Is This Something a Human Would Do?

Early morning. Jiang Man, cleaning out the stable, rubbed his belly. He was getting hungry. Today he had to solve the money-and-grain problem, or he really would end up gnawing tree bark. And it wasn't only that—cultivation would be hard to keep up, too. If the strength he spent went unreplenished, he had no way to raise his cultivation. The one consolation was that with ten or so more sessions of cultivating, the "gourd" would be full. Then he could try opening a second gourd. Advancing to the Qi-Linking second layer. With the help of the Flawless Spirit Gathering Pill, that would be quick. The pity was that the Spirit Gathering Pill might only carry him as far as the Qi-Linking third layer—and a small part of it had already been used up. Meanwhile, Fang Yong and the others were mostly at the Qi-Linking sixth layer. Reaching the sixth layer himself by December—the pressure was considerable. But the most urgent matter was still to find some work that could keep him fed. First thing, Jiang Man set off for the Sixth Courtyard in Qingyun Pavilion's back courtyard. He wanted to speak to Teacher Zhao in advance. For a moment he didn't know how to bring it up. All he could do was steel himself and explain his current situation first. There was a certain danger in going. What if the man did not wish for anyone else to know about the feeding method? True, he had handled that with special characters, so the man would only guess that he couldn't know its real contents. But human greed was impossible to predict. Fortunately, inside the Yunqian Division the man would hardly dare act rashly. If he was handed some job outside the Yunqian Division, though—that was when he would have to be careful. Drawing a deep breath, Jiang Man felt that life was far too hard. It pushed a man to the point where not taking risks was no longer an option. But before he even reached the Sixth Courtyard, Jiang Man saw Zhao Leming coming toward him. That took him a little by surprise. It looked as though the man had been coming to find him. "Greetings, Teacher Zhao." Jiang Man gave a greeting salute. "You were looking for me?" Zhao Leming asked. Jiang Man was silent a moment, suddenly feeling he had lost the initiative. The man had clearly been looking for him too. "Yes." Jiang Man nodded, then told him of his present straits. Under another's roof, one had no choice but to bow one's head. Having peerless talent stuck with him like this—true suffering. But no hurry. Next month was when he should begin to stand out. By this time next year, he would stun everyone without fail. "The stable pay is a little troublesome. That was decided by the courtyard, with each courtyard's score as the standard. Your score is too low, so better pay will be quite difficult. But..." Zhao Leming's tone turned. "Well, you truly are in difficulty, and the Sixth Courtyard is not a place without human feeling. I can vouch for you for two months. If after two months your ranking or score is still the same, then changing the pay will be rather difficult." Hearing this, Jiang Man naturally bowed his head in thanks. As for whether changing the pay was really that difficult, he didn't dwell on it. Either way, he could now manage basic food and warmth. Being able to keep cultivating was enough. At this, Zhao Leming suddenly asked, "The books I gave you—do you still have them?" Jiang Man shook his head. "No." Zhao Leming didn't press. "Have you shown them to anyone else?" Jiang Man shook his head again. "No." Only then did Zhao Leming nod. "Cultivating in the Three Halls and Six Pavilions, having help and having no one to look after you are two different things. For example, before now, the last-place finisher had no qualification to compete for a spot. You can understand that now, surely?" "I understand." Jiang Man nodded hard. "Then about the books—" Zhao Leming had barely opened his mouth when Jiang Man cut him off. "What books?" Seeing this, Zhao Leming paused, then smiled. "Nothing." Then he continued, "Cultivation takes a certain amount of resources. So you want to find another job in your spare time?" Jiang Man nodded. "Yes." Without resources, advancing later would not be easy either. "There are such jobs, but I must remind you—every job pays according to score," Zhao Leming said after brief thought. "Besides, you have no foundation yet, so finding a job that comes with resources will not be easy. But I can vouch for you just the same. What would you like to do?" Jiang Man hesitated slightly. "Easy. Free time. Resources not low." "Anything else?" Zhao Leming asked, smiling. Jiang Man shook his head. "That's it." "Do you make wishes this carefully too?" Zhao Leming said. Jiang Man: "..." "There are no easy ones. None with free time either. And the resource-rich ones are not yours to pick," Zhao Leming said, looking at Jiang Man. "Right now, the only work you can do is the kind that consumes spiritual qi or qi and blood. If you want to try, take this to the Yunqian Division guard post." With that, an ordinary recommendation letter dropped into Jiang Man's hand. Putting the envelope away, Jiang Man was rather puzzled. "Is it to serve as a guard?" Zhao Leming only smiled faintly. "You'll know when you get there." Then he sent Jiang Man on his way. Watching the man walk off, Zhao Leming sighed softly. He had had plenty of ideas. But there was one doubt. Where had the man gotten those books? By lucky chance, or gifted by someone behind the scenes? If the latter—gifted why? And with the gift, would someone be watching? Though that possibility was extremely low. But... he was after money in the first place; he would not let himself fall into a crisis of life and death. Leaving the other man a way out was leaving one for himself too. Afterward he wrote a letter, telling the people over there that Jiang Man might be coming to the guard post. He wanted an introduction fee. The profit from a zero-score newcomer would be small, true—but mosquito meat was still meat. Naturally, he would not let it slip by. Jiang Man went back to sweeping the old courtyard. This time he swept his way to a rather out-of-the-way spot. The former training ground. Mostly stone blocks. To his surprise, the stones were not rough at all; they must have been in constant use. "Looks like someone has been coming here in secret to cultivate." "Practicing spells, most likely." As for spells, Jiang Man knew nothing at all. He was still raising his cultivation. With cultivation that low, Qingyun Pavilion would not grant him spells anyway. So there was no point thinking about it—raise his cultivation first. That was the foundation. The whole morning gone, Jiang Man finished his sweeping and returned to the Sixth Courtyard. He still needed to cultivate—at the very least, to finish the plan in his personal file. Seeing Jiang Man come back, the little fatty looked rather glum. "Brother Jiang, you're back again?" He rubbed his belly. "I feel like I've gotten thinner." With that, he took out dried meat and started eating. Jiang Man couldn't take his eyes off it. Damn rich kids. "Brother Jiang, here—a piece for you." The little fatty quietly slipped him a piece of meat. Taking it, Jiang Man apologized for the careless words he had just let slip. He had been measuring a gentleman's heart by a petty man's. With the meat in him, Jiang Man cultivated with even more drive. His energy felt frighteningly strong. This time, Jiang Man stopped after only fifty rounds and got up to leave. The little fatty was a bit surprised. "Xiao Jiang, are you finally giving up?" Fifty rounds, and he was "Xiao Jiang" again? Jiang Man shook his head. "I'm changing spots, to work hard in secret." The little fatty: "???" What kind of person does that? Cultivating in secret was one thing—but why announce it? Did he want the rest of them losing their appetites over this? So he wasn't paying his cultivation fee anymore? The village had given up on him as it was—shouldn't he be weeping his eyes out, then scraping together his cultivation fee, finishing his studies without a hitch, and going home to farm at a high salary?