Cheng Yu looked at Luo Xuan with some surprise. "Do you truly intend to take him on as a guard?"
"No rush," Luo Xuan replied with a smile, shaking her head. "We'll each give the other a chance and see if he meets the mark. When he comes looking for me, we'll see how he behaves. If his improvement next month satisfies my requirements, what harm is there in cultivating him? Besides, it will also affect Fang Yong. Killing two birds with one stone."
"His luck really is incredible. For a crude country rustic to gain your attention and cultivation—it must be a blessing accumulated over several lifetimes," Cheng Yu said with a light laugh. "If he learned of this, he probably wouldn't even be able to sleep at night. With his current predicament, without your cultivation, Eldest Miss Luo, he'd likely have to return to his mountain village next year. That would be the end of his life's prospects. If others found out you were cultivating him, they'd be beating their chests in envy."
Pausing, Cheng Yu suddenly asked with curiosity, "But how do you plan to give him a graceful way out?"
Hearing this, Luo Xuan produced a handkerchief with a faint smile. "With this."
"How does that work?" Cheng Yu asked, puzzled.
Luo Xuan stood waiting at an intersection for a moment until Jiang Man appeared from another intersection. Only then did she loosen her grip on the handkerchief, letting it drop, before swiftly walking away with Cheng Yu.
It was only when she spotted Jiang Man picking up the handkerchief from afar that Cheng Yu said in admiration, "That works? Doesn't that mean he'll come looking for you right away to return the handkerchief? Then everything regarding cultivating him will fall into place naturally. You've given him the stepping stone; all he has to do is step down."
Luo Xuan nodded slightly and said with a smile, "Let's go. By tomorrow at the latest, he will come looking for me. It will all depend on whether he can pass my test."
Meanwhile, Jiang Man stood where he was, looking at the handkerchief in his hand.
He had seen the two of them just now and naturally understood it was theirs.
Especially since the character "Xuan" was embroidered on it.
There was no doubt as to whom it belonged.
Yet she was no longer hiring him as a sparring partner.
Going out of his way to return it was rather bothersome.
Jiang Man glanced around, intending to just leave it aside.
It was only a handkerchief; if someone lost it, so what? Would anyone truly go out of their way to return it?
It wasn't as if she were dirt-poor and couldn't afford another.
Just as he was about to set the handkerchief down, however, he suddenly caught sight of Song Qing.
The man had been sparring with him over the past two days.
He wasn't a bad person.
Right now he wore a troubled frown; giving him this handkerchief as a keepsake to pine over wouldn't hurt.
And so, Jiang Man called out to stop him.
After giving him a rough explanation of the situation, he handed the item over.
Taking the handkerchief, Song Qing looked at Jiang Man with deep gratitude.
He realized Jiang Man truly was a good person. He had provoked Jiang Man earlier and failed to defeat him.
He had thought any chance of a recommendation was completely gone.
Yet this handkerchief...
Wasn't this giving him the chance to return it, granting him an opportunity to present himself?
"I'm off," Jiang Man said, turning and walking away.
Song Qing felt a surge of emotion.
Tucking the handkerchief away, he quickly departed.
Returning to the stable, Jiang Man could not shake the feeling that Song Qing's expression had looked rather strange.
Surely he wouldn't actually go return it, would he?
Jiang Man shook his head.
Putting the thought aside, he ate a large amount of food before beginning to cultivate the Qi and Blood Method.
This time it was external cultivation—boosting his own qi and blood to strengthen his physical body's level.
Spiritual qi guided his qi and blood, circulating through a full circuit.
As his qi and blood resonated with his physical body, some of it was refined and absorbed into his flesh and bones.
With the qi and blood sinking into flesh and bone, he unlocked his first gourd.
Physical Body First Tier.
He immediately began accumulating power.
It was very smooth and rapid.
Afterward, Jiang Man continued to circulate the technique.
Yet after a mere ten repetitions, an intense hunger struck him.
It was extreme, almost making him faint with dizziness.
Not daring to hesitate, he immediately brought out his stored meat and devoured it all.
Yet the more he ate, the hungrier he became; he could barely withstand it.
Finishing the meat brought only slight relief.
Immediately, he proceeded to eat half of his stored grain.
