Promise!

Chapter 137, The Nine Classics

In the days that followed, Zhuang Jin had plenty of free time.

If he really wanted to interfere in the streets and act as a tool for the General Affairs Department, there would naturally be countless things to do and endless troubles. But if he turned a blind eye and stayed out of it, there would be no problem at all.

As for the medicinal fields outside the city, you still have to deal with strange beasts. But here in the east of the city, as long as you delegate various tasks, you really don't have to worry about anything. At most, you'll spend half an hour at the end of the month looking at the accounts, signing them, and submitting them.

With few tasks, there were many benefits. Zhuang Jin only took what he could and was entitled to, and he still received seven or eight hundred taels of silver a month, which showed how wealthy the eastern part of the city was.

Under these circumstances, Zhuang Jin focused on cultivation. Last month, due to escorting the fleets of wealthy merchants and the constant travel, his cultivation, which had been slow, entered a fast track again, and his progress in accumulating the Eighth Scripture Realm increased rapidly.

As before, Chen Yun took meticulous care of the child and handled all the trivial matters. With the help and support of the two maids, Yu Xiaoxiao and Song Lan, the workload was much lighter.

Her blood disease has also improved a lot and has not recurred. This disease is partly hereditary and partly caused by psychological factors. Now that Zhuang Jin has returned, her psychological factors have disappeared, and she also has the Blood Jade Ginseng to nourish her body, so this is natural.

In the east of the city, Anding is even better than the medicinal fields outside the city. With Anding in hand and spring in full bloom, Chen Yun once again placed the vase of flowers on the table at home.

Not only that, Chen Yun also led Yu Xiaoxiao and Song Lan to create two unique "living flower screens": each screen was made by using two wooden branches about four or five inches long to form a low, long bench shape, with an empty space in the middle and four wooden supports about a foot wide across it, on which sand pots were planted with climbing herbs to grow...

Such a living flower screen, placed in the room, offers a view of lush greenery filling the windows, allowing the wind to pass through and blocking out the sun. Its winding and meandering design is extremely pleasing to the eye.

The days slowed down in such moments, gentle and warm. When Zhuang Jin was not cultivating, the couple did nothing but sit side by side and chat. Each of them had an indescribable sense of peace and tranquility. This must be what the ancient books described as "raising the tray to the eyebrows" and "playing the zither and lute in harmony."
During this time, Ou Wenzhong would also come over from time to time. Each time he came, he would bring a gift, because he knew Zhuang Jin's personality. He would not accept expensive gifts, but the gifts were usually not expensive, but they were very thoughtful, catering to her preferences and full of sincerity.

The other party was a ninth-rank scholar, even higher than Zhuang Jin. He was amiable, spoke pleasantly, and was very courteous. He had none of the bad habits of those town wards in the north of the city, who cared about background and social status. The two got along quite well.

This is obviously Ou Wenzhong trying to curry favor and cater to her—which is not surprising, given Zhuang Jin's value in united front work!

Another point is my satisfaction with Zhuang Jin. Zhuang Jin is a trustworthy person who gets things done. He managed to block the Shen family's main force with such a small amount of resources and effort, which is a model of 'doing big things with little money'.

As a member of the forces entrenched in the east of the city, and the representative who came to negotiate with Zhuang Jin, he was so capable and influential in the complex relationships and forces of the east of the city. As a reward for his efforts, his ranking in the exchange of Shuluo Pills was raised.

It is precisely because of these advantages that Ou Wenzhong is now extremely tolerant of Zhuang Jin. As long as Zhuang Jin stays peacefully through this period and doesn't cause trouble, everything is negotiable. Things like visiting with gifts every few days, flattering her, and saying a few words of praise are all minor matters!
Seeing Zhuang Jin's interest, Ou Wenzhong also brought the latest news from the outside world: because of the Medicine King Gang's attack on the returning fleets of the major families in January, the Shen family has now stabilized its position and launched a retaliatory counterattack in the north and south of the city. The south of the city is just for attrition and restraint, while the north of the city is launching a strong counterattack, determined to completely squeeze out the Medicine King Gang...

The war continued to escalate, and even those at the level of 7th level and above, who were guarding towns, began to suffer casualties. Warriors at the level of 1st to 6th level were being decimated like dumplings, resulting in extremely tragic losses. Many warriors from the rear areas of the east and south of the city, who were not close to the Medicine King Gang's front line, were transferred there.

