The sudden change in his mind gave Jiang Man, newly arrived as he was, a profound understanding of what “retribution” meant.
But why would someone for whom even a wedding ceremony demanded a price be caught by the old yellow ox’s scheme?
Was the old yellow ox also no ordinary being?
In addition, the demand to “draw qi into the body in three days” made him even more anxious.
If he failed, these three lucid days might be the last of his life.
Jiang Man carefully examined the fate in his mind and confirmed a cruel fact: he possessed the fate, but no talent.
Just as he was about to withdraw his gaze, he suddenly saw another light gathering.
Immediately, an enormous book that nearly filled the entire sea of consciousness slowly appeared.
Mysterious radiance blossomed over its pages.
Four large characters then surfaced in his mind—Heavenly Mirror Hundred Books.
The moment the book appeared, it resonated with his peerless prodigy fate.
Then the book began to flip rapidly.
At last it stopped at page nine.
On the previously blank book, lines of text appeared.
[Peerless Prodigy Fate: In ancient times, countless powerful beings joined in harmony with the grand formation of heaven and earth, followed the trajectory of the Great Dao, and condensed an ancestral inheritance. Later it became a curse passed down through the ages. Those who bear this fate have short lives, and none end well. It cannot be removed or sealed, but it can be unsealed layer by layer to obtain the inheritance and make the bearer’s wife’s clan renowned.]
[Recording the peerless prodigy fate yields a strand of cultivation-method purple qi (obtainable).]
Heavenly Mirror Hundred Books? Jiang Man was shocked. There was actually such a thing.
Could it record anything?
He instinctively touched his sour, stinking clothes and tried to activate the Heavenly Mirror Hundred Books.
Sure enough, the book began flipping pages and soon stopped at the last page.
Text appeared accordingly.
[Not worth mentioning.]
Then the writing disappeared.
Jiang Man: “…”
Afterward, he scratched his hand again and once more triggered the Heavenly Mirror Hundred Books.
The book flipped again and again stopped at the last page.
Text appeared once more.
[Ants are not recorded.]
Jiang Man: “…”
He had been offended.
Then Jiang Man began to examine the cultivation-method purple qi.
Though he did not know what it was, it could be extracted.
It was probably something good.
As he was about to extract it, footsteps suddenly came from nearby.
The old yellow ox unexpectedly came to his side, followed by its gloating words: “Your wife is gone.”
Jiang Man glanced at it and saw the old yellow ox looking melancholy, as if disappointed that he had not turned out better.
“Don’t look at me. I don’t have a wife either. All my power was just enough to get you married once,” the old yellow ox said.
“That…” Jiang Man said awkwardly. “Something unusual happened.”
In his memories, the old yellow ox had been extremely docile.
Even if it was an evil god, if it had wanted to harm him, it would not have waited until now.
So he could not keep pretending to be foolish, mainly because he had questions to ask.
At that, the old yellow ox was startled and somewhat shocked: “You’re not stupid anymore?”
Then it muttered that he had also run into a happy occasion.
Jiang Man paid no attention to this and instead told it about the peerless prodigy fate, as well as the immortal maiden’s intention to take revenge on the old yellow ox.
He did not mention that strange book for the time being.
At that, the old yellow ox was puzzled: “How could this so-called peerless prodigy fate appear?”
Then it looked at Jiang Man with some sympathy and said, “If you have to draw qi into the body in three days, I’m afraid you won’t live long.”
“Is three days that hard?” Jiang Man asked.
“It’s not hard. With enough talent and enough resources, one can draw qi into the body in half a day. If those prodigies are willing to spend more resources, drawing qi into the body in three breaths is not impossible.
But for two years you have been unable to draw qi into the body. Do you think it’s hard?
Even if we make allowances, even if your talent were outstanding, without resources, when faced with drawing qi into the body in three days, you would still die with regret.”
Jiang Man had left the village at sixteen and come to Qingyun Pavilion.
Qingyun Pavilion was in Luoyun City.
It was one of the Three Halls and Six Pavilions that selected disciples for the Wuyun Sect.
The Three Halls and Six Pavilions were subordinate to the Yunqian Division.
Jiang Man was silent for a moment, then said, “I want to try.”
“You want me to teach you?” the old yellow ox asked.
“Can you teach me?” Jiang Man asked, looking at it.