Only then did the gnawing hunger subside.
This kind of hunger left Jiang Man bewildered and stunned.
Wasn't this far too extreme?
Checking the blood gourd, he saw it wasn't even a tenth full.
Just this much, and it made him this hungry?
He had spent three hundred spirit source buying food, and in a single meal, he had devoured one hundred and fifty spirit source worth?
"How many repetitions did you cultivate to eat this much?" the old yellow ox asked in bewilderment as it walked over.
"Ten repetitions," Jiang Man answered honestly.
He hadn't expected to become this ravenous either.
Hearing this, the old yellow ox furrowed its brow. "What layer is your Qi and Blood Method at?"
Jiang Man looked at it. "Couldn't Brother Ox already tell?"
The old yellow ox fell silent. The ninth layer of the Qi and Blood Method, the ninth layer of the Qi-Linking Method...
Just how had he cultivated them?
It chose not to ask.
If it asked, the answer would just be innate talent.
There was no point.
"At the ninth layer of the Qi and Blood Method, improvement is rapid, but the consumption is just as fast," the old yellow ox said. "For someone in your situation, it's best to buy specially raised beast meat."
Jiang Man thought for a moment. "I did ask about that. It costs three hundred spirit source per jin. I only have a bit over nine hundred left—three jin at most."
"If you don't have spirit source, just go earn more," the old yellow ox said offhandedly.
Jiang Man fell silent.
If spirit source were that easy to earn, he wouldn't have made a point of mentioning the price.
He had been quite lucky to earn thirteen hundred in a month.
Though his cultivation had improved now, spirit source was still difficult to make.
Yet he couldn't afford not to earn more; it seemed he would have to seek out Manager Miao again.
Otherwise, there was no way he could reach the Qi-Linking sixth layer within two months.
Out of curiosity, Jiang Man asked the old yellow ox if it knew how to earn spirit source.
The reply he received was: it didn't eat meat.
Jiang Man: "..."
In the end, he went to the Resources Office and purchased specially raised beast meat.
Three jin.
After eating some, he indeed felt his qi and blood surging, and he began cultivating the Qi-Blood Method.
Circuit after circuit.
After forty repetitions, the gourd was already half-filled.
So fast!
However, he grew hungry again.
Consuming another jin, he cultivated until dawn.
After fifty repetitions, the gourd was completely filled.
Once he devoured the third jin,
he circulated the technique ten more times, unlocking the second gourd in one fell swoop.
Physical Body Second Tier.
Only then did Jiang Man breathe a sigh of relief.
He had spent nearly a thousand spirit source.
He could now advance his cultivation, but Jiang Man was in no hurry; he wanted to fill all three gourds with qi and blood first.
Tonight, he would earn spirit source using his spiritual qi.
He wondered what his baseline rate would be now.
During the day, Jiang Man went about his routine, studying and then cultivating.
During their sparring session, however, Song Qing seemed somewhat absentminded, as if lost in thought.
Come evening, Luo Xuan took the lead in leaving.
Jiang Man also headed to the Guard Post to inquire about rates.
—
Meanwhile, on the other side, Song Qing spent the entire day bracing himself mentally before finally mustering the courage to walk toward Luo Xuan's residence.
He had rehearsed what to say and do hundreds of times in his head to win himself a chance to stay.
Inside Luo Xuan's residence, Cheng Yu rested her chin on her palm at the table. "Why hasn't this Jiang Man come yet?"
"No rush. He needs time to think it through," Luo Xuan said calmly, nibbling on a pastry. "Once he has thought it through, he'll naturally come."
"He doesn't realize how many people envy him. For Eldest Miss Luo to take notice of him and offer him a chance is a heaven-sent blessing," Cheng Yu said.
Luo Xuan paid it no heed, quietly focusing on her cultivation instead.
She had no intention of wasting time.
A moment later, a knock came at the door.
Cheng Yu immediately hopped to her feet. "He's here! Let me see just how grateful he will be to Eldest Miss Luo!"
With that, she quickly hurried to the door and pulled it open.
Yet the moment the door swung open, she saw a man kneeling on one knee, his head bowed respectfully as he spoke: "Miss Luo, I am willing to serve you like a dog or horse."
Chapter 24