Accumulation over time?
The longer one cultivates within a realm, the more insights into that realm are gained?!
Upon seeing this ability description, Su Mu was taken aback, then his eyes brightened suddenly, filled with wild joy.
One man's poison is another man's honey!
For geniuses, this superpower is really redundant because they hardly encounter bottlenecks in the early stage of cultivation; everything flows smoothly.
They naturally won't stay in one realm for too long, rendering this superpower almost useless.
But for someone as ordinary as Su Mu, its effect is tremendous!
Enough to rival a guaranteed golden legend for novices.
He has been stuck in the Second Level Martial Artist realm for a whole ten years; how many people have multiples of ten years?
"There's hope to break through to a Third Level Martial Artist in a short time."
Excited, Su Mu couldn't help but clench his fists and wave them vigorously. Once he calmed down, he felt a bit emotional. The world is indeed unpredictable.
Not long ago, he was somewhat frustrated, seeing that he was about to successfully break through to a Third Level Martial Artist, but failed at the last moment.
Luckily, failing at the last moment wasn't bad; otherwise, he would have missed out on this great opportunity and wasted ten thousand Spirit Stones and a month's superpower for nothing.
"There's no rush next; if the job posting doesn't come out, I'll use this opportunity on the last day of the month."
If he were ten years younger, Su Mu would have chosen the last minute of the last day, even down to the second, to ensure maximum effectiveness, but now he didn't want to take such risks.
This month, he can also inquire about any job openings. If they are real, he can prepare in advance. If not, he won't act impulsively.
Preparing for both scenarios never hurts.
At night, Su Mu went to a food stall outside the school to drink. Zhou Lei drinks heartily, never using Qi and Blood to dispel the tipsiness, yet his tolerance isn't great; a few cups and he's drunk.
Su Mu believes in moderation, listening to Zhou Lei's drunken talk for a while, then, as usual, helped him back to the school dormitory.
This time outside Zhou Lei's dormitory stood a somewhat strange figure, pacing back and forth.
"Dean Lin? Are you looking for Zhou Lei?"
"I, I just came here for a walk. You guys went drinking?"
"Just a little."
"You can have a drink after work, but as school security, you must be mindful of your influence, and it's strictly forbidden during shifts."
"I understand, Dean Lin, please be assured."
Watching Dean Lin's departing figure, Su Mu was thoughtful. He noticed a hint of concern in Dean Lin's eyes when he looked at Zhou Lei, unlike the usual concern of high-ranking school officials for subordinates.
"I see, there's another layer to this relationship; Dean Lin turns out to be Zhou Lei's relative?"
Su Mu realized, maybe Zhou Lei got this money from Dean Lin. Since Zhou Lei never mentioned it, Su Mu pretended not to know and didn't plan to ask.
To be fair, everyone has their secrets.
In the following days, Su Mu's mindset became much calmer, working and cultivating in a routine, and also video-calling his family to see his wife and daughter.
This day during a video call, his daughter was sound asleep in a hospital bed.
"The doctor said Xiaoyue can be discharged in a few days."
"Yes, that's good news."
After saying this, Su Mu suddenly went silent. This was when his wife, Jiang Miaomiao, spoke up, "You have something to say? Go ahead."
Su Mu gave a sheepish smile, realizing he couldn't hide from his wife. For days, he'd contemplated various excuses, such as lending money to a friend in an emergency, but in the end, he decided to be truthful.
"Honey, because of a job transfer, my salary and allowances might have a slight change next month, but I promise, it's only temporary."
"Are you alright? Did something happen recently?"
With a look of concern and worry, Jiang Miaomiao asked. Before Su Mu could respond, their daughter Su Xiaoyue awoke on the hospital bed, sweetly calling out when she saw Su Mu.
"Daddy, today Dr. Zhang said Xiaoyue is recovering quickly and can be discharged soon."
"Good, then after discharge, let mom take you to grandma's to play, okay?"
"Okay."
Once their daughter was awake, they tacitly avoided mentioning the salary issue.
"Daddy, you frowned, you don't seem too happy. Did something bad happen? You gotta keep going!" Xiaoyue, with her little pink fists, cheered Su Mu on.
Children's words are innocent but easily touch the heart. Su Mu's nose turned sour. He slightly turned his head, took a deep breath, and relaxed his brows.
"Okay, daddy will keep going strong!"
After the video ended, Jiang Miaomiao rubbed Xiaoyue's head, "Xiaoyue, you were really good just now."
After hanging up the phone, Su Mu couldn't help but laugh silly, accidentally making a few scratches on the screen. He picked up the phone and took a look. As long as it still worked, he didn't bother to replace it, and he didn't have the extra money to change it anyway right now.
