Husband, the Magpie Bridge Is About to Open

Jiang Man had no idea what his wife's name was. Her strength, methods, and identity were a complete mystery to him. All he knew was that she was anything but ordinary. The peerless prodigy fate alone was bizarre enough. He had never heard of simply bowing at a wedding ceremony burdening someone with such a thing. Now the old yellow ox was saying her methods had arrived. While not as bad as her coming in person, it was still cause for dread. After all, through the whole ordeal, she was the victim in name, while he and the old yellow ox were the wicked fiends. Even though he was a victim as well, she wouldn't see it that way. Once her power came crashing down upon them, their chances of survival would be bleak. "Her methods have reached us—does that mean our location is about to be exposed?" Jiang Man immediately asked. The old yellow ox shook its head. "She won't find us just yet. Even if she's strong enough, she couldn't possibly locate us this quickly. "It's just that I used my methods on her back then, and now she's tracing that connection to exert an influence over me." Jiang Man studied the old yellow ox. He noticed flickering lights pulsing across its body, dimming and brightening. "Is that her doing?" Jiang Man asked. "This is the price of getting you a wife," the old yellow ox corrected. Jiang Man paused, taken aback, then retorted at once, "Senior, I'm the one saddled with the peerless prodigy fate! I'm the biggest loser in this marriage arrangement, at risk of dying at any second. You can't pin your injuries on me." With that wedding ceremony, all she had gotten was a husband in name, while her purity remained entirely intact. He, on the other hand, had gained not only a wife in name, but also a fatal fate. He was by far the more miserable one. He refused to take the blame for the old yellow ox's troubles. "She's trying to find us through me," the old yellow ox said calmly, casting a glance at Jiang Man. Jiang Man fell silent for a moment before asking, "What should I do?" "Respond to the things on my body with your spiritual qi," the old yellow ox explained. "Her power has crossed an immense distance. "Even weakened, I can hold my own against it. "Right now we're evenly matched. "But resolving it requires you to resonate with it and draw it out." Jiang Man harbored no suspicion; after all, the two of them were grasshoppers tied to the same string. He placed his hand upon the old yellow ox's head and began using his spiritual qi to commune with the flickering lights. Because his cultivation had increased too quickly, the sheer weight of his spiritual qi made his body uncomfortable. He circulated it with utmost care. Soon, he perceived the flickering presence. It truly held an aura of destruction. Leaving it lingering in the ox's body would be exceedingly dangerous. Jiang Man linked the fragments together and slowly guided them out of the ox's body. In the end, all the flickering light gathered in his palm, coalescing into a glowing orb. Jiang Man stared in astonishment. What kind of thing was this? Before he could do anything, the orb began to diffuse, and a voice resonated directly within his mind: "Husband, the Magpie Bridge is about to open, and I will find you soon. What kind of funeral would you prefer?" Jiang Man lowered his gaze, his heart seized by panic. "What happened?" the old yellow ox asked, letting out a breath of relief. Jiang Man recounted what he had heard truthfully, then asked, "Didn't you say the Magpie Bridge only opens once a year? Why is it suddenly about to open?" The old yellow ox remained quiet for a moment before replying, "She's trying to frighten you. Pay it no heed." Jiang Man couldn't tell who was telling the truth, but asked out of curiosity, "Senior, are you no match for her?" "Hard to say. If I were in good condition and ambushed her, I'd have a chance of winning," the old yellow ox replied thoughtfully. "However, she's likely searching for my true name. If she finds it, we'll be in even greater danger." "Then what do we do?" Jiang Man asked. "A toad has already had a taste of swan meat, so what else can you do?" the old yellow ox muttered coldly. "You'd better focus on whether you can stay alive after a hundred days." Jiang Man sighed. He hadn't even tasted any meat. Still, there was no point dwelling on it. At present, he was powerless to do anything anyway. "Right, if you survive and manage to join a sect later, remember to take me along," the old yellow ox said. It then explained why. If the immortal maiden could strike once, she could strike a second time. If Jiang Man hadn't helped draw out those lights, it would have been in grave peril. Jiang Man thought he had grasped the ox's weakness, but the ox added another warning: had the power not been extracted, the damage to its body would have allowed their location to be exposed as well. Neither of them would have escaped. Hearing that, Jiang Man agreed. Even so, he had gained a bit of leverage. "Brother Ox, leave it to me from now on," Jiang Man said earnestly. The old yellow ox merely gave him a side-glance, seemingly ignoring the demotion in honorific. The next day. Early in the morning, Jiang Man arrived at the Sixth Courtyard. Today was the day the updated scores and rankings would be released. He was curious to see what score he had received. Though he had an estimate, if he had let anything slip during the Qi-Linking Method exam, his score might be a point or two higher. Then there was his ranking. At the Qi-Linking third layer, his rank wouldn't be particularly high; after all, there was a two-year gap between him and the others. Even so, watching his rank rise was something he looked forward to. And he wasn't the only one fixated on scores and rankings. Everyone was. Nearly all the cultivators from the Qingyun Pavilion back courtyard had arrived. "Little Jiang, you're here?" the little fatty greeted him with a smile. He still radiated confidence and excitement. "Did you estimate your score?" Jiang Man asked curiously. "Of course." The little fatty nodded earnestly, beaming. "My score is at a height you can only look up to, but that's a minor detail—we needn't dwell on it. "Let's see what scores the top four received instead." Jiang Man nodded with a smile. The little fatty hadn't asked Jiang Man for his estimated score from start to finish, and Jiang Man was in no hurry to mention it. Once the rankings were handed out, the little fatty would surely come over to ask. Before long, beneath everyone's expectant gazes, Zhao Leming walked in. Just like the first time, he carried a stack of record sheets in his hands. Recorded on them was the information for everyone in the Sixth Courtyard. Scores, rankings, and commentary were all written there. Even their cultivation and cultivation technique layers were noted down. The Sixth Courtyard fell completely silent, every eye fixed on Zhao Leming at the front. Over the course of a month, everyone had made progress. They all wanted to see proof of their improvement. Zhao Leming felt rather astonished. Part of the score was revealed by the books themselves, while another part was evaluated by the instructors. Still, there was never much discrepancy. So when he saw Jiang Man's score, he was utterly stunned. The suspicion in his heart felt all the more real. He was also glad he hadn't tried anything more against Jiang Man. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable. Next, he began distributing the record sheets. He handed them out according to their previous rankings. Soon, everyone had received theirs. Only then did Zhao Leming speak: "At noon, Qingyun Pavilion will post the rankings in each courtyard, and the back courtyard will also announce the top fifty." Hearing this, the crowd brimmed with anticipation. Those with higher ranks were especially eager to see if they had broken into the courtyard's top ten or Qingyun Pavilion's top fifty. At that moment, the little fatty leaned over and nudged Jiang Man gently. "Little Jiang, what's your score? Let me see." Jiang Man pulled his thoughts back. For now, he couldn't make the wider rankings, so there was no need to obsess over them. Comparing notes with the little fatty beside him was what mattered. With a smile, he replied, "I haven't looked yet. What about you?" The little fatty chimed in, "I haven't looked either. How about we trade and look at each other's? Let you get a taste of a high score." "All right," Jiang Man gladly agreed.