 / 100
Earth Spiritual Root (Mortal Grade): 32 / 100
Although the situation was gradually worsening, the Golden Finger ultimately made him feel more at ease.
What's more, he now had as many as 53 available points!
Su Jingzhe moved his thoughts again, directly adding six points to his cultivation.
As he anticipated, the panel indeed changed again.
However, when the golden characters appeared, Su Jingzhe was once again dumbfounded.
Cultivation: Qi Refining Early Stage (First Layer) 97 / 100
Available Points: 47
Note: Host's Dantian is damaged, cultivation point effect is halved!
Damn it!
Su Jingzhe just wanted to curse.
Thankfully, he unexpectedly obtained 50 points from Sister-in-law Zhang Xiu, otherwise, wouldn't this have been a huge disappointment?
After pondering for a moment, Su Jingzhe still chose to add another six points to his cultivation.
Cultivation: Qi Refining Early Stage (Second Layer) 0 / 200
Available Points: 41
"I'll save the rest for now. If I can repair my Dantian, it'll be more cost-effective to use them."
Muttering to himself, he soon walked to the door of the quiet room again.
Reaching out to push the door, he suddenly stopped and knocked twice.
The next second, the door opened, and Shuang Jiang's figure appeared before him.
Shuang Jiang opening the door herself surprised him a little, but seeing the medicinal paste he had concocted applied to her face, Su Jingzhe felt a slight sense of relief.
"Miss Shuang Jiang's complexion is much better again. It seems she's not far from recovery."
At this moment, Shuang Jiang's external injuries still looked ghastly, but her condition was undoubtedly much better than last night.
"Thanks to you."
Shuang Jiang walked into the quiet room, responding dispassionately.
Of course, she couldn't tell Su Jingzhe that she had actually been waiting for him for a long time.
She really wanted to immediately understand the Dao principles she had heard today.
But when Su Jingzhe actually arrived, she felt a little unsure of how to speak.
Her emphasis on Dao principles made her feel a bit awkward in Su Jingzhe's presence, and she spoke seemingly casually. "I heard your conversation with that person just now."
"Oh."
Su Jingzhe responded indifferently. With Shuang Jiang's cultivation, it would be surprising if she hadn't heard his conversation with Lin Ping.
Shuang Jiang asked, "I also know these past two days that your academy doesn't earn much Spirit Stone. The conditions that person offered were good, why didn't you agree to him?"
Su Jingzhe turned his head and asked, "Didn't Miss realize that the other party was setting a hook for me?"
"So what?"
Su Jingzhe became interested. "What would Miss do if it were you?"
"Let that person bring the Spirit Stones first. If there's ill intent, just kill them."
"..."
Su Jingzhe asked again, "What if the other party doesn't give them, or has ill intentions and you can't defeat them?"
"This Venerable rarely encounters opponents."
"So why did you suffer such severe injuries this time?"
"..."
The atmosphere in the quiet room became a little awkward.
Empathy + 2
A prompt suddenly appeared.
Su Jingzhe couldn't help but inwardly grumble, could this woman have a bit of a masochistic tendency?
How did this value come about so inexplicably?
But inexplicably good, Su Jingzhe liked this kind of unexpected surprise.
Moreover, accumulating little by little, Shuang Jiang had already provided 5 points. After spending a few more days with her, the points might not be less than Sister-in-law Zhang Xiu's.
Huh? + 2?
Su Jingzhe suddenly realized that it was a one-time addition of two points!
He quickly checked the panel.
Empathy with Shuang Jiang reached: No mutual hostility
Rank Bonus: 1x
Shuang Jiang's Cultivation Bonus: 2x!
Su Jingzhe was once again shocked inwardly, but his expression remained normal.
Sister-in-law Zhang Xiu was at the Late Stage of Qi Refining, possibly even at the ninth layer of Qi Refining, yet her cultivation bonus was only one time.
Shuang Jiang's was directly two times!
And at the very beginning, Shuang Jiang did not have this cultivation bonus.
Su Jingzhe's mind became active, and he instantly understood.
When the System was first activated, Shuang Jiang was severely injured and dying, her cultivation not apparent. Now that her injuries had recovered somewhat, her cultivation had also recovered accordingly.
Just a partial recovery, and the bonus already surpassed Sister-in-law Zhang Xiu's?
Su Jingzhe was horrified, and he seemed to understand his Golden Finger a little more.
Clearly, the higher the cultivation of the person or the higher the Empathy Rank, the more points could be provided.
If Shuang Jiang's cultivation fully recovered and her empathy Rank increased by several levels, what then?
However, thinking of this, he secretly smiled bitterly again.
For someone like Shuang Jiang, being able to maintain 'no mutual hostility' was already very good.
Further up? That would probably be wishful thinking.
Coming back to his senses, he saw Shuang Jiang no longer paying attention to him, and she returned to the stone bed to meditate.
Although Su Jingzhe still had many questions, he didn't say much.
The points from Shuang Jiang were not something he could control; he just let nature take its course.
Right now, he had more important things to do.
Currently, Su Jingzhe felt no security in Peach Blossom Lane.
Therefore, his Dantian had to be repaired as soon as possible, and his strength had to be improved as quickly as possible.
Ultimately, relying on heaven and earth meant relying on himself.
And the first step in all of this was still to earn Spirit Stones!
Ignoring Shuang Jiang who was right beside him, Su Jingzhe directly moved the Pill Furnace to the center.
Then, he took off his Storage Pouch, and with a swipe of spiritual power, all the items inside poured out.
There wasn't a single Low-Grade Spirit Stone left inside.
It was all medicinal ingredients!
Early this morning, besides the medicinal ingredients for the paste he concocted for Shuang Jiang.
He also purchased twenty portions of Qi Return Pill ingredients.
Even before his Spiritual Root was upgraded, he had the courage to go all in.
Now that he possessed a Profound Grade Wood Spiritual Root, he had even more confidence.
He neatly arranged the medicinal ingredients beside the Pill Furnace.
At this moment, Su Jingzhe closed his eyes, his hand gently stroking the medicinal ingredients.
This was to familiarize himself with the medicinal ingredients, and it was also the first step for most Alchemists before they began Alchemy.
It was said that high-Rank Alchemists could merge with the medicinal ingredients at this step, thereby feeling the subtle changes of each ingredient during refining.
Although Su Jingzhe at this time could not reach such a Realm, he was, after all, a Profound Grade Wood Spiritual Root. He indeed had an indescribable feeling.
He felt that he was going to succeed!
His demeanor had a certain grand master's air about it.
Regardless of anything else, at least Shuang Jiang, who was on the bed at this moment, was awestruck by him.
"You're also an Alchemist?"
She had seen this Pill Furnace last night, but hadn't paid it much mind.
In the entire Cultivation World, the number of Alchemists was extremely small compared to other professions.
Each held a very high status. Combined with the Dao principles she had heard earlier, Su Jingzhe now appeared different in her eyes.
Hearing Shuang Jiang's surprised words, Su Jingzhe smiled slightly.
"Just a little bit."
After speaking, his face returned to seriousness.
He gently swiped his hand over the spiritual patterns on the Pill Furnace.
A crimson flame ignited within it.
Su Jingzhe licked his lips, and without hesitation, he picked up a portion of medicinal ingredients and threw them in.
However, in less than five seconds, only a sizzling sound was heard.
A wisp of green smoke floated out, and a scorched smell filled the entire quiet room.
Empathy + 2
Ah? Gaining points from failed Alchemy?
Is this woman mocking me?
Su Jingzhe was speechless, yet also a little excited.
Since that's the case, let the mockery come more fiercely!
Empathy + 2