However, these were mostly lower-level martial artists. Elders like Ou Wenzhong, who were in the middle and upper echelons of the city in the east and south, were still enjoying peace and contentment.

This made Zhuang Jin sigh inwardly. The front lines were in dire straits, while the rear was feasting. The martial artists in the north and south of the city, who were adjacent to the Medicine King Gang, were bleeding and sweating, while these rats in the east of the city were eating their fill. No wonder Shen Xuchen couldn't stand it.

However, this has nothing to do with him. He came here to recuperate after making great contributions. To ask a wounded soldier like him to charge into battle, risk his life, and overcome all obstacles is too much to ask and too unseemly. This is one of the important reasons why Shen Xuchen only offered him bribes.

"I risked my life for the Shen family in January, can't I relax and enjoy myself for the next six months?"

Zhuang Jin felt that by not associating with the forces in the eastern part of the city, he had already upheld his principles and done right by the Shen family. He figured the Shen family wouldn't be so naive as to expect everyone to be selfless, self-sacrificing, and devoted to their work. In short, he was doing well in the eastern part of the city, observing the changing situation and focusing on his cultivation.

……

Time flies, and more than a month has passed in the blink of an eye. On March 21, Ou Wenzhong came and brought news: Miao Shao had died in battle south of the city.

He knew from his investigation of Zhuang Jin that Zhuang Jin had a grudge against Miao Shao. He came here mainly to tell Zhuang Jin this good news.

Zhuang Jin was quite surprised. After seeing Ou Wenzhong off, he was still sighing, "I haven't even made a move yet, and Miao Shao has already fallen? How boring!"

This also made him realize that as long as he played it safe and survived, sometimes the enemy would just die on their own without him having to do anything. This was the first time he had experienced the joy of outliving his enemy.

'This feeling isn't bad, but it just doesn't feel quite right unless you personally take action against your enemy. I hope Zhao Bin can hold out a little longer!'

Thinking this, Zhuang Jin turned around and prepared to repay Miao Shao's family in kind, first by reuniting them: 'A family should be together. If Miao Shao knew this in the afterlife, he would thank me.'

'This move kills two birds with one stone. Once Zhao Bin knows that Miao Shao's family is in trouble, he'll realize how foolish his previous resistance was… Now he's being watched, unable to defect; he's on the front lines, unable to hide; and with Miao Shao's example as a warning, he dares not die. If he dies, his family will immediately be wiped out… He'll be stuck there, exploited for his remaining value!'

This desperate situation is bound to be even more torturous.

'Zhao Bin will soon realize that what's more agonizing and unbearable than a quick death is the agony of being unable to die, wishing for death but being unable to!'

'But let's put those aside for now and focus on making a breakthrough first.'

Today, Zhuang Jin has finally completed the accumulation of the Eightfold Scripture Realm!
'As expected of someone who skips a level, directly consuming the meat of a beast at the minor completion stage of the Meat Refining realm greatly boosts cultivation speed. In reality, it took less than two months to accumulate enough for this.'

The meat of exotic beasts at the beginner level of meat refining corresponds to the seventh and eighth meridians. At the eighth meridian level, one can actually continue to use meat refining meat at the beginner level, but Zhuang Jin switched to meat refining meat at the minor completion level in advance, which corresponds to the ninth meridian level of a martial artist.

Normally, this would be a waste of resources, but now that his potential has accumulated, his aptitude has improved, and his refining ability has greatly increased, he has managed to make the best use of them without wasting too much.

Compared to the entry-level refined beast meat, which costs fifty battle points per pound, the advanced refined beast meat costs one hundred battle points per pound, which is three thousand per month. Only Zhuang Jin, who is not short of battle points and is very wealthy, can afford to do this.

"Trading battle merits for efficiency is worthwhile. Compared to stagnant battle merits on paper, I'd rather save time and strive to reach the Eleventh Classic during the eastern part of the city!"

"Of course, that's still a long way off. Right now, we should focus on breaking through the Nine Classics."

Zhuang Jin closed his eyes, concentrated his mind, and directed his internal energy toward the Foot Taiyang Meridian.

……

(End of this chapter)