The comments said I was deeply affectionate, I just added points by using an alternate account.

"Understood!" they both replied in unison.

"The second thing," Instructor Jing's gaze swept over the two of them, "is that the academy is giving you three days off to rest and recharge. After three days, there will be new training missions, and you will have to return to the First Academy. Don't wander off during these three days."

"A new mission?" Long Ao's eyes lit up.

It's time for his favorite part.

Instructor Jing walked to the window, looked at the gray sky outside, and without giving away any spoilers, already put one leg on the windowsill.

"Instructor, you..." An Changqing was about to ask him why he didn't use the main entrance.

"Go through the window quickly." Instructor Jing had already guessed what he was thinking. He turned around, grinned at them, revealing a set of white teeth: "By the way, An Changqing."

"exist."

"Your analysis of human nature is very interesting, and your logic is very rigorous." Instructor Jing leaned back, already hanging outside the window. "However, sometimes, don't overthink it."

His figure disappeared through the window.

The last sentence drifted in lightly.

"A 5,000-word self-criticism may really just be a 5,000-word self-criticism."

An Changqing stood there, his expression frozen.

Long Ao scratched his head, looking at his companion with a puzzled expression: "What did he mean by his last sentence?"

An Changqing stood there, his brows furrowed.

A 5,000-word self-criticism might really just be a 5,000-word self-criticism.

What does this mean? Is it a denial of all his reasoning?

"Hey, An Changqing, what are you daydreaming about?" Long Ao nudged him with his elbow. "Does that weird instructor think we're overthinking things?"

Long Ao was straightforward and understood the literal meaning of the words, but he trusted An Changqing more and was somewhat wavering for a moment.

"No." An Changqing slowly shook his head, his eyes regaining their firmness after a brief moment of confusion: "You didn't understand. On the contrary, that's the key."

An Changqing chose to believe his own reasoning.

"Huh?" Long Ao looked completely confused.

An Changqing walked to the window, looking in the direction where Instructor Jing had disappeared, and said in a very low voice, "The instructor was giving us pointers, but more importantly, he was protecting Chen Guan."

"He didn't want us to delve too deeply into Chen Guan's inner thoughts; it was out of respect. So he deliberately ended our conversation with a seemingly simple but pointless remark."

Following this line of thought, Long Ao realized that indeed, all the details matched up.

Finally, he slammed his fist into his palm, his face flushed red, a mixture of sudden realization and shame.

"I understand! Instructor Jing is such a good person!"

Long Ao felt ashamed for having just called him a weird instructor.

[Holy crap, Dihua closed-loop system 2.0 has been updated?]

I'm begging you, please stop thinking about it.

Even asking for something requires waiting in line.

[Chen Guan: Is it possible that I'm just trying to reach the word count?]

Instructor Jing, who hadn't gone far, picked at his ear.

You idiot, do you think I have bad hearing?

Who taught you to interpret it this way?

Instructor Jing was speechless. Both of An Changqing's parents were smart people, so who did he get this problem from?

And then there's Long Ao, who says one thing to people and does another behind their backs.

Just now you were called "Little Sweetie," and now you're called "Mrs. Cow." How infuriating! When you grow up, your tasks will have to be doubled.

……

Meanwhile, Chen Guan returned to his private room.

He closed the door, removed the black coffin from his back, placed it firmly on the ground, and then took out the palm-sized black wooden box from his storage ring.

As he opened the box, a delicate fragrance wafted out, instantly easing his tense nerves.

Inside the box, a piece of wood about the size of a thumb, entirely emerald green, lay quietly, emitting a soft green light and brimming with vitality.

Chen Guan lightly touched the wooden heart with his fingertips, and a warm current instantly flowed through his entire body.

He walked to the black coffin, and the heavy coffin lid slid open silently.

Inside the coffin, the original body lay quietly, its face as pale as paper, its eyes tightly closed.

It's strange. Even though the main body is not weak now, and most people wouldn't even be able to break through its defenses, it still always looks pale.

It's heartbreaking to see.

His original body was his only family in this world.

They are not of the same blood, but they are of the same mind and are each other's one and only.

He took out the Soul-Nourishing Wood Heart, brushed aside the thin gray mist, and gently placed it on the chest of his body.

Actually, he didn't know how to use this thing, but based on his understanding of his gray energy, it would devour what it needed on its own.

The moment the wood heart touched the skin, it emitted a brilliant green light, then melted like a candle, turning into a pool of emerald green liquid that quickly seeped into the skin and disappeared.

"System, explain the current repair progress bar in a data-driven way."

Current repair progress: 9.01%

[It is projected that the energy will continue to recover at a rate of 0.1% per day until all energy is depleted.]

Looking at the prompts on the system panel, Chen Guan silently did some calculations in his mind.

If we calculate based on a daily increase of 0.1, it would take nearly three years to complete the repair.

"What if I were to skip these three years of waiting?"

"It will probably require about three million popularity points."

Chen Guan gritted his teeth. This damned system is getting more and more expensive.

However, he had no other choice but to plunder more rare and precious materials from this world, but could a weak sixth-tier cultivator like him do that?

We still need to pluck the white tiger's fur; the eleventh-tier one must be incredibly wealthy.

He closed the coffin lid and lay back down on his small bed.

After finishing all this, Chen Guan glanced at the time: 9:50.

That's perfect.

With ten minutes to go before the online meeting, he took out the token, placed it on the table, and waited quietly.

10 o'clock sharp.

The token suddenly vibrated, and the patterns on its surface lit up with a ghostly blue light.

As soon as Chen Guan took the token in his hand, the scene before him changed.

There was a dark, round stone table in front of them, and several people were already sitting on it.

However, their appearances are all blurry, which shows they've done a good job of keeping it a secret.

A crisp whistle rang out, followed by a familiar voice: "Both newlyweds are pretty punctual."

Chen Guan looked in the direction of the sound and saw Bai Hu, but unfortunately, Bai Hu's face was also shrouded in mist.

He was quite curious about the White Tiger's true appearance, as it looked different each time it appeared.

This face-invisibility mechanism is actually an advantage for him; he doesn't really want to meet Long Ao in this way for the time being.

He and Yin Chen and Hong Yuan wouldn't feel too awkward meeting in this kind of situation, but Long Ao was the only exception.

The large, dark stone round table was big enough to seat more than a dozen people, but at this moment it only emitted a few scattered, blurry human-shaped lights.

Besides the white tiger's signature lazy sitting posture, Chen Guan also saw several other figures.

One sat upright, motionless, while the other seemed rather bored, its silhouette swaying slightly in the light and shadow.

"We meet again, Little Xuanwu."

A light and melodious female voice rang out; it was the same voice that had been swaying the light and shadow. Chen Guan looked at the person and remembered the owner of the voice.

Three platforms.

Back in Jiangcheng, it was she who used her supernatural ability, the Scroll of All Things, to provide support for herself.

He was both made and destroyed by Xiao He. Without Santai, he would never have gone to Jiangcheng or gotten involved in those things.

But in terms of the outcome, it wasn't bad; the three platforms also provided him with a lifeline.

Chen Guan had already realized that everything in Jiangcheng was a setup for Long Ao, and that he had just been dragged into it as well.

Chen Guan nodded and replied calmly, "Thank you for your help with Jiangcheng."