"Continue cultivating."
Speaking of cultivation, he still felt a little unaccustomed these days. Since his cultivation speed suddenly doubled, he always felt like he was dreaming.
And he also paid attention to suppressing his cultivation. Whenever he sensed a breakthrough, he would immediately stop cultivating, afraid of accidentally breaking through.
"The gap between people is sometimes even greater than the gap between humans and dogs."
Life was peaceful, and ordinary people had their own ways of living.
A new month arrived, and on the fifth of the month, he received his previous month's salary. Seeing the "former team leader" noted on the pay slip, Su Mu accepted it calmly.
"Su Mu, Lao Zhang took the day off today. Could you go stand guard at the main gate?"
"Sure."
Sun Jianren had his eye on Su Mu, initially establishing authority with an intimidation, and now simply treating Su Mu as a long-term tool for such purposes, exploiting him alone repeatedly.
Su Mu was initially infuriated, but now his perspective and mindset were completely different. Ever since he got the idea of becoming a university teacher, that idea grew stronger each day.
"How can a sparrow know the ambition of a swan?" His aspirations lay elsewhere, and he didn't pay much heed to Sun Jianren's means.
"Captain Sun, are you free tonight? My family sent me some local products. Shall we have a meal together and try something fresh?"
"Captain Sun, I recently bought a bottle of good wine. How about we share it?"
This group of people quickly shifted their allegiance towards this Captain Sun, trying hard to curry favor, which was quite normal, given that Director Li from the academy was his uncle.
In contrast, Zhou Lei was much more low-key, so no one tried to cozy up to him, and many even thought he was just lucky.
...
Seventy-something Wang Shuheng had been in a foul mood lately, full of ambitions but unable to realize them.
As a professor in a fairly top-notch martial arts university in the Dragon Country, he received a special invitation from his old home, the Shenjiang Martial Arts University, opting to return to his hometown, thinking about contributing his residual heat before retirement to build his hometown.
Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. The Shenjiang Martial Arts University, which had been established for less than thirty years, was just a youngster among many martial arts universities and should have been full of vitality. Instead, he didn't see a trace of vigor in this youth, but rather it was lifeless.
The remote location of Shenjiang City, with its micro alien race battlefield under garrison for decades experiencing only minor skirmishes and nothing significant happening.
The Governor of South China only required stability here, maintaining the status quo, resulting in little resource allocation, almost being forgotten.
If not for his active promotion of the school's expansion over the years, the matter might have been continuously delayed. Fortunately, with his repeated petitions, the Governor of South China finally took notice, and resources were being allocated.
"Hello, professor!"
A strong, energetic voice interrupted Wang Shuheng's deep thought, easing his furrowed brows.
Startled, he eagerly looked up. It was a figure standing guard at the school gate, the scorching sun burning overhead, yet this figure stood upright, sunlight beaming brightly on his face, awaiting with head held high and chest out.
Completely different from another person nearby who was hunched over.
Full of spirit, full of vitality!
Wang Shuheng trembled all over; this was the vigor he longed to see.
It's just a pity, merely a security guard at the school. Oh, if only the school's high-level personnel were all like him, Shenjiang University wouldn't worry about not developing and growing!
"Young man, what is your name?"
"Professor, my name is Su Mu."
"Good, Su Mu, you're doing well. Young people should be as spirited as you are!"
The elder's praise made Su Mu somewhat embarrassed, his daughter was already nine years old, yet he was still being called a young man. However, hearing it after a long time did feel quite nice.
"Take care, professor!"
Seeing this scene, another security guard curled his lips and muttered softly, "Hmph, thinks he can become a team leader again by just flattering the professor with a few greetings?"
This new security guard actually had no conflicts with Su Mu in daily life, just a regular colleague relationship, but people always tend to gloat when things are unrelated to them.
On the other side, Wang Shuheng, after some contemplation back at the office, summoned someone, "Prepare the resources before the troops. With the school's expansion imminent, we need fresh blood injected into the teaching force. The recruitment of teachers must be prioritized. No, I want to see the announcement on the school website today."
"Elder Wang, isn't this a bit too rushed?"
"Hmph, handle it yourself. If you can't, get Zhao Dong to do it. If he still can't, let Qian Tai handle it, just tell them it's what I, Wang Shuheng, want."
The person showed a look of shock, finding it hard to believe, thinking about how normally gentle Elder Wang seemed like a different person today, with such a firm attitude.
"What, you don't understand my words?"
"Alright, Elder Wang, I'll... convey your wishes right away."