To Tell You the Truth, I Married an Immortal Maiden

Jiang Man and the little fatty exchanged their sheets. In truth, Jiang Man had already looked at his own; he only wanted to lure the little fatty into the trap. Naturally, the little fatty was thinking the exact same thing. Who wouldn't want to show off a high score? Otherwise, wouldn't earning it be all for nothing? Before long, the characters on the little fatty's sheet came into view: *September 17th.* *Yunqian Division, Qingyun Pavilion.* *Back Courtyard, Sixth Courtyard.* *Name: Gao Yao.* *Ranking: 25th (out of 26).* *Cultivation: Qi-Linking second layer.* *Technique Level: Simplified Qi-Linking Method, fourth layer.* *Resources Acquired: Simplified Qi-Linking Method, Divine Travel Step, Six Harmonies Palm.* *Plan: Practice the Qi-Linking Method forty times daily.* *Score: 20.* *Evaluation: Two years of cultivation pale before another's single month.* Jiang Man was somewhat surprised. The little fatty's score wasn't low at all. Twenty points already. Yet he was still second to last. Then who was dead last? Pulling his gaze back, Jiang Man looked at the little fatty beside him, only to find him frozen in place. At first, when the little fatty saw he was second to last, he thought he had firmly surpassed Jiang Man while maintaining his second-to-last spot. No matter how much Jiang Man improved, there was no way he could beat him. This was a full twenty points. So he had intended to let Jiang Man witness what a high score looked like and feel the gap between them. And yet... The moment he saw Jiang Man's personal record, he was struck dumb. *September 17th.* *Yunqian Division, Qingyun Pavilion.* *Back Courtyard, Sixth Courtyard.* *Name: Jiang Man.* *Ranking: 18th (out of 26).* *Cultivation: Qi-Linking third layer.* *Technique Level: Simplified Qi-Linking Method, fifth layer.* *Resources Acquired: Simplified Qi-Linking Method, Divine Travel Step.* *Plan: Practice fifty times daily.* *Score: 29.* *Evaluation: One month rivals two years of another's cultivation.* Cultivation and score aside... This evaluation... The little fatty hadn't paid much mind to his own evaluation at first, but looking at it now, it was a tailored insult aimed right at him. Snapping back to his senses, his eyes grew moist, and he looked at Jiang Man. "Brother Jiang, I admit I talked a bit too loud these past few days." Back to "Brother Jiang" again. Jiang Man took his sheet back. The little fatty asked curiously, "Brother Jiang, were you hiding your abilities before?" "It's all talent," Jiang Man replied. The little fatty didn't believe him. As far as he knew, geniuses never popped up out of nowhere; they stood out from the very beginning. From birth they were extraordinary, and once they began studying, they shone even brighter. From the start, they were distinguished from the rest. So claiming it was sheer talent wasn't believable. He pondered a moment and said, "Did something happen recently?" Hearing that, Jiang Man thought it over and said, "Well, something did happen, actually." "What was it?" The little fatty looked curious. "I married an immortal maiden," Jiang Man replied. The little fatty fell silent. He decided to believe Jiang Man's talent instead. *** At noon, the rankings were posted. Jiang Man did not stay to watch, heading straight for the Yunqian Division's Technique Transmission Office. There were open materials kept here, as well as cultivation techniques and spells under management. It was also where cultivation qualifications were registered and manuals were issued. Jiang Man found the attendant woman and stated his purpose. "Qi-Linking third layer, here to receive a Qi and Blood Method?" She merely glanced at his score, then recorded it. "The Qi and Blood Method for the Qi-Linking third layer is called the *Simplified Qi-Blood Method*, with nine layers in total." She handed the manual over to Jiang Man. "Is the Visualization Method also collected from you, Fairy?" Jiang Man asked as he stowed the book away. "Yes." She nodded. "The *Simplified Visualization Method*, nine layers in total." Hearing that, Jiang Man originally wanted to ask if he could collect it ahead of time at the Qi-Linking fifth layer. Yet he froze almost immediately. A bit baffled, he said, "The Visualization Method also has only nine layers?" He checked his peerless prodigy fate at once. [As a peerless prodigy, cultivation is as natural as drinking water to you. Provided your body permits it, you are bound to practice one hundred times a day, and within one hundred days, advance your Visualization Method