“If I dare to teach, do you dare to learn?” the old yellow ox said solemnly.
“Immortal Dao cultivation methods are uniformly issued and revised by the Immortal Gate. They even carry a unique aura so that identity can be determined. To prevent what happened three hundred years ago from occurring again, the Immortal Gate’s controls are stricter than you imagine.
If any anomaly is discovered, they can brand you as an evil heretic.
Even if you unexpectedly obtain an ancient cultivation method, you must consider whether to practice it. Once you practice it, if you appear within the Immortal Gate’s jurisdiction, you will certainly be discovered.
If you are lucky, you will be captured alive; if you are unlucky, you will be slain in the name of eradicating demons and defending the Dao.”
Jiang Man had heard a little about the so-called event from three hundred years ago. Legend said that more than three hundred years ago, peerless powerhouses had fought one another, not only shattering mountains and rivers, but also draining all the nutrients from the soil and much spiritual qi.
For the next two hundred years, crops failed and corpses of the starved lay everywhere.
Even cultivators could not escape misfortune; spirit medicines and spirit trees no longer grew.
Until a hundred years ago, when the Four Great Immortal Gates jointly introduced a new cultivation system, opened various cultivation sites, encouraged people to cultivate, and sent people into villages to instruct them.
After that, cultivation no longer depended solely on talent. Everyone could cultivate, allowing barren land to be irrigated with spiritual qi, barely producing some grain so that the remaining humans could eke out a miserable survival.
This had continued to the present day.
And the place where Jiang Man now lived was within the jurisdiction of the Wuyun Sect, one of the three subordinate sects under the Immortal Gate.
However, he had not expected such strict control over cultivation methods.
“Is the rumor about three hundred years ago true?” Jiang Man asked curiously.
“Half true, half false,” the old yellow ox answered casually. After thinking for a moment, it continued, “If you want to learn, you can study the Qingyun Pavilion’s Simplified Qi-Linking Method.”
As it spoke, it glanced toward the corner of the table.
Jiang Man saw that there was indeed a book used as a support underneath.
When he had been foolish, he really was capable of doing anything.
He took out the book and asked while reading, “Senior, who is that immortal maiden? Where does she come from? Will she really appear at any time?”
The old yellow ox’s bell-like eyes glanced at Jiang Man, and it said, “We’ll talk after you get through this three-day death tribulation.”
For ordinary people, drawing qi into the body in three days was as difficult as ascending to heaven.
Even for those favored by heaven, resources and foundation were required.
From nothing to something.
There were too many things to learn.
Jiang Man briefly looked at the qi cultivation method and found that even the Simplified Qi-Linking Method would take some time to learn.
Especially since the Qi-Linking Method had nine layers.
It was impossible to say how long it would take to master it completely.
Then Jiang Man thought of the Heavenly Mirror Hundred Books.
He immediately turned his gaze inward to the sea of consciousness, and sure enough, he saw the book again.
He opened it to page nine.
He could indeed extract a strand of cultivation-method purple qi.
If he extracted it, would that count as drawing qi into the body?
“Is drawing qi into the body in three days really that hard?” Jiang Man looked at the old yellow ox.
The old ox looked at him and said, “That depends on whether you are a peerless prodigy.”
“What if I am?” Jiang Man said.
At that, the old yellow ox looked at Jiang Man and smiled without speaking.
“Under the Immortal Gate, geniuses are countless. Why can’t there be one more like me?” Jiang Man spoke again.
The old yellow ox continued to look at him in silence.
Its meaning was self-evident.
Stop dreaming.
Seeing this, Jiang Man did not dwell on it.
Instead, he opened the Heavenly Mirror Hundred Books and without hesitation chose to extract the cultivation-method purple qi.
Then a strand of light fell from the Heavenly Mirror Hundred Books.
In the blink of an eye, it merged into his meridians, flowed downward, and settled within his dantian.
A wisp of spiritual qi radiated outward.
From within outward.
It was exactly the sign of drawing qi into the body.
At this sight, the old yellow ox froze in place.
Its eyes widened until they looked even more like bronze bells, and it even doubted whether it had seen wrongly.
Drawing qi into the body in an instant?
Had it missed some crucial action?
Then an absurd thought arose: Could he really be a peerless prodigy?
At this moment, Jiang Man’s voice suddenly sounded: “Senior, may I touch you?”
Chapter 2