to the thirteenth layer.] Within one hundred days, advance the Visualization Method to the thirteenth layer. Yet the Visualization Method only had nine layers. How was he supposed to raise it to the thirteenth? Pausing, he looked at the woman before him. "Fairy, do you think it's possible that a Visualization Method has thirteen layers?" "The Simplified Visualization Method only has nine layers," she said with certainty. Jiang Man felt an anxious prickle in his chest. No wonder the old yellow ox had looked at him with that expression. This was waiting for him all along. "Fairy, techniques vary from one to another. Could there be a thirteen-layer Visualization Method out there?" Jiang Man inquired. This time, the attendant fairy merely looked at him without uttering a word. Jiang Man understood at once and slipped a denomination of ten spirit source into her book. Seeing this, the attendant fairy finally smiled and spoke. "Naturally, there are. Simplified techniques belong to the most ordinary mortal rank, and mortal-rank techniques are divided into three grades: superior, middle, and inferior. "Simplified techniques belong to the inferior grade, with nine layers in total. "Mortal-rank middle grade has eleven layers. "Mortal-rank superior grade has thirteen layers." Listening to her, Jiang Man felt a tangle of mixed emotions. So the peerless prodigy fate required him to cultivate a Visualization Method that was at least mortal-rank superior grade. "Where can one find this superior-grade technique?" Jiang Man asked. The attendant fairy pondered briefly. "For a Visualization Method, Yunqian Division should have one. As for other places, I wouldn't know." Afterward, Jiang Man left with the Qi-Blood Method. He profoundly understood why the old yellow ox wanted him to join a sect, and why it said Luoyun City couldn't support the peerless prodigy fate. This was only the beginning, and he already needed a mortal-rank superior-grade technique. If higher-grade techniques were required later on, no matter how great his talent was, he wouldn't be able to fulfill the conditions. He truly needed to enter a sect as soon as possible. For now, though, he had to head back and ask the old yellow ox how to obtain a mortal-rank superior-grade Visualization Method. Partway back, he suddenly remembered he had forgotten to collect his spells. He walked back and collected the *Six Harmonies Palm* and *Three Powers Force*. *Divine Travel Step* could be claimed by any student of Qingyun Pavilion. *Six Harmonies Palm* could be claimed with a score above ten. *Three Powers Force* could be claimed with a score above twenty. *** Meanwhile, everyone in the Sixth Courtyard was checking the rankings. Because they hadn't asked one another about their scores, they needed the rankings to verify the numbers. Whether it was Luo Xuan or Fang Yong, both cared deeply about this. Soon, the rankings were revealed: *First Place: Luo Xuan, sixty-three points.* *Second Place: Fang Yong, sixty-two points.* *Third Place: Chang Qiwen, sixty points.* *Fourth Place: Cheng Yu, fifty-nine points.* Everyone's scores had improved. The third- and fourth-place students, in particular, had made rapid progress, already posing a threat to first and second. The ranks below were far behind, unable to threaten these four. The final spots would likely be decided among them. Just as they were preparing to leave, someone suddenly cried out, "Why am I dead last? Where's Jiang Man?" Only then did people begin looking toward the very bottom. *Dead last: Qiu Cheng, nineteen points.* *Second to last: Gao Yao, twenty points.* Listing all three bottom spots as "last-place tier" was simply too humiliating. The little fatty was filled with endless melancholy. Brother Jiang had cast him aside and run off to the front. Everyone saw Jiang Man's ranking. *Eighteenth Place: Jiang Man, twenty-nine points.* Twenty-nine points, Qi-Linking third layer. Fang Yong lowered his eyes, finding it somewhat hard to believe. This pace of improvement was a bit too fast. Luo Xuan was also thoroughly surprised. Cheng Yu smiled. "Luo Xuan, could it be you who taught him?" The crowd suddenly snapped to realization, their speculations running wild. "Could Eldest Miss Luo be grooming a guard?" "Jiang Man was the eternal dead last—how could he be worth grooming?" "Maybe that's the only way to feel a sense of accomplishment?" "Wicked wealthy scions." In an instant, everyone believed Luo Xuan was training Jiang Man to be her bodyguard. Even Luo Xuan narrowed her eyes, thinking it might not be a bad idea to give him